P&G’s Q3: Negative Pricing, ‘Change In Tone’ Have Analysts Spooked

20 Apr 2018

Firm’s slowing organic growth and negative pricing impacts in the third quarter reflect much-talked-about pressures in health and beauty care. However, the scope of the challenges is becoming clearer, and analysts are questioning whether P&G’s “not business as usual” response will be enough.

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“This is not business-as-usual P&G,” Procter & Gamble Co. leadership vowed repeatedly April 19, but what lingers after the firm’s fiscal 2018 third-quarter earnings call aren’t management’s reassurances as much as the poignant questions raised by analysts.

The Cincinnati-based consumer goods giant posted $16.3bn in net third-quarter sales, an increase of 4% compared with the prior-year period,...