Rayovac 2014 Annual Report Download - page 8

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 8 of the 2014 Rayovac annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 148

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148

As I reflect upon fiscal 2014, it was a year of many successes and
accomplishments. It also saw significant challenges and changes as
in most years. I am proud we were very disciplined during the year and
“stuck to our knitting”. For example, we completed the accretive tuck-in
acquisition of The Liquid Fence Company for our Home and Garden
business. We did, however, “miss” many potential acquisitions, and I am
proud of this as well. A very smart investor once told me that “sitting on
one’s hands can be a very profitable exercise.” He mentioned this in the
context of not overpaying. At Spectrum Brands, we would much rather
“miss” on an acquisition than overpay for one. We will stay disciplined in
building our Company further.
Spectrum Brands achieved record financial performance again in fiscal
2014 and today enjoys the most powerful collection of global brands in
its history. We honored our commitment to pay down over $250 million
of term debt. Our businesses met or exceeded their internal goals for
the year, with the exception of our Pet division. We are taking actions
to further streamline our Pet business on the cost side, while at the
same time increasing investments to bolster and drive the growth of this
high-margin business in fiscal 2015 and beyond. I am especially excited
about adding the IAMS® and Eukanuba® pet food brands in Europe to this
segment. While this acquisition is a complex carve-out from The Procter
& Gamble Company, once we integrate and invest behind this business,
I am optimistic about its potential.
Investment will continue in our businesses, with an obsession to further
improve our margin structure and maximize our sustainable free cash
flow generation capacity. We operate our Company with an ownership
mentality. At times, we will make decisions that may hurt our “short-
term” performance because investments in our businesses today will
generate much higher returns on our capital in future periods.
As I noted earlier, every operating year has challenges or obstacles that
management must confront and work to mitigate or overcome with the
tools it has to deploy. Some hurdles, such as foreign currency headwinds
that come and go, have absolutely no bearing on the true earnings
strength of our Company over a longer time period. This is exactly how
we look at our business. I encourage investors to examine the earnings
power and free cash flow generation capacity of our Company not merely
for one or two years but truly over the long term.
Turning to our executive leadership, I congratulate Andreas Rouvé on
his appointment as Chief Operating Officer last February. He has been
a tremendous contributor to our success over the years and is a great
business leader. In addition, I want to thank Tony Genito and express
my deep gratitude to him for his seven years as CFO of Spectrum Brands.
We wish Tony every happiness and success in his future endeavors.
Last but not least, I am proud and excited to welcome Doug Martin to
Spectrum Brands as our new CFO. Doug comes to us after a long and
successful career with Newell Rubbermaid, where he had been CFO
since 2012. He is a high integrity person who shares my passion to
take Spectrum Brands to the next level. Doug is a true believer in the
ownership and accountability culture of our Company. He embraces our
low-cost and high-performance driven organization. He already has been
a pleasure to work with, and I know Doug will be a significant contributor
to our Company’s bright future. Welcome Doug!
It is an honor and privilege to serve our Company in my capacity. Without
the hard work, dedication and focus of our 13,500 employees around
the world, none of our accomplishments would be possible. So a big
thank you goes to each and every one of you. Spectrum Brands is a great
company to work for and we will ensure this remains so.
I view our investors and creditors as our partners. Without your trust
and capital, we could not succeed in achieving our vision and goals
for Spectrum Brands. Thank you for your support. I am proud of our
performance over the last five years. We will strive to allocate capital
even more efficiently in the years ahead. As always, I am confident our
Company’s best days are in front of us!
Sincerely,
David M. Maura
Chairman of the Board
December 19, 2014
TO OUR
SHAREHOLDERS
David M. Maura
Chairman of the Board, Spectrum Brands Holdings
Executive Vice President and Director, Harbinger Group Inc.