P & G Reports Record Earnings and Sales

CINCINNATI â€”  Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings increased 16% and that the company had record earnings and sales for the fiscal year, its last year under direction of retired Chairman Edwin Artzt.

The company said the increased profit was owed to its worldwide effort to cut costs, plus a 10% increase in volume of products shipped during the fiscal year, compared to a 6% annual increase during the prior five years.

Earnings for the quarter ended June 30 were $472 million, or 65 cents a share, compared to $406 million and 56 cents a share a year ago. Sales totaled $8.5 billion, up 13% from $7.5 billion.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1995, Procter & Gamble had record earnings of $2.65 billion, or $3.71 a share, a 20% increase from last year’s $2.2 billion, or $3.09 a share.

Sales for the fiscal year were $33.4 billion, up 10% from $30.30 billion in the previous year.

After-tax profit margins were the highest in 45 years for the consumer products company, P&G; said.

Artzt retired July 1 after five years as P&G;’s chairman and chief executive. John Pepper succeeded him, moving up from president.

The 1995 results included a $50-million charge against earnings for the Jan. 16 earthquake damage to P&G;’s plant and offices in Kobe, Japan, and a $102-million charge against the prior fiscal year’s earnings for P&G;’s losses in two interest-rate swap transactions.