UPDATE 1-Cummins profit drop less steep than Wall Street forecast

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Cummins Inc posted a 30.5 percent drop in profit that was less steep than Wall Street had feared and warned that sales could fall as much as 5 percent this year as it copes with falling demand for its heavy truck engines.

The U.S. manufacturer said on Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit came to $381 million, or $2.02 per share, compared with $548 million, or $2.86 per share, a year earlier.

Factoring out one-time items, profit came to $2.00 per share, above the $1.75 per share that analysts on average had expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Cummins shares rose 1.3 percent to $119 in premarket trading. As of Tuesday's close, they were down 2 percent over the past 52 weeks - a time that saw the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index rise 12 percent.

The Columbus, Indiana-based company did not provide a 2013 per-share profit target, but said it expects its earnings before interest and taxes to come to 13 to 14 percent of sales, compared with 13.7 percent in the year just ended.