NBTY profit falls 11.1 percent

Nutritional-supplement maker and retailer NBTY Inc. said Friday that its net income fell 11.1 percent in its fiscal third quarter, hampered by an increase in advertising costs, but still beat Wall Street estimates.

Profit for the three months ended June 30 was $45.5 million, or 72 cents per share, compared with $51.2 million, or 74 cents per share, for the same period last year.

Net sales rose 6.2 percent to $534.5 million compared with $503.4 million last year, falling short of analysts' expectations.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast, on average, an income of 70 cents per share on sales of $537.4 million.

The Ronkonkoma, N.Y-based company said that its increased sales were offset by higher costs for advertising, selling and administrative costs.

The stock closed at $33.04 Thursday. Shares have traded in a range from $20.85 to $46.67 in the last 52 weeks.