Dial Offers a Positive Outlook for 2002

Now that Dial Corp. has jettisoned its troubled specialty personal care unit, the company raised its expected third quarter and full year 2001 earnings estimate to account for the sale of the unit and also said it expected revenues to grow 2-3% with earnings up more than 10% in 2002.

The maker of Dial soap, Kingsford charcoal and Armour canned meats also said it would move production of liquid soap from its Compton, California, plant to Hazelton, Pennsylvania, while also consolidating plants in Argentina.

The consolidation is expected to result in $9.8 million in pretax charges in the third quarter and are expected to generate annual pretax savings of more than $6 million, the company said.

Dial, which said earlier this week that it would take a write-down of about $200 million from the sale of its specialty personal care business, said Thursday that it expects that sale to add a penny to third quarter earnings from continuing operations, meaning that it now expects to earn 19 cents a share in the quarter.

The company also said it expects to earn 74 cents a share for the full year, with 4 cents in earnings from continuing operations coming from the sale of the unit.