Colgate quarterly profit rises, forecast maintained

(Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL.N) posted a higher quarterly profit on Thursday as the toothpaste maker increased advertising and cut costs to mitigate the impact of having the bulk of its business overseas in a difficult economic climate.

Colgate said it still expected double-digit growth in earnings per share this year on a currency-neutral basis.

Second-quarter profit was $627 million, or $1.30 per share, compared with $622 million, or $1.26 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Colgate earned $1.33 per share.

Analysts, on average, expected Colgate to earn $1.33 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 2 percent to $4.27 billion, ahead of the analysts' forecast of $4.25 billion.

Organic sales, which strip out the impact of foreign exchange, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 8 percent. The volume of goods sold rose 5 percent, and pricing increased 3.5 percent.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)