Dive Brief:
- According to regulatory filings, Heinz lost $77 million during a truncated fiscal year that ran from May 1 to Dec. 29. Its sales dropped from $7.44 billion for a comparable period the year before to $7.34 billion.
- A joint venture of 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway acquired the business for more than $28 billion in June last year. After the deal closed, CEO Bernardo Hees set about a major restructuring plan, cutting 3,400 corporate and field jobs.
- The severance packages required for workers let go and other benefit costs amounted to about $275 million. On top of that, Heinz incurred a $70 million charge for other implementation costs of the restructuring, like professional consultation payments and contract termination fees.
Dive Insight:
Earlier this year, Food Dive commented on Heinz's prospects in the wake of its purchase, and the view was far from bright. But not all of the profit loss can be blamed on the costs of restructuring. Sales fell in some market segments with the North American consumer products segment falling 3.4%. But drops were a bit more moderate abroad. Sales in Europe dropped 0.5%, and sales in the Asia/Pacific segment dropped 2.8%. Heinz was able to report a 4.2% gain in its American food services though, and a .6% gain in sales in places like Brazil and Egypt.
To give Mr. Hees some credit, he's not taking the same kind of huge payments that the previous Heinz CEO did. Mr. Hees earned $9.2 million for his service from June 7 to Dec. 29, including a base salary of $561,538, a $1.2 million bonus, and $7.29 million in stock options. That is compared to former Heinz CEO William Johnson, who was paid $110.5 million for eight months in 2013.