Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) 21st Annual dbAccess Global Consumer Conference

Company and Industry Overview * Company: Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB) * Industry: Consumer Staples, specifically in baby and childcare, feminine care, adult care, family care, and professional categories. * Market Size: Addressable market of approximately $240 billion across these categories. * Key Brands: 12 powerhouse brands with number one or strong number two positions, driving more than 80% of overall net sales. Six brands generate $1 billion or more in annual retail sales. Core Strategies and Initiatives * Elevate and Expand: Focus on elevating and expanding categories through innovation, premiumization, and addressing unmet consumer needs. * Innovation: Invest in material invention, product engineering, and manufacturing process development to solve unmet consumer needs and drive differentiation. * Sustainability: Commitment to responsible sourcing, supply chain efficiency, and product and materials innovation to reduce plastic and forest footprints, water consumption, and climate-related emissions. * Optimize Margin Structure: Modernize supply chain to generate more than $3 billion in gross productivity and approximately $500 million in working capital savings. * Wiring Organization for Growth: Reorganize operating structure to enable greater connectivity and improve speed-to-market for future product and commercial initiatives. Key Initiatives and Developments * Category Shaping Technologies: Develop new products and solutions to address unmet consumer needs in areas like leak protection, comfort, skin health, and sustainability. * Premiumization: Shift focus from value tier to premium tier in key markets like North America and China. * Supply Chain Optimization: Implement value stream simplification, network optimization, and digital automation to reduce costs and improve efficiency. * Organizational Redesign: Reorganize into three focused business segments to improve connectivity, enhance scale, and drive growth. Financial Outlook * Growth: Target organic net sales growth that leads market growth, mid to high single-digit growth in operating profit and EPS on a constant currency basis, and $2 billion or more of free cash flow per year. * Dividends and Share Repurchases: Continue growing dividend and repurchase shares with an aspiration to deliver consistent double-digit total returns to shareholders. Key Takeaways * Strong Brand Portfolio: Kimberly-Clark has a strong portfolio of brands with significant market share and growth potential. * Focus on Innovation: Continuous investment in innovation to drive differentiation and address unmet consumer needs. * Commitment to Sustainability: Strong commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices. * Efficient Supply Chain: Focus on optimizing the supply chain to reduce costs and improve efficiency. * Strong Financial Position: Strong financial position with a focus on delivering consistent growth and returns to shareholders.