While Mr. Lafley did not say which of the estimated 100 brands would either be discontinued or sold off, he said that taken together they had aggregate sales declines of 3 percent a year over the last three years. The cuts would leave about 70 to 80 more lucrative products remaining.

Image A. G. Lafley, chief of P.&G. Credit... Al Behrman/Associated Press

Ali Dibadj, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, speculated that Procter & Gamble would probably keep mainstay products like Pampers, Gillette and Tide. But he speculated that lesser-known brands like Zooth, a children’s oral care brand, the beauty brand Graham Webb and the Southeast Asian laundry detergent Trojan could be cut.

But Mr. Dibadj said that Procter & Gamble might not just be considering sales.

“It’s not just big or small,” he said. “A strategic fit is also going to be important.”

Mr. Dibadj speculated that Procter & Gamble could also choose to divest itself of brands that did not necessarily fit in with its traditional baby and family products, like the battery maker Duracell or the Braun line of small electronic appliances.

Beauty, too, has been a trouble spot for the company. Excluding certain currency adjustments and one-time events, the company reported that sales in the unit declined 3 percent in the fourth quarter, in contrast to the corporate average for beauty products of 2 percent growth, according to Nik Modi, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.