Procter & Gamble Co on Monday posted a 44 percent rise in quarterly profit from a year earlier when it took restructuring charges, and also said it expects double-digit earnings growth for the fiscal year that began last month, sending its shares higher.
The maker of Tide laundry detergent, Head & Shoulders shampoo and scores of other household and personal-care products said that even excluding the restructuring charges, earnings rose 13 percent on increased volume across most businesses and the benefit of cost-cutting programs.
Volume was again boosted by the beauty care and health-care segments, as well as by sales in developing markets. Higher volume, in turn, helped make the company's factories operate more efficiently, increasing margins. "It sounds like the P&G train keeps chugging along, particularly relative to what we've heard this far from other consumer products companies," said Joseph Altobello, analyst at CIBC World Markets.
While P&G shares trade at a slight premium to other consumer products makers, Altobello said there is still value in the shares, and he rates the stock "sector out-performer."
The company also forecast double-digit earnings growth for 2005 on volume growth of 6 percent to 7 percent. For the first quarter, the company forecast profit of at the upper end of analysts' expectations. Analysts forecast $2.56 a share for the year, a 10 percent increase over fiscal 2004, and 70 cents a share in the quarter.
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