UPDATE 3-Avon 2nd-qtr profit more than doubles; stock soars

(Recasts, adds analyst comment)

By Brad Dorfman

CHICAGO, July 30 (Reuters) - Avon Products Inc (AVP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday quarterly profit more than doubled, beating estimates and sending its shares to a 3-year high, as increased demand for its products in Europe and Latin America offset slower U.S. sales growth.

Price increases and the weak dollar lifted revenue for the world's largest direct seller of cosmetics, and cost savings from a 3-year-old restructuring program helped counter rising commodity costs.

"They are starting to realize some of the benefits from their restructuring program and they are starting to offset some of their commodity costs," Morningstar analyst Erin Swanson said. "It was a great quarter, especially from a cost perspective."

Second-quarter profit rose to $235.6 million, or 55 cents per share, from $112.7 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.

The 2008 quarter included $13 million of restructuring charges, versus $82 million of one-time charges a year earlier for restructuring and an overhaul of the company's product line.

Excluding one-time items, Avon earned 57 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 49 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Avon is in the middle of a multiyear turnaround effort and as part of that plan, it is cutting jobs, weeding out products that are less profitable and reducing its number of suppliers.