AAR posts higher quarterly profit

(Reuters) - AAR Corp (AIR.N), a provider of parts and maintenance services to the aviation industry, posted a 32 percent rise in third-quarter profit driven by strong performances at its structures and systems and aviation supply chain divisions.

Quarterly net income was $20.1 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with $15.3 million, or 36 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 39 percent to $376.6 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 46 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $335.7 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales at the company's structures and systems segment rose 75 percent to $110.5 million helped in part by the acquisition of Summa Technology Inc, a provider of high-end sub-systems, precision machining and engineering services.

Sales at its aviation supply chain division grew 11.5 percent to $151.2 million for the quarter.

Shares of AAR, based in Wood Dale, Illinois, closed up 8 percent at $25.65 Tuesday on New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Aniruddha Basu in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)