Spectrum Brands Holdings Reports Fiscal 2019 Fourth Quarter Results from Continuing Operations

• Delivered net sales growth of 1.9% and organic sales growth of 3.2%
• Net loss from continuing operations of $79 million driven by impairments
• Adjusted EBITDA growth of 5.2% with 50 basis points of margin expansion
• Reduced net leverage to 3.1 times from 5.2 times at the end of fiscal 2018
• Expects to repurchase an additional $250 million of common stock, including a $125 million Accelerated Share Repurchase program

MIDDLETON, Wis.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPB), a leading global branded consumer products company focused on driving innovation and providing exceptional customer service, today reported results from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 ended September 30, 2019.

“We ended the year strong, with Q4 organic sales growth of more than 3%, adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 5%, a significantly improved balance sheet and delivery of full-year results within our guidance,” said David Maura, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Brands Holdings.

“We believe our actions this year reflect decisions that will drive long-term value creation and sustainable growth. Our accomplishments included materially reducing net debt, closing on the divestitures of two business units and returning over $350 million to our shareholders. We further plan to repurchase up to $250 million of our shares through a $125 million Accelerated Share Repurchase program beginning next week, and additional open market repurchases. This reflects our Board’s confidence in the long-term value of Spectrum Brands and its growth prospects. We have and will continue to drive vision, clarity and focus across our business units as we build a true ownership-mentality culture. Looking ahead, we plan to grow organic sales, EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow in 2020 and beyond,” said Mr. Maura.

Fiscal 2019 Highlights

• Reported sales decreased 0.2% after negative foreign exchange, and organic sales increased 1.4%.
• Net loss from continuing operations was $187 million, driven by impairments.
• Adjusted EBITDA stabilized and in line with guidance with increased investments across the divisions.
• Reduced total debt by $2.4 billion with proceeds from divestitures of the Global Battery & Lighting and Global Auto Care businesses.
• Launched Global Productivity Improvement Plan, expecting to improve overall annualized operating costs by at least $100 million within the next 18 to 24 months; with a substantial portion of the savings to be reinvested in growth-enabling activities including research and development and marketing.
• Returned over $350 million to shareholders through share repurchases of $269 million and $86 million in dividends.
• Issued $300 million in 5.00% 10-Year notes and tendered the majority of the $570 million of 6.625% notes due 2022.
• Incurred $60 million of cash tariffs in fiscal 2019 that were mostly offset with pricing and productivity.
• Strengthened the leadership team with the creation of the Chief Operating Officer role and the addition of a new Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel.

Fiscal 2019 Fourth Quarter Highlights from Continuing Operations

• Net sales increased 1.9%. Excluding the impact of $12.5 million of unfavorable foreign exchange, organic net sales increased 3.2%, with growth in Global Pet Care, Hardware & Home Improvement and Home & Personal Care, partially offset by a decline in Home & Garden.
• Gross profit margin decreased 190 basis points as higher input costs, tariffs and accelerated depreciation related to Latin America plant closures were partially offset by positive pricing and productivity.
• Operating loss was driven by the impairment of Home & Personal Care goodwill and other intangible assets, higher input costs and tariffs, higher depreciation and amortization, and higher restructuring charges.
• Net loss and diluted loss per share were driven by the operating loss, partially offset by an income tax benefit, the unrealized gain on Energizer common stock, lower interest expense and a smaller loss from discontinued operations.
• Adjusted diluted EPS increase of 10.9% was attributable to lower interest expense and shares outstanding.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $163.1 million increased 5.2%. Growth in Global Pet Care and Hardware & Home Improvement and lower net corporate expenses were partially offset by a decrease in Home & Personal Care.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin improved 50 basis points driven primarily by pricing, productivity and expense control, partially offset by tariffs and input cost inflation.

Fiscal 2019 Fourth Quarter Segment Level Data

Hardware & Home Improvement (HHI)

Higher net sales were driven by growth in residential security, partially offset by declines in builders’ hardware and plumbing. In addition to price increases across all product categories, growth was driven by new product innovation in residential security. Excluding unfavorable foreign exchange impacts of $0.8 million, organic net sales increased 1.3%.

Improved operating income, adjusted EBITDA and margins were driven by positive pricing and productivity, partially offset by higher input costs. Operating income also benefited from lower restructuring costs.

Home & Personal Care (HPC)

Net sales growth was driven by Europe in both personal care and small appliances, as well as growth in Latin America. A net sales decline in U.S. personal care was due to prior-year hair care distribution losses in the mass channel. Excluding unfavorable foreign exchange impacts of $8.9 million, organic net sales grew 4.2%.

Lower operating income, adjusted EBITDA and margins were driven by higher input costs and transaction foreign exchange, partially offset by higher volumes and productivity. Operating income was also impacted by the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets.

Global Pet Care (GPC)

Significantly higher net sales were attributable to continued double-digit growth in U.S. companion animal, predominantly dog chews and treats, partially offset by a slight decline in U.S. aquatics. Lower European sales were driven by reduced aquatic sales, partially offset by growth in companion animal. Excluding unfavorable foreign exchange impacts of $2.8 million, organic net sales grew 9.2%.

Improved operating income and adjusted EBITDA were driven by positive pricing, increased volumes and productivity, partially offset by higher manufacturing and distribution costs. Operating and adjusted EBITDA margins also benefited from operating expense leverage.

Home & Garden (H&G)

Decreased net sales were driven by lower demand for household insect controls. Repellents grew due to continued growth from home center orders.

Decreases in operating income and adjusted EBITDA were driven by increases in input costs and lower volumes, partially offset by expense controls, productivity and pricing actions.

Liquidity and Debt

Spectrum Brands completed fiscal 2019 with a strong liquidity position, including a cash balance of approximately $627 million and approximately $779 million available on its $800 million Cash Flow Revolver.

As of the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company had approximately $2,385 million of debt outstanding, consisting of approximately $2,132 million of senior unsecured notes and approximately $170 million of capital leases and other obligations.

Net leverage was approximately 3.1 times at the end of fiscal 2019, significantly lower than 5.2 times at the end of fiscal 2018.

Fiscal 2020 Outlook for Continuing Operations

Spectrum Brands expects low single-digit reported net sales growth, with foreign exchange expected to have a slightly negative impact based upon current rates.

Fiscal 2020 adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $570 and $590 million, and adjusted free cash flow is expected to be between $240 million and $260 million.

Conference Call/Webcast Scheduled for 9:00 A.M. Eastern Time Today

Spectrum Brands will host an earnings conference call and webcast at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time today, November 13. To access the live conference call, U.S. participants may call 877-556-5260 and international participants may call 973-532-4903. The conference ID number is 2599423. A live webcast and related presentation slides will be available by visiting the Event Calendar page in the Investor Relations section of Spectrum Brands’ website at www.spectrumbrands.com.

A replay of the live webcast also will be accessible through the Event Calendar page in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available through November 27. To access this replay, participants may call 855-859-2056 and use the same conference ID number.

About Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.

Spectrum Brands Holdings, a member of the Russell 1000 Index, is a global and diversified consumer products company and a leading supplier of residential locksets, residential builders’ hardware, plumbing, shaving and grooming products, personal care products, small household appliances, specialty pet supplies, lawn and garden and home pest control products, and personal insect repellents. Helping to meet the needs of consumers worldwide, our Company offers a broad portfolio of market-leading, well-known and widely trusted brands including Kwikset®, Weiser®, Baldwin®, National Hardware®, Pfister®, Remington®, Black + Decker®, George Foreman®, Russell Hobbs®, Tetra®, Marineland®, GloFish®, Nature’s Miracle®, Dingo®, 8-in-1®, FURminator®, IAMS® and Eukanuba® (Europe only), Healthy-Hide®, Digest-eeze™, DreamBone®, SmartBones®, Littermaid®, Spectracide®, Cutter®, Repel®, Hot Shot®, Black Flag® and Liquid Fence®. For more information, visit www.spectrumbrands.com.

Non-GAAP Measurements

Management believes that certain non-GAAP financial measures may be useful in certain instances to provide additional meaningful comparisons between current results and results in prior operating periods. Management believes that organic net sales provide for a more complete understanding of underlying business trends of regional and segment performance by excluding the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations and the impact of acquisitions. In addition, within this release, including the supplemental information attached hereto, reference is made to adjusted diluted EPS, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and adjusted EBITDA margin. Adjusted EBITDA is a metric used by management to evaluate segment performance and frequently used by the financial community which provides insight into an organization’s operating trends and facilitates comparisons between peer companies, since interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization can differ greatly between organizations as a result of differing capital structures and tax strategies. Adjusted EBITDA also is one of the measures used for determining compliance with the Company’s debt covenants. Adjusted EBITDA excludes certain items that are unusual in nature or not comparable from period to period. Adjusted EBITDA margin reflects adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales of the Company. The Company’s management uses adjusted diluted EPS as one means of analyzing the Company’s current and future financial performance and identifying trends in its financial condition and results of operations. Management believes that adjusted diluted EPS is a useful measure for providing further insight into our operating performance because it eliminates the effects of certain items that are not comparable from one period to the next. An income tax adjustment is included in adjusted diluted EPS to exclude the impact of the valuation allowance against deferred taxes and other tax-related items in order to reflect a normalized ongoing effective tax rate. Adjusted free cash flow provides useful information to investors regarding our ability to generate cash from business operations that is available for acquisitions and other investments, service of debt principal, dividends and share repurchases and meet its working capital requirements. Our definition of adjusted free cash flow takes into consideration capital investments required to maintain operations of our businesses and execute our strategy. The Company provides this information to investors to assist in comparisons of past, present and future operating results and to assist in highlighting the results of on-going operations. While the Company’s management believes that non-GAAP measurements are useful supplemental information, such adjusted results are not intended to replace the Company’s GAAP financial results and should be read in conjunction with those GAAP results. Other Supplemental Information has been provided to demonstrate reconciliation of non-GAAP measurements discussed above to most relevant GAAP financial measurements.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains, and certain oral and written statements made by our representatives from time to time may contain, forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements made under “Fiscal 2020 Outlook for Continuing Operations”, statements regarding our Global Productivity Improvement Plan and other statements regarding the Company’s ability to meet its expectations for its fiscal 2020. We have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by using words like “future,” “anticipate”, “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “believe,” “belief,” “expect,” “project,” “forecast,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “will,” “may,” and similar expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of (1) the impact of our indebtedness on our business, financial condition and results of operations; (2) the impact of restrictions in our debt instruments on our ability to operate our business, finance our capital needs or pursue or expand business strategies; (3) any failure to comply with financial covenants and other provisions and restrictions of our debt instruments; (4) the effects of general economic conditions, including the impact of, and changes, to tariffs and trade policies, inflation, recession or fears of a recession, depression or fears of a depression, labor costs and stock market volatility or monetary or fiscal policies in the countries where we do business; (5) the impact of fluctuations in commodity prices, costs or availability of raw materials or terms and conditions available from suppliers, including suppliers’ willingness to advance credit; (6) interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations; (7) the loss of significant reduction in, or dependence upon, sales to any significant retail customer(s); (8) competitive promotional activity or spending by competitors, or price reductions by competitors; (9) the introduction of new product features or technological developments by competitors and/or the development of new competitors or competitive brands; (10) the impact of actions taken by significant stockholders; (11) changes in consumer spending preferences and demand for our products; (12) our ability to develop and successfully introduce new products, protect our intellectual property and avoid infringing the intellectual property of third parties; (13) our ability to successfully identify, implement, achieve and sustain productivity improvements (including our Global Productivity Improvement Plan), cost efficiencies (including at our manufacturing and distribution operations), and cost savings; (14) the seasonal nature of sales of certain of our products; (15) the effects of climate change and unusual weather activity; (16) the cost and effect of unanticipated legal, tax or regulatory proceedings or new laws or regulations (including environmental, public health and consumer protection regulations); (17) public perception regarding the safety of products that we manufacture and sell, including the potential for environmental liabilities, product liability claims, litigation and other claims related to products manufactured by us and third parties; (18) the impact of existing, pending or threatened litigation, regulation or other requirements or operating standards applicable to our business; (19) the impact of cybersecurity breaches or our actual or perceived failure to protect company and personal data; (20) changes in accounting policies applicable to our business; (21) our ability to utilize net operating loss carry-forwards to offset tax liabilities from future taxable income; (22) the impact of expenses resulting from the implementation of new business strategies, divestitures or current and proposed restructuring activities; (23) our inability to successfully integrate and operate new acquisitions at the level of financial performance anticipated; (24) the unanticipated loss of key members of senior management and the transition of new members of our management teams to their new roles; (25) the effects of political or economic conditions, terrorist attacks, acts of war or other unrest in international markets; and (26) the other risk factors set forth in the securities filings of Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., including the most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Report(s) on Form 10-Q.

Spectrum Brands also cautions the reader that its estimates of trends, market share, retail consumption of its products and reasons for changes in such consumption are based solely on limited data available to Spectrum Brands and management’s reasonable assumptions about market conditions, and consequently may be inaccurate, or may not reflect significant segments of the retail market. Spectrum Brands also cautions the reader that undue reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. Spectrum Brands undertakes no duty or responsibility to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect actual outcomes.

Contacts

Investor/Media Contacts: Dave Prichard/Kevin Kim
608-278-6141/608-278-6148

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