Stronger industrial manufacturing activity worldwide helped Hurco Cos. Inc. turn a quarterly profit for the first time in two years, the Indianapolis-based machine tool maker announced Thursday morning.

For the fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31, the company reported profit of $1.5 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.8 million, or 29 cents per share, for the same period last year.

Quarterly revenue more than doubled, to $39.7 million, up from $19 million in the same period of 2010.

Hurco hadn't enjoyed a profitable quarter since the it made $354,000 in the first quarter of 2009.

“I am encouraged about the direction of our current trend and our return to profitability,” President and CEO Michael Doar said in a prepared statement.

The increase in sales was driven by higher customer demand in all of Hurco’s sales regions.

Compared with the fiscal first quarter of 2010, shipments more than doubled in North America. They increased 98 percent in the Asia Pacific region and 77 percent in Europe.

Hurco’s stock price opened Thursday at $28.89, near a 52-week high of $30.38 reached earlier this month.