Procter & Gamble lowers its full-year profit forecast

Procter & Gamble (P&G) cut its annual profit forecast sharply on Tuesday, as the positive effect of price rises faded and the group had to take a loss on its Gillette business.

The consumer goods giant, whose products include Ariel detergents and Head & Shoulders shampoos, now expects earnings per share for fiscal 2024 to remain stable compared with 2023, or to fall by up to 1%. It had previously forecast growth of 6% to 9%.

In December, P&G had announced that it would record a $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) charge linked to an accounting write-down of the value of Gillette, which is suffering from a drop in sales due to the popularization of working from home and a stronger dollar.

In the second quarter of the current fiscal year, net sales rose by 3.2% to $21.44 billion, below the LSEG consensus of 21.48 billion euros, due to weak demand for beauty and skincare products in China.

Adjusted earnings, however, came in at $1.84 per share, beating estimates of $1.70, supporting P&G shares in pre-market trading.