| FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. and its representatives (referred to as "we",
"us" and "our") from time to time make written or oral forward-looking statements,
including statements contained in this website, in our 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,"
"will," "may," "could," "will continue," "anticipated," "estimate," "project,"
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 expectations regarding sales,
earnings or other future financial 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 our
expectations 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
the Company does;
(2) the Company's ability to develop, produce and market new products on which
future operating results may depend;
(3) consolidations, restructurings, bankruptcies and reorganizations in the
retail industry causing a decrease in the number of stores that sell the Company's
products, an increase in the ownership concentration within the retail industry,
ownership of retailers by the Company's competitors and ownership of competitors
by the Company's customers that are retailers;
(4) shifts in the preferences of consumers as to where and how they shop for
the types of products and services the Company sells;
(5) social, political and economic risks to the Company's foreign or domestic
manufacturing, distribution and retail operations, including changes in foreign
investment and trade policies and regulations of the host countries and of the
United States;
(6) changes in the laws, regulations and policies that affect, or will affect,
the Company's business, including 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 the Company may take as a result;
(7) foreign currency fluctuations affecting the Company's results of operations
and the value of its foreign assets, the relative prices at which the Company
and its foreign competitors sell products in the same markets and the Company's
operating and manufacturing costs outside of the United States;
(8) changes in global or local economic conditions that could affect consumer
purchasing, the willingness of consumers to travel, the financial strength of
the Company's customers and suppliers, the cost and availability of capital,
which the Company may need for new equipment, facilities or acquisitions, the
cost and availability of raw materials and the assumptions underlying the Company's
critical accounting estimates;
(9) shipment delays, depletion of inventory and increased production costs
resulting from disruptions of operations at any of the facilities which, due
to consolidations in the Company's manufacturing operations, now manufacture
nearly all of the Company's supply of a particular type of product (i.e., focus
factories);
(10) real estate rates and availability, which may affect the Company's ability
to increase the number of retail locations at which the Company sells its products
and the costs associated with the Company's other facilities;
(11) changes in product mix to products which are less profitable;
(12) the Company's ability to acquire or develop new information and distribution
technologies, on a timely basis and within the Company's cost estimates;
(13) the Company's ability to capitalize on opportunities for improved efficiency,
such as globalization, and to integrate acquired businesses and realize value
therefrom;
(14) consequences attributable to the events that are currently taking place
in the Middle East, including further attacks, retaliation and the threat of
further attacks or retaliation; and
(15) the impact of repatriating, or planning to repatriate, certain of the Company's foreign earnings to the United States in connection with The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
We assume no
responsibility to update forward-looking statements made herein or
otherwise.
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The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
