P&G cost cuts help boost profit by 13.5%

Tide detergent and Gillette razors maker Procter & Gamble, which is under pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz, reported a 13.5 percent rise in third-quarter profit, benefiting from a slew of cost cuts across the board.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $2.22 billion, or 82 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30, from $1.95 billion, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

P&G, which also makes Pampers and Head & Shoulders, said net sales were flat at $16.08 billion.

Earlier this month, activist investor Nelson Peltz said he was seeking a seat on the company's board, making P&G the largest company ever to face a proxy fight. Peltz cited his frustrations with the company's lagging stock price and railing against its "suffocating bureaucracy."

(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)