P&G shares slip after soft fiscal 2019 guidance
Procter & Gamble Co. shares slid 2.1% in Tuesday premarket trading after the consumer products company reported gave soft fiscal 2019 guidance. Net income totaled $1.89 billion, or 72 cents per share, down from $2.21 billion, or 82 cents per share, last year. P&G blamed the decline on “higher non-core restructuring charges and early debt extinguishment costs.” Adjusted EPS was 94 cents. Revenue totaled $16.50 billion, up from $16.08 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 90 cents and revenue of $16.52 billion. Organic sales in the grooming segment and in the baby, feminine and family care segments fell. For fiscal 2019, P&G expects sales growth in the range of in-line to 1%. Adjusted EPS is expected to grow 3% to 8%, totaling $4.45 at the midpoint of the range. GAAP earnings are expected to increase 16% to 23%. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $67.78 billion, which implies 1.4% growth, and EPS of $4.39. P&G shares are down 12.7% for the year to date while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 4.8% for the period.