NWL Newell Brands Inc

Newell Brands (NYSE: NWL) announced it will reaffirm its fiscal year 2017 outlook, as provided in its first quarter 2017 earnings press release dated May 8, 2017, during its presentation tomorrow at the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer Conference in Paris, France.

The company is reaffirming its full year 2017 guidance as follows:

             

2017 Full Year

Outlook

 

Net sales

$14.52bn to $14.72bn  

Net sales growth

9.5% to 11.0%  

Core sales growth

2.5% to 4.0%  

Normalized earnings per share

$3.00 to $3.20  

Chief Executive Officer Michael Polk will present tomorrow, June 15, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. EDT (2:00 p.m. CEST). The presentation will be webcast live and may be accessed by selecting Events & Presentations from the Investor Relations tab of the Newell Brands website at www.newellbrands.com. The webcast will be archived and available for replay following the live presentation.

About Newell Brands

Newell Brands (NYSE: NWL) is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Paper Mate®, Sharpie®, Dymo®, EXPO®, Parker®, Elmer’s®, Coleman®, Jostens®, Marmot®, Rawlings®, Oster®, Sunbeam®, FoodSaver®, Mr. Coffee®, Rubbermaid Commercial Products®, Graco®, Baby Jogger®, NUK®, Calphalon®, Rubbermaid®, Contigo®, First Alert®, Waddington and Yankee Candle®. For hundreds of millions of consumers, Newell Brands makes life better every day, where they live, learn, work and play.

This press release and additional information about Newell Brands are available on the company’s website, www.newellbrands.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Regulation G promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and includes a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

The company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures that are included in this press release and the additional financial information both in explaining its results to stockholders and the investment community and in its internal evaluation and management of its businesses. The company’s management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures and the information they provide are useful to investors since these measures (a) permit investors to view the company’s performance using the same tools that management uses to evaluate the company’s past performance, reportable business segments and prospects for future performance and (b) determine certain elements of management’s incentive compensation.

The company’s management believes that core sales provides a more complete understanding of underlying sales trends by providing sales on a consistent basis as it excludes the impacts of acquisitions (other than the Jarden acquisition), planned or completed divestitures, the deconsolidation of the company’s Venezuelan operations and changes in foreign currency from year-over-year comparisons. As reflected in the Core Sales Analysis, the effect of foreign currency on reported sales is determined by applying a fixed exchange rate, calculated as the 12-month average in the prior year, to the current and prior year local currency sales amounts (excluding acquisitions and divestitures), with the difference in these two amounts being the increase or decrease in core sales, and the difference between the change in as reported sales and the change in constant currency sales reported as the currency impact. The company’s management believes that “normalized” gross margin, “normalized” SG&A expense, “normalized” operating income, “normalized” earnings per share, “normalized” interest and “normalized” tax rates, which exclude restructuring and other expenses and one-time and other events such as costs related to certain product recalls, the extinguishment of debt, certain tax benefits and charges, impairment charges, pension settlement charges, discontinued operations, costs related to the acquisition, integration and financing of acquired businesses, amortization of intangible assets associated with acquisitions (beginning in the second quarter of 2016), advisory costs for process transformation and optimization initiatives, costs of personnel dedicated to integration activities and transformation initiatives under Project Renewal and certain other items, are useful because they provide investors with a meaningful perspective on the current underlying performance of the company’s core ongoing operations.

The company determines the tax effect of the items excluded from normalized diluted earnings per share by applying the estimated effective rate for the applicable jurisdiction in which the pre-tax items were incurred, and for which realization of the resulting tax benefit, if any, is expected. In situations in which an item excluded from normalized results impacts income tax expense, the company uses a “with” and “without” approach to determine normalized income tax expense.

While the company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating the company’s performance, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for or superior to the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similar measures presented by other companies.

                 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Reconciliation of the 2017 core sales growth outlook is as follows:  

Year Ending December 31, 2017

Estimated net sales growth (GAAP) 9.5% to 11.0% Less: Pre-closing Jarden sales included in pro forma base [1] -18.1% Add: Unfavorable foreign exchange 1.5% to 2.0% Add: Divestitures, net of acquisitions [2] 9.6%           to   9.1% Core Sales Growth, Adjusted Pro Forma 2.5% to 4.0%    

[1] Adjusted pro forma reflects Jarden sales from January 1, 2016 to April 15, 2016.

[2] Acquisitions exclude net sales until the one year anniversary of their respective dates of acquisition, and are comprised of Sistema, Smith Mountain Industries, GUD, Bond, and Touch Industries. Divestitures include both actual and planned divestitures comprised of the Levolor and Kirsch window coverings brands ("Décor"),which the Company divested in June 2016, the Tools (excluding Dymo® industrial labeling) and Rubbermaid® Consumer Storage businesses, which the Company divested in March 2017; and the Lehigh, Fire Building and Teutonia businesses, which the Company completed in the second quarter 2017; as well as the planned divestitures of businesses currently held for sale including two winter sports units, V�lkl® and K2®, and the Humidifiers and Fans business, and the planned exit of a distribution agreement with Sprue Aegis.

As of April 15, 2016, Newell Brands core sales include pro forma core sales associated with the Jarden transaction as if the combination occurred April 15, 2015. Core sales exclude the impact of foreign currency, acquisitions (other than the Jarden acquisition) until their first anniversary, and planned and completed divestitures. Beginning with the second quarter of 2016, the company is excluding the amortization of intangible assets associated with acquisitions from its calculation of normalized earnings per share.

The company has presented forward-looking statements regarding normalized earnings per share for 2017, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. This non–GAAP financial measure is derived by excluding certain amounts, expenses or income from the corresponding financial measure determined in accordance with GAAP. The determination of the amounts that are excluded from this non-GAAP financial measures is a matter of management judgment and depends upon, among other factors, the nature of the underlying expense or income amounts recognized in a given period. We are unable to present a quantitative reconciliation of the aforementioned forward-looking non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure because such information is not available and management cannot reliably predict all of the necessary components of such GAAP measure without unreasonable effort or expense. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on the company's full year 2017 GAAP financial results.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical in nature constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to information or assumptions about the effects of sales, income, earnings per share, operating income, operating margin or gross margin improvements or declines, Project Renewal, capital and other expenditures, cash flow, dividends, restructuring and other project costs, costs and cost savings, inflation or deflation, particularly with respect to commodities such as oil and resin, debt ratings, changes in exchange rates, expected benefits and financial results from the Jarden acquisition and other recently completed acquisitions and related integration activities and planned divestitures and management's plans, projections and objectives for future operations and performance. These statements are accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "expect," "project," "will," "believe," "estimate" and similar expressions. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our dependence on the strength of retail, commercial and industrial sectors of the economy in light of the continuation of challenging economic conditions, particularly outside of the United States; competition with other manufacturers and distributors of consumer products; major retailers’ strong bargaining power and consolidation of our customers; our ability to improve productivity, reduce complexity and streamline operations; our ability to develop innovative new products and to develop, maintain and strengthen its end-user brands, including the ability to realize anticipated benefits of increased advertising and promotion spend; risks related to the substantial indebtedness that we have incurred in connection with the Jarden acquisition; risks related to a potential increase in interest rates; our ability to complete planned acquisitions and divestitures; difficulties integrating Jarden and other acquisitions and unexpected costs or expenses associated with acquisitions; changes in the prices of raw materials and sourced products and our ability to obtain raw materials and sourced products in a timely manner from suppliers; the risks inherent in our foreign operations, including currency fluctuations, exchange controls and pricing restrictions; a failure of one of our key information technology systems or related controls; future events that could adversely affect the value of our assets and require impairment charges; United States and foreign regulatory impact on our operations including environmental remediation costs; the potential inability to attract, retain and motivate key employees; the imposition of tax liabilities greater than our provisions for such matters; product liability, product recalls or regulatory actions; our ability to protect its intellectual property rights; changes to our credit ratings; significant increases in the funding obligations related to our pension plans due to declining asset values, declining interest rates or otherwise; and those factors listed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the information set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K). Changes in such assumptions or factors could produce significantly different results. The information contained in this news release is as of the date indicated. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this news release as a result of new information or future events or developments.

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Newell BrandsInvestors:Nancy O’Donnell, +1-770-418-7723Vice President, Investor Relationsnancy.odonnell@newellco.comorMedia:Jason Anthoine, APR, +1-201-610-6768Vice President, Corporate Communicationsjason.anthoine@newellco.comorWeber ShandwickLiz Cohen, +1-212-445-8044liz.cohen@webershandwick.com