BOCA RATON, Fla., U.S. — At the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference yesterday, executives of Mondelēz International highlighted the company’s priorities for the year, including delivering its 2018 business plan with excellence and completing a comprehensive strategic business review designed to deliver sustainable shareholder value in the years to come.
Chief Executive Officer Dirk Van de Put outlined several areas of focus that will be important as the company develops its future strategic framework: putting consumers first, leveraging Power Brands, solidifying an omnichannel presence and executing with excellence.
“We’re taking a fresh approach, challenging existing thinking and exploring new ideas and ways to win,” he said.
“More than ever, the consumer needs to be at the center of what we do. Today’s consumers eat differently, shop differently and seek different experiences. Since consumers are changing fast, we have to be more nimble, innovative and forward-looking than ever before.”
Van de Put continued: “The key to unlocking more value for shareholders is to get two things right: putting the consumer at the center of everything we do and executing with excellence every day, in every store. If we do that, I’m confident we’ll deliver sustainable, profitable growth.”
Brian Gladden, Chief Financial Officer, underscored the company’s strong bottom-line performance over the past four years, including a 600-basis-point increase in Adjusted Operating Income1 margin and 18 percent CAGR in Adjusted EPS1 at constant currency. Gladden highlighted how the company’s Supply Chain Reinvention program and Zero-Based Budgeting approach significantly contributed to delivering this performance.
“We’ve built a core competency in cost management, and this will benefit us moving forward,” Gladden said. “Cost efficiencies will continue to be a fundamental part of our playbook, and we’re confident there are additional opportunities to improve margin performance and fund growth initiatives.”
Reaffirming 2018 Outlook
During today’s presentation, the company reaffirmed its 2018 outlook, including:
- Organic Net Revenue growth of 1 to 2 percent
- Adjusted Operating Income margin of approximately 17 percent
- Double-digit Adjusted EPS growth on a constant-currency basis
- Free Cash Flow1 of approximately $2.8 billion
A live audio webcast of today’s CAGNY presentation will be available in the investors section of the company’s website (www.mondelezinternational.com), and an archived replay of the presentation with accompanying slides will be available on the website following the webcast. The company will be live tweeting from the event at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.
