P&G Unveils New Products, Initiatives

Executives from the Procter & Gamble Company spoke to a large audience of institutional investors and industry analysts at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) annual conference earlier today.

Bob McDonald, P&G’s chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, discussed the Company’s growth strategy of “touching and improving more consumers’ lives in more parts of the world more completely.” McDonald added that “the thread that runs through every element of this strategy is innovation. We have the strongest innovation program that I can remember in my 30-year career at P&G, and we are investing behind it to drive growth across our business.” He went on to discuss several notable innovations which are scheduled to launch over the next few months, including:

* Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers diapers with DryMax technology, which begin shipping to North American consumers in mid-March.
* Ariel Actilift and Dash Actilift laundry detergents, which are shipping now to Western European consumers.
* The reformulation of the Pantene hair care brand, which will first be available to North American consumers in June.
* Gillette Fusion Pro-Glide razor system, which will also begin shipping in June.

McDonald encouraged investors to visit the Company’s new innovation web site at PGinnovation.com to learn more about these and many other new product innovations.

P&G also provided an update of its business outlook for fiscal year 2010 and beyond. The company confirmed its fiscal year 2010 all-in GAAP EPS guidance range of $4.02 to $4.12 and its core EPS range of $3.53 to $3.63. Core EPS is EPS from continuing operations adjusted for certain unusual items. When addressing the outlook for fiscal year 2011, P&G said that it is too early in the planning stages to provide detailed guidance, but the company expects to deliver continued strong top-line growth and a sequential improvement in bottom-line growth compared to fiscal 2010.

“Our fundamental and overriding objective has been—and will be—the creation of value for shareholders at leadership levels on a consistent basis. In order to continue achieving this, we have to grow market value share, earnings per share and generate strong cash flow,” said Jon Moeller, P&G’s chief financial officer.

Moeller stressed management’s confidence in delivering profitable market share growth based on the strength of P&G’s innovation pipeline and increased focus on execution.

Regarding longer-term earnings per share objectives, Moeller said, “As we evaluate our historical performance and the current outlook for our industry, we believe that leadership levels of shareholder value creation will require earnings per share growth in the range of high-single to low-double-digits.”

Moeller noted that this range assumes a normalized environment for commodity costs and foreign currency exchange rates.