Procter & Gamble beats sales estimates on price hikes

PROCTER & Gamble beat estimates for quarterly sales and profit on Wednesday (Oct 19), helped by price hikes on everything from Head & Shoulders shampoo to Tide detergent, even as a stronger dollar weighed on its revenue from overseas markets.

Demand for household consumer goods has so far fallen at a slower pace than discretionary products like apparel and electronics, as consumers prioritise spending on essential items.

However, with inflation stubbornly stuck at a 40-year high, some retailers, worried that they may not be able to clear overstocked shelves, are starting to push back on price hikes from P&G and other companies.

P&G said average prices across its product lines rose 9 per cent in the first quarter ended Sept 30, while sales volumes fell 3 per cent.

The consumer goods giant, which gets more than half of its revenue from international markets, said a strengthening greenback would eat into annual sales by 6 percentage points, compared with a previous forecast of 3 percentage point hit.

The company said it was expecting fiscal 2023 sales to fall 1 per cent to 3 per cent, compared with its previous forecast of flat to 2 per cent growth. It also said its full-year earnings would come in at the low-end of its previous guidance of flat to 4 per cent growth.

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On an adjusted basis, the Tide detergent maker earned US$1.57 per share on net sales of US$20.61 billion. Analysts had estimated earnings of US$1.54 per share on sales of $20.28 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. REUTERS