NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - Tyco Electronics Ltd. said first-quarter profit more than tripled, helped by increased sales outside the US and a tax-sharing agreement gain. The company raised its full-year earnings forecast, giving shares their biggest gain since trading began in June.

Profit from continuing operations increased to $872 million, or $1.75 a share, from $240 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier, Bermuda-based Tyco Electronics said in a statement yesterday. Revenue rose 19 percent to $3.68 billion. Profit excluding the tax benefit beat analysts' projections for the company, which spun off from Tyco International Ltd. in June.

Profit and sales climbed in all four main divisions. Tyco Electronics, the world's biggest maker of electric connectors, gets more than two-thirds of its annual revenue from outside the Americas.

CEO Thomas Lynch last year said he planned to shed businesses with $2 billion in sales, including a power-systems unit he agreed to sell in October.

"While it's clear these are uncertain economic times, other than the weakness we've been experiencing in the US for about a year now, the balance of the business continues to be solid," Mr. Lynch said on a conference call with analysts.

The company raised its 2008 profit forecast by five cents to $2.45 a share to $2.55. Tyco Electronics, which is run from Berwyn, Pennsylvania, rose $2.62, or eight percent, to $35.23 at 10.42 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Earlier, shares increased 11 percent. The stock had dropped 16 percent since the spin-off.

Profit excluding the tax benefit and restructuring costs was 63 cents a share. That beat the average estimate of 57 cents excluding some items, according to 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales were projected to be $3.56 billion.

In the quarter, Tyco Electronics completed the sale of its power-systems unit for $102 million.

The company also projected completion of its $750 million share buyback programme "in the next few months" and anticipates returning to the board for an additional authorisation, Mr. Lynch said in an interview.

About 80 percent of sales in the company's electronic components unit, its largest, come from outside the US, helping to temper the effects of a slowdown, Mr. Lynch said. The company doesn't see conditions, which are tied in part to the automotive industry, worsening or improving, Mr. Lynch said.