James J. Owens, the President and CEO of the H.B. Fuller Company (FUL), Explains How his Company Achieved a 44% Year-to-Date Return in this 2013 Top Fifteen Interview from the Wall Street Transcript
67 WALL STREET, New York - December 16, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Top 15 CEO Interviews of 2013 Report. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with highly successful public company CEOs. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Top 15 CEO Interviews of 2013
Companies include: HB Fuller Co. (FUL)
In the following excerpt from the Top 15 CEO Interviews of 2013 Report, the CEO of H.B. Fuller discusses the outlook for his company for investors:
TWST: Can you begin with a brief introduction to H.B. Fuller, including a few highlights from the company's history and an overview of your current operations?
Mr. Owens: H.B. Fuller is a $2 billion specialty chemicals company focused almost entirely on the adhesives market. We've got a 125-plus year history, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, with very strong operations in all major markets around the world. We've completed about two-thirds of our current five-year plan to drive EBITDA margins to 15% and deliver an organic compounded annual growth rate of 5% to 8%.
TWST: You reported your second-quarter earnings earlier this week. Can you give us some highlights form the quarter?
Mr. Owens: Yes. We've reaffirmed our guidance for the year, and importantly, reaffirmed our commitment to our strategic target to deliver 15% EBITDA margins in 2015. We're delivering our financial commitments, while at the same time integrating the largest acquisition in our history. H.B. Fuller acquired Forbo's industrial adhesives business last March, and we've made great strides in integrating the business and realizing the synergy benefits of the deal. We've completed the integration work in North America, and the Asia and European businesses are on track to meet the timetables we set.
For the second quarter, revenue was lower than we expected, but our gross margins were higher and operating expenses were less than expected, which enabled us to deliver a very strong quarter, with 14% improvement in operating profit and 8% EPS growth...
For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
