Corrected: Kimberly-Clark profit up, trims sales outlook

DETROIT (Reuters) - Kimberly-Clark Corp posted on Friday a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit due to higher selling prices and cost cuts, but trimmed its full-year sales outlook.

The company, known for Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers, reaffirmed its profit outlook for the year.

Net income in the second quarter rose to $498 million, or $1.20 a share, compared with $403 million, or 97 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected $1.13 a share.

Sales rose 2.8 percent from a year before to $4.86 billion, but that was below the $4.95 billion analysts had expected.

Kimberly-Clark, which competes against powerhouse Procter & Gamble Co in such categories as diapers, tissues and tampons, reiterated that it expects full-year earnings per share to more likely come in toward the low end of its forecast of $4.80 to $5.00.

However, the company cut its sales outlook, saying it now expects 2010 sales to rise 3 percent to 5 percent instead of 4 percent to 6 percent.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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