UPDATE 2-Thomas & Betts Q3 tops Street, shares up

* Q3 adj EPS $0.66 vs est $0.56

* Revenue falls 27 pct

* Lowers upper end of 2009 earnings outlook range

* Says outlook for transmission spending remains positive

* Shares up 8 percent (Recasts; adds conference call details, updates share movement)

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Electrical components maker Thomas & Betts Corp TNB.N reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped partly by lower commodity costs, but cut the upper end of its 2009 earnings outlook range.

Shares of the company, which said it continues to see very high level of activity for power transmission grid projects, rose to their year-highs.

"Non-residential construction continues to deteriorate, albeit at a decreasing rate," Chief Executive Dominic Pileggi said on a conference call.

The company is starting to see signs that declines in new residential construction have leveled off, Pileggi said.

"Annualized housing starts seem to have bottomed out, which is promising as residential construction influences demand for certain Thomas & Betts construction and utility distribution products."

New U.S. housing starts and permits rose in August to their highest level since November, lifted by a rebound in multifamily homes, a government report showed.

However, the executives who run big U.S. industrial companies are cautiously optimistic about the future and their optimism does not extend very far. [ID:nN22420972]

And so does Pileggi, who does not see any meaningful improvement in the company's key markets in the fourth quarter.

He also said the company has not yet seen any meaningful insight from stimulus spending in construction, industrial or utility markets.

EARNINGS RANGE NARROWED

For 2009, the company now sees earnings of $2.10 to $2.25 per share, compared with its prior range of $2.10 to $2.40.

In the fourth quarter, it expects an additional 5 cents a share charge for the facility consolidation, the company said.

It expects 2009 total sales to be down 23 percent to 25 percent. In 2008, it reported net sales of $2.5 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $2.10 per share, on revenue of $1.88 billion.

Large commercial projects, that began last year, have now wound down and limited access to credit are slowing the launch of new projects, CEO Pileggi said on the call.

Hubbell Inc (HUBb.N) (HUBa.N), one of the key competitors of Thomas & Betts, also reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, but said it expects net sales to be down about 13 percent for the year.

"Looking into 2010, we anticipate our end market demand to be mixed," Hubbell CEO Timothy Powers said.

For the third quarter, Thomas & Betts reported net income from continuing operations of $32.1 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with $63.2 million, or $1.11 a share, a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 66 cents a share, above analysts' average expectation of 56 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net sales fell 27 percent to $485.1 million, hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar. Analysts were expecting $474.4 million.

Shares of the Tennessee-based company were up $2.49 at $34.81 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Anil D'Silva)