Thursday night chuckle. Memo to my wife from her employers:
Date March 8, 2000
From John H. Bryan and C. Steven McMillan
To All Employees:
As you are obviously aware, calendar 1999 was a difficult year for Sara Lee's stock price, and we have been further affected by the down draft in market performance that has hurt all consumer stocks during the year 2000. Stock prices for a group of 20 companies with whom we regularly compare ourselves ; premier consumer product companies like Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, Coca-Cola, Gillette, Nestle and Campbell Soup ; have all fallen significantly in recent months. This decline is certainly due, in part, to the mania for tech stocks, which has led, in turn, to the withdrawal of funds from sound, profitable, blue chip companies like Sara Lee. We know that, while we are not alone, this decline in Sara Lee's stock price has caused concern among our employees, and we would like to offer our perspective on the current state of our business and our opportunities to improve Sara Lee's market valuation in the future.
Let us start by stating that, while we have challenges as we do every year, Sara Lee's businesses overall are doing very well, and our prospects for future growth remain strong
-We are on track to report record earnings for fiscal 2000;
-Our returns are expected to reach their highest levels ever;
-Our strong cash flow allows us to continue aggressive investment for internal growth, acquisitions, and share repurchase;
-And, most important, we are convinced that our employees across the corporation are the best in the industry.
As we look to the future, we are convinced that performance -- defined as strong top- and bottom-line growth and above-average returns -- will build value for our shareholders. We have significant growth opportunities in each of our lines of business and considerable resources to invest behind these opportunities. We continue to challenge our entire management team to set aggressive growth targets and to maintain our strong historical commitment to delivering plan. At the same time, we will commit the resources necessary to deliver the performance which will clearly differentiate Sara Lee from our peer companies, resulting in increased value for our shareholders.
In closing, we would like to thank each of you for your efforts and commitment to this company. We realize that it has never been more important for us to recognize the value of our human capital, and, Sara Lee's success in the future, as it has been in the past, will be driven by the collective efforts of our talented and dedicated employees. We know that you share our pride in what we have together built at Sara Lee and our vision of our company's future success.
I hope the QCOM flies soon to offset my losses with these guys. BTW this note implies that 'tech' stocks aren't sound.....eh? BOZOS! Where's Clappy, Cooner, & Polvie?
Schools open! Can you three teach Sara a lesson?
T |
