H.B. Fuller Company (FUL) has reported 21.79 percent fall in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 04, 2017. The company has earned $14.80 million, or $0.29 a share in the quarter, compared with $18.92 million, or $0.37 a share for the same period last year. On the other hand, adjusted net income for the quarter stood at $24.89 million, or $0.48 a share compared with $21.80 million or $0.43 a share, a year ago.

Revenue during the quarter grew 6.11 percent to $503.32 million from $474.33 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 139 basis points over the previous year period to 27.62 percent. Total expenses were 94.69 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 93.18 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 151 basis points in operating margin to 5.31 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $26.70 million, compared with $32.34 million in the previous year period.

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was almost stable at $58.95 million, when compared with the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 66 basis points in the quarter to 11.71 percent from 12.37 percent in the last year period.

"We are off to a strong start for the year with good progress on both the top and bottom lines," said Jim Owens, H.B. Fuller president and chief executive officer. "We drove solid volume improvements with exceptional growth in the Engineering Adhesives and Asia Pacific segments, and 5 percent growth in our Americas segment while successfully completing the synergistic acquisition of Wisdom Adhesives. Profitability remains strong despite raw material increases which we will offset with strategic pricing initiatives in the second quarter. We expect 2017 to provide another strong positive step forward in delivering our 2020 strategic commitments for growth, profit and cash flow performance."

For financial year 2017, the company projects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.57 to $2.77 on adjusted basis.