The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), a global consumer goods company, was one of the top 25 manufacturers in the United States based on 2015 revenues.8 Its products include Bounty paper towels, Head & Shoulders shampoo, Tide laundry detergent, Gillette razors, and Pampers disposable diapers. In its annual report and Form 10-K, P&G lists five segments:
• Beauty, hair, and personal care
• Grooming
• Health care
• Fabric care and home care
• Baby, feminine, and family care
Obtain P&G's Form 10-K for 2015 by entering the phrase "Procter & Gamble investor relations form 10-K" in a search engine such as Google. Once on P&G's investor relations' web page, click on the link for annual reports and click through to find the 2015 Form 10- K. Once in the Form 10-K, go to Note 12, Segment Information. It should be found under Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
Questions
1. For each of the five segments, write a brief description of what products and services are included in each segment by using the information in the Segment Information section in the Form 10-K.
2. Within Note 12, locate the table that contains Global Segment Results. You will use this table to find Net earnings (loss) and Net sales for each year (2013-2015) and segment. For each of the five segments of P&G, calculate a profitability ratio for each year by using the following formula: Net earnings (loss)  Net sales
3. For each of the segments for the years 2013 through 2015, answer the following questions:
a. Did net sales increase, decrease, or remain about the same?
b. Did earnings (loss) increase, decrease, or remain about the same?
c. Did the profitability ratio (as calculated in question 2) increase, decrease, or remain about the same?
4. Of the five segments, which two segments appear to be the strongest based on the limited information you can find in the Form 10-K, Item 8, Financial Statements, and Supplementary Data? Support your answer.
5. Of the five segments, which segment appears to be the weakest based on the limited information you have located in the Form 10-K, Item 8, Financial Statements, and Supplementary Data? Support your answer.