Procter & Gamble’s quarterly profits surge

Procter & Gamble is turning a corner. The world’s largest consumer goods company, whose products such as Tide detergent and Gillette razors are in 98 percent of U.S. households, in recent years has lost business to competitors as it grew too fast overseas and kept prices high.

But on Friday P&G reported that its fiscal second quarter profit more than doubled as the plan the company launched last year to lower costs and roll out new products boosted its bottom line. It is the second quarter in a row that P&G beat Wall Street estimates.

Investors, most notably activist investor Bill Ackman, became vocal about the company’s need to streamline operations and grow market share globally.