P&G profit jumps 12 percent, beating forecasts

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sales of beauty products helped stabilize Procter & Gamble's revenue during the first quarter and boost profit.

Profit for the world's largest consumer products maker jumped 12 percent to $3.2 billion, or $1.22 per share. Revenue remained flat at $16.69 billion, with a 20 percent surge in beauty product sales offsetting lagging sales in other departments.

The stable sales and a gain from the dissolution of a partnership with Teva helped push overall profit higher.

Shares rose $3.92, or 4.9 percent, to $84.16 in premarket trading.

Stripping out one-time gains and costs, earnings were $1.12 per share, topping Wall Street expectations by 3 cents per share. Revenue also beat Street forecasts.

Fabric and home care products remained the company's biggest moneymaker, with a 2 percent boost in sales to $5.49 billion. Baby, feminine and family care product sales fell 3 percent to $4.39 billion.

Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its outlook for 2019 of earnings per share growth between 3 and 8 percent.

P&G shares have dropped 13 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 4 percent. The stock has dropped 14 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PG