Newell Rubbermaid CEO On The Continuing Success Of The Company

Shares of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. NWL have been on a continuous rise since last year, the company also recently reported better than expected first-quarter earnings.

Michael Polk, Newell Rubbermaid CEO, was on CNBC recently to discuss the success of the company.

Undisputed Leader

“We are the leader in basically every category that we compete in; we are in tools, professional facing tools for craftsmen,” Polk said. “We are in commercial products which you would see in any of the office buildings or on the street quite frankly in New York. We are in writing, we are the leading writing instrument company in the world and we are a leading baby-care company in the world.”

“So, we compete in big global markets with No. 1 or No. 2 share positions and the interesting thing about this business versus other ones I worked in is these markets are unconsolidated.”

He continued, “So, despite the fact that the writing market is a $20 billion global market and we have the largest share with about 10 percent of that global market. If you were to think of all the brands out there in writing and consolidate them, they'd only represent 36 percent of that $20 billion.”

Not Interested In Broadening Portfolio’s Shoulders

Polk was asked if five years from now the company will have the same brand set and the same brand categories. He replied, “We are focused on building the core of our business either organically or through a combination of organic development and external development, but we're not interested in broadening the shoulders of the portfolio right now.”