RB Strategy for Continued Outperformance
8 February 2012
RB Strategy for Continued Outperformance
Intensifies focus on Health & Hygiene and Faster Growing Consumer Markets
RB is today announcing a number of important changes to the company and its
strategy to fuel another decade of market outperformance and attractive
shareholder returns.
* Targets Health & Hygiene Powerbrands: successful Powerbrand strategy
continues, but focus and investment increased on higher growth, higher
margin health & hygiene in addition to home.
* Targets faster growing markets: prioritises 16 "Powermarkets", mainly
emerging, for disproportionate investment and growth.
* Redeploys resources to emerging markets: 2 new emerging market Area
structures formed (previously 1); North America and Europe merged into one
Area structure (previously 2).
* Increases investment in brand building: targets annual cost savings to fuel
an additional investment of £100m in brand equity building.
* Targets steady operating margin expansion: continues strategy of steady
operating margin* enhancement over medium term - whilst increasing brand
investment
* Sets 3 medium term (5-year) key performance indicators: 200bps of net
revenue (NR) growth above market growth on average each year; emerging
market Areas to be 50% of "core" business NR by 2016 (up from 42%); health
and hygiene to be 72% of core business NR by 2016 (up from 67%).
Outlining the strategy, Rakesh Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer, said,
"RB has delivered a decade of superior growth and shareholder value. However,
with slower market growth and increased competition, we need to reshape our
strategy to enable us to continue our track record of outperformance.
We believe we can make a real difference by giving people innovative solutions
for healthier lives and happier homes. We will therefore be intensifying our
investment behind our brands in the higher growth, higher margin categories of
health and hygiene. In addition to our highly successful "Powerbrand" strategy,
we have identified 16 "Powermarkets" for increased focus and investment, most
of which are in emerging markets.
"This new category and geographic focus will be driven by a new organisation
structure. We are creating two new Area organisations in emerging markets,
instead of one. Additionally, we will merge the European and North American
area organisations to form one Area. This will enable us to increase the speed,
quality and consistency of our in-market execution and to drive cost savings.
"RB's relentless focus on building brands will continue. We will be increasing
our investments in high rates of innovation and brand equity building. We aim
to deliver steady operating margin* expansion. We will continue to be highly
effective at converting profit into cash. I have set 3 medium term key
performance indicators to monitor our progress on our strategy.
"2012 will be a year of transition and investment, but still we are targeting
total Company net revenue growth (ex RBP) of 200 basis points above our market
growth. Our global market is expected to grow at 1-2%. While 2012 will be a
year of investment, we are targeting to maintain our operating margins (ex RBP)
in the year. I believe that generic versions of Suboxone tablets are a matter
of when and not if, so it is impractical to set targets for RBP this year.
"I firmly believe that our strong company culture of outperformance,
entrepreneurship and innovation will enable us to fulfill the enormous
potential of our brands and deliver on our vision and reshaped business
strategy."
THE CHANGES IN BRIEF
1. NEW CATEGORY FOCUS
"Core" business:
* Health - Led by Powerbrands: Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex,
Scholl
* Hygiene - Led by Powerbrands: Dettol, Lysol, Finish, Harpic, Veet
,Clearasil, Cillit Bang, Mortein
* Home - Led by Powerbrands: Air Wick, Vanish, Calgon, Woolite
* Portfolio brands representing a number of brands that do not fit with this
category focus will be managed to deliver local scale and cash margin. The
small private label business part of this does not fit with our future
strategic focus. We have undertaken a strategic review of the business
looking at all options, and are proposing a discontinuation of the
operation.
Reported separately (not "Core")
Food
RB Pharmaceuticals
2. NEW GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS
LAPAC is the name of this reporting Area, comprising:
* Latin America
* North Asia
* South and South East Asia
* Australia New Zealand
In 2011 LAPAC had sales of £2,210m representing 26% of core business NR
RUMEA is the name of this reporting Area, comprising:
* Russia & CIS
* Middle East, North Africa and Turkey
* Africa - Sub-Sahara
In 2011 RUMEA had sales of £1,364m representing 16% of core business NR
ENA is the name of this reporting Area, comprising:
* Europe
* North America
In 2011 ENA had sales of £4,837m representing 58% of core business NR
3.MARGIN EXPANSION STRATEGY
We are undertaking a number of initiatives to fuel reinvestment into brand
equity and deliver operating margin* expansion:
* Gross Margin expansion driven by a new product and supply chain
re-engineering projects aimed at delivering cost savings of £50m in 2012,
and from portfolio mix.
* Systems. RB will be rolling out SAP across its business to support greater
business efficiency and better decision making. This is expected to yield
savings of at least £10m per year from 2014 onwards and will have a capital
cost of around £150m
* Fixed Costs. In 2012 RB will have an effective freeze on fixed costs.
Specific projects to extract cost from the newly merged ENA Area are
expected to save £30m from 2013.
* Operating Margins. The primary purpose of the cost savings and gross margin
expansion will be to fuel reinvestment behind the Powerbrands in
Powermarkets. However from 2013 a proportion of cost savings will be go
towards expanding operating margins*. In addition, volume leverage and
greater scale will contribute to operating margin expansion, particularly
in emerging market Areas of RUMEA and LAPAC.
4. MEDIUM TERM KPIs AND 2012 TARGETS
All the targets are for total Company excluding RB Pharmaceuticals (RBP).
2012 Targets
* Growth in net revenue of 200 basis points a year ahead of global market
growth across RB's categories and geographies. The expected global market
growth rate is 1-2%
* Maintain operating margins for the total Company, excluding RB
Pharmaceuticals, as the company invests in transition.
Medium Term (5-year) Key Performance Indicators
* Growth in net revenue of 200 basis points a year, on average, ahead of the
global market growth across RB's categories and geographies
* Above average growth in Health & Hygiene so that they will represent 72% of
core company net revenues by 2016 (currently 67%), on average an increase
of 1% per year
* Above average growth in LAPAC and RUMEA so that they will represent 50% of
core company net revenues by 2016 (currently 42%)
5. RESTRUCTURING COSTS
A one-off cost in the order of £75m will be incurred in 2012 to implement the
new strategy. These costs are for implementing the new Area and category
organisations, refocusing resources, and making some supply chain and
manufacturing enhancements.
This charge will be in addition to the remainder of the one-off restructuring
charges of £50m relating to the SSL acquisition and integration due to be
charged in 2012. All of these charges will be treated as exceptional and
excluded from adjusted profits and earnings.
The restructuring in ENA is expected to deliver £30m in annual savings from
2013.
6. REPORTING, NEW MEASURES AND SHARE REPURCHASE
RB will move to reporting Interim Management Statements (IMS) in Q1 and Q3,
commencing in 2012, in common with most listed UK companies. Half year and full
year reporting will continue as current.
A number of new, or redefined measures, will be reported to monitor RB's
progress.
* Gross Margin. RB will move a number of consumer promotional costs and other
items from marketing into cost of goods. This will focus our commercial
organisation on better decision making around our promotional strategy. It
also brings RB into line with common industry practice. This will result in
a one-time reduction in gross margin. Operating margin will not be affected
as it is a classification change only.
* Brand Equity Index. This new measure of total brand equity building
investment, covering TV and print, digital and social media, medical
professional programmes and consumer educational programmes will replace
pure media as the measure of brand investment - effective 2013.
* Net Working Capital. A new definition of net working capital, a key
component of RB's focus on cash generation, will be used. This excludes
corporate tax and other provisions. It is therefore a much closer proxy to
RB's true commercial net working capital performance.
Geographical analysis will be on the new Area structure (ENA, LAPAC, RUMEA).
Category analysis will be on the new "core" category structure of Health,
Hygiene, Home and Portfolio brands. RB Food and RB Pharmaceuticals will be
reported as separate business streams.
Share Repurchase: RB will undertake a programme of share repurchase into 2012
of up to 15 million shares, primarily to offset the dilutive impact of employee
share schemes.
This strategic announcement is also covered by a full presentation from
management, which will be webcast live and which will be available on our website
from 9 February.
For further information, please contact:
Reckitt Benckiser +44 (0)1753 217800
Richard Joyce
Director, Investor Relations
Tom Corran
Consultant, Investor Relations
Andraea Dawson-Shepherd
SVP, Global Corporate Communication and Affairs
Brunswick (Financial PR) +44 (0)20 7404 5959
David Litterick / Max McGahan
Notice to shareholders
Cautionary note concerning forward-looking statements
This document contains statements with respect to the financial condition,
results of operations and business of Reckitt Benckiser and certain of the
plans and objectives of the Group with respect to these items. These
forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "Safe Harbor" provisions of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In
particular, all statements that express forecasts, expectations and projections
with respect to future matters, including trends in results of operations,
margins, growth rates, overall market trends, the impact of interest or
exchange rates, the availability of financing to the Company, anticipated cost
savings or synergies and the completion of strategic transactions are
forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve
risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances
that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors discussed in this
report, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including
many factors outside Reckitt Benckiser's control. Past performance cannot be
relied upon as a guide to future performance.
Appendices
The appendices to this release contain pro-forma results for full year 2009,
2010 and 2011 on the new Area and Category basis, including the new definition
of Gross Margin and Net Working Capital. Below the operating profit level there
will be no change in RB's reporting.
The Company will release historic Quarterly sales data for 2009, 2010 & 2011 on
this basis in advance of the release of Q1 IMS on 1st May 2012.
The appendices are available as a download from Reckitt Benckiser's website at:
http://events.ctn.co.uk/Webcasting03/Events/ReckittBenckiser/AnalystWebcastFeb2012/popup
Appendix 1 - Proforma Area results for 2009, 2010 and 2011 under the old and
new structures
All years are shown at actual exchange rates as reported.
Appendix 2 - Proforma Category results for 2009, 2010 and 2011 under the old
and new structures
* Operating profit before exceptional items
** Under the new categories food has been restated to match the geographical
split which excludes some minor brands predominately in South East Asia. The
food operating profit under the new categories also excludes any allocation of
corporate profit.
All years are shown at actual exchange rates as reported.
Appendix 3 - Proforma Group results for 2009, 2010 and 2011 showing impact of
change to Gross Margin
Appendix 4 - Proforma Group results for 2009, 2010 and 2011 showing impact of
change in Net Working Capital
* Operating margin excluding RB Pharmaceuticals