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Empresas y finanzas

P&G sales fall for sixth straight quarter as strong dollar hurts


    By Yashaswini Swamynathan

    (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co , the world's largest consumer products maker, reported the sixth straight fall in its quarterly sales, hurt by a stronger dollar.

    Shares of the maker of Pampers diapers and Tide detergent fell as much as 4 percent on Thursday.

    The company, which gets about two-thirds of its sales from markets outside the United States, has been hurt by a 20 percent rise in the dollar in the past year.

    P&G has been raising prices to offset the impact of a strong dollar, but this has resulted in customers turning to cheaper local alternatives.

    The company has also been streamlining its business, nearly halving the number of its brands from over 100 as it focuses on faster-growing brands. It named David Taylor as its new chief executive this week.

    However, analysts have raised concerns that the company's focus brands are yet to show any significant improvement.

    Quarterly sales volumes fell 1-4 percent in grooming products, baby, feminine and family care products and health care products business - three of the four product segments the company is focusing on.

    Volumes in the fourth focus segment - fabric and home care - rose just 1 percent in the fourth quarter.

    This was not the "finish" investors expected, UBS analysts said in a note.

    Peer Colgate-Palmolive Co reported its fourth straight quarter of falling sales on Thursday and said the strong dollar was the main reason for the decline.

    Net income attributable to P&G fell 80 percent to $521 million, or 18 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30 as it took a $2.03 billion charge related to an accounting method change in Venezuelan operations.

    Excluding items, P&G earned $1 per share.

    Total revenue fell 9.2 percent to $17.79 billion.

    Analysts on average had expected a profit of 95 cents per share and revenue of $17.98 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    P&G shares were down 3.5 percent at $77.78 in noon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

    (Editing by Simon Jennings and Kirti Pandey)