Beautiful Answers Start with Brave Questions. ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Beautiful Answers Start with Brave Questions
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Beautiful answers start with brave questions. ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Beautiful answers start with brave questions. “We are the catalyst for discoveries that spark the senses & transform the everyday.” Andreas Fibig Chairman and Chief Executive Officer DEAR FELLOW SHAREHOLDERS, CUSTOMERS & EMPLOYEES IFF’s new purpose statement encapsulates 126 years of on Euronext Paris—an important step in facilitating broader innovation and a deeply rooted ambition to explore new frontiers. ownership of IFF shares in the European capital markets. It illuminates how, at the heart of our company, we are fueled by a sense of discovery, constantly asking “what if?” to address We are proud of our results, but we also know that the today’s challenges and envision tomorrow’s opportunities. world around us is changing. We see the profound dynamics This powerful statement grew out of our refreshed business of an increasing and diverse population, unprecedented climate strategy—Vision 2020—to ensure that we continue to lead change, and pervasive market volatility. Our only choice is to where we compete and maintain our focus on what matters adapt and to evolve. This is in our DNA—to be nimble, to adjust most: our customers, consumers, employees, and shareholders. and to transform to meet the needs of a changing environment. Vision 2020 influences the way we do business. It guides Today is no different. We continue to thrive because we bring our efforts to accelerate profitable growth, build greater people together—employees, customers and partners—to differentiation and maximize shareholder value. When we create products that meet the present and future needs of communicated our long-term financial targets, established consumers. Collaboration generates ideas and defines our objectives to drive mergers and acquisitions, and improved our role not only in the flavors and fragrances industry, but capital allocation distribution—we underscored our commitment with adjacent businesses as well. to the strategy. Further, we reprioritized our expansive R&D initiatives, progressed our sustainability goals and recharged Our Vision 2020 strategy consists of four pillars: our story with a fresh brand platform and visuals. • Innovating Firsts • Winning Where We Compete I am pleased to share that, along with these accomplishments, • Becoming our Customers’ Partner of Choice we delivered strong financial results. Due in large part to • Strengthening and Expanding the Portfolio the diversity of our business and our recent acquisitions, we achieved 5% sales growth, an 8% increase in adjusted operating These pillars are rooted in our foundation of Talent and profit* and an 11% improvement in adjusted EPS* growth—all on Organization, Continuous Improvement, and Sustainability. a currency neutral basis. We also increased our dividend by 20% and repurchased 1.1 million of our shares to reach a total payout As you will see on the following pages, while still in its early ratio of adjusted net income of 66%—above our target range stages, our Vision 2020 strategy has already realized several of 50 to 60%—and completed the cross-listing of our shares exciting accomplishments. See reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP financial measures in Exhibit A at end of this report Innovating Firsts 2 We understand and realize the future needs of our customers and consumers by building robust R&D platforms that deliver consumer-preferred solutions. Dedicated to driving differentiation, our goals for Vision 2020 are clear and achievable: for Fragrances, we aim to be the undisputed leader in delivery systems, new molecules and naturals; for Flavors, we are focused on modulation, delivery systems and naturals. Fragrance delivery systems via encapsulation Uniting IFF expertise in natural ingredients remain a must-win platform because it provides and our unique R&D pipeline with Lucas Meyer the greatest opportunity across all categories. Cosmetics’ (LMC) cosmetics ingredients We are pioneers in this technology. In 2006, we innovation has strengthened our product launched our first encapsulation product for offerings—and enabled IFF to differentiate Fabric Care—a solid growth driver and key in in the very attractive skin care and hair care differentiating brands we support. In 2015, our segments. LMC has a strong commercialization encapsulation-related sales increased to the pipeline of captive new molecules that comprises mid-teens. We expect this success to continue active ingredients, including anti-aging and as we enhance and evolve our technology and anti-wrinkle formulations; functional ingredients, as we expand into new areas, such as personal including emulsifiers and cooling effects; and care products. delivery systems, including long lasting effects. In 2015, LMC commercialized five patent- We are on our way to assume a leadership protected molecules demonstrating a robust position in new molecule development by pipeline that underscores our excellent 2020. The resulting fragrance ingredients position to capture the growth potential provide a greater competitive advantage for our in the short and long term. perfumers to use in their formulas and allow us increased differentiation among our peers. In In Flavors, our aim is to address consumers’ 2015, we commercialized four captive fragrance ever-growing need for health and wellness ingredients—a 50% increase from our annual offerings. Today’s consumers are more proactive average over the last decade—providing about their health than ever before and, as a greater confidence in our accelerated growth result, our major customers are prioritizing ambition. We also launched Amber Extreme™ modulation solutions. We are helping to meet —a previously captive fragrance ingredient— this growing need. This year, we launched for broad use within the fragrance industry. two natural modulators and our Savory and Sweet modulation technologies grew strong We will strengthen our leadership position in double-digits. naturals by continuing to develop responsible products. One route is to create innovative and Recent success in Latin America—a region with unique specialty scents derived from natural strong double-digit growth in 2015—reveals ingredients. We also intend to expand our that there is still room for innovative and portfolio of key ”Living” ingredients—which cost-effective solutions. One exciting global are critical to the Fine Fragrance and Beauty project on the horizon is a powder encapsulation Care categories—by sourcing new botanicals, system that delivers improved flavors at mastering cultivation, and performing extraction. the lowest possible price. 3 Winning Where We Compete 4 2015 was all about identifying key markets, categories and customers primed for growth. We initiated strategies across both our Flavors and Fragrances business units to achieve a leadership position in our home market of North America—a market with over $4.5 billion in potential. As part of this initiative and aligned with our renewed focus on M&A, we acquired Ottens Flavors and moved from #3 to #2 Flavors partner in North America. With a solid reputation for outstanding customer service and diverse flavor technologies, Ottens Flavors provides tremendous opportunities to leverage in the future. Our increased strategic efforts in the fast-growing economies of Africa and the Middle East reveal significant progress, including sales in the regions showing mid-teens growth on a currency neutral basis. We’ve also aligned our operations to fully support the efforts of our global customers who recognize the potential benefits of expanding into promising markets. We turned our attention to specific value- enhancing categories, including Fine Fragrances and Home Care, as well as key growth customers across both business units. For Fine Fragrances, we intend to increase growth by focusing on fast- growing end-market customers, concentrating on several fast-moving, smaller brands in order to increase our position. In Home Care, the largest consumer fragrance category in North America, we plan to leverage our global center of excellence to further accelerate growth. This year, the category was up high-single-digits globally and mid-single- digits in North America, further evidence that our strategy is on the right track. 5 Becoming Our Customers’ Partner of Choice Commercial excellence —this is our goal. To achieve it, we are building upon our efforts to offer our customers in-depth and local consumer insights, industry-leading innovation, outstanding service, and the highest quality products available. This is how we remain an essential partner and provide incremental business opportunities for our customers and for IFF. In 2015, we launched our refreshed branding, Cosmetics won the 2015 Gold Award for the unveiling a new website, purpose statement, Innovation Zone Best Active Ingredient at the visual identity, and tone of voice. All of renowned In-cosmetics Asia Conference. which are geared towards showcasing IFF’s vision, imagination, and innovative When it comes to winning future business, focus to customers, employees, and of however, we know that it is imperative to course, shareholders. stay on our customers’ core lists. We are achieving this by investing in our R&D It was also a year of considerable progress — capabilities, developing consumer insights, and customers took note. We won the and expanding our understanding of North American Innovation Award for thought- regulatory requirements. In 2015, we leadership with one of our largest Flavors reaffirmed or expanded