Update at 9:45 am EST
Procter & Gamble (PG) posted better-than-expected second quarter earnings Wednesday, while boosting its full-year sales forecast, as the consumer brands group said it's making 'significant' progress in offsetting higher freight and commodity costs.
Procter & Gamble said core earnings for the three months ending in December, the group's fiscal second quarter, were pegged at $1.66 per share, a 1.2% increase from the same period last year and 1 penny ahead of the Street consensus forecast. Group net sales, Procter & Gamble said, rose 6% to $21 billion, firmly ahead of analysts' estimates of a $20.34 billion tally.
For the current fiscal year, P&G increased its sales growth forecast of between 4% to 5% from a previous range of between 2% and 4%, and confirmed that its sees core earnings growing between 3% and 6% from the 2021 tally of $5.66 per share.
“We delivered very strong top-line growth and made sequential progress on earnings in the face of significant cost headwinds,” said CEO Jon Moeller. “These results keep us on track to deliver our earnings outlook and to raise estimates for sales growth, cash productivity and cash return to shareowners."
"Our focus remains on the strategies of superiority, productivity, constructive disruption and continually improving P&G’s organization structure and culture," he added. "These strategies have enabled us to build and sustain strong momentum. They remain the right strategies to deliver balanced growth and value creation.”
Dow component Procter & Gamble shares were marked 4.25% higher in early trading immediately following the earnings release to change hands at $163.50 each, a move that would extend the stock's six-month gain to around 17% and value the Cincinnati, Ohio-based brands giant at around $395 billion.
