NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Bermuda-domiciled Ingersoll-Rand Co., the maker of Thermo King and Hussmann refrigeration equipment, said profit will fall short of fourth-quarter and full-year estimates after key markets deteriorated faster than anticipated.

Earnings per share for the final quarter will be 20 cents to 30 cents from continuing operations and excluding one-time items the company said yesterday in a statement. That's down by more than half from an earlier projection of 55 cents to 75 cents.

Demand for refrigerated truck equipment, chilled display cases, Trane air conditioners and Schlage locks has declined "sharply" in North America and Western Europe, the company said. The strengthening of the US dollar against the euro is contributing to a projected 11 percent decline in pro forma fourth-quarter revenue, to $3.7 billion.

"Ingersoll's end markets are diverse, but virtually all face headwinds," Jason Feldman, an analyst with UBS in New York, wrote in a note yesterday before the forecast was revised. He has a "neutral" rating on Ingersoll-Rand. "We remain particularly concerned about non-residential construction markets where the downturn has barely begun. We also expect continued weakness in the US consumer, general industrial, and trucks/trailer end markets."

The full-year figure is now $3 to $3.10 a share, compared with $3.35 to $3.55 forecast earlier. The average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for profit of $3.28 a share for 2008 and 60 cents in the quarter. The new sales projection is less than the $4.02 billion projected by analysts.

"Our initial forecast for the fourth quarter of 2008 was based on sharply lower growth expectations compared with the first half of the year as we anticipated weaker results in many of our key end markets," chief executive officer Herbert Henkel said in the statement. "The rate of decline accelerated compared with prior expectations."

The company might take a non-cash impairment charge in the fourth quarter because of its recent low stock price, Henkel said. Ingersoll-Rand shares have lost 65 percent of their value this year. They fell as much as 6.1 percent in trading before US markets opened. The stock rose 46 cents to $16.35 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Henkel is speeding restructuring efforts, which include several thousand job cuts, to save $100 million before taxes next year, and $110 million in 2010. Charges tied to the restructuring will be about $110 million and will be recognised this year.