P&G's Fiscal 2009 Sales Down 3%

The Procter & Gamble Company announced a net sales decrease of 3% to $79.0 billion for fiscal 2009. Beauty net sales decreased 4% to $18.8 billion in fiscal 2009 behind unfavorable foreign exchange impacts of 4%.

"In fiscal 2009 and particularly in the fourth quarter, P&G faced one of the most difficult macroeconomic environments in decades," said A.G. Lafley, chairman, P&G. "We made choices to focus on cash and cost discipline, maintain investments in long-term growth opportunities and to protect the structural economics of our businesses around the world. We delivered strong free cash flow—the financial lifeblood of the business—while also delivering organic sales and earnings-per-share results that balanced short-term returns and long-term investments."

CEO Bob McDonald continued with a description of expectations for fiscal 2010, in which the company expects to accelerate investments in innovation, portfolio expansion and consumer value to grow its core business and to serve more consumers in both developed and developing markets. He added, "We will also continue to drive simplification efforts and leverage P&G's scale to increase productivity, improve execution and lower costs. All of these investments are focused on strengthening the capabilities required to improve more lives more completely in more parts of the world and deliver sustainable long-term growth."

The complete report is available here.