Procter & Gamble (PG) posted stronger-than-expected first quarter earnings Wednesday but clipped its full-year sales forecast owing to currency headwinds linked to the surging U.S. dollar.
Procter & Gamble said core earnings for the three months ending in September, the group's fiscal first quarter, were pegged at $1.57 per share, a 2.5% decrease from the same period last year but 2 cents ahead of the Street consensus forecast.
Group net sales, Procter & Gamble said, nudged 1.3% higher to $20.6 billion, just ahead of analysts' estimates of a $20.33 billion tally. Organic sales were up 7%.
Looking into the group's 2023 fiscal year, P&G reiterated its forecast for core earnings growth of between flat and 4%, with organic sales will growing between 3% to 5%.
All-in sales, however, will be down between 1% and 3% this year, compared to its prior forecast of flat to 2% growth, owing in part to headwinds linked to the strength of the U.S. dollar.
“We delivered solid results in our first quarter of fiscal 2023 in a very difficult cost and operating environment,” said CEO Jon Moeller. “These results enable us to maintain our guidance ranges for organic sales and EPS growth for the fiscal year despite continued significant headwinds."
"We remain committed to our integrated strategies of a focused product portfolio, superiority, productivity, constructive disruption and an agile and accountable organization structure," he added. "These strategies have enabled us to build and sustain strong momentum. They remain the right strategies to navigate through the near-term challenges we’re facing and continue to deliver balanced growth and value creation.”
Procter & Gamble shares were marked 2.88% higher in early Wednesday trading following the earnings release to change hands at $132.20 each, a move that still leaves the stock with a six month decline of around $17.3%.
Fabric and home care sales, which include cleaning products such as Tide laundry detergent, Joy, Febreze and Cascade, rose 8% from last year on an organic basis -- which strips out currency market impacts -- while baby, feminine and family care segment sales were 6% higher from 2021 levels.
Beauty sales rose 4% from last year, the company said, while personal grooming sales, which includes skin care products, rose 5%.
