UPDATE 2- Wesco Q4 beats Street view, cautious on Q1 outlook

* Q4 EPS $0.51 beats Street view of $0.50/shr

* Sees Q1 sales 1 pct to 3 pct below Q4 sales

* Shares up 5 pct

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Electrical construction products distributor Wesco International Inc (WCC.N) reported a 45 percent drop in quarterly profit, but edged past market estimates, as stringent cost-cutting programs begin to pay off.

The company, however, provided a guarded first-quarter sales outlook, a sign that a healthy rebound from the economic downturn is still some distance away.

In a conference call with analysts, the company said it expected its first-quarter sales to be down 1 percent to 3 percent from fourth-quarter levels [nWNAB9866].

Based on the outlook range, revenue outlook for first quarter will come in between $1.13 billion and $1.09 billion, compared with analysts expectation of $1.10 billion.

Wesco, which has a significant exposure to the nonresidential construction industry, will be concerned at the trends which shape the sector in 2010.

According to a recent survey by the American Institute of Architects, nonresidential construction spending is expected to fall by 13.4 percent in 2010, after an estimated 20 percent decline in 2009 [nN05244200] .

For the fourth quarter, the company posted net income of 21.8 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with $39.7 million, or 94 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

However, sales dropped 21 percent to $1.13 billion.

Analysts on average expected the company to earn 50 cents a share on revenue of $1.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Selling, general and administrative expenses in the latest quarter fell 18 percent to $168.3 million.

Shares of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company were up almost 3 percent at $29.24 in afternoon trade, on the New York Stock Exchange. They had hit $29.93 earlier in the session. (Reporting by Biswarup Gooptu in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair, Jarshad Kakkrakandy)