Gillette Financial Analysis This assignment was intended to solicit a complete financial analysis of a publicly traded company in the U.S. for the fiscal year ending 2003.

Essay by phfrugeUniversity, Master's March 2004

download word file, 7 pages 3.0

Downloaded 500 times

Company Description

The Gillette Company operates in many locations around the world to deliver services from any of their five business segments: razors, toiletries, batteries, oral care, and Braun. Gillette's razor division products are MACH3, Sensor, SensorExcel, Trac II, Atra, and Good News. The toiletries division is made up of Gillette Series, Adorn, Right Guard, Soft and Dri, Foamy, and Dri Idea. The battery division consists of Duracell ultra and Duracell copper and black, and the Braun division produces small household appliances and electric shavers. The oral care division consisting of Oral-B was the most profitable division in 2002(Profile, 2003). 58% of Gillette's sales are from foreign operations, and they employee approximately 31,500 people worldwide (Gillette, 2003). Below is an analysis of sales by business segment.

20012000

Blades and Razors3,4163,394

Personal Care877960

Duracell2,3652,567

Oral Care1,2701,204

Braun1,0331,100

$8,961$9,225

(Annual, 2001).

History

In 1901, King C. Gillette created American Safety Razor, which was the company that produced the original safety razor.

In its second year, ASR sold 90,844 shaving sets. A few years later, the U.S. government issued an American Safety Razor shaving kit to each one of its soldiers in World War I. ASR sold 3.5 million razors during the war and "familiarized an entire generation of young men with its products" (Scoop, 2003). American Safety Razor changed its name in the 1950s to The Gillette Company, and they then began to acquire subsidiaries and expand into new markets while diversifying their investments. Gillette has continued to be heavily dependent on the shaving market for their profits, which have increased since the introduction of the Mach3 razor in 1998. The Mach3 has taken over 20% of the global market in razors and accumulated over $2.5 billion in sales since its introduction. In 2001, they released the female version of the...