P&G
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
NEWS RELEASE One P&G Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
P&G DECLARES DIVIDEND INCREASE FOR 50TH CONSECUTIVE FISCAL YEAR AND
CONFIRMS SALES AND EPS GUIDANCE FOR FISCAL THIRD QUARTER
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CINCINNATI, March 13, 2006 - The Board of Directors of The Procter & Gamble
Company (NYSE: PG) declared an increase in the quarterly dividend on its Common
Stock and on its Series A and Series B ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred Stock
from $0.28 to $0.31 per share, payable on or after May 15, 2006 to shareholders
of record at the close of business on April 21, 2006.
P&G has been paying dividends without interruption since incorporation in
1890. Clayt Daley, P&G's Chief Financial Officer, said, "This is the 50th
consecutive fiscal year that P&G has increased dividends and reflects the
Board's confidence in P&G's ability to generate strong, profitable growth in
line with our long term objectives. Over the past 50 years, compound annual
dividend growth has exceeded 9 percent."
P&G also confirmed previously announced guidance for sales growth and
earnings per share for the January to March quarter. The company narrowed its
EPS guidance range to $0.59 to $0.61 per share including $0.07 to $0.10 per
share of Gillette dilution and added that sales growth for the quarter is
currently trending toward the mid-point of its previous 20% to 23% range.
P&G said it now expects organic sales growth, which excludes the impacts of
acquisitions, divestitures and foreign exchange, of five to six percent based on
current quarter trends - at the upper-end of the company's annual organic sales
growth target of three to five percent. This compares to the earlier third
quarter organic sales growth outlook of five to seven percent. The company said
market share is growing in businesses representing about two-thirds of global
sales and that the revised organic sales growth range reflects recent customer
inventory reductions and tempered outlooks for Asia and Eastern Europe for the
quarter.
P&G added that the contribution to sales growth from the Gillette
acquisition is in-line with previous expectations as strong results of the new
Fusion razor in the U.S. are offsetting high base period comparisons in
international markets. In total, acquisitions and divestitures are expected to
add 17 percent to 18 percent to sales growth for the quarter. The company also
noted that it still expects pricing and mix to add one percent to sales growth
and foreign exchange to reduce sales growth by two percent.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
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All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this
release, are forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition to the risks and
uncertainties noted in this release, there are certain factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by some of the
statements made. These include: (1) the ability to achieve business plans,
including with respect to lower income consumers and growing existing sales and
volume profitably despite high levels of competitive activity, especially with
respect to the product categories and geographical markets (including developing
markets) in which the Company has chosen to focus; (2) the ability to
successfully execute, manage and integrate key acquisitions and mergers,
including (i) the Domination and Profit Transfer Agreement with Wella, and (ii)
the Company's merger with The Gillette Company, and to achieve the cost and
growth synergies in accordance with the stated goals of the Gillette
transaction; (3) the ability to manage and maintain key customer relationships;
(4) the ability to maintain key manufacturing and supply sources (including sole
supplier and plant manufacturing sources); (5) the ability to successfully
manage regulatory, tax and legal matters (including product liability, patent,
and other intellectual property matters), and to resolve pending matters within
current estimates; (6) the ability to successfully implement, achieve and
sustain cost improvement plans in manufacturing and overhead areas, including
the Company's outsourcing projects; (7) the ability to successfully manage
currency (including currency issues in volatile countries), debt (including debt
related to the Company's announced plan to repurchase shares of the Company's
stock), interest rate and certain commodity cost exposures; (8) the ability to
manage the continued global political and/or economic uncertainty and
disruptions, especially in the Company's significant geographical markets, as
well as any political and/or economic uncertainty and disruptions due to
terrorist activities; (9) the ability to successfully manage competitive
factors, including prices, promotional incentives and trade terms for products;
(10) the ability to obtain patents and respond to technological advances
attained by competitors and patents granted to competitors; (11) the ability to
successfully manage increases in the prices of raw materials used to make the
Company's products; (12) the ability to stay close to consumers in an era of
increased media fragmentation; and (13) the ability to stay on the leading edge
of innovation. For additional information concerning factors that could cause
actual results to materially differ from those projected herein, please refer to
our most recent 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K reports.
ABOUT P&G
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Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the
world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality,
leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R),
Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R),
Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R),
Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella, Gillette(R), and Braun. The
P&G community consists of almost 140,000 employees working in over 80 countries
worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth
information about P&G and its brands.
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P&G MEDIA CONTACT:
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In the US: 1-866-PROCTER or 1-866-776-2837
International: +1-513-945-9087
P&G INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:
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Chris Peterson - (513) 983-2414