From DOWJONES:

"Stripping out acquisitions, disposals and currency movements, second-quarter sales grew 3.4%, after a 4.1% rise in the previous quarter and ahead of analysts' estimates of 2.7% growth. This measure of sales is closely watched because it's a directly comparable measure of how the company's products are selling.

The sales rise was wholly a result of a 3.6% increase in volumes rather than any price hikes, after a 2% volume rise in the previous three months.

New Chief Executive Paul Polman identified volume growth as his key focus for the group when he joined earlier this year, and the company said Thursday all regions and categories showed positive volumes.

Chief Financial Officer Jim Lawrence said he expects volumes to continue to grow in the fourth quarter. "There's nothing slowing our underlying momentum.

The volume figure compares favorably with rival Procter & Gamble Co (PG), which saw its volumes fall 3% in its latest quarter.

"We are on track towards our objective of restoring volume growth while protecting margins and cash flow for the year as a whole," said CEO Polman.

Operating margin was up 0.7 percentage points in the period. The company said earlier this year its margins would return to growth in the second half as commodity prices fall from their record high levels of last year.