PITTSBURGH – H.J. Heinz Co., one of the world's largest food companies, said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter earnings climbed nearly 19 percent as strong sales in Europe and emerging markets helped offset rising commodity costs.

The Pittsburgh-based maker of ketchup and sauces also raised the top end of its projected full-year earnings range.

Profit rose to $227 million, or 71 cents per share, for the three months ended in October, from $191.6 million, or 57 cents per share, during the same period last year, the company said.

Sales jumped 13 percent, to $2.52 billion from $2.23 billion.

In a conference call with analysts and reporters, William R. Johnson, Heinz's chief executive, said the company hoped to sustain its momentum through growth in core products and emerging markets.

Growth over the past 18 months “has been driven by our strong commercial talent, a pipeline of consumer-driven product introductions, and double-digit increases in marketing support,” he said.

Heinz boosted marketing spending by 23 percent and research and development spending by 17 percent, focusing on its top 15 brands, which grew 14 percent and now comprise about 70 percent of total sales, he said.

Most of the new marketing money has been invested in Europe, where Heinz will introduce more than half of the 200 new products planned for fiscal 2008.

The results were well ahead of the 67 cents per share on revenue of $2.4 billion that Wall Street analysts had been expecting, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

Shares of Heinz rose 49 cents to $47.58 in afternoon trading Thursday.

Heinz has been restructuring its business to focus mainly on ketchup and sauces, meals and snacks and infant nutrition. Its products include its namesake ketchup, Ore-Ida potato products, Smart Ones meals and Classico pasta sauces, among others.

Sales of Heinz's infant nutrition, or baby and toddler food, shot up 26 percent.

Global ketchup sales rose 5 percent, driven by strong results in Europe, while soup sales grew 18 percent.

In Europe, Heinz's largest net sales contributor, the company reported sales growth of 18 percent and volume growth of 9.1 percent.

Sales in emerging markets – including China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Poland, Russia, South Africa and countries in Latin America and the Middle East – jumped 24 percent, fueled by new products and packaging improvements.

During the quarter, Heinz said it raised prices an average of 2.6 percent and continued to improve productivity. Favorable foreign exchange rates offset some commodity costs, according to a company statement.

In a note to investors, Bear Stearns analyst Terry Bivens wrote that “at long last, the key European division seems on a sustainable upward track. Combined with continued growth in emerging markets, Heinz appears in excellent shape offshore.”

Bear Stearns predicts Heinz's revenue growth will contribute to full-year earnings of $2.63 per share, a 10.6 percent rise over the previous year, the note said.

Like other food makers, Heinz has faced soaring commodity costs for dairy, sweeteners and oils and has raised prices this year as a result. Heinz executives have said the commodity inflation is the worst the company has seen in years.

In August, Heinz shareholders re-elected activist investor Nelson Peltz and an ally, former Snapple executive Michael F. Weinstein, to the company's board of directors. Peltz and Weinstein won seats a year earlier after a lengthy proxy battle.

In September, Peltz increased his stake in the company to 6 percent, or about 19 million shares, from about 5.6 percent.

Heinz was expecting full-year earnings of $2.54 to $2.60 per share, but on Thursday raised the top end of the range to $2.62 per share. The company said it is on track to post record full-year sales.

For the first half of the fiscal year, Heinz reported earnings of $432.3 million on sales of $4.77 billion.

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