Reuben Mark Strong Quotations

We are very pleased to begin 2006 with excellent top and bottom line growth, exceeding expectations and building on the strong growth momentum we saw in 2005.

With weak economic conditions around the world, this was a strong finish to a strong year, ... The combination of sharply higher gross margin and excellent overhead control allowed us to provide a healthy increase in total marketing spending worldwide while also meeting our profit expectations.

These strong second-quarter results give us great encouragement that our momentum will continue in the second half of this year and the year 2000.

We are pleased that our strong top-line momentum continued this quarter across all operating divisions and on top of the outstanding growth achieved in the year ago period. We are especially encouraged that global pricing was positive for the first time in two years, despite difficult cost and competitive environments.

This increase combined with a reduction in overhead expenses allowed us to build our overall profitability while still investing in even stronger levels of advertising behind our global brands.

Every operating division achieved strong volume growth and increased operating profits both absolutely and as a percent to sales, ... It is especially encouraging to see dollar operating profits rise strongly even in Latin America and Europe despite currency pressures.

Good growth, together with strong margin improvement in every division, drove us to another record in both dollar profit and profitability, ... Every geographic area met or exceeded our volume expectations despite economic problems in some areas of the developing world.