P&G profit and sales beat Wall Street estimates

Procter & Gamble Co , maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, on Friday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and profit and raised its fiscal 2017 forecast for organic sales growth.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based P&G said its core earnings per share, which excludes restructuring charges and other items, was $1.08, in the second quarter ended Dec. 31. Analysts expected a profit of $1.06 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales of $16.85 billion came in ahead of Wall Street estimates of $16.77 billion.

The company raised its organic sales growth forecast to a range of two to three percent, from about two percent for fiscal 2017.

(Reporting by Aravind K in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh)