BlackRock CEO's long term view is 'healthy': Eaton chief

(Reuters) - As his company gets closer to telling shareholders its plan for allocating cash, Eaton Corp Chief Executive Alexander Cutler said on Wednesday a recent call by a prominent asset manager to think long-term represented a "healthy voice."

BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink earlier this month sent a letter to CEOs of the Standard & Poor's 500 companies urging them to take a long-term approach to create value for shareholders or risk losing his firm's support. Fink asked the companies to avoid short-term pressures created by the increasing activist shareholder activity of recent years.

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, was Eaton's fourth-largest shareholder as of Dec. 31, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"He is articulating what we hear from many investors," Cutler said in an interview after the diversified U.S. manufacturer of electrical and power products reported first-quarter results. "They invest in these companies for the long term, not simply for the next three months."

He added that Fink represented a "healthy voice."

Eaton expects by midyear to convey to shareholders his company's highly anticipated plans for using its cash, now that it has digested and paid down debt tied to a $11.8 billion acquisition of Cooper Industries.

After continuing to increase Eaton's dividend "we’re still going to have a lot of available cash in years going forward, and we want to provide investors with some insight," Cutler said. This included the extent it might spend on share buybacks or acquisitions.

Eaton lowered its 2015 profit forecast on Wednesday, but the projected range still included analysts' average estimate for the year. Its shares closed up 1.4 percent.

Eaton's results came as the U.S. Commerce Department reported that first-quarter economic growth expanded at only a 0.2 percent annual rate, a big step down from the fourth quarter's 2.2 percent pace and the weakest reading in a year.

"We’re continuing to see the economy sort of slog along at somewhat disappointing growth levels for this late in a recovery," Cutler said.

The inability for the economy to reach 3 percent growth is one reason employment has not expanded more significantly, Cutler said.

While Eaton does not provide employment forecasts, Cutler said: "I don’t anticipate that unless the economy grows faster, that net employment is going to be a substantial plus."

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf. Editing by Andre Grenon)