Sparks-based spice maker McCormick & Co. Inc. on Thursday said earnings climbed 8 percent in the fourth quarter, helped by acquisitions and cost-cutting.

Net income rose to $121.5 million, or 87 cents per share, in the three months that ended Nov. 30, compared with $111.2 million, or 62 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The manufacturer said it expects strong sales and earnings in the current fiscal year thanks to new products and boosts in marketing.

The results ended a strong fiscal year for the spice maker that included its biggest holiday marketing campaign ever. In the fourth quarter, consumer business sales in the Americas grew 5 percent, offsetting a decline in industrial sales. Total sales grew 2 percent in the fourth quarter, according to McCormick.

"Acquisitions are an integral part of our growth strategy, and in 2009, much of our sales growth and margin improvement were led by Lawry's," another spice company that McCormick acquired in July 2008, said Alan D. Wilson, McCormick's chairman and CEO.

Wilson said the company cut $42 million in expenses, allowing it to boost marketing for leading brands by 15 percent. In the next year, he said he expects sales to be driven by a lineup of new products with a focus on innovative flavors, convenience and value.

After Thursday's announcement, executives led Gov. Martin O'Malley on a tour of the spice maker's research and development hub in Hunt Valley. The Democratic governor, who is pushing a jobs agenda as he faces re-election this year, has visited several companies in the state recently.

McCormick has nearly 2,000 employees in Maryland and was able to expand its workforce by 2 percent during the recession, the governor's office said in a release about the visit. The workforce growth was one reason cited by Fortune magazine last week in naming the spice maker 72nd on a list of best 100 companies to work for.