J&J sees 2007 sales growth below earlier view

NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) on Tuesday forecast that operating sales would rise 11.5 percent to 12 percent this year, slightly below its prior projection, as sales fall for its Procrit anemia drug and Cypher stent.

On a conference call with analysts, the company said the number of U.S. procedures using its stents fell 13 percent in the second quarter.

Earlier, J&J posted a higher second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates. The company said the second quarter results came in better than expected because of better profit margins, lower-than-expected taxes and higher-than-expected sales. (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, writing by Lewis Krauskopf)