Fortune Brands Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary
November 14th, 2016 by EditorFortune Brands Home & Security Inc., the parent company of Therma-Tru Doors and Master Lock security products, recently celebrated its five-year anniversary as an independent company.
“We are proud of our accomplishments during this short period of time,” said Chris Klein, chief executive officer, Fortune Brands. “We laid the foundation for core growth by building a stronger business model, and deployed capital in value-creating ways to drive incremental growth. Our combined efforts have positioned the business well for future growth and performance, while delivering consistently strong results.”
The company grew by deploying $1.4 billion in cash to complete several strategic acquisitions, including WoodCrafters cabinets, Norcraft cabinets, SentrySafe security products and Riobel, ROHL and Perrin & Rowe plumbing products. The company also repurchased more than $900 million in shares, in addition to initiating and steadily increasing its dividend.
During this same time, the company says it nearly doubled sales, more than doubled its operating margin and increased EPS nearly five-fold.
Most recently, the company demonstrated its continued commitment to drive both organic and incremental growth by forming the Global Plumbing Group (GPG), which now includes the portfolio of Moen, Riobel, ROHL and Perrin & Rowe. Similar to the structure of the cabinets segment, the GPG is a strategic step to accelerate future growth opportunities as the Plumbing business looks to grow sales to $2.5 billion by 2020.
“While our track record over the last five years has been impressive, our most critical achievement is the foundation we have built for our company, which will enable us to capture even greater opportunities ahead,” said Klein.
Fortune Brands reached a number of other important milestones that represent its growth and success in the marketplace. In 2015 the company refined its capital structure and received investment-grade ratings from all three credit rating agencies to support the company’s growth strategy. In 2016 the company was added to the S&P 500 Index. And for the fifth consecutive year in 2016, Fortune Brands was named to Fortune magazine’s List of World’s Most Admired Companies; the company ranked No. 3 in the Home Equipment, Furnishings category.