Procter & Gamble Net Profit Falls; Shares Slide

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Procter & Gamble(PG) were falling in premarket trading Friday after the consumer-products maker's third-quarter earnings fell from the previous year, although they topped analysts' estimates.

P&G reported third-quarter earnings of $2.4 billion, or 82 cents a share, down from year-earlier earnings of $2.9 billion, or 96 cents. The latest quarter included restructuring-related charges of 13 cents a share.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 93 cents a share.

In the fiscal third quarter, Procter & Gamble's sales increased 2% to $20.2 billion.

For the fourth quarter, earnings per share are expected to be between $1.21 and $1.32 due to an anticipated gain of between 47 and 50 cents on the company's sale of its snacks business to Kellogg(K) .

Shares of Procter & Gamble dropped 1.97% in premarket trading Friday to $65.55. The stock is up 0.24% year to date.

-- Written by Alexandra Zendrian

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