Dec 18 (Reuters) - General Mills ( GIS ) beat quarterly

sales and profit estimates on Wednesday, boosted by its efforts

to reduce prices on some products and improve demand.

The Cheerios maker posted second-quarter sales of $5.24

billion, surpassing analysts' estimates of $5.14 billion,

according to LSEG data.

While packaged food companies have struggled to boost volumes

due to last year's aggressive price hikes to combat rising input

costs, General Mills ( GIS ) has revived its volumes by implementing

sequential price cuts across product categories, from snacks to

pet food, winning back customers who had shifted to cheaper

private label brands.

Prices decreased by 1 percentage point in the quarter,

compared with a 3 percentage point rise a year earlier.

However, the company lowered its annual adjusted profit

forecast, citing increased investments, and now expects it to

fall in the range of 1% to 3%, compared with the prior range of

down 1% to up 1%.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of

$1.40 per share for the quarter ended Nov. 24, beating analysts'

estimates' of $1.22 per share, according to data compiled by

LSEG.