Highlighting our financial
performance, we:
•
Reported net income from
continuing operations of $564
million, or $2.11 per diluted share.
•
Reported adjusted earnings per
diluted share from continuing
operations of $5.82.
•
Achieved 7 percent adjusted
earnings per diluted share growth.
•
Increased sales by about 3 percent
in local currencies.
•
Deployed $1.4 billion on acquisitions
and share repurchases to reach the
top end of our 2-year deployment
target of $2.5 billion.
•
Announced a new cash deployment
target of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion
for 2017/2018 combined.
In 2016, we also raised PPG’s per-
share dividend by 11 percent. We are
extremely proud that PPG has paid
annual dividends for 117 consecutive
years, including 45 consecutive years
of increased annual payouts.
We also completed several strategic
actions to make PPG stronger and
more resilient in the future. These
included:
•
The completion of four acquisitions,
increasing our geographic and
product scope: MetoKote (U.S.
coatings services), Univer (Italy
architectural coatings), Deutek
(Romania architectural coatings,
closed in January, 2017) and Futian
Xinshi (China automotive refinish,
closed in January, 2017).
•
The completion of business
divestitures, including the flat glass
and European fiber glass businesses
and PPG’s ownership interest in
two Asian fiber glass joint ventures,
resulting in approximately $1.1 billion
of total cash proceeds.
•
Initiation of a new business
restructuring plan targeting $125
million of savings annually, including
$40 million to $50 million in 2017.
•
Continued strong financial
flexibility with cash and short-term
investments totaling approximately
$1.9 billion at year-end.
We kept our keen focus on sustainable
operations and employee safety as
top priorities in 2016. We achieved an
11 percent reduction in our spill-and-
release rate, and continued to enhance
the safety of our operations.
In addition, our employees continue
to develop ways to improve the way
we operate. Last year, nearly 200
projects were recognized through our
internal sustainability awards initiative.
We estimate that our sustainability
and ergonomic-related improvement
projects in 2016 saved more than
$30 million.
In our communities, PPG volunteers
led more than 40 COLORFUL
COMMUNITIES
™
projects in 20
countries to bring color and vitality
to schools, hospitals and community
organizations through the use of PPG
paints and coatings.
Moving forward, our continued
commitment to innovation is essential
and will play a critical role in our
continued growth. Our goal is to achieve
25 percent of total sales from products
introduced in the last four years.
Our innovation and sustainability efforts
are intertwined. These efforts include a
wide range of innovative products and
services that provide environmental
benefits to our customers, including
products that contribute to lighter,
more fuel-efficient vehicles, airplanes
and ships, to innovative paint systems
that help our customers reduce their
energy consumption, conserve water
and reduce waste.
Our Valued PPG Shareholders,
PPG had a successful year in 2016, despite a more
challenging global economic environment and growing
geopolitical uncertainty in many of the regions
where we operate. Thanks to our customers
and employees, we were able to continue
to strengthen our paint and coatings
business around the world.