 Fiscal 2010 adjusted EPS¹ of $1.08, compared to $0.82 in prior year driven by improved operating performance across the company; reported diluted EPS of $0.73 in fiscal 2010 versus $0.52 in prior year
 Fourth quarter adjusted EPS of $0.19, versus $0.26 in year-ago period; reported diluted EPS of $0.28 compared to a loss of $(0.02) per share in prior year’s fourth quarter
 Marketing investment up 20% in fiscal 2010 and 75% in the fourth quarter behind brands and innovation
 Improved cash flow from operations: $952 million in fiscal 2010 compared to $900 million last year DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (Aug. 12, 2010) – Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE) today reported strong results for fiscal 2010. Operating income was up significantly for the year, driven by improved operating segment income across all five continuing business segments. In particular, the North American Retail and International Beverage segments showed impressive results, while the North American Foodservice segment increased operating
segment income in a challenging environment. The discontinued International Household and Body Care businesses also reported strong fiscal 2010 results. Diluted earnings per share increased significantly in fiscal 2010, both on a reported and an adjusted basis. Net sales and unit volumes decreased in fiscal 2010, due to price competition and heavy promotional activity in various categories, as well as the impact of planned exits from low margin business. Cash from operations increased in fiscal 2010 driven by strong operating results and disciplined working capital management.

Fiscal 2010 was a 53-week year, with the 53rd week falling in the fourth quarter. To facilitate meaningful yearover- year comparisons, the “adjusted” results presented in this release exclude the impact of the 53rd week.
“Sara Lee concluded a very strong year, highlighted by robust earnings per share growth, an increase in cash flow and higher adjusted operating segment income in most of our ongoing business segments,” said Sara Lee Corp.
interim chief executive officer Marcel H. M. Smits.
“In fact, fiscal 2010 results compare favorably to the guidance we provided on May 6, 2010. Cash from operations came in at the top end of the guidance range, despite a $200 million voluntary cash contribution to the company’s pension plans in the fourth quarter, which was not included in the guidance. In addition, despite currency headwinds in the fourth quarter, adjusted EPS for fiscal 2010, which excludes $0.03 per share for the 53rd week, came in at $1.08 per share, compared to our guidance of $1.06 to $1.10 per share, which included the impact of the 53rd week,” Smits said.
“As intended, we made a significant investment behind marketing in the fourth quarter. During the year, we made meaningful progress in divesting our International Household and Body Care business, took receipt of a portion of
the divestiture proceeds and executed a $500 million accelerated share repurchase program, while also committing to maintain and gradually increase our healthy dividend.”
“As we look forward to fiscal 2011, we are confident that we will show further base business improvement and we will appropriately deploy the remaining proceeds from the Household and Body Care divestiture,” Smits concluded.

¹ The term “adjusted EPS” and other “adjusted” financial measures are explained and reconciled to each item’s most comparable U.S. generally accepted accounting principles measure at the end of this release.
Sara Lee Reports Strong Fiscal 2010 Results; Investing For Growth – Page 2

Financial Review
Net Sales and Unit Volumes
Net sales for fiscal 2010 were $10.8 billion, down 0.8% versus fiscal 2009 as the positive impact of an additional 53rd week, favorable foreign currency exchange rates and positive sales mix, were more than offset by lower unit
volumes, lower prices and the impact of divestitures. The company’s adjusted net sales decreased 2.8% for the year. Total Sara Lee unit volumes decreased 3.7% in fiscal 2010; however, excluding the impact of the 53rd week
and planned exits from commodity and kosher meats in the North American Retail segment, total Sara Lee unit volumes were down 1.5% in fiscal 2010.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, net sales were $2.8 billion, up 4.2%, as the impact of the 53rd week and favorable sales mix more than offset lower unit volumes, lower prices and unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates. Adjusted net sales were down 2.8% in the fourth quarter.

Operating Income
Sara Lee reported operating income of $918 million in fiscal 2010, up 88.6% compared to $487 million in fiscal 2009. Adjusted operating income was $932 million for the year, up $157 million year-over-year, or 20.2%. The
improvement in adjusted operating income included a $142 million increase in total adjusted operating segment income for the five continuing business segments, while general corporate expenses, excluding significant items,
decreased by $14 million.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, operating income was $79 million, compared to a loss of $(12) million in the year-ago period. Adjusted operating income was $136 million, compared to $245 million in the fourth quarter of
fiscal 2009, a decrease of $109 million, or 44.3%, primarily due to an approximately $50 million increase in media advertising and promotion (MAP) spending behind key brands and innovative new products in the quarter, $32 million of unfavorable mark-to-market variances on commodity derivatives, as well as lower unit volumes and lower prices, partially offset by an improved sales mix.
Operating income from discontinued operations was $251 million in fiscal 2010, up $10 million, or 3.4%, helped by a $33 million benefit due to the cessation of depreciation and amortization in compliance with accounting rules.
Adjusted operating income from discontinued operations was $333 million in fiscal 2010, up $72 million, or 26.3%. At the net income level, discontinued operations reported a net loss of $(199) million in fiscal 2010, due to
$453 million in income tax expense, of which $428 million was related to the deemed repatriation of overseas earnings, attributable to the existing overseas cash and book value of the International Household and Body Care
businesses. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, operating income from discontinued operations was $44 million, down $36 million, or 46.3%. Adjusted operating income in the fourth quarter was $94 million, up $13 million, or
12.7%.

Earnings Per Share
In fiscal 2010, reported diluted EPS were $0.73, compared to $0.52 for fiscal 2009. Reported diluted EPS for fiscal 2010 were impacted by a number of significant items, which reduced earnings by $392 million, or $0.57 per
share. Included in these significant items was a charge of $549 million, or $0.80 per share, taken primarily in the third quarter for taxes on the deemed repatriation of overseas earnings, attributable to the existing overseas cash
and book value of the International Household and Body Care businesses. Adjusted EPS were $1.08 in fiscal 2010, compared to $0.82 in fiscal 2009, demonstrating the strong underlying business performance for continuing
and discontinued operations in fiscal 2010.
Diluted EPS as reported were $0.28 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, compared to a loss per diluted share of $(0.02) in the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS were $0.19 in the fourth quarter, compared to $0.26 per share in the year-ago period, as the company invested heavily in its brands and behind new product launches to set up a strong fiscal 2011 and results were impacted by unfavorable mark-to-market variances on commodity derivatives.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year
2010 2009 2010 2009
Diluted EPS as reported $0.28 $(0.02) $0.73 $0.52
Less:
Total significant items 0.05 (0.30) (0.57) (0.51)
Contingent sale proceeds 0.01 0.02 0.19 0.21
Impact of 53rd week 0.03 - 0.03 -
Adjusted EPS* $0.19 $0.26 $1.08 $0.82
Of which:
Adjusted EPS from continuing operations 0.09 0.19 0.76 0.61
Adjusted EPS from discontinued operations 0.10 0.07 0.32 0.22
* Amounts are rounded and may not add to the total.

Cash from Operations
Net cash from operating activities was $952 million in fiscal 2010, compared to $900 million in the prior year.
The increase was primarily driven by higher operating income and better working capital management, which was partially offset by higher year-over-year cash restructuring payments, cash taxes and cash contributions to the
pension plans. Cash contributions to the pension plans were $332 million in fiscal 2010, compared to $306 million in fiscal 2009. Included in the amount for fiscal 2010 was a $200 million voluntary cash contribution to
the pension plans in the fourth quarter, which was previously planned for fiscal 2011.

Financial and Business Highlights
 MAP spending increased 20% in fiscal 2010, driven by an increase in spending across all continuing business segments. The company invested significantly behind its brands and new products in the fourth quarter as MAP
spending was up $54 million, or 75%. The North American Retail segment invested behind its core retail brands Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm and Ball Park and the North American Fresh Bakery segment ran a national promotion for the Sara Lee brand built around the popular Disney Toy Story 3 movie. The
International Beverage segment supported important new product launches such as L’OR Espresso in France, as well as campaigns for the Senseo brand in key European markets and for the Pickwick brand in the Netherlands.
 Net interest expense was $123 million in fiscal 2010, compared to $129 million in fiscal 2009, a decrease due to lower interest rates and less average debt outstanding. Fourth quarter net interest expense was $32 million in fiscal 2010 and $33 million in fiscal 2009.
 General corporate expenses rose $31 million in fiscal 2010, from $235 million to $266 million, primarily as a result of higher restructuring/Project Accelerate charges and a number of other significant items, including a
Mexican tax indemnification charge in the current year related to a previously divested business and nonrecurring benefits recognized in the prior year. General corporate expenses increased $52 million in the fourth quarter, from $31 million to $83 million. The increase was primarily driven by a $32 million
unfavorable mark-to-market impact from commodity derivatives and several significant items, such as the tax indemnification charge noted above. Excluding significant items and the impact of the 53rd week, general
corporate expenses decreased $14 million in fiscal 2010, from $218 million to $204 million.
 In fiscal 2010, commodity costs, excluding commodity mark-to-market, decreased by about $300 million, which was partially offset by approximately $140 million in lower prices, resulting in a net benefit of about $160 million.
 The effective tax rate for continuing operations in fiscal 2010 was 19.3%, compared to 37.3% in fiscal 2009, a decrease primarily driven by the impact of significant items during the year. Excluding significant items, the
effective tax rate for continuing operations would have been 29.7% in fiscal 2010. In the first quarter of fiscal 2010, the company received the final tax-free installment of contingent sale proceeds related to the disposition
of its European tobacco business in 1999. Excluding these contingent sale proceeds and significant items, the tax rate for continuing operations was 34.5% in fiscal 2010. For further detail on the tax rate, see page 19 of
this release.
Sara Lee Reports Strong Fiscal 2010 Results; Investing For Growth – Page 4
 Project Accelerate is a company-wide cost savings and productivity initiative focused on outsourcing actions, supply chain efficiencies and organizational simplification. The company expects annualized project benefits
in continuing operations of $350 - $400 million by the end of fiscal 2012, and cumulative costs of $300+ million in the fiscal 2009 – 2012 timeframe. In fiscal 2010, the project generated $180 million of benefits in continuing operations, adding $131 million of incremental benefits to the $49 million of savings achieved in fiscal 2009. The company expects cumulative project benefits of $270 to $290 million in fiscal 2011. Project Accelerate costs in continuing operations were $102 million in fiscal 2010, compared to $123 million in fiscal 2009. The company expects Project Accelerate costs in fiscal 2011 to be approximately $30 to $50 million.
 Sara Lee made substantial progress toward divesting its International Household and Body Care businesses in fiscal 2010. The company announced and closed transactions for the divestiture of the air care business to
Procter & Gamble for €320 million (closed in early fiscal 2011) and the Indian insecticides business to Godrej for €185 million. The company is working on the announced divestiture of the global body care business to Unilever for €1.275 billion and on the announced divestiture of the non-Indian insecticides business to SC Johnson for €153.5 million. Both proposed transactions are expected to close in calendar year 2010, and are subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. Sara Lee is confident it will be able to
successfully divest the remaining household businesses, primarily its global shoe care and Asian cleaning businesses, based on interest from various parties. In February 2010, the company hedged €1.6 billion at a
euro-dollar rate of $1.35 per euro in anticipation of proceeds to be generated by the divestiture of its International Household and Body Care businesses.
Update on Capital Plan Initiatives In February 2010, Sara Lee announced a revised capital plan that focuses on share repurchase, dividend pay-out
and the funded status of the company’s pension plans, while maintaining a solid investment grade credit profile.
 The company plans to buy back $2.5 to $3 billion of shares over a three-year period. Through a $500 million accelerated share repurchase (ASR) program that was announced in March 2010, Sara Lee bought back approximately 36 million shares of common stock. The ASR has been completed and the company has plans
in place to start buying back shares in the open market immediately. Sara Lee plans to repurchase $1.0 to $1.5 billion of shares in fiscal 2011, of which $500 to $800 million are expected to be repurchased in the remainder of calendar year 2010. Approximately $2.5 billion remains authorized for share repurchase by the board of directors, in addition to the 13.5 million share authorization remaining under the prior program.
 Sara Lee’s board of directors intends to maintain and gradually increase the corporation’s current $0.44 per share annualized dividend.
 The previously announced $200 million voluntary cash contribution to the company’s pension plans was made in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.
 The company continues to evaluate the best opportunities for value creation and investment of cash, including potential acquisitions or other investments in the company’s growth.

Status of Chairman and CEO Positions
On Aug. 9, 2010, Brenda C. Barnes stepped down permanently from the positions of chairman and chief executive officer so she can continue to focus on improving her health. In addition, the company announced that
Barnes has resigned from Sara Lee’s board of directors and will not stand for re-election at the company’s 2010 annual stockholders meeting in October. Barnes had been on medical leave since May 14, 2010 after suffering a
stroke.
Sara Lee’s board has initiated a process to select a new chief executive officer, looking at both internal and external candidates. During the process, Marcel Smits will continue as interim chief executive officer and Mark
Garvey will continue as interim chief financial officer. James S. Crown, an independent director, will remain chairman of the board, a role he assumed when Barnes’ leave of absence began, and he will continue to lead the
Office of the Chairman, comprised of Crown, Smits and CJ Fraleigh, chief executive officer of North American Retail and Foodservice.

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