P&G To Cut More Than 100 Brands

(RTTNews) - Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) announced plans to divest, discontinue or consolidate more than 100 brands in a bid to become more nimble and improve its profitability and margins.

The company is looking to have agreements in place for the divestitures by July 2015.

The company's Chairman, President and CEO A.G. Lafley announced this during a presentation at a Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Florida.

Lafley had earlier in August last year said the company plans to cut dozens of its non-core brands in its portfolio to focus on about 70 to 80 core brands, including Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, that collectively generate around 90 percent its sales and 95 percent of its profits.

However, the company has now announced a time line for the divestitures. The company has also now announced bigger cuts in brands as previously it expected the divestitures to lower annual sales by about 10 percent only, compared to the currently anticipated 14 percent drop.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company said it has already announced plans to see, divest or discontinue 35 brands, including Camay soap, Duracell batteries, Scope, Zest and lams pet foods.

Meanwhile, the company is looking to focus on its profitable core brands such as Pampers diapers, Tide laundry detergent, Crest toothpaste and Gillette razors.

In his second stint as CEO since May 2013, Lafley is focusing on boosting the performance of the company. His first stint as CEO had focused on acquisition-based growth.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, the company said it continues to expect organic sales growth in the low-to-mid single digit range, and currency-neutral core earnings per share growth in the double-digits.

Core earnings per share is also still projected in the range of in-line to down low-single digits, on projected net sales decline of 3 to 4 percent.

Street is currently looking for full-year 2015 earnings of $4.02 per share, on annual sales decline of 6.3 percent to $77.82 billion.

In Monday's regular trading session, PG is currently trading at $85.02, up $0.15 or 0.18% on a volume of 0.67 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $77.29 to $93.89.