Griffon Corporation

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Griffin Corporation Fiscal Tech Incorporated 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a recent only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. Should you require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero to signal an operator. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Brian Harris, CFO for Griffin Corporation. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Griffin Corporation's second quarter fiscal 2025 earnings call. Joining me for this morning's call is Ron Kramer, Griffin's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Our press release was issued earlier this morning and is available on our website at www.griffin.com. Today's call is being recorded, and the replay instructions are included in our earnings release. Our comments will include forward-looking statements about Perkins' performance. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that can change as the world changes. Please see the cautionary statements in today's press release and in our SEC filing. Finally, some of today's remarks will address items that affect comparability between periods. These items are explained in our non-JAPA conciliations included in our press release. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ron.

Thanks, Brian. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us. We're at the halfway point of our fiscal year, and I am pleased to report that both of our segments have performed within our expectations. Our home and building products segment, HPP, has maintained a better than 30% EBITDA margin through the first half, driven by steady residential performance and favorable mix. As we expected, we saw a year-over-year reduction in revenue in the quarter as our doors business returned to a seasonal cycle that is more aligned with historical pre-pandemic norms. HVP continues to assert itself as the leading garage door provider with a differentiated set of innovative product offerings that separate us from the competition. Clopay was recognized as the best of IBS across the entire building products industry, at the February 2025 NAHV International Builders Show for its groundbreaking VertiStack Avanti garage door. The VertiStack door utilizes a unique patented design featuring glass panels that stack compactly above the door opening. This design eliminates the need for overhead tracks, creating a sleek aesthetic which maximizes available space and light. We've received strong interest in VertiStack, and we expect this product will revolutionize how doors are incorporated into both commercial and residential projects. This is the first in what we believe is a long pipeline of future innovations that will continue to keep Clopay as the leader in both residential and commercial doors. Let's shift to the consumer and professional product segment, CPP. It continues to improve its EBITDA performance on a year-over-year basis. This is driven in large part by the transition of our U.S. operations to an asset-like business model, which has increased our flexibility and reduced our operating costs through leveraging our global sourcing capabilities. We also have solid performance in Australia, including from the contribution of the Pope acquisition, which has performed well as a part of our AIMS portfolio. I know that all of you on the call are focused on the potential effects of changes in the U.S. trade policy, especially given the uncertain economic operating conditions, and would like you to know how we see these factors affecting Griffin through the rest of the year. Given that our performance is on track, we're maintaining our financial guidance for fiscal 2025. It's important to keep in mind that approximately 85% of Griffin's total segment EBITDA is generated by our home and building products business. HVP manufactures its products domestically and sells over 95% of those products within the United States. Despite HCP's U.S. concentration, in today's world, no business is completely insulated from changes in trade policy. However, we're confident that we're able to manage any increased costs through pricing actions and cost reduction efforts. CCP currently represents approximately 15% of Griffin's total segment EBITDA. It's important to note that only a portion of CPP is impacted by the recent changes in U.S.-China-related tariff policies. We have substantial operations outside of the United States in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Even within the U.S., not all of our products will be materially affected by tariffs because of where those products are sourced. We expect CTP to mitigate the inflationary effects of trade policy and other headwinds during the remainder of the fiscal year through supplier negotiations, cost management, leveraging existing inventory, and when necessary, taking price actions. Turning now to capital allocation. During the second quarter, we repurchased $31 billion of stock, or 420,000 shares, and an average of $72.64 per share. At March 31, $360 million remained under the repurchase authorization. We continue to believe our stock is of compelling value. Since April 2023 and through March, we've repurchased $498 million of stock, or 9.9 million shares, at an average price of $50.09. These repurchases have reduced Griffin's outstanding shares by 17.4% relative to the total shares outstanding at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Yesterday, the Griffin Board authorized a regular quarterly dividend of 18 cents per share payable on June 18th to shareholders of record on May 30th, marking the 55th consecutive quarterly dividend to shareholders Our dividend has grown at an annualized compounded rate of more than 18% since we initiated dividends in 2012. These actions reflect the strength and resiliency of our businesses, as well as our continued confidence in our strategic plan and outlook. I'll turn it over to Brian to go through some of the financial details. Thank you, Ron.

Second quarter revenue of $612 million decreased 9% and adjusted EBITDA before an allocated amount of $133 million decreased 11%, both in comparison to the prior year quarter. EBITDA margin before an allocated amount was 21.8%, a decrease of 40 basis points. Gross profit on the GAAP basis for the quarter was $252 million compared to $271 million in the prior year quarter. including items that affect comparability from the prior year period, gross profit was $252 million in the current quarter compared to $272 million in the prior year. Normalized gross profit increased year-over-year by 80 basis points to 41.2%. Second quarter gaps fell in general administrative expenses of $151 million compared to $157 million for the prior year. Excluding adjusting items from both periods, SG&A expenses were $150 million, or 24.5% of revenue, compared to the prior year of $153 million, or 22.8% of revenue. Second quarter gap net income was $57 million, or $1.21 per share, compared to $64 million in the prior year quarter of $1.28 per share. excluding items of exact comparability from both periods. Current quarter adjusted net income was $58 million, or $1.23 per share, compared to the prior year of $68 million, or $1.35 per share. Corporate and unallocated expenses excluded depreciation in the quarter for approximately $15 million, consistent with the prior year. Free cash flow during the quarter was $3 million, compared to $21 million in the prior year. During the quarter, net cash flow expenditures were $13 million, compared to $18 million for the prior year. Regarding our segment performance, as we expected, revenue for home building projects is given as a seasonal decline in residential volume in the second quarter, similar to what we typically experienced during our second quarters prior to the pandemic. Revenue in the quarter of $368 million decreased in the prior year by 6%, driven by a decreased volume of 7%, which was partially offset by 1% improvement from next. Recall that last year, HVP did not see the same seasonal behavior because of benefits from certain factors, including terrible weather, which resulted in unusually strong activity. The adjusted ease of job for HVP of $109 million decreased by 15% compared to the prior year quarter. The main drivers were decreased revenue and the related impact of that reduced revenue on overhead absorption. We also incurred increased labor and distribution costs, which were partially offset by reduced material costs. Consumer professional products revenue decreased 15% from the prior year quarter to $243 million due to decreased volume of 15% driven by reduced consumer demand in North America and the United Kingdom, partially upset by increased organic volume in Australia. The probe acquisition contributed 2% to volume in Australia. Foreign currency exchange was unfavored by 2% of the quarter. CPP adjusted to that increase by 18% from the prior year quarter to $24 million primarily due to the positive effects from our global sourcing expansion initiative and increased volume and improved margin in Australia. This was partially offset by the unfavorable impacts of reduced North American and UK volume. Foreign currency exchange had a 1% unfavorable impact. Regarding our balance sheet and liquidity, as of March 31, 2025, we had net debt of $1.4 billion and net debt to EBITDA leverage of 2.6 times as calculated based on our debt covenants. presented 2.8 times leverage at the end of last year's second quarter. And that debt leverage are in line with their near end, September 2024, even after returning $96 million to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks during the first half of the year. As Ron mentioned during his comments, we are maintaining our fiscal 2025 guidance of $2.6 billion of revenue and $575 million to $600 million of segments of the dividend. which includes unallocated costs and certain other charges that affect comparability. Also, free cash flow is seeking net income for the year. While the changes in U.S. trade policy are clearly top of mind for most of us, the expected impact of tariffs increases on Griffin's EBITDA for the year to be manageable, given most of our EBITDA is generated HBP, which manufactures and sells most of its products in the U.S. For CPP, on the annualized basis, approximately $325 million, or about one-third of its revenue, It's currently affected by China-based tariffs and comprised primarily of CPP fans and long-guard products. For the remainder of the fiscal year, we expect CPP will be able to mitigate the impact of all tariffs through supplier negotiations, cost management, leveraging existing inventories, and, when necessary, taking price action. Now I'll turn the call back over to Ross.

Thanks, Brian. Our fiscal 2025 remains on track with continued solid operating performance at HPP and continued improved profitability at CPP. As we stated before, most of our EBITDA on pre-cash flow is generated by Griffin businesses that are either unaffected or only modestly impacted by current tariff policy. For the balance of our business, we expect to be able to mitigate the impact of current tariff policy through supplier negotiations, cost management, leveraging existing inventory, and when necessary, taking price actions. With respect to our capital allocation, we remain committed to using the strong operating performance and free cash flow of our businesses to drive a capital allocation strategy that delivers long-term value for our shareholders. This portion of our strategy includes investing in our businesses, opportunities repurchasing shares and reducing debt. Finally, I'd like to express my appreciation to our Griffin team around the world, whose dedication and perseverance have driven our operational and financial success. Their ability to remain focused on executing our strategy while competing in such a dynamic environment is unparalleled. I see opportunity in our future, and I'm looking forward to working with our team to build on these accomplishments. Operator, we're ready for any questions.

Thank you. At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. If at any time you wish to remove your question from the queue, please press star 2. We ask that you limit your questions to one with one follow-up so that others may have an opportunity to ask questions. You may re-enter the queue by pressing star one. For participants using secret equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Our first question is from Trey Grooms with Stevens.

Hey, good morning, everyone. Morning, Trey. Good morning. So I just want to make sure I heard the last comment correctly, Ron. I've gotten down here that you mentioned $325 million of CCT revenue is kind of exposed to China or Chinese tariffs. Did I get that number right?

Yeah, that is correct. Just so we're clear, that's an annualized $325 million.

Right, right, right. Okay, good. Just from my lens, that's a much smaller number than I would have expected. So I guess kind of looking and it's encouraging to have you guys, you know, reiterate the guide for the full year clearly shows the confidence there and, you know, despite kind of the challenging operating environment and the tariffs and such. But if we kind of look longer term with that backdrop of, you know, further tariff impacts, you know, kind of going forward and maybe more – more of an impact on an annual basis next year, is it still reasonable to think that the longer term 15% adjusted EBITDA margin target is still on the table for CTP?

Yes. There's no question that it's on the table. The issue is going to be timing of, you know, what happens to the U.S. economy in the future. But I think you have to separate out that there's still a very strong U.S. economy that is going through a transition period as part of a purposeful negotiation to accomplish two things, increase prosperity and increase security. So let's remember, we've built a business over a very long period of time. Our HBP business, and, you know, we really want to come back to this, you know, 85% of our EBITDA comes from a business that's largely unaffected by tariffs. The housing market in the United States still is many millions short in new construction, and that will come in if the goal of increased prosperity comes as a result of the economic policies that are currently under negotiation. So our CPP segment, you know, at a billion of revenue, our target for that business is to get it to a 15% margin. We went to a global sourcing model. We continue to believe that the asset-light business model for the U.S. gives us flexibility to move manufacturing to wherever the best value proposition for price For our customers, we have leading brands. We have design and logistic capability. So, yes, 15% for CPP. And, you know, we have a gem of a business in HPP. That's a 30% margin that is getting misvalued based on the combination with a consumer products business. where people are doubtful of, you know, what the impact of tariffs is going to be and what the long-term margins for this business is going to be.

Right. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next question comes from Colin Barron with Deutsche Bank.

Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions here. I'd want to dig a little bit more into the tariff impacts. I understand you fully expect to mitigate the impact in fiscal year 25. Was any helping quantifying what the current incremental tariff costs would look like mitigated just on an annual basis as we move beyond fiscal year 25? I guess I'm just trying to get a sense of, like, what this could look like and what kind of cost actions you need to take as we move past some of the inventory that you have, pre-tariff inventory you have on your balance sheet.

I think it's really premature. to talk about 26 when we're still in the middle of 25. The bottom line to this is very clear that we're not going to sit still as a result of tariffs and not mitigate whatever increase is going to happen in pricing. And we have multiple levers of management to be able to deal with whatever the impact of the final tariff policy turns out to be. So speculating about what 26 is going to look like is really, you know, not appropriate.

Understood. And I guess just maybe digging into the strategy here and how it might differ between the fan business and the long-handled tool business, just given sort of the supply chain, current supply chain, in color, if it's just what the, any differences in the strategy for mitigating these tariffs would be?

Sure. So, you know, we began our supply chain for the U.S. expansion of this global supply chain approximately two years ago and completed it at the end of last fiscal year. That was mostly focused on the lawn and garden tool business. With that complete, we are now sort of in the second phase where we are now leveraging the full global supply chain where we originally went to the suppliers we already knew. We expect to have that mitigated by the end of the fiscal year, so as we enter next fiscal year, we will have a diversified supply chain away from China, from a tariff standpoint start, mitigate the tariff. On the fan business, we knew since we bought that business, we've always been looking for or considering alternatives to where we supply, because the majority of that is supplied from China, and we expect to have alternate supply in place by the end of the calendar year. really accelerating plans as we began several years ago.

Thank you for your question. Our next question is from Bob Leavitt with CJS Securities.

Hey, it's Luigi Gota for Bob this morning. Hey, good morning. Good morning. So starting with the CPC business, Ron, can you just talk about your market position in your various product lines in that segment and your ability to use price as a lever? And then just as a follow-up, Are there products in that portfolio that can benefit from price increases on a trade down?

Yeah, so as far as price, you know, we and our retail partners are sensitive to the impact of price on the consumer. We do play generally in the high end of tools, but still the consumers and professionals are sensitive. So we are working on plans to mitigate, you know, significant tariff-related price increases by pivoting our supply chain away from China, as I mentioned, negotiating with our existing non-China suppliers, other cost actions that allow us to provide our customers with high-quality, affordable branded products. You know, with that in mind, the current environment actually presents an opportunity for us to work with our customers to help them transition through this on certain tariff environments because of our ability to transition our supply chain to lower cost.

And then just on the fans business specifically, I know you're saying you plan to diversify some of that supply out of China. To this point, I'm assuming most of the mass market fans are made in China and then shipped to the U.S. Are you aware of if there's any other competitors trying or looking to do the same thing that you are? Yeah, I'm not exactly aware, but I assume they are.

But to your point, it's not just concentrated. From our understanding of this industry, all of the fans that are sold in the United States are being sourced out of the same area in China and are Diversification is with our existing supply partner who's working to move factories outside for competitive and for cost reasons prior to tariffs. So our ability to navigate the global supply chain is part of the asset right model, and it's part of the underlying confidence in the long-term 15% target for the business. We are already at or above that level in the sand business. We have a very profitable business in Australia, in Canada. The core of our historical margin problem was in the U.S., which is why we went through an asset-light model years ago, and we're starting to enjoy the benefit of it. We'll navigate through this, and that's just one more challenge in a business that we have, you know, been repositioning as, you know, we've now gone through financial crisis, to pandemic, to now tariff, you know, negotiation. It's just part of the course of running the company and positioning it for future growth.

Thank you. Our next question is from Tim. What is prepared?

Hey, guys. Good morning. Thanks for all the details. Maybe just on HBC, I think the business, I think Cloquet, maybe as well as the industry, had put through some price in March and April. I think it was something like a mid-single-digit type of price increase. When you see those, I think it's also been kind of the first woman's team in a couple years. When we think about that type of price increase, what would you guys normally see as like an effective realization within that business?

Yeah, we generally see good realization on our price increases. We have a position in the market where we provide not only products but a complete package of service to our customers and generally realize good effectivity from the price increases.

Okay. And did you see your competitors do the same thing?

Yes, we did. Okay. Okay.

And then I guess just secondly on HVP, you know, we did see kind of that return to seasonality, you know, that you kind of, you know, spoke about in the fiscal second quarter. Can you just remind us, you know, what the seasonality should now kind of look like in the back half of the year, you know, as we kind of think about, you know, revenue and EBITDA? Can we kind of get back to growth and EBITDA margin expansion really in the back half in HVP?

Sure. So in general... Q4 and Q1 are our strongest quarters on the residential side of the business. Q2 is generally the seasonal lowest quarter, and from Q1 to Q2 you would see a 10% to 15% reduction in volume. And then Q3 starts to trend upward from Q2. So where we sit now, we're expecting, even compared to our original guidance, better volume than we originally anticipated. And that likely will offset what could be some pressure from the continued slow U.S. consumer from the CPP side of things.

Thank you. Our next question is from Julio Romero with Sidoti & Company. Julio?

Good morning. This is Dustin on for Julio. Oh, good morning. Maybe starting on Facebook. Maybe starting on free cash flow, how do you expect the cadence of free cash flow to progress over the remaining quarters of the year?

And secondly, is the full-year free cash flow outlook primarily a function of net income growth? Yes, we do generally expect free cash flow to be greater than net income. We've had a good start to the year on free cash flow, and we expect the second half, as usual, to be good free cash flow generating periods.

Great, thanks.

And then, can you provide more detail on CPP demand, trends by geography, specifically what you're seeing in North America, the UK, and Australia? Sure. In North America, we're seeing continued weakness from the consumer and in demand for our CPP products generally. UK is similar, continued weak demand. And in Australia, demand has been good, both on an organic basis and we're seeing good take on the Pope acquisition product.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 1. Our next question is from Jeff Stevenson with Loop Capital Markets.

Hey, Jeff. Hey, thanks for taking my questions today. Were you able to build inventories ahead of a deliberation date for products such as fans, wheelbarrows, and shovels produced in China? And then correct me if I'm wrong, but last time we had Chinese tariffs, residential fans were exempted. Has there been any movement on potential exemptions from the administration in areas such as fans that are predominantly manufactured in China?

Sure. Yeah, so... We will be leveraging inventory to help us manage through tariffs through the balance of this year, and as we mentioned, we expect to have the lawn and garden supply chain substantially diversified at the end of fiscal 26 and SAMS by the end of the calendar year. From an exemption standpoint, we certainly will make our case, but we have not heard any exemption details to date.

Great. Thanks for that, Brian. Thanks. And then, you know, residential garage stores, obviously, you guys, you know, focus primarily on the, you know, mid and higher end market, which has remained strong. You know, that said, is there any concern that, you know, perish with all the softening consumer sentiment? You know, there could be, you know, some deceleration in the higher end market. Or do you believe that market is, you know, going to remain resilient, you know, throughout this, you know, period of uncertainty?

Yeah, so from what we've seen through March and really through April, demand has remained healthy, and we expect it to be ahead of last year's second half. The high-end consumers remain resilient, and we have continued to bring products to the marketplace that consumers have wanted. And from a, you know, people are staying in their homes and they're doing projects in their homes And from a renovation standpoint, a garage door is relatively inexpensive and has a great ROI, give or take 200% return. Every dollar in, you get $2,000 value off your home. And that volume, we expect to see that volume continue.

And I'll just add that we continue to believe that Clopay is the market leader. that we're gaining market share, and that's a result of both the strength of our product offering, our ability to deliver on a timely basis, the quality of the product that we manufacture and the service that we are able to provide, and the housing markets in the United States are still waiting for lower interest rates to increase volume, and volume of transactions will create incremental activity for repair and remodel. And the new home construction that will happen at some point in this next cycle is going to benefit us, and we're positioned to continue to innovate and bring new products and to go to compete for business. And Clopay has been an extraordinary success story over a long period of time, and we think it's positioned for even further growth in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of the question and answer session, and I would like to turn the call back to Ron Kramer for closing remarks.

We'll be working hard to deliver continued results, and see you in August.

Bye bye. Thank you. This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect your lines.