HAWKINS INC (HWKN) FY 2025 MD&A

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following is a discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2025 and 2024. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We have omitted discussion of the earliest of the three years covered by our consolidated financial statements presented in this report because that disclosure was already included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2024, filed with the SEC on May 15, 2024. You are encouraged to reference Part II, Item 7, within that report, for a discussion of our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2023.

Overview

We derive substantially all of our revenues from the sale of specialty chemicals and ingredients that we formulate, manufacture, blend and distribute, for our Water Treatment, Industrial, and Health and Nutrition customers.

Financial Overview

Highlights of fiscal 2025 include:

•Sales of $974.4 million, an increase of $55.2 million, or 6% from fiscal 2024;

•Gross profit of $225.5 million, an increase of $31.9 million, or 16% from fiscal 2024; and

•Diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.03, an increase of $0.44, or 12%, from fiscal 2024.

We focus on total profitability dollars when evaluating our financial results as opposed to profitability as a percentage of sales, as sales dollars tend to fluctuate as raw material prices rise and fall, particularly in our Water Treatment and Industrial segments. The costs for certain of our raw materials can rise or fall rapidly, causing fluctuations in gross profit as a percentage of sales.

We use the last in, first out (“LIFO”) method of valuing the majority of our inventory in our Water Treatment and Industrial segments, which causes the most recent product costs to be recognized in our income statement. The LIFO inventory valuation method and the resulting cost of sales are consistent with our business practices of pricing to current chemical raw material prices. Inventories in our Health and Nutrition segment are valued using the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method.

We disclose the sales of our bulk commodity products as a percentage of total sales dollars for our Water Treatment and Industrial segments. Our definition of bulk commodity products includes products that we do not modify in any way, but receive, store, and ship from our facilities, or direct ship to our customers in large quantities. We disclose the percentage of our overall sales that consist of sales of bulk commodity products as these products are generally distributed and we do not add significant value to these products in comparison to our non-bulk products. Sales of these products are generally highly competitive and price sensitive. As a result, bulk commodity products generally have our lowest margins.

Factors Affecting Comparability of Results

Business Acquisitions

On January 31, 2025, we acquired substantially all the assets of Amerochem Corporation ("Amerochem") under the terms of a purchase agreement with Amerochem and its shareholders. Amerochem distributed water treatment chemicals and equipment to its customers primarily throughout North Carolina. The results of operations since the acquisition date and the assets are included in our Water Treatment segment.

On October 30, 2024, we acquired substantially all the assets of Waterguard, Inc. ("Water Guard") under the terms of a purchase agreement with Water Guard and its shareholders. Water Guard distributed water treatment chemicals and equipment to its customers primarily throughout North Carolina. The results of operations since the

acquisition date and the assets are included in our Water Treatment segment.

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On June 28, 2024, we acquired substantially all the assets of Wofford Water Service, Inc. ("Wofford") under the terms of a purchase agreement with Wofford and its shareholders. Wofford distributed water treatment chemicals and equipment to customers mainly in Mississippi. The results of operations since the acquisition date and the assets are included in our Water Treatment segment.

On June 3, 2024, we acquired substantially all the assets of Intercoastal Trading, Inc. and certain related entities ("Intercoastal") under the terms of a purchase agreement with Intercoastal and its shareholders. Intercoastal distributed water treatment chemicals and equipment to its customers in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. The results of operations since the acquisition date and the assets are included in our Water Treatment segment.

The aggregate annual revenue of these four businesses acquired in fiscal 2025 totaled approximately $67 million, as determined using the applicable twelve-month period preceding each respective acquisition date.

Recent Developments

After the end of the fiscal year, on April 25, 2025, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Surplus Management, Inc. dba WaterSurplus ("WaterSurplus") for approximately $150 million, and may be obligated to pay up to an additional $53.7 million based on achieving certain earnings targets five years after the closing of the acquisition. WaterSurplus delivers sustainable water treatment solutions throughout the United States focused on membrane separation systems, engineering and design services, media filtration systems, new equipment and rental unit manufacturing and sales, along with rapid-response PFAS removal solutions for “forever chemicals”. WaterSurplus serves municipal water customers as well as customers in the food and beverage industry, offering patented products within its filtration business that reduce the frequency of membrane cleaning resulting in lower energy costs, downtime, and lower overall operational costs.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth certain items from our statement of income as a percentage of sales for fiscal 2025 and 2024:

Fiscal 2025 Compared to Fiscal 2024

Sales

Sales were $974.4 million for fiscal 2025, an increase of $55.2 million, or 6%, from sales of $919.2 million for fiscal 2024. The year-over-year increase was driven by sales growth in our Water Treatment segment, while sales in our Industrial and Health and Nutrition segments declined year over year.

Water Treatment Segment.  Water Treatment segment sales increased $83.2 million, or 23%, to $446.5 million for fiscal 2025, as compared to $363.3 million for fiscal 2024. Sales of bulk commodity products in the Water Treatment segment were approximately 9% of sales dollars in both fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2024. Sales increased as a result of $72 million of added sales from acquired businesses as well as increased sales volumes of 5% in our legacy business.

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Industrial Segment.  Industrial segment sales decreased $27.0 million, or 7%, to $382.5 million for fiscal 2025, as compared to $409.5 million for fiscal 2024. Sales of bulk commodity products in the Industrial segment were approximately 15% of sales dollars in fiscal 2025 and 14% of sales dollars in fiscal 2024. Although total sales volume was up slightly year over year, sales declined due to lower selling prices on certain products and product mix changes.

Health and Nutrition Segment. Health and Nutrition segment sales decreased $0.9 million, or 1%, to $145.5 million for fiscal 2025, as compared to $146.4 million for fiscal 2024. An increase in sales of our distributed products was largely offset by decreased sales of our manufactured products. The overall decrease in sales of our manufactured products was driven by decreased sales of a lower-margin product.

Gross Profit

Gross profit increased $31.9 million, or 16%, to $225.5 million, or 23% of sales, for fiscal 2025, from $193.6 million, or 21% of sales, for fiscal 2024. During fiscal 2025, the LIFO reserve decreased, and gross profits increased, by $1.6 million, primarily due to lower prices year-over-year on certain products. In fiscal 2024, the LIFO reserve decreased, and gross profits increased, by $15.4 million. Included as a reduction to gross profit in the prior year was a $7.7 million charge to operating expense for an environmental liability related to perchlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) discovered in the soil at our Rosemount, MN, facility.

Water Treatment Segment.  Gross profit for the Water Treatment segment increased $23.1 million, or 23%, to $121.6 million, or 27% of sales, for fiscal 2025, from $98.5 million, or 27% of sales, for fiscal 2024. During fiscal 2025, the LIFO reserve decreased, and gross profits increased, by $0.5 million. During fiscal 2024, the LIFO reserve decreased, and gross profit increased, by $3.3 million. Gross profit increased as a result of the increased sales.

Industrial Segment.  Gross profit for the Industrial segment increased $5.1 million, or 8%, to $72.6 million, or 19% of sales, for fiscal 2025, from $67.5 million, or 16% of sales, for fiscal 2024. During fiscal 2025, the LIFO reserve decreased, and gross profits increased, by $1.1 million. In fiscal 2024, the LIFO reserve decreased, and gross profits increased, by $12.1 million. Included as a reduction to gross profit in the prior year was a $7.7 million charge to operating expense for an environmental liability related to PCBs discovered in the soil at our Rosemount, MN, facility. Gross profit increased as a result of the environmental charge in the prior year not repeating in the current year, partially offset by the negative year-over-year impact of the change in the LIFO reserve, as well as improved margins on certain products.

Health and Nutrition Segment. Gross profit for our Health and Nutrition segment increased $3.7 million, or 13%, to $31.3 million, or 22% of sales, for fiscal 2025, from $27.6 million, or 19% of sales, for fiscal 2024. Gross profit increased as a result of a favorable product mix shift.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

SG&A expenses increased $16.8 million, or 19% to $106.4 million, or 11% of sales, for fiscal 2025, from $89.6 million, or 10% of sales, for fiscal 2024. Expenses increased largely due to $10.4 million in added costs from the acquired business in our Water Treatment segment, including amortization of intangibles of $4.2 million, as well as increased variable costs.

Operating Income

Operating income increased $15.2 million, or 15%, to $119.2 million, or 12% of sales, for fiscal 2025, as compared to $104.0 million, or 11% of sales, for fiscal 2024, due to the combined impact of the factors discussed above.

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense was $5.4 million for fiscal 2025, an increase of $1.2 million from interest expense of $4.3 million for fiscal 2024. Interest expense increased due to higher outstanding borrowings in the current year, primarily to fund current year acquisitions.

Income Tax Provision

Our effective tax rate was approximately 26% for both fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2024. The effective tax rate is impacted by projected levels of annual taxable income, permanent items, and state taxes.

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Selected Quarterly Financial Data

Selected financial data for our fiscal quarters is shown below. No changes have been made to previously reported information.

Earnings per share may not equal the face of the Consolidated Statements of Income due to rounding.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2025 was $111.1 million compared to $159.5 million in fiscal 2024. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2025 as compared to fiscal 2024 was primarily driven by increases in customer receivables as a result of higher sales, as well as higher inventory levels, partially offset by an increase in net income. Due to the nature of our operations, which includes purchases of large quantities of bulk chemicals, the timing of purchases can result in significant changes in working capital and the resulting operating cash flow. Historically, our cash requirements for working capital increase during the period from March through November as inventory levels increase as most of our barges are received during this period.

Cash used in investing activities was $128.0 million in fiscal 2025 compared to $122.5 million in fiscal 2024. Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment were $41.1 million in fiscal 2025 and $40.2 million in fiscal 2024. Cash used in investing activities included Water Treatment group acquisition spending of $87.4 million in fiscal 2025 compared to $83.5 million of acquisition spending in fiscal 2024.

Cash used in financing activities was $14.8 million in fiscal 2025 compared to $37.4 million in fiscal 2024. Cash used in financing activities included net debt borrowings of $50.0 million in fiscal 2025 and net debt repayments of $13.0 million in fiscal 2024. We paid out cash dividends of $14.6 million in fiscal 2025 and $13.2 million in fiscal 2024. In fiscal 2025, we used $20.7 million to repurchase shares under our board-authorized share repurchase program, and in fiscal 2024, we used $11.3 million to repurchase shares under the program.

Our cash balance was $5.1 million at March 30, 2025, a decrease of $2.1 million as compared with March 31, 2024. Cash flows generated by operations during fiscal 2025 were offset by the cash expended for acquisitions, capital expenditures, repayments of debt, dividend payments and share repurchases in fiscal 2025.

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We are party to the Credit Agreement with U.S. Bank and the lenders which provides us with the Revolving Loan Facility totaling $400.0 million. The Revolving Loan Facility includes a $10 million letter of credit subfacility and $25 million swingline subfacility. The Revolving Loan Facility has a five-year maturity date, maturing on April 25, 2030. The Revolving Loan Facility is secured by substantially all of our personal property assets and those of our subsidiaries. At March 30, 2025, we had $149 million outstanding under the Revolving Loan Facility.

Borrowings under the Revolving Loan Facility bear interest at a rate per annum equal to one of the following, plus, in both cases, an applicable margin based upon our leverage ratio: (a) Term SOFR for an interest period of one, three or six months as selected by us, reset at the end of the selected interest period, or (b) a base rate determined by reference to the highest of (1) U. S. Bank’s prime rate, (2) the Federal Funds Effective Rate plus 0.5%, or (3) one-month Term SOFR for U.S. dollars plus 1.0%. The Term SOFR margin is between 1.0% and 1.85%, depending on our leverage ratio. The base rate margin is between 0.00% and 0.85%, depending on our leverage ratio. At March 30, 2025, the effective interest rate on our borrowings was 4.3%.

In addition to paying interest on the outstanding principal under the Revolving Loan Facility, we are required to pay a commitment fee on the unutilized commitments thereunder. The commitment fee is between 0.15% and 0.25%, depending on our leverage ratio.

Debt issuance costs paid to the Lenders are being amortized as interest expense over the term of the Credit Agreement. As of March 30, 2025, the unamortized balance of these costs was $0.2 million, and is reflected as a reduction of debt on our balance sheet.

The Credit Agreement requires us to maintain (a) a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.15 to 1.00 and (b) a maximum total cash flow leverage ratio of 3.5 to 1.0, subject to an election by us to increase the maximum total cash flow leverage ratio to 4.0 to 1.0 after certain Permitted Acquisitions subject to limitations set forth in the Credit Agreement. The Credit Agreement also contains other customary affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, dispose of significant assets, make certain investments, including any acquisitions other than permitted acquisitions, make certain payments, enter into sale and leaseback transactions, grant liens on our assets or enter into rate management transactions, subject to certain limitations. We are permitted to make distributions, pay dividends and repurchase shares so long as no default or event of default exists or would exist as a result thereof. We were in compliance with all covenants of the Credit Agreement as of March 30, 2025 and expect to remain in compliance with all covenants for the next 12 months.

The Credit Agreement contains customary events of default, including failure to comply with covenants in the Credit Agreement and other loan documents, cross default to other material indebtedness, failure by us to pay or discharge material judgments, bankruptcy, and change of control. The occurrence of an event of default would permit the lenders to terminate their commitments and accelerate loans under the Credit Facility.

We have in place an interest rate swap agreement to manage the risk associated with a portion of our variable-rate long-term debt. We do not utilize derivative instruments for speculative purposes. The interest rate swap involves the exchange of fixed-rate and variable-rate payments without the exchange of the underlying notional amount on which the interest payments are calculated. The notional amount of the swap agreement is $60 million, and it will terminate on May 1, 2027.

As part of our growth strategy, we have acquired businesses and may pursue acquisitions or other strategic relationships in the future that we believe will complement or expand our existing businesses or increase our customer base. We believe we could borrow additional funds under our current or new credit facilities or sell equity for strategic reasons or to further strengthen our financial position. We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents, together with cash generated from operations and available borrowings under our existing Credit Agreement, will be sufficient to meet our working capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months.

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Material Cash Requirements

The following table provides aggregate information about our contractual payment obligations and the periods in which payments are due:

(1)    Represents balance outstanding as of March 30, 2025, and assumes such amount remains outstanding until its maturity date, as periodic payments are not required under the terms of our Credit Agreement. However, it is our intention to pay down our debt with available excess cash flow. See Note 8 to our consolidated Financial Statements for further information.

(2)    Represents interest payments and commitment fees payable on outstanding balances under our revolver, net of the expected receivable from our interest rate swap agreement, and assumes interest rates remain unchanged from the rate as of March 30, 2025.

(3)    As reported under ASC Topic 842.

(4)    This relates to our withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan. Payments on this obligation will continue through 2034.

(5)     Represents the fair value of the earnout liability recorded in conjunction with the Water Solutions acquisition is based upon achieving certain targets payable 3 years after acquisition.

In addition to the above contractual obligations, in the ordinary course of business we have routine cash requirements related to capital expenditures for new trucks, facility improvements and expansions, safety equipment and other additions of property, plant and equipment. Our capital expenditures in fiscal 2025 were $41.1 million and in fiscal 2024 were $40.2 million. We anticipate total capital expenditures to be approximately $60 million for fiscal 2026.

Critical Accounting Estimates

In preparing the financial statements, we follow U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, sales and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We re-evaluate our estimates on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions. We have determined the following is a critical accounting estimate material to our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flow.

Acquisition accounting. The fair value of the consideration we pay for each new acquisition is allocated to tangible assets and identifiable intangible assets and liabilities assumed. The accounting for acquisitions involves a considerable amount of judgment and estimate, including the fair value of certain forms of consideration; fair value of acquired intangible assets involving projections of future revenues and cash flows that are then either discounted at an estimated discount rate or measured at an estimated royalty rate; fair value of other acquired assets and assumed liabilities, including potential contingencies; and the useful lives of the acquired assets. The assumptions used are determined at the time of the acquisition in accordance with accepted valuation models. Projections are developed using internal forecasts, available industry and market data and estimates of long-term rates of growth for the business. The impact of prior or future acquisitions on our financial position or results of operations may be materially impacted by the change in or initial selection of assumptions and estimates. See Note 2, Acquisitions included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K for further discussion of business combination accounting valuation methodology and assumptions.

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