Cuts to Maytag Corp. operations and increased overseas sales led to a 72 percent jump in Whirlpool Corp. profits in the fourth quarter of 2007, Bloomberg reported.

Net income was $187 million, or $2.38 per share, compared with $109 million, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier. Since the largest appliance maker acquired Maytag Corp. in 2006, it has closed several plants and fired workers, helping it beat analysts’ estimates of $2.15 per share.

Total sales jumped 7.5 percent to $5.33 billion. European sales rose 12 percent to $1.1 billion, aided by the falling value of the U.S. dollar against the Euro. Latin American sales soared 30 percent to $1 billion as the company introduced new stoves, and revenues in Asia rose 26 percent to $155 million as Whirlpool released a front-loading washing machine to Chinese consumers.

North American sales fell less than 1 percent to $3 billion; that was still ahead of the appliance industry as a whole, which fell about 6 percent. Whirlpool said North American sales could fall 3 to 5 percent this year.