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Sysco Defines Plans at 2024 Investor Day to Improve Core Performance, Advance Recipe for Growth Strategy, Increase Shareholder Value

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On May 22, 2024, Sysco hosted its Investor Day at the NYSE, detailing its three-year growth strategy. CEO Kevin Hourican outlined plans to enhance core performance and continue its 'Recipe for Growth' initiative.

Sysco aims for 4-6% annual sales growth and 6-8% adjusted operating income growth. Anticipated total return to shareholders is 9-11% per year via dividends. They will leverage merchandising, supply chain capabilities, and international market growth.

Sysco introduced 'Sysco Marketplace' to expand product offerings and facilitate third-party sales. The company focuses on local case growth and independent market share through Total Team Selling.

Positive
  • Projected 4-6% annual sales growth.
  • Expected 6-8% annual growth in adjusted operating income.
  • Anticipated 9-11% total return to shareholders via dividends.
  • Enhanced merchandising and supply chain capabilities.
  • Launch of Sysco Marketplace for third-party product sales.
  • Focus on independent market share growth with Total Team Selling.
  • Expansion in international markets and deeper penetration of Sysco Brand products.
Negative
  • No specific details on potential risks or challenges were provided.

Sysco's outlined targets for the next three years, which include 4-6 percent annual sales growth, 6-8 percent annual adjusted operating income growth and 6-8 percent adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth, are ambitious yet plausible given their industry leadership. The company's focus on both organic and inorganic growth initiatives suggests a balanced strategy that capitalizes on existing market strength while seeking expansion opportunities. A key point to note is the intention to provide a 9-11 percent total return to shareholders, which includes dividends. This indicates strong confidence in generating sufficient cash flow to sustain these returns.

While the financial targets are appealing, investors should consider the potential risks, such as market volatility in the foodservice industry and execution risks in their growth plans. The emphasis on operational excellence and positive operating leverage indicates that Sysco is keen on improving efficiency, which is critical in maintaining profitability margins. However, external factors such as supply chain disruptions and economic downturns could impact these projections.

In the short term, the company’s stock might see positive sentiment due to these optimistic projections. In the long term, the ability to achieve these targets consistently will be important for sustaining investor confidence.

Sysco's strategy to drive market growth through its 'Recipe for Growth' pillars—Digital, Products and Solutions, Supply Chain, Customer Teams and Future Horizons—reflects a comprehensive approach to innovation and customer engagement. The introduction of the Sysco Marketplace, allowing third-party suppliers to sell directly through Sysco's digital platform, is a significant step towards enhancing their digital transformation. This could attract new customers and suppliers, offering a more diverse product range and potentially increasing customer retention.

The 'Total Team Selling' initiative aims at combining the strengths of Broadline and Specialty businesses, which could enhance customer service and drive market share growth. This strategy might be particularly effective in gaining independent market share, a critical segment for Sysco's growth. Additionally, scaling merchandising strategies and deeper penetration of Sysco Brand products suggest a focus on brand loyalty and value addition for customers.

These initiatives are likely to strengthen Sysco's market position and offer a competitive edge. However, execution will be key and any delays or issues in integrating these strategies could affect their market performance.

Company highlights the strength of its industry-leading position and introduces three-year growth algorithm

HOUSTON, May 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY), the world’s largest foodservice distributor, hosted its 2024 Investor Day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to present an update on the company’s growth strategy and highlight initiatives that improve how the company serves its customers while delivering consistent financial performance.

Kevin Hourican, Sysco’s Chair of the Board and CEO, and other senior executives discussed how the company is driving core business performance through local case growth, and leveraging the scale of its merchandising and supply chain capabilities. In addition, Sysco shared the evolution of the company’s ‘Recipe for Growth’ strategy which initially launched three years ago to drive market growth through five pillars: Digital, Products and Solutions, Supply Chain, Customer Teams and Future Horizons.

"Today we outlined plans to improve core performance and advance our Recipe for Growth initiatives, helping fuel consistent growth as the leader in the large and growing food-away-from-home market,” said Hourican. “These plans include financial growth targets with significant top and bottom-line growth over the next three years to create sustainable long-term value for Sysco stakeholders. No one else can match the breadth and depth of our product range, nor our ability to meet customers' needs through our portfolio of specialty companies, our international market growth and our investments in salesforce and supply chain."

Sysco also provided a comprehensive financial outlook for the next three fiscal years based on the company’s new growth algorithm which focuses on delivering sustainable growth, operational excellence and balanced capital return, including:

  • Sales growth of 4-6% per year through both organic and inorganic initiatives;
  • Adjusted operating income growth of 6-8% per year which includes positive operating leverage;
  • Adjusted earnings per share growth of 6-8% per year; and
  • Total return to shareholders of 9-11% per year through a growing dividend.

“Sysco’s growth algorithm was built upon a balanced approach to capital allocation –maintaining our investment grade balance sheet and returning value to our shareholders all while investing in the business for the long-term,” said Kenny Cheung, Sysco executive vice president and chief financial officer. “These factors, combined with our actions to drive performance in the core of our business, will further position Sysco to deliver compelling financial results.”

Sysco also used its Investor Day to discuss how it plans to accelerate independent market share growth through Total Team Selling, which brings specialists and sales teams from Broadline and Specialty businesses together. “Our teams are collaborating, learning about each other’s capabilities and offering customer-focused solutions to win share,” said Hourican. He continued, “We’re also leveraging our global footprint to fuel local growth internationally. Our efforts include scaling merchandising strategies, including deeper penetration of Sysco Brand products, as well as customer-focused programs, like Sysco Your Way, which provide customers the flexibility they need to grow.”

The company also announced at the event the launch of Sysco Marketplace, a new offering that enables third-party suppliers to sell products on Sysco’s digital shopping platform, Shop, and ship products directly to Sysco customers.

“Through Marketplace, we’re able to streamline the shopping experience with a one-stop-shop solution that gives our customers access to over 15,000 niche products such as grocery, canned, and dry categories to help enhance their menus,” says Neil Russell, Sysco Chief Administrative Officer. “Marketplace complements our Broadline and Specialty offerings to fully serve our customers’ needs and enables us to support smaller suppliers so we can use our scale for good.”

Investor Day Webcast Replay

An on-demand replay of the event will be available at investors.sysco.com. An accompanying investor presentation is also available on the Events & Presentations page on the Sysco investor relations website.

To become a customer or to learn more about how Sysco can support the growth of your business, visit sysco.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release that look forward in time or that express management’s beliefs, expectations or hopes are forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect the views of management at the time such statements are made and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, estimates, and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. These statements include statements concerning: our expectations regarding future improvements in productivity; our belief that improvements in our organizational capabilities will deliver compelling outcomes in future periods; our expectations regarding improvements in international volume; our expectations that our transformational agenda will drive long-term growth; our expectations regarding the continuation of an inflationary environment; our expectations regarding improvements in the efficiency of our supply chain; our expectations regarding the impact of our Recipe for Growth strategy and the pace of progress in implementing the initiatives under that strategy; our expectations regarding Sysco’s ability to outperform the market in future periods; our expectations that our strategic priorities will enable us to grow faster than the market; our expectations regarding our efforts to reduce overtime rates and the incremental investments in hiring; our expectations regarding the expansion of our Sysco Driver Academy and our belief that the academy will enable us to provide upward career path mobility for our warehouse colleagues and improve colleague retention; our expectations regarding the benefits of the six-day delivery and last mile distribution models; our plans to improve the capabilities of our sales team; our plans to refine our engineering labor standards; our expectations regarding the impact of our growth initiatives and their ability to enable Sysco to consistently outperform the market; our expectations to exceed our growth target by the end of fiscal 2024; our ability to deliver against our strategic priorities; economic trends in the United States and abroad; our belief that there is further opportunity for profit in the future; our future growth, including growth in sales and earnings per share; the pace of implementation of our business transformation initiatives; our expectations regarding our balanced approach to capital allocation and rewarding our shareholders; our plans to improve colleague retention, training and productivity; our belief that our Recipe for Growth transformation is creating capabilities that will help us profitably grow for the long term; our expectations regarding our long-term financial outlook; our expectations of the effects labor harmony will have on sales and case volume, as well as mitigation expenses; our expectations for customer acquisition in the local/street space; our expectations regarding the effectiveness of our Global Support Center expense control measures; and our expectations regarding the growth and resilience of our food away from home market.

It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements based on numerous factors, including those outside of Sysco’s control. For more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or forecasted, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 1, 2023, as filed with the SEC, and our subsequent filings with the SEC. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

About Sysco

Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With more than 74,000 colleagues, the company operates 334 distribution facilities worldwide and serves approximately 725,000 customer locations. For fiscal year 2023 that ended July 1, 2023, the company generated sales of more than $76 billion. Information about our Sustainability program, including Sysco’s 2023 Sustainability Report and 2023 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report, can be found at www.sysco.com.

For more information, visit www.sysco.com or connect with Sysco on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SyscoFoods. For important news and information regarding Sysco, visit the Investor Relations section of the company’s Internet home page at investors.sysco.com, which Sysco plans to use as a primary channel for publishing key information to its investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information. In addition, investors should continue to review our news releases and filings with the SEC. It is possible that the information we disclose through any of these channels of distribution could be deemed to be material information.

For more information contact:

Investor Contact Media Contact
Kevin KimShannon Mutschler 
Kevin.Kim@sysco.comShannon.Mutschler@sysco.com
281-584-1219281-584-4059

FAQ

What are Sysco's 2024 Investor Day highlights?

Sysco detailed its three-year growth strategy, aiming for 4-6% sales growth, 6-8% adjusted operating income growth, and 9-11% total return to shareholders.

What is Sysco's new growth algorithm?

Sysco's new growth algorithm targets sustainable growth with 4-6% sales growth and 6-8% adjusted operating income growth annually.

How does Sysco plan to enhance shareholder value?

Sysco plans to enhance shareholder value with a 9-11% total return per year through dividends and consistent financial performance.

What is Sysco Marketplace?

Sysco Marketplace is a new platform allowing third-party suppliers to sell products on Sysco’s digital shopping platform, Shop.

What initiatives are part of Sysco's 'Recipe for Growth' strategy?

Sysco's 'Recipe for Growth' includes pillars like Digital, Products and Solutions, Supply Chain, Customer Teams, and Future Horizons.

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