NEW YORK (Reuters) - Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd. <IR.N> reported a sharply higher quarterly profit on Thursday that reflected a large gain on the sale of its Bobcat machinery division.

Fourth-quarter net earnings were $2.5 billion, or $9.06 per share, compared with $222 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.

Earnings from continuing operations were 61 cents per share, and were negatively affected by 18 cents per share because of a higher tax rate, the company said.

It was not immediately clear how that compared with the 99 cents per share expected by Wall Street, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 8 percent to $2.32 billion, compared with Wall Street forecasts for sales of $2.28 billion.

(Reporting by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)