Charges weigh on Procter & Gamble profit

Procter & Gamble Co's (PG-N) quarterly profit plunged 49 percent, as the world's largest household products maker took an impairment charge against its appliance and salon professional products businesses.

P&G earned $1.69 billion US, or 57 cents per share, in the second quarter ended in December, down from $3.33 billion, or $1.11 per share, a year earlier.

Stripping out charges, core earnings per share fell 3 percent to $1.10, as sales growth and cost cuts were not enough to offset double-digit increases in commodity costs.

Sales rose 4 percent to $22.14 billion. Organic sales, which strip out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and currency fluctuations, also rose 4 percent, and the volume of goods sold rose 1 percent.