Harley-Davidson's earnings up 6.8 percent

MILWAUKEE - Harley-Davidson's (HOG) fourth-quarter earnings rose 6.8 percent as motorcycle sales continued to rise worldwide.

The Milwaukee company says global sales of new motorcycles grew 5.7 percent in the quarter and 4.4 percent for the full year as buyers responded to its new model lineup.

Harley-Davidson posted fourth-quarter net income of $75.4 million, up from $70.6 million a year ago.

That's 34 cents per share, compared with 31 cents in the last quarter of 2012. Revenue rose 2.1 percent to $1.03 billion.

The company beat Wall Street's earnings expectations for the quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 33 cents per share, on revenue of $1.04 billion.