P&G posts biggest sales drop in 7 quarters

Procter & Gamble Co reported its biggest drop in quarterly sales in seven quarters, hurt by weak demand across product categories and a strong dollar.

The company also cut its full-year revenue growth forecast, saying it now expected the strong dollar to have a bigger impact of 5-6 percentage points than the 4-5 percentage points anticipated earlier.

P&G shares fell about 1 percent to $74.02 in premarket trading on Friday.

P&G has been focusing on more profitable brands including Gillette shaving products, Pampers diapers and Tide detergent, as it loses customers to companies such as Unilever Plc and Colgate-Palmolive Co and local rivals in markets outside North America.

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

P&G, which gets nearly two-thirds of its revenue from markets outside North America, was also hurt by a nearly 13 percent rise in the dollar against a basket of major currencies in the past year.

The net income attributable to P&G rose to $2.60 billion, or 91 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from $1.99 billion, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net sales fell 12 percent to $16.53 billion. Excluding the impact of currency, divestitures and acquisitions, sales fell 1 percent.

Excluding items, the company earned 98 cents per share.