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Strong sales overseas helped boost Procter & Gamble earnings 7.9 percent in its latest quarter. Net income for the third quarter reached $2.71 billion, up from $2.51 billion in the same quarter last year. The company also lifted its full-year outlook.
A 9 percent increase in marketing spend from the packaged goods giant also helped boost earnings, according to Brandweek.
The successful expansion of the Fusion brand and the launch of the five-blade Venus Embrace led grooming net sales to leap 13 percent. Snacks, coffee and pet care net sales increased 11 percent, and coffee was up in the low single digits thanks to a Dunkin’ Donuts license agreement, which allows P&G to sell Dunkin’ branded packaged coffee at grocery stores.
Fabric and home care net sales climbed 10 percent.
Price increases, cost controls and strong growth in emerging markets helped offset the rising cost of oil and other commodities, writes the International Herald Tribune. The company plans to increase prices across most categories. As chief financial officer Clayton Daley pointed out, “Material and energy costs for next year are even more challenging.”
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
