LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. -- Robust sales gains in its Titleist, Moen and Jim Beam divisions led to strong operating results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, officials at Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO) have announced.

Consumer demand for brands including Moen, Titleist, Jim Beam and the company's cabinet brands drove broad-based sales for Fortune Brands that grew at an 8 percent underlying rate, officials said.

For the third quarter, the golf division (which includes Acushnet and its Titleist, Cobra, Pinnacle and FootJoy brands) reported net sales of $278.4 million. That is a 3.3 percent increase over the $269.6 million the golf group produced in the year-ago period.

For the first nine months of 2005, the golf brands totaled $1.064 billion in net sales. That is a 4.7 percent increase over the $1.016 billion the company reported in the same quarter of 2004.

In the quarter, total Fortune Brands net income was $92.2 million ($0.61 per diluted share), as compared to $226.8 million ($1.52 per diluted share) in the year-ago quarter, officials said.

On a continuing operations basis for the quarter, diluted EPS before charges/gains was $1.12, up 12 percent from $1 in the third quarter of 2004. These results were in line with the mean estimate of Wall Street securities analysts.

Net sales were $1.8 billion, up 19 percent. Sales benefited 11 percentage points from the net impact of acquisitions, excise taxes and favorable foreign exchange. Operating income increased 18 percent to $294.5 million, while return on equity before charges/gains was 21.5 percent and return on invested capital before charges/gains was 12.7 percent.