Kraft Heinz Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results

• Q3 net sales increased 6.0%; Organic Net Sales⁽¹⁾ increased 6.3%
• Q3 gross profit increased 20.4%
• Q3 operating income declined 2.8%, net income attributable to common shareholders decreased 33.7%, and diluted EPS decreased 33.8% due to charges related to the pending Cheese Transaction⁽²⁾
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ increased 13.5% and Adjusted EPS⁽¹⁾ increased 1.4%
• Full-year outlook raised to mid-single-digit Organic Net Sales⁽³⁾ growth and high-single-digit Constant Currency Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾⁽³⁾ growth

PITTSBURGH & CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Kraft Heinz Company (Nasdaq: KHC) (“Kraft Heinz” or the “Company”) today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2020 that reflected net sales growth across all six Consumer Platforms due to sustained at-home consumption momentum.

“The continuation of our strong growth into the third quarter is a reflection of the agility we are creating as an organization and because of that, we are raising our outlook for the full year,” said Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio. “We are building momentum, and we are confidently optimistic about our near-term performance. We are heading into 2021 with our new operating model fully implemented, our platform strategy coming to life in the marketplace, and our growth investments ramping up. And although there are multiple future scenarios we must plan for and manage against, we are in a strong position to both accelerate and exceed the strategic plan we finalized earlier this year.”

Q3 2020 Financial Summary

• Net sales increased 6.0 percent versus the year-ago period to $6.4 billion, including an unfavorable 0.3 percentage point impact from currency. Organic Net Sales increased 6.3 percent despite a negative 1.2 percentage point impact from exiting the McCafé licensing agreement. Pricing was up 3.7 percentage points versus the prior year period, with positive pricing in each business segment. Higher pricing primarily resulted from reduced promotional activity compared to the year-ago period, with gains also reflecting planned pricing actions in select categories and markets and pricing to offset dairy inflation. Volume/mix was up 2.6 percentage points versus the year-ago period, driven by strong growth in retail, e-commerce, and club channels supported by continued growth of at-home consumption due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. This growth more than offset lower but improving foodservice sales, and the negative impact from exiting the McCafé licensing agreement.
• Net income attributable to common shareholders decreased 33.7 percent versus the year-ago period to $597 million and Diluted EPS decreased to $0.49, down 33.8 percent versus the prior year driven by charges related to the pending Cheese Transaction⁽²⁾ in the current period and a gain on sale of the Canadian natural cheese business in the year-ago period.
• Adjusted EPS increased to $0.70, up 1.4 percent versus the prior year as Adjusted EBITDA growth more than offset a higher effective tax rate, unfavorable changes in other income, and higher non-cash equity award compensation expenses versus the year-ago period.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 13.5 percent versus the year-ago period to $1.7 billion, including an unfavorable 0.1 percentage point impact from currency. Excluding the impact of currency, Adjusted EBITDA growth was driven by pricing gains, volume growth, and favorable mix versus the year-ago period, as well as procurement savings in the United States. This growth more than offset higher variable compensation, unfavorable key commodity⁽⁵⁾ costs, specifically in dairy, as well as increased marketing investment in the United States and incremental COVID-19-related operating expenses globally.
• Year-to-date net cash provided by operating activities increased to $3.3 billion, up 67.0% versus the comparable prior year period, primarily driven by Adjusted EBITDA growth, reduced cash outflows resulting from lower payments related to the timing of promotional activity, and favorable changes in inventory, primarily due to reduced inventory levels from COVID-19-related demand. Free Cash Flow⁽¹⁾ for the first nine months of 2020 increased to $2.9 billion, up 107.8% versus the comparable prior year period, from a combination of the previously mentioned items and lower capital expenditures versus the prior year period.

Outlook

Based on performance to date, the Company believes mid-single-digit Organic Net Sales⁽³⁾ growth and high-single-digit Constant Currency Adjusted EBITDA⁽³⁾ growth versus the prior year period are reasonable expectations for fourth-quarter performance. This would result in mid-single-digit Organic Net Sales⁽³⁾ growth and high-single-digit Constant Currency Adjusted EBITDA⁽³⁾ growth for the full year.

End Notes

Webcast Information

A webcast of The Kraft Heinz Company’s third quarter 2020 earnings conference call will be available at ir.kraftheinzcompany.com. The call begins today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

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 2019 net sales of approximately $25 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,” “make,” “expect,” “drive,” “improve,” “intend,” “assess,” “evaluate,” “establish,” “focus,” “build,” “turn,” “expand,” “leverage,” “grow,” “will,” 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, costs and cost savings, legal matters, taxes, impairments, dividends, expectations, investments, innovations, opportunities, capabilities, execution, initiatives, pipeline, and growth. These forward-looking statements 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 impact of COVID-19; 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, suppliers and 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, increase its market share, or add products that are in faster-growing and more profitable categories; product recalls or product liability claims; unanticipated business disruptions; 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 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 ability to successfully execute its strategic initiatives; the impacts of the Company’s international operations; 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; impacts of natural events in the locations in which we or the Company’s customers, suppliers, distributors, or regulators operate; the Company’s ownership structure; the Company’s indebtedness and ability to pay such indebtedness, as well as the Company’s ability to comply with covenants under its debt instruments; the Company’s liquidity, capital resources and capital expenditures, as well as its ability to raise capital; 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; increased pension, labor and people-related expenses; compliance with laws, regulations, and related interpretations and related legal claims or other regulatory enforcement actions, including additional risks and uncertainties related to any potential actions resulting from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) ongoing investigation, as well as potential additional subpoenas, litigation, and regulatory proceedings; potential future material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting or other deficiencies or the Company’s failure to maintain an effective system of internal controls; the Company’s failure to prepare and timely file its periodic reports; the Company’s ability to protect intellectual property rights; tax law changes or interpretations; the impact of future sales of the Company’s common stock in the public markets; the Company’s ability to continue to pay a regular dividend and the amounts of any such dividends; volatility of capital markets and other macroeconomic factors; a downgrade in the Company’s credit rating; 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 SEC. 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, 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 integration and restructuring expenses); in addition to these adjustments, the Company excludes, when they occur, the impacts of integration and restructuring expenses, deal costs, unrealized losses/(gains) on commodity hedges, impairment losses, and equity award compensation expense (excluding integration and restructuring expenses). 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.

Adjusted EPS is defined as diluted earnings per share excluding, when they occur, the impacts of integration and restructuring expenses, deal costs, unrealized losses/(gains) on commodity hedges, impairment losses, 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 U.S. Tax Reform discrete income tax expense/(benefit), 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.

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.

Contacts

Michael Mullen (media)

Michael.Mullen@kraftheinz.com

Christopher Jakubik, CFA (investors)

ir@kraftheinz.com

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