Last Update: April 22, 2023, 01:47 IST
FILE – This July 9, 2015, file photo shows signage outside the corporate headquarters of Procter & Gamble Co. in downtown Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Earnings results give encouraging signs about consumer resilience ahead of next month’s reports from major retailers
Procter & Gamble Co., maker of iconic household products such as Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper, raised its annual sales outlook on Friday as a series of better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings results priced in. Hike boosted its performance.
The earnings results offer encouraging signs about consumer resilience ahead of reports next month from major retailers such as Walmart and Target in an increasingly challenging economy. P
&G executives told analysts during its earnings call Friday that US consumers are “holding up well” and that the share of private label brands, which are less expensive, held steady at 16 percent, a good sign that It is not physically seeing the shopkeepers underselling.
The Cincinnati-based retailer reported fiscal third-quarter profit of $3.4 billion, or $1.37 per share, for the period ended March 31. This compared to $3.35 billion, or $1.33 per share, for the year-ago period.
The results beat Wall Street’s expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.32 per share.
P&G raised prices across its various brands by about 10 percent in the latest quarter from a year ago, matching price increases in the previous quarter. In the latest quarter, clothing and home care prices rose by 13 percent and beauty products by 10 percent. Meanwhile, the number of products it sold globally fell 3 percent during the fiscal third quarter, but that was an improvement from a 6 percent decline in the previous quarter.
The world’s largest consumer products maker posted a 4 percent jump in revenue during the period to $20.07 billion, which also topped Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $19.3 billion. Sales had reached $19.4 billion a year earlier.
The company said it expects total sales for the current year to increase by about 1 percent compared to the prior year. Earlier sales were expected to remain unchanged below 1 percent. It also maintained its annual profit outlook.
P&G shares rose nearly 4 percent, or $5.72, to $156.57 in morning trading on Friday.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
