Reported EPS (diluted) of $0.55; Adjusted EPS (diluted) of $0.67, up 22% year-on-year

Net income of $31 million; Adjusted EBITDA of $123 million up 12% and Adjusted EBITDA margin up 160 basis points year-on-year

Cash flow from operations increased $42 million year-on-year

H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL) today reported financial results for its first quarter that ended March 2, 2024.

First Quarter 2024 Noteworthy Items:

• Net revenue was $810 million, up slightly year-on-year; organic revenue decreased modestly year-on-year due primarily to anticipated pricing changes;
• Gross profit margin was 29.5%; adjusted gross profit margin was 30.1%, up 320 basis points year-on-year, driven principally by favorable net pricing and raw material cost impact and restructuring benefits;
• Net income was $31 million; adjusted EBITDA was $123 million, up 12% year-on-year; adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 160 basis points year-on-year to 15.2%;
• Reported EPS (diluted) was $0.55; adjusted EPS (diluted) was $0.67, up 22% versus the prior year, driven by strong operating income growth;
• Net working capital, as a percentage of annualized net revenue, decreased 270 basis points year-on-year from 19.8% to 17.1%;
• Cash flow from operations increased $42 million year-on-year to $47 million, driven by reductions in net working capital requirements and improved profitability.

Summary of First Quarter 2024 Results:

The Company’s net revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $810 million, up 0.2% versus the first quarter of fiscal 2023. Organic revenue declined 4.2% year-on-year, with pricing adjustments reducing organic revenue by 3.3% and volume reducing organic revenue by 0.9%. Foreign currency translation reduced net revenue by 0.6% and acquisitions increased net revenue by 5.0%.

Gross profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $239 million. Adjusted gross profit was $244 million. Adjusted gross profit margin of 30.1% increased 320 basis points year-on-year. Favorable net pricing and raw material cost actions and restructuring benefits principally drove the year-on-year increase in adjusted gross profit margin.

Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense was $172 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 and adjusted SG&A was $165 million versus $149 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023. The impact of acquisitions as well as inflation in wages and services and higher variable compensation expense, partially offset by restructuring savings, drove the year-on-year increase in adjusted SG&A.

Net income attributable to H.B. Fuller for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $31 million, or $0.55 per diluted share. Adjusted net income attributable to H.B. Fuller for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $38 million. Adjusted EPS was $0.67 per diluted share, up 22% year-on-year driven by strong operating income growth.

Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $123 million, up 12% year-on-year driven principally by favorable net pricing and raw material cost developments, ramping restructuring savings, and benefits from the 2023 collection of acquisitions. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 160 basis points year-on-year to 15.2%.

“We are off to a good start to the year, with first quarter financial results largely consistent with our expectations. Our team is maintaining commercial discipline, proactively innovating to create win-win opportunities for our customers and pricing to that value, while also driving synergy realization and restructuring savings. As a result, we continue to drive strong adjusted EBITDA growth, margin expansion, and robust cash flow in a highly dynamic market environment,” said Celeste Mastin, H.B. Fuller president and chief executive officer.

“Looking ahead, we remain on track for another year of strong profit growth, continued margin expansion, and improved volume trends in fiscal 2024. As we continue to strengthen the portfolio through targeted organic investments and complete new highly synergistic strategic acquisitions, we are confident in our ability to achieve our long-term growth and profitability goals.”

Balance Sheet and Working Capital:

Net debt at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2024 was $1,665.5 million, essentially flat sequentially versus the fourth quarter and down $82 million year-on-year. Flat net debt and growth in adjusted EBITDA, reduced the ratio of net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA from 2.9X to 2.8X sequentially from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

Net working capital in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 declined $25 million sequentially versus the fourth quarter and $87 million year-on-year. As a percentage of annualized net revenue, net working capital decreased 270 basis points year-on-year, to 17.1%.

Fiscal 2024 Outlook:

As a result of our good start to the year, which was largely consistent with our expectations, we are reiterating our previously communicated financial guidance for fiscal 2024:

• Net revenue growth is expected to be in the range of up 2% to 6% with organic revenue flat to up 3% year-on-year;
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $610 million to $640 million, equating to growth of approximately 5% to 10% year-on-year;
• Adjusted EPS (diluted) is expected to be in the range of $4.15 to $4.45, equating to year-on-year growth of between 7% and 15%;
• Operating cash flow is expected to be between $300 million and $350 million.

Conference Call:

The Company will hold a conference call on March 28, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 a.m. ET) to discuss its results. Interested parties may listen to the conference call on a live webcast. The webcast, along with a supplemental presentation, may be accessed from the Company’s website at https://investors.hbfuller.com. Participants must register prior to accessing the webcast using this link and should do so at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call to install and test any necessary software and audio connections. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available from 12:30 p.m. CT on March 28, 2024, to 10:59 p.m. CT on April 4, 2024. To access the telephone replay dial 1-800-770-2030 (toll free) or 1-647-362-9199, and enter Conference ID: 6370505.

Regulation G

The information presented in this earnings release regarding consolidated and segment organic revenue growth, operating income, adjusted gross profit, adjusted gross profit margin, adjusted selling, general and administrative expense, adjusted income before income taxes and income from equity investments, adjusted income taxes, adjusted effective tax rate, adjusted net income, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted EBITDA margin, net debt, net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA, trailing twelve months adjusted EBITDA, net working capital, annualized net revenue and net working capital as a percentage of annualized net revenue does not conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management has included this non-GAAP information to assist in understanding the operating performance of the Company and its operating segments as well as the comparability of results to the results of other companies. The non-GAAP information provided may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies. All non-GAAP information is reconciled with reported U.S. GAAP results in the “Regulation G Reconciliation” tables in this press release with the exception of our forward-looking non-GAAP measures contained above in our Fiscal 2024 Outlook, which the Company cannot reconcile to forward-looking GAAP results without unreasonable effort.

About H.B. Fuller

As the largest pureplay adhesives company in the world, H.B. Fuller’s (NYSE: FUL) innovative, functional coatings, adhesives and sealants enhance the quality, safety and performance of products people use every day. Founded in 1887, with 2023 revenue of $3.5 billion, our mission to Connect What Matters is brought to life by more than 7,000 global team members who collaborate with customers across more than 30 market segments in over 140 countries to develop highly specified solutions that enable customers to bring world-changing innovations to their end markets. Learn more at www.hbfuller.com.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements often address expected future business and financial performance, financial condition, and other matters, and often contain words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “opportunity,” “outlook,” “plan,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “would” and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words or phrases. These statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the following: the availability and pricing of raw materials; the impact of potential cybersecurity attacks and security breaches; the impact on the supply chain, raw material costs and pricing of our products due to military conflict, including between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas; the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and other pandemics on our operations and financial results; the impact on our margins and product demand due to inflationary pressures; the substantial amount of debt we have incurred to finance our acquisition of Royal, our ability to repay or refinance our debt or to incur additional debt in the future, our need for a significant amount of cash to service and repay the debt and to pay dividends on our common stock, and the effect of debt covenants that limit the discretion of management in operating the business or in paying dividends; our ability to pay dividends and to pursue growth opportunities if we continue to pay dividends according to our current dividend policy; our ability to acquire and integrate complementary businesses; our ability to achieve expected synergies, cost savings and operating efficiencies from our restructuring initiatives and operational improvement projects within the expected time frames or at all; our ability to effectively implement Project ONE; uncertain political and economic conditions; fluctuations in product demand; competing products and pricing; our geographic and product mix; disruptions to our relationships with our major customers and suppliers; failures in our information technology systems; regulatory compliance across our global footprint; trade policies and economic sanctions impacting our markets; changes in tax laws and tariffs; devaluations and other foreign exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of litigation and investigations, including for product liability and environmental matters; impairment charges on our goodwill or long-lived assets; the effect of new accounting pronouncements and accounting charges and credits; and similar matters.

Additional information about these various risks and uncertainties can be found in the “Risk Factors” section of our Form 10-K filings, and any updates to the risk factors in our Form 10-Q and 8-K filings with the SEC, but there may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to identify at this time or that we do not currently expect to have a material impact on the business. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.