Health Care Should Boost P&G’s First Quarter Results

Procter & Gamble said on Wednesday that it “comfortable” with consensus earnings-per-share growth expectations for the full fiscal year. The company made no change to its forecast for volume and sales growth for fiscal 2004.

P&G also confirmed that the acquisition of Wella AG, which closed on Tuesday, is expected to have a neutral impact on earnings per share for both the first quarter and the full year.

Against a tough year-ago comparison, the Dow Jones Industrials component now expects first-quarter organic volume growth of 9-11%, reflecting with P&G called “broad-based growth across business units and geographies.” Currency translations are expected to account for 2-3% of this growth, the company said.

Health care products are setting the pace for the quarter’s volume growth, P&G said, pointing to shipments in connection with the launch of over-the-counter Prilosec, the heartburn treatment.

As for earnings per share, P&G now sees quarterly growth of about 11-13% from the prior year’s reported earnings of $1.12 per share, adjusted to excluding the impact of restructuring charges.

While leaving its full-year estimates unchanged, P&G said its first quarter performance “adds confidence that it can deliver another fiscal year of double-digit earnings-per-share growth.”

According to Reuters Research, analysts have been expecting the company to earn $1.23 a share for the quarter ending Sept. 30. For the full year, Wall Street’s consensus stands at $4.51 per share.

The Wella acquisition is expected to add to P&G’s earnings in the second year of the acquisition, the company said.