MasonBuzz.com

Pawl Griffin, a one-and-a-half year old Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, is the vice president of canine communications for P&G Pet Care. P&G Pet Care, makers of Iams, Eukanuba and Natura Pet Food products, allows employees at its Mason Business Center headquarters to bring pets to work.   Provided photo

For a handful of companies in Greater Cincinnati, it’s no exaggeration to say the office has gone to the dogs.

While not common, some local companies have adopted pet-friendly policies that allow workers to bring their pets to the office in an effort to improve job satisfaction and create a friendlier, more productive culture.

Do you bring your pet to work? Email photos of pets in your workplace to workplacepets@gmail.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming photo gallery on cincinnati.com.  Please include your name, pet’s name, community you live in and business name (optional).

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: business, iams, mason business center, P&G pet care, pets, pets at work, photos, procter & gamble, workplace

The Enquirer

The Procter & Gamble Company on Thursday said it will increase its share repurchase outlook from $4 billion to $6 billion – up from its previous forecast of $4 billion.

In a release, the company said that “if cash results remain ahead of plan, as they were in its fiscal first quarter, there is an upside potential of $6 billion in share repurchase for the fiscal year.”

• P&G ready to face analysts in person 
• Which P&G brands are in your home?

The company also announced it plans to reduce non-manufacturing jobs by 2-4 percent through fiscal years 2014 to 2016.

The company already planning to eliminate 5,700 non-manufacturing jobs by the end of fiscal 2013.

The company is hosting its 2012 analysts meeting in Cincinnati.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: cincinnati, jobs, layoffs, mason business center, non-manufacturing, P&G, procter & gamble

Angela F. Braly, 51, director since 2009. Board chair, president and CEO of healthcare insurer WellPoint Inc.

Lisa Bernard-Kuhn reports:

When Procter & Gamble shareholders gather for their annual meeting this week, they’ll be asked to re-elect company director Angela Braly – and, in effect, approve the makeup of a board heavily weighted with Fortune 500 CEOs.

Braly resigned as Wellpoint Inc.’s CEO last month under mounting shareholder pressure. Under P&G’s corporate governance guidelines, any board director whose job changes “substantially” is required to submit his or her resignation to the board.

“Ms. Braly did submit her resignation… and based on her vast amount of leadership, consumer industry, government and marketing experience, which has not changed, the board decided to reject her resignation,” P&G spokeswoman Jennifer Chelune said in an e-mail to The Enquirer. “Ms. Braly is delighted to remain a productive and valued member of our board of directors.”

The board is recommending that shareholders re-elect Braly when they meet at their annual meeting on Tuesday. It’s scheduled for 9 a.m. downtown at Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut Street.

Braly could not be reached for comment.

During her tenure at Wellpoint, the health insurance company became politicians’ go-to example for why healthcare reform is needed. Critics called out the company for targeting policeholders with expensive conditions and finding reasons to drop their insurance coverage.

Braly was known for being quick to defend the Indianapolis-based firm. She wrangled with regulators, Congress and even President Barack Obama over her company’s pricing and business practices.

Since 2009, she has been one of 11 members on P&G’s high-ranking board, which boasts five other CEOs.

While CEOs lend considerable expertise to the boards they serve, some corporate governance experts say there is a tipping point. Having too many top executives with high-profile jobs and busy schedules can weaken a board, they say.

“Even if (Braly) were not on the P&G board, that’s too many CEOs for it to actually do an acceptable job,” said Paul Hodgson, chief analyst at GMI Ratings.

(more…)

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: angela braly, bill ackerman, bob mcdonald, business, cincinnati, fortune 500 ceos, mason, mason business center, P & G, P&G, procter & gamble, resign, wellpoint, wellpoint inc

Lisa Bernard-Kuhn reports:

Following its first meeting with activist investor William Ackman, Procter & Gamble’s board has reaffirmed its support for CEO Bob McDonald and the company’s turnaround plan.

During a Sept. 4 meeting, Ackman urged the board to hunt for a new CEO, delivering a 75-page list of complaints about the company’s performance under McDonald’s leadership, according to the Wall Street Journal.

P&G on Thursday declined to discuss the meeting, stating that its conversations with shareholders are confidential.

P&G’s board “wholeheartedly” supports McDonald and the company’s restructuring plan aimed at cutting $10 billion in costs by 2016, P&G’s board chairman Jim McNerney said in a statement Thursday.

“In addition, the board will actively oversee the plan’s implementation to ensure its effectiveness,” McNerney added.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: bill ackman, bob mcdonald, business, cincinnati, earnings, mason business center, P&G, pershing square, procter & gamble, profit, revenue, shares, stock

Lisa Bernard-Kuhn and Alex Coolidge report:

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: bill ackman, bmo capital markets, breakup, business, connie maneaty, mason business center, P&G, pampered, paul fox, pershing square capital management, portfolio, procter & gamble, profit, stocks, tide, too big

Lisa Bernard Kuhn reports:

Procter & Gamble posted a $3.7 billion profit in the fourth quarter, and $10.8 billion for its fiscal year, which ended June 30.

Excluding one-time gains, the company’s profit was $2.2 billion for the quarter, down 10 percent from the same period a year ago. P&G’s results of 82 cents per share beat Wall Street’s forecast of 77 cents.

The company posted sales of $20.2 billion for the quarter, down 1 percent from the $20.5 billion in sales reported in the year-ago quarter.

P&G executives are scheduled for a conference call with analysts later this morning to discuss its fourth quarter and full-year results.

“We enter fiscal 2013 with very strong developing market momentum, strengthened plans on our core developed market business, and with the benefit of a $10 billion cost savings program, which is well under way,” said chairman, president and chief executive officer Bob McDonald in a release.

“Despite a difficult macro environment, we see significant opportunities for top- and bottom-line growth.”

The company also said Friday it will repurchase $4 billion in P&G stock over the course of the fiscal year.

McDonald has been criticized by analysts who cite the growth rate of P&G’s stock price, which lags smaller rivals that moved more quickly into emerging markets.

Last month hedge fund Pershing Square, led by Bill Ackman, bought into P&G. Ackman bought a $1.8 billion stake in P&G – about 1 percent of the company – indicating he intends to take an activist role in pushing for changes to boost shareholder return.

P&G stock closed on July 11, the day before the Pershing Square purchase became public, at $61.40 – virtually unchanged from the same day five years ago. It closed on Thursday at $63.51.

On Friday, chief financial officer Jon Moeller told CNBC that P&G is interacting with Ackman as it would any other investor.

P&G’s Mason Business Center, which employs about 2,400, is home to its pet care, pharmaceuticals and personal- and oral-care businesses.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: bill ackman, bob mcdonald, business, cincinnati, earnings, mason business center, P&G, pershing square, procter & gamble, profit, revenue, shares, stock

The Enquirer

Procter & Gamble has stepped up the timetable for its job-cutting program.

P&G employees in Cincinnati and the rest of the United States received an e-mail message Tuesday inviting them to participate in the voluntary buyout program.

The message marked the start of the second part of P&G’s job-cutting plan. The first phase should be finished by the end of June and will result in 1,600 departures worldwide.

The next phase has been accelerated, and should be completed in the United States by the end of October, spokesman Paul Fox said.

The previous deadline was mid-2013.

The new deadline “will expedite and accelerate the savings we will achieve as a result of all this,” Fox said.

It will also allow eligible employees to plan earlier and better, he said.

Tuesday’s letter was sent only to non-manufacturing employees in the United States. P&G wants to cut 5,700 jobs worldwide from its non-manufacturing operations, including marketing, product design, logistics and research.

P&G would not say how the cuts will affect employment in Cincinnati, its headquarters city, where it employs about 12,000, or in the United States, where P&G employs 129,000 worldwide.  Its Mason Business Center employs about 2,400.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: business, cincinnati, cuts, jobs, manufacturing, mason business center, P & G, paul fox, procter & gamble

David Holthaus reports:

Procter & Gamble will cut its workforce by 5,700 jobs by the end of June 2013, the company said Thursday.

The cuts will include the 1,600 jobs the company already announced will be eliminated through an early retirement program.

That leaves 4,100 jobs to be trimmed through a combination of layoffs, attrition, and selective hiring, the company said.

The cuts will come in P&G’s non-manufacturing operations, including marketing, product design, logistics and research. P&G would not say how the cuts would affect employment in Cincinnati, its headquarters city, where it employs about 12,000.  Its Mason Business Center employs about 2,400.

The job cuts are part of $10 billion in savings the company wants to achieve by 2015, as it deals with little or no sales growth in the United States and Europe, rising costs of raw materials, including fuel, and volatile overseas markets.

“We realize that we have to do it,” CEO Bob McDonald said. “The environment necessitates it.”

Other savings will come from cutting back on TV advertising, using less expensive packaging, eliminating duplicate work and creating more partnerships with outside researchers to develop new products.

“This will make us more agile and more fast-moving as an organization,” McDonald said.

His announcement came on Thursday at a conference of Wall Street analysts in Boca Raton, Fla.

The cuts announced Thursday do not include the 1,700 jobs worldwide that belong to its Pringles business, which is being sold. That sale, to Kellogg Co., could be become final by the end of June.

P&G plans to use some of the savings to invest in still-developing markets where its sales are growing, places such as Brazil, China, and India. With its sales in the United States and Europe, its most lucrative markets, flat in the last two years, some Wall Street analysts have been calling for swifter, deeper cost-cutting from the Cincinnati-based giant.

Wall Street responded positively to the cost-savings announcement, sending P&G stock up 2.8 percent in mid-afternoon trading to $66.24.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: business, cuts, early retirement program, jobs, layoffs, mason business center, P&G, procter & gamble, procter and gamble

The Procter and Gamble Mason Business Center's presence in Southern Warren County is one the economic lynch pins of the area. The Enquirer/Craig Ruttle

Business segments headquartered at Procter & Gamble’s Mason Business Center are listed among corporate divisions that helped the company beat its profit expectations.

Cincinnati-based P&G announced 4 percent sales growth on Friday for its fiscal second quarter to $22.1 billion.

Core net earnings per share decreased 3 percent to $1.10. The company said higher commodity costs offset sales growth and cost-savings measures. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected $1.08 per share.

Diluted net earnings per share were 57 cents per share, down 49 percent primarily due to non-core charges of 53 cents per share. The non-core charges included a one-time 50 cents per share non-cash impairment charge associated with the appliances and salon professional businesses.

“We continue to make progress against our key business priorities in a difficult macroeconomic environment,” said Bob McDonald, P&G’s chairman and chief executive officer in a statement.

“We delivered solid top-line growth and continued to accelerate productivity improvements to drive down costs. With the easing of commodity cost comparisons over the next two quarters, continued solid top-line growth and cost savings progress, we expect operating profit growth to accelerate in the second half of the fiscal year.”

Among P&G’s business segments:

- Beauty net sales increased 1 percent to $5.4 billion.

- Grooming net sales increased 1 percent to $2.2 billion.

- Health care net sales and organic sales increased 1 percent to $3.2 billion.

- Snacks and pet care net sales and organic sales increased 3 percent to $824 million.

- Fabric care and home care net sales and organic sales increased 5 percent to $6.6 billion.

- Baby care and family care net sales and organic sales increased 6 percent to $4.2 billion.

P&G’s Mason Business Center includes its pet care, pharmaceuticals and personal- and oral-care businesses.

The company said net sales are expected to increase 3-4 percent in fiscal 2012 and expects its core earnings per share at between $4 and $4.10. Organic sales are expected to increase 4-5 percent.

“Those numbers are slightly lower than our previous guidance, reflecting primarily foreign currencies,” chief financial officer Jon Moeller said in an interview with CNBC.

“Particularly emerging market currencies, whether it’s the Turkish lira or the Brazilian real, were weaker than we expected,”

For the fiscal third quarter, diluted net earnings per share are expected to be in the range of 81-87 cents per share, and core earnings per share in the range of 91-97 cents per share.

Posted in: Business, News, Uncategorized |

Tags: Tags: bob mcdonald, mason business center, oral-care, P & G, P&G, personal-care, pet care, pharmaceuticals, procter & gamble, profits, reuters

David Holthaus reports:

Procter & Gamble plans to outsource the work of managing its product stock inside retail stores, a move that will affect about 2,700 employees in North America.

About 2,600 of the workers are part-time, P&G said. These employees travel to the thousands of stores that carry P&G products to make sure they have enough in stock and that P&G products are displayed on the shelves as they should be with the right promotions and advertisements.

The work will be transferred to several companies that specialize in retail supply management, P&G spokeswoman Marie-Laure Salvado said.

• P&G freezes hiring for six months

The company expects that most of the part-time workers will end up being employed by one of the companies that will take over the work.

The roughly 100 full-timers “will be given the opportunity to either find roles within P&G or with our retail vendors,” Salvado said.

The transition should be finished by the end of June, at the close of P&G’s fiscal year, she said.

P&G did not say how many of the employees are based in Cincinnati or at its Mason Business Center.

It also would not disclose how much it expects to save by the move.

The outsourcing is part of an ongoing restructuring at the Cincinnati-based giant designed to save money. The effort includes a voluntary, early retirement program that some employees have been offered and a hiring freeze through the rest of its fiscal year.

P&G is also trying sell its Pringles business, a deal that, if completed, will affect about 1,600 P&G employees worldwide and about 150 in Greater Cincinnati.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: business, cincinnati, marie-laure salvado, mason, mason business center, north america, outsourcing, P&G, pringles, procter & gamble, retail stores, retail supply management