Strategic Transformation Powered Another Year of Outstanding Performance

Strengthened Balance Sheet and Strong Free Cash Flow(1) Generation Underscores Advancing Credit Quality

PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC) (“Kraft Heinz” or the “Company”) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2021.

“Our strategic transformation has powered another year of outstanding performance,” said Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio. “Our achievements are proof that our scale and agility have led to better results and greater relevance with customers and consumers. We are generating efficiencies to fuel incremental investments in our business, which, along with successful pricing, are mitigating inflationary pressures. I'm proud of our incredible team and have great confidence that we will build on our momentum in 2022.”

Q4 2021 Financial Summary

• Net sales decreased 3.3 percent versus the year-ago period to $6.7 billion, including a negative 7.3 percentage point impact from acquisitions and divestitures and a favorable 0.1 percentage point impact from currency. Net sales versus the comparable 2019 period increased 2.6 percent, including a favorable 0.2 percentage point impact from currency and despite a negative 7.0 percentage point impact from acquisitions and divestitures. Organic Net Sales(1) increased 3.9 percent versus the prior year period and 9.4 percent versus the comparable 2019 period, with growth versus 2019 negatively impacted by 1.6 percentage points from exiting the McCafé licensing agreement. Pricing was up 3.8 percentage points versus the prior year period with growth across each reporting segment that primarily reflected inflation-justified price increases in foodservice and retail channels. Volume/mix was essentially flat versus the year-ago period as benefits from continued recovery in foodservice channels were offset by a combination of comparisons with extraordinary COVID-19-related retail demand in 2020 and temporary supply constraints.
• Net income/(loss) decreased to a loss of $255 million primarily driven by non-cash impairment losses of $1.3 billion, largely due to the impairment of the Kraft brand following the closing of the Cheese Transaction(2), higher interest expense due to one-time debt extinguishment costs, lower Adjusted EBITDA, as well as unrealized losses on commodity hedges in the current year period compared to unrealized gains on commodity hedges in the prior year period. These factors were partially offset by a lower effective tax rate and favorable changes in other expense/(income) versus the prior year period. Net income/(loss) decreased versus the comparable 2019 period primarily driven by non-cash impairment losses as well. Adjusted EBITDA(1) decreased versus the year-ago period to $1.6 billion and increased versus the comparable 2019 period. Current year Adjusted EBITDA performance included an unfavorable impact from divestitures of approximately 3.5 percentage points against each of the 2020 and 2019 periods. Excluding a favorable 0.2 percentage point impact from currency, year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA also reflected higher commodity costs, including key commodity(3) and packaging costs, as well as inflation in procurement, logistics, and manufacturing costs. These factors were partially offset by Organic Net Sales gains and operating efficiencies.
• Diluted EPS decreased to a loss of $0.21, down 125.0 percent versus the prior year, driven by the net income/(loss) factors discussed above. Adjusted EPS(1) decreased to $0.79, down 1.3 percent versus the prior year, primarily driven by lower Adjusted EBITDA that more than offset lower taxes on adjusted earnings, lower interest expense, and favorable changes in other expense/(income) versus the prior year period.
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $5.4 billion in 2021, up 8.8 percent versus the year-ago period, primarily driven by one-time proceeds of approximately $1.6 billion from the sale of licenses in connection with the Cheese Transaction, favorable changes in accounts payable compared to the prior year, largely due to favorable payment terms, and lower cash outflows for inventories. These impacts were partially offset by higher cash tax payments on divestitures in 2021 related to the divestiture of the Company's nuts business, higher cash outflows for variable compensation in 2021 compared to 2020, higher cash outflows from increased promotional activity versus the prior year period, and lower Adjusted EBITDA. Free Cash Flow was $4.5 billion in 2021, up 2.9 percent versus the comparable prior year period due to higher net cash provided by operating activities, partially offset by higher capital expenditures versus the prior year period.

Outlook

The Company expects to deliver strong financial performance in 2022. The Company currently expects a low-single-digit percentage increase in 2022 Organic Net Sales(4) versus the prior year period, reflecting continued stronger consumption versus pre-pandemic levels. Adjusted EBITDA(4) is expected to be in the range of $5.8 billion to $6.0 billion, reflecting a 53rd week in 2022, the impact of divestitures versus the prior year, strong Organic Net Sales as well as the Company's ongoing efforts to manage inflationary pressures as it continues to invest in long-term growth.

End Notes

Earnings Discussion and Webcast Information

A pre-recorded management discussion of The Kraft Heinz Company's fourth quarter and full year 2021 earnings is available at ir.kraftheinzcompany.com. The Company will host a live question and answer session beginning today at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. A webcast of the session will be accessible at ir.kraftheinzcompany.com.

ABOUT THE KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY

We are driving transformation at The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC), inspired by our Purpose, Let’s Make Life Delicious. Consumers are at the center of everything we do. With 2021 net sales of approximately $26 billion, we are committed to growing our iconic and emerging food and beverage brands on a global scale. We leverage our scale and agility to unleash the full power of Kraft Heinz across a portfolio of six consumer-driven product platforms. As global citizens, we’re dedicated to making a sustainable, ethical impact while helping feed the world in healthy, responsible ways. Learn more about our journey by visiting www.kraftheinzcompany.com or following us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. Words such as “plan,” "believe," "anticipate," "reflect," "invest," "see," "make," "expect," "deliver," "drive," “improve,” “intend,” "assess," "remain," "evaluate," “establish,” “focus,” “build,” “turn,” “expand,” “leverage,” "grow," "will," "maintain," "manage," and variations of such words and similar future or conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans, impacts of accounting standards and guidance, growth, legal matters, taxes, costs and cost savings, impairments, dividends, expectations, investments, innovations, opportunities, capabilities, execution, initiatives, and pipeline. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond the Company's control.

Important factors that may affect the Company's business and operations and that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impacts of COVID-19 and government and consumer responses; operating in a highly competitive industry; the Company’s ability to correctly predict, identify, and interpret changes in consumer preferences and demand, to offer new products to meet those changes, and to respond to competitive innovation; changes in the retail landscape or the loss of key retail customers; changes in the Company's relationships with significant customers or suppliers, or in other business relationships; the Company’s ability to maintain, extend, and expand its reputation and brand image; the Company’s ability to leverage its brand value to compete against private label products; the Company’s ability to drive revenue growth in its key product categories or platforms, increase its market share, or add products that are in faster-growing and more profitable categories; product recalls or other product liability claims; climate change and legal or regulatory responses; the Company’s ability to identify, complete, or realize the benefits from strategic acquisitions, alliances, divestitures, joint ventures, or other investments; the Company's ability to successfully execute its strategic initiatives; the impacts of the Company's international operations; the Company's ability to protect intellectual property rights; the Company's ownership structure; the Company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits from prior or future streamlining actions to reduce fixed costs, simplify or improve processes, and improve its competitiveness; the Company's level of indebtedness, as well as our ability to comply with covenants under our debt instruments; additional impairments of the carrying amounts of goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible assets; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; volatility in commodity, energy, and other input costs; volatility in the market value of all or a portion of the commodity derivatives we use; compliance with laws and regulations and related legal claims or regulatory enforcement actions; failure to maintain an effective system of internal controls; a downgrade in the Company's credit rating; the impact of future sales of the Company's common stock in the public market; the Company’s ability to continue to pay a regular dividend and the amounts of any such dividends; unanticipated business disruptions and natural events in the locations in which the Company or the Company's customers, suppliers, distributors, or regulators operate; economic and political conditions in the United States and in various other nations where the Company does business; changes in the Company's management team or other key personnel and the Company's ability to hire or retain key personnel or a highly skilled and diverse global workforce; risks associated with information technology and systems, including service interruptions, misappropriation of data, or breaches of security; increased pension, labor, and people-related expenses; changes in tax laws and interpretations; volatility of capital markets and other macroeconomic factors; and other factors. For additional information on these and other factors that could affect the Company's forward-looking statements, see the Company's risk factors, as they may be amended from time to time, set forth in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update, revise, or withdraw any forward-looking statement in this press release, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The non-GAAP financial measures provided should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative for, results prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) that are presented in this press release.

To supplement the financial information provided, the Company has presented Organic Net Sales, Adjusted EBITDA, Constant Currency Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EPS, and Free Cash Flow, which are considered non-GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures presented may differ from similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies, and other companies may not define these non-GAAP financial measures in the same way. These measures are not substitutes for their comparable GAAP financial measures, such as net sales, net income/(loss), diluted earnings per share ("EPS"), net cash provided by/(used for) operating activities, or other measures prescribed by GAAP, and there are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures.

Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to assist in comparing the Company's performance on a consistent basis for purposes of business decision making by removing the impact of certain items that management believes do not directly reflect the Company's underlying operations. Management believes that presenting the Company's non-GAAP financial measures (i.e., Organic Net Sales, Adjusted EBITDA, Constant Currency Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EPS, and Free Cash Flow) is useful to investors because it (i) provides investors with meaningful supplemental information regarding financial performance by excluding certain items, (ii) permits investors to view performance using the same tools that management uses to budget, make operating and strategic decisions, and evaluate historical performance, and (iii) otherwise provides supplemental information that may be useful to investors in evaluating the Company's results. The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures, when considered together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures and the reconciliations to those measures, provides investors with additional understanding of the factors and trends affecting the Company's business than could be obtained absent these disclosures.

Organic Net Sales is defined as net sales excluding, when they occur, the impact of currency, acquisitions and divestitures, and a 53rd week of shipments. The Company calculates the impact of currency on net sales by holding exchange rates constant at the previous year's exchange rate, with the exception of highly inflationary subsidiaries, for which the Company calculates the previous year's results using the current year's exchange rate. Organic Net Sales is a tool that can assist management and investors in comparing the Company's performance on a consistent basis by removing the impact of certain items that management believes do not directly reflect the Company's underlying operations.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income/(loss) from continuing operations before interest expense, other expense/(income), provision for/(benefit from) income taxes, and depreciation and amortization (excluding restructuring activities); in addition to these adjustments, the Company excludes, when they occur, the impacts of divestiture-related license income (e.g., income related to the sale of licenses in connection with the Cheese Transaction), restructuring activities, deal costs, unrealized losses/(gains) on commodity hedges, impairment losses, certain non-ordinary course legal and regulatory matters, and equity award compensation expense (excluding restructuring activities). The Company also presents Adjusted EBITDA on a constant currency basis. The Company calculates the impact of currency on Adjusted EBITDA by holding exchange rates constant at the previous year's exchange rate, with the exception of highly inflationary subsidiaries, for which it calculates the previous year's results using the current year's exchange rate. Adjusted EBITDA and Constant Currency Adjusted EBITDA are tools that can assist management and investors in comparing the Company's performance on a consistent basis by removing the impact of certain items that management believes do not directly reflect the Company's underlying operations. In 2021, the Company revised the definition of Adjusted EBITDA to adjust for the impact of certain legal and regulatory matters arising outside the ordinary course of its business and divestiture-related license income, as management believes such matters, when they occur, do not directly reflect the Company's underlying operations.

Adjusted EPS is defined as diluted earnings per share excluding, when they occur, the impacts of restructuring activities, deal costs, unrealized losses/(gains) on commodity hedges, impairment losses, certain non-ordinary course legal and regulatory matters, losses/(gains) on the sale of a business, other losses/(gains) related to acquisitions and divestitures (e.g., tax and hedging impacts), nonmonetary currency devaluation (e.g., remeasurement gains and losses), debt prepayment and extinguishment costs, and certain significant discrete income tax items (e.g., U.S. and non-U.S. tax reform), and including when they occur, adjustments to reflect preferred stock dividend payments on an accrual basis. The Company believes Adjusted EPS provides important comparability of underlying operating results, allowing investors and management to assess operating performance on a consistent basis. In 2021, the Company revised the definition of Adjusted EPS to adjust for the impact of certain legal and regulatory matters arising outside the ordinary course of its business and certain significant discrete income tax items beyond U.S. tax reform, as management believes such matters, when they occur, do not directly reflect the Company's underlying operations.

Free Cash Flow is defined as net cash provided by/(used for) operating activities less capital expenditures. The Company believes Free Cash Flow provides a measure of the Company's core operating performance, the cash-generating capabilities of the Company's business operations, and is one factor used in determining the amount of cash available for debt repayments, dividends, acquisitions, share repurchases, and other corporate purposes. The use of this non-GAAP measure does not imply or represent the residual cash flow for discretionary expenditures since the Company has certain non-discretionary obligations such as debt service that are not deducted from the measure.

See the attached schedules for supplemental financial data, which includes the financial information, the non-GAAP financial measures and corresponding reconciliations to the comparable GAAP financial measures for the relevant periods.

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Alex Abraham (media)

[email protected]

Christopher Jakubik, CFA (investors)

[email protected]

Source: The Kraft Heinz Company