NEW YORK — Consumer products company executives lowered their own companies’ revenue growth targets for the upcoming 12 months to 3.2% in the second quarter, from 5.7% in the prior quarter, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Consumer Products Barometer. The vast majority of respondents (85%) reported second-quarter cost increases, while 3% said their costs had dropped. During the same time period, 70% of companies polled raised their prices and 7% lowered them. “With the rise in commodity prices and the challenges raised with a weak economy, consumer products companies are having to develop new strategies to remain successful,” noted Lisa Feigen Dugal, North American retail and consumer industry advisory leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a statement. “This could include rebalancing their product portfolios, resizing packaging, reformulating products and managing transportation costs as they try to rein in expenditures and curtail the necessity for price increases.” Many of these companies are relying on expansion overseas. In the second quarter, 61% of consumer products companies increased sales abroad, while 6% reported a decline.
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