BOSTON (Bloomberg) ? Tyco International Ltd., the conglomerate that?s splitting into security, health-care and electronics companies, said fourth-quarter profit rose 38 percent on higher sales of electrical connectors and safety products.

Net income rose to $1.27 billion, or 62 cents a share, from $917 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier. Sales in the quarter ended Sept. 29 climbed 8.3 percent to $10.8 billion, Bermuda-based Tyco said yesterday in a statement. Profit excluding certain items topped analysts? estimates.

Chief executive officer Ed Breen plans to spend $600 million to close factories and eliminate jobs as he prepares for the split. That?s expected to save about $300 million a year by 2009, Tyco said. Results were higher in all four units, including electronics, which is selling more to the communications industry. Health care benefited from demand for disposable medical devices like needles.

?Operationally, they?ve done a good job, they?re delivering as advertised,? Peter Sorrentino, who helps manage $6 billion at Huntington Asset Management in Cincinnati, including Tyco shares, said before results were released. He also personally owns Tyco. ?I?d also like to know what the breakup expenses are to date.?

Excluding certain items, including three cents in breakup costs, profit was 51 cents a share. That exceeded a 49-cent estimate from Citigroup analyst Jeffrey Sprague, the top-ranked analyst on the stock according to Institutional Investor. His estimate matched the average of 13 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, which doesn?t disclose what is included or excluded.

Shares of Tyco, run from West Windsor, New Jersey, rose 19 cents yesterday to $29.93 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 3.7 percent this year.

Breen in January forecast about $1 billion in costs to break up the company. Tyco remains ?on track? to file separation documents in January, the company said today. It had $80 million in break-up costs last quarter, according to a regulatory filing.

Profit from continuing operations rose to $1.29 billion, or 63 cents a share, from $867 million, or 41 cents, a year ago.

In the quarter, Tyco had tax settlements that benefited per-share profit by about $300 million, or 12 cents a share. A settlement involving jailed ex-CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski?s insurance benefited results by 4 cents a share.

Investors may have to take another look at the stock when Tyco files registrations for the new companies, Credit Suisse analyst Nicole Parent said.

?This would give investors some confidence the break-up is proceeding according to plan and may provide some data points on how the new companies will be structured? including taxes, Parent wrote before results were released. Breen, 50, announced the breakup in January to buttress the stock and each division?s financial performance. The fire and security and valves businesses will stay together, to be run by Breen. Health care and electronics will be spun off next year.

Since taking over from Kozlowski in 2002, Breen has restated results, paid off more than half of Tyco?s debt and replaced most of the top management.