Gillette
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Third quarter sales "may well be down somewhat" because of "broad-based weakness in international markets," the company said Sept. 17. Gillette stock price fell 10.7% to 40-3/16 by the close of trading Sept. 16 and was down an additional 3-5/16 to 36-7/8 on the day of the announcement. One-third of the company's sales in 1997, approximately $1.16 bil., were from overseas markets, excluding Western Europe. Despite weaknesses in Asia Pacific, Africa-Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America, Gillette said it is "optimistic" about long-term opportunities in these markets. The company noted the Mach3 shave system is not available in any of these markets and is currently being rolled out in Western Europe. Revlon and Colgate-Palmolive also suffered losses Sept 16 on concerns about the negative effect of international markets, closing down 1-13/16 to 34 and 1-11/16 to 72-1/2, respectively. Colgate was down 4 to 68-1/2, and Revlon dropped 2-1/16 to 31-15/16 on Sept. 17