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6 Sara Lee Corporation
leverage Aidells entrepreneurial culture and
strong customer relationships. These two
acquisitions have closed and are performing
ahead of expectations.
In conjunction with the announcement
to separate into two independent companies,
we announced that Jan Bennink would join
the company and assume the role of execu-
tive chairman. In this role, Jan oversees all
spin-off activities and prepares both busi-
nesses for successful futures. This includes
ensuring that both companies are led by top
quality management teams and possess
focused portfolios with streamlined opera-
tional structures. Additionally, we announced
a $3.00 special dividend to be paid to our
shareholders. Over a two-year span, we
plan to return more than $3.5 billion to our
shareholders through the already completed
share repurchases and the expected payout
of the special dividend.
Through our actions to unlock and
create shareholder value, we have delivered
total shareholder return of more than 115%
over the past two years. This result came
from a combination of smart strategic deci-
sions and solid operational performance.
During fiscal 2011, we increased adjusted
earnings per share by 16% despite absorb-
ing more than $645 million of commodity
cost inflation. This was achieved through
pricing actions, innovation, cost reduction
programs and share repurchases. By focusing
on the corporate cost structure, we reduced
corporate expenses by nearly $100 million
versus fiscal 2010. This illustrates our com-
mitment to running a lean and efficient
corporate enterprise.
Our core brands continued to generate
growth behind innovation and marketing
investment. The North American business
generated solid performance behind new
product launches, such as
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy D’s breakfast solutions,
Hillshire Farm
Turkey Smoked Sausages and
Jimmy Dean
Hearty Sausage Crumbles, which was voted
the best breakfast product of 2011 in a sur-
vey of more than 60,000 consumers. In the
coffee and tea business, we continued to
benefit from the successful geographical
roll-out of
Senseo
and
L’OR
EspressO, which
reached $100 million in cumulative sales in
August and is on pace to more than double
sales versus the prior year.
In addition to launching successful
new products, we continued to focus on
operational improvements, evidenced by the
opening of our new meat slicing facility in
Kansas City, Kansas. This state-of-the-art
facility utilizes robotics and supports our
strategy of creating shareholder value by
providing a sustainable competitive advan-
tage in one of our important categories,
sliced lunchmeat. It provides capacity for
long-term growth, enables us to maintain
WE CONTINUE TO DELIVER SOLID RESULTS AS WE
PROGRESS IN THE CREATION OF TWO PURE PLAY
COMPANIES POISED FOR SUCCESS.