from AFP via Yahoo! News

Growing beard popularity shaves P&G sales

By John Biers

New York (AFP) – Procter & Gamble Friday revealed its latest challenge to earnings glory. This time it’s a facial issue.

The US consumer giant, fresh off a recent corner office shakeup and already facing a battle for market share in shampoo, said second-quarter earnings were marred by the growing preference of men for moustaches and beards, which hit sales in its “grooming” segment.

But the company said that increasingly popular body-shaving by men had the potential to offset the loss of the facial-hair business.

Flat sales in grooming and a two-percent decline in the beauty segment were drags on P&G’s earnings, which fell 15.5 percent from the year-ago level.

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