Procter & Gamble delivered sales and earnings totals April 20 for the third quarter of the company’s 2022 fiscal year, exceeding analysts’ expectations despite the challenges of higher commodity costs and soaring inflation.
The Cincinnati-based personal care products company, with manufacturing operations in Iowa City, reported $19.38 billion in global sales for the quarter, up 7% from the same period last year and higher than the $18.7 billion analysts were predicting. P&G also reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.33, up 6% from the same period in 2021 and higher than the $1.29 predicted by analysts.
Company officials said price increases for some of its products, coupled with some savings in productivity costs, helped offset the challenges the company has faced.
“We delivered another quarter with strong sales growth and made sequential earnings growth progress despite significant and increasing cost headwinds,” said P&G president and chief executive officer Jon Moeller. “These results enable us to raise our top-line growth outlook for the fiscal year and to maintain our EPS guidance range. Our focus remains on the strategies of superiority, productivity, constructive disruption and continually improving P&G’s organization and culture. These strategies have enabled us to build and sustain strong momentum. They remain the right strategies to manage through the near-term cost and operational challenges we’re facing and to deliver long-term balanced growth and value creation.”
P&G raised its overall sales growth projection slightly, from a range of 3-4% to a range of 4-5%, but said it now plans to be at the lower end of core EPS growth for the year, at 3%.