Procter & Gamble Co. raised its sales outlook for its current fiscal year as price hikes helped offset a stubborn round of higher costs.
Sales in the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $21 billion—above the $20.3 billion average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. For the closely watched metric of organic revenue growth, which strips out some items, P&G now expects full-year organic sales growth of 4% to 5%, compared with an earlier projection of 2% to 4% growth, the household-goods giant said in a statement Wednesday.
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Consumers have so far reacted to price hikes better than in the past, Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said. That’s helped P&G cope with rising costs related to commodities, freight and foreign currency. The maker of Tide detergent and Downy fabric softener said its fiscal 2022 outlook now includes $2.8 billion in combined headwinds, up from $2.4 billion projected in November.
“We have offerings for the consumer at different price points,” Schulten said on a call with analysts. “In that sense, I think we are set up well from a starting point to deal with inflation and related pricing.”
Shares of Cincinnati-based P&G rose 4.1% at 9:51 a.m. in New York. The stock had risen 17% in the 12 months through Tuesday, reaching an all-time high earlier this year.
