Consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings Friday and lifted its 2017 sales forecast, due in part to strong demand for health products.

The maker of long list of products including Tide detergent and Gilette shaving products, said the strong results were due in part to cost-cutting initiatives that helped offset the drag from a strong dollar and a cut-throat pricing pressure from competitors. 

The company has struggled in recent years to grow sales against these headwinds.

P&G's strongest division was health, a business that has been boosted by premium products, such as the Oral-B electric toothbrushes, as well as other dental products. 

Sales for health were up five percent, and the gain was seven percent when foreign exchange and acquisitions and divestitures were excluded.

"We delivered good results in the second quarter in a difficult operating environment," chief executive David Taylor said.

Net earnings for the fiscal second quarter were $7.9 billion, up from $3.3 billion in the same period of the prior fiscal year, due to a large one-time gain from the sale of its beauty products to Coty.

Revenues were flat at $16.9 billion.

P&G boosted its forecasts for 2017 organic sales growth to two to three percent, up from the prior two percent estimate. Organic sales rose in all five of P&G's businesses.

The company cited higher commodity costs and further political and economic volatility as potential risks.

Shares of P&G jumped 3.6 percent $87.77 in mid-morning trading.

Source: AFP