The maker of Pampers diapers said fourth quarter profits totaled $2.51 billion, or 84 cents a share, up from $2.185 billion in the same three months last year, slightly above expectations.

Analysts had expected profits of 82 cents a share.

P&G forecast that its earnings per share for the July-September period would be between $1.00-1.04 per share, citing”commodity cost increases, which will not yet be fully offset by pricing.”

The forecast was sharply lower than the $1.14 per share predicted by analysts and comes at a time when weak US economic data has investors doubting whether companies can make their forecasts in the second half of 2011.

P&G’s shares were down 0.8% in pre-market trading following the release of the earnings report.

The company said its revenues in the April-June period totaled $20.86 billion, up 10% from last year and above analysts’ consensus forecast of $20.63 billion. Excluding the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign exchange, P&G said that revenues grew 5%.

“We are pleased with the strong top- and bottom-line performance in the quarter,” P&G Chairman and CEO Bob McDonald said in a statement. “We delivered organic sales growth of 5% and earnings per share growth of 18% in a challenging environment, driven by our ongoing commitment to make a difference in the everyday lives of the world’s consumers.”