Economic impacts: facts & figures
Employees, governments, investors and many others benefit economically from our activities.
Our economic impacts
Our business generates wealth by adding value to the raw materials we purchase, as we manufacture products to exacting standards and market them to consumers.
Despite the worst recession in decades our business has been resilient and we have made good progress. We sell everyday products such as toothpaste and soap, which people continue to use even in difficult times. Growth was broad-based across markets and categories. Our volumes picked up and market shares improved through the year. By the end of the year we were growing volume share in two-thirds of our business, compared with only one-third a year earlier. We have taken action to ensure that our prices stay competitive and, where appropriate, we have adjusted prices to reflect easing commodity costs, just as we took necessary increases in 2008.
We generated an operating profit of €5 020 million and sales of €39 823 million in 2009.
Out of this sales income (turnover), we spent more than €28.5 billion with suppliers of goods and services while our own operations created €11.3 billion in value added. Our employees gained the largest share, earning €5.2 billion of the total. The providers of capital who finance our operations gained the second-largest share from dividends paid, with €959 million going to governments in corporation tax.
Employees gained the largest share at €5.6 billion (46%). The providers of capital who finance our operations gained the second largest share from dividends paid, €2.9 billion (23%). This group includes individual shareholders as well as large holdings by pension funds on behalf of individual policy holders.
Governments received 11% of our value added in 2010 as we paid tax of €1.3 billion on the profits our business generated. In addition we pay local taxes in many markets and collect and pay across to governments more revenues from employment and sales taxes. Local communities also benefited from our voluntary contributions of €69 million.
We assess the benefits we bring to our shareholders through Total Shareholder Return (TSR). This measures the return received by shareholders, capturing both the value of the dividend income and the increase in share price. We measure it over a three-year rolling period, amongst a peer group of 20 other international consumer goods companies. In 2010 we were placed in the upper half of the peer group.
