H.B. Fuller Co. recently reported financial results for its third quarter ended August 29, 2020. Net revenue of $691 million decreased 4.7% compared with the third quarter of 2019. Organic revenue was down 2.5% vs. the same period last year, excluding impacts from foreign currency exchange rates and the sale of the surfactants, thickeners and dispersants business that, combined, negatively impacted revenues by 2.2%.

Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives’ organic revenue increased 1% compared to the 2019 third quarter, reflecting continued demand for adhesives for essential goods and packaging. Construction Adhesives and Engineering Adhesives organic revenues were lower than last year but increased vs. the 2020 second quarter. Engineering Adhesives’ significantly improved revenue performance included double-digit year-over-year growth in Electronics, Recreational Vehicles, and Technical Textiles.

“In the third quarter, we delivered higher than expected organic revenue performance by building on our market share gains in HHC, improving performance in Construction Adhesives and winning new business in Engineering Adhesives,” said Jim Owens, president and CEO. “We continued to realize operational cost efficiencies from our GBU realignment, reduce SG&A spending and bring down raw material costs, which drove EBITDA results that were also better than forecasted. Strong cash flow enabled us to exceed our debt paydown target in the quarter, keeping us on track for $200 million of total debt paydown for the year. During the quarter, we also began implementing the operational improvement projects we announced on our second quarter call that will drive $20 to $30 million of incremental cost savings in 2021 and 2022.

“H.B. Fuller has performed well during the pandemic due to the competitive advantages we’ve created through our new GBU and global customer focused business structure, our cultural emphasis on collaboration and speed and our investments in digital tools. We will build on our successes from the first nine months of the year and leverage those wins in the fourth quarter and into 2021. Our margins and cash flow remain resilient, and we are well-positioned to accelerate our performance as end markets continue to show signs of improvement. We remain focused on our vision to be the best adhesive company in the world by creating value for our customers and shareholders today, and as the world evolves following the pandemic.”

For more information, visit www.hbfuller.com.