Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is a Fortune 500 company and a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances with its headquarters in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States, near Benton Harbor, Michigan.[2][3] The company has annual revenue of approximately $18.4 billion, more than 70,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator Garage Works, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Consul, and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world.
After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation passed Electrolux to become "the largest home appliance maker in the world."
Founded in 1911, Whirlpool is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2011.
In the U.S., Whirlpool has manufacturing facilities in Fort Smith, Arkansas; Amana, Iowa; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Cleveland, Tennessee; Ohio (Clyde, Findlay, Greenville, Marion and Ottawa).
From its beginning as a manufacturer of electrically powered clothes washers, Whirlpool Corporation has become the world's leading producer of major household appliances. Its main products include home laundry equipment, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, ranges, room air conditioners, and mixers and other small household appliances. The company's appliances are sold in more than 170 countries worldwide under such brand names as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht, Ignis, Laden, Polar, Brastemp, Consul, and Eslabon de Lujo. Whirlpool is a major supplier of appliances to Sears, Roebuck and Co., which accounts for about one-fifth of Whirlpool's net sales; these include Whirlpool-made products marketed under Sears' Kenmore brand, as well as Whirlpool and KitchenAid brand products. The corporation has 47 manufacturing locations, ten of which are in the United States; the remainder are in Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Brazil, China, and India. Two-thirds of sales are generated in North America, 20 percent in Europe, and 11 percent in Latin America.
Whirlpool Corporation (Whirlpool), incorporated in 1955, manufactures products in 12 countries under 13 brand names and markets products globally. The Company manufactures and markets a range of appliances and related products for home use. Its principal products are laundry appliances, refrigerators, cooking appliances, dishwashers, mixers and other small household appliances. It also produces hermetic compressors for refrigeration systems. Whirlpool’s geographic segments consist of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
In North America, Whirlpool markets and distributes home appliances and portable appliances under a range of brand names. In the United States, it markets and distributes products under the Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Roper, Estate, Admiral and Gladiator brand names to retailers, distributors and builders. In Canada, it markets and distributes home appliances under the Inglis, Admiral, Whirlpool, Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Roper, Estate and KitchenAid brand names. In Mexico, it markets and distributes home appliances under the Whirlpool, Maytag, Acros, KitchenAid and Supermatic brand names. It sells some products to other manufacturers, distributors, and retailers for resale in North America under those manufacturers’ and retailers’ respective brand names. Whirlpool is a supplier of a range of home appliances to Lowe’s. Lowe’s is a outlet for its Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Roper and Gladiator brand products.
In Latin America, the Company markets and distributes home appliances under the Consul, Brastemp, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag and Eslabon de Lujo brand names. It manages appliance sales and distribution in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru through its Brazilian subsidiary and in Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay through its distributors. It manages appliance sales and distribution in the Caribbean, Central American countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala and Ecuador through its Brazilian subsidiary and through distributors.
In Europe, the Company markets and distributes its home appliances under the Whirlpool, Bauknecht, Ignis, Maytag, Laden, Polar and Privileg brand names, and portable appliances under the KitchenAid brand name. In addition to its operations in Western Europe, it has sales subsidiaries in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Morocco and Turkey. It markets and distributes a range of products under the Whirlpool, KIC and Ignis brand names in South Africa. Its European operations also market and distribute products under the Whirlpool, Bauknecht and Ignis brand names to distributors and dealers in Africa and the Middle East.
In Asia, the Company has organized the marketing and distribution of its major home appliances into five operating groups: the People’s Republic of China, which includes mainland China; Hong Kong and Taiwan; India, which includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan; Oceania, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia, which includes Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea and Japan. The Company markets and distributes its products in Asia under the Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana and Jenn-Air brand names through a combination of direct sales to appliance retailers and chain stores and full-service distributors to a network of retail stores.
The Company competes with Electrolux, General Electric, Kenmore, LG, Bosch Siemens, Samsung and Haier.
Whirlpool continued its international expansion efforts in the early 2000s. In January 2000 the firm spent $283 million to increase its equity interests in its two key Brazilian subsidiaries, Brasmotor S.A. and Multibrás S.A. Eletrodomésticos, to 94 percent. Whirlpool gained full ownership of the Mexican venture Vitromatic in a July 2002 transaction involving $151 million in cash and the assumption of $143 million in debt. Vitromatic was subsequently renamed Whirlpool Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Over in Europe, a 95 percent interest in Polar S.A., a leading maker of home appliances in Poland, was acquired for $48 million in cash and assumed debt. In August 2003 Whirlpool entered into a global strategic alliance with Fisher & Paykel Appliances, a major New Zealand-based home appliance maker. The alliance was set up to market existing appliances as well as develop new ones.
The global economic downturn of this period had a significant negative impact on the major appliance industry, prompting Whirlpool to begin another major global restructuring in late 2000. Much of the restructuring involved the corporation's European operations, which remained less profitable than those in North America. Over the next two years, Whirlpool eliminated more than 7,000 positions, paring the workforce by more than 10 percent. It aimed to achieve annual savings of $200 million by boosting cost-effectiveness worldwide. Restructuring charges totaled $273 million in 2001 and 2002. Whirlpool incurred additional extraordinary expenses from two recalls. Certain dishwasher models were recalled in 2000 because some had been catching fire. Then in October 2001 Whirlpool issued the largest recall in its history. Some 1.8 million microwave ovens were recalled because they could catch fire. Whirlpool set aside $300 million to handle the problem. The company barely eked out a profit of $21 million in 2001, before posting a net loss of $394 million in 2002 on record revenues of $11.02 billion. The 2002 loss, however, resulted from implementation of a change in accounting principles relating to goodwill impairment. Whirlpool took an aftertax charge of $613 million in implementing this change.
As it moved through the difficult times that the new century brought, Whirlpool worked aggressively to develop successful new products. During 2002 the Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer were introduced, with the washer featuring 60 percent more capacity than standard front-load washers. Also introduced that year were the KitchenAid Briva in-sink dishwasher and the Whirlpool Polara refrigerated range, which was the first range to combine both cooking and refrigeration functions. But Whirlpool was also moving beyond the kitchen and the laundry room. New products in 2002 also included the company's first line of jetted baths as well as the Gladiator GarageWorks line of organizing products for the garage. Whirlpool's core, however, remained its lines of major home appliances, and its continued innovation in that area promised to keep the company in the lead of the global appliance market.
Principal Subsidiaries: Empreso Brasileira de Compressores S.A. (Brazil; 94%); Multibrás S.A. Eletrodomésticos (Brazil; 94%); Whirlpool Canada Inc.; Whirlpool do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil); Whirlpool Europe B.V. (Netherlands); Whirlpool Financial Corporation; Whirlpool Mexico, S.A. de C.V.; Whirlpool Patents Company; Whirlpool Properties, Inc.
Principal Operating Units: Whirlpool North America; Whirlpool Europe; Whirlpool Latin America; Whirlpool Asia.
Principal Competitors: GE Consumer Products; Maytag Corporation; AB Electrolux; BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH; Merloni Elettrodomestici S.p.A.; El.Fi Elettrofinanziaria S.p.A.
OVERALL
Beta: 1.94
Market Cap (Mil.): $6,605.62
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 76.22
Annual Dividend: 2.00
Yield (%): 2.31
FINANCIALS
WHR Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 10.80 18.84 21.66
EPS (TTM): 44.08 -- --
ROI: 7.02 9.85 1.89
ROE: 15.29 11.87 2.88
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1929 as Nineteen Hundred Corporation
Employees: 68,272
Sales: $11.02 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York Chicago
Ticker Symbol: WHR
NAIC: 333415 Air-Conditioning and Warm Air Heating Equipment and Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing; 335211 Electric Housewares and Household Fan Manufacturing; 335221 Household Cooking Appliance Manufacturing; 335222 Household Refrigerator and Home Freezer Manufacturing; 335224 Household Laundry Equipment Manufacturing; 335228 Other Major Household Appliance Manufacturing
Key Dates:
1911: Lou Upton and his uncle, Emory Upton, found Upton Machine Company in St. Joseph, Michigan, to begin producing electric wringer washers.
1916: Upton begins making washers for Sears, Roebuck and Co., which markets them under the Allen trade name.
1929: Manufacturing capacity is increased through a merger with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company of Binghamton, New York, forming Nineteen Hundred Corporation.
1947: Company introduces the first automatic, spinner-type washer under Sears' Kenmore brand.
1948: Sale of Whirlpool brand washers begins.
1950: Company adds automatic dryers to its product line and changes its name to Whirlpool Corporation.
1955: Whirlpool gains line of refrigerators via merger with Seeger Refrigerator Company and changes its name to Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation; company acquires air conditioner and cooking range lines of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which are marketed under the RCA-Whirlpool name until the mid-1960s.
1957: Company changes its name back to Whirlpool Corporation.
1958: In its first move outside the United States, Whirlpool buys a stake in Brasmotor S.A., a major Brazilian appliance maker.
1969: Whirlpool takes a 33 percent stake in John Inglis Co. Ltd., entering the Canadian home appliance market.
1986: Company acquires the KitchenAid division of Hobart Corporation.
1989: Whirlpool secures the rights to the Roper brand name; it joins with the Dutch company N.V. Philips to establish Whirlpool Europe B.V., a joint venture through which Whirlpool will market a full line of major home appliances in Europe.
1991: Whirlpool buys out its European partner, taking full control of Whirlpool Europe.
1997: Company launches a global restructuring involving the elimination of 4,700 jobs, the closure of plants and other facilities, and a charge of $350 million.
2000: Another major restructuring is launched that includes more than 7,000 job cuts and $373 million in charges over the following two years.
Name Age Since Current Position
Jeff Fettig 54 2006 Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
Roy Templin 50 2004 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
Michael Todman 53 2010 President - Whirlpool International, Director
Marc Bitzer 46 2010 President, Whirlpool North America
David Szczupak 55 2008 Executive Vice President - Global Product Organization
Jose Drummond 46 2010 Executive Vice President and President, Whirlpool Latin America
Bracken Darrell 48 2009 Executive Vice President and President, Whirlpool Europe
Herman Cain 65 2005 Independent Director
Janice Stoney 70 1994 Independent Director
Gary DiCamillo 60 1997 Independent Director
Kathleen Hempel 60 1994 Independent Director
Miles Marsh 63 1990 Independent Director
Paul Stern 72 1990 Independent Director
Michael Johnston 63 2003 Independent Director
Michael White 59 2004 Independent Director
William Kerr 69 2006 Independent Director
William Perez 63 2009 Independent Director
Samuel Allen 57 2010 Independent Director
John Liu 42 2010 Independent Director
Address:
2000 North M-63
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
U.S.A.
After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, Whirlpool Corporation passed Electrolux to become "the largest home appliance maker in the world."
Founded in 1911, Whirlpool is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2011.
In the U.S., Whirlpool has manufacturing facilities in Fort Smith, Arkansas; Amana, Iowa; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Cleveland, Tennessee; Ohio (Clyde, Findlay, Greenville, Marion and Ottawa).
From its beginning as a manufacturer of electrically powered clothes washers, Whirlpool Corporation has become the world's leading producer of major household appliances. Its main products include home laundry equipment, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, ranges, room air conditioners, and mixers and other small household appliances. The company's appliances are sold in more than 170 countries worldwide under such brand names as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Roper, Estate, Bauknecht, Ignis, Laden, Polar, Brastemp, Consul, and Eslabon de Lujo. Whirlpool is a major supplier of appliances to Sears, Roebuck and Co., which accounts for about one-fifth of Whirlpool's net sales; these include Whirlpool-made products marketed under Sears' Kenmore brand, as well as Whirlpool and KitchenAid brand products. The corporation has 47 manufacturing locations, ten of which are in the United States; the remainder are in Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Brazil, China, and India. Two-thirds of sales are generated in North America, 20 percent in Europe, and 11 percent in Latin America.
Whirlpool Corporation (Whirlpool), incorporated in 1955, manufactures products in 12 countries under 13 brand names and markets products globally. The Company manufactures and markets a range of appliances and related products for home use. Its principal products are laundry appliances, refrigerators, cooking appliances, dishwashers, mixers and other small household appliances. It also produces hermetic compressors for refrigeration systems. Whirlpool’s geographic segments consist of North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
In North America, Whirlpool markets and distributes home appliances and portable appliances under a range of brand names. In the United States, it markets and distributes products under the Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Roper, Estate, Admiral and Gladiator brand names to retailers, distributors and builders. In Canada, it markets and distributes home appliances under the Inglis, Admiral, Whirlpool, Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Roper, Estate and KitchenAid brand names. In Mexico, it markets and distributes home appliances under the Whirlpool, Maytag, Acros, KitchenAid and Supermatic brand names. It sells some products to other manufacturers, distributors, and retailers for resale in North America under those manufacturers’ and retailers’ respective brand names. Whirlpool is a supplier of a range of home appliances to Lowe’s. Lowe’s is a outlet for its Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Roper and Gladiator brand products.
In Latin America, the Company markets and distributes home appliances under the Consul, Brastemp, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag and Eslabon de Lujo brand names. It manages appliance sales and distribution in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru through its Brazilian subsidiary and in Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay through its distributors. It manages appliance sales and distribution in the Caribbean, Central American countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Guatemala and Ecuador through its Brazilian subsidiary and through distributors.
In Europe, the Company markets and distributes its home appliances under the Whirlpool, Bauknecht, Ignis, Maytag, Laden, Polar and Privileg brand names, and portable appliances under the KitchenAid brand name. In addition to its operations in Western Europe, it has sales subsidiaries in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Morocco and Turkey. It markets and distributes a range of products under the Whirlpool, KIC and Ignis brand names in South Africa. Its European operations also market and distribute products under the Whirlpool, Bauknecht and Ignis brand names to distributors and dealers in Africa and the Middle East.
In Asia, the Company has organized the marketing and distribution of its major home appliances into five operating groups: the People’s Republic of China, which includes mainland China; Hong Kong and Taiwan; India, which includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan; Oceania, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia, which includes Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea and Japan. The Company markets and distributes its products in Asia under the Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana and Jenn-Air brand names through a combination of direct sales to appliance retailers and chain stores and full-service distributors to a network of retail stores.
The Company competes with Electrolux, General Electric, Kenmore, LG, Bosch Siemens, Samsung and Haier.
Whirlpool continued its international expansion efforts in the early 2000s. In January 2000 the firm spent $283 million to increase its equity interests in its two key Brazilian subsidiaries, Brasmotor S.A. and Multibrás S.A. Eletrodomésticos, to 94 percent. Whirlpool gained full ownership of the Mexican venture Vitromatic in a July 2002 transaction involving $151 million in cash and the assumption of $143 million in debt. Vitromatic was subsequently renamed Whirlpool Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Over in Europe, a 95 percent interest in Polar S.A., a leading maker of home appliances in Poland, was acquired for $48 million in cash and assumed debt. In August 2003 Whirlpool entered into a global strategic alliance with Fisher & Paykel Appliances, a major New Zealand-based home appliance maker. The alliance was set up to market existing appliances as well as develop new ones.
The global economic downturn of this period had a significant negative impact on the major appliance industry, prompting Whirlpool to begin another major global restructuring in late 2000. Much of the restructuring involved the corporation's European operations, which remained less profitable than those in North America. Over the next two years, Whirlpool eliminated more than 7,000 positions, paring the workforce by more than 10 percent. It aimed to achieve annual savings of $200 million by boosting cost-effectiveness worldwide. Restructuring charges totaled $273 million in 2001 and 2002. Whirlpool incurred additional extraordinary expenses from two recalls. Certain dishwasher models were recalled in 2000 because some had been catching fire. Then in October 2001 Whirlpool issued the largest recall in its history. Some 1.8 million microwave ovens were recalled because they could catch fire. Whirlpool set aside $300 million to handle the problem. The company barely eked out a profit of $21 million in 2001, before posting a net loss of $394 million in 2002 on record revenues of $11.02 billion. The 2002 loss, however, resulted from implementation of a change in accounting principles relating to goodwill impairment. Whirlpool took an aftertax charge of $613 million in implementing this change.
As it moved through the difficult times that the new century brought, Whirlpool worked aggressively to develop successful new products. During 2002 the Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer were introduced, with the washer featuring 60 percent more capacity than standard front-load washers. Also introduced that year were the KitchenAid Briva in-sink dishwasher and the Whirlpool Polara refrigerated range, which was the first range to combine both cooking and refrigeration functions. But Whirlpool was also moving beyond the kitchen and the laundry room. New products in 2002 also included the company's first line of jetted baths as well as the Gladiator GarageWorks line of organizing products for the garage. Whirlpool's core, however, remained its lines of major home appliances, and its continued innovation in that area promised to keep the company in the lead of the global appliance market.
Principal Subsidiaries: Empreso Brasileira de Compressores S.A. (Brazil; 94%); Multibrás S.A. Eletrodomésticos (Brazil; 94%); Whirlpool Canada Inc.; Whirlpool do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil); Whirlpool Europe B.V. (Netherlands); Whirlpool Financial Corporation; Whirlpool Mexico, S.A. de C.V.; Whirlpool Patents Company; Whirlpool Properties, Inc.
Principal Operating Units: Whirlpool North America; Whirlpool Europe; Whirlpool Latin America; Whirlpool Asia.
Principal Competitors: GE Consumer Products; Maytag Corporation; AB Electrolux; BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH; Merloni Elettrodomestici S.p.A.; El.Fi Elettrofinanziaria S.p.A.
OVERALL
Beta: 1.94
Market Cap (Mil.): $6,605.62
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 76.22
Annual Dividend: 2.00
Yield (%): 2.31
FINANCIALS
WHR Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 10.80 18.84 21.66
EPS (TTM): 44.08 -- --
ROI: 7.02 9.85 1.89
ROE: 15.29 11.87 2.88
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1929 as Nineteen Hundred Corporation
Employees: 68,272
Sales: $11.02 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York Chicago
Ticker Symbol: WHR
NAIC: 333415 Air-Conditioning and Warm Air Heating Equipment and Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing; 335211 Electric Housewares and Household Fan Manufacturing; 335221 Household Cooking Appliance Manufacturing; 335222 Household Refrigerator and Home Freezer Manufacturing; 335224 Household Laundry Equipment Manufacturing; 335228 Other Major Household Appliance Manufacturing
Key Dates:
1911: Lou Upton and his uncle, Emory Upton, found Upton Machine Company in St. Joseph, Michigan, to begin producing electric wringer washers.
1916: Upton begins making washers for Sears, Roebuck and Co., which markets them under the Allen trade name.
1929: Manufacturing capacity is increased through a merger with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company of Binghamton, New York, forming Nineteen Hundred Corporation.
1947: Company introduces the first automatic, spinner-type washer under Sears' Kenmore brand.
1948: Sale of Whirlpool brand washers begins.
1950: Company adds automatic dryers to its product line and changes its name to Whirlpool Corporation.
1955: Whirlpool gains line of refrigerators via merger with Seeger Refrigerator Company and changes its name to Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation; company acquires air conditioner and cooking range lines of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which are marketed under the RCA-Whirlpool name until the mid-1960s.
1957: Company changes its name back to Whirlpool Corporation.
1958: In its first move outside the United States, Whirlpool buys a stake in Brasmotor S.A., a major Brazilian appliance maker.
1969: Whirlpool takes a 33 percent stake in John Inglis Co. Ltd., entering the Canadian home appliance market.
1986: Company acquires the KitchenAid division of Hobart Corporation.
1989: Whirlpool secures the rights to the Roper brand name; it joins with the Dutch company N.V. Philips to establish Whirlpool Europe B.V., a joint venture through which Whirlpool will market a full line of major home appliances in Europe.
1991: Whirlpool buys out its European partner, taking full control of Whirlpool Europe.
1997: Company launches a global restructuring involving the elimination of 4,700 jobs, the closure of plants and other facilities, and a charge of $350 million.
2000: Another major restructuring is launched that includes more than 7,000 job cuts and $373 million in charges over the following two years.
Name Age Since Current Position
Jeff Fettig 54 2006 Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
Roy Templin 50 2004 Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
Michael Todman 53 2010 President - Whirlpool International, Director
Marc Bitzer 46 2010 President, Whirlpool North America
David Szczupak 55 2008 Executive Vice President - Global Product Organization
Jose Drummond 46 2010 Executive Vice President and President, Whirlpool Latin America
Bracken Darrell 48 2009 Executive Vice President and President, Whirlpool Europe
Herman Cain 65 2005 Independent Director
Janice Stoney 70 1994 Independent Director
Gary DiCamillo 60 1997 Independent Director
Kathleen Hempel 60 1994 Independent Director
Miles Marsh 63 1990 Independent Director
Paul Stern 72 1990 Independent Director
Michael Johnston 63 2003 Independent Director
Michael White 59 2004 Independent Director
William Kerr 69 2006 Independent Director
William Perez 63 2009 Independent Director
Samuel Allen 57 2010 Independent Director
John Liu 42 2010 Independent Director
Address:
2000 North M-63
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
U.S.A.