P&G posts weak 4Q sales, raising the price of diapers

Procter & Gamble's fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell short of expectations and the world's biggest consumer products maker said it'll be raising prices on some of its most well-known brands, including Pampers.

The company said that it'll be raising prices on Pampers in North America. It's also boosting prices on Bounty, Charmin and Puffs.

Shares dropped more than 3 percent before the opening bell on Tuesday.

Prices for Americans have begun to rise, though at a rate that economists believe is healthy for the overall economy.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that the June increase in its producer price index — which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, was only 0.3 percent in June, but the 12-month gain was the fastest in more than six years.

Those costs, depending on the company, can be passed on to consumers.

On Tuesday, P&G said "core gross margin decreased 100 basis points, as 270 basis points of manufacturing cost savings were more than offset by 110 basis points of commodity and shipping cost increases," among other things.

For the three months ended June 30, P&G earned $1.89 billion, or 72 cents per share. A year earlier the Cincinnati company earned $2.22 billion, or 82 cents per share.

Stripping out one-time gains and costs, earnings were 94 cents per share. That's 4 cents better than what analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for.

Revenue rose to $16.5 billion from $16.08 billion, bolstered by a 10 percent increase in beauty segment sales. Wall Street was expecting $16.55 billion in revenue.

Procter & Gamble Co. anticipates fiscal 2019 earnings to be $4.45 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet predict $4.39 per share.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PG