Economic Impacts

Until receiving a kidney transplant, Jim McFarlin of Champaign, Illinois, United States, used Baxter automatic peritoneal dialysis products to cleanse his blood of toxins and waste normally removed by healthy kidneys.

Baxter's direct and indirect economic impacts on its stakeholders are an important aspect of the company's sustainability performance. Direct impacts include financial transactions, such as revenue received from customers, wages and benefits provided to employees, dividends paid to investors and tax payments made to governments. Some but not all of these appear in a company's financial statements. Indirect impacts, which are more difficult to quantify, include increased productivity and money saved by customers due to their use of Baxter's products, and job creation outside of Baxter due to the company's spending.

Baxter's Financial Performance

Baxter's broader economic contributions depend on its ongoing financial performance. The company's global net sales totaled $13.9 billion in 2011, an increase of 8% over 2010. Sales within the United States totaled $5.7 billion, and international sales totaled $8.2 billion, both increasing 8% over 2010. In 2011, net income attributable to Baxter totaled $2.2 billion compared to $1.4 billion the prior year. On an adjusted basis, excluding special charges in 2010 and 2011, net income attributable to Baxter totaled approximately $2.5 billion in 2011, an increase of 4% as compared to the prior year. Over the five years ending December 31, 2011, Baxter's total shareholder return (including reinvested dividends) was 17%.

For a detailed description of the company's financial performance, see Baxter's 2011 Annual Report. For other investor information such as upcoming events, presentations and reports, see the Investors portion of the company's website.