- Third-quarter sales missed estimates and volumes were flat
- Company says productivity gains are bolstering profitability
Procter & Gamble Co. sank on Friday after the maker of Pampers diapers and Dawn dish soap reported quarterly sales that fell short of Wall Street estimates, overshadowing an improved profit outlook.
Organic sales, which strip out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign-exchange impacts, increased 3% in the quarter ended March 31, below the 3.7% that that analysts had projected. Shipment volumes were little changed from a year earlier.
“We have headwinds,” Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said in an interview. He listed currency volatility, ongoing weakness in China and the company’s SK-II beauty brand as challenges.
P&G shares fell 0.8% at 10:39 a.m. in New York trading Friday. The stock had advanced 7.3% this year through Thursday’s close, outpacing the 5.1% gain of the S&P 500 Index.