HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2025

 (TSX: RCH) "Richelieu has strongly started the 2025 fiscal year with five new acquisitions and an 8.6% increase in sales.  This result is all the more appreciable given that the first quarter is historically the weakest period of the year and the renovation market conditions remained relatively stagnant during the period.  Our market development initiatives, combined with contributions from acquisitions, the diversification of our market segments, and our added value of our service offering, contributed to this performance. We made significant progress in the manufacturers' market, where sales grew by 9.9%, including 5.1% internal growth, reaching $385.1 million. In the hardware retailers and renovation superstores market, sales remained stable compared to Q1 2024, at $56.6 million. We are currently making significant investments to install new in-store displays and add new product lines in order to boost sales to retail customers. We see these initiatives are starting to bear fruit, with sales growth in this market in Canada."

"I am also pleased with of our recent acquisitions completed since the beginning of the year: The acquisition of Mill Supply, which operates two centres in the Maritime provincesâ??one in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and the other in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This acquisition strengthens our presence in this market and complements our two existing centres in Dartmouth. In fact, it had long been one of our priorities. The acquisition of Darant Distributing allows us to enter the strategic Colorado market. Midwest Specialty Products reinforces our presence in the Minneapolis area, where we are already established, while also adding product lines such as quartz and other decorative surfaces. Modulex Partition, a distributor of Division 10 products, enables us to expand our presence in these product categories in the strategic markets of New Jersey and the Greater New York area. Finally, the acquisition of Rhoads & O'Hara Architectural, a specialist in exclusive architectural panels, working closely with architects, designers, and high-end commercial woodworking."

"Despite the headwinds expected from the tariffs imposed by the US government, Richelieu is well-positioned to navigate these changes, with less than 20% of its products imported from China to the U.S. where alternative products are already sourced from other countries," mentioned Mr. Richard Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer.

EXPANSION: ACQUISITIONS AND CONSOLIDATION OF CENTRES

During the first quarter, Richelieu completed the following acquisitions:

These new acquisitions not only add approximately $50 million in annual sales, but also enhance the Corporation's presence in strategic markets, diversify its product offering, and create new synergies.

In addition, during the quarter, to meet the needs of future growth and continue to deliver top-tier customer service, the Corporation completed its project to consolidate two distribution centres in the Vancouver area into a single 140,000 sq. ft. facility serving the manufacturers' market.

RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2025

For the first quarter ended February 28, 2025, consolidated sales amounted to $441.7M, compared to $406.9M for the first quarter of 2024, an increase of $34.8M, or 8.6%, driven equally by internal growth and acquisitions. In currency comparable to that of the first quarter of 2024, the increase in consolidated sales would have been 5.6% for the quarter ended February 28, 2025.

The following table provides an overview of Richelieu's sales in its two main markets for the quarters ended February 28, 2025 and February 29 2024 :

Earnings before income taxes, interest and amortization (EBITDA)  for 2025 first quarter was $42.4M, up $2.0M or 5.0% from the corresponding quarter of 2024, primarily driven by higher sales.  The EBITDA margin was 9.6%, compared with 9.9% for the corresponding quarter of 2024, mainly due to lower margins from our recent business acquisitions and marketing costs for new product lines with our retailer customers.

Net earnings for the first quarter of 2025 were $14.7M, a decrease 5.2% from the prior year. This decrease is mainly due to the $2.0M increase in amortization expense, resulting from the increase in property, plant, and equipment, as well as right-of-use assets in connection with the expansion projects and business acquisitions made during the previous fiscal year and the first quarter of 2025. Additionally, net financial expenses increased by $1.2M, primarily due to the rise in utilized credit lines.  Including non-controlling interests, net earnings attributable to the Corporation's shareholders were $13.9M, a decrease of 8.6% from first quarter of 2024. Net earnings per share were $0.25 basic and diluted, compared to $0.27 basic and diluted for Q1 2024, a decrease 7.4%.

FINANCIAL POSITION

Total assets were $1.48B as at February 28, 2025, compared to $1.39B as at November 30, 2024, an increase of 6.2%. Current assets increased by 4.8% or $43.5M from November 30, 2024.  Non-current assets increased by 8.6% mainly due to the addition of right-of-use assets.

As at February 28, 2025, the bank overdraft, net of cash and cash equivalents, was $56.0M, compared to net bank overdraft of $12.3M as at November 30, 2024. The Corporation had working capital of $613.2M with a ratio of 2.9:1, compared to $612.9M (ratio of 3.1:1) as at November 30, 2024.

SHARE CAPITAL

As at February 28, 2025, the Corporation's share capital consisted of 55,299,103 common shares [55,218,678 shares as at November 30, 2024]. For the three-month period ended February 28, 2025, the weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding was 55,487,500 [56,530,470 in 2024].

DIVIDENDS

On April 10, 2025, the Board of Directors approved the payment of a quarterly dividend of $0.1533 per share to shareholders of record as at April 24, 2025, payable on May 8, 2025. The declared dividend is designated as an eligible dividend within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

MAIN TRADEMARKS

PROFILE AS AT FEBRUARY 28, 2025

Richelieu is a leading North American importer, manufacturer and distributor of specialty hardware and complementary products. Its products are targeted to an extensive customer base of kitchen and bathroom cabinet, storage and closet, home furnishing and office furniture manufacturers, residential and commercial woodworkers, door and window, and hardware retailers including renovation superstores. Richelieu offers customers a broad mix of high-end products sourced from manufacturers worldwide. Its product selection consists of over 145,000 different items targeted to a base of more than 120,000 customers who are served by 116 centres in North America â?? 49 distribution centres in Canada, 64 in the United States and three manufacturing plants in Canada, specifically, Les Industries Cedan Inc., Menuiserie des Pins Ltée and USIMM UNIGRAV Inc., which manufacture a variety of veneer sheets and edge banding products, a broad selection of decorative mouldings and components for the window and door industry as well as custom products, including a 3D scanning centre.

Notes to readers â?? Richelieu uses earnings before interest, income taxes and amortization ("EBITDA") because this measure enables management to assess the Corporation's operational performance. This measure is a financial indicator of a corporation's ability to service its debt. However, EBITDA should not be considered by an investor as an alternative to operating income, net earnings, cash flows or as a measure of liquidity. Because EBITDA is not a standardized measurement as prescribed by IFRS, it may not be comparable to the EBITDA of other companies. Richelieu also uses adjusted cash flows from operating activities, which are based on net earnings plus the amortization of property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and right-of-use assets, deferred tax expense (or recovery), share-based compensation expense and financial costs. These additional measures do not account for net change in non-cash working capital items to exclude seasonality effects and are used by management in its assessments of cash flows from long-term operations. Therefore, adjusted cash flows from operating activities may not be comparable to those of other companies. Certain statements set forth in this report (generally identified by terms such as "may", "could", "might", "intend", "expect", "believe", "estimate" or comparable variants) constitute forward-looking statements which, by their very nature, remain subject to other risks and uncertainties as set forth in the Corporation's annual and quarterly reports. Although management considers these assumptions and expectations reasonable based on the information available at the time they are provided, such assumptions and expectations could prove inaccurate and actual results could differ materially. Richelieu is under no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein to account for future events or circumstances, except as required by applicable legislation.   The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements, accompanying notes and interim MD&A for the first quarter of 2025 will be available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com and on the Corporation's website at www.richelieu.com.

www.richelieu.com      

SOURCE Richelieu Hardware Ltd.

SOURCE: Richelieu Hardware Ltd.

For information: Richard Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer; Antoine
Auclair, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Tel: (514) 336-4144

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