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Oct 29, 2009
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P&G, Colgate quarterly results top expectations

By
Reuters
Published
Oct 29, 2009

By Jessica Wohl

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) and Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL.N) posted higher-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings on Thursday 29 October, as efforts to lure consumers back to their brand-name household goods start to pay off.


Procter & Gamble

Shares of P&G, which also raised its fiscal-year sales forecast, rose 3.4 percent in premarket trading. Colgate stock fell 0.9 percent.

The companies, which both make toothpaste, toothbrushes and a variety of other household goods, have been pressured for months as shoppers sought out cheaper products.

P&G still appears to be facing more pressure than Colgate, as its larger pantry of brands includes pricey products such as perfume and cosmetics. Colgate's lineup is largely composed of staples such as soap and cleansers.

Sales fell 6 percent at P&G, with declines in every category and the volume of goods sold down 3 percent. At Colgate, sales increased 0.25 percent, and volume rose 1.5 percent.

P&G posted a profit 7 cents per share ahead of analysts' forecasts and said it had modestly higher expectations for industry growth.

Colgate beat profit expectations by a penny per share, aided by new products and price increases.

P&G, the world's largest household products maker, said organic sales, which exclude the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, should rise 2 percent to 4 percent in the fiscal year ending in June. It previously had forecast growth of 1 percent to 3 percent.

The company also raised the low end of its full-year earnings forecast to $4.02 per share from $3.99, while keeping the high end at $4.12. Analysts are calling for $4.10, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Colgate should benefit from easing raw material and packaging costs, along with cost-cutting efforts and previously implemented price increases, Chief Executive Officer Ian Cook said in a statement.

He said the company was comfortable with analysts' profit expectations for the fourth quarter and the year. They expect Colgate to earn $1.15 per share in the fourth quarter, leading to a 2009 profit of $4.29 per share.

Colgate also said it expected to post another year of double-digit growth in earnings per share in 2010.

Through Wednesday 28 October, P&G shares had dropped 7.4 percent this year, while Colgate had jumped 13.3 percent.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Lisa Von Ahn)

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