Brown-Forman 10-K 2015-04-30

10-K 1 bfb-2015430x10k.htm 10-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

Commission File Number 002-26821

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (502) 585-1100

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ¨ No þ

The aggregate market value, as of the last business day of the most recently completed second fiscal quarter, of the voting and nonvoting equity held by nonaffiliates of the registrant was approximately $14,300,000,000.

The number of shares outstanding for each of the registrant’s classes of Common Stock on June 15, 2015, was:

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Proxy Statement of Registrant for use in connection with the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held July 23, 2015, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

Forward-Looking Statement Information. Certain matters discussed in this report, including the information presented in Part II under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” contain statements, estimates, or projections that are “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “aspire,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “envision,” “estimate,” “expect,” “expectation,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “pursue,” “see,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words identify forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date we make them. Except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors (many beyond our control) that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our historical experience or from our current expectations or projections. These risks and uncertainties include those described in Part I under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including:

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information. Certain matters discussed in this report, including the information presented in Part II under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” include measures not derived in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for any measure derived in accordance with GAAP, and also may be inconsistent with similar measures presented by other companies. In Part II under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” the reasons for the company’s use of these measures are presented under the heading, “Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” and reconciliations of these measures to the most closely comparable GAAP measures are presented under the heading “Results of Operations – Year-Over-Year Comparisons.”

PART I

Overview

Brown-Forman Corporation (the “Company,” “Brown-Forman,” “we,” “us,” or “our” below) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1933, successor to a business founded in 1870 as a partnership and later incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1901. We primarily manufacture, bottle, import, export, market, and sell a wide variety of alcoholic beverages under recognized brands. We employ over 4,400 people on six continents, including about 1,300 people in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, home of our world headquarters. We are the largest American-owned spirits and wine company with global reach. We are a “controlled company” under New York Stock Exchange rules, and the Brown family owns a majority of our voting stock.

For a discussion of recent developments, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Executive Summary – Overview.”

Brands

Beginning in 1870 with Old Forester Bourbon Whisky – our founding brand – and spanning the generations since, we have built a portfolio of more than 30 spirit, wine, and ready-to-drink cocktail (RTD) brands that includes some of the best-known and most-loved trademarks in our industry. The most important brand in our portfolio is Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, which is the fourth-largest spirits brand of any kind and the largest selling American whiskey brand in the world, according to Impact Databank’s “Top 100 Premium Spirits Brands Worldwide” list.1 In its second year on the list, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey moved up to 89th on the Worldwide Impact list, selling over 1.3 million nine-liter cases in calendar year 2014, up 34% from the prior calendar year. Our other leading global brands on the Impact list are Finlandia, the seventh-largest-selling vodka; Southern Comfort, the fourth-largest-selling liqueur; Canadian Mist, the fourth-largest-selling Canadian whisky; and el Jimador, the fourth-largest-selling tequila.

See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2015 Brand Highlights” for additional information regarding the performance of our brands.

Our vision in marketing is to “be the best brand builders in the industry … period.” We build our brands by investing in programs that we believe create enduring connections with our consumers. These programs cover a wide spectrum of activities, including media (TV, radio, print, outdoor, and, increasingly, digital and social media), consumer and trade promotions, sponsorships, and visitor center programs at our distilleries and our winery. We expect to grow our sales and profits by consistently

delivering creative, responsible marketing programs that drive brand recognition, brand trial, brand loyalty, and, ultimately, consumer demand around the world.

Markets

Our products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world. Our largest international markets include Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, Poland, France, Russia, Turkey, Canada, and Japan. Over the last 10 years, we have greatly expanded our international footprint. In fiscal 2015, we generated 57% of our net sales outside the United States compared to 40% ten years ago. The United States, our largest, most important market, accounted for 43% of our net sales in fiscal 2015. We present the percentage of total net sales by geographic area for our most recent three fiscal years and, to provide historical context, fiscal 2005, below:

For details about net sales in our largest markets, refer to “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Fiscal 2015 Market Highlights.” For details about our reportable segment and for additional geographic information about net sales and long-lived assets, refer to Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” For details on risks related to our global operations, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Distribution Network and Customers

Our distribution network, which we sometimes refer to as our “route-to-consumer,” takes a variety of forms, depending on (a) a market’s laws and regulatory framework for trade in beverage alcohol, (b) our assessment of a market’s long-term attractiveness and competitive dynamics, (c) the relative profitability of distribution options available to us, (d) the structure of the retail and wholesale trade in the market, and (e) our portfolio’s development stage in the market. As these factors change, we evaluate our route-to-consumer strategy and, from time to time, adopt a different model.

In the United States, which generally prohibits wine and spirits manufacturers from selling their products directly to consumers, we sell our brands either to distributors or (in states that directly control alcohol sales) to state governments that then sell to retail customers and consumers. In some states, we have distribution contracts; these contracts typically have no fixed term, but we can terminate them at any time if we pay a terminated distributor a fee (primarily based on a percentage of purchases over time). Some state franchise statutes limit our ability to terminate distributors or mandate a payment to a terminated distributor.

Outside the United States, we use a variety of route-to-consumer models. We own and operate distribution companies in 11 markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, South Korea, Mexico, Poland, and Turkey. In these markets, we sell our products directly to retail stores, to wholesalers, or, in Canada, to provincial governments. In the United Kingdom, we partner in a cost-sharing arrangement with another supplier, Bacardi Limited, to sell a portfolio of both companies’ brands. In many other markets, including Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, and Spain, we rely on others to distribute our brands, generally under fixed-term distribution contracts.

We believe that our customer relationships are good. We believe our exposure to concentrations of credit risk is limited due to the diverse geographic areas covered by our operations.

Seasonality

Holiday buying makes the fourth calendar quarter the peak season for our business. Approximately 31% of our net sales for fiscal year ended April 30, 2013, was in the fourth calendar quarter. For the fiscal years ended April 30, 2014, and April 30, 2015, approximately 32% of our net sales were in the fourth calendar quarter.

Competition

Trade information indicates that we are one of the largest global suppliers of premium wine and spirits. According to International Wine & Spirit Research, for calendar year 2014, the ten largest global spirits companies controlled less than 20% of the total global market for spirits (on a volume basis). While we believe that the overall market environment offers considerable growth opportunities for us, our industry is now, and will remain, highly competitive. We compete against many global, regional, and local brands in a variety of categories of beverage alcohol, but most of our brands compete primarily in the industry’s premium-and-higher price categories. Our competitors include major global wine and spirits companies, such as Bacardi Limited, Beam Suntory Inc., Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A., Diageo PLC, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A., Pernod Ricard S.A., and Rémy Cointreau S.A. In addition, particularly in the United States, we increasingly compete with (a) national companies, and (b) entrepreneurs, many of whom are recent entrants to the industry – typically with small-batch or craft spirit brands.

Brand recognition, brand provenance, quality of product and packaging, availability, taste, and price are factors that affect consumers’ choices among competing brands in our industry. Several factors influence consumers’ buying decisions, including: advertising; promotions; merchandising in bars, restaurants, and shops; expert or celebrity endorsement; social media and word-of-mouth; and the timing and relevance of new product introductions. Although some of our competitors have substantially greater resources than we do, we believe that our competitive position is strong, particularly as it relates to brand recognition, quality, availability, and relevance of new product introductions.

Ingredients and Other Supplies

The principal raw materials used in manufacturing and packaging our distilled spirits are water, corn, rye, malted barley, agave, sugar, glass, cartons, PET (polyethylene terephthalate, used in non-glass containers), labels, and wood for barrels, which are used for storing whiskey and certain tequilas. The principal raw materials used in liqueurs are neutral spirits, sugar, and wine, while the principal raw materials used in our RTD products are sugar, flavorings, neutral spirits, whiskey, tequila, and malt. The principal raw materials used in producing wines are grapes, packaging materials, and wood barrels. Our grape supply comes from a combination of owned vineyards located in California and contracts with independent growers. We believe that our relationships with our growers are good. Currently, none of these raw materials is in short supply, but shortages in some of these could occur. From time to time, our agricultural ingredients (corn, rye, malted barley, agave, and grapes) could be adversely affected by weather and other forces that might constrain supply.

Due to aging requirements, we must schedule production of whiskeys, certain tequilas, and other distilled spirits to meet demand years in the future. As a result, our inventories may be larger in relation to sales and total assets than would be normal for many other businesses.

For details on risks related to the availability of raw materials and the uncertainty inherent in supply/demand forecasting, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property rights include trademarks, copyrights, proprietary packaging and trade dress, proprietary manufacturing technologies, know-how, and some patents. Our intellectual property, especially our trademarks, are essential to our business. We register our trademarks very broadly, some of them in every country where registration is possible. We register others where we sell or expect to sell our products. We protect our intellectual property rights vigorously but fairly. We have licensed some of our trademarks to third parties for use on products and services other than alcoholic beverages, which we believe enhances the awareness and protection of our brands.

For details on risks related to the protection of our intellectual property, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” For additional information regarding our most important brands, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Fiscal 2015 Brand Highlights.”

Regulatory Environment

The production, storage, transportation, distribution, and sale of our products are subject to regulation by federal, state, local, and foreign authorities. Various countries and local jurisdictions prohibit or restrict the marketing or sale of distilled spirits in whole or in part.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury regulates the wine and spirits industry in the United States with respect to production, blending, bottling, labeling, sales, advertising, and transportation of beverage alcohol products. Similar regulatory regimes exist in each state, as well as in most of the non-U.S. jurisdictions where we sell our products. In addition, distilled spirits products are subject to customs duties or excise taxation in many markets, including in the United States, at the federal, state, or local level.

Under U.S. federal regulations, bourbon and Tennessee whiskeys must be aged for at least two years in new charred oak barrels. We typically age our whiskeys between three and six years. Federal regulations also require that Canadian whisky must be manufactured in Canada in compliance with Canadian laws. Mexican authorities regulate the production and bottling of tequilas, which, among other specifications, mandate minimum aging periods for extra anejo (three years), anejo (one year), and reposado (two months) tequilas. We comply with these regulations.

Our operations within and outside the United States are subject to various environmental protection statutes and regulations, and our policy is to comply with all those regulatory requirements.

Strategy

Five years ago, we introduced our “Brown-Forman 150” long-term strategy, focused on driving sustainable growth toward our 150th anniversary in 2020. The B-F Arrow is an articulation of our core principles: our purpose as well as the vision, values, and behaviors that we expect all of our employees to embrace and exhibit.

While these core principles are constant and powerful means of connecting our stakeholders to a shared vision of “Building Forever”, we continue to refresh our strategies to reflect current realities. The strategic ambitions described below both demonstrate a sustained focus on several drivers of our recent growth, which we believe remain relevant, and acknowledge the new and changing opportunities of today.

We continually seek to build brands and businesses that can create shareholder value. An excellent business for B-F is one that delivers strong growth, solid margins, and high returns. Given our growing size and scale, we are focusing on building brands that can be meaningful for our company over time. While our first priority is to drive the organic growth of our premium spirits portfolio, we will pursue innovation and consider acquisitions that meet our rigorous criteria as opportunities arise.

The Jack Daniel’s family of brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, is our most valuable asset. We will always work to keep Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey strong, healthy, and relevant to consumers worldwide, and to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for growing the Jack Daniel’s family of brands across countries, price points, channels, and consumer groups. As product innovation has become increasingly important to the trademark in recent years, we will continue to evaluate opportunities to grow the Jack Daniel’s family of brands through careful, thoughtful line extensions.

We are the global leader in American whiskey, and we will pursue growth in the broader global, premium whiskey category when it makes sense. We believe that we can leverage our whiskey-making knowledge, production assets, trademarks, brand-building skills, and other capabilities to accomplish this objective. We will focus on the global growth of our most important whiskey, Jack Daniel’s. In addition, we expect to accelerate the growth of our other whiskey brands around the world, including Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, and to enter other attractive whiskey categories, as illustrated by our recently-announced plans for Slane Castle. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Executive Summary” for details about our acquisition of Slane Castle Irish Whiskey Limited.

We aim to grow Finlandia and Herradura. We plan to focus primarily on growing Finlandia in Poland, Russia, and other parts of eastern Europe. We will work to expand the reach of Herradura tequila to new consumers, emphasizing Mexico, the United States, and other select, high-potential markets. We are taking steps to reposition el Jimador tequila as a more premium brand in Mexico, its largest market; as a result, volumes will likely decline in Mexico in the short term, we expect overall performance of the brand to improve there over time. We also will continue our efforts to enhance and broaden the consumer appeal of the Southern Comfort brand.

The United States remains our largest market, and continuing to grow in this market is important to our long-term success. We expect to drive this growth through stronger participation in fast-growing spirits categories such as flavored whiskey, super-premium bourbon, and tequila; continued product and packaging innovation; continued route-to-consumer proficiency; and brand building within growing consumer segments, with increasing emphasis on multicultural marketing.

Over the last two decades, our business outside the United States has grown more quickly than our business within it. Although fiscal 2015 was an exception to this trend, as our net sales in the United States grew faster than outside the United States, we expect the longer-term trend to resume. Our ability to achieve our long-term growth objectives requires further development of our business globally, especially in emerging markets. We expect to grow our business in developed markets such as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and in emerging markets such as Mexico, Poland, Russia, and Turkey. We also expect increasingly significant contributions to our growth from other emerging markets such as Brazil, China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and eastern Europe. We will continue to pursue route-to-consumer strategies that will expand our access to and understanding of consumers in these diverse markets.

We believe that having a long-term-focused, committed, engaged shareholder base gives us an important strategic advantage, particularly in a business with aged products and multi-generational brands. So we plan to continue our engagement with our shareholders, including our controlling family shareholders.

Recognizing the strong cash-generating capacity and the capital efficiency of our business, we will continue to pursue what we believe to be well-balanced capital deployment strategies aimed at perpetuating Brown-Forman’s strength and independence.

Corporate Responsibility

In pursuing all of the objectives described above, we will strive to be responsible in everything we do. Our history of responsibility began in 1870, when our founder, George Garvin Brown, first sold medicinal whisky in glass bottles to ensure quality and safety – an innovative idea during a time when whisky was usually sold by the barrel. Today, achieving Brown-Forman’s business purpose, “enriching the experience of life,” is possible only within a context of corporate responsibility. This means promoting responsible consumer enjoyment of our brands; working to reduce alcohol abuse and misuse; protecting the environment; providing a healthy, safe, and inclusive workplace; and contributing to the global communities where we operate.

Alcohol Responsibility. We promote responsible consumption of our products, as we believe this will enhance our relationships with consumers, business partners, stakeholders, and society at large and is essential for the long-term prosperity of our company and our industry. When abused or misused, alcohol can contribute to significant harm both to individuals and the community. We appreciate the need for governments to regulate our industry appropriately and effectively, taking into account national circumstances and local cultures. Along with others and through partnership, we want to be part of the solution to real and complex problems such as underage drinking, drunk driving, and overconsumption.

As a significant player in the global beverage alcohol industry, we foster collective action with our peers. Working together with other producers, we are able to leverage our views on a scale that can create change. For example, we are working with the 13 other industry leaders that signed the Beer, Wine, and Spirits Producers’ Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking. In its second year, calendar 2014, the group made significant progress. We increased outreach to governments and other stakeholders on strengthening legal purchase age, launched the first ever Digital Guiding Principles for digital advertising, and developed guidelines for responsible retailing. Our progress on these commitments will be reported annually and more information can be found at www.producerscommitments.org.

Since 2009, we have hosted an open forum sharing our point of view and encouraged engagement of others on www.OurThinkingAboutDrinking.com. In the United States, we support The Ad Council’s “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving” campaigns, designated driver services such as BeMyDD, and the Responsible Retailing Forum, which brings together diverse stakeholders seeking to reduce underage sales, among other initiatives. With respect to our consumer relationships, we seek to communicate through responsible advertising content and placement, relying on our comprehensive internal marketing code and adhering to industry marketing and advertising guidelines. We also are founding members of, and contribute significant resources to, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, an organization created by spirits producers to combat harmful use of alcohol. While this is a U.S. organization, we actively participate in similar organizations in other markets, such as DrinkWise in Australia, BSI in Germany, The Portman Group in the United Kingdom, and FISAC in Mexico. In the European Union, we helped form the Responsible Marketing Pact with seven other major beverage alcohol manufacturers to develop industry-led standards for responsible advertising and marketing. The standards focus on decreasing exposure of those under legal drinking age to alcohol-related advertisements. We also recognize that some individuals can’t or shouldn’t drink beverage alcohol and respect the choice of those who don’t drink for whatever reason. To this end, we have an internal employee resource group called SPIRIT that exists to create an environment where all employees and guests feel welcome, regardless of whether they choose to drink.

Environmental Sustainability. We are pleased to have surpassed our previous 2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) and water goals ahead of schedule, and we have recently committed to a tougher challenge. In calendar 2014, we set new, more ambitious environmental sustainability goals, focused on reducing our absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 15%, sending zero waste to landfill, and reducing our water use and wastewater discharges per unit of product by 30%. These new goals support our ambition to be a sustainability leader within our industry and in the countries where we have a significant presence. In calendar 2015, Brown-Forman received a Climate Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (known as a Goal Setting Certificate). Brown-Forman was one of eight companies recognized for setting aggressive GHG goals. Brown-Forman Tequila Mexico was recognized by the Mexican Environmental Protection Agency (Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente) with the Level 2 Clean Industry Certificate. In addition to recognizing waste reduction efforts, the award reflects Casa Herradura’s broad commitment to environmental stewardship, including energy and emissions reductions, water conservation and treatment, and more. Casa Herradura is the first tequila distillery, and only the third company in the state of Jalisco, to receive this honor.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Human Rights. We believe that having a diverse and inclusive workforce is central to our success. As we work to increase the relevance and appeal of our brands to diverse consumer groups, we need a diversity of experiences and outlooks within our own workforce. We also want employees to feel comfortable in contributing their whole selves and different perspectives to the work they do. Over the past year, we’ve made progress with diverse representation at a senior level. Three women serve on our Board of Directors, and in fiscal 2015, Michael A. Todman became our first African-American director. Four out of 15 members of our Executive Leadership Team are women; two of the 15 members are minorities, appointed over the last two years. In 2015, Brown-Forman was once again awarded a perfect score of 100% in the Corporate Equality Index by the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. This makes us one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT equality” in the United States for the fifth consecutive year. Our employee resource groups have been the core of our diversity culture by supporting employees’ growth while enhancing their contributions.

In the marketplace, we focus on promoting fair and ethical business practices. We remain committed to the guidelines set forth in our Global Human Rights Statement, defining our commitment to respecting the fundamental rights inherent to all human beings. We share our human rights policies and practices with our suppliers through our Suppliers Guide to Human Rights.

Community Involvement. Our approach to philanthropy reflects our values as a corporate citizen. Our civic engagement supports non-profit organizations that make a positive impact and improve the lives of individuals and the vitality of our communities. We target our support in six general areas: arts and culture, education, environment, social services, alcohol responsibility, and community development. While our focus is in our hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, our civic engagement activities extend to the communities around the globe where our employees live, work, and raise their families. In 2015, we donated more than $10.5 million in cash, logged approximately 20,000 volunteer hours, and had over 130 employees serve on boards of directors of 190 non-profit organizations.

Our Corporate Responsibility reports are available at www.brown-forman.com/responsibility.

Employees and Executive Officers

As of April 30, 2015, we employed approximately 4,400 people, including about 200 employed on a part-time or temporary basis. Approximately 17% of our employees in the United States are represented by a union. We believe our employee relations are good.

The following persons serve as executive officers of the Company as of June 17, 2015.

Available Information

You can read and copy any materials that we file with the SEC in its Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. In addition, the SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Our website address is www.brown-forman.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file those reports with the SEC. The information provided on our website is not part of this report, and is therefore not incorporated by reference, unless that information is otherwise specifically referenced elsewhere in this report.

On our website, we have posted our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Code of Conduct that applies to all directors and employees, and our Code of Ethics that applies specifically to our senior financial officers. If we amend or waive any of the provisions of our Code of Conduct or our Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, or controller that relates to any element of the definition of “code of ethics” enumerated in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1934 Act, we intend to disclose these actions on our website. We have also posted on our website our Corporate Governance Guidelines and the charters of our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee,

Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Executive Committee of our Board of Directors. Copies of these materials are also available free of charge by writing to our Secretary, Matthew E. Hamel, 850 Dixie Highway, Louisville, Kentucky 40210 or emailing him at Secretary@b-f.com.

We believe the following discussion identifies the most significant risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks were actually to occur, our business, results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. Additional risks not currently known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, could also materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition.

Unfavorable economic conditions could negatively affect our operations and results.

Unfavorable global or regional economic conditions, including uncertainty caused by unstable geopolitical environments in many parts of the world, such as Russia and Ukraine, could adversely affect our business and financial results. While the major economic disruptions of the 2008-2009 financial crisis have largely subsided, many markets where our products are sold still face significant economic challenges resulting from the global economic downturn that followed, including low consumer confidence, high unemployment, budget deficits, burdensome governmental debt, austerity measures, increased taxes, and weak financial, credit, and housing markets. Unfavorable economic conditions such as these can cause governments to increase taxes on beverage alcohol to attempt to raise revenue or reduce consumers’ willingness to make discretionary purchases of beverage alcohol products or pay for premium brands such as ours. In unfavorable economic conditions, consumers may make more value-driven and price-sensitive purchasing choices and drink more at home rather than at restaurants, bars, and hotels, which tend to favor many of our premium and super-premium products.

Unfavorable economic conditions could also adversely affect our suppliers, distributors, and retailers, who in turn could experience cash flow problems, more costly or unavailable financing, credit defaults, and other financial hardships. This could lead to distributor or retailer destocking, increase our bad debt expense, or cause us to increase the levels of unsecured credit that we provide to customers. Other potential negative consequences to our business from poor economic conditions include higher interest rates, an increase in the rate of inflation, deflation, exchange rate fluctuations, credit or capital market instability, or lower returns on pension assets or lower discount rates for pension obligations (requiring higher contributions to our pension plans). For details on the effects of changes in the value of our benefit plan obligations and assets on our financial results, see Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

Our global business is subject to commercial, political, and financial risks, including foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Our products are sold in more than 160 countries; accordingly, we are subject to risks associated with doing business globally, including commercial, political, and financial risks. In the long-term, we continue to expect our growth rates in non-U.S. markets to surpass our growth rates in the United States. Emerging regions, such as eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa, as well as more developed markets, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia, provide growth opportunities for us. If shipments of our products – particularly Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey – to our global markets were to experience significant disruption due to these risks or for other reasons, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

In addition, we are subject to potential business disruption caused by military conflicts; potentially unstable governments or legal systems; civil or political upheaval or unrest; local labor policies and conditions; possible expropriation, nationalization, or confiscation of assets; problems with repatriation of foreign earnings; economic or trade sanctions; closure of markets to imports; anti-American sentiment; terrorism or other types of violence in or outside the United States; health pandemics; and a significant reduction in global travel. For example, Mexico is a key commercial and production country for some of our products, and an outbreak of violence there could disrupt our operations. In addition, our ability to sell into Russia depends on our products being imported, and any economic or trade sanctions could materially adversely affect our operations there. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to overcome the challenges we encounter with respect to these risks and other factors affecting U.S. companies with global operations.

The more we expand our business globally, the more exchange rate fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar influence our financial results. In many markets outside the United States, we sell our products and pay for some goods, services, and labor primarily in local currency. Since we sell more in local currencies than we purchase, we have a net exposure to changes in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to those currencies. Over time, our reported financial results generally will be hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar and improved by a weaker one. For instance, profits from our overseas businesses for the 2015 fiscal year were adversely impacted by the recent strengthening of the U.S. dollar against currencies in our major markets, including the euro, British pound sterling, Ukrainian hryvnia, and Australian dollar. We do not attempt to hedge all of our foreign currency risk. We may, from time to time, attempt to hedge foreign currency risk, but, even in those cases, we may not be successful in limiting foreign currency

risk through the use of foreign currency derivatives or other means. For details on how foreign exchange affects our business, see “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk - Foreign Exchange.”

National and local governments may adopt regulations or undertake investigations that could limit our business activities or increase our costs.

Our business is subject to extensive regulatory requirements regarding production, exportation, importation, marketing and promotion, labeling, distribution, pricing, and trade practices, among others. Changes in laws, regulatory measures, or governmental policies, or in the manner in which current ones are interpreted, could cause us to incur material additional costs or liabilities, and jeopardize the growth of our business in the affected market. Specifically, governments may prohibit, or impose or increase limitations on, advertising and promotional activities, or times or locations where beverage alcohol may be sold or consumed, or adopt other measures that could limit our opportunities to reach consumers or sell our products. In Europe, for example, regulators in a number of countries have adopted or are considering severe limitations on the marketing and sale of beverage alcohol. For example, some countries have banned all television, newspaper, magazine, and internet advertising for beverage alcohol products. Increases in regulation of this nature could cause a substantial decline in consumer awareness for our products in the affected markets.

Some countries in which we do business have a higher risk of corruption than others. While we are committed to doing business in accordance with applicable anti-corruption and other laws, our Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics, and other Company policies, we remain subject to the risk that an employee will violate our policies, or that any of our many affiliates or agents, such as importers, wholesalers, distributors, or other business partners, may take action determined to be in violation of international trade, money laundering, anti-corruption, or other laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, or equivalent local laws. Any determination that our operations or activities are not, or were not, in compliance with U.S. or foreign laws or regulations could result in investigations, interruption of business, loss of business partner relationships, suspension or termination of licenses and permits (our own or those of our partners), imposition of fines, legal or equitable sanctions, negative publicity, and management distraction. Further, our compliance with applicable anti-corruption or other laws, our Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics, and our other policies could result in higher operating costs compared to those of other suppliers.

Additional regulation in the United States and other countries addressing climate change, use of water, and other environmental issues could increase our operating costs. Increasing regulation of fuel emissions could increase the cost of energy, including fuel, required to operate our facilities or transport and distribute our products, thereby substantially increasing the distribution and supply chain costs associated with our products.

Tax increases and changes in tax rules could adversely affect our financial results.

Our business is sensitive to changes in both direct and indirect taxes. As a multinational company based in the United States, we are more exposed to the impact of U.S. tax changes than most of our major competitors, especially those that affect the effective corporate income tax rate. Certain tax changes that have been or are currently proposed by the U.S. Congress or the President exemplify this risk, including repealing LIFO (last-in, first-out accounting treatment of inventory) for tax purposes, decreasing or eliminating the ability of U.S.-based companies to receive a tax credit for foreign taxes paid or to obtain a current U.S. tax deduction for certain expenses in the United States related to foreign earnings, changing the U.S. tax treatment of income related to foreign intangibles, decreasing or eliminating the U.S. manufacturing deduction, or changing the rules relating to the depreciation of capital expenditures or the deduction of advertising expenses.

Our business operations are also subject to numerous duties or taxes that are not based on income, sometimes referred to as “indirect taxes,” which include excise taxes, sales or value-added taxes, property taxes, and payroll taxes. Increases in or the imposition of new indirect taxes on our operations or products would increase the cost of our products or, to the extent levied directly on consumers, make our products less affordable, which could negatively affect our financial results by reducing purchases of our products and encouraging consumers to switch to lower-priced or lower-taxed product categories or to drink less. For example, certain jurisdictions such as Australia have increased and may continue to increase excise taxes on beverage alcohol products, which could increase the cost of our products to consumers and could reduce consumer demand in those jurisdictions. Our global business can also be negatively affected by import and export duties, tariff barriers, and related local governmental protectionist measures, and the suddenness and unpredictability with which these can occur. As governmental entities look for increased sources of revenue, it is possible that they may increase taxes on beverage alcohol products. New tax rules, accounting standards, or pronouncements, and changes in interpretation of existing ones, could also have a significant adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Our business performance is substantially dependent upon the continued health of the Jack Daniel’s family of brands.

The Jack Daniel’s family of brands is the primary driver of our revenue and growth. Jack Daniel’s is an iconic global trademark with a loyal consumer fan base, and we invest much effort and many resources to protect and preserve the brand’s reputation for

quality, craftsmanship, and responsibility. A brand’s reputational value is based in large part on consumer perceptions, and even an isolated incident that causes harm – particularly one resulting in widespread negative publicity – could adversely influence these perceptions and erode consumer trust and confidence in the brand. Significant damage to the brand equity of Jack Daniel’s would adversely affect our business. Given the importance of Jack Daniel’s to our overall success, a significant or sustained decline in volume or selling price of our Jack Daniel’s products would have a negative effect on our growth and our stock price. Additionally, should we not be successful in our efforts to maintain or increase the relevance of the Jack Daniel’s brand in the minds of current and future consumers, our business and operating results could suffer. For details on the importance of the Jack Daniel’s family of brands to our business, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Results of Operations - Fiscal 2015 Brand Highlights.”

Changes in consumer preferences and purchases, and our ability to anticipate or react to them, could negatively affect our business results.

We are a branded consumer products company in a highly competitive market, and our success depends on our continued ability to offer consumers appealing, high-quality products. Consumer preferences and purchases may shift due to a host of factors, many of which are difficult to predict, including changes in economic conditions, demographic and social trends, public health policies and initiatives, changes in government regulation of beverage alcohol products, the potential legalization of marijuana use on a more widespread basis within the United States or elsewhere, and changes in travel, leisure, dining, gifting, entertaining, and beverage consumption trends. Consumers also may begin to prefer the products of competitors or may generally reduce their demand for brands produced by larger companies. For example, smaller local distilleries are experiencing accelerated growth as a result of shifting consumer preferences toward locally-produced, regionally-sourced products. In addition, we could experience unfavorable business results if we fail to attract consumers from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities in the United States and in our other non U.S. markets. Forecasts in the United States for several years after 2015 indicate a slight decrease in the population segment aged 21 to 24; fewer potential consumers in this age bracket could have a negative effect on industry growth rates and our business. To continue to succeed, we must anticipate or react effectively to shifts in demographics, consumer behavior, consumer preferences, drinking tastes, and drinking occasions.

Our plans call for the continued growth of the Jack Daniel’s family of brands. In particular, we plan to continue to grow Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey sales globally and to launch Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire in the United States this fiscal year. If these plans are unsuccessful, or if we otherwise fail to develop or implement effective business, portfolio, and brand strategies, our growth, stock price, or financial results could suffer. More broadly, if consumers shift away from spirits (particularly brown spirits such as American whiskey and bourbon), our premium-priced brands, or our RTD products, our financial results could be adversely affected.

We believe that new products, line extensions, label and bottle changes, product reformulations, and similar product innovations by both our competitors and us will compete increasingly for consumer drinking occasions. Product innovation is a significant element of our growth strategy; however, there can be no assurance that we will continue to develop and implement successful line extensions, packaging, formulation or flavor changes, or new products. Unsuccessful implementation or short-lived popularity of our product innovations could result in inventory write-offs and other costs, reduction in profits from one year to the next, and also could damage consumers’ perception of the brand family. Our inability to attract consumers to our product innovations relative to our competitors’ products – especially over time – could negatively affect our growth, business, and financial results.

Production facility disruption could adversely affect our business.

Some of our largest brands, including the Jack Daniel’s family of brands and Finlandia Vodka, are produced at a single location. A catastrophic event causing physical damage, disruption, or failure at one of our major distillation or bottling facilities could adversely affect our business. Further, because whiskeys and some tequilas are aged for various periods, we maintain a substantial inventory of aged and maturing products in warehouses at a handful of different sites. The loss of a substantial amount of aged inventory – through fire, other natural or man-made disaster, contamination, or otherwise – could significantly reduce the supply of the affected product or products. A consequence of any of these or other supply or supply chain disruptions could be our inability to meet consumer demand for the affected products for a period of time. In addition, insurance proceeds may be insufficient to cover the replacement value of our inventory of maturing products and other assets if they were to be lost. Disaster recovery plans may not prevent business disruption, and reconstruction of any damaged facilities could require a significant amount of time.

The inherent uncertainty in supply/demand forecasting could adversely affect our business, particularly with respect to our aged products.

There is an inherent risk of forecasting imprecision in determining the quantity of aged and maturing products to produce and hold in inventory in a given year for future sale. The forecasting strategies we use to balance product supply with fluctuations

in consumer demand may not be effective for particular years or products. We cannot be sure that we will be successful in using various levers, such as price, to create the desired balance of available supply and consumer demand for particular years or products. As a consequence, we may be unable to meet consumer demand for the affected products for a period of time. Furthermore, not having our products in the market on a consistent basis may adversely affect our brand equity and future sales.

Higher costs or unavailability of materials could adversely affect our financial results, as could our inability to obtain certain finished goods.

Our products use a number of materials and ingredients that we purchase from suppliers. Our ability to make and sell our products depends upon the availability of the raw materials, product ingredients, finished products, wood, glass, bottles, cans, bottle closures, packaging, and other materials used to produce and package them. Without sufficient quantities of one or more key materials, our business and financial results could suffer. For instance, only a few glass producers make bottles on a scale sufficient for our requirements, and a single producer supplies most of our glass requirements. Similarly, a Finnish company distills and bottles Finlandia Vodka for us. In addition, if we experienced a disruption in the supply of American oak logs to produce the new charred oak barrels in which we age our whiskeys, our production capabilities would be compromised. If any of our key suppliers were no longer able to meet our timing, quality, or capacity requirements, ceased doing business with us, or significantly raised prices, and we could not promptly develop alternative cost-effective sources of supply or production, our operations and financial results could suffer.

Higher costs or insufficient availability of suitable grain, agave, water, grapes, wood, glass, closures, and other input materials, or higher associated labor costs or insufficient availability of labor, may adversely affect our financial results, because we may not be able to pass along such cost increases or the cost of such shortages through higher prices to customers without reducing demand or sales. Similarly, when energy costs rise, our transportation, freight, and other operating costs, such as distilling and bottling expenses, also may increase. Our financial results may be adversely affected if we are not able to pass along energy cost increases through higher prices to our customers without reducing demand or sales.

Weather, the effects of climate change, diseases, and other agricultural uncertainties that affect the mortality, health, yield, quality, or price of the various raw materials used in our products also present risks for our business, including in some cases potential impairment in the recorded value of our inventory. Changes in weather patterns or intensity can disrupt our supply chain as well, which may affect production operations, insurance costs and coverage, as well as the timely delivery of our products to customers.

Water is one of the major components of our products, so the quality and quantity of available water is important to our ability to operate our business. If droughts become more common or severe, or if our water supply were interrupted for other reasons, high-quality water could become scarce in some key production regions for our products, including Tennessee, Kentucky, California, Finland, Canada, and Mexico.

If the social acceptability of our products declines, or governments adopt policies disadvantageous to beverage alcohol, our business could be adversely affected.

Our ability to market and sell our products depends heavily on societal attitudes toward drinking and governmental policies that both flow from and affect those attitudes. In recent years, increased social and political attention has been directed at the beverage alcohol industry. For example, there remains continued attention focused largely on public health concerns related to alcohol abuse, including drunk driving, underage drinking, and the negative health impacts of the abuse and misuse of beverage alcohol. While most people who drink enjoy alcoholic beverages in moderation, it is commonly known and well reported that excessive levels or inappropriate patterns of drinking can lead to increased risk of a range of health conditions and, for certain people, can result in alcohol dependence. Some academics and public health officials as well as critics of the alcohol industry in the United States, Europe, and other countries continue to seek governmental measures to make beverage alcohol products more expensive, less available, or more difficult to advertise and promote. If future research indicated more widespread serious health risks associated with alcohol consumption – particularly with moderate consumption – or if for any reason the social acceptability of beverage alcohol were to decline significantly, sales of our products could decrease.

Significant additional labeling or warning requirements or limitations on the availability of our products could inhibit sales of affected products.

Various jurisdictions have adopted or may seek to adopt significant additional product labeling or warning requirements or limitations on the availability of our products relating to the content or perceived adverse health consequences of some of our products. Several such labeling regulations or laws require warnings on any product with substances that the state lists as potentially causing cancer or birth defects. Our products already raise health and safety concerns for some regulators, and heightened requirements could be imposed. If additional or more severe requirements of this type become applicable to one or more of our major products under current or future health, environmental, or other laws or regulations, they could inhibit sales of such products.

We face substantial competition in our industry, and consolidation among beverage alcohol producers, wholesalers, or retailers, or changes to our route-to-consumer model, could hinder the marketing, sale, or distribution of our products.

We use different business models to market and distribute our products in different countries around the world. In the United States, we sell our products either to distributors for resale to retail outlets or, in those states that control alcohol sales, to state governments who then sell them to retail customers and consumers. In our non-U.S. markets, we use a variety of route-to-consumer models – including, in many markets, reliance on others to market and sell our products. Consolidation among spirits producers, distributors, wholesalers, suppliers, or retailers could create a more challenging competitive landscape for our products. Consolidation at any level could hinder the distribution and sale of our products as a result of reduced attention and resources allocated to our brands both during and after transition periods, because our brands might represent a smaller portion of the new business portfolio. Expansion into new product categories by other suppliers, or innovation by new entrants into the market, could increase competition in our product categories. For example, we are experiencing increased competition for some of our products from new entrants in the small-batch or craft spirits category. Changes to our route-to-consumer models or partners in important markets could result in temporary or longer-term sales disruption, could result in higher costs, and could negatively affect other business relationships we might have with that partner. Disruption of our distribution network or fluctuations in our product inventory levels at distributors, wholesalers, or retailers could negatively affect our results for a particular period. Further, while we currently believe we have sufficient scale to succeed relative to our major competitors, we nevertheless face a risk that continuing consolidation of large beverage alcohol companies could put us at a competitive disadvantage.

Our competitors may respond to industry and economic conditions more rapidly or effectively than we do. Other suppliers, as well as wholesalers and retailers of our brands, offer products that compete directly with ours for shelf space, promotional displays, and consumer purchases. Pricing (including price promotions, discounting, couponing, and free goods), marketing, new product introductions, entry into our distribution networks, and other competitive behavior by other suppliers, and by wholesalers and retailers, could adversely affect our sales, margins, and profitability. While we seek to take advantage of the efficiencies and opportunities that large retail customers can offer, large retail customers often seek lower pricing and purchase volume flexibility, offer competing own-label products, and represent a large number of other competing products. If the buying power of these large retail customers continues to increase, it could negatively affect our financial results.

We might not succeed in our strategies for acquisitions and dispositions.

From time to time, we acquire or invest in additional brands or businesses. We expect to continue to seek acquisition and investment opportunities that we believe will increase long-term shareholder value, but we may not be able to find and purchase brands or businesses at acceptable prices and terms. Acquisitions involve risks and uncertainties, including potential difficulties integrating acquired brands and personnel; the possible loss of key customers or employees most knowledgeable about the acquired business; implementing and maintaining consistent U.S. public company standards, controls, procedures, policies, and information systems; exposure to unknown liabilities; business disruption; and management distraction. Acquisitions, investments, or joint ventures could also lead us to incur additional debt and related interest expenses, issue additional shares, and become exposed to contingent liabilities, as well as lead to dilution in our earnings per share and reduction in our return on average invested capital. We could incur future restructuring charges or record impairment losses on the value of goodwill or other intangible assets resulting from previous acquisitions, which may also negatively affect our financial results.

We also evaluate from time to time the potential disposition of assets or businesses that may no longer meet our growth, return, or strategic objectives. In selling assets or businesses, we may not get prices or terms as favorable as we anticipated. We could also encounter difficulty in finding buyers on acceptable terms in a timely manner, which could delay our accomplishment of strategic objectives. Expected cost savings from reduced overhead relating to the sold assets may not materialize, and the overhead reductions could temporarily disrupt our other business operations. Any of these outcomes could negatively affect our financial performance.

Inadequate protection of our intellectual property rights or counterfeiting could adversely affect our business prospects.

Our brand names, trademarks, and related intellectual property rights are critical assets, and our business depends on our protecting them successfully. We may be unsuccessful in protecting our intellectual property rights around the world or in challenging those who imitate our products. Although we believe that our intellectual property rights are legally protected in the markets in which we do business, the ability to register and enforce intellectual property rights varies from country to country. We may not be able to secure trademark registrations in every country in which we wish to sell a particular product, and we may not get favorable protective decisions by courts or trademark offices.

Many global spirits brands, including our brands, experience problems with product counterfeiting and other forms of trademark infringement. We work cooperatively with other spirits industry companies through our membership in the International Federation of Spirits Producers (IFSP) to combat spirits counterfeiting. While we believe the IFSP generally to be an effective organization, IFSP is not active in every market and its efforts are subject to cooperation with local authorities and courts in the markets where it is active. Despite our and IFSP’s efforts, confusingly similar, lower-quality, or even counterfeit products harmful to consumers could reach the market and adversely affect our intellectual property rights, brand equity, corporate reputation, or financial results. In addition, the industry as a whole could suffer negative effects related to the manufacture, sale, and consumption of illegally produced beverage alcohol.

Product recalls or other product liability claims could materially and adversely affect our sales.

The success of our brands depends upon the positive image that consumers have of those brands. We could decide to, or be required to, recall products due to suspected or confirmed product contamination, product tampering, spoilage, or other quality issues. Any of these events could adversely affect our sales. Actual contamination, whether deliberate or accidental, could lead to inferior product quality and even illness, injury or death to consumers, potential liability claims, and material loss. Should a product recall become necessary, or we voluntarily recall a product in the event of contamination, damage, or other quality issue, sales of the affected product or our broader portfolio of brands could be adversely affected. A significant product liability judgment or widespread product recall may negatively impact the sales and profitability of the affected brand or brands. Even if a product liability claim is unsuccessful or is not fully pursued, resulting negative publicity could adversely affect our reputation with existing and potential customers and our corporate and brand image.

Litigation and legal disputes could expose our business to financial and reputational risk.

Major private or governmental litigation challenging the production, marketing, promotion, distribution, or sale of beverage alcohol or specific brands could affect our ability to sell products. Because litigation and other legal proceedings can be costly to defend, even actions that are ultimately decided in our favor could have a negative impact on our business reputation or financial results. Lawsuits have been brought against beverage alcohol companies alleging problems related to alcohol abuse, negative health consequences from drinking, problems from alleged marketing or sales practices, or underage drinking. While these lawsuits have been largely unsuccessful in the past, others may succeed in the future. We could also experience employment-related class actions, environmental claims, commercial disputes, product liability actions stemming from a beverage or container production defect, a whistleblower suit, or other major litigation that could adversely affect our business results, particularly if there is negative publicity or to the extent the losses or expenses were not insurable or insured.

Governmental actions around the world to enforce trade practice, money laundering, anti-corruption, competition, tax, environmental, and other laws are also a continuing compliance risk for global companies such as ours. In addition, as a U.S. public company we are exposed to the risk of securities-related class action suits, particularly following a precipitous drop in the share price of our stock. Adverse developments in major lawsuits concerning these or other matters could have a material adverse effect on our business.

A failure or corruption of one or more of our key information technology systems, networks, processes, associated sites, or service providers could have a material adverse impact on our business.

We rely on information technology (IT) systems, networks, and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools, hardware (including laptops and mobile devices), software, and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed, hosted, provided, or used by third parties or their vendors, to help us manage our business. The various uses of these IT systems, networks, and services include, but are not limited to: hosting our internal network and communication systems; ordering and managing materials from suppliers; supply/demand planning; production; shipping product to customers; hosting our branded websites and marketing products to consumers; collecting and storing customer, consumer, employee, investor, and other data; processing transactions; summarizing and reporting results of operations; hosting, processing, and sharing confidential and proprietary research, business plans, and financial information; complying with regulatory, legal, or tax requirements; providing data security; and handling other processes necessary to manage our business.

Increased IT security threats and more sophisticated cyber crime pose a potential risk to the security of our IT systems, networks, and services including those that are managed, hosted, provided, or used by third-parties, as well as the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of our data. If the IT systems, networks, or service providers we rely upon fail to function properly, or if we suffer a loss or disclosure of business or other sensitive information, due to any number of causes, ranging from catastrophic events to power outages to security breaches, and our business continuity plans do not effectively and timely address these failures, we may suffer interruptions in our ability to manage operations and reputational, competitive, or business harm, which may adversely affect our business operations or financial condition. In addition, such events could result in unauthorized disclosure of material confidential information, and we may suffer financial and reputational damage because of lost or misappropriated confidential information belonging to us or to our partners, our employees, customers, suppliers, or consumers. In any of these events, we could also be required to spend significant financial and other resources to remedy the damage caused by a security breach or to repair or replace networks and IT systems.

Negative publicity could affect our stock price and business performance.

Unfavorable publicity, whether accurate or not, related to our industry or to us or our brands, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance, or prospects could negatively affect our corporate reputation, stock price, ability to attract high-quality talent, or the performance of our business. Adverse publicity or negative commentary on social media outlets, particularly any such negative commentary on social media outlets that goes “viral,” could cause consumers to react by avoiding our brands or choosing brands offered by our competitors, which could materially negatively affect our financial results.

Our failure to attract or retain key executive or employee talent could adversely affect our business.

Our success depends upon the efforts and abilities of our senior management team, other key employees, and a high-quality employee base, as well as our ability to attract, motivate, reward, and retain them. Difficulties in hiring or retaining key executive or other employee talent, or the unexpected loss of experienced employees, could have an adverse impact on our business performance.

The Brown family has the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted for stockholder approval.

We are considered a “controlled company” under New York Stock Exchange rules. Controlled companies are exempt from New York Stock Exchange listing standards that require a board composed of a majority of independent directors, a fully independent nominating/corporate governance committee, and a fully independent compensation committee. We avail ourselves of the exemptions from having a board composed of a majority of independent directors and a fully independent nominating/corporate governance committee. Notwithstanding the available exemption, our Compensation Committee is composed exclusively of independent directors. As a result of our use of some “controlled company” exemptions, our corporate governance practices differ from those of non-controlled companies, which are subject to all of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements.

A substantial majority of our voting stock is controlled by members of the Brown family, and collectively, they have the ability to control the outcome of stockholder votes, including the election of all of our directors and the approval or rejection of any merger, change of control, or other significant corporate transaction. We believe that having a long-term-focused, committed, and engaged shareholder base provides us with an important strategic advantage, particularly in a business with aged products and multi-generational brands. This advantage could be eroded or lost, however, should Brown family members cease, collectively, to be controlling stockholders of the Company. We desire to remain independent and family-controlled, and we believe the Brown family stockholders share these interests. However, the Brown family’s interests may not always be aligned with other stockholders’ interests. By exercising their control, the Brown family could cause the Company to take actions that are at odds with the investment goals of institutional, short-term, non-voting, or other non-controlling investors, or that have a negative effect on our stock price.

None.

Company-owned production facilities include distilleries, a winery, a concentrate plant, bottling plants, warehousing operations, saw mills, and cooperages. We also have agreements with other parties for contract production in Australia, Belgium, China, Estonia, Finland, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States.

In addition to Company-owned corporate offices in Louisville, Kentucky, we lease office space for use in our sales, marketing, and administrative operations in the United States and in over 40 other cities around the globe. The lease terms expire at various dates and are generally renewable. Our most significant office locations outside Louisville are:

We believe that our facilities are in good condition and are adequate for our business.

We operate in a litigious environment and we are sued in the normal course of business. We do not anticipate that any currently pending suits will have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or liquidity.

Not applicable.

PART II

Our Class A and Class B common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (under the symbols “BFA” and “BFB,” respectively). As of May 31, 2015, there were 2,712 holders of record of Class A common stock and 5,265 holders of record of Class B common stock. Because of overlapping ownership between classes, as of May 31, 2015, we had only 5,877 distinct record holders.

The following table sets forth, for the quarterly periods indicated, the high and low sales prices per share for our Class A and Class B common stock, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange composite tape, and dividend per share information:

Note: Quarterly amounts do not add to amounts for the year due to rounding.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table summarizes information as of April 30, 2015, relating to our equity compensation plans pursuant to which grants of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, market value units, performance units or other equity awards have been made.

1Includes 1,773,777 Class B common shares to be issued upon exercise of stock-settled stock appreciation rights (SSARs); 81,322 Class B common restricted stock units (RSUs); 21,506 Class A common deferred stock units (DSUs); and 24,836 Class B common DSUs issued under the Brown-Forman 2004 or 2013 Omnibus Compensation Plans. Does not include issued shares of performance-based restricted stock. SSARs are exercisable for an amount of our common stock with a value equal to the increase in the fair market value of the common stock from the date the SSARs were granted. The fair market value of our common stock at fiscal year-end has been used for the purposes of reporting the number of shares to be issued upon exercise of the 3,817,206 SSARs outstanding at fiscal year-end.

2RSUs and DSUs do not have an exercise price because their value depends on continued employment or service over time, and are to be settled for shares of Class B common stock. Accordingly, these have been disregarded for purposes of computing the weighted-average exercise price.

Stock Performance Graph

The graph below compares the cumulative total shareholder return of our Class B common stock for the last five years with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index, the Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index, and the Dow Jones U.S. Food & Beverage Index. The information presented assumes an initial investment of $100 on April 30, 2010, and that all dividends were reinvested. The cumulative returns shown on the graph represent the value that these investments would have had on April 30 in the years since 2010.

Share Repurchases

The following table provides information about shares of our common stock that we acquired during the quarter ended April 30, 2015:

As we announced on October 15, 2014, our Board of Directors authorized us to repurchase up to $250 million of our outstanding Class A and Class B common shares from October 15, 2014, through October 14, 2015, subject to market and other conditions. As we announced on March 25, 2015, the Board approved a $1 billion increase to the share repurchase authorization and extended it through March 24, 2016, subject to market and other conditions. The shares presented in the table above were acquired under these Board authorizations.

This selected financial data should be read in conjunction with “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

Notes:

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to help the reader understand Brown-Forman, our operations, our financial results, and our current business environment. MD&A is provided as a supplement to – and should be read in conjunction with – our Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

Volume and Depletions

When discussing volume, unless otherwise specified, we refer to “depletions,” a term commonly used in the beverage alcohol industry. We define “depletions” as either (a) our shipments directly to retailers or wholesalers, or (b) shipments from our distributor customers to retailers and wholesalers. Because we generally record revenues when we ship our products to our customers, our reported sales for a period do not necessarily reflect actual consumer purchases during that period. We believe that our depletions measure volume in a way that more closely reflects consumer demand than our shipments to distributor customers do.

Volume is discussed on a nine-liter equivalent unit basis (nine-liter cases) unless otherwise specified. At times, we use a “drinks-equivalent” measure for volume when comparing single-serve ready-to-drink (RTD) or ready-to-pour (RTP) brands to a parent spirits brand. “Drinks-equivalent” depletions are RTD and RTP nine-liter cases converted to nine-liter cases of a parent brand on the basis of the number of drinks in one nine-liter case of the parent brand. To convert RTD volumes from a nine-liter case basis to a drinks-equivalent nine-liter case basis, RTD nine-liter case volumes are divided by 10, while RTP nine-liter case volumes are divided by 5.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use certain financial measures in this report that are not measures of financial performance under GAAP. These non-GAAP measures, which are defined below, should be viewed as supplements to (not substitutes for) our results of operations and other measures reported under GAAP. The non-GAAP measures we use in this report may not be defined and calculated by other companies in the same manner.

We present changes in certain income statement line-items that are adjusted to an “underlying” basis, which we believe assists in understanding both our performance from period to period on a consistent basis, and the trends of our business. Non-GAAP “underlying” measures include changes in (a) underlying net sales, (b) underlying cost of sales, (c) underlying excise taxes, (d) underlying gross profit, (e) underlying advertising expenses, (f) underlying selling, general, and administrative expenses, and (g) underlying operating income. To calculate each of these measures, we adjust for (a) foreign currency exchange and (b) if applicable, estimated net changes in distributor inventories. We explain these adjustments below.

Management uses “underlying” measures of performance to assist it in comparing and measuring our performance from period to period on a consistent basis, and in comparing our performance to that of our competitors. We also use underlying measures as metrics of management incentive compensation calculations. Management also uses underlying measures in its planning and forecasting and in communications with the board of directors, stockholders, analysts, and investors concerning our financial performance. We have provided reconciliations of the non-GAAP measures adjusted to an “underlying” basis to their nearest GAAP measures in the tables below under “Results of Operations – Year-Over-Year Comparisons” and have consistently applied the adjustments within our reconciliations in arriving at each non-GAAP measure.

We also use the following additional non-GAAP financial measures:

“Net debt.” This measure refers to the sum of (a) long-term debt, (b) the current portion of long-term debt, and (c) short-term borrowings, less (d) cash and cash equivalents. Management uses net debt as an additional measure of liquidity.

“Return on average invested capital.” This measure refers to the sum of net income and after-tax interest expense, divided by average invested capital. Average invested capital equals assets less liabilities, excluding interest-bearing debt and is calculated

using the average of the most recent 13 month-end balances. After-tax interest expense equals interest expense multiplied by one minus our effective tax rate. We consider return on average invested capital to be a meaningful indicator of how effectively and efficiently we use invested capital in our business.

Our MD&A includes the following sections:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Overview

Over the past several years, including fiscal 2015, we have made progress toward realizing the ambitions of our long-term strategy, which was first set forth in fiscal 2010 and has evolved along with our business since then. Here is a discussion of recent developments:

We have been expanding our production capacity for the Jack Daniel’s family of brands so that we can satisfy expected demand. In fiscal 2014, we completed construction of the Jack Daniel Cooperage in Decatur, Alabama. We believe that we were already the largest maker of new whiskey barrels in the world before the new cooperage significantly added to our capacit

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Risk Management Framework

Success in business requires risk taking. Only by taking risks are we able to seize opportunities that will enhance brand performance and improve earnings, but we must balance risk and reward appropriately. Our enterprise risk management process is intended to ensure that we take risks knowingly and thoughtfully, and that we balance risks and potential rewards appropriately. Our integrated enterprise risk management framework is designed to identify, evaluate, communicate, and appropriately mitigate risks across our operations. Within this framework:

Market Risks

We are exposed to market risks arising from adverse changes in foreign exchange rates, commodity prices affecting the cost of our raw materials and energy, and interest rates. We try to manage risk responsibly through a variety of strategies, including production initiatives and hedging strategies. Our foreign currency hedging contracts are subject to changes in exchange rates, our commodity forward purchase contracts are subject to changes in commodity prices, and some of our debt obligations are subject to changes in interest rates. We discuss these exposures below and also provide a sensitivity analysis as to the effect the changes could have on our results of operations. See Notes 6 and 8 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for details.

See Note 4 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for details on our grape and agave purchase obligations, which are exposed to commodity price risk, and “Critical Accounting Estimates” in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for a discussion of our pension and other postretirement plans’ exposure to interest rate risks. Also see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for details on how economic conditions affecting market risks also affect the demand for and pricing of our products and how we are affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Foreign Exchange. The more we expand our business outside the United States, the more our financial results will be exposed to exchange rate fluctuations. This exposure includes sales of our products in currencies other than the dollar and the cost of goods, services, and manpower we purchase in currencies other than the dollar. Because we sell more in local currencies than we purchase, we have a net exposure to changes in the dollar’s value. To buffer these exchange rate fluctuations, we regularly hedge a portion of our foreign currency exposure. But over the long term, our reported financial results will generally be negatively affected by a stronger dollar and positively affected by a weaker dollar.

We estimate that our foreign currency revenue for our largest exposures will exceed our foreign currency expenses by approximately $677 million in fiscal 2016. Foreign exchange rates also affect the carrying value of our foreign-currency-denominated assets and liabilities.

We routinely use foreign currency forward and option contracts to hedge a portion of our transactional foreign exchange risk and, in some circumstances, our net asset exposure. If these contracts remain effective, we will not recognize any unrealized gains or losses until we either recognize the underlying hedged transactions in earnings or convert the underlying hedged net asset exposures. At April 30, 2015, our total foreign currency hedges had a notional value of $1,212 million, with a maximum term outstanding of 36 months, and were recorded as a net asset at their fair value of of $41 million.

As of April 30, 2015, we hedged approximately 70% of our total transactional exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations in fiscal 2016 for our major currencies by entering into foreign currency forward contracts. Considering these hedges, we estimate that a 10% increase/decrease in the average value of the dollar in fiscal 2016 relative to fiscal 2015’s effective exchange rates for our significant currency exposures would decrease/increase our fiscal 2016 operating income by approximately $21 million.

Commodity Prices. Commodity prices are affected by weather, supply and demand, as well as geopolitical and economic variables. To reduce price volatility, we use deliverable contracts for corn (in which we take physical delivery of the corn underlying each contract), rather than futures contracts or options. We expect to mitigate the effect of some of the increases in our raw material costs through ongoing production and cost saving initiatives and targeted price increases.

Interest Rates. Our cash and cash equivalents ($370 million as of April 30, 2015) and variable-rate debt ($190 million as of April 30, 2015) are exposed to the risk of changes in interest rates. Based on the net balance of these items as of April 30, 2015, a 1% increase in interest rates would result in higher interest expense and higher interest income, leading to about $2 million less interest expense on a net basis.

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Dollars in millions)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Dollars in millions)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Dollars in millions)

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None.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures. Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) (our principal executive officer and principal financial officer), has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of fiscal 2015. Based on that evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures: are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the company in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms; and include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the company in such reports is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including the CEO and the CFO, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting. There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended April 30, 2015, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The report of management on our internal control over financial reporting as of April 30, 2015, and the report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our internal control over financial reporting are set forth in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

None.

PART III

Information on our Executive Officers is included under the caption “Employees and Executive Officers” in Part I of this report. For the other information required by this item, see the following sections of our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held July 23, 2015, which information is incorporated into this report by reference: (a) “Election of Directors” (for biographical information on directors and family relationships); (b) “Code of Conduct” (for information on our Code of Ethics); (c) “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” (for information on compliance with Section 16 of the Exchange Act); (d) “Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee” (for information on the procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to the Company’s Board of Directors); and (e) “Corporate Governance” (for information on our Audit Committee).

For the information required by this item, refer to the following sections of our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held July 23, 2015, which information is incorporated into this report by reference: (a) “Compensation Discussion and Analysis”; (b) “Compensation Tables”; (c) “Director Compensation”; and (d) “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation.”

For Equity Compensation Plan information, please see “Item 5. Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.” For the other information required by this item, refer to the section entitled “Stock Ownership” of our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held July 23, 2015, which information is incorporated into this report by reference.

For the information required by this item, refer to the following sections of our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held July 23, 2015, which information is incorporated into this report by reference: (a) “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions”; and (b) “Our Independent Directors.”

For the information required by this item, refer to the following sections of our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held July 23, 2015, which information is incorporated into this report by reference: (a) “Fees Paid to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm”; and (b) “Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures.”

PART IV

We have omitted all other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission either because they are not required under the related instructions, because the information required is included in the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, or because they do not apply.

(a)(3) Exhibits:

The following documents are filed with this report:

The following documents have been previously filed:

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Date: June 17, 2015

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities on June 17, 2015, as indicated:

BROWN-FORMAN CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

SCHEDULE II – VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS

For the Years Ended April 30, 2013, 2014, and 2015

(Expressed in millions)