April 30 (Reuters) - Amcor ( AMCCF ) lifted the

lower end of its prior annual profit forecast range on Tuesday,

betting on higher pricing for its containers and cartons as well

as easing input costs.

Packaging companies including Packaging Corp of America ( PKG )

and International Paper ( IP ) have been increasing

product prices steadily over the past few years in a bid to

protect margins.

The company, which provides consumer packaged goods to

companies such as Cadbury maker Mondelez International,

is also seeing raw material costs ease from their peaks, helping

it boost its profit.

It now expects adjusted earnings per share between 68.5

cents and 71 cents, compared with its previous forecast of a

profit of 67 cents to 71 cents per share.

Adjusted earnings per share rose to 17.8 cents, from 17.5

cents per share year ago.

However, the company posted downbeat quarterly sales, hurt

by consumer goods companies trimming their inventories amid a

challenging macroeconomic environment, impacting Amcor's ( AMCCF )

volumes.

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 fell 7% to $3.41

billion from the year-ago period. The average analysts' estimate

according to LSEG data was $3.50 billion.