Estee Lauder 2007 Annual Report Download - page 54

THE EST{E LAUDER COMPANIES INC. 53
(4) destocking by retailers;
(5) the success, or changes in timing or scope, of new
product launches and the success, or changes in the
timing or the scope, of advertising, sampling and mer-
chandising programs;
(6) shifts in the preferences of consumers as to where and
how they shop for the types of products and services
we sell;
(7) social, political and economic risks to our foreign or
domestic manufacturing, distribution and retail opera-
tions, including changes in foreign investment and trade
policies and regulations of the host countries and of the
United States;
(8) changes in the laws, regulations and policies (includ-
ing the interpretations and enforcement thereof) that
affect, or will affect, our business, including those relating
to our products, changes in accounting standards, tax
laws and regulations, trade rules and customs regulations,
and the outcome and expense of legal or regulatory
proceedings, and any action we may take as a result;
(9) foreign currency fl uctuations affecting our results of
operations and the value of our foreign assets, the relative
prices at which we and our foreign competitors sell
products in the same markets and our operating and
manufacturing costs outside of the United States;
(10) changes in global or local conditions, including those
due to natural or man-made disasters, real or perceived
epidemics, or energy costs, that could affect consumer
purchasing, the willingness or ability of consumers to
travel and/or purchase our products while traveling, the
fi nancial strength of our customers or suppliers, our oper-
ations, the cost and availability of capital which we may
need for new equipment, facilities or acquisitions, the cost
and availability of raw materials and the assumptions
underlying our critical accounting estimates;
(11) shipment delays, depletion of inventory and increased
production costs resulting from disruptions of operations
at any of the facilities that manufacture nearly all of our
supply of a particular type of product (i.e., focus factories)
or at our distribution or inventory centers, including
disruptions that may be caused by the implementation of
SAP as part of our Strategic Modernization Initiative;
(12) real estate rates and availability, which may affect our
ability to increase the number of retail locations at which
we sell our products and the costs associated with our
other facilities;
eligible fi nancial instruments at fair value. An entity shall
report unrealized gains and losses on items for which the
fair value option has been elected in earnings at each sub-
sequent reporting date, and recognize upfront costs and
fees related to those items in earnings as incurred and not
deferred. SFAS No. 159 applies to fi scal years beginning
after November 15, 2007, with early adoption permitted
for an entity that has also elected to apply the provisions
of SFAS No. 157. An entity is prohibited from retrospec-
tively applying SFAS No. 159, unless it chooses early adop-
tion. We are currently evaluating the impact of the
provisions of SFAS No. 159 on our consolidated fi nancial
statements, if any, when it becomes effective for the fi scal
year ending June 30, 2009.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
We and our representatives from time to time make writ-
ten or oral forward-looking statements, including state-
ments contained in this and other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, in our press releases
and in our reports to stockholders. The words and phrases
“will likely result,” “expect,” “believe,” “planned,” “may,”
“should,” “could,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,”
“intend,” “forecast” or similar expressions are intended to
identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements include, without limitation, our expecta-
tions regarding sales, earnings or other future fi nancial
performance and liquidity, product introductions,
entry into new geographic regions, information systems
initiatives, new methods of sale and future operations or
operating results. Although we believe that our expecta-
tions are based on reasonable assumptions within the
bounds of our knowledge of our business and operations,
actual results may differ materially from our expectations.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ from
expectations include, without limitation:
(1) increased competitive activity from companies in the
skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care businesses,
some of which have greater resources than we do;
(2) our ability to develop, produce and market new prod-
ucts on which future operating results may depend and to
successfully address challenges in our core brands, includ-
ing gift with purchase, and in our fragrance business;
(3) consolidations, restructurings, bankruptcies and
reorganizations in the retail industry causing a decrease in
the number of stores that sell our products, an increase
in the ownership concentration within the retail industry,
ownership of retailers by our competitors or ownership of
competitors by our customers that are retailers;