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P&G results boost stock
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January 31, 2002: 1:23 p.m. ET
Consumer products giant's results top forecasts, stock rallies.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Procter & Gamble reported higher profits for the latest quarter Thursday, slightly ahead of Wall Street forecasts, as sales at the maker of Crest toothpaste, Ivory soap and other products rose for the first time in over a year.
Cincinnati-based P&G, which also makes Pampers diapers, Tide detergent, Folgers coffee and other consumer products, is still getting a lift from job cuts and other recent moves to cut costs.
Investors liked what they saw, and P&G (PG: up $3.52 to $81.81, Research, Estimates) stock jumped at mid-session, approaching its 52-week high of $81.72.
The company earned $1.45 billion, or $1.03 a share, excluding a restructuring charge, in its fiscal second quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $1.4 billion, or 97 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average anticipated a profit of $1.02 a share, according to earnings tracker First Call.
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CNNfn's Christine Romans takes a closer look at Procter & Gamble's earnings.
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"This is a company that's entering the sweet spot of their restructuring savings," Sanford Bernstein analyst Jim Gingrich told Reuters. "I don't think people are going to find too much to pick at about this result."
Including a $146 million restructuring charge for job cuts and other streamlining moves, P&G posted net earnings of $1.3 billion, or 93 cents a share, up from $1.2 billion, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier.
Sales rose 2 percent to $10.4 billion from $10.2 billion.
"We are seeing clear improvement in our results, and we're pleased to have met our commitments once again," CEO A.G. Lafley said in a statement.
P&G also said it's comfortable with earlier guidance for full fiscal-year earnings. Analysts are forecasting profits of $3.47 a share for the year, up from $3.25 a share a year earlier.
In recent years, the company has moved to boost sales of its core brands, cut smaller, less profitable products and slashed thousands of jobs to lower costs. P&G has been locked in a fierce price war with competitors battling for space on supermarket shelves.
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The company raised second-quarter guidance on Dec. 11, saying it anticipated results to come in 2 cents to 3 cents a share higher than forecasts, due to stronger sales of health and beauty care items. Last week, the company said it planned to cut another 1,440 jobs, mostly at its recently acquired Clairol hair care unit.
Capital spending fell $300 million, and the company said the business is tracking ahead of schedule to drive capital spending at or below 6 percent of sales.
Beauty care sales increased 13 percent in the quarter to $2.1 billion. Health care sales rose 17 percent, but food and beverage sales declined 11 percent to $1.05 billion. Baby, feminine and family care sales fell 1 percent. 
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