Fortive quarterly profit falls on sluggish demand but beats estimates

July 30 (Reuters) - Fortive FTV.N on Wednesday beat second-quarter profit estimates, as higher margins at its healthcare segment and lower operating costs at its larger intelligent operating solutions segment, offset softening demand for the company's industrial products.

Shares of the maker of industrial measurement equipment and software-enabled automation used in various industries rose nearly 2.1% in premarket trading.

"Despite uncertainty related to trade, healthcare and government spending policy impacting demand in the second quarter, we delivered strong earnings," CEO Olumide Soroye said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's wave of tariffs on materials such as copper and steel, and on countries including China, have created the risk of disrupting an already-strained supply chain and increased costs for businesses.

However, Fortive's cost reduction measures have helped it beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter's profit and revenue despite flat growth from an year ago.

As part of the effort, the company completed its spin-off of Ralliant RAL.N in June, which it had announced in September last year.

Ralliant, consists of Fortive's previous precision technologies segment which makes electrical testing, measurement, sensing, and material technologies for several industrial end markets.

For continuing operations excluding Ralliant, Fortive now anticipates annual adjusted net earnings per share of $2.50 to $2.60.

Last quarter, it had forecast annual adjusted profit ranging $3.80 to $4 per share, prior to the spin off.

The Everett, Washington-based company reported an adjusted profit of 90 cents per share for the quarter ended June 27, compared with estimates of 59 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. Last year it posted an adjusted profit of 93 cents apiece.

Its quarterly revenue fell by $4 million to $1.02 billion from a year earlier. Analysts, on average, were expecting $1.01 billion.