Newell Brands (NASDAQ: NWL) reported its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial results. For the fourth quarter, net sales amounted to USD 2.8 Billion as core sales increased 5.8% compared to the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share amounted to USD 0.22 compared to USD 0.30 per share in the prior year period.
“We achieved an important milestone in 2021, as we returned the company to core sales growth, with strong results across each business unit and geographic region,” said Ravi Saligram, Newell Brands President and CEO. “I am proud of the way our team has navigated through a difficult operating and inflationary backdrop, delivering more than 12 percent growth in both core sales and normalized operating income, with further improvement on complexity reduction, productivity, cash conversion cycle and a robust innovation pipeline. As we look to 2022, we will continue to act with speed and agility to address external headwinds, with a laser focus on gross margins, and execute on our strategic objective to drive sustainable and profitable growth, while building competitive advantage and serving as a force for good. I continue to believe that Newell’s best days are ahead of us and that our focused and deliberate actions will drive strong shareholder returns.”
Chris Peterson, Chief Financial Officer and President, Business Operations, said, “In the fourth quarter, we delivered core sales growth of 5.8 percent, building on the strong momentum of the prior five quarters. Effective cost management, decisive actions to mitigate the impact of inflation, and stronger top line drove upside to our expectations on operating profit. We strengthened the balance sheet, exiting 2021 with a 3.0x leverage ratio, and reduced the cash conversion cycle, even as we decided to strategically build inventories. We expect 2022 to mark another year of progress, despite a challenging operating environment. For 2022, we forecast core sales growth of flat to 2 percent, normalized operating margin expansion of 50 to 80 basis points, and normalized diluted EPS of $1.85 to $1.93.”