CORRECTED - CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Applied Industrial '09 results may exceed Str

(Removes description of company as metals processor in first paragraph) (Recasts; adds details, share movement)

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Applied Industrial Technologies Inc (AIT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posted a fourth-quarter profit that was essentially flat from a year earlier but forecast 2009 results that could exceed market estimates, sending its shares up as much as 15 percent.

For the fourth quarter ended June 30, the company posted net income of $24.4 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with $24.6 million, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose modestly by $1.7 million to $529.7 million.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 57 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $541.7 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

The distributor of bearings, power transmission components and industrial rubber products expects 2009 earnings of $2.20 to $2.40 a share, on sales of $2.13 billion to $2.24 billion, excluding amounts from the pending acquisition of Fluid Power Resource LLC.

Analysts were expecting a profit of $2.28 a share, before items, on revenue of $2.14 billion.

Shares of the Cleveland, Ohio-based company were trading up $1.24 at $27.60 Friday midday on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a high of $30.30 earlier in the session. (Reporting by Eric Yep in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan)