Procter & Gamble sales plummet

Procter & Gamble on Friday reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and said it expected growth in organic sales in the current quarter as its turnaround efforts begin to pay off.

The company, with two plants in Iowa City, has been shrinking its portfolio to narrow its focus to more profitable brands such as Gillette shaving products, Pampers diapers and Tide detergent.

P&G reported its worst sales drop in seven quarters as demand fell further across all product categories and a strong dollar eroded sales in markets outside the United States. Net sales fell 12 percent to $16.53 billion.

'We expect second quarter organic sales growth to be positive and to further strengthen in the back half,” outgoing Chief Executive A.G. Lafley said in a statement.

Organic sales, which exclude the impact of currency, divestitures and acquisitions, fell 1 percent in the first quarter.

P&G said it expects full-year sales decline to be in 'high single digit” percent compared with 'low to mid single digit” percent anticipated earlier as the hit from a strong dollar is expected to be bigger. The Cincinnati, Ohio, company gets nearly two-thirds of its revenue from markets outside North America.

Sales in all of P&G's five product categories fell in double-digit percentage terms in the first quarter, with beauty, baby care and grooming products recording the worst drop.

Net income attributable to P&G rose nearly 31 percent to $2.60 billion, or 91 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, mainly due to cost cuts and accounting changes related to Venezuela operations.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 95 cents per share and revenue of $17.17 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.