REPORT :P&G Q4 net up 45% on gain; Q1 outlook weaker

Procter & Gamble Co.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 45%, due to gains from selling its snacks unit, though the world's largest consumer-products company's sales declined and margins slipped                               
The company forecast current-quarter core earnings of 91 cents to 97 cents a share on a 4% to 6% decline in net sales
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect $1.03 a share on a 3% sales decrease for the fiscal first quarter                               
P&G backed its fiscal 2013 guidance and said it will repurchase $4 billion of stock over the course of the fiscal year                              
The maker of household staples--including Bounty paper towels, Pampers diapers and Tide laundry detergent--cut its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2013 guidance in June as it continues to lose market share in developed markets and struggles to manage pricing and rising commodity costs
The company is also facing a negative impact from foreign exchange rates as the dollar strengthens                               
P&G had launched a major cost-cutting initiative in February to slim down its ranks and place a heavier focus on emerging markets, where it is seeing most of its sales growth. After seeing its sales volume in developed markets weaken during the fiscal third quarter, P&G also said it would backtrack on price increases in a half-dozen business lines, mostly in the U.S                               
For the quarter ended June 30, P&G reported a profit of $3.63 billion, or $1.24 a share, up from $2.51 billion, or 84 cents, a year earlier
Excluding items such as restructuring costs and gains from selling the snacks business, core earnings were flat at 82 cents a share
Sales dropped 1.2% to $20.21 billion
Organic sales were up 3%.
Its June projection was core earnings of 75 cents to 79 cents a share on a 1% to 2% sales decline.
Gross margin shrank to 48.1% from 48.5%