Today we reported results for the first quarter of P&G’s 2021 fiscal year.
“We delivered another strong quarter of organic sales growth, core earnings per share and cash returned to shareowners, enabling us to increase our outlook for fiscal year results. Our near-term priorities continue to be employee health and safety, maximizing availability of P&G products for consumers around the world, and helping society meet the challenges of the COVID crisis. We remain firmly focused on executing our strategies of superiority, productivity, constructive disruption and improving P&G’s organization and culture to deliver balanced top-line and bottom-line growth along with strong cash generation.”
-David Taylor, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Q1 organic sales increased more than 9%, on seven points of volume growth and against a strong 7% base period comparison.
We built strong momentum leading up to the COVID crisis, with 6% organic sales growth in calendar year 2019.
We maintained 6% growth in the first half of calendar 2020, overcoming significant challenges, including the lockdown in China, closure of certain channels, operational challenges, and in some categories, where we significantly increased production to serve heightened consumer cleaning, health and hygiene needs.
Our strong momentum and broad-based growth reflects the underlying strength of our brands and the appropriateness of the strategy which is driving our business.
Core earnings per share were up 19% -- up 22% on a currency-neutral basis. And we returned $4 billion dollars of value to shareowners - about $2 billion dollars of dividends paid and $2 billion of P&G stock repurchased.
In summary, it was a very strong start to the fiscal year as we continue to execute winning strategies: a portfolio in daily use categories where performance drives brand choice; superiority in products, packages, consumer communication, retail execution and value; productivity in all areas of cost and cash; constructive disruption in all facets of the operation; and improved organization focus, agility and accountability – and as we work to ensure employee health and safety, maximize product availability and help society overcome the challenges of the COVID crisis.
You can read the full details in today’s news release. Slides with more detail and the webcast replay of earnings results are available at www.pginvestor.com/event. And you can learn more about P&G’s robust COVID-19 response at www.pg.com/covid19.
See www.pginvestor.com/event for P&G's full Q1 FY 2021 earnings release issued October 20, 2020, the associated webcast presentation, definitions of non-GAAP measures and reconciliation to the most closely related GAAP measure, as well as cautionary information on forward-looking statements, which are based on current assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially.
