Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) closed out its fiscal year today with higher sales and earnings as new products helped the consumer products giant grow.
Total revenues increased 7% to $10.92 billion, with more than half of that jump stemming from currency effects. P&G's unit volume rose 5%, boosted by double-digit gains from its health-care products division.
For the quarter, P&G earned $955 million, or $0.68 a share, including restructuring costs. That's 5% ahead of the year-ago quarter's $910 million, or $0.64 a share. Not counting restructuring expenses, P&G's earnings increased 12% to $1.22 billion.
P&G continues to benefit from our obsession with white teeth. The company's Crest Whitestrips and new Crest Night Effect whitener drove the health care products' 18% unit volume growth. Sales improved 12% to $1.39 billion. P&G has been tinkering with pricing to counter Colgate-Palmolive's (NYSE:CL) Simply White brush-on gel product. Discounting impacted sales by 3%, but that was offset by currency gains.
P&G also goes head-to-head with Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) in the diapers market. Last week, Kimberly-Clark reported lower quarterly income and diaper sales volumes. Procter & Gamble's baby and family care division, on the other hand, returned 6% gains in unit sales, with Western Europe and Asia experiencing double-digit growth.
Bottom line: Procter & Gamble continues to execute and is proving itself an adept competitor. For this fiscal year, excluding restructuring items, earnings grew 14% and management looks for more double-digit earnings growth next year.
