Procter & Gamble (P&G)'s quarterly profit soared past expectations as the world's largest household products maker used higher prices and new products to drive sales growth, the strongest indication yet that turnaround efforts are paying off.

P&G earned $4.06 billion, or $1.39 per share, in the fiscal second quarter ended in December, up from $1.69 billion, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier.

Stripping out unusual items such as restructuring charges and acquisitions, P&G earned $1.22 per share. That topped the company's own forecast of $1.07 to $1.13 per share and analysts' average target of $1.11, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net sales rose two per cent to $22.18 billion, topping analysts' forecast of $21.91 billion.

P&G expects fiscal 2013 core earnings of $3.97 to $4.07 per share, up from an earlier forecast of $3.8 to $4. The fiscal year ends in June. Analyst estimates were at the bottom of that new range.

The results, along with improved forecasts for the fiscal year, follow months of criticism from analysts and most notably from activist investor William Ackman, who blamed P&G's top brass, led by chairman and chief executive Bob McDonald, for earlier missteps.

Shares of P&G jumped as high as $73.25 in morning trade, their highest level in all of McDonald's three-and-half years at the helm.

Still, P&G's growth lags that of peers such as Unilever. P&G's organic sales, which strip out the impact of divestitures and foreign exchange, grew 3 per cent in the latest quarter, while Unilever posted 6.9 per cent sales growth on Wednesday.-Reuters