CHICAGO (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co <PG.N> 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)
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