Procter & Gamble posts 9% increase in earnings

CINCINNATI — Strong growth in emerging markets, raising prices and offering consumers more options of popular items helped Procter & Gamble Co. post a nearly 9 percent increase in its fiscal first quarter, the consumer products maker said Wednesday.

But P&G dropped the low end of its earnings guidance for the full fiscal year, facing slower sales amid volatility in commodity and energy markets and in foreign exchange. The company is building a plant in Box Elder County that will manufacture Procter & Gamble paper products and initially employ 300 people.

The maker of household products such as Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Olay skin care said net income rose to more than $3.3 billion, or $1.03 per share, from $3.1 billion, or 92 cents a share, a year earlier.