Procter & Gamble to streamline, dropping up to a hundred brands

After years of expansion into areas like pet food and beauty products, Procter & Gamble plans to cut as many as 100 brands in order to focus on others, like Tide, that made the company a powerhouse over the decades.

The move is part of a strategy to improve the company’s financial performance by doubling down on about 80 brands that generate 95 percent of the profits and 90 percent of sales, according to A.G. Lafley, chief executive officer. The company, and the industry at large, have faced pressure as consumers continue to spend less than they did before the financial crisis.

"This new streamlined P&G should continue to grow faster and more sustainably, and reliably create more value," he said in a telephone call Friday with reporters and analysts. "Importantly, this will be a much simpler, much less complex company of leading brands that’s easier to manage and operate."

While Lafley did not say which of the estimated 100 brands would either be discontinued or sold off, he said that taken together they had aggregate sales declines of 3 percent a year over the past three years.

The cuts would leave 70 to 80 more-lucrative products remaining.

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