UPDATE 5-Newell sees strong 2010 as sales trends perk up

* Q1 EPS ex-items $0.25 vs Street's $0.18

* Sales up 8.5 pct at $1.3 billion, beating estimates

* Raises full-yr profit, sales outlook; sees higher demand

* To hike prices to offset rising raw material costs

* Shares up 2.2 pct; Earlier hit 52-week high (Adds more executive, analyst comments; updates stock move)

By Dhanya Skariachan

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Newell Rubbermaid Inc (NWL.N) beat quarterly profit estimates on improving sales across all of its markets around the world, prompting the consumer products maker to raise its full-year outlook.

Newell, whose shares rose to a nearly 19-month high, also benefited from a shift in demand for its products to the first quarter from the second quarter, in advance of a software upgrade at its Rubbermaid Commercial unit.

Many customers placed larger than normal orders in March on fears that a switch to SAP AG (SAPG.DE) software at its Rubbermaid Commercial unit may cause supply disruptions. However, Newell reassured investors that the software upgrade went "very smoothly."

The maker of Rubbermaid plastic storage containers, Sharpie pens, Graco baby strollers and Calphalon cookware said it is seeing both retail and commercial demand picking up. Its customers include mass merchant Target Corp (TGT.N) and office supplies seller Staples Inc (SPLS.O).

"For the first time since the economic turmoil of 2008 began, the company once again delivered the growth trifecta," CEO Mark Ketchum said, adding it was benefiting from its presence in markets that have come out of recession early, especially in Latin America and emerging markets.

Ketchum noted that even Newell's North American customers were starting to restock in anticipation of increased consumer demand across the balance of the year.

"It was good to see a reflection of improving consumer demand," BMO Capital Markets analyst Connie Maneaty said, adding that the results bode well for the companies which have yet to report.

She said demand for office products and some of the other cyclical businesses was recovering, echoing sentiments from OfficeMax Inc (OMX.N), which beat quarterly profit estimates and forecast higher 2010 sales. [ID:nN28110661]

First-quarter net profit rose to $58.4 million, or 19 cents a share, from $33.7 million, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 25 cents a share, beating the analysts' average forecast of 18 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 8.5 percent to $1.3 billion, above analysts estimates of $1.21 billion.

The company said the sales growth marked "a significant inflection point" from the trends of the last four quarters.

Newell raised its 2010 earnings per share forecast by 3 cents to a range of $1.38 to $1.48. Analysts on average have been expecting $1.43.

The company's shares were up 2.2 percent, or 37 cents, at $17.32 on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched an intraday and 52-week high of $17.95, a level not seen since early April 2008.

PRICE HIKES TO COMBAT RISING COSTS

Starting in April, Newell will raise prices across its portfolio of brands, especially on resin-based products, to combat a rise in raw material costs, Chief Executive Mark Ketchum said in an interview.

Despite the general optimism, Ketchum ruled out the possibility of any "significant" acquisitions this year. He said the company will focus on paying down debt and make only small bolt-on acquisitions -- if any -- ranging anywhere between $1 million and $10 million of revenue.

The company, which has been gaining market share in the majority of its businesses, said in January that it expected sales to pick up more steam in the second half of 2010.

BMO Capital's Maneaty, who has a "market perform" rating on Newell, expects sales growth to gain traction toward the end of the year, especially in the fourth quarter.

Newell now sees 2010 net sales growth at a low- to mid-single-digit percentage rate, compared with prior expectations in the low single digits. It still expects margins to rise by 0.75 to 1.00 percentage point.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Derek Caney and Bernard Orr)