CINCINNATI–Sales in Procter & Gamble’s grooming-products unit, which includes the company’s Gillette and Braun products, rose 11 percent to $8.3 billion in the company’s 2008 fiscal year, which ended June 30.
The sales increase was due to a volume rise of 5 percent accompanied by a 7 percent favorable impact from foreign exchange and a 2 percent gain on price increases. During the year, Gillette’s Fusion brand of blades and razors topped the $1 billion net-sales mark, making it P&G’s 24th billion-dollar brand. However, Braun’s sales volume declined in the mid-single digits, a P&G statement said, due to supply constraints at a contract manufacturer, its exit of certain home-appliance businesses and the divestiture of its thermometer and blood pressure-devices business.
P&G also said net earnings in the grooming products unit rose 21 percent in the fiscal year, to $1.7 billion. The bottom line for the unit benefited from the sales gain and reduced expenses as a percentage of net sales.