Universal Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to the Universal Corporation first quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings call. My name is Maxine and I'll be coordinating the call today. If you would like to ask a question during the presentation, you may do so by pressing star followed by one on your telephone keypad. I will now hand over to your host, Candice Formacek, Vice President and Treasurer to begin. Candice, please go ahead when you're ready.

Thank you, Maxine, and thank you all for joining us today. George Freeman, our Chairman, President, and CEO, Ayerson Henchke, our Chief Operating Officer, and Johan Kroner, our Chief Financial Officer, are here with me today and will join me in answering questions after these brief remarks. This call is being webcast live and will be available on our website and on telephone taped replay. It will remain on our website through November 3, 2022. Other than the replay, we have not authorized and disclaimed responsibility for any recording, replay, or distribution of any transcription of this call. This call is copyrighted and may not be used without our permission. Before I begin to discuss our results, I caution you that we will be making forward-looking statements that are based on our current knowledge and some assumptions about the future and are representative as of today only. Actual results could differ materially from projected or estimated results, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. This is a particular note during the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic when the length and severity of the crisis and resultant economic and business impacts are so difficult to predict. For information on some of the factors that can affect our estimates, I urge you to read our 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2022 as well as our form 10Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, customer mandated timing of shipments, weather conditions, political and economic environment, governmental regulation and taxation, changes in exchange rates and interest rates, industry consolidation and evolution, and changes in market structures or sources. Finally, some of the information I have for you today is based on unaudited allocations and is subject to reclassification. In an effort to provide useful information to our investors, our comments today may include non-GAAP financial measures. For details on these measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures, please refer to our current earnings press release. We are pleased with our start to fiscal year 2023. In the quarter ended June 30, 2022, we continued to effectively navigate increased costs, particularly rising prices for green leaf tobacco and shipping constraints. We succeeded in getting a significant amount of carryover tobacco shipped out of Brazil, and our plant-based ingredients platform continued to exceed our expectations. Results for our tobacco operations segment were down modestly in the quarter end of June 30, 2022, compared to the quarter end of June 30, 2021, largely on unfavorable foreign currency comparisons due to the strong U.S. dollar. Demand for leaf tobacco remains strong, and flu-cured Burley, Oriental, and wrapper tobacco remain in an undersupply position. We are also anticipating a reduction in African Burley tobacco crop sizes due to weather conditions there. While we were able to ship a greater amount of carryover tobacco out of Brazil in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year, we continue to face a challenging logistical environment. We are also continuing to see increased costs for leaf tobacco across virtually all markets. Our ingredients operations segment performed well in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, Sales for all of our businesses in this segment were up in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2021, with strong volumes for both human and pet food product categories. In our ingredients operations segment, we are also seeing rising costs for raw materials and the impact of higher freight costs. Synergies captured across the plant-based ingredients platform continue to make good progress. Our businesses are working together on new product development and strategies to serve the platform's diverse customers, which utilize our portfolio of plant-based ingredients and botanical extracts and flavoring offerings. Results for the ingredients operations segment for the quarter end of June 30, 2022 include our October 2021 purchase of Shanks Extracts, LLC. Shanks. Turning to the results. Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 was $6.8 million or 27 cents per diluted share compared with 6.4 million or 26 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Excluding restructuring and impairment costs and certain other non-recurring items detailed in other items in today's earnings release, net income and diluted earnings per share decreased by 1.2 million and five cents respectively for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Operating income of 13.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 increased by 2.7 million compared to operating income of 10.6 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Adjusted operating income also detailed in today's earnings release of 13.3 million increased by $0.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 compared to adjusted operating income of $12.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022. Consolidated revenues increased by $79.8 million to $429.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 compared to the same period in fiscal year 2022. on carryover tobacco sales volumes and prices, as well as the addition of shanks in October 2021 in the ingredients operations segment. Turning to the segment detail, the first fiscal quarter is historically a slow quarter for our tobacco businesses. Operating income for the tobacco operations segment decreased by 0.8 million to 8.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared with the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Although tobacco sales volumes were up modestly, tobacco operations segment results were down largely on unfavorable foreign currency comparisons due to the strong U.S. dollar in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year. Carryover crop shipments were higher in Brazil in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year largely due to increased shipping availability. In Africa, carryover shipments were down in the quarter, ended June 30, 2022, compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2021, on smaller crops grown in fiscal year 2022. Selling general and administrative expenses for the tobacco operations segment were higher in the quarter, compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year, primarily on unfavorable foreign currency comparisons. Operating income for the ingredients operations segment was $4.6 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $4.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. Results for the segment improved year-over-year on the inclusion of the October 2021 shanks acquisition. Sales for all our businesses in this segment were up in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2021. with continued strong volumes for both human and pet food product categories. Selling general and administrative expenses for this segment increased in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year on the addition of shanks, as well as higher labor costs. At Universal, we are committed to providing transparency around our sustainability efforts and goals. We recently completed our submission to the global nonprofit organization CDP regarding climate change, forestry and water risk to provide more information on our achievements in these areas to our stakeholders. We are also excited to announce that we have engaged a third party to aid in analyzing and communicating our climate change policy as well as to provide independent third party verification of our results. At this time, we are available to take your questions. Maxine, I'll send the call back to you for now.

Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad now. If you do change your mind, please press star followed by two. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure your line is unmuted. Our first question comes from Anne Gerken from Davenport and Company. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.