Procter & Gamble
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Third quarter (ended March 31) sales were ahead 1.2% to $7.44 bil., the company announced April 27. Pretax profit increased 20% reflecting "our cost reduction programs along with solid unit volume gains in the U.S. and a continued double-digit volume growth rate in our international operations," the firm said. Excluding the impact of unusual terms -- a $102 mil. loss related to the close-out of two interest rate swap contracts during the recent three months and charges of $200 mil. and $925 mil. for the divestiture of P&G's juice business and changes in accounting standards, respectively, taken last year -- net earnings were up 16.3% to $584 mil. Including extraordinary items, net earnings fell 4% to $482 mil. A shareholder lawsuit related to the derivatives loss was filed April 26 in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in Ohio. The suit names several P&G executives. P&G announced the derivatives charge April 12 ("The Rose Sheet" April 18, in Brief)