Amcor UK Group Personal Pension Plan

 Prepared Notes:

Operator

Good morning, and thank you for your support and wishing you a warm welcome for the Amcor full year results for the 2021 fiscal year. [Operator Instructions]

I'd like to turn the conference to your presenter for today. Tracey Whitehead. head for Investor Relations. I'd like to invite you to join us.

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Tracey Whitehead -Head of Investor Relations - Director of Corporate Relations

Thank you operator, thank you to everyone who joined Amcor's annual call for fiscal 2021. The call is being held today by Ron Delia, Chief Executive Officer as well as Michael Casamento, Chief Financial Officer.

Now I'll refer you to our website at amcor.com under the section titled Investors where you'll discover our press release and presentation that will be discussed during the call later today. Additionally, we'll discuss non-GAAP financial measures as well as related reconciliations in the press release as well as presentations on the website.

In addition, I'll remind everyone that the conference today contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to uncertainty and risks. Refer the Amcor's SEC filings, which include our statements on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, for a review of the factors that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from the information we're discussing today.

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In the Q&A session during the session, we ask participants to limit the number of questions they ask to 2 questions max after which they can join the queue for any additional questions.

After that, I'll hand over the reins to Ron.

Ron Delia --- the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Tracy, and thanks everyone else for coming in discussing Amcor's fiscal 2021 complete year results. Today, as Tracey said was Michael Casamento, Amcor's Chief Financial Officer. We'll start by preparing some remarks, and then we'll open the door for Q&A.

Each meeting begins at Amcor with safety , and we'll start with Slide 3. Safety is the most important and most significant of our beliefs and Amcor is working towards our goal of avoiding injuries. 

Our safety record has shown constant improvement, particularly in the last 12 months which has been a major point of pride. All across Amcor We have cut down on the amount of injuries by around 25% over the previous year. Our businesses all have reported less injuries, and more than fifty percent of our sites remain injury-free for at minimum 12 months. 

Through a time when the pandemic was causing operational issues across a variety of nations, our attention to safety was never questioned. We're extremely grateful for our employees who remain active and committed to staying fit and healthy, as well as secure. 

We're extremely proud of our safety track record that we believe to be the highest in our industry and the improvements we've made in the last couple of years. However, we're confident that our goal of zero injuries is feasible and we'll continue to work towards our goal of no injuries.There are four important messages today. These are presented in Slide 4.

First, FY 21 was an exceptional year for Amcor in many ways. The operating environment was dynamic, however Amcor's team remained focused on the most important business drivers that we had control over and remained flexible as the environment changed, and showed extraordinary execution and consistency throughout the year.

Our financial results exceeded those we expected as year went on. We concluded the year in good form and are looking forward to another year of growth in fiscal year 22, which is the second major message.

Our recent performance is in many ways an outcome of the strategic and financial advantages that we gained from our 2019 deal with Bemis. Two years later we are almost completed. The financial rewards are way more than we expected and, strategically we're more well-positioned than ever before with a more solid base for growth in the future.

We're also building on our solid foundation with investments in a range growing initiatives organically that will sustain our momentum after fiscal year '22 and into the future.

Now we will look at the highlights of financials in Slide 5. Slide 5. FY 21 was an extraordinary year for financials at Amcor with record-breaking earnings and remarkable margin management, despite the steep increase in raw materials costs and supply restrictions, and increasing momentum throughout the year.

Organic sales increased by 2% and we ended the year with sales that were 3 percent higher than in the previous year.

Growth in the EBIT range was around 8%, with growth of 8% in the Flexibles as well as Rigid Packaging segments both delivering impressive results, and growing in various higher value markets, and leading to an increase in margins. In fiscal year 21 Amcor's EBIT margins grew by 60 basis points, bringing them to 12.6 percent for the year. 

This is a new record and a remarkable accomplishment in a climate which has seen price hikes for raw materials and disruptions in supply continue to demand the most intense attention to ensuring availability and controlling price recovery. 

We believe that Bemis acquisition synergies of approximately $75 million. As we wrap up the last integration phase and expect to surpass the synergy goals set in the beginning by at least 10%..

EPS rose 16% for the year and was in front of the guidance. We have been able to keep increasing throughout the year.

and the free cash flow in the amount of $1.1 billion was near high levels within our expectations range.

The return on capital or the return on average used funds exceeded 15% in a period where our capital expenditure is at a record low. Through our fiscal year we have returned $1.1 billion in cash to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases.

The most important message here is that foundations of our business continue to improve Our teams around the globe have demonstrated a relentless determination to implement our plan; and as the result, we've had another year of record financial results, with momentum building as we enter fiscal year 22.

I'll hand it over for Michael to provide more details on the financial performance and will conclude with a few remarks on the sustainability and growth of the company.

Michael Casamento -Michael Casamento - Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice-President, and Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Ron, and good morning and good night to everyone.

I'll begin by examining my Flexibles section in Slide 6, which performed exceptionally well, with record sales EBIT, EBIT margins and EBIT throughout the year.

Sales also include recovering higher cost of raw materials, and as Ron stated earlier, these continue to rise throughout the period. All across the company the company, our approach has been proactive, and we've introduced price increases rapidly. In the month of June our net sales rose by over $100 million, and the annual run rate for recovery reaching over $500 million as we ended the year.

From a perspective of earnings and in line with the last quarter's results, the cost has been acceptable, due to the variety of the materials we purchase and the various regions where we use these materials. This is apparent in our profit margins that continued to grow during Q4 and throughout the entire year.

From a volume point of view From a volume perspective, demand for many of our most important high-value markets has been consistently high which includes coffee, meat and dog food. 

However this is neutralized by the double-digit drop of North America medical volumes and European pharmaceutical volumes, fueled by fewer elective procedures and decreased prescription trends.