Jan 23 Reuters Procter Gamble cut its annual profit forecast on Tuesday following a writedown in the value of its Gillette business in December and as the boost from earlier price hikes starts to fade in the United States.

PG had said it would record a 1.3 billion charge related to a drop in the book value of its Gillette business at a time when volume growth in the segment slowed due to the hybrid postpandemic work culture and a stronger dollar.

The company previously estimated it would record up to 2.5 billion in charges over two fiscal years due to the Gillette business write down and restructuring of certain markets.

This along with waning benefits from price hikes that most of the consumer goods companies enjoyed for two years have started to weigh on profits.

PG now expects fiscal 2024 earnings to range from a fall of 1 to in line with fiscal 2023 earnings per share, compared with its prior forecast of a 6 to 9 growth.

Focus will also be on the company39;s ability to maintain strong volume growth as production costs have started to ease. That has helped PG increase its gross margin by 520 basis points in the second quarter.

They were able to maintain some pricing in an environment where consumers have become cautious of higher prices, Donald Nesbitt, senior portfolio manager at Ziegler Capital Management said.

However, PG39;s overall volumes were flat, while average prices across product categories rose 4.

The company39;s net sales rose 3.2 to 21.44 billion…