July 23 (Reuters) - Kleenex tissue maker Kimberly-Clark ( KMB )

on Tuesday raised its forecast for full-year profit

after beating Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit,

betting on higher prices and steady demand for its personal care

products.

Demand for Kimberly-Clark's ( KMB ) products including those for

skin health and hygiene held steady, as consumers grappling with

rising costs of living prioritized shopping for essentials and

helped in lifting its volumes.

The company continues to see resilient purchase patterns and

healthy volumes in its product categories without a lot of trade

down, said Chris Jakubik, head of Kimberly Clark's ( KMB ) investor

relations told Reuters.

Increased innovation in products and supply improvements

helped Kimberly-Clark ( KMB ) in lifting volumes by 3% in its personal

care business, a major revenue contributor, which dropped 3%

last year.

The company's overall volumes rose 1% in the quarter, while

its prices were up 2%.

For the full-year the company expects earnings per share to

grow at a mid-to-high teens percentage rate, up from the

previously expected low-teens percentage rate.

Benefits from increasing its prices to 6% in its personal

care business coupled with an 8% growth in organic sales helped

offset higher input costs such as manufacturing and supply-chain

related investments and expand its margins by 290 basis points

to 36.9%

On an adjusted basis, the Huggies diaper maker's profit of

$1.96 per share for the quarter ended June 30, topped analysts'

estimates of $1.71 per share, as per LSEG data.

However, due to retailer inventory reductions in North

America, its major revenue generating region, the company

maintained its annual organic sales forecast and posted

quarterly sales of $5.03 billion, missing analysts' estimates of

$5.10 billion.

It continues to project annual organic sales to grow at a

mid-single digit rate.