Feb 4 (Reuters) - Ball Corp ( BALL ), which makes

aluminum beverage cans, beat Wall Street estimates for

fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday as its cost-cutting measures

helped counter weak demand.

A growing number of its clients such as Corona beer maker

Constellation Brands ( STZ ) flagging weak consumer spending has

forced Ball Corp ( BALL ) to reduce operating expenses.

It has also slimmed its operations by closing some

manufacturing facilities and even sold its aerospace business

last year to focus on its core business.

That business, of making aluminum cans, has also gotten some

benefit from a few companies moving away from plastic packaging.

This has helped volume, particularly in the EMEA region, where

sales grew 11% in the quarter.

However, weak U.S. sales pulled down overall sales by 0.8%

to $2.88 billion, which missed analysts average estimate of

$2.91 billion, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

But that was countered by a 0.7% drop in cost of sales, Ball

Corp's ( BALL ) biggest expense, to $2.29 billion.

That helped the company's comparable earnings of 84 cents

per share beat analysts estimates of 80 cents per share.

The company, which has called itself "the poster child for

tariffs" during Donald Trump's last presidency and subsequently

stopped sourcing aluminum from China, also forecast full-year

profit growth of over 10%, versus market expectations of 12.5%.

Analysts have said that potential tariffs could lead to a

spike in inflation, leading to another stretch of weak spending

from customers.