Scaffolding rental specialist Harsco last week reported a 29 percent increase in quarterly profit, boosted by earnings from its industrial services unit and two acquisitions late last year.

Second-quarter profit climbed to $53.9 million, or $1.28 per share, topping Wall Street estimates of $1.12 per share. For the same period in 2005, profit was $41.7 million, or 99 cents per share. Revenue increased 24 percent, from $696.1 million in Q205 to $865.5 this year.

Harsco, which specializes in providing rental scaffolding and equipment to nonresidential construction companies as well as services such as slag processing and scrap management, acquired Huennebeck Group GmbH and Northern Hemisphere’s steel mill services business last fall. Both companies added to second quarter earnings.

The access services unit delivered $270 million in revenue, a 31-percent hike. Harsco is based in Harrisburg, Pa.