Advertising - The sum of media and consumer promotion. Media advertising costs include the production, airtime, and space costs incurred for television, radio, magazine, newspaper, billboards and other media outlets. Consumer Promotion advertising includes costs incurred to generate trial usage for CP products, with the intent to convert the users to become regular consumers of CP products.

Capital Expenditures - cash spending on fixed assets.

Cash Equivalents - highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less when purchased.

Cash Provided by Operations - external annual report measurement of cash provided for investment (capital spending, acquisitions and other investments) and financing activities. Also referred to as Operating Cash Flow.

Commercial Investment - includes media, promotion and other consumer and trade incentives, some of which reduce reported net sales.

Commercial Paper - high grade unsecured short term notes issued by major corporations.

Cost of Goods Sold - the total cost of buying raw materials and paying for all the factors that go into producing finished goods.

Corporate Governance - the practices, principles and values that guide a company and its business every day, at all levels of the organization.

Cumulative Translation Adjustments - translation gains and losses resulting from the translation of non-hyperinflationary subsidiary's assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars. It is included in a separate shareholder equity account.

Current Assets - resources that are reasonably expected to be realized in cash, sold or consumed within the next twelve months.

Current Liabilities - obligations whose liquidation is reasonably expected to require the use of current assets or the creation of other liabilities within the next twelve months.

Depreciation - charges against earnings to write off the cost, less salvage value, of an asset over its estimated useful life.

Dividend - distribution of earnings to shareholders in the form of cash or stock. The amount is decided by the board of directors and is usually paid quarterly.

Dividend Payable Date - the date for the payment of a cash or stock dividend to those who held shares on the record date.

Dividend Record Date - the date by which a shareholder must officially own shares in order to be entitled to a dividend.

Dividend Yield - annual common stock dividends per share divided by the year end stock price.

Ex-Dividend Date - the date on which the security begins trading (or is priced) "without the dividend". Normally, the ex-dividend date is two trading days prior to the declared record date.

EPS Basic - net after tax earnings, after deducting preferred stock dividends, divided by the average number of common shares outstanding for the period.

EPS Diluted - is calculated assuming the conversion of all potentially dilutive securities (i.e. ESOP shares and stock options) into common shares.

Free Cash Flow Before Dividends - net cash provided by operations less capital expenditures. Management uses this measure to evaluate the Company's ability to satisfy current and future obligations, repurchase stock, pay dividends and fund future business opportunities.

Gross Profit - net sales less direct product manufacturing costs, both fixed and variable.

Identifiable Assets - reported for both geographic and segment data, equivalent to total assets for operating units only (Corporate assets are reported separately).

Net Sales - gross sales (excluding sales taxes and sales returns), less: sales incentives and discounts paid to the trade; consumer activities including price offs and couponing; and cash discounts.

Market Capitalization - value of shares outstanding i.e., total shares outstanding (excluding treasury shares) multiplied by the current market price per share.

Market share - the percentage of a category or segment's retail sales obtained by one brand or company. Colgate market shares are based on value share data provided primarily by ACNielsen. Global or regional shares are a weighted average of markets where Colgate competes and purchases third-party syndicated data.

Operating Profit (EBIT) - earnings before interest and taxes.

Other (Income) Expense, Net - non operating income and expenses, i.e. equity income, amortization of intangible assets, restructuring activities, gains and losses on the sale of non-core brands and real estate and minority interest.

Retail Trade - the stores that sell products directly to consumers. These stores vary in size from small, local, privately run outlets to large super centers that are part of national chains.

Return on Capital (ROC) - ratio that measures how effectively the Company is utilizing its capital invested in the business. ROC is calculated as net income excluding aftertax interest expense, divided by average capital. Capital consists of total debt and total shareholders' equity.

Shares Outstanding - the number of shares issued by a company, net of any shares repurchased by the company.

Total Shareholder Return - increase in the value of Colgate stock plus reinvested dividends.

Unearned Compensation - included in a separate shareholders equity account, this was initially recorded as an offset to the debt issued by the ESOP and is being amortized as ESOP shares are allocated to participants.

Unit Volume Growth - growth in product units sold, weighted to reflect price per unit.

Working Capital - current assets less current liabilities other than cash & marketable securities /debt.