UPDATE 1-Usana Health posts lower 1st-quarter profit

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April 21 (Reuters) - Usana Health Sciences Inc (USNA.O), a nutritional and personal care products maker, posted a 36 percent fall in quarterly profit due to higher operating costs and lower sales in its North American business.

"Our first quarter financial results were disappointing. Unfortunately, new promotional activities during the first quarter did not increase sales, as we had anticipated," said the company's President Dave Wentz.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based company reported first-quarter earnings of $7.5 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with $11.7 million, or 63 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 0.9 percent to $101.6 million helped by the benefits associated with stronger foreign currencies. Sales in North America fell by 3.5 percent to $62.3 million.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 45 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $100.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Total operating expenses rose 10 percent to $68.1 million.

For the second quarter, the company forecast a profit of 48 cents to 51 cents a share, on sales of $103 million to $106 million.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 51 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $106.4 million.

The company said it still expects full-year 2008 net sales to increase by about 2 percent and earnings per share to decline by as much as 20 percent compared with 2007. (Reporting by Dilipp S. Nag in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)