Westport’s Playtex Products Inc. is losing its CEO. Michael Gallagher plans to retire by the end of the year or when a successor is named, the personal care products company said today.
The company, with its corporate headquarters in the Nyala Farms office complex just off I-95, has been struggling to compete against larger companies like Procter & Gamble Co.
Playtex said it will look for a successor to Gallagher, 58, outside the company.
Gallagher’s contract was due to expire at the end of this month, according to the company’s annual proxy report.
His $1.3 million salary in 2003 was the same as a year earlier and he received no bonus for the year, in which Playtex profits fell 63 percent.
In April, Playtex said it decided to remain independent after a two-year review to determine whether it should sell all or part of the company. Analysts and investment bankers have said that Playtex was unable to find a buyer.
Profit was hit last year as Playtex battled intense competition from P&G in the tampon market and bad weather that cut into sun-care sales.
Playtex has also seen its debt-rating lowered and its stock fall as it repeatedly warned that its earnings would fall short of analysts’ estimates.
Playtex products include Playtex tampons, Mr. Bubble bath soap, Wet Ones, Baby Magic, Diaper Genie, Banana Boat, Woolite rug and upholstery cleaning products, Playtex gloves, Binaca and Ogilvie.
