BROOMFIELD - Can and packaging company Ball Corp.'s net earnings for 2012 rose 12 percent from 2011, totaling $483 million.

The Broomfield-based company (NYSE: BLL) said net earnings translated to $3.06 per diluted share for 2012 compared with $444 million in net earnings, or $2.63 per diluted share in 2011.

Revenue was $8.7 billion in 2012, compared with revenue of $8.6 billion in 2011. The company's growth investments, its strong balance sheet and its strategy to align supply with market demand, led to improved results in 2012, John Hayes, president and chief executive, said in a press statement.

"Ball Corp. (showed) a very good performance in a challenging economic environment," Hayes said.

Ball makes metal beverage cans, metal food and household product packaging and satellites.

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., a Boulder-based division of Ball, reported operating earnings of $86.6 million in 2012, up from $79.6 million in 2011. Revenue was $876.8 million in 2012, up from $784.6 million in 2011, the company said in the press statement.

In the fourth quarter, Ball Aerospace signed significant government and private contracts, according to the press statement. The company will help build the first space-based instrument for a NASA mission to monitor air pollutants in North America. It also will create infrared imaging sensors for a privately funded deep-space mission designed to provide early warning of threatening asteroids.

In December and earlier this month, Ball also wrapped up work on five payloads and a spacecraft de-orbit module on the STPSat-3, a Department of Defense vehicle scheduled to launch in August, the company said.