Good afternoon, and welcome to the P&G Annual Shareholders Meeting. In order to handle our business expeditiously and provide time for shareholder questions, we've established a few simple rules about the conduct of the meeting. A copy of the agenda and guidelines for the conduct of the meeting are available on the welcome screen. We ask that you cooperate in following these guidelines. In fairness to all shareholders, we intend to enforce these guidelines. Shareholders of record and proxy holders who provide their valid control number will be able to ask questions during the meeting by typing and submitting the question using the Ask a Question box in the lower left portion of your screen. Questions pertinent to meeting matters will be answered during the meeting as time allows. If we receive substantially similar written questions, we may group such questions together and provide a single response to avoid repetition.
If we are unable to respond to a shareholder's properly submitted question due to time constraints, we will respond directly to that shareholder using the contact information provided. Please be aware that the presentation today will contain references to some non-GAAP financial measures. The required reconciliations to GAAP numbers can be found on the company's website at www.pginvestor.com. The remarks and responses here today may contain statements about our future business prospects. For a discussion of factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements, please see the company's most recent 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K reports, which are also available on the company's website.
Good afternoon. I'm Jon Moeller, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Procter & Gamble Company. I'd like to welcome everyone to P&G's 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Thank you for joining our annual meeting, and thank you for your long-term investment in our company. This meeting is now called to order. Notice of the meeting was sent to each shareholder of record, and a quorum is present, online or by proxy. I'd like to start with introductions. Joining me today are Andre Schulten, our Chief Financial Officer, and Susan Street Whaley, our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary. My fellow members of our Board of Directors and our director nominee have also joined our meeting today. I'll introduce them individually. Marc Allen, Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at The Boeing Company.
Brett Biggs, former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Walmart Inc, Brett is a director nominee. We believe his significant leadership experience in the global consumer retail industry, coupled with his financial expertise, will be highly valuable to the board and to our shareholders. Sheila Bonini, Senior Vice President of Private Sector Engagement for World Wildlife Fund. Sheila joined the board in April. Angela Braly, former Chair of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of WellPoint, Inc, now known as Elevance Health. Angela is the Chair of the Governance and Public Responsibility Committee. Amy Chang, former Executive Vice President and Executive Advisor at Cisco Systems, Inc, and Founder and former Chief Executive of Accompany, Inc, Joe Jimenez, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Aditum, and the former Chief Executive Officer of Novartis AG. Joe is our independent lead director and Chair of the Innovation and Technology Committee.
Chris Kempczinski, President and Chief Executive Officer of the McDonald's Corporation. Debra Lee, Chair of Leading Women Defined Foundation, and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BET Networks. Terry Lundgren, former Executive Chairman, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Macy's, Inc, Terry is the Chair of the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee. Christine McCarthy, Strategic Advisor and former Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Rob Portman, former United States Senator and U.S. Trade Representative. Rob also joined the board in April. Raj Subramaniam, President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Corporation, and Pat Woertz, former Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company. Pat is the Chair of our Audit Committee. We also have a number of other P&G senior officers attending the meeting today.
Also joining us are Lara Abrash and Christopher Cooper of Deloitte & Touche. Lara is the Chair of the Board, Deloitte U.S., and the Senior Advisory Partner on the P&G account. Chris is the partner responsible for all services provided to P&G, and he directly supervises the audit of the company's fiscal 2023 financial statements. They've joined the meeting and are available in the event there are questions that are more appropriately answered by the auditors. As Chair, I've appointed Peter Descovich of Broadridge Financial Solutions as Inspector of Election for this meeting. Peter will supervise the voting. Finally, we have John Chevalier, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. John will be organizing and reading the questions that you submit. I now declare the polls are open. The polls will close after the report on the business.
Following the presentation of board proposals, and again, following the presentation of shareholder proposals, we'll take up to three questions or comments on each proposal or item of business. We'll first proceed with the election of directors. I'll ask Susan Whaley to place in nomination the 14 director nominees.
The Board of Directors, acting upon the recommendation of the Governance and Public Responsibility Committee, has nominated to serve as directors the 14 individuals listed in the company's proxy statement and previously introduced at the meeting today. All directors elected at this meeting will hold office for a one-year term until the 2024 annual meeting of shareholders and until their successors are elected. In order to be elected, a director must receive more votes for than against. If you would like to vote your shares now, please follow the directions on the screen in the Vote Here section at the bottom of your screen. If you have already voted, there is no need to take any action now unless you would like to change your vote.
We're grateful to have such skilled and experienced nominees. Collectively, our director nominees have led global businesses, stewarded significant financial operations, worked in and closely with government, regulatory agencies, and non-governmental organizations, championed innovation and constructive disruption in their industries, and connected directly with consumers in the retail and marketing sectors. The board recommends a vote for each of these nominees. We believe that each of them has valuable skills and experiences to help serve our company and shareholders. We'll now proceed with the board proposals. The first proposal is to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as the independent registered public accounting firm. This proposal appears on page 86 of the proxy statement. Although the Board of Directors is not required to submit this matter to shareholders, we believe it's important that you have a say in the appointment of the independent public accounting firm.
The Board of Directors recommends a vote for this resolution. The board believes that the retention of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent external auditor is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. Next, we have the board proposal for an advisory vote on executive compensation, otherwise known as Say on Pay. The proposal appears on page 87 of the proxy statement. We design our executive compensation to achieve our fundamental objective, which is to create value for our shareholders. Our programs and culture motivate executives to deliver balanced growth and value creation and serve the needs of consumers, customers, each other, society, and shareholders. The Board of Directors recommends a vote for this resolution. The last board proposal is for an advisory vote on the frequency of the executive compensation vote, otherwise known as the Say on Frequency vote.
This proposal appears on page 88 of the proxy statement. We sought an advisory vote on executive compensation annually since our last Say on Frequency vote in 2017. Indicative of our strong belief in our executive compensation programs and their effectiveness, the Board of Directors recommends we continue with an annual Say on Pay vote and therefore recommends a vote for one year on this resolution. We'll now take any questions or comments on the board proposals. John, are there any questions, on, that relate to these items?
Yes, John, there is one question on the auditor proposal. The question is: How does Deloitte & Touche remain independent after being our auditor for 133 years?
Deloitte regularly rotates the lead partners on our audit team, consistent with governance requirements, which strengthens their independence. There's benefit in their ongoing service to the company from the knowledge that they've built up over time and their strong track record of independent stewardship. Other companies also recognize the importance of institutional knowledge and expertise as they recommend the choice of independent auditors. Of the five largest U.S. companies, over a hundred years old, average auditor tenure is 90 years. The proposal to maintain Deloitte & Touche as the independent public auditor has passed with four, four votes of over 95% or more each of the last five years. John, are there other questions?
John, there are no further questions on the board proposals.
Thank you. That concludes the review and discussion of the board proposals. We'll move now to shareholder proposals. There are three shareholder proposals this year, and we'll take questions or comments on all of the proposals together following their presentation. The first shareholder proposal was submitted by The National Center for Public Policy Research. It requests that the Board of Directors commission a civil rights audit to assess the impact of the company's policies on certain communities. The proponents have provided a prerecorded statement from Stefan Padfield of the Free Enterprise Project in support of their proposal.
... Is it good business to discriminate on the basis of race or sex? The arc of U.S. history has answered that question with a resounding no. And yet today, we are confronted by a new crop of neo-racists like Ibram Kendi, who insist that the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. This insidious idea that racial discrimination is okay, so long as you are discriminating against white people or non-whites who don't fit the preferred identity of the moment, has apparently captured Procter & Gamble, which has adopted a variety of programs that expressly discriminate on the basis of race or sex. Note that in P&G's response to our proposal, it never refutes our assertion that the company discriminates on the basis of race and other related group identities.
Rather, it attempts to justify its discrimination by claiming that, for example, its employees must reflect the diversity of the customers we serve. While it proudly proclaims that its Business Conduct Manual requires following anti-discrimination laws, P&G's actual conduct paints quite a different picture. Consider P&G's Supplier Diversity Program. As stated on the company's website, P&G's Supplier Diversity Program in the U.S. aims to spend with businesses owned by minorities, women, LGBTQ+ , people with disability, and U.S. veterans. We are proud to have spent almost $3 billion with this group of diverse suppliers in fiscal year 2020- 2021. Note that this amounts to P&G putting out a no straight white males allowed sign, unless they are disabled or veterans, as it allocates $3 billion in a discriminatory manner.
Not only does this expose P&G to financial risks in the marketplace and in the courtroom, but it is simply morally wrong. Importantly, these types of affirmative action programs don't even help their intended beneficiaries. Instead, affirmative action recipients are set up for failure by being rushed into positions they are unprepared for and are marked by a scarlet letter of doubt in their actual abilities that clouds both their own judgment and the judgment of others. As Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas put it in the recent opinion, striking down affirmative action in college admissions, "Meritocratic systems have long refuted bigoted misperceptions of what Black students can accomplish.
Racial preferences take away this benefit, eliminating the very metric by which those who have the most approved can clearly demonstrate their accomplishments, both to themselves and to others." Justice Thomas has also cogently noted that it is not even theoretically possible to help a certain racial group without causing harm to members of other racial groups. This exposes the lie of P&G's claim that inclusion does not lead to exclusion. If, for example, P&G were to include only Black women in its supplier diversity program, then it would by definition be excluding all males and all white people. Accordingly, I ask that you vote in favor of our proposal to have P&G conduct an audit of the risks that are created by its embrace of these neo-racist programs that discriminate on the basis of race or sex.
Thank you, Stefan. The Board of Directors recommends a vote against this proposal. As discussed on pages 90-91 of the proxy statement, P&G is committed to equality and inclusion for all of our employees. We require our employees to treat one another, and the external parties with whom we do business, fairly, following all anti-discrimination laws in support of our commitment to provide equal opportunities in employment. P&G serves billions of consumers around the world, and our ability to do this most effectively is enabled by a workforce and culture that understands, reflects, and respects the diversity of these consumers. We're proud of the excellent results our employees around the world have delivered for shareholders, and we do not believe the requested audit would enhance our efforts or be a prudent use of company and shareholder resources.
The second proposal was submitted by the National Legal and Policy Center and requests that the company report annually on its operations in China. The proponents have provided a pre-recorded statement from Luke Perlot of the National Legal and Policy Center in support of their proposal.
Good afternoon. Procter & Gamble's disclosures related to operations in China are woefully inadequate. While Procter & Gamble provides a generic discussion of international business risks in its mandatory 10-K annual report, the risks specific to China should be addressed in more detail. The magnitude of China risk is not comparable to the general business risks disclosed by P&G, many of which are indistinguishable from the disclosures made by other public companies. The Chinese system of state capitalism is inseparable from the CCP. Thus, it is impossible for P&G to conduct business in China without exposing itself to these operational, reputational, and legal risks, which reach every part of P&G's business. For example, China has recently demonstrated its intention to project power by repeatedly conducting military operations around Taiwan.
Greater China is P&G's third largest sales market, with roughly $8 billion in net sales, representing 10% of global revenue. A regional conflict over Taiwan could disrupt or eliminate this revenue, in addition to the 8% of revenue derived from Asia Pacific. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 provides recent evidence of how damaging a regional conflict can be. While many of these firms are decreasing reliance on Chinese suppliers, P&G has not announced substantial efforts to diversify supply chains or mitigate supply chain risk in China. Additionally, P&G's privacy policy discloses several ways that the firm collects data on its users. Unlike governments in many Western countries, the CCP can access corporate user data. P&G needs to disclose the safeguards it has in place to protect against CCP data usage, or else it may be complicit in the CCP's authoritarian control....
Lastly, P&G continues to cooperate with the Chinese government despite evidence of forced labor and genocide in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. P&G was an official sponsor of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, despite calls from the Biden administration for a diplomatic boycott over the CCP's human rights abuses. These actions are incongruent with the firm's support for the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, which says that, quote, "Business enterprises should respect human rights. This means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they're involved." If I had more time, I could also address things like intellectual property theft, cybersecurity, espionage, freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of speech, Zero COVID policies, Chinese government taking over foreign businesses, which include American ones, and so on.
We urge the board to be more transparent about P&G's vulnerabilities in China, and for my fellow shareholders to vote for proposal number six. Thank you.
Thank you, Luke. The Board of Directors recommends a vote against this proposal. As further detailed on page 93 of the proxy statement, we believe the company's current approach of comprehensive reporting, enterprise risk management, and strong respect for human rights is a better and more comprehensive means to address the proposal's concerns. The final proposal was submitted by James Ritchie and Myra K. Young. It requests that the company initiate actions to ensure the company will not make certain amendments to its regulations without shareholder consent. Is there a representative online to present this proposal?
Yes, this is James McRitchie. This proposal asks not to use unreasonable regulation to preclude shareholder—It's a precatory, meaning the board can use the feedback of your vote however they want. The opposition statement argues in part that shareholders have additional protective measures to ensure board accountability, including but not limited to proxy access. However, proxy access offers little protection. The only time it's ever been used is at one company to return a Co-Founder to the joint corporation in 2019. The purpose of advance notice bylaws or regulations, as they're termed in Ohio, is to provide for orderly meetings, election contests, and to give boards adequate notice of a shareholder's intent to nominate candidates for election to director. Abusive advance notice bylaws are creating a dangerous series of hoops for shareholders to jump through to exercise their fundamental right to nominate director candidates.
They allow boards to conduct endless fishing expeditions to discover information they can use to win contested director elections. Only shareholders, not an incumbent board interested in seeing their nominees elected, have the right to determine whether candidates are worthy of being elected to the board. Our proposal implicitly acknowledges that federal laws and regulations governing the solicitation of proxy provide for disclosure sufficient to allow shareholders to cast an informed vote regarding any nominating shareholder and its nominees, and that the SEC, a neutral third party with no interest in the outcome of any director election, is better suited to evaluate the adequacy of any disclosures made by a nominating shareholder other than boards with interest in the outcome of the election.
Please vote for proposal number seven, and I hope our company will give you a couple of minutes now to change your vote in case you initially didn't give much thought to this measure. Thank you.
Thank you, James. The Board of Directors recommends a vote against this proposal. As further detailed on pages 95-96 of the proxy statement, we value shareholder participation in our company, and our board is accountable to our shareholders. We believe our regulations provide a fair approach to disclosures about nominating shareholders, and importantly, enable our directors to carry out their fiduciary duties with appropriate decision-making authority. Furthermore, the board has no plans now or in the future to enact the type of requirements with which the proposal is concerned. We'll now take any questions or comments on the shareholder proposals. John, do we have any questions on these items?
Yes, John, we have two questions. First question relates to the civil rights proposal. The question is: If P&G's workplaces are free of discrimination, then the proposed audit should be a mere formality. How are shareholders to react to the board's decision to block the audit and the additional reputational risk that may create?
First, and very importantly, P&G is committed to equality and inclusion for all of our employees. In fact, our worldwide business conduct manual requires that our employees treat one another and our external business partners fairly, following all anti-discrimination laws. This requirement is consistent with our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace where each employee is valued, can be their authentic selves at work, and supports each other in doing the same.
...This is also a key area of focus within our superiority strategy, ensuring that working at P&G delivers a superior experience and value for all employees, enabling us to attract, retain, and develop top talent in the communities in which we operate around the world. Other questions, John?
Yes, John. The second question is procedural. How many minutes will be allowed to vote after the last proposal is presented?
So the polls are going to close at the end of the report on the business, which will be in approximately 15 minutes. So everybody who wants to register a vote or change a vote should have appropriate time to do that. That concludes the review and discussion of the shareholder proposals. As I mentioned, the polls will close after the report on the business, which is coming up next. Before I get to the report on the business, I'd like to announce that the Board of Directors has declared P&G's quarterly dividend.
The dividend of $0.9407 per share will be payable on or after November 15, 2023, to common stock shareholders of record at the close of business on October 20, 2023, and to preferred stock shareholders of record at the start of business on October 20, 2023. P&G has been paying a dividend for 133 consecutive years, ever since the company was first incorporated, and we've increased the dividend for 67 consecutive years. We are committed to returning cash to you, our shareowners. As I indicated, we'll next move to the report on the business, followed by a question and answer session. Shareholders may submit their questions or comments through the Ask a Question box in the online portal on your screen. Now, here's my report on your business.
Your company delivered another strong year in fiscal 2023, with robust top-line growth across categories and regions, strong earnings per share growth in the face of significant cost headwinds, and continued strong cash return in a very difficult operating environment, an outcome of continued excellent execution of our integrated strategies by P&G people. Organic sales for the fiscal year grew 7%. Core earnings per share grew 2%. Currency-neutral core earnings per share were up 11%. Adjusted free cash flow productivity was 95%. This was our second consecutive year of 7% organic sales growth and fifth consecutive year of 5% or better organic growth, starting in fiscal 2019, +5%, +6%, +6%, +7%, +7%. Growth was broad-based across business units, with all 10 of our product categories growing organic sales.
Focus markets grew 5% for the year, and enterprise markets were up 15%. E-commerce sales increased 7%, now representing 17% of total company sales. 7 of 10 product categories grew share globally over the past year. 29 of our top 50 category country combinations held or grew share for the year. We increased our dividend by 3% and returned over $16 billion of value to shareowners, with $9 billion in dividends and over $7 billion in share repurchase. Over the past 10 years, we've returned $145 billion to shareowners through dividends and share repurchase. P&G has paid a dividend for 133 consecutive years, raising our dividend for 67 consecutive years.
Only seven U.S. publicly traded companies have paid a dividend more consecutive years than P&G, and only three U.S. companies have raised their dividend more consecutive years. In summary, another year of strong performance and difficult operating conditions in which we met or exceeded each of our going-in target ranges for the year: organic sales growth, core earnings per share growth, free cash flow productivity, and cash return to shareowners. The team has been growing and creating value prior to, during, and following the pandemic through a strategy that drives growth and value creation through five integrated choices. A portfolio of daily use products where performance drives brand choice; superiority across product, package, brand communication, retail execution, and value; productivity, constructive disruption of the entire value chain, and a highly efficient and effective organization structure. The model is dynamic and sustainable.
It adapts to the changing needs of consumers, customers, and society, and is focused on growing markets, creating versus taking business, the most sustainable and typically most profitable way to grow. We believe the best path forward is to double down on this integrated set of strategies that are driving our results. We go to market with a portfolio of daily use products in categories where performance drives brand choice. We continue to raise the bar on all aspects of superiority to win with consumers we serve in all price tiers where we compete. With innovation-driven, superior products, packages, brand communication, retail execution, and value, we aim to be a disproportionate contributor to market growth... creating business by growing markets and P&G's share in them through new solutions, better and more delightful experiences, adding usage occasions, and building regimens. The Dawn brand provides a great superiority example.
Dawn has delivered outstanding results behind innovation that drives product and packaging superiority. We launched Dawn Powerw ash in the U.S. in early 2020. If Powerwash were a standalone brand, it would be the third largest in the category. We're innovating to extend this margin of advantage. Last year, we launched Dawn EZ- Squeeze in the U.S. and Fairy Max in Europe. Superior product with an upgraded formula across the entire lineup. Superior packaging, the no-flip, no-mess cap, makes it easy and fast to use from the first squeeze to the last. Superior communication across the lineup. Let's watch two ads, one for Dawn EZ- Squeeze and then Dawn Powerw ash.
Are you tired of washing dishes? Well, flip the way you clean them with Dawn Platinum EZ- Squeeze. It's an upside-down bottle with no cap. You just grab and squeeze. Dawn Platinum's more powerful formula breaks down and removes grease four times faster. Huh, nice! No flip, no mess. Platinum is also a go-to grease cleaner for your sink, your countertops, and to pre-treat stains on laundry. Fast, easy. Dawn Platinum EZ- Squeeze. Flip the way you clean dishes.
That's me before Dawn Powerw ash. Soaking, scrubbing. That's life. Was life. Now, Powerwash gives me the power of an overnight soak in minutes. I'm sorry, minutes? With three cleaning boosters not found in traditional dish soaps that help break down, loosen, and lift away food and grease. So much faster. Just spray suds on. No water needed till rinsing. Tougher mess? Let the suds sit a few minutes before wiping. Even cleans-
The grill!
Thank you.
It's more than soap, it's Powerwash.
Superiority across all five vectors: product, package, brand communication, retail execution, and value drives strong results. Dawn has delivered over 90% of the U.S. hand dish category growth over the last four years, over 30% higher than our fair share. During the same time period, Dawn's value share is up 10 points. Driving category growth with superior innovation builds market share and builds business for our retail partners. In Europe, fabric care is driving product and packaging superiority. Superior products, the new four-chamber Ariel Platinum Pods, are driving strong consumer demand in fabric. The high-performance formula enables cold water washing, a benefit to the environment and to consumer wallets. Superior cardboard packaging, which is more packaging, which is both consumer preferred and more sustainable. Let's watch the copy.
With a tough, greasy stain that's gone right through, you need to wash on hot, right? With Ariel Pods in a new cardboard pack, you can wash cleaner on cold. Just pod with our new extra chamber and grease-cutting technology.
Where other detergents may leave greasy stains on hot, Ariel Pods clean brilliantly on cold.
So pod colder and cleaner, and save up to 60% energy. Ariel Pods, pod colder, pod cleaner. Close with a click and keep away from children.
Superiority enables innovation-based pricing, which has been critical given the cost headwinds, and it also delivers superior consumer value, which is based on a combination of price, product performance, and the usage experience. This innovation contributed to high single-digit organic sales growth in Europe Fabric Care. We're committed to continue to invest, to strengthen the superiority of our brands, to deliver superior value for consumers, which requires ongoing productivity. The strategic need for investment to strengthen the long-term health and competitiveness of our brands, the short-term need to manage through significant cost increases, and the ongoing need to drive balanced top and bottom line growth, including margin expansion, underscore the importance of productivity. Productivity is fully embedded in our operating model and is embraced in every part of our operation.
Success in our highly competitive industry and increasingly dynamic world requires agility that comes with a mindset of constructive disruption, a willingness to change, adapt, and create new trends and technologies that will shape our industry for the future. P&G's organization structure yields a more empowered, agile, and accountable organization and culture with little overlap or redundancy, flowing to new demands, seamlessly supporting each other to deliver against our priorities around the world. We're working in four areas to further improve the execution of our integrated strategy. The first is supply. We're further upgrading our world-class supply chain to one that enables even greater agility, flexibility, scalability, transparency, and resilience for a new reality and a new age.
Second, environmental sustainability has been integrated into each of our businesses and processes with a mindset of no trade-offs, continuing to deliver and improve the irresistible performance of our products and packages while improving their sustainability. Third, digital acumen to drive consumer and customer preference, reduce cost, and enable rapid and efficient decision-making across the entire value chain. Fourth, a superior employee value equation for all employees, inclusive of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, ages, and abilities for all roles to ensure we continue to attract, retain, and develop the very best talent.... These four areas are not new or separate strategies. They're necessary elements in continuing to build superiority and reducing cost to enable investment and value creation and in strengthening our organization. They're part of the constructive disruption we must continue to lead. Our objective is balanced top and bottom line growth.
But in the ever more complex world we live in, balance also requires serving the needs of all stakeholders, consumers, customers, employees, society, and shareowners. This is particularly important when it comes to environmental, social, and governance areas. Our efforts in environmental sustainability are important to create value while improving P&G's environmental impact, enabling consumers to reduce their footprint and helping society solve some of the most pressing challenges. In our community impact work, we support people in need around the world through our brands and products that help restore normalcy in uncertain times. We serve billions of consumers all over the world. Our ability to do this most effectively is enabled by a workforce and culture that understands, respects, and reflects the uniqueness of all consumers we serve.
P&G's purpose, values, and principles set high standards that we hold ourselves and each other accountable for, and create a strong culture focused on winning the right way. I want to close with a few thoughts about this company, its strategy, and organization as a reflection back on what has been accomplished and as a glimpse forward into what is possible. If you had asked me four years ago if we could grow top line, bottom line, and deliver strong cash return to shareowners through a global pandemic, with employees challenged to get to the workplace in the context of a war in Europe, major disruptions in global supply chains, rapidly escalating costs, the highest consumer inflation in forty years, and fundamental shifts in consumer behavior and channel relevance, it would have been hard to say yes. But that's exactly what your team has done.
Over the last five years, they've added over $15 billion in incremental sales, grown our share of the global market, grown core earnings per share by 40%, and returned over $80 billion of value through dividends and share repurchase to shareowners. As you all know, past performance is no guarantee of future results and no excuse to stand still. Quite the opposite. There will be bumps in the road ahead. We're still navigating through plenty of bumps right now. Our results, though, give us confidence in the effectiveness of our strategy, grounded in and focused on consumers, and an appreciation for the capability of a talented, creative, agile, and committed organization. At the end of the day, we serve people with a strong desire to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
We stand by consumers and support them in small but meaningful ways every day, with superior performing products of high quality at a superior value. We strive to do this in the most responsible way, consistent with P&G's values and principles. This approach, with consumers at the center and an organization built to serve them, has served us and our many stakeholders well. It will guide our actions as we move forward. If we do this effectively, consumers will benefit, customers will grow their businesses, employees will develop and thrive, we'll have a positive impact on society, and shareholders will continue to be rewarded for their investment.
Before we get to your questions, I now declare the polls closed. I want to thank you, our long-term shareholders, for your engagement with us and your commitment to our company. I've been advised of the preliminary voting results, specifically, that each of the 14 nominees listed in the proxy statement has received more for votes than against, and accordingly, each has been elected to a one-year term, expiring at the annual meeting in 2024, and until their successors are elected. Also, that the board proposal to ratify the appointment of the independent registered public accounting firm has been adopted, and that the board proposal for an advisory vote on executive compensation has been adopted. The board proposal for an advisory vote on the frequency of future executive compensations, the frequency of one year, received the greatest number of votes.
I've also been advised that the shareholder proposal requesting a civil rights audit was not approved, that the shareholder proposal requesting a report on operations in China was not approved, and that the shareholder proposal requesting the company to require shareholder approval for certain future amendments to company regulations was not approved. Certified totals of the votes will be available later from the company's secretary. That concludes the business items on our agenda. May I have a motion to adjourn?
Motion to adjourn.
Thank you. I now adjourn the meeting, and we'll move on to questions or comments on other matters related to the company's business that have not already been discussed. We'll take questions from shareholders through the Ask a Question box in the online portal. We'll try to get through as many questions as possible in this 30-minute period and may combine multiple questions on the same subject to avoid repetition. John, can you give us the first question?
Yes, John. First question: Does the company have plans for a stock split?
Thank you for the question. You know, in the past, companies would split their stock primarily to ensure that the share price was accessible to individual share owners. That was also when shares were traded in 100-share lots. So the minimum outlay for a shareholder was much higher than it is now, where fractions of shares can be purchased. And it's not reflecting that change. It's not uncommon for consumer stocks to be priced well over $100 a share, with fewer companies splitting their stocks than they did years ago. And that, that's really the perspective I have to provide on that topic for this morning.
It's an area that we'll continue to look at and consider, but against current context, which, again, has changed, over time. John, next question?
Yes, John. Shareholders have thanked the board for another quarter of dividends. There was a related question: Do you plan on increasing the dividend?
We operate with a pretty simple philosophy, that the cash that your company generates, is yours, not ours. After inappropriate investments in the business, that cash needs to come back to you. We also have a large number of retail share owners. About 40% of our stockholders are individual people. We also have a large ownership position, from pension funds, representing people like healthcare workers, firefighters, police officers, teachers. We try to maintain long-term reliability with the dividend, because dividend income is an important part of, of the people's financial planning, that I just mentioned. We've been paying a dividend for 133 consecutive years. We've increased that dividend for 67 consecutive years.
The board will deliberate at the appropriate time on whether that 67 becomes 68, so I think you can pretty readily extrapolate the trend. Next question, John?
Yes, John, the next one is a bit long. The CEO pay ratio of 339 to 1 is egregious. In this era of severe financial inequity in our society, and with the board's current decisions on executive pay, the CEO pay ratio should be reduced by raising the pay of non-executive employees. Why isn't it time to share the company's prosperity with the people who make it possible, the employees, rather than sharing exclusively with share owners and management?
Thanks for the question. First, each of our colleagues has benefited from the success of the company and will continue to do so. The question asked why rewards were going exclusively to the executive group, and that's currently by no means the case. The ratio itself varies yearly as elements of the CEO compensation differ and the median pay employee shifts in dollar terms, as salaries are increased and as currency affects the dollar value of compensation that's paid outside of the United States. The principles for how P&G's CEO compensation is determined are essentially the same as for all employees. It's market-driven, targeting the median of other leading peer companies.
92% of CEO compensation is at risk, and tied to future results, most of which has the potential to pay out at zero. Next question, John?
Yes. Why doesn't the company just use GAAP financial numbers? It seems there are adjustments every year, and therefore, management does not take responsibility for the real GAAP numbers.
I'm going to ask, Andre Schulten, the company's Chief Financial Officer, to answer that question.
Thank you, John, and thank you for the question. As you know, we do provide the full set of GAAP financials, but in addition to those, we believe that a select disclosure on non-GAAP measures gives the shareholders and investors a more consistent view of the underlying performance of the company, and we believe that that perspective is important.
Other questions, John?
Yes, next question: What will it take for P&G to respond to shareholders and supply chain stakeholders by creating a robust plan to address deforestation?
We've issued several, multiple forestry reports that attempt to provide perspective on our efforts in this very important area. We're committed to responsible forestry practices. Some important perspective before I get into specifics. P&G does not harvest wood. Wood pulp is a small part of a much larger forest products industry.... The Canadian government owns 94% of the land in Canada and strictly controls both the harvest and regrowth of these forests. Less than 0.5% of Canada's forests are harvested and regrown annually for all industries. The majority of wood sourced from Canada's renewable working forests is used in lumber for houses, buildings, floors, furniture, paper for books, newsprint in the publishing industry, and paper for bags, boxes, and wrapping material, and packaging. P&G sources less than 1% of the total annual harvest.
To help further minimize waste, 75% of the wood pulp used by P&G is actually from lumber sawmill byproducts, such as wood chips, trimmings, shavings, that would otherwise be wasted or scrapped. Despite the relatively small amount used, P&G consistently takes action through our suppliers to ensure forests are properly managed and renewed. Since 2020, we've taken numerous actions to increase the scale, pace, and rigor of our forestry-related efforts, as described in the reports that I mentioned previously. These actions include ensuring that every tree used in our paper products, for at least every tree used, that at least two are regrown. Sourcing 100% of wood pulp from suppliers that are certified by third parties as properly managing forests for renewal and protection of wildlife and the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Within this, setting a global goal of 75% FSC-certified pulp, the strongest forest certification, with a 95% goal for materials sourced from Quebec and Ontario, targets which we've met two years ahead of our commitment. We require independent and P&G-led audits of our suppliers. We've established a rigorous grievance process that reports allegations of supplier non-compliance in a public supplier grievance log. We've established a satellite monitoring program for key forest landscapes and tenures. We've strengthened our supplier sourcing policies in the areas of human rights, forest protection, and supplier monitoring. Responding to CDP forest surveys for wood pulp and palm oil, we've received an A- and B scores reflected, excuse me, respectively, in 2022. Again, we are fully committed to maintain and build responsible forestry practices. Next question, John?
Yes. Can the company offer insight and impact of the recent FDA ruling regarding the effectiveness of phenylephrine, a common ingredient in many of P&G's OTC cough, cold medicines?
Thanks for the question. P&G, as you would expect, conforms to the FDA monograph for decongestants and will follow any changes that are made to this monograph. We believe that phenylephrine is effective at providing relief for nasal congestion in the common cold based on data from multiple clinical studies, including studies relied on by the FDA, as well as our own data. Multiple consumer surveys also highlight how consumers recognize the physical and personal benefits of phenylephrine for relief of nasal decongestion and want it to remain available. The FDA has reiterated that phenylephrine is safe. Our phenylephrine-containing oral decongestant products contain additional active ingredients to provide multi-symptom relief for cough, cold, and flu symptoms. The presence of phenylephrine contributes to the efficacy of these products and does not affect how other active ingredients work. Next question, John?
Yes. Can you speak to your forecast for inflation of labor and input costs into the next year, 3% or 4%?
Again, I'll turn that question over to Andre Schulten.
Thank you for the question. The input cost in variations, including labor costs, are part of the business we're dealing with every day. So we're addressing those as we did in the past, in a combination of strong productivity the organization is delivering, as well as strong innovation combined with pricing where adequate to overcome any headwinds in these areas. But as I said at the beginning, these are realities we're dealing with every day.
Next question, John?
Yes. Does the Board of Directors represent management or shareholders?
The board represents shareholders. Other questions?
Yes. When and how will the vote be reported? Do you, do you report abstained votes as well as for and against?
Results from today's meeting will be reported on a Form 8-K within four days, as required by law. We expect this to be no later than Friday. Next question?
Yes. When will you hold your annual meetings in person? If not, why not?
We found that a virtual format for this business meeting maximizes shareholders' ability to attend and facilitates broader participation, regardless of where they happen to be located, anywhere in the United States or the world. As with our prior virtual meetings, shareholders have the opportunity to participate and engage with P&G management during the meeting. Next question?
Yes. Mr. Moeller, have you seen images of boreal logging operations? If you had, you would know that P&G's claims that two trees regrown for each one harvested is not practical or sustainable. What will P&G do to ensure that new forest landscapes are not degraded and destroyed?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, P&G is committed to responsible forestry practice. We will continue to work with suppliers to ensure compliance to state-of-the-art practices. And as I mentioned earlier, our commitment to this outcome remains unwavering, and we'll continue to maintain and strengthen efforts to deliver against that commitment. Next question?
Yes, shareholder comment: Regarding the previous question about a stock split, another virtue of a lower price per share is that there will be smaller instances of cash in lieu of fractional shares, if and when there are business spin-offs. Losing up to as much as nearly a whole high-price share of P&G investment via cash in lieu would be a situation that is nice to avoid. There was no actual question.
Well, I thank the submitter for that point. Are there any more questions?
Yes. Greetings to P&G's Board of Directors. Please, P&G, focus on moral quality, business performance, and reasonable return to shareholders as a fiduciary duty of P&G. This means that P&G will not be distracted and risk loss, and please stop radically promoting the LGBTQ agenda and with donations, legislation, Human Rights Campaign, 100% rating with free gender surgery and abortion travel. Please reduce HRC 100% score to zero. Professor Unwin of Oxford University studied 80 cultures and found that any that supported homosexual relations, the culture collapsed in three generations. Again, no question.
Well, I just want to assure everybody that several points. One, we serve a very diverse and increasingly diverse group of consumers. It's very important in that context that we continue to build a diverse organization, which strengthens our ability to serve consumers. It also ensures that we have the widest aperture lens into hiring of superior talent across the world. So those are very important business drivers which we will continue to work on. Other questions?
Yes. Next is another comment from a shareholder. I just want to thank P&G for allowing a more than reasonable amount of time to vote at its meeting. Congratulations for your leadership.
Thank you so much.
There are no further questions.
Okay. Well, again, thanks to everybody. This concludes today's meeting. I want to thank you all for your confidence and support, including many of you who have been long-term shareholders of P&G. Thanks again.
This now concludes the meeting.