Whirlpool 2013 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Our 69,000 employees remain our biggest
competitive advantage and the key to our long-
term success. Their energy, passion and
commitment to our customers reinforce our
winning culture and commitment to achieve
extraordinary results.
We will continue to develop the skills of our global
team so that we work to our fullest ability to
achieve our goals.
Global Economic Outlook Though varied by
region, we are well positioned to capitalize on
expected positive global demand trends in 2014.
Led by the United States, we expect to benefit
from growth in housing, the normal replacement
cycle of appliances and increasing discretionary
demand. In Europe, we anticipate gradual
stabilization and benefits from our ongoing
turnaround actions across the region. For
emerging markets, such as India and Latin
America, we will continue to manage through
inflation and currency fluctuations that impact
consumer sentiment. However, we see long-term
growth opportunities in Brazil’s strengthening
domestic market and rising middle class, as well
as our business in 35 Latin American countries
outside of Brazil, and we expect to see continued
good growth in China.
Sustained Industry Leadership For more
than 100 years, we have established a powerful
platform for growth that includes the strongest
brand portfolio, best distribution and leading scale.
We will continue re-investing in our business in
2014 to capitalize on our long-term growth
opportunities, with increased capital expenditures,
higher research and development investments, and
expanded brand activities. And in China, we expect
#1 Major Appliance Company
Strongest Brand Portfolio
Innovation That Matters
Best Distribution
Leading Scale
to accelerate our growth and capitalize on industry
demand by completing the planned acquisition to
become majority shareholder of Hefei Rongshida
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
Consistent execution is our commitment to you as
we fulfill our long-term strategy and our priorities of:

our robust pipeline of new, innovative products

beyond our traditional core appliance businesses
into faster-growing, higher-margin adjacent
businesses

programs, leveraging our higher production
volumes, and implementing additional cost and
capacity-reduction initiatives
Our 2014 shareholder value creation targets are
firmly on track, and we remain confident in our
ability to drive revenue growth of 5 to 7 percent,
deliver more than 8 percent ongoing operating
margins and progress toward generating free
cash flow of 4 to 5 percent of sales.
We are very proud of all that we achieved in
2013, and we look forward to another year of record
performance in 2014 as we accelerate our
profitable growth, expand our business in key
markets around the world and sustain our
competitive advantage.
Sincerely,
Jeff M. Fettig
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Strong Foundation
5