CINCINNATI — Procter &Gamble’s sales fell for the sixth straight quarter as the world’s bigger consumer goods company was weighed down by softer sales volume and unfavorable currency exchange rates.
The maker of products including Tide, Pampers and Charmin said higher pricing helped offset a decline in shipment volume for its fiscal fourth quarter. That kept sales flat after stripping out the impact of currency exchange rates, acquisitions and divestitures.
For the fiscal year, higher prices also offset a decline in shipment volume, lifting sales by 1 percent when stripping out factors like exchange rates. The company said its grooming division was hurt by a “continued decline in consumer shaving incidents.” Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller said the trend was primarily a “U.S. dynamic.”
Procter &Gamble, based in Cincinnati, has been trying to boost its results by cutting costs and shrinking its portfolio of products to focus on the 10 categories where it says it’s strongest.
Earlier this week, P&G also said company veteran David Taylor will take over as CEO starting Nov. 1. Taylor, who heads its global beauty, grooming and health care division, succeeds A.G. Lafley, who had returned from retirement to serve as CEO in 2013.
For the quarter ended June 30, the company earned $521 million, or 18 cents per share.
Not including one-time items, it said it earned $1 per share, which was more than the 94 cents per share analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Total revenue fell 9 percent to $17.79 billion. That was below the $18.06 billion Wall Street expected.
For its fiscal 2016, the company expects organic sales to be flat to up by a low single-digit percentage. When factoring in exchange rates, it expects sales to be down in the low- to mid-single digit percentages.
Shares of P&G were down almost 3 percent at $78.36.
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