UPDATE 3-CNH profit nearly doubles; shares jump

(Recasts, adds details; changes dateline from NEW YORK)

CHICAGO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Farm equipment maker CNH Global NV (CNH.N) said on Tuesday quarterly earnings nearly doubled, boosted by demand for more powerful tractors and combines in the Americas and Western Europe, sending its shares up 9 percent.

CNH, whose shares reached a multiyear high, said worldwide demand for its construction equipment also rose, more than offsetting industry sales declines in North America.

Net profit rose to $122 million, or 51 cents a share, in the third quarter, from $67 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring items, the company earned 62 cents per share, according to calculations made by Reuters Estimates, beating analysts' average forecast of 54 cents.

Sales of farm and construction equipment rose 33 percent overall to $3.56 billion, including a 6 percent boost from currency exchange rates.

Gross margin from equipment operations rose 1.9 percentage points to 19.4 percent, increasing both in dollars and as a percentage of net sales for both farm and construction equipment.

Farm equipment sales rose 36 percent to $2.3 billion, while construction equipment sales rose 28 percent to $1.26 billion. Construction equipment sales outside North America more than compensated for declines within North America, CNH said.

Based on its projections for industrywide demand for farm and construction equipment, CNH said it expects full-year earnings, excluding restructuring costs, of $2.55 to $2.60 per share. Analysts' average forecast is $2.56.

CNH said it expects worldwide agricultural tractor industry unit volumes to be up slightly in 2007 and combine sales to be up about 15 percent, above its prior outlook. It expects industry light and heavy construction equipment sales to be up about 10 percent.

Shares of Italian automaker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI), which controls CNH, rose 3 percent on the news. Fiat, Italy's biggest industrial group, reports its own quarterly results on Wednesday.

CNH shares were up $5.17 at $61.97 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by David Bailey; additional reporting by Christopher Kaufman in New York)