The Procter & Gamble Company (PG) Earnings: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter yesterday, and there was a lot to like in the company’s results. But P&G also delivered some bad news to investors. And there were a few tidbits in the report that were downright ugly.

Here’s how things shook out for the company’s latest results.

The good
The best news for P&G shareholders came in the form of strong profits. Earnings were up 7%, as P&G’s cost-cutting program continued to pay dividends. Better yet, the company’s sales growth came mostly from volume increases rather than price boosts, flipping the trend from past quarters. And P&G also managed to claw back more of the market share it had lost, with gains in over two-thirds of its business in the U.S., and over 50%, companywide.

The bad
Unfortunately, those sales gains were below the market’s expectations, and at the low end of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s own guidance. The company reported just 3% revenue growth for the quarter, meaning that it won’t have the blockbuster end to its fiscal year that it had hoped for.

By comparison, rival Unilever N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:UN) managed to grow sales by 5% last quarter on a better than 8% rise in its personal care business. P&G had been aiming for its new product pipeline to drive bigger revenue gains, but that hasn’t happened.

The ugly
The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG)’s worst-performing business was its beauty segment. Sales fell by 1%, as rivals turned up their level of promotions and succeeded in fending off P&G’s competitive attacks. The Olay skin care line continued its struggles, and new hair care product introductions from Vidal Sassoon and Pantene just weren’t strong enough to spark sales growth.