Procter & Gamble's skin, fabric care brands drive sales beat

[January 23, 2019]    (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co's <PG.N> quarterly revenue and profit topped Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, driven by price increases and robust demand for fabric care products and premium skin care brands.

Shares of the world's largest fast-moving consumer goods maker rose 3 percent in early trading after the company also raised the high end of its full-year forecast for core sales growth by 1 percent.

To counter stiff competition from private-label brands and direct-to-consumer start-ups, P&G has been investing more in its beauty and feminine care products, while raising prices to offset higher raw material and transportation costs.

Organic sales for the second quarter, which exclude items like acquisitions and currency effects, rose 4 percent. Analysts on average were expecting growth of 2.40 percent.

Fabric and home care business, which includes brands such as Tide and Ariel, rose 2 percent to $5.56 billion, beating analysts' estimate of $5.41 billion. The business is P&G's biggest contributor to sales.

P&G said net income attributable to the company rose to $3.19 billion, or $1.22 per share, in the second quarter ended Dec. 31 from $2.50 billion, or 93 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.25 per share, beating analysts' estimate of $1.21 per share.

Net sales rose marginally to $17.44 billion, beating analysts' average estimate of $17.15 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

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