Procter Gamble & profit drops 48% in fiscal Q4

Procter Gamble & reported that its net profit fell 48% in the fourth fiscal quarter, ended June 30, to $ 1.88 billion (US $ 0.64 per share), compared with profit of $ 3.63 billion (US $ 1.24 per share) in the same period last year. Excluding extraordinary items as restructuring, adjusted earnings fell to US $ 0.79 per share in the quarter, compared with profit of $ 0.82 per share a year earlier.
The company's revenues, however, advanced 2.2 per cent to $ 20,66 billion. The gross margin of Procter Gamble & shrank to 47.5%, 48.1%. At 8:28 (), P&G's shares rose 0.93% in pre-market on New York. The company has advanced 18% this year.
For the fiscal year of 2014, the company expects earnings per share to rise between 5% and 7%, with revenue increase between 1% and 2%, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predict increases in profit and revenue of 7% and 3%, respectively. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.