Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly operating profit but revenue rose at slower pace than Wall Street expected.

Motorola, which has agreed to be bought by Google Inc , said it sold 4.8 million smartphones in the quarter, compared with the average forecast of 4.95 million by four analysts contacted by Reuters.

The company's 20 percent growth in mobile devices was driven by strong growth in international markets, Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said in a statement.

He said the company is continuing to make progress to close its acquisition by Google.

Including less advanced phones Motorola's total phone shipments were 11.6 million. It shipped about 100,000 Xoom tablets, the company said.

It reported a net loss of $32 million, or 11 cents per basic share, compared with a loss of $34 million, or 12 cents per basic share, in the year-ago quarter before Motorola Mobility became an independent company.

Excluding certain items it earned 12 cents per share, double Wall Street expectations of 6 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose to $3.26 billion from $2.95 billion, compared with Wall Street expectations for $3.37 billion.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Andre Grenon and Richard Chang)

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