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Text: In a moment, Mark Smucker, president, and CEO will give an overview of the quarter's results and an update on our strategic initiatives.
Tucker Marshall, our CFO, will then provide a detailed analysis of the financial results and our fiscal 2022 outlook.
These statements rely on assumptions and estimates, and actual results may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties.
We also posted a slide deck summarizing the quarterly results, including additional information regarding net sales by segment and cost of products sold for fiscal 2021.
Included in the slide deck are schedules summarizing net sales excluding divestitures for fiscal years 2019 through 2021.
If you have additional questions after today's call, please contact me.
Fiscal 2021 was a year like no other.
In the face of unprecedented challenges, we delivered outstanding results.
Moreover, we believe the business is at an inflection point, and we are delivering against our strategic and executional plans.
We are emerging from the pandemic along with recent strategic actions a much stronger company.
From the outset of the pandemic, we prioritize the well-being of our employees, funded relief activities for our communities, and produced a record amount of products for consumers and their pets.
Our people are resilient and moved with speed and agility to adapt our business, all while executing our consumer-centric growth strategy and making progress toward our four execution priorities.
These are driving commercial excellence, streamlining our costs infrastructure, reshaping our portfolio, and unleashing our organization to win.
These priorities are essential to position our company for sustainable long-term growth.
I'll first share some examples of the progress we are making toward our priorities before turning to a few highlights from the fourth quarter and our fiscal year 2022 outlook.
Our first execution priority is driving commercial excellence.
Throughout the past year, significant changes in our industry demanded a rethink of CPG commercial models.
We adapted our approach to deliver what customers and consumers need and want more efficiently These changes included standing up a new sales model with two distinct teams, one focused on pets and the other on our consumer foods and coffee businesses.
The benefits from improved in-store execution and leveraging insights, combined with additional advertising and improved reach through new digital media models have been a driving factor for our market share gains.
These investments in our commercial capabilities provide a competitive advantage as we partner with retailers.
They also enable seamless and highly targeted consumer experiences from awareness to purchase and strong repeat purchasing.
Consumers remained loyal to our brands as we maintained the 1 million net new households gained in the prior year, while dollars per buyer increased 10%.
Over the past year, we increased our marketing investment by nearly $40 million or 8%.
Most importantly, we significantly improved our market share performance, where today, 55% of the brands in our portfolio are growing market share versus 26% 18 months ago.
This is the sixth quarter of sequential share performance improvement for our portfolio.
We also made significant progress on our second priority to increase focus on profitability and cost discipline.
We restructured our corporate support functions leading to a more lean and agile organization while continuing to optimize our supply chain and maximize network production efficiencies.
Full implementation of these initiatives will deliver $50 million of incremental cost savings in each of the next three fiscal years.
One example where we are driving efficiency in our supply chain is with our high-growth Dunkin' coffee.
The pandemic-driven surge in demand required us to increase agility and decrease production downtime and change over.
This led to operational efficiencies and incremental capacity for our coffee production, which supported 21% sales growth for the brand this year.
Our third execution priority to reshape our portfolio supports our strategy of leading in the best categories.
baking mix and condensed milk businesses.
In the pet business, we divested the special teaching and all exclusive Natural Balance brand.
These decisions show our commitment to divesting brands and businesses that are no longer consistent with our long-term strategic focus.
In turn, this allows us to optimize assortment to maximize productivity, reduce complexity, and shift resources to our fastest-growing opportunities.
We continue to evaluate opportunities to increase our portfolios' focus in the pet food, coffee, and snacking categories.
Further, acquisitions will remain a part of our strategic growth and we will be prudent when considering them, ensuring we focus on appropriate multiples paid and financial returns in their evaluation.
Our fourth execution priority, unleashing our organization to win, powers the first three priorities.
The strength of the Smucker culture has always been a unique differentiator in achieving growth and is a critical component of our future.
With the impact of my new leadership team and through the additional organization changes implemented this past year, we are more lean, agile, and focused on delivering with excellence and winning in the marketplace.
We're also increasing our focus on becoming a more inclusive and diverse company at every level of the organization.
These four priorities are critical to ensuring we maintain our momentum and we're critical to our record fiscal 2021 results with full-year net sales increasing 3%.
Net sales grew 5% when excluding the prior-year sales for divested businesses and foreign currency exchange.
Fiscal '21 adjusted earnings per share was $9.12, an increase of 4%, exceeding our most recent guidance range of $8.70 to $8.90.
Free cash flow was $1.26 billion, above our most recent expectations of $1.1 billion.
Our strong financial performance accelerated elements of our capital deployment strategy to support increased shareholder value.
We returned $1.1 billion of capital to shareholders this year in the form of dividends and share repurchases.
We increased our dividend for the 19th consecutive year and through share repurchases, reduced our shares outstanding by approximately 5% on a full-year basis.
And we repaid over $860 million of debt during the fiscal year, strengthening our balance sheet to provide flexibility for a balanced approach to reinvesting in the business and returning cash to shareholders.
Turning to the fourth quarter, we delivered results ahead of our expectations while accelerating investments for future growth.
Net sales declined 8% versus the prior year.
Excluding the non-comparable net sales from divestitures and foreign exchange, net sales decreased 3% due to lapping the initial stock upsurge related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we are lapping the COVID-19-related demand in the prior year, we believe evaluating results over the prior two-year period is more meaningful.
Adjusting for divestitures, net sales grew at a two-year CAGR of 4%, demonstrating growth across all three of our U.S. retail segments.
Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share declined 26%, primarily driven by the decreased sales, $40 million of incremental marketing investments, and higher costs, partially offset by higher pricing.
Turning to our segment results.
In pet food, we anticipated sales to be down due to lapping stock up purchasing in the prior year.
Net sales, excluding sales for the divested Natural Balance business, decreased 6% and demonstrated growth on a two-year basis.
While pet food consumption was not materially impacted by at-home versus away-from-home eating trends as in other categories, the pandemic did impact how consumers shop for their pets such as accelerated growth in e-commerce channels.
Also, the total U.S. pet population grew by an estimated high-single-digit percentage this past year with new pet parents showing a willingness to spend more for their pets compared to historical trends.
We expect top-line growth on a comparable basis for the pet business in fiscal '22, supported by higher pricing, category growth, continued marketing support, and innovation for our leading treats portfolio, and premium food offerings.
Turning to our coffee business, net sales were comparable to the prior year despite lapping the COVID-19 stock up purchasing and demonstrated growth on a two-year basis.
Consumer adoption of K-Cups continues to grow with 3 million incremental households purchasing a Keurig machine last year.
In the last 52 weeks, retail sales of our brands grew 17%.
This was over twice the category rate and we gained over a point of share.
Our share gains further accelerated in more recent periods as all our brands continue to grow, including Folgers.
Cafe Bustelo and Dunkin' are the two fastest-growing brands in the coffee category.
Over the last 52 weeks, Cafe Bustelo retail sales grew 21% and Dunkin' grew 16%.
The Dunkin' brand, representing $1 billion in all-channel retail sales dollars was a top share gainer in the coffee category growing nearly triple the total at-home coffee category rate in measured channels over the last 52 weeks.
The Folgers brand gained 3 million new households at the height of the pandemic and has the highest repeat rate of any brand for new households gained during the pandemic.
We will continue to build up this momentum with initiatives to reinvigorate the iconic brand rolling out in the second half of fiscal year '22.
As new coffee habits formed during the pandemic, we anticipate retaining a substantial portion of these new consumers for the long term.
In our consumer foods business, net sales decreased due to the Crisco divestiture and increased 1% on a comparable basis and reflected strong growth on a two-year basis.
Smucker's Uncrustables frozen sandwiches continue to deliver exceptional growth with net sales and household penetration each increasing 16% in the quarter.
For our combined U.S. retail and away-from-home segments, the Uncrustables brand delivered nearly $130 million of net sales this quarter, recording its 28th consecutive quarter of growth.
The brand delivered over $400 million of net sales this year and is on track to exceed our $500 million target in fiscal year 2023.
Across our retail businesses, we delivered strong financial results this year, while significantly increasing investments in our brands, strengthening our balance sheet, and returning cash to shareholders, all of which are key building blocks for supporting long-term growth and increasing shareholder value.
I'll briefly touch on the current supply chain and cost environments.
Our operations have run efficiently, and we have had no material disruptions to date.
We continue to monitor global supply chain challenges specifically as it relates to the availability of transportation, labor, and certain materials.
Broad-based inflation is impacting many of the commodities, packaging materials, and transportation channels that are important to our business.
We are mitigating the impact through a combination of higher pricing inclusive of list price increases, reduced trade, and net revenue optimization strategies, as well as continued cost management.
We have recently implemented net price increases across all business segments with most becoming effective during the month of July.
Let me now provide additional details on our outlook for fiscal 2022.
As the U.S. emerges from the pandemic, we believe elevated at-home consumption for our brands will continue into fiscal 2022.
Our confidence is supported by the increased pet population, elevated work-from-home benefiting breakfast and lunch occasions, and consumers' investments in at-home brewing equipment.
Lapping sales from divested businesses will have a material impact on year-over-year net sales growth in fiscal 2022.
When excluding the non-comparable net sales, we anticipate top-line growth supported by higher net pricing, the continued momentum of our brands, and a significant recovery in our away-from-home business.
Year-over-year earnings per share is expected to decline.
The growth in comparable sales and benefits from cost savings programs are anticipated to be more than offset by the impact of higher costs and the timing of pricing actions, as well as the loss of earnings from divestitures.
On a two-year basis, we expect growth for both comparable net sales, as well as adjusted earnings per share as we continue to demonstrate underlying growth for the business.
Finally, as we emerged from the pandemic with a heightened focus on health and wellness, we remain dedicated to having a positive impact on our employees, our communities, and our planet.
This includes supporting the quality of life for people and pets strengthening the communities we serve both locally and globally and ensuring a positive impact on our planet with a focus on sustainable and ethical sourcing.
We look forward to sharing more details including the achievement of our 2020 environmental targets and information regarding our new ESG goals when we release our Corporate Impact Report this summer.
In summary, I would like to reinforce three key points.
First, we continue to deliver strong financial results, and our actions to deliver our priorities are leading to improvement in key metrics, including market share that position us well for the future.
Second, we are reshaping our portfolio to increase our focus on faster growth opportunities within pet food, coffee, and snacking.
And finally, we are sharpening our focus on cost management and becoming a more efficient and agile organization.
We are exiting this pandemic a stronger company, and our actions taken over the previous year support consistent delivery of long-term growth and shareholder value.
I'll begin by giving an overview of fourth-quarter results, which finished above our expectations, then I'll provide additional details on our financial outlook for fiscal 2022.
Net sales decreased 8%.
Excluding the impact of divestitures and foreign exchange, net sales decreased 3%.
This was primarily driven by unfavorable volume mix due to lapping the prior-year stock-up during the beginning of the pandemic, most notably for pet food and our Canadian baking business.
Higher net price realization was a 1 percentage point benefit, primarily driven by peanut butter and our pet business.
Adjusted gross profit decreased $79 million or 10% from the prior year.
This was mostly driven by unfavorable volume mix, with noncomparable impact to the domestic businesses and higher costs, partially offset by the higher net pricing.
Adjusted operating income decreased $120 million, or 28%, reflecting the decreased gross profit and higher SG&A expenses.
The increase in SG&A expense was primarily driven by increased marketing investments and incentive compensation, partially offset by reduced selling and distribution costs.
Below operating income, interest expense decreased $3 million, and the adjusted effective income tax rate was 23.3% compared to 23.4% in the prior year.
Factoring all this in, along with share repurchases that resulted in a weighted average shares outstanding of 108.9 million, fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share was $1.89.
I'll now turn to fourth-quarter segment results, beginning with U.S. retail pet foods.
Net sales decreased 12% versus the prior year.
Excluding the noncomparable net sales for the divested Natural Balance business, net sales decreased 6% versus the prior year.
Net sales grew at a 2% CAGR on a two-year basis excluding the divestiture.
Dog snacks continue to perform well, decreasing just 1% in the fourth quarter after growth of 12% in the prior year.
Cat food decreased 4%, following an 18% growth in the prior year.
Dog food net sales decreased 15%, reflecting anticipated declines versus the prior year.
Pet food segment profit declined 32%, primarily reflecting lower volume mix, increased marketing investments, and increased freight and transportation costs, partially offset by higher net pricing.
Turning to the coffee segment.
Net sales were comparable to the prior year and increased 5% on a two-year CAGR basis.
The Dunkin' and Cafe Bustelo brands grew 10% and 18%, respectively, offset by a 7% decline for the Folgers brand, which benefited the most from consumers stocking up on coffee in the prior year.
For our K-Cup portfolio, net sales increased 14% and accounted for over 30% of the segment's net sales with growth across each brand in the portfolio.
Coffee segment profit decreased 9%, primarily driven by increased marketing expense.
In consumer foods, net sales decreased 13%.
Excluding the prior-year noncomparable net sales for the divested Crisco business, net sales increased 1%.
On a two-year CAGR basis, net sales, excluding the divestiture, grew at a 9% rate.
The fourth-quarter comparable net sales increase relative to the prior year was driven by higher net pricing of 4%, primarily due to a list price increase for peanut butter in the second quarter, partially offset by unfavorable volume mix of 3%.
Growth was led by the Smucker's Uncrustables frozen sandwiches, which grew 16%.
Consumer foods segment profit decreased 29%, primarily reflecting the noncomparable profit from the divested Crisco business, higher costs, and increased marketing expense, partially offset by the higher net pricing.
Lastly, in international and away-from-home, net sales declined 7%.
Excluding the prior-year noncomparable net sales for the divested Crisco business.
, net sales declined 5%.
The away-from-home business increased 7% on a comparable net sales basis, primarily driven by increases in portion control products.
International declines of 15% on a comparable net sales basis were primarily driven by declines in baking, partially offset by pet food and snacks.
On a comparable two-year CGAR basis, net sales for the combined businesses declined at a rate of 2%.
Overall, international and away-from-home segment profit decreased 30%, primarily driven by lower volume mix, partially offset by a net benefit of price and costs and favorable foreign currency exchange.
Fourth-quarter free cash flow was $183 million, an increase in cash provided by operating activities was more than offset by a $31.6 million increase in capital expenditures.
Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter were $108 million, with the increase over the prior year, primarily related to the capacity expansion for Uncrustables frozen sandwiches.
On a full-year basis, free cash flow was $1.26 billion, with capital expenditures of $307 million, representing 3.8% of net sales.
In the fourth quarter, repurchases of 1.5 million common shares settled for $174 million.
Over the course of the fiscal year, we repurchased 5.8 million shares for $678 million, reducing our outstanding share count by approximately 5%.
We finished the year with cash and cash equivalent balances of $334 million, compared to the prior year-end of $391 million.
We paid down $84 million of debt during the quarter and $866 million for the full year, ending the year with a gross debt balance of $4.8 billion.
Based on a trailing 12-month EBITDA of approximately $1.8 billion, our leverage ratio stands at 2.6 times.
We anticipate maintaining a strong balance sheet and leverage ratio, enabling a balanced capital deployment model, which includes strategic reinvestment in the business through capital expenditures and acquisitions while returning cash to shareholders through increasing dividends and evaluating share repurchases over time.
Let me now provide additional color on our outlook for fiscal 2022.
The pandemic and related implications, along with cost inflation and volatility in supply chains, continue to cause uncertainty for the fiscal year 2022 outlook.
Any manufacturing or supply chain disruption, as well as changes in consumer mobility and purchasing behavior, retailer inventory levels, and macroeconomic conditions could materially impact actual results.
We continue to focus on managing the elements we can control, including taking the necessary steps to minimize the impact of cost inflation and any business disruption.
As always, we will continue to plan for unforeseen volatility while ensuring we have contingency plans in place.
This guidance reflects performance expectations based on the company's current understanding of the overall environment.
Net sales are expected to decrease 2% to 3% compared to the prior year, including lapping of sales from the divested Crisco and Natural Balance businesses.
On a comparable basis, net sales are expected to increase approximately 2% at the midpoint of the sales guidance range.
This reflects benefits from higher pricing actions across multiple categories, primarily to recover increased commodity and input costs, along with continued double-digit sales growth for the Smucker's, Uncrustables brand, and the recovery in away-from-home channels, partially offset by a deceleration in at-home consumption trends.
We anticipate full-year gross profit margin of 37% to 37.5%, which reflects an 85-basis-point decline at the midpoint versus the prior year.
This factors in higher net pricing effective in the month of July, along with cost and productivity savings and a mixed benefit associated with the divestitures.
This will be more than offset by higher costs experienced throughout the full year.
These cost increases are driven by a high single-digit increase from commodities, ingredients, and packaging.
SG&A expenses are projected to be favorable by approximately 4%, reflecting savings generated by cost management, and organizational restructuring programs, a reset of incentive compensation, and total marketing spend of 6% to 6.5% of net sales, which reflects a stepdown from fiscal year 2021, partially driven by programs that were pulled forward into the fourth quarter.
We anticipate net interest expense of approximately $170 million and an adjusted effective income tax rate of approximately 24%, along with a full-year weighted average share count of 108.3 million.
Taking all these factors into consideration, we anticipate full-year adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $8.70 to $9.10.
At the midpoint of our guidance range, year-over-year adjusted earnings per share is anticipated to decline 2%, mostly attributable to around a $0.20 net impact of divested earnings and the timing of benefits from shares repurchased.
Approximately one-third of the share repurchase benefit was recognized in fiscal 2021.
The adjusted earnings per share guidance further reflects benefits from the increase in comparable net sales, primarily due to pricing actions along with the company's cost management and organizational restructuring programs, which are expected to fully offset higher commodity ingredient, and packaging costs, and the timing of input cost recovery.
Given the timing of cost increases and recovery through higher net pricing, as well as a shift in timing of marketing expenses, earnings are anticipated to decline in the first half of the fiscal year, most notably in the first quarter with an anticipated decrease of over 20%.
We project free cash flow of approximately $900 million, with capital expenditures of $380 million for the year.
The increase for capital expenditures primarily relates to capacity expansion for Smucker's Uncrustables.
Other key assumptions affecting cash flow include depreciation expense of $230 million, amortization expense of $220 million, share-based compensation expense of $35 million, and restructuring costs of $25 million, which includes $15 million of noncash charges.
On a two-year basis, our full-year guidance reflects net sales, excluding divestitures to grow at a 3% to 4% CAGR, and modest adjusted earnings-per-share growth at the midpoint of the guidance range.
The two-year growth reflects the recovery of earnings related to the divested businesses through both organic growth and shares repurchased and accounts for the lapping of the unprecedented stock-up purchasing during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In closing, I am incredibly proud of our employees who continue to deliver exceptional financial results.
Because of their dedication, our business has strong momentum and we've positioned ourselves better than ever to serve the needs of consumers and their pets.
With continued financial discipline, we are committed to delivering sustainable and consistent, long-term value for our shareholders.
Operator, please queue up the first question.

user
compname announces quarterly adj earnings per share of $1.89.
qtrly net sales decreased $171.8 million, or 8 percent.
qtrly adjusted earnings per share was $1.89.
expected net sales decrease of 2 to 3 percent in 2022.
sees fy 2022 net sales change versus prior year down 3% - 2%.
sees adjusted earnings per share $8.70 to $9.10 in 2022.
sees fy 2022 adjusted earnings per share $8.70 - $9.10.
sees free cash flow $900 million in 2022.
qtrly u.s. retail consumer foods sales decreased $60.7 million, or 13 percent.
qtrly u.s. retail pet foods sales decreased $93.2 million, or 12 percent.

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