Procter & Gamble banks on new products to build growth

P&G sees new products driving growth

CINCINNATI — New versions coming this spring and summer of Pampers diapers, Gillette shavers and Pantene shampoo — already top-sellers for Procter & Gamble — are key to keeping the company’s U.S. customers coming back.

Leaders of the Cincinnati-based consumer products company outlined their strategies Thursday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton, Fla.

CEO Bob McDonald said new Pampers that are thinner and keep babies dryer will land on U.S. store shelves in mid-March. For June, P&G is planning an overhaul of Pantene shampoos and marketing and a new version of its top-selling Gillette Fusion razor.

P&G cut some prices this year to lure back recession-pinched households that traded down to store brands. It’s also adding cheaper versions of Tide detergent, its feminine care products and other items for key emerging markets such as India and China, he said.

But it’s also introducing premium versions in markets such as Japan in a strategy to connect with consumers in a broad range of spending ability. And it has beat Wall Street earnings expectations the last two quarters.

P&G, which spends $2 billion a year on research and development, expects to gain market share by improving products — not pursuing price wars, McDonald said.

“We’re about innovation, and we’re about investing behind that innovation,” McDonald said. “We’re not about trying to grow our business by reducing price.”

The company is sticking to a forecast that it will earn between $4.02 per share and $4.12 per share for the year, including the impact of currency fluctuations overseas and other factors.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters project, on average, that it will earn $4.14 per share.

For 2011, P&G expects continued growth but didn’t offer specifics.

P&G shares rose 54 cents to $63.39 Thursday afternoon. Shares have traded from $43.93 to $63.48 over the last 52 weeks.