Whirlpool Corporation

Today, a track with a presentation available on the investor section of our website at whirlpoolcorp.com. Before we begin, I want to remind you that as you conduct this call, we'll be making forward-looking statements to assist you in better understanding Whirlpool Corporation's future expectations. Our actual results could differ materially from these statements due to many factors discussed in our latest 10-K, 10-Q, and other peer-added reports. We also want to remind you that today's presentation includes non-GAAP measures. We believe these measures are important indicators of our operations. If they exclude items, they may not be indicative of results from our ongoing business operations. We also think the adjusted measures provide you a better baseline for analyzing trends in our ongoing business operations. Listeners are directed to the supplemental information package posted on the Investor Relations section of our website for the reconciliation of non-GAAP items to the most directly comparable GAAP measures. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following our prepared remarks, the call will be open for analyst questions. As a reminder, we ask that participants ask no more than two questions. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mark.

Thanks, Corey, and good morning, everyone. I'm very proud to say that 2021 was another record-setting year for us, now the fourth record-setting year in a row. And as you all know, 2021 was certainly not an easy year, given all the COVID-related disruptions and the rapidly accelerating inflation. As we turn to 2022, we expect to deliver yet another year of record results. While we on one hand strongly believe that consumer demand trends will remain strong, The ongoing pandemic, on the other hand, will continue to translate into supply constraints and cost inflation. As we have successfully demonstrated in 2021, we do know how to execute in a challenging environment. Also, with the strength of our balance sheet and significant cash generation, we're well positioned to fund innovation and growth while returning cash to shareholders. Now we'll turn to our four-year highlights on slide five. Throughout 2021, we demonstrated the agility of our business and the ability to operate in any challenging environment. Faced with supply chain constraints and significant inflationary pressures, we responded with early and decisive actions to protect margins. We executed cost-based price increases in every region, fully offsetting 1 billion in raw material inflation. Ultimately, we drove record results for the fourth consecutive year. We delivered double-digit revenue growth of 13%. We delivered this accelerated growth with record margin of 10.8% and record ongoing earnings per share of $26.59, a 44% year-over-year improvement. And we generated record adjusted free cash flow of $2 billion, led by strong earnings. As a result, we strengthened our balance sheet and drove significant shareholder returns. We returned $1.4 billion to shareholders with $1 billion buybacks and increased our dividend for the ninth consecutive year. We reduced our gross debt leverage to 1.8 times, delivering below our long-term target of two times. And we delivered a return on investing capital of 15%, an improvement of 420 base points compared to the prior year. Overall, our 2021 performance again reflects the structural improvements in our business, and that we're a different whirlpool than we were 10 years ago, operating in a very different world. Turning to slide six, I will provide an update on our fourth quarter results. Our Q4 results were fully in line with our expectations, as we knew we would be faced both with a constrained supply chain and sharply elevated inflation. We delivered record revenue in the quarter and an 8% growth compared to 2019. Additionally, we delivered ongoing EBIT margin of 8.6%, largely offsetting over $500 million of inflation from raw material and logistic cost increases. Next, we generated significant cash in the quarter and returned $400 million to shareholders for buybacks. This quarter demonstrates our deep understanding of the environment we are operating in and the strong execution capabilities of our teams. Now I'll turn it over to Joe to review our regional results.

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide eight, I'll review results for our North American region. In North America, we delivered record revenue with 11% full-year revenue growth driven by strong consumer demand and the execution of cost-based price increases. Additionally, we delivered record full-year EBIT margins driven by our disciplined execution of cost-based price increases and sustained positive mix. Demand for our products remains high as we operate in a constrained environment, which we expect to persist throughout 2022. Lastly, the region's, again, outstanding results demonstrate the fundamental strength and agility of our business model. Turning to slide nine, I'll review results for our Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. The region delivered strong full-year revenue, a 16% improvement compared to the prior year. And despite negative impact of inflation, the region drove margin expansion of 190 basis points, delivering 2% margins for the year. We are confident in the actions we have in place, and our long-term turnaround plan for the region is on track. Turning to slide 10, I will view results for our Latin America region. Full-year net sales growth of 22%, driven by cost-based price increases. the region delivered very strong EBIT margins of 8.4% for the year, despite supply constraints, inflation, and continued negative impact from currency. Turning to slide 11, I'll review results for our Asia region. We streamlined our portfolio with successful completion of the sale of our majority interest in Whirlpool China. The region's revenue decline is fully attributable to the Whirlpool China divestiture. Excluding this, the region grew by 16% year over year. We restored profitability to the region and delivered EBIT margins of 5.4%, driven by cost-based pricing actions and the positive impact from our divestiture. Lastly, COVID-related disruptions continue as cases have surged in India, with shutdowns impacting demand as we enter the new year. Now on slide 12, I'll turn it over to Jim to discuss our full year 2022 guidance.