Temple-Inland Inc., the third-largest U.S. maker of corrugated packaging, said fourth-quarter net income jumped to $1.17 billion because of timberland sales.

Earnings soared to $10.76 a share, from $103 million, or 96 cents, a year earlier, the Austin-based company said today in a statement. Excluding one-time gains, profit was 23 cents a share, topping the 16-cent average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Temple-Inland is in transition after spinning off its financial services and real estate development units at the end of 2007. The results, which include about $1.14 billion in one- time gains, are the first for new Chief Executive Officer Doyle R. Simons, who is focusing the company on its packaging and building-materials businesses.

"We expect 2008 to be difficult for our building products business," Simons said in the statement. The unit reported an operating loss of $15 million compared with a $28 million profit a year earlier because of price cuts and lower shipments of gypsum and particleboard as the U.S. homebuilding industry slid to its worst year in decades.

"We are focused on lowering costs and matching our production to our demand" in the segment, Simons said. The unit's sales fell 29 percent to $164 million.

Total revenue declined 6 percent to $937 million, trailing estimates of $942.5 million. A year earlier, sales were $1 billion.

Temple-Inland rose 18 cents, or 1 percent, to $19.08 at 10:54 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. In the past year before today, the shares fell 36 percent.

Profit from corrugated packaging rose 4.2 percent to $75 million from a year earlier as daily output increased 2 percent. Average corrugated prices advanced 1 percent. Sales were little changed at $756 million.

Profit included $1.208 billion from the sale of Forestar Real Estate Group and Guaranty Financial Group under pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who argued the businesses would be worth more on their own. The gain was reduced by charges of $69 million related to closing facilities and legal settlements.

Temple-Inland had been the state's largest landowner before the sale. Much of its holdings were in East Texas, where the company was founded originally.