Procter & Gamble recorded a decline in net beauty sales, part of an overall 3 percent decrease for the overall group in the fourth quarter.
Beauty net sales were down 5 percent to $2.75 billion, while grooming sales were up 1 percent to $1.7 billion year-over-year. Organic beauty sales were up 1 percent, driven by pricing benefits and higher organic volume, P&G said. SK-II drove sales, which was partially offset by lower sales of Olay. In hair care, growth in Pantene and Head & Shoulders was offset by declines in other brands, which P&G said was from competition.
P&G’s net sales for the fourth quarter totaled $16.1 billion, a 3 percent decline from the year-ago period. Full year net sales were $65.3 billion, an 8 percent decrease. P&G said that number includes a 6 percent impact from foreign exchange and two percent impact from Venezuela and minor brand divestitures. Diluted net earnings per share were 69 cents, an increase of 283 percent because the prior-year included the Venezuelan deconsolidation.
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For the full fiscal year, net beauty sales declined 9 percent year-over-year, bringing in about $11.5 billion. Full-year grooming net sales also declined – dropping 8 percent to $6.8 billion. Diluted net earnings per share for the full year were $3.69, a 51 percent increase from the prior year.
P&G projects organic sales growth of 2 percent for fiscal 2017. The company said that headwinds from foreign exchange and minor brand divestitures are expected to reduce sales growth by about one percentage point. Earnings per share are expected to increase 45 percent to 55 percent compared with the prior-year.
“The fourth quarter was another period of progress driving P&G’s results to a balance of strong top-line growth, bottom-line growth and cash generation,” said chairman, president and chief executive officer David Taylor. “We grew organic volume and sales in all reporting segments. We increased investments in innovation and advertising, funded by strong productivity improvement. Looking forward, we’re committed to continued productivity improvement and cost savings that provide the fuel for innovation and investments needed to accelerate and sustain faster top-line growth. We expect fiscal 2017 to mark another significant step toward our goal of balanced growth and value creation and total shareholder return in the top third of our competitive peer group.”