Corporate Profiles - 2023 - 88

COMPANY overview
Kraft Heinz Co.
New CEO to take over in 2024, succeeding
Miguel Patricio
A
leadership transition will occur in the
continuing turnaround of the Kraft Heinz
Co., Pittsburgh.
Carlos Abrams-Rivera, currently president of
the North America zone, will become chief executive
officer on Jan. 1, taking over for Miguel
Patricio, who has served as CEO since 2019 and
chair of the board since 2022. He will transition
to non-executive chair of the board Jan. 1. Mr.
Abrams-Rivera immediately became president
of Kraft Heinz when the leadership transition
was announced Aug. 14.
" Carlos is the best person to lead the next
phase of the company's transformation, " Mr.
Patricio said. " His strategic and innovative
mindset is ideal to continue to propel Kraft
leadership of Miguel Patricio who became chief
executive officer in 2019, centered around consumer
platforms and emphasizing innovation
and brand support. Following the divestitures
of certain assets, which also helped the company
reduce debt by over $8 billion in the past
three years, the company is now focused on
the growth phase of its business transformation
plan. "
Moody's said the company's debt-to-EBITDA
leverage has fallen to 3.5 in 2022 from 4.7 in
2019 and projected further reductions ahead.
Through the first half of the current fiscal
Chief executive officer -
Miguel Patricio
Heinz forward on our path to greatness. Since
joining Kraft Heinz in 2020, he has consistently
delivered strong results in the North American
retail and Away From Home businesses. "
Evidence of the turnaround came in February
when Moody's Investor Service raised the
Kraft Heinz unsecured credit rating to Baa2
from Baa3.
" The upgrades reflect the significant progress
the company has made toward reducing
financial leverage and improving its operating
performance in recent years, " Moody's said.
" The company has benefited from its new enterprise
strategy and operating model under the
88 \ October 2023
year, Kraft Heinz had net income of $1.84 billion,
equal to $1.50 per share on the common
stock, which was up from $1.04 billion, or 85¢
per share, in the same time of the previous
year. Net sales increased to $13.21 billion from
$12.56 billion.
Kraft Heinz faced some headwinds. Volume/
mix declined 7 percentage points in the second
quarter ended July 1. The stock price on
the Nasdaq on Aug. 2, the day second-quarter
results were announced, closed at $36.32 per
share, down from a close of $40.78 on Jan. 3.
The Kraft Heinz North American leadership
team saw other changes in 2023. Helen Davis,
formerly head of supply chain North American
beauty, well-being and personal care at Unilever,
was named senior vice president and head
of North American operations. Rebecca Dunphey,
formerly group president for the care and connection
division at The Clorox Co., became senior
vice president and president of fresh, beverages
and desserts. In an internal hire, Simon Laroche
was named senior vice president and president
of Canada and North America coffee.
Kraft Heinz announced in July a plan to invest
more than $400 million to build a national
775,000-square-foot consumer packaged
goods distribution center in DeKalb,
Ill. The
facility will include an automated storage and
retrieval system with the ability to drive twice
the volume for Kraft Heinz customers, distributing
over 60% of the company's foodservice
business and about 30% of all dry goods. CP
Kraft Heinz Co. net income
in millions
2022
$2,363
2021
$1,012
2020
$356
Source: Kraft Heinz Co.
Kraft Heinz Co. net sales
in millions
2022
$26,485
2021
$26,042
2020
$26,185
Source: Kraft Heinz Co.
Kraft Heinz Co. share price
$43
Sept. 15, 2023 = $33.45
$39
$35
HIGH =
Jan. 6, 2023 = $41.71
LOW =
Sept. 27, 2022 = $31.94
$31
Sept. Nov.
2022
Jan.
2023
March May
Source: New York Stock Exchange
©LUMIKK555 - STOCK.ADOBE.COM AND KRAFT HEINZ CO.
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Corporate Profiles - 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Corporate Profiles - 2023