	honeywell hon cites cost cutting for gain honeywell inc said a gain of pct in its first quarter operating ings was the result of cost cutting efforts which began last year honeywell reported first quarter operating ings rose to mln dlrs or cts a share from mln dlrs or cts in the same period a year ago better operating results in each of the company s three sectors offset higher interest costs in the first quarter due to financing the december acquisition of sperry aerospace and the sharing of the federal systems subsidiary pre tax profit with honeywell bull inc honeywell said our first quarter results show clear benefits of our restructuring chairman edson spencer said all of our businesses are producing better results than last year even though we do not see significant improvement in the external market environment he said total orders in the first quarter were up substantially with a sharp increase in aerospace and defense orders in addition to those of the new sperry aerospace group it said domestic industrial automation and control orders were modestly higher than the same period in it said orders in honeywell s home and building automation and control business were flat in the u s and up in international markets it said international orders increased with the greatest strength in europe honeywell said the company said that by year end it intends to complete the repurchase of mln shares remaining of a five mln share buyback program which began in reuter 
