December 7, 1941, will always be remembered as "a date which will live in infamy." (That was Pearl Harbor, for those who slept through history class.) For Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) employees and shareholders, December 7, 2004, will be remembered as the day the restructuring ax fell.
Today, the consumer products company announced a four-year restructuring and business-building plan in which 4,440 jobs (12% of the workforce) will be cut and one-third of its factories will be closed. The restructuring will cost up to $650 million after taxes, and the projected after-tax annual savings will be up to $300 million by the fourth year.
The goal is to grow earnings at low double-digit rates in 2006 and beyond.
The company touts "current excellent worldwide sales and unit volume trends" but stops short of noting that it also said in October that "the combined effect of increased commercial spending and increase in raw and packing material costs" led to a 10% decrease in net income. So, how firm is that 2006 projection?
To be fair, Colgate's "Funding the Growth" savings programs had led to record gross margins -- margins that even exceed those at competitor Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) -- but which, at 55.3%, are still dwarfed by the 60.6% margins at Gillette (NYSE:G). The company reaffirmed 2005 guidance for 6% to 10% earnings growth.
Investors reading through the company-provided statistics in the latest earnings report will find that the after-tax return on capital decreased from 37.1% to 32.9% and that net debt increased from $3.0 billion to $3.3 billion. Those are trends that bear watching -- restructuring or not.
The stock is up 6% on today's news. But, with the stock trading at 20 times consensus earnings, it is hardly cheap. The stock is also down almost 11% from where it was 52 weeks ago and has gone nowhere but sideways in the last five years.
Restructuring will certainly help control costs, but won't provide an indication if Colgate will have the marketing and products to drive earnings -- and that's the other big half of the equation.
For related Fool analysis, see:
Fool contributor W.D. Crotty does not own stock in any of the companies mentioned.
The Motley Fool is investors talking to investors. Join in the discussion of Colgate, Gillette, and a thousand other stocks on the Motley Fool discussion boards.
