UPDATE 4-Ingersoll profit beats; shares rally

* Q2 EPS ex-items $0.50 vs $0.39 expected

* Q2 rev $3.47 bln vs $3.53 expected

* Keeps midpoint of 2009 profit outlook

* Shares jump 11.5 percent (Adds detail on stock performance)

NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Ingersoll-Rand Plc (IR.N) reported a 52 percent drop in quarterly profit, less steep than Wall Street expected, as the maker of climate-control systems benefited from job cuts and plant closures, and its shares rose 11.5 percent.

Friday's quarterly earnings beat, Ingersoll's second in a row, came as the company realized higher-than-expected benefits from a restructuring program and from its integration of Trane, an air-conditioning systems maker that it bought in 2008.

Net earnings fell to $122.1 million, or 38 cents per share, from $256.1 million, or 88 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, earnings were 50 cents a share. Analysts on average had expected 39 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

"Ingersoll significantly exceeded on cost savings and productivity," Deutsche Bank analyst Nigel Coe said in a research note.

The company began a restructuring program in 2008, cutting jobs and closing facilities, and expects to save $180 million this year and $235 million in 2010.

WEAK NONRESIDENTIAL MARKETS

Revenue fell 23 percent to $3.47 billion on a pro forma basis that reflects last year's purchase of Trane, below Wall Street forecasts for sales of $3.53 billion.

Sales declined at a faster pace internationally than in the United States.

In Ingersoll's biggest segment, which provides air conditioning systems and services, commercial revenue dropped faster than residential sales, reflecting a global downturn in nonresidential construction.

Ingersoll, which also makes industrial air compressors and security technology like Schlage locks, narrowed its 2009 sales forecast to a range of $13.3 billion to $13.7 billion and kept the midpoint of its profit forecast unchanged, citing cost cuts and lower commodity costs.

The company said European markets remained difficult, and it saw continued weakness in U.S. nonresidential construction. But it pointed to positive signs in China and a tentative recovery in U.S. housing, which supports demand for air-conditioning products.

Ingersoll expects full-year earnings of $1.50 to $1.80 per share from continuing operations, narrowing the forecast by 10 cents on either end.

The company's shares were up $2.78 at $26.86 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

The stock has more than doubled from its March lows, far outperforming the S&P Capital Goods index .GSPIC of industrial stocks, which is up about 53 percent in that time. The rally has come despite the company's removal from the S&P 500 index .SPX as a result of its reincorporation in Ireland. (Reporting by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)