Richelieu 2025 Q4 Earnings Call - Strong Acquisition-Driven Growth and Robust Financial Position

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Richelieu’s conference call for the fourth quarter and the year ended November 30th, 2025. With me is Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO. As usual, note that some of today’s issues include forward-looking information, which is provided with the usual disclaimer, as reported in our financial filings. Overall, we delivered a strong fourth quarter with good progress in our main market segments. We also closed three new acquisitions during the year, building on the six acquisitions completed earlier in the fiscal, two in Canada, and four in the U.S. For the quarter, sales increased by 7.3% to CAD 511 million. EBITDA increased by 9.1%, diluted earnings per share increased by 4.5%, and cash flow from operations reached CAD 68.7 million, including a CAD 30 million reduction in inventory. These results highlight the strength of our model and our operating discipline.

The fourth quarter was active on the acquisition front. We closed Ideal Security in September, Finmac Lumber, and Klassen Bronze in October. Ideal Security, located in the Greater Montreal area, distributes specialized hardware products for the doors and window market and serves hardware retailers and the renovation superstores market, as well as online retail platform. Finmac Lumber is a specialized wood product distributor based in Winnipeg, serving Western Canada. Klassen Bronze, based in Ontario, strengthens our offering with a wide range of letter, number, sign, and mailboxes, key blanks, and key cutting machines for the hardware retailers and the renovation superstore market. We are very pleased with this acquisition, particularly with Ideal and Klassen, which expand our Richelieu portfolio of private brands for the retailers and renovation superstores market to 10.

These acquisitions reinforce our position in the ski market segment and support our one-stop-shop strategy, supported by our distribution centers in Calgary for Western Canada customers, Kitchener for Eastern Canada, and Chicago for the U.S. market. Private brands and exclusive products remain an important differentiator for Richelieu. A significant proportion of our sales is generated through these offerings, which support customer satisfaction and loyalty while reinforcing our competitive positioning and margin profile. The strong fourth quarter drove total sales for the year to CAD 1.96 million, up 7.2%. EBITDA for the year increased by 6.2%, and cash flow from operations reached CAD 202 million. We closed the year with a positive cash position, almost no debt, and a working capital of CAD 622 million, which means a solid and healthy financial position and an outstanding balance sheet.

I will now ask Antoine to review the financial highlights for the quarter and the year ended November 30th, 2025.

Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO, Richelieu: Thanks, Richard. Our fourth quarter sales reached CAD 511 million, up 7.3%. Sales to manufacturers stood at CAD 459.9 million, up 9.1%, with 5.9% from internal growth and 3.2% from acquisitions. In the hardware retailers and renovation superstores market, sales were down 6.4%. In Canada, sales amounted to CAD 282 million, up CAD 6.8 million, or 2.5%. Sales to manufacturers reached CAD 241 million, an increase of 4.6%. In the retailers market, total sales totaled CAD 41 million, down 10.7% this quarter, mainly due to timing differences. On a year-to-date basis, sales are in line with last year. In the US, sales totaled $164 million, up 12.3%. Sales to manufacturers reached $157 million, up 12.9%, including 8.8% internal growth, mainly driven by price increases. In the retailers market, sales were up 1.4%.

Total sales in the U.S. reached CAD 229 million, an increase of 13.9%, representing 45% of total sales. Total sales for 2025 reached CAD 1.96 billion, an increase of 7.2%, of which 3.2% from acquisitions and 4% from internal growth. Sales to manufacturers reached CAD 1.7 billion, up 8%, of which 4.4% from internal growth and 3.6% from acquisitions. Sales to hardware retailers grew by 1.6%. In Canada, sales totaled CAD 1.1 billion, up 2.2%, primarily driven by acquisitions. Sales to manufacturers amounted to CAD 897 million, up 2.8%. Sales to hardware retailers and renovation superstores were CAD 175 million, essentially flat compared with last year. In the U.S., sales amounted to $638 million, up 10.9%, of which 5% from internal growth and 5.9% from acquisitions. They reached CAD 893 million, up 13.9%, accounting for 45% of total sales.

Sales to manufacturers reached $604 million, an increase of 11.1%, and sales to hardware retailers were up by 7.8%. Fourth quarter EBITDA amounted to CAD 59.2 million, compared to CAD 54.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, up 9.1%. Our gross margin remained stable, and the EBITDA margin stood at 11.6%, compared to 11.4% in the same period last year. Fourth quarter net earnings attributable to shareholders totaled CAD 25.6 million, compared with CAD 24.4 million last year. Diluted net earnings per share were CAD 0.46, compared with CAD 0.44 last year, an increase of 4.5%. For the year, net earnings reached CAD 86 million, or CAD 1.55 per diluted share, compared with CAD 1.53 last year, an increase of 1.3%. Fourth quarter adjusted cash flow from operating activities were CAD 48.3 million, or CAD 0.87 per share.

Net change in non-cash working capital balances represented a cash inflow of CAD 20.4 million, driven by a 30.1 million reduction in inventories. Consequently, we generated CAD 68.7 million in cash flow from operating activities, compared with CAD 27.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the year, operating activities generated a cash inflow of CAD 202.4 million, compared with CAD 133.6 million last year. Over the year, we paid CAD 34 million in dividend, representing a payout ratio of 37.5%. We also repurchased common share for CAD 16 million, including CAD 13 million in the fourth quarter. In total, we returned CAD 50 million to shareholders this year. Investing activities used cash flow of CAD 62 million, including CAD 47.1 million for nine business acquisitions completed this fiscal year, and CAD 15.2 million, primarily for the purchase of equipment aimed at maintaining and improving operational efficiency. I now turn it over to Richard.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Thank you, Antoine. I am proud to note that over the past 13 months, we completed 10 acquisitions in Canada and in the U.S., representing approximately CAD 100 million in additional sales, and our most recent acquisition, completed after the year-end, would bring the total to 100 acquisitions so far that Richelieu has made in its complete history. Specifically, this most recent acquisition includes three McKillican American distribution centers located in Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and Spokane, Washington. These centers are already integrated into our IT system, and the Seattle operations have already been moved to our current Seattle distribution center. This transaction reinforces our distribution network, enhances local expertise, and expands our product and service offering to better serve our customers. As a result, we now operate five locations across the Pacific Northwest region.

In the current environment, our business model continues to demonstrate its resilience and flexibility, enabling us to respond with agility to our customer needs and protect our margins. Looking ahead, our two primary growth drivers, innovation and acquisition, position us well for continued profitable growth and further consolidate our leadership in North America. We are committed to ongoing investment in innovation to strengthen our offering and value-added services, and we actively pursue acquisition opportunities. Thanks, everyone. We’ll now be happy to answer your questions.

Conference Operator: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, if you don’t have any questions, please press star followed by one on your touch-tone phone. You will then hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. And if you wish to decline from the polling process, please press star followed by two. And if you’re using a speakerphone, please lift the handset first before pressing any keys. We’ll go ahead and press star one now if you have any questions. And your first question will be from Hamir Patel at CIBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hamir Patel, Analyst, CIBC Capital Markets: Hi, good afternoon. Richard, could you comment on the sort of organic growth rates you’ve seen in Q1 so far and any notable differences between Canada and the US?

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Yeah, what we’re seeing in Q1 so far is a flat sales for the hardware to retailers market, and we are in the mid, I would say, something around 5% regarding the growth for the manufacturers market, so basically, we’re satisfied with the start of the year. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the months to come, but so far, so good.

Hamir Patel, Analyst, CIBC Capital Markets: And then when you think about how the U.S. versus Canadian business is going, any differences there? I know last quarter you were pointing to Ontario being softer.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: We see a little bit more growth in the U.S., a couple of % growth, additional.

Hamir Patel, Analyst, CIBC Capital Markets: Okay, great. Antoine, I wanted to ask about the EBITDA margins. Looks like they ticked up to 11.6% in Q4. How should we think about the margin trajectory for Q1 and full year 2026?

Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO, Richelieu: Yeah, the last two quarters were positive versus the previous year. So that trend should continue, but keep in mind that usually the first quarter of the year is the lowest of the fiscal year due to seasonality. But we should continue to see improvement in the EBITDA margin. Of course, it all depends on the type of acquisition that we’ll be able to land. But same store sales, we should be able to generate more EBITDA. And having a bit more rigor in the market will definitely help as well.

Hamir Patel, Analyst, CIBC Capital Markets: And then thinking on a full year basis, I mean, for the last two years, it looks like you’ve kind of averaged close to 11%. I know you’ve been quite acquisitive, so that’s kind of a short-term drag, but do you think you can drive further margin growth in 2026?

Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO, Richelieu: Yeah, we should be slightly north of 11%.

Hamir Patel, Analyst, CIBC Capital Markets: Okay, great. That’s all I had for now. I’ll turn it over. Thanks.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Thanks.

Conference Operator: Next question will be from Zachary Evershed at National Bank. Please go ahead.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Good afternoon, everyone. Congrats on the quarter.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Thank you.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Could you go into a little bit more detail on the pullback that we saw in sales to retailers during the quarter, please?

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: I think the flat sales for the retailer. I think it’s what we see with purely the Home Depot and Lowe’s in the U.S., whatever they’re forecasting. They’re forecasting flat sales. And in Canada, we see that the market is more negative. We speak to our customers, and their sales are down for the first quarter. So Richelieu is doing well because we keep reintroducing products into the stores. We have new products coming with Rona that are getting into their stores. So that’s going to generate sales in the months to come. We have the same thing with Home Hardware and Home Depot in Canada. And in the U.S., fortunately, we have regained the business that we had lost with Lowe’s. So basically, that’s going to be the delivery will stop early in the end of the second quarter and third quarter.

But basically, that will bring another $10-12 million sales in the US. So I think we have only good news for the retailers. It’s only a matter of the market being, as we speak, flat. But eventually, I think the market is going to start to move again.

Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO, Richelieu: And Zach, the main reason for the Canadian retail sales down in the fourth quarter, and that’s why we said that overall, the year is flat, but in the fourth quarter, it’s because of one customer that didn’t place orders for seasonal sales. So it’s not a big deal. So it’s only timing issues.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: We remain positive for the retailer market.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Gotcha. And do you think there’s a catch-up in Q1 for those seasonal sales, or that’s just foregone?

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: No, I would say on a yearly basis, there’s a catch-up, but just a question of timing.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Understood. Thanks. And your inventory reduction this quarter was pretty far ahead of the schedule you’d outlined last quarter. What’s driving the improvement in working capital there?

Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO, Richelieu: It’s pretty much aligned with what we said at the beginning of the year, Zach. So of course, it’s difficult to be perfectly timed during the quarters, but that’s what we were expecting. I think I mentioned a year ago that we would be expecting between CAD 20 million and CAD 30 million reduction in inventories. That’s what we achieved. We achieved CAD 33 million this year. So that was positive. Hopefully, we will be able to generate a bit more reduction in 2026, not as big as that, but we’ll continue to be actively working and improving and optimizing our inventory situation, and also, I’m glad to see the CapEx that is now come down to a more maintenance level phase of CapEx, so we’ve had a few big years in terms of CapEx investment, so now we spent CAD 15 million. It’s 0.08% of our sales.

So that’s more in line with historical data prior to COVID. So we’re glad that it’s back to normal.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: As a result, I think in 2026, the cash flow generation is going to be strong.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Excellent, caller. Thank you. What are your customers saying about the pause on the additional tariffs on furniture and cabinets?

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: They’re very happy, but they only have to live with the first 25% that is already in pause. So basically, I think our Canadian customers that are selling in the U.S. are losing sales as we speak. They’re reducing the number of employees and everything else. They still continue to buy from Richelieu, but some buy less, but some buy more because they used to buy from overseas certain products now that they buy from Richelieu. So basically, we should see an equilibrium of the sales to that type of customers. And the second phase, I think saved, I would say, I don’t know how to say it, but you really saved their 2026 year, even though they’re already negatively affected by the first 25%. But if that second 25% apply next year, I think it could be very, very basically disastrous for the customers that export to the U.S.

But we don’t have that many customers that export in the US, but it’s still substantial business. But as a result of that, though, Richelieu recaptures some business on the US side because the customers that are capturing this market are also Richelieu customers in the US.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Gotcha. Thanks. And then how are you feeling about the M&A pipeline for 2026? You just came off of a year of almost CAD 100 million in 2025, starting off with an acquisition subsequent to the quarter. Where do you think you’ll end this year?

Antoine Auclair, CFO and COO, Richelieu: We’ll continue with what we’ve told you guys a year and a half ago. So we’re still on CAD 100 million a year. So that’s what we’re working on. The pipeline is healthy, both sides of the borders. So no change there.

Zachary Evershed, Analyst, National Bank: Gotcha. Thanks. I’ll turn it over.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Thank you.

Conference Operator: Thank you. At this time, Monsieur Auclair, we have no questions registered. Please proceed.

Richard, CEO, Richelieu: Thanks to everyone for listening. And so if you have any more questions, do not hesitate to call myself or Antoine. We’re here in the office. So thank you very much and have a good afternoon.

Conference Operator: Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending, and at this time, we ask that you please disconnect your lines.