Welcome to the P&G Annual Meeting of Shareholders. A copy of the agenda and guidelines for the conduct of the meeting are available on the welcome screen. Please follow these guidelines in order to ensure we handle our business expeditiously and provide time for shareholder questions. Shareholders of record and proxy holders will be able to ask questions during the meeting by using the Ask A Question box on the meeting platform, and we will have a question and answer period to answer questions pertinent to meeting matters. Substantially similar questions may be grouped together and provided with a single response to avoid repetition. If we are unable to respond to a properly submitted question due to time constraints, we will respond directly to the shareholder using the contact information provided. Please be aware that the presentation today will contain references to some non-GAAP financial measures.
The required reconciliation to GAAP numbers can be found on the company's website at www.pginvestor.com. The remarks and responses here today may also contain statements about our future business prospects. For a discussion of factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these 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. If today's meeting ends unexpectedly before the polls close, and if we are unable to reestablish the webcast within 30 minutes, the meeting may be adjourned to a later date. In this case, we will announce the details of reconvening on the Investors section of our website. Good morning. I'm Jon R. Moeller, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Procter & Gamble Company. I'd like to welcome everybody to P&G's 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Thank you for joining our annual meeting and thank you for your long-term investment in our company. Before I call the meeting to order, I want to remind you that our published proxy statement provides thorough and complete information on the voting matters before us today. We will often refer to that material rather than repeat it. 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. Joining me today are Andre Schulten, our Chief Financial Officer, and Susan Street Whaley, our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary. Also joining me today are my fellow members of our board, whom I will now introduce. B. Marc Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Electra.aero and former President of Boeing International and Chief Strategy Officer of The Boeing Company.
Craig Arnold, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eaton Corporation. Brett Biggs, former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Walmart. Sheila Bonini, Senior Vice President of Private Sector Engagement, World Wildlife Fund. Amy Chang, former Executive Vice President and Executive Advisor at Cisco Systems and founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Accompany Inc. Amy is the Chair of the Innovation and Technology Committee. Joe Jimenez, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Aditum Bio and the former Chief Executive Officer of Novartis AG. Joe is our Independent Lead Director and Chair of the Governance and Public Responsibility Committee. Chris Kempczinski, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald's Corporation. Chris is the Chair of the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee. Debra Lee, Chair of Leading Women Defined Foundation and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BET Networks.
Christine McCarthy, former Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Christine is Chair of the Audit Committee. Ashley McEvoy, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Insulet Corporation. Rob Portman, former United States Senator and U.S. Trade Representative. Raj Subramaniam, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of FedEx Corporation. I would also like to introduce and acknowledge two of our board members who are retiring from our board and not standing for re-election this year. Terry Lundgren, former Executive Chairman, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Macy’s. Terry has served on the board for 12 years. As a seasoned executive and respected business leader, Terry has provided calm, principled leadership while always keeping the company's purpose, people and shareholders at the center of his counsel.
He has made a lasting impact through his role as Chair of the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee and a member of the Innovation and Technology Committee. Patricia Woertz, former Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Archer Daniels Midland. Pat has served on the board for 17 years. She is a proven business leader and trusted advisor who has brought strategic insight, sound judgment, and an unwavering commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance. As Chair of the Audit Committee and a valued member of the Governance and Public Responsibility Committee, she has been a steadfast guardian of financial integrity and an advocate for management accountability to rigorous, measurable, and fair standards. Terry and Pat, I want to thank you for your service on the P&G Board. Shailesh G. Jejurikar, our Chief Operating Officer, is also with us today. Shailesh will succeed me as President and Chief Executive Officer.
On January 1, 2026, I will transition to the role of Executive Chairman of the Board. The Board has also nominated Shailesh for election as a Director at this meeting. Also joining us today are Christopher Cooper and David Crowley of Deloitte & Touche LLP. They have joined the meeting and are available in the event there are questions that are more appropriately answered by our auditors. As Chair, I have appointed Broadridge Financial Solutions as Inspector of Election for this meeting. Their representative has joined the meeting and will supervise the voting. Finally, we have John Chevalier, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. John will be reading the questions during our Q&A period. I now declare the polls are open. The polls will close after the report on the business.
I'll now turn the floor to Susan Street Whaley, our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, to guide us through some of the items of business in today's meeting.
Thank you, Jon. As Jon mentioned, the polls are open. If you would like to vote your shares now, please follow the directions 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. The first item of business is our election of directors. The Board of Directors 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 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and until their successors are elected. 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 LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm. Although the Board of Directors is not required to submit this matter to the shareholders, we believe it's important that you have a say in the appointment of the independent public accounting firm. The Board believes that the retention of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent external auditor is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. For this reason and the reasons set forth in the proxy statement, the Board of Directors recommends a vote for this resolution. Next, we have the Board proposal for an advisory vote on executive compensation, otherwise known as say on pay. We design our executive compensation programs to achieve our fundamental objective, which is to create value for our shareholders.
Our programs and culture motivate our executives to deliver balanced growth and value creation and serve the needs of consumers, customers, employees, society, and shareholders. For this reason and the reasons set forth in the proxy statement, the Board of Directors recommends a vote for this resolution. The final Board proposal is to approve the Procter & Gamble Company 2025 Stock and Incentive Compensation Plan. The 2025 plan enables the company to continue to grant equity incentives to employees and directors, which aligns their interests with shareholders through increased ownership of the company. The plan is similar to previous plans that were approved by our shareholders and reflects several best practices as disclosed in the proxy statement. For this reason and the reasons set forth in the proxy statement, the Board of Directors recommends a vote for this resolution. This concludes the review of the Board proposals.
We have one shareholder proposal this year. The proposal was submitted by As You Sow and requests that the Board issue a report describing how the company could address flexible plastic packaging. I will now invite the proponent to speak on the matter.
Good morning. I'm Conrad MacKerron, Senior Vice President at As You Sow, speaking in favor of proposal number five, which asks the company to report on how it could address the growing problem of its non-recyclable flexible plastic packaging by evaluating feasible actions to achieve fully recyclable packaging through reducing or eliminating flexibles, accelerating research into innovative recyclable or reusable substitutions. Flexible plastic packaging is non-rigid packaging such as film bags, pouches, sachets, and wraps made from materials that easily change shape. Because of its lightweight versatility and barrier properties that extend shelf life, flexible packaging is the fastest growing form of packaging globally, valued at $200 billion annually. Our company uses flexible packaging for products including hair care, skin care, paper towels, and diapers, comprising fully 19% of its total plastic packaging.
Flexible packaging is virtually unrecyclable in the U.S., and the company faces a 2030 deadline to make all its packaging recyclable. The authoritative report Breaking the Plastic Wave from Pew Charitable Trusts found that with innovation, redesign, and substitution, 26 million metric tons of flexibles can be avoided. Globally, corporations face increasing collective financial risks of approximately $100 billion should governments require them to cover the full waste management costs of the packaging they produce. In just the last few years, seven new laws to this effect were passed in U.S. states that will likely impose costly producer fees on difficult-to-recycle materials like flexible packaging. Though P&G has sustainable packaging goals, none identify opportunities to specifically address flexible plastic packaging through reduction or elimination. This is the principal justification for the report called for in this proposal. Without it, the company risks failing to meet its 2030 packaging goals.
We ask our company to report on a holistic evaluation of opportunities to reduce or eliminate unrecyclable flexible plastic packaging to make all packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable, and to transition into reusable alternatives. Without the actions requested in this proposal, P&G's continued use of flexibles will prevent the company from achieving its goals for sustainable packaging and expose it to reputational, regulatory, and competitive risks associated with greenwashing and a lack of corporate responsibility. Please support proposal number five. Thank you.
Thank you. The Board of Directors recommends a vote against this proposal. As discussed in the proxy statement, P&G continues to pursue a robust strategy to reduce plastic waste, including flexible plastics. We have a wide range of efforts to design superior packaging for consumers with more sustainable attributes and have longstanding efforts to increase the recovery of plastic in various forms. As P&G continues to holistically work to reduce plastic waste and is transparent about our many efforts to do so, we, the Board, believe the proposal to provide an additional report on this matter would not provide any meaningful value to shareholders. Therefore, the Board of Directors recommends a vote against this proposal. I will now turn the meeting back over to Jon. Thanks, Susan.
Next, I'd like to announce that the Board of Directors has declared P&G's quarterly dividend. The dividend of $1.0568 per share will be payable on or after November 17, 2025, to common stock shareholders of record at the close of business on October 24, 2025, and to preferred stock shareholders of record at the start of business on October 24, 2025. P&G has been paying our dividend for 135 consecutive years ever since the company was incorporated, and we have increased the dividend for 69 consecutive years. We are committed to returning cash to you, our shareholders. We'll next move to the report on your business followed by the question and answer session. Shareholders may submit their questions or comments through the Ask a Question box in the online portal of your screen.
P&G delivered continued organic sales and core earnings per share growth and returned significant cash to shareholders in fiscal year 2025. Despite volatile macroeconomic, geopolitical, and consumer headwinds, organic sales for the fiscal year grew 2%. Core earnings per share grew 4%. On a currency-neutral basis, core earnings per share were also up 4%. Adjusted free cash flow productivity was 87%. The last quarter was our 39th consecutive quarter of top-line growth. Fiscal 2025 was our ninth consecutive year of core earnings per share growth. Growth was broad-based across categories and regions. Nine of 10 product categories grew organic sales for the year. Family Care and Personal Health Care each grew mid-single digits. Fabric Care, Home Care, Feminine Care, Hair Care, Grooming, Oral Care, and Skin and Personal Care were up low single digits. Baby Care was down low single digits.
Focus markets grew 2% for the year, with North America up 2% and Europe focus markets up 3%. Enterprise markets were up 2%, led by Latin America with 4% organic sales growth. E-commerce sales increased 12%, now representing 19% of company total. Thirty of our top 50 category-country combinations held or grew share for the year. Seven of 10 product categories held or grew share globally over the past year. We increased our dividend by 5% and returned over $16 billion of cash to shareowners through nearly $10 billion in dividends and $6.5 billion in share repurchases. Consistent with our guidance at the start of the year, this is the 69th consecutive annual dividend increase and the 135th consecutive year P&G has paid a dividend. In summary, sales and earnings growth and strong cash return in a challenging economic and geopolitical environment.
While not at the levels we aspired to deliver at the beginning of the year, growth in this dynamic and volatile environment is worth acknowledging. To meet the opportunities and challenges our world is presenting us with, we need to widen our margin of advantage. This requires even greater focus on strengthening each component of our integrated strategy, which has enabled strong results to capture the opportunities it creates. This is the path P&G is on. Our integrated strategy: a portfolio of daily use categories where performance drives brand choice, superiority across product, package, brand communication, retail execution, and value, productivity, constructive disruption, all enabled by an empowered, agile, and accountable organization. We call this an integrated growth strategy for a reason. These choices reinforce and build on each other, and each needs to be delivered. It's not a menu to pick and choose from.
The advantage comes in being able to do all these things with excellence at the same time. Our strategy is dynamic, not static. It allows us to adapt to the volatile world around us, to the changing needs of consumers and retail partners, and to a competitive environment with highly capable companies around us. We adjust and flex the strategy in real time while still delivering the fundamental objectives of each element. The year ahead will be challenging, however. We remain as confident as ever in our strategy and in our ability to drive market growth and to deliver balanced growth and value creation to delight consumers, customers, employees, society, and share owners. We are taking steps to drive better execution and more investment in the strategy to grow markets and improve our ability to achieve our growth and value creation objectives.
My confidence could not be higher in the collective ability of Procter & Gamble people to deliver. This company has survived and thrived for more than 185 years because of our ability to adapt and change and because of our enduring commitment to winning.
Your questions. 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 commitment to our company. We've also received the preliminary voting results. Susan, can you please share those?
Yes. We have received the following preliminary voting results. Item one, election of the Board of Directors has passed with all director nominees being elected. Item two, ratify appointment of the independent registered public accounting firm has passed. Item three, advisory vote on executive compensation has passed. Item four, approval of the Procter & Gamble 2025 Stock and Incentive Compensation Plan has also passed. Item five, shareholder proposal requesting additional reporting on plastic proposal has failed as noted. These are the preliminary voting results. We will report final results in the coming days on a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
John, thank you. That concludes the business items on our agenda. I now adjourn the meeting. 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 some questions from shareowners. We'll try to get through as many pertinent questions as possible in this Q and A period. We may combine multiple questions on the same subject to avoid repetition. John, can you give us the first question? John, the first question is has the company considered a stock split? Thank you for your trust in Procter & Gamble as a shareholder and for your interest in future investment. At this time, we do not foresee splitting the stock. Let me share some perspective on why.
Growth in our stock price primarily reflects the underlying performance of the business, consistent earnings, cash flow, and disciplined execution of our integrated growth strategy. Many trading platforms now allow fractional share purchases, which enables investment at any share price. Stock splits do not change the fundamental value of the company or the value of your investment, but the administrative effort can increase costs without delivering any financial benefit to shareholders. Although we don't foresee a stock split, I want to reassure you that we remain focused on long-term value creation, delivering consistent growth, disciplined financial management, and a sustainable dividend that rewards you for your confidence in us. John, next question. Do you plan to continue the virtual format for future annual meetings?
The annual meeting of shareholders provides an opportunity to update you on your company, conduct important business such as the election of directors, and address questions from shareholders. We believe this virtual format allows the broadest potential participation from multiple countries and multiple time zones. It is a highly efficient, prudent approach to minimize cost. We have several questions on ESG related matters, which we'll group in one section. Here's the first. How does the company view efforts to advance environmental sustainability as part of the growth strategy, and can you update us on progress in this area? A foundational component of our strategy and success model is environmental sustainability that delights consumers, customers, employees, society, and shareholders. We have driven our sustainability choices and results by pursuit of delight for all these constituents, not some or one. We've been working on this for six decades, since the 1970s.
We've learned a lot on this journey. What works and what doesn't work, what is currently feasible and what is not, where infrastructure exists and where it needs to be supported and built. We've made significant progress with accountability embedded in business teams for the ambitions we established several years ago while delivering significant top line growth, bottom line growth, and value creation. We've achieved and maintained zero manufacturing waste to landfill since 2020. We've reduced greenhouse gas emissions in our manufacturing operations by 60% since 2010. 99% of electricity purchased for our operations is renewably sourced, up from 47% in 2017. Third-party certification of sustainably sourced palm oil and wood pulp is up to 100%. Another area of strong progress is in plastics. 80% of consumer packaging is designed to be recyclable or reusable versus 55% in 2018.
We've reduced the use of virgin petroleum plastic in consumer packaging by 21% versus 2017. Beyond our operations, we're working with industry coalitions to advance joint progress and enable a circular economy, including increasing access to recycling collection systems at scale. We're also making P&G innovation available more broadly to enable the ability to recycle more types of plastics, increase supply of recycled plastic, and clean hard-to-recycle materials. An example is Versovita, a dissolution technology which effectively cleans used plastics, removes contaminants, and returns the polypropylene or polyethylene to a near-virgin-like quality plastic that can be used again. We license this technology to PureCycle, who is already making recycled polypropylene for P&G packaging and scaling these materials for use across industry. Approached the right way, progress on sustainability supports strong business results and vice versa, fully embedded in the business strategy. Both objectives are compatible objectives, not incompatible.
Next question regarding the organization: what is P&G's approach to equality and inclusion and how does this link to efforts to grow the top line, bottom line, and create value? P&G serves billions of consumers around the world and we firmly believe that equality and inclusion broadens our ability to serve more of these consumers more effectively and drive market growth. A foundational component of P&G's strategy and success model has been recruiting, developing, and advancing people of all backgrounds in service to all consumers. This cannot and will not change. It's critical to who we are, to our principles, values, and purpose, and most importantly, to winning. It's who we are and what we do. We will continue to step forward in this regard, not back, and will continue to do so lawfully.
We believe that each of the constituents we serve—consumers, customers, employees, society, and share owners—are advantaged by this approach. Next question. Regarding governance, we've received several questions on board size, board membership, compensation, and expectations. Can you share some perspective on these areas? Our Code of Regulations regarding the board allows between 10 and 15 directors. We've nominated 14. Our board is comprised of leaders who are exceptionally qualified and have significant, diverse leadership experience. They are highly diligent in providing guidance and counsel to the company, including on the execution of our integrated growth strategy. As it relates to compensation, we routinely and independently benchmark director compensation. The most recent benchmark indicated that P&G director compensation is around the 59th percentile of peers. As regards refreshment, the P&G board has been refreshed with six new directors in the past three years.
The ability to devote sufficient time to P&G and an evaluation of other commitments is included in the refreshment process. We also have age and tenure limits. Next question. What factors influence P&G's presence in markets where there are significant geopolitical conflicts like Russia? P&G has a well-established set of principles that guide our actions in any crisis. The first is to help protect the health, safety, and well-being of P&G people. Second, maximize the availability of P&G products to help people and families with their clean health and hygiene needs. Third, support communities in need through our long-standing partnerships with global and regional relief agencies. Our focus in Russia remains on serving consumers with a reduced portfolio of basic health, hygiene, and personal care items needed by the many Russian families who depend on them in their daily lives.
Since the start of the war in Russia, we've taken several critical measures, restructured our operations, and significantly reduced our product portfolio and investments. We'll continue to adjust to a set of ever-changing realities to inform future decisions and actions. Next question. How does P&G's executive bonus program align with the standard management bonus programs? The core principle for all of our compensation programs is the same. We pay for performance, pay competitively, and focus on long-term success. Senior leaders have a significantly higher percentage of their pay at risk, and compensation is tied directly to the performance of the company. An example, STAR is an annual program focusing on the results of a single fiscal year and is an element of total cash compensation for all of our management employees around the world.
Another example, our performance stock program is intended to drive longer-term value creation over a three-year period with employees at the Senior Vice President and above level. Next question. How does the company approach capital allocation and its level of debt and interest expense? Can I ask Andre Schulten, our Chief Financial Officer, to answer that question? Thank you, Jon. Our priorities for cash utilization are consistent and unchanged. We first fully fund the business, including all capital expenditures needed. We then pay and ideally increase our dividend to shareholders. We consider strategic acquisitions if we believe that we can add value by doing so, and we return the remaining cash to share owners via share repurchase.
The approach has served us well through many different economic environments, and as a result, our net interest expense over the past three years, which is the difference between interest expense and interest income, has been flat. We are consistently regarded as having one of the strongest balance sheets in our industry. Next question. With several recent market exit announcements, how is P&G remaining committed to growth in emerging markets? Emerging markets continue to be a significant source of growth. They represent about 20% of the company's business. We will continue to pursue growth of both the top and bottom line in those markets, but we'll do so in a responsible fashion. Next question. What will your role, Jon, be as Executive Chairman? As Executive Chairman of the Board, I remain an employee and executive officer of Procter & Gamble.
I'll continue to chair P&G's Board and provide advice and counsel to the CEO on company matters. P&G has a history of designing its top management structure to meet the needs of the business. From time to time, this has included separating the roles of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive. Since the first non-Procter family member served as Chief Executive in 1930, there have been separate Chairman and Chief Executives as part of a majority of our leadership successions. This structure has helped facilitate successful transitions and enabled incoming Chief Executives to focus on operating the business. Next question. How is the company successfully navigating macroeconomic pressures such as inflation and tariffs? I'm going to ask Andre Schulten to opine on that, and I'll add a couple of pieces of perspective.
Our main purpose is to serve consumers with irresistibly superior propositions that allow us to grow the top line and the bottom line and create value over time. As you point out, our job is to do so in any macroeconomic environment. The foundation of navigating cost pressures is a strong productivity program that we have delivered now over many, many years, and it keeps strengthening. We will continue to innovate through difficult periods of time because we believe that is the best way to show value to our consumers and retail partners, and we will price wherever that innovation can carry the pricing to add value to consumers. It's an overall principle in managing these headwinds and challenges. We're stepping forward in the execution of our strategy, not backward. The organization has proven an incredible resilience to be able to overcome these kinds of challenges.
There's no guarantee going forward, but we remain committed to advancing our strategy. Can you share your approach to ensure P&G products are better than competitors? That's a very good and important question, and it's something we focus on fastidiously day after day. A number of years ago, we made a decision to concentrate our portfolio into 10 daily use categories where performance drives brand choice. We have to perform versus all offers in the market. We need to be superior from a product standpoint, from a package standpoint, from a communication standpoint. We need to be superior in our go-to-market execution and in value that we offer to consumers and customers. This forms the majority of our thought and work, and it's something we remain fully committed to.
We operate in very competitive markets with very strong competitors, and it's important that we offer, as the question suggests, the best products, packages, communication, go-to-market execution, and value in the market. Next question. How do you ensure P&G leaders stay in touch with the latest consumer and market trends given P&G's promote-from-within culture? Primarily, our learning and stimulus is provided by consumers and shoppers themselves. Ensuring that we stay in touch with what's happening in the hearts and minds of consumers and customers is critical to ensuring that we continue to stay relevant, that our offerings are relevant. We have significant contact with thought leaders and approaches outside the company that continue to inform our views in terms of relevance and what's important that we deliver. I remain fully confident of the current team of leaders at P&G and believe they are well connected to what's happening around us.
Finally, we've received several thank yous from shareholders to the board for the continued payment and increases of the dividend, and Jon, for you personally, for your service to the company and your various leadership roles. That concludes the Q&A portion of the meeting, and as a result, this concludes today's meeting. I want to thank you all again for your confidence and support, including many of you who have been long-term shareholders of P&G. It means a lot. Thank you very much.