2023 ASI Top 20: H.B. Fuller

Founded in 1887 by Harvey Benjamin Fuller, H.B. Fuller is a provider of adhesives, sealants and other specialty chemical products with operations around the globe. H.B. Fuller serves customers in the electronics, disposable hygiene, medical, transportation, aerospace, clean energy, packaging, construction, woodworking, general industries, and other consumer businesses. The company employs over 7,000 people. It has 71 manufacturing facilities and operates facilities or offices in 34 countries.

The company’s net revenue grew by 14.4% to reach $3.75 billion in 2022. The company’s three business units—Hygiene, Health, and Consumable Adhesives (HHC); Engineering Adhesives (EA); and Construction Adhesives (CA)—all reported double-digit increases in net revenue for the year.

Representing 45% of the company’s total 2022 net revenue, HHC’s revenue grew 15.2% over the prior year to reach nearly $1.7 billion. With 31 facilities, the segment serves markets such as packaging, hygiene, tape and label, and health and beauty.

EA’s net revenue represented 41% of the 2022 total. Sales for the segment increased by 11.7% to reach $1.5 billion. EA, which operates 27 facilities, sells into the energy, electronics, automotive, transportation, and wood and composites industries, among others.

With 14% of 2022 revenue, CA operates 13 facilities and six dedicated technology centers. The segment saw sales increase by 20.1% to $520 million. It is active in markets such as flooring, commercial roofing, and building envelope and infrastructure.

“We delivered double-digit growth in organic revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EPS in fiscal year 2022, driven by market share gains, appropriately strong pricing actions, and improved execution,” said Celeste Mastin, H.B. Fuller president and chief executive officer. “I am proud of our team’s resilience and determination in executing our winning strategy in the face of significant headwinds, including continued raw material cost inflation, a strengthening U.S. dollar, and higher interest rates.”

“As we look to the year ahead, we expect global economic conditions to remain slow and we are prepared to control expenses, expand margins by continuing to innovate for our customers and benefiting from scale with our suppliers, and grow cash flow in such an environment. We have managed pricing well in the face of unprecedented raw material inflation and we have the tools and capabilities to drive profit growth and meaningful margin expansion going forward.”

NOTES: In January 2022, the company announced the acquisition of Apollo, the United Kingdom’s largest independent manufacturer of liquid adhesives, coatings and primers for the roofing, industrial and construction markets, and the purchase of Belgium-based Fourny, a provider of construction adhesives with more than 70 years of experience in technologies focused on commercial roofing, construction, and other private label industrial specialties. Later that year, H.B. Fuller also acquired GSSI Sealants with locations in Mexico and the United States, specialized in butyl sealants for the metal building applications, and a 45-year-old, private Finnish company of ecological, innovative tapes and adhesives for the packaging and plywood industries.

Opening image courtesy of H.B. Fuller.