Fortune Brands Reports Strong 3Q Sales and Profit Growth

Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. (the “Company”, or “Fortune Brands”), an industry-leading home and security products company, announced third quarter 2020 results.

“I continue to be amazed by our teams,” said Nicholas Fink, chief executive officer, Fortune Brands. “We delivered exceptional performance in an accelerating housing market as demographic forces and consumers focused on home investment drove both renovation and remodeling and new construction activity. We are serving our customers’ increasing needs through a strict focus on safety and operational excellence. Also reflected in our financial results were increased investments in our leading brands, innovation and supply chain capability and capacity that will enable us to continue to capture opportunities and accelerate share gains in a fundamentally robust housing market over the next few years.”

Third Quarter 2020

For the third quarter of 2020, sales were $1.7 billion, an increase of 13 percent over the third quarter of 2019. Earnings per share were $1.17, compared to $0.75 in the prior-year quarter. EPS before charges / gains were $1.19, compared to $0.95 the same quarter last year. Operating income was $240.2 million, compared to $168.0 million in the prior-year quarter. Operating income before charges / gains was $244.2 million, compared to $203.2 million the same quarter last year, an increase of 20 percent.

“We are ahead of our plan to permanently advance the profitability of the company, and our financial results are just beginning to reflect this,” continued Fink. “We are accelerating our multi-year margin improvement journey in a fundamentally strong housing market, which should create exceptional value for our long-term stakeholders.”

For each segment in the third quarter of 2020, compared to the prior-year quarter:

– Plumbing sales increased 15 percent with double-digit sales growth in U.S. Retail and China. Operating margin before charges / gains was 20.8 percent even with increased brand investment and one-time costs and remains on track to deliver expected margins of approximately 22 percent for the full year.

– Doors & Security sales increased 14 percent, with doors and decking showing double-digit growth and security products returning to mid-single digit growth. Operating margin before charges / gains was 16.4 percent, an increase of 190 basis points versus the third quarter of 2019.

– Cabinet sales increased 11 percent. Strong demand for value-priced cabinets continues to drive growth in this segment. Operating margin before charges / gains was 12.2 percent, an increase of 220 basis points over the third quarter of 2019.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

At the end of the quarter net debt was $1.6 billion and net debt to EBITDA was 1.7x. The Company had $465 million in cash and $1.35 billion of availability under its revolving credit agreements. The total outstanding on both the Company’s original $1.25 billion and supplemental $400 million revolving credit facilities was $300 million at the end of the third quarter.

“We are leveraging this strong market to increase market share and profitability as we position for 2021 and beyond,” said Patrick Hallinan, chief financial officer, Fortune Brands. “The permanent efficiency improvements we have made over the past six months will serve as a foundation for future margin improvement and enable us to capture the opportunities presented by what we expect to be a prolonged period of housing market strength. With this momentum, we have the ability to make investments and deploy capital to accelerate growth and stakeholder value creation.”

2020 Outlook

While clear COVID-19 and macroeconomic risks remain, the Company is reinitiating formal 2020 financial guidance. For the full year, the Company expects net sales growth between 4 percent and 5 percent and earnings per share of $4.03 to $4.11, with an operating margin of approximately 14 percent. The Company expects to generate free cash flow of approximately $590 to $620 million for the full year 2020, which includes accelerated investments in capacity to support our customers.

“We have clearly entered a new phase of demographics-driven housing growth,” said Fink. “I am incredibly excited about how our teams are poised to drive growth, capture share, grow margins and deploy capital to create even more stakeholder value over the next few years.”

For the full third quarter results, click here.

About Fortune Brands

Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. (NYSE: FBHS), headquartered in Deerfield, IL., creates products and services that fulfill the dreams of home. The Company’s operating segments are Plumbing, Cabinets, and Doors & Security. Its trusted brands include Moen, Riobel, Perrin & Rowe, Shaws, Victoria + Albert and Rohl under the Global Plumbing Group (GPG); more than a dozen core brands under MasterBrand Cabinets; Therma-Tru entry door systems, Fiberon composite decking and Master Lock and SentrySafe security products in the Doors & Security segment. Fortune Brands holds market leadership positions in all of its segments. Fortune Brands is a Fortune 500 Company and part of the S&P 500 Index. For more information, please visit www.FBHS.com. To learn more about how Fortune Brands is embracing and accelerating its environmental, social and governance duties, please visit our ESG section and report at www.FBHS.com/global-citizenship.

Contact:

Matthew Skelly – Investor & Media Relations – investor.questions@fbhs.com – (847) 484-4573

Source: Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc.