Lafley acknowledged that other divestitures are being considered, providing no details but signaling that the sale of non-core business units or other assets is top of mind.
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He all but ruled out a flashy acquisition, saying the company wants to focus on selling existing brands to consumers.
"Our vision is clear, and we are single-minded about our goals," Lafley told a packed room of 600 influential Wall Street analysts and investment professionals at the annual Consumer Analysts Group of New York meeting in Boca Raton, Fla.
Analysts were eager to hear Lafley's strategy for jump-starting sales and profit growth at the nation's largest consumer products company, known for best-selling brands Tide, Pampers and Pantene. The annual meeting has become a prime forum for major news announcements.
Two years ago, then-CEO Bob McDonald unveiled a wide-ranging, $10 billion restructuring plan including 5,700 office job cuts that silenced the room.
This year, Lafley delivered no bombshell announcements but disclosed several incremental steps and decisions that indicate the direction he wants to take Cincinnati-based P&G (PG).
“Our vision is clear, and we are single-minded about our goals.”
— A.G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & GambleLori Hudson, portfolio manager with Bahl & Gaynor, gave Lafley high marks for candor if not specifics. She also was relieved that acquisitions are not a priority.
"Acquisitions confuse things," she said. Company managers "risk taking their eye off the ball."
The bleach sale delivers on a Lafley pledge to exit non-core businesses it can't! grow fast enough.
The sale includes overseas bleach brands Ace, Magia Blanca and Lavansan Bleach in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. P&G doesn't sell bleach in the U.S. and began exiting the category elsewhere in the world last year.
Lafley said the company "wasn't ready to make announcements" about selling other unnamed businesses. Iams pet food, Duracell batteries and Braun small appliances top many analysts' short lists of candidates for sale.
The CEO also said 90% of P&G's brand portfolio is "core" and hammered home that the company is focused on execution and boosting productivity.
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Toward that end, he announced P&G is reshuffling its market development organizations and renaming them sales organizations. The switch includes consolidating Eastern and Western Europe, while India will be combined with the Middle East and Africa.
Lafley hinted again at future plant closures, saying he wants to consolidate manufacturing at fewer facilities that produce a wider array of consumer goods. The company has more than 130 factories worldwide.
Lafley, CEO from 2000 to 2009, returned to the top job in May after embattled CEO McDonald abruptly announced his retirement. McDonald had been criticized for the company's high cost structure and inconsistent profit and sales growth that had stalled the stock price in the mid-$60 range for years.
Up until now, Lafley has reshuffled his top executive ranks, instituted shareholder return targets for business units and pledged to make efficiency a core priority like innovation.
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The CEO has noted that the company is ahead of its reorganization timetable, having cut 7,000 cuts in two years with plans to cut an additional 4,000 by June 2016. But he has cautioned that completion of the f! ull reorg! anization strategy will take "a couple of years."
Shares of Procter & Gamble closed Thursday at $77.92, down 22 cents.
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