By Erin Zureick

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co, which is being acquired by Mars Inc, posted better-than-expected profit, boosted by price increases, improved margins and a weak U.S. dollar that helped increase sales.

The Chicago-based company said on Monday that net income for the second quarter rose to $193.8 million, or 70 cents a share, compared with $169.8 million, or 61 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time charges related to the proposed merger with Mars, Wrigley said profit was 74 cents per share. Analysts on average forecast earnings of 68 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Second-quarter revenue rose 14 percent to $1.57 billion from $1.38 billion a year ago, with the currency benefit accounting for more than half of the increase, Wrigley said.

The dollar's weakness against many foreign currencies helped Wrigley's performance when its international sales were converted to U.S. currency for inclusion on the company's income statement.

"I think overall from a sales perspective it was more or less in line with what I expected. You're seeing continued strength in Eastern Europe and Asia," said Morningstar analyst Mitch Corwin, adding that Wrigley's gross-margin improvement was the biggest surprise to him.

Consolidated gross margins for the quarter ended June 30, were 54.9 percent, up from 53.2 percent a year ago, with Wrigley attributing the improvement mainly to price increases and improved efficiencies.

Wrigley, the maker of Big Red and Eclipse chewing gum and Altoids mints, is being bought by M&M candy maker Mars in a $23 billion deal to create the world's largest confectionary company.