Procter & Gamble profit tops expectations

Gain detergent, a Procter & Gamble product, is displayed on a shelf at a store in Alexandria in this May 28, 2009 file photo. Procter & Gamble posted a quarterly profit well ahead of analysts' forecasts and said it has modestly higher expectations for growth in the industry even as consumers continue to remain cautious.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co posted a quarterly profit well ahead of analysts' forecasts and said it has modestly higher expectations for growth in the industry even as consumers continue to remain cautious.

P&G's pantry of products have been pressured for months, as shoppers try cheaper brands than Pampers and Tide, and eschew indulgences such as Hugo Boss cologne and SK-II face cream.

The world's largest household products maker earned $3.31 billion, or $1.06 per share, in the fiscal first quarter that ended on September 30, compared with a profit of $3.35 billion, or $1.03 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected P&G to earn 99 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales fell 6 percent to $19.8 billion, with declines in every category ranging from beauty to snacks and pet care.

Organic sales, which exclude the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 2 percent. P&G had predicted such sales would be flat to down 3 percent.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl, editing by Maureen Bavdek)