Capital equipment manufacturer Bell Equipment on Tuesday reported an expected increase in earnings for the six months ended June, after reporting a significant turnaround in the corresponding period the year before.

JSE-listed Bell said in a trading statement that it expected earnings and headline earnings a share of between 140c and 145c, compared with earnings of 109c a share and headline earnings of 105c a share in the six months to June 2011.

In the six months to June 2010, earnings a share stood at 9c.

In March, the company announced that increased production and demand during the year earned Bell a profit of R297-million for the year ended December 2011, up from R37-million in 2010.

Bell expected to release its interim results on August 13.