February 28, 2022

As the ruble drops to record lows against the dollar and the West imposes economic sanctions against Russia, analysts question the impact on US companies doing business in Ukraine. WCPO reporter Dan Monk asked our Jim Russell specifically about Procter & Gamble, noting the Cincinnati-based consumer giant has a headquarters in Kyiv and two plants employing a total of about 500 employees. (Seven years ago when Russia’s currency plunged, P&G took a $1.5B loss due to currency fluctuations.)

“It’s very likely that Procter & Gamble’s management saw this coming and took the right steps to mitigate or minimize the impact,” said James Russell, principal and portfolio manager for Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel downtown. “This is not their first rodeo. They have seen geopolitical conflict in the past. They’ve had to deal with currency fluctuations in the past. And we think they’re absolutely up to the task to handle this one correctly.”

Russell says P&G is in much better shape financially than it was in 2015, with a host of products that can increase prices without losing market share. Also, the company invested billions of dollars to increase efficiency of the supply chain.

“Europe is 18.5 percent of Procter’s top-line revenue,” Russell said. “So, to the extent that Europe slows down or is negatively impacted by this ongoing situation, that could be very meaningful to many multi-nationals including Procter & Gamble.”

 

 

 

Jim Russell
Portfolio Manager
jrussell@bahl-gaynor.com

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