No. 1 toy maker Mattel Inc reported a lower quarterly profit on Friday, as a weak economic environment pulled down sales of Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price toys.

The maker of Hot Wheels cars said net profit fell to $229.8 million, or 63 cents a share, in the third quarter ended September 30, from $238.1 million, or 65 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 63 cents a share, before special items, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Mattel -- which also makes action figures and toys based on Walt Disney movies -- saw net sales fall 8 percent to $1.79 billion, with international sales down 14 percent and sales in the United States down 2 percent.

Worldwide gross sales for Barbie fell 8 percent.

Shares of the company, which moved its stock exchange listing to the Nasdaq last month, had closed at $19.58 Thursday.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore)