Ball Corp.'s (BLL) third-quarter earnings rose 1.8% amid cost cuts and improved operating performance.

The plastic and metal packaging company also said that despite acquisition costs and the economic downturn, it expects fourth-quarter results from continuing operations "will be well above those of the same period last year." Analysts were expecting a 38% jump in per-share profit and 6% revenue growth, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares jumped 4.3% premarket to $50.50 as the latest quarter's results topped analysts' expectations.

Ball has cut costs, shuttered plants and trimmed inventory amid weakened demand from its customers during the downturn. In July, Chairman and Chief Executive David Hoover said the company expected to see "continued improvement" for the rest of this year.

Ball reported earnings of $103.7 million, or $1.09 a share, up from $101.9 million, or $1.05 a share, a year earlier. Excluding acquisition and restructuring costs, earnings rose to $1.24 a share from $1.13.

Sales slid 2% to $1.97 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of $1.17 a share on $1.96 billion in sales.

Gross margin rose to 18.3% from 16.3% on the cost cuts.

Earnings in the metal beverage packaging segment for the Americas and Asia--the company's biggest business--rose one-third on cost cuts even as sales slipped 7.9%. Europe saw a 10% decline in earnings on a 6.5% drop in sales.

-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@dowjones.com;