DALLAS - Kimberly Clark Corp., the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, said Thursday its profit jumped 41 percent in the second quarter because of higher prices on its products and lower commodity and energy costs.

Fears of the H1N1 flu virus also drove worldwide demand for face masks, which lifted revenue from health care products nearly 16 percent.

Kimberly-Clark, which also raised its forecast for its annual revenue and earnings, said it earned $582 million, or $1.40 per share, in the second quarter. That compares with $413 million, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.

Lower prices for raw materials like wood pulp and plastic helped offset a 2 percent revenue decline to $4.91 billion. But the stronger dollar cut Kimberly-Clark's profit by 15 cents per share.

The higher prices partially offset fewer diapers and paper products sold. Sales volume for Huggies diapers fell about 3 percent and declined 5 percent for Huggies baby wipes. In North America, volume declined in double digits for paper towels and in the mid-single digits for Kleenex facial tissue.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected to see profit, excluding one-time items, of $1.13 per share and $4.87 billion in sales.

Kimberly-Clark raised its outlook because of efforts to reduce costs, strong organic sales growth and more favorable exchange rates, which lifted shares $2.31, or 3.9 percent, to $62 in premarket trading.

For 2009, Kimberly-Clark expects to earn $4.50 to $4.60 per share, compared with an earlier forecast of $4.10 to $4.25. Analysts expect $4.26 per share. The company now says its revenue will decline 2 percent, compared with its previous expectation of a drop between 4 percent and 6 percent.

Kimberly-Clark said it will focus on cutting costs and investing in its brands for the rest of the year but warned that pulp prices have risen more than expected.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.