CHICAGO — Steve Cahillane, the new chief executive officer of the Kraft Heinz Co., has hit “pause” and is pivoting away from breaking up the company to focusing on returning it to profitable growth.
“When I decided to join Kraft Heinz, I knew that this was an exciting opportunity to contemporize iconic brands, better serve consumers and customers, and build meaningful shareholder value,” Cahillane said. “Since joining the company, I have seen that the opportunity is larger than expected and that many of our challenges are fixable and within our control.
“My No. 1 priority is returning the business to profitable growth, which will require ensuring all resources are fully focused on the execution of our operating plan. As a result, we believe it is prudent to pause work related to the separation and we will no longer incur related dis-synergies this year.”
He added that the company plans to invest $600 million across marketing, sales and research and development.
“Thanks to disciplined financial stewardship, our balance sheet is strong and our free cash flow capabilities, robust — positioning us well to fund these investments and execute on the plan, while still generating excess cash. We are confident in the opportunity ahead and believe this investment will accelerate our return to profitable growth.”
Cahillane’s decision was announced Feb. 11, when Kraft Heinz announced its financial results for fiscal 2025.
For fiscal 2025, the company recorded a massive loss of $5.9 billion, which compared unfavorably to fiscal 2024 when the company earned $2.7 billion, equal to $2.27 per share on the common stock. Non-cash impairment charges contributed $5.6 billion to the loss, according to the company.
Fiscal 2025 sales fell to $24.9 billion from $25.9 billion the year before.
#Kraft #Heinz #hits #pause #separation
About the Author
