Procter Gamble lowered the high end of its profit forecast for the year after posting a profit that fell a penny short of analysts’ average estimate. Colgate said that rising costs hurt its profit margins in its last quarter but that the income still met forecasts.
Procter Gamble, the world’s largest maker of household goods, now expects its costs to rise about three times as much at it had at the start of the year, with increases in diesel, resin and other materials, the chief financial officer, Jon R. Moeller, said.
Procter has implemented or announced increases across brands representing about 50 percent of United States sales but is not raising prices as much as it did in 2008, the chief executive, Robert A. McDonald, said.
Procter Gamble earned $2.87 billion, or 96 cents a share, up from $2.59 billion, or 83 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue in the period, which ended March 31 and was the third quarter of the company’s fiscal year, rose to $20.23 billion from $19.18 billion.
Stock in Procter, which is based in Cincinnati, rose 48 cents, to $64.50 a share.
Colgate, which was reporting results for its first quarter, said it earned $576 million, or $1.16 a share, up from $3.57 million, or 69 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $3.99 billion from $3.83 billion.
Excluding one-time items from the year-earlier period, its net income was down 8 percent.
The chief executive, Ian M. Cook, said Colgate raised prices in many categories and in all its markets, and will keep doing so, but he declined to provide details.
Stock in Colgate, which is based in New York, rose $1.91, to $82.97 a share.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=80cbec7ca94aa75f6c6c1ab755baa6c2
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