Procter & Gamble Is on a Roll in Europe

Suddenly, price-cutting is a noble pursuit in the view of at least one analyst. Procter & Gamble’s increased “competitive intensity” is boosting the world’s largest consumer-goods company’s market share in Europe at the expense of rivals such as Unilever, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

P&G gained share in 9 out of 13 product categories in Europe over the last 24 weeks, according to Andrew Wood an analyst with Bernstein. Unilever lost share in 6 of the 10 categories where it competes with the Cincinnati-based company, the brokerage’s research showed.

P&G said in September last year it would cut prices of products such as Tide laundry detergent and expand in emerging markets to appeal to price-conscious shoppers. P&G’s “competitive intensity” hasn’t waned, Wood said.

“P&G is gaining share more rapidly and in more categories than before, while Unilever seems to have suffered most,” the analyst wrote in the report.

Reckitt Benckiser, L’Oreal SA and Beiersdorf AG are also in the firing line, the analyst said. Reckitt, the maker of Lysol cleaners, lost market share in four of the five categories where it competes with P&G, although the rate of decline improved, Wood said.

L’Oreal’s share fell in four of the six groups where it has P&G as a competitor, while Beiersdorf, the maker of Nivea skin cream, lost share in all six competing categories, Wood said.