A Letter To Our Shareholders

Accelerating the Transformation

2017 was a transformational year for our Company as two legacy businesses came together as Newell Brands, operating as one organization, under one corporate strategy.

We have taken decisive action to simplify business systems, take out costs and invest in new e‑commerce capabilities, product design and talent across the broader portfolio. Thus far, we’ve realized a significant number of achievements:

• Restructuring the company from 32 discrete business units to 15 operating divisions;
• Scaling a new enterprise-wide E‑commerce Division that grew at a strong double-digit rate;
• Sharpening the focus of the portfolio by completing three bolt-on acquisitions and eight divestitures;
• Generating over $350 million in annual savings and synergies;
• Building the size of our future innovation funnel, particularly on our recently acquired brands
• Delivering competitive levels of core sales growth and increasing U.S. market share by more than 70 basis points;
• Combining the net proceeds of divestitures with over $930 million in operating cash flow to repay $1.4 billion in debt in 2017, cumulatively paying down debt by $3.4 billion since the completion of the Jarden acquisition in 2016; and
• Returning over $580 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases.

This progress was significant and accomplished in the context of a difficult U.S. retail landscape and an increasingly inflationary environment which created headwinds for the company and in some ways masked the progress we have made.

In the context of these challenging retailer realities, we have launched an Accelerated Transformation Plan. This plan will create a company that is simpler, faster and stronger. We are focused on becoming a leading branded consumer goods company, with an emphasis on strengthening margins and cash generation while positioning Newell Brands for future growth.

We’ve identified a path to simplify the company by focusing on a core group of consumer facing brands and categories that will be most responsive to our competitively-advantaged capabilities in product design, innovation and e‑commerce, and therefore have the greatest potential to win in our global categories and generate value for shareholders. We will capture that potential by capitalizing on Newell Brands’ scale and differentiated capabilities to drive market share gains through innovation, e-commerce and international deployment. We will create this scaled consumer goods portfolio through a set of accretive divestiture opportunities to be executed at competitive market multiples. At the same time, we’ll continue our uncompromising drive to reduce costs, simplify operations and improve operating efficiencies — all with a goal of increasing operating income, improving financial flexibility, and increasing free cash flow and the return of capital to shareholders.

This work will be guided by a Board of Directors that recently welcomed six new independent directors. Your refreshed Board consists of seasoned leaders who bring significant experience, collective expertise, and a shared understanding of the complexities of our business and our strategy to win in a rapidly changing retail landscape. Together, we’re excited about transforming the power and potential of Newell Brands to create value for our shareholders.

A sincere thanks to all my Newell Brands colleagues who continue to work exceptionally hard to make this a reality, and to you for your continued support.

Michael B. Polk
Chief Executive Officer