JDE Peet’s reports full-year results 2020

H2 back to growth with better underlying momentum 

Press release

Amsterdam, 9 March 2021

Key items¹

• Pure-play focus and powerful portfolio drove record In-Home organic sales growth of 9.1% in FY 20
• Total organic sales growth accelerated from -1.1% in H1 to 0.7% in H2, with In-Home at 9.8% and Away-from-Home at -29.8% due to new lockdowns in Q4
• Progress across all sustainability commitments, with notable increase in share of third-party certified/verified coffee; 87% of packaging designed to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
• Organic adjusted EBIT growth of 6.2% to EUR 1,278 million in FY 20
• Free cash flow of EUR 877 million, after one-off tax and IPO payments of EUR 277 million
• Leverage improved to 3.2x, from 4.2x at the end of FY 19
• Proposal to pay a total cash dividend of EUR 0.70 per share in two equal instalments
• FY 21 outlook: organic sales growth of 3 to 5%, with a catch-up on the marketing investment level, will result in a low single-digit organic increase in adjusted EBIT

A message from Fabien Simon, CEO of JDE Peet’s

“In an unprecedented year, JDE Peet’s employees and partners worked tirelessly to serve our loved coffee and tea brands to consumers across the six continents. I would like to thank the teams who rallied together, supported communities with initiatives across 30 countries, while ensuring the health and safety of our employees.

JDE Peet's delivered a strong performance in 2020, demonstrating once again the resilience of the category we participate in, as well as the strengths and agility of our capabilities built over the last 268 years. As the world's largest coffee and tea pure player, we have become more relevant than ever before. We are evolving our portfolio and channel capabilities towards the fastest growing and more premium In-Home propositions through our unique set of global and local brands. Our strategic choices and investments supported a record In-Home organic growth of 9.1% in 2020, with increasing momentum in the second part of the year on sales growth, pricing and in-market performance.

We improved our leverage, and reduced net debt by another EUR 462 million in the second half of 2020. Our confidence in sustained strong free cash flow generation enables us to propose a cash dividend of EUR 0.70 per share.

2021 is expected to be another uncertain year and the long-lasting impacts of the pandemic are unclear and will need to be assessed, in particular the implications for the Away-from-Home channel. We therefore consider it appropriate to adjust our medium- to long-term targets. We are very confident of our growth opportunities to support 3 to 5% organic sales growth and mid-single-digit organic adjusted EBIT growth with quality margins, further deleveraging, and funding inorganic growth from our strong cash flow generation. These medium- to long-term targets point to the 2021 outlook of organic sales growth of 3 to 5%, combined with a low single-digit organic increase in adjusted EBIT, delivered in a quality way, with A&P trending back towards the FY 19 level."


Corporate Responsibility
JDE Peet's' Corporate Responsibility strategy is built on three pillars: Common Grounds, addressing the priority issues in our supply chain; Minimised Footprint, aimed at reducing our environmental impact; and Connected People, engaging our employees and our communities.

In 2020, we made good progress on our Corporate Responsibility Programme. Under our Common Grounds programme, we increased the share of responsibly sourced coffee, and significantly increased the number of smallholders we reach through our collaborative programmes, despite the pandemic. In 2020, 87% of our primary and secondary packaging was either reusable, recyclable or compostable, while 33% of our packaging came from recycled materials, which is restricted by current regulations limiting the use of recycled content within packaging which is in direct food contact. We successfully relaunched our leading Senseo brand, with an industry-first compostable coffee pad containing 100% certified coffee and low-environmental impact appliances to create a truly sustainable offering for our consumers. Most recently, we partnered with Nestlé in the UK to launch Podback, enabling consumers to return our Tassimo T-discs and L’OR coffee capsules more easily through a variety of methods.

Outlook 2021
While uncertainty remains regarding the future implications COVID-19 may have on global markets, we believe that vaccination programmes around the world will lead to a gradual lifting of lockdown measures in the course of 2021.

Within this context, we expect organic sales growth of 3 to 5% in FY 21, assuming a moderate recovery in Away-from-Home. To fully capture the growth opportunities we see in the coming years, we will step up our investments for growth in 2021, notably in marketing and innovation support. With these investments in growth, we expect organic adjusted EBIT growth to be in the low single-digit range in FY 21.

We remain committed to reducing our leverage to below 3x net debt to adjusted EBITDA.

Medium- to Long-Term Targets
Following the unprecedented developments related to the COVID pandemic and the long-lasting changes the company expects they will have on consumer behaviour, the company has reviewed its strategy in recent months.

While management has concluded that the company's strategy will not be subject to any material changes, we are further encouraged by the future growth opportunities the team has identified. Consistent with JDE Peet's commitment to focus on the quality and sustainability of its organic sales growth and profitability, the company has decided to link its profitability target more closely to its organic sales growth target.

As a result, the company targets for the medium- to long-term to deliver organic sales growth of 3 to 5% and mid-single-digit organic adjusted EBIT growth with quality margins. In addition, the company continues to target a Free Cash Flow conversion of approximately 70%.

More information about the company's strategy and future growth opportunities will be shared with institutional investors and equity research analysts during a virtual Strategic Update meeting on Thursday 31 March 2021.

Dividend
JDE Peet's' Board proposes to pay a dividend of EUR 0.70 per share in cash related to FY 20. The dividend will be paid in two instalments of EUR 0.35 each. The first payment date will be on Friday 16 July 2021, with the ex-dividend date on Monday 12 July 2021 and the record date on Tuesday 13 July 2021. The second payment date will be on Friday 28 January 2022, with the ex-dividend date on Monday 24 January 2022 and the record date on Tuesday 25 January 2022. The dividend proposal is subject to approval by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on Thursday 17 June 2021.

Financial Review Full-Year 2020

In FY 20, total sales decreased by 0.2% on an organic basis. Our In-Home businesses delivered record-high organic sales growth of 9.1% as lockdown measures shifted a significant part of Away-from-Home consumption to In-Home. The Away-from-Home activities showed a relatively stable organic sales performance in H2 versus H1, despite a wave of new lockdown measures in Q4, resulting in a full-year organic sales decline of -30.0%.

Total organic sales growth reflects a volume/mix effect of -1.0% and 0.8% in price. Changes in scope and other changes decreased sales by 0.4% while foreign exchange had a negative impact of 3.6%. Total reported sales decreased by 4.2% to EUR 6,651 million.

Adjusted EBIT increased organically by 6.2% to EUR 1,278 million driven by strong double-digit growth in all three CPG segments and Peet's, partially offset by a decline in the Away-from-Home businesses. Including the effects of foreign exchange and scope changes, adjusted EBIT increased by 1.9%.

Underlying profit - excluding non-recurring items - decreased by 1.7% to EUR 787 million as a higher operating profit was offset by greater adjusted net financial expenses.

Free cash flow of EUR 877 million included EUR 84 million of payments related to the IPO and EUR 193 million of future tax payments brought forward.

Net leverage improved to 3.2x net debt to adjusted EBITDA from 4.2x at the end of FY 19. We continue to make significant progress on our deleveraging priority and we are well positioned to reduce our leverage to below 3x. On 11 November 2020, Fitch assigned an investment grade rating to JDE Peet's underscoring our operating strength, strong financial discipline, and continued progress on deleveraging.

Our liquidity position remains strong, with total liquidity of EUR 1,064 million consisting of a cash position of EUR 389 million and available committed RCF facilities of EUR 675 million.


¹This press release contains certain non-IFRS financial measures and ratios, which are not recognised measures of financial performance or liquidity under IFRS. For a reconciliation of these non-IFRS financial measures to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures, see page 7 of this press release.

For the full and original version of the press release click here
For the presentation click here

Conference call & audio webcast

Fabien Simon (CEO) and Scott Gray (CFO) will host a conference call for analysts and institutional investors at 10:00 AM CET today to discuss the full-year 2020 results. A live and on-demand audio webcast of the conference call will be available via JDE Peet’s’ Investor Relations website.

Enquiries

Media
Michael Orr
Media@JDEPeets.com
+31 20 558 1600

Investors & Analysts
Robin Jansen
IR@JDEPeets.com
+31 6 159 44 569

About JDE Peet’s
JDE Peet’s is the world's largest pure-play coffee and tea company by revenue and served approximately 4,500 cups of coffee or tea every second in 2020. JDE Peet's unleashes the possibilities of coffee and tea in more than 100 developed and emerging markets through a portfolio of over 50 brands that collectively cover the entire category landscape led by household names such as L’OR, Peet’s, Jacobs, Senseo, Tassimo, Douwe Egberts, OldTown, Super, Pickwick and Moccona. In 2020, JDE Peet’s generated total sales of EUR 6.7 billion and employed a global workforce of more than 19,000 employees. Read more about our journey towards a coffee and tea for every cup at www.JDEPeets.com.

Important Information

Market Abuse Regulation
This press release contains information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

Presentation
The condensed consolidated unaudited financial statements of JDE Peet’s N.V. (the Company) and its consolidated subsidiaries (the Group) are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (IFRS).  In preparing the financial information in these materials, except as otherwise described, the same accounting principles are applied as in the consolidated special purpose financial statements of the Group as of, and for, the year ended 31 December 2019 and the related notes thereto. All figures in these materials are unaudited. In preparing the financial information included in these materials, most numerical figures are presented in millions of euro. Certain figures in these materials, including financial data, have been rounded. In tables, negative amounts are shown in parentheses. Otherwise, negative amounts are shown by "-" or "negative" before the amount.

Forward-looking Statements
These materials contain forward-looking statements as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of the Group. These forward-looking statements and other statements contained in these materials regarding matters that are not historical facts involve predictions. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks and uncertainties facing the Group. Such risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to vary materially from the future results indicated, expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. There are a number of factors that could affect the Group’s future operations and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements including (without limitation): (a) competitive pressures and changes in consumer trends and preferences as well as consumer perceptions of its brands; (b) fluctuations in the cost of green coffee, including premium Arabica coffee beans, tea or other commodities, and its ability to secure an adequate supply of quality or sustainable coffee and tea; (c) global and regional economic and financial conditions, as well as political and business conditions or other developments; (d) interruption in the Group's manufacturing and distribution facilities; (e) its ability to successfully innovate, develop and launch new products and product extensions and on effectively marketing its existing products; (f) actual or alleged non-compliance with applicable laws or regulations and any legal claims or government investigations in respect of the Group's businesses; (g) difficulties associated with successfully completing acquisitions and integrating acquired businesses; (h) the loss of senior management and other key personnel; and (i) changes in applicable environmental laws or regulations. The forward-looking statements contained in these materials speak only as of the date of these materials. The Group is not under any obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of these materials or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. The Group cannot give any assurance that forward-looking statements will prove correct and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the Group are described in the Company’s filings with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Stichting Autoriteit Financiële Markten).

Market and Industry Data
All references to industry forecasts, industry statistics, market data and market share in these materials comprise estimates compiled by analysts, competitors, industry professionals and organisations, of publicly available information or of the Group's own assessment of its markets and sales. Rankings are based on revenue, unless otherwise stated.

Attachment

• JDE Peets - FY 20 Results Release