Procter & Gamble Co. lowered the high end of its profit forecast for the year, as it does what it can to trim costs and increases some prices to offset rising costs for materials.
Earnings rose, but fell short of Wall Street's expectations in the latest quarter.
P&G earned $2.87-billion, or 96 cents per share, in the third quarter ended in March from $2.59-billion, or 83 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected 97 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales rose 5 per cent to $20.23-billion.
P&G said it now expected fiscal-year core earnings, which exclude some items, of $3.91 to $3.96 per share. The high end of that forecast previously was $4.01.
The company now expects sales to increase 4 per cent to 5 per cent, compared with a January forecast of 3 per cent to 5 per cent growth.