Shares of Procter & Gamble Co. rose in morning trading after it posted better-than-expected sales and profits for the fourth quarter, thanks to price-raising programs and favorable foreign exchange rates.
The maker of Tide, Pampers and Fusion razors said profits advanced by 33 percent, to $3 billion, or 92 cents per share, from almost $2.3 billion, or 67 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. That figure includes a 12 cents per-share tax benefit from adjustments to its global tax reserves.
Excluding that benefit, P&G earned 80 cents per share, above the 78 cents that was projected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Sales in the quarter rose to $21.3 billion from $19.3 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $21.05 billion. Organic sales, which do not include acquisitions and divestitures, rose 5 percent.
Shares in P&G (NYSE: PG) rose $1.34 in morning trading, to $67.16.
“We’re leading innovations across the brand portfolio, building value for consumers and customers which is critical to delivering good results in a difficult economic environment,” CEO A.G. Lafley said in a press release. “The strength of the portfolio and our focus on innovation and productivity give us confidence that we will continue to deliver sustained growth in the coming year and beyond.”
For the fiscal year, sales rose 9 percent to $83.5 billion, from $76.5 billion a year ago. Profits increased 17 percent, to $12.1 billion from $10.3 billion. On a per-share basis, that comes out to $3.86 from $3.22.
P&G has been systematically raising prices on targeted products across the globe in an ongoing strategy to offset climbing plastics and energy costs. Price increases added 3 percent to sales gains in the quarter, for instance.
P&G also benefited from foreign exchange rates, which contributed 6 percent to sales growth, as well as double-digit growth in emerging markets like China, Brazil, Russia and India.
Those efforts helped reduce damage to the gross margin to 1.6 percent from 3 percent, to 49.2 percent in the quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses slipped by 2.1 percent, to 31.1 percent of net sales.
P&G does not expect to get a break on those rising expenses in 2009. It projects commodity and energy costs to rise $3 billion in the next fiscal year, over 2008. This will eat into gross margin by as much as 0.75 percent to 1.25 percent.
Looking further into 2009, P&G projects earnings of $3.80 to $3.87 per share, lifting the upper end by 2 cents. It sees sales increasing by 5 percent to 7 percent, to an estimated $87.7 to $89.4 billion. Analysts project a profit $3.85, on sales of $88.4 billion.
For the July-September quarter, P&G said it expects per-share earnings of 98 cents to $1, on sales of $21.7 to $22.3 billion. Analysts are expecting earnings of $1 a share on sales of $21.7 billion.
The maker of Tide, Pampers and Fusion razors said profits advanced by 33 percent, to $3 billion, or 92 cents per share, from almost $2.3 billion, or 67 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. That figure includes a 12 cents per-share tax benefit from adjustments to its global tax reserves.
Excluding that benefit, P&G earned 80 cents per share, above the 78 cents that was projected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Sales in the quarter rose to $21.3 billion from $19.3 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $21.05 billion. Organic sales, which do not include acquisitions and divestitures, rose 5 percent.
Shares in P&G (NYSE: PG) rose $1.34 in morning trading, to $67.16.
“We’re leading innovations across the brand portfolio, building value for consumers and customers which is critical to delivering good results in a difficult economic environment,” CEO A.G. Lafley said in a press release. “The strength of the portfolio and our focus on innovation and productivity give us confidence that we will continue to deliver sustained growth in the coming year and beyond.”
For the fiscal year, sales rose 9 percent to $83.5 billion, from $76.5 billion a year ago. Profits increased 17 percent, to $12.1 billion from $10.3 billion. On a per-share basis, that comes out to $3.86 from $3.22.
P&G has been systematically raising prices on targeted products across the globe in an ongoing strategy to offset climbing plastics and energy costs. Price increases added 3 percent to sales gains in the quarter, for instance.
P&G also benefited from foreign exchange rates, which contributed 6 percent to sales growth, as well as double-digit growth in emerging markets like China, Brazil, Russia and India.
Those efforts helped reduce damage to the gross margin to 1.6 percent from 3 percent, to 49.2 percent in the quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses slipped by 2.1 percent, to 31.1 percent of net sales.
P&G does not expect to get a break on those rising expenses in 2009. It projects commodity and energy costs to rise $3 billion in the next fiscal year, over 2008. This will eat into gross margin by as much as 0.75 percent to 1.25 percent.
Looking further into 2009, P&G projects earnings of $3.80 to $3.87 per share, lifting the upper end by 2 cents. It sees sales increasing by 5 percent to 7 percent, to an estimated $87.7 to $89.4 billion. Analysts project a profit $3.85, on sales of $88.4 billion.
For the July-September quarter, P&G said it expects per-share earnings of 98 cents to $1, on sales of $21.7 to $22.3 billion. Analysts are expecting earnings of $1 a share on sales of $21.7 billion.
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