April 24 (Reuters) - Masco ( MAS ) missed Wall Street

expectations for first-quarter sales on Wednesday, hurt by weak

demand for its products in North America, China and Europe.

Share of the company, which makes home building products,

was down about 4% in early trading as it also maintained its

annual forecasts, despite price hikes.

"We haven't really seen a restoration of volumes," CEO Keith

Allman said on a post earnings call.

The company's volumes fell 4%, while pricing was up 1% in

the quarter ended March 31.

North American sales in the first quarter fell 2% and

international sales decreased 5%, dented by soft demand in key

markets of Europe and China.

The Behr paint maker also said it now expects sales to be

slightly down in the first half of the year, with modest growth

expected in the back half of the year.

Masco's ( MAS ) first-quarter gross margin grew 180 basis points to

35.6%.

The company posted an adjusted profit of 93 cents per share

for the quarter ended March. 31, compared with analysts' average

estimate of 88 cents per share, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by

Shinjini Ganguli)