P&G to name David Taylor CEO - WSJ

(Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co will replace Chief Executive A.G. Lafley with company veteran David Taylor in a widely expected appointment that could be announced as soon as Thursday, the Wall Street journal reported. The move by P&G, the world's largest household products maker, is pending a board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the WSJ said, citing a person familiar with the matter. The decision coincides with a massive overhaul of the company, which is struggling with sluggish sales due to "choppy" growth in developed markets, tough competition and a strengthening U.S. dollar. The company has been streamlining its business, and earlier this month announced plans to sell off more than 40 brands to perfume maker Coty Inc for $12.5 billion, as it looks to narrow its focus on fewer, faster-growing brands such as Tide and Gillette. Taylor has been the group president of the company's global health & grooming business since 2013. In January his role was expanded to include P&G's ailing beauty business. Lafley, who returned to take over as CEO of the consumer goods giant in 2013 after having led the company from 2000-2009, is expected to remain as chairman, the Journal reported. Taylor, who joined the company in 1980, has worked in various capacities in his 35-year tenure with the company serving in managerial roles across markets including China and Western Europe. P&G declined to comment. The company's shares closed down 0.4 percent at $79.97 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. (Reporting by Subrat Patnaik, Siddharth Cavale and Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Andrew Hay)