Earnings Labs

H.B. Fuller Company (FUL)

Q2 2012 Earnings Call· Tue, Jun 26, 2012

$61.80

-1.67%

Key Takeaways · AI generated
AI summary not yet generated for this transcript. Generation in progress for older transcripts; check back soon, or browse the full transcript below.

Same-Day

-1.03%

1 Week

+0.71%

1 Month

-5.76%

vs S&P

-10.84%

Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to the H.B. Fuller Second Quarter 2012 Investor Conference Call. This event has been scheduled for one hour. [Operator Instructions] Management in attendance on today's call include Mr. Jim Owens, President and Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Jim Giertz, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Maximillian Marcy, Investor Relations Manager. At this time, I would like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Maximillian Marcy. Sir, you may begin.

Maximillian Marcy

Analyst

Thank you, Lisa, and welcome, everyone. Today's conference call is being webcast live and will also be archived on our website for future listening. Before beginning, I would like to inform everyone that certain matters discussed during this call will include forward-looking statements as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Since such statements reflect our current expectations, actual results may differ. In addition, during today's conference call, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures, specifically: adjusted earnings per diluted share; regional operating income; and earnings before interest expense, taxes, depreciation expense and amortization expense or EBITDA. Regional operating income is defined as gross profit less SG&A expense, and EBITDA is defined as gross profit less SG&A expense plus depreciation and amortization expense. All of the non-GAAP measures discussed today should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with GAAP. Management believes the discussion of these measures is useful to investors because it assists in understanding the operating performance of the company and its operating regions, as well as comparability of results. The non-GAAP information discussed today may not be consistent with the methodologies used by other companies. All non-GAAP information is reconciled with reported GAAP results on the last pages of our presentation. For more information, please refer to our recent press release, quarterly report on Form 10-Q dated March 26, 2012, and annual report for the year ended December 3, 2011 on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These documents are available on our website at www.hbfuller.com in the Investor Relations section. I will now turn the call over to our President and CEO, Jim Owens.

James Owens

Analyst

Thanks, Max, and good morning to everyone. Last year, we committed to a strategic plan that would deliver 15% EBITDA margin and 5% to 8% organic growth. And earlier this year, we committed to move quickly to deliver value from the Forbo acquisition. In the second quarter of this year, we made a great stride in delivering on both of those commitments. We developed and announced a fully detailed integration plan within 90 days of the deal closing to all of our employees and our shareholders, and we began execution of that plan. We made a strategic move to sell a long-term non-core asset, and we did this while delivering an underlying operating performance that increased adjusted earnings per share by 27% in the quarter. By all measures, in the quarter and long-term strategically, we delivered an outstanding quarter and I'd like to thank our shareholders for your support and our employees for their tireless efforts to make this happen. The quarter started with the closing of the acquisition of the industrial adhesives business from the Forbo Group, on time and without a hitch. In all of our regions, work began immediately with customers to secure our business and pursue offensive synergy opportunities and with suppliers to harmonize and leverage the best pricing of the combined company. Within 45 days a detailed plan was announced in North America, outlining a specific plan for each employee who remained, and reorganization began that day with a focus on taking proper care of our employees and seamlessly managing transitions for our customers. Shortly after this, we announced that we've reached an agreement to sell our Latin America Paints business to the Pintuco division of Grupo Mundial, an important strategic move for H.B. Fuller, which was initiated in a process that began late in…

James Giertz

Analyst

Okay, thanks, Jim. As we've already mentioned a couple of times, there are a lot of moving parts in our business, so I'll try to simplify where we are and what we expect for the remaining quarters -- 2 quarters of the year. So prior guidance was provided in 2 parts and excluded all special charges associated with the acquisition integration of the Forbo industrial adhesives business. At the beginning of the year, the earnings guidance was set as a range of $2.05 to $2.15 per diluted share, with the acquired Forbo business expected to be neutral to a diluted EPS. Then after the Forbo acquisition was completed, we provided further guidance indicating that the acquired business was expected to generate incremental earnings in the current fiscal year of between $0.05 and $0.15 per diluted share. So the 2 parts of the guidance taken together indicated an expected earnings range for this year of between $2.10 and $2.30 per diluted share, representing our baseline earnings guidance. Then subsequent to issuing this guidance, we announced our intentions to divest the Latin American Paints business and as of the second quarter of 2012, the Paints business is accounted for as a discontinued operation. Therefore, the earnings associated with this business which were included in the original baseline guidance, can be removed to create adjusted continuing operations earnings guidance. The amount of the 2012 fiscal year earnings attributed to the Paints business and included in the company's original guidance is $0.16 per diluted share. Therefore, the adjusted baseline earnings guidance for the company's continuing operations, excluding the Paints business, is a range of $1.94 to $2.14 per diluted share. Now our new revised earnings guidance for the current fiscal year is a range of $2.10 to $2.15 per diluted share. This guidance excludes…

James Owens

Analyst

Thanks, Jim. I'm really excited about the results we delivered so far in the first half of our fiscal year. We continue to deliver on our plans and are making progress each quarter to achieve our long-term goals on organic growth, EBITDA margin improvement, return on invested capital and EPS. We have a lot of work to do to successfully integrate the newly acquired business. But we're focused, we have positive momentum, an outstanding team and a clear plan to deliver. Many good things are happening inside the business. We grew sizably in each of our 3 areas of strategic focus: hygiene, packaging and durable assembly, and have specific plans on how to continue gaining share over the next 4 years. The strategic markets we have chosen for special focus are sound, and H.B. Fuller is poised as a leader in each. We are capitalizing on new opportunities with our expert sales and technical teams, delivering and leveraging H.B. Fuller's depth of innovation experience and capability. H.B. Fuller's European business is moving in the right direction, and the Business Integration is off to a good start to build on the positive momentum. We delivered these strong adjusted results, which were above our initial expectations while completing the Forbo acquisition, planning the business integration and working on the sale of the Paints business. I am very proud of our ability to consistently deliver results regardless of external conditions or potential internal distractions. This is definitely a new H.B. Fuller, a company which has a clear path forward, a proven ability to deliver in challenging market conditions. Thank you for joining us today, and now I'd like to open the call up for your questions.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And we'll now take our first question from Rosemarie Morbelli with Gabelli & Company.

Rosemarie Morbelli

Analyst

Jim, you said that you experienced growth in all of your segments; hygiene, packaging and durable goods. Could you give us about a feel for the kind of growth you experienced in each of one -- each one of them by region possibly and what the trends are going forward?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So Rosemarie, the commitment we made -- so we reported results, as you know, on the operating segments, and the commitment we made was to, on an annual basis, share the details of that growth. We did that last quarter for 2011, and we'll continue to do that periodically. So we don't have numbers to share specifically on each one of those, but I would say that those strategic segments are growing at a higher rate than the rates you've seen overall. So the focus is paying off. But I don't have numbers with more detail to share on that. Jim, do you want to add something to that? So -- but we will, on a periodic basis, give details by segment, as we did last quarter.

Rosemarie Morbelli

Analyst

Okay. Do you want to add, Jim? The other Jim?

James Giertz

Analyst

No, he gave my answer.

Rosemarie Morbelli

Analyst

So when you are talking about the higher growth rates than overall, are we talking volume? Or -- I was mostly interested in the volume if you exclude pricing.

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So we're talking about both volume and overall organic growth.

Rosemarie Morbelli

Analyst

So we are looking at that 6% organic revenue growth, if that's what we are comparing it with?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes, I would say you could compare it to the volume growth year-to-date and see a higher number in those 3 segments. And you could also compare it to the organic growth year-to-date and see that it's higher in those 3 segments. And I think if you look at last quarter's numbers -- I don't have them right at hand here, Rosemarie, but it was between 17% and 22% in packaging and hygiene and a little less in the durable assembly area.

Rosemarie Morbelli

Analyst

And if I could ask one last question, regarding Europe and the economy out there, do you see things deteriorating? And I understand that you are doing enough to offset some of the turmoil. But is there a point where you actually are going to get into trouble as well?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So I think it's a real high point of the business, Rosemarie, that our volumes are up in Europe with the kind of conditions that exist there. It speaks to the strength of our team and the strength of the business and the ability to gain share. But Europe, as we said the end of last year and the beginning of this year, we're getting no help from the economy. It's a sluggish environment, and it's particularly sluggish in Southern Europe. So France, Italy, Spain are slower economically. So when we're showing almost 10% organic growth and positive volumes for the first half of this year, very strong indication that we're gaining market share in the EIMEA region.

Rosemarie Morbelli

Analyst

How much of your business is in Germany, of the European business?

James Owens

Analyst

We don't share that number, but it's well spread across Europe. It's not a German-centric business, Rosemarie. But Germany is obviously a powerhouse within Europe, an important part of the business.

Operator

Operator

And we'll now go to Christopher Butler with Sidoti & Company.

Christopher Butler

Analyst

Staying on Europe, could you talk to the volume growth or decline from the Forbo business specifically? And could you give us an idea as the year rolls out, what kind of shedding of volumes we could expect from Forbo as you try to improve the product mix there?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So we haven't given specific details on how much volume we plan to shed in any part of the world. I think what we've said is overall, net of price adjustments, offensive synergies and volume losses, that the acquired business would remain relatively flat. So we're not expecting a lot of growth because the growth that we're going to generate will be offset by trying to reposition some of the business that we have. And that applies in North America and Europe. But the work we do is going to be targeted, systematic. We're developing a detailed plan country by country, product line by product line, as we roll out the changes in the business. So I think from an overall standpoint, Chris, you can look at our acquired business and say that the net revenue is going to be flat, and that would include some price repositioning and some volume losses.

Christopher Butler

Analyst

And for the volume for Forbo in the second quarter?

James Owens

Analyst

The volume numbers for Forbo in the second quarter overall -- is that your question? What were the volume numbers for Forbo overall?

Christopher Butler

Analyst

Right. Whether -- was it up? Was it similar to your organic volume? Or different?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So let me give you a high-level answer and then I'll ask Jim to dig around and get the numbers. We got a lot of numbers, so I want to -- make sure that we're accurate. The Forbo business overall performed relatively well. The revenue for the business was flat to prior year, and that includes some negative currency translations. And operating income was up about 23% versus their prior year. So -- with gross margins improving. So Jim, do you have more data to add on the Forbo situation?

James Giertz

Analyst

No, that's all we have. We don't have the accurate volume data that we can share with you, so I don't know -- I assume that the volume was relatively flat, given the revenue performance. But as -- yes, the Forbo business performed extremely well in the second quarter, slightly better than our expectations.

Christopher Butler

Analyst

That was basically what I was looking for. As far as SG&A, it sounds like there was nothing unusual in this quarter upwards or downwards. So should we think -- be thinking in this range for the back half of the year?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes, I think this is the right range. I think we're working to drive some synergies, Chris, and those are coming through. But you also can't pull out the old costs immediately. So when you're doing the work to reformulate products, close plants, move things around, you need a lot of resources to get that done. But relatively in this range, I think, would be what we'd expect for the rest of this year.

Operator

Operator

And we'll now go to David Begleiter with Deutsche Bank.

David Begleiter

Analyst

Jim, just on the -- both Jims, both on the second half guidance, given -- with the Forbo asset in hand, what's the new expected split between Q3 and Q4 on EPS do you think, just a rough, rough breakdown.

James Owens

Analyst

Okay. So I'm going to let Jim pull out his cheat sheets while we go forward and just comment a little bit about what we're doing Q3 and Q4. So a lot of the activity that we have -- well, activity is rolling across all the businesses, but the North American activity is really ramped up at a high rate, and we see a lot of that happening right now. I think I mentioned already our first plant was closed this last quarter. Our next plant will be closed by the end of July. So good, solid progress. And the reorganization of the sales and technical teams, that's happened. These teams are meeting and moving forward with customers and driving the kind of performance we expect out of offensive synergies and the value that we want to generate. So Jim, do you want to comment on Q3, Q4?

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes, sure. So -- well, we don't break our guidance down by quarters. So I don't want to make any specific comments about it. So there are some things that are changing. We don't -- we're just learning about the Forbo business, so we'll learn about their seasonality. I think typically, our third and fourth quarter would be relatively similar in performance. We are losing our Paints business, which was historically very strong in the fourth quarter. So that might change our seasonalities a little bit and flatten out the third and fourth quarters a little bit. And then also, David, just remember that last year we had an extra week in the fourth quarter. So if you're doing a year-over-year comparison, you need to take out that increment of -- the one-week increment in the fourth quarter prior if you're going to do a year-over-year.

David Begleiter

Analyst

Very helpful. And Jim, you mentioned also improvement in North American volumes exiting the quarter. Any more comments on that?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So if you recall, our North American Adhesives business had a weaker -- much weaker volume quarter than our construction adhesives business in first quarter. Second quarter, they moved closer together. So -- and that's really driven off of share gains. Again, a little like Europe, we're not getting a lot of help from the economic environment. If you look at the external numbers on volumes of consumer goods products, volumes of beverages that are being produced, volumes of baby diapers, this is not a good year in North America for the net volumes, and those drive some of our volumes. But what we see is some of the gains that we were looking to have happened. We see some interesting early offensive synergies, so we're pretty pleased about the momentum, particularly when you compare first quarter -- second quarter to first quarter. So expect it to go positive next quarter would be the sure answer.

David Begleiter

Analyst

And just last price versus raws, with the raws coming off, would you expect some of your pricing actions to flatten out here? And any pressure do you foresee in lowering prices as raws flatten or roll over?

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes.

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So I think raw material-related pricing actions will dissipate. But there are a lot of pricing actions related to repositioning and making certain that we get the value out of certain products that maybe weren't priced appropriately, especially some of the acquired products. So any price action we'll see will be about making certain that value for certain market segments or product lines is generated out of pricing. In terms of downward price pressure, we're really driven off the supply dynamics of our materials. Certainly in the short term, I would say if we saw the kind of depressed pricing we're seeing on ethylene, propylene and butadiene and in other feed streams continue through the third quarter, then maybe sometime late in the year or early next year that would start flowing through to the adhesives market. But we don't see that in this next quarter, given the dynamics of the materials that we buy.

Operator

Operator

And we'll now go to Peter Cozzone with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Peter Cozzone

Analyst

On the integration front, it sounds like there's good momentum there in regards to the total $90 million in expected synergies there or cost savings. Is that a fairly linear ramp as far as the expected completion in 2Q '14? Or how should we think about that progression over the next few quarters, particularly in the EIMEA segment?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So I would say if you're looking at it on a year-over-year basis from '12 to '15, it's pretty linear. Over the next couple of quarters, it may not be quite as fast to ramp up as we have extra expense to allow us to get some of the synergies. But generally, fairly linear. Jim, do you want to add more color to that, maybe?

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes, sure. I think that's actually one of the interesting things about the project overall is that it's got a lot of moving parts, and they all kind of phase in at different times. So some of the synergies we're getting right away, like raw material cost reductions. Some of the SG&A savings come a little bit earlier. And then some of the savings from consolidation of the production facilities will come later. So there's a nice mix of some short-term wins and then some wins that will occur later. So I think generally you'll see -- you should see a pretty linear progression of improving EBITDA margins. Also by region there's a little bit of difference. So as we pointed out in our release, the North American piece will move a little quicker for a number of different reasons. And then the European business will come along at a little slower pace. But I think all in all, it's a good, balanced program. It should be delivering benefits to us really every quarter as we progress.

Peter Cozzone

Analyst

Great. And then it sounds like the expected Forbo synergies are intact around that $50 million. But could you maybe touch a little bit on the $40 million in expected savings from the legacy restructuring actions? Is that kicking in sooner than Forbo in the Europe segment? Or maybe what are the primary components here as far as headcount reductions or facility consolidation?

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes, Peter. It's -- the integration and the -- the EIMEA transformation project, which we used to call Project Key [ph], and the business integration of Forbo in Europe, they're really the same project now. The work streams of one are identical to the other, and so the timing of the delivery of the benefits are exactly the same. And as I mentioned, Europe has some early wins with pricing and with some headcount reduction and some raw material cost reductions. The big benefit that comes from the consolidation of production facilities comes later in Europe, back at the back end of 2013 because it just takes us longer to get these plants shut down and the receiving plants prepared for -- to take over the incremental capacity. So -- but the 2 projects are exactly the same and as they line out -- the timing of the 2 line up exactly the same.

Peter Cozzone

Analyst

Okay. And then just one more. I mean we've heard some concern in chemical land here about a potential destocking in June as some of the upstream raw material costs are falling. Any concern as far as what you've seen thus far, as far as potential customer destocking? And then maybe could you comment briefly on what you're seeing in the underlying North American kind of manufacturing markets as far as momentum into the back half of the year here?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So early returns on June don't show a significant change in destocking. I think those kind of moves typically happen more upstream than they do for us downstream. Adhesives aren't big drivers of people's inventory, inventory movements, but can be at times. But we don't see anything specifically there, Peter. And as far as the manufacturing environment at -- in North America, we've read some of the same reports you've read. I would say what we see is -- we saw some of these same kind of lackadaisical numbers in terms of volume output of manufacturing the first half of the year, and they're continuing. So we don't see decreasing momentum, but we don't see a lot of positive momentum from the market itself. As I said, we are seeing good momentum with some of our share gains, but the market itself, I would say, is not robust, and it hasn't been for most of the year in North America Adhesives.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] We'll now go to Steve Schwartz with First Analysis.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

Jim O., in your prepared remarks you talked a little bit about Southeast Asia, and it sounds like you basically walked away from some volume in terms of restructuring the strategy of the business. Did I hear that correctly?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So I would say the biggest driver in our Asia business was what -- what's happening in Australia. It's -- the Australian economy is being driven by raw materials in the mining industry. But when you dig into the details, what's happening in the consumer and manufacturing areas is very weak, and we have a strong position in Australia and New Zealand. And that's really what's driving our -- the downside of our numbers. So very strong performance in China, very weak performance in Australia. And then yes, in Southeast Asia, one of the things we're doing around our business -- again, we add this color, right? We're committed in each one of our regions to drive in this EBITDA performance. And in some cases, that means we need to reposition our portfolio business. And in some parts of Southeast Asia, we went through and did some work to improve the profitability of the business there, and that showed up in the volumes, Steve. So good catch. I think it's an important strategic move for our business to get that mix right.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

Do you expect this to be a factor over the next couple of quarters then?

James Owens

Analyst

Well, the Australia issue we're concerned about over the next couple of quarters? We're not seeing a big, big uptick. And in Southeast Asia, yes. I mean overall, I'd say that the repositioning of our Asia business is about where we're not as profitable fixing that, where we have good solid growth like China, continuing to drive significant growth there. Because we want a robust growth environment in Asia, but we also want a profitable business in Asia.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

Okay. And then if I could, with a follow-up for Jim G., just 2 things, actually. Interest expense, lot of puts and takes in the second half of the year. If you can give us an idea of what you kind of expect those numbers to look like? And then also, with respect to the Paints business, you're taking $0.16 off of your guidance, but that business did about $7 million in op income. And even if that $7 million weren't taxed, that works out to about $0.14 a share. So I'm wondering where you're getting the $0.16 deduct from?

James Giertz

Analyst

Sure. Okay. Let me take the first one first. Interest expense for the full year forecast for us will be just right around $20 million. So the interest expense that you saw in the second quarter would project out in Q3 and Q4 as well. You add all that up, the total interest expense for the full year would be just right around $20 million.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

Okay. So the deduct for the $120 million that you get from Pintuco is modest at best?

James Giertz

Analyst

It's very small. So the good news is we're paying down our debt. The bad news is it's very cheap debt. So we're paying down our floating rate debt, which -- the interest rate on that is extremely low, LIBOR plus at quarters, or LIBOR plus 150 or something like that. So it's very, very cheap debt. So I think that only gives us about a $500,000 benefit for the balance of the year by the time we close the deal and get the cash in the house here. But the $20 million -- $20 million is our best estimate of full year interest expense. Now Paints, I'm glad you asked, because we made our Paints business look really bad in the quarter, and we were hoping that we could have a chance to explain it. First of all, the Paints business actually had a great quarter. The revenue was up year-over-year, and their op income was very positive, enough actually -- over 30% over prior year. So just from an operating results perspective, the Paints business had a very good quarter, absolutely in line with our budgets and our plans for the year. So there's -- the posted results are not indicative of the actual operating earnings of the Paints business. What's happening is the pre-tax income that was generated by Paints is being more than offset by taxes. And it's very complicated, but the simple way to explain it is that there are certain tax costs that got pulled forward into the second quarter that actually relate to the sale of the Paints business that hasn't occurred yet. Okay? So we're paying tax, we're paying capital gains taxes basically in the second quarter for the sale that is to occur in the third quarter. And those capital gains taxes are more than offsetting the operating income of the business. That's why we're getting the negative $0.06. Our best estimate is that if those tax implications hadn't occurred and if we hadn't -- we weren't pursuing the sale transaction, the Paints business would have contributed about $0.04 a share in the quarter. So instead of a $0.06 deduct, it would have been a $0.04 positive in the quarter, if we're running just as we were a year ago. Is that -- hopefully, that makes sense.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

Yes. No -- so that pretty much explains it for me, Jim. So yes. So in other words, you're getting the $0.16 because you got a tax hit, too.

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes. Now let me say one more thing about the $0.16, because I need to change your math just a little bit. So when we report our segments in our Qs and our K, those are fully allocated. So that's an operating income after corporate allocations of overheads. And what we actually lose when we sell our Paints business is the operating income that the business earns before the corporate allocation. So the corporate allocation basically is stranded, stays behind. So the actual operating income that we're going to lose from the Paints business this year is more like $13 million to $14 million pre-tax. It has a relatively high tax rate, 40% to 45%. So if you take that $14 million minus the taxes and divide it by our share count, I think you get right at the $0.16.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

I see. Okay. And you did mention $1.2 million of stranded, right? In your prepared remarks?

James Giertz

Analyst

In the quarter.

Steven Schwartz

Analyst

For the quarter. I see. Yes.

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes. So that's like $5 million to $6 million for the full year. And if you add that to your $7 million, you're at $13 million or $14 million, roughly.

Operator

Operator

And we'll now go to Dmitry Silversteyn with Longbow Research.

Dmitry Silversteyn

Analyst

A lot of my questions have been answered, particularly on the Paint loss that you posted. But just to follow-up on that, you expect to get a $0.16 positive in the Paint business it sounds like in the second half of the year, including this current quarter. So with the $0.06 loss, do we assume that the paint business would have contributed more, like $0.22 in the back end of the year?

James Giertz

Analyst

No...

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. Now -- so let me -- continue, Jim.

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes. No, let me reset. So the $0.16 is our estimate of -- it's the original estimate that we had for our Paints business for the full year of 2012. So think about it as, when we gave our original guidance at the beginning of the year before we had contemplated -- or before we announced our intentions to sell the Paints business, in our original budget and plan and in our original guidance, we had $0.16 of earnings related to the Paints business. That now is fully going to go away because it's a discontinued op. And that -- of course, it goes away for the whole year, not just the future quarters. Okay?

Dmitry Silversteyn

Analyst

Okay. So -- but I'm sure that in that $0.16, you didn't have a $0.06 loss. You probably had a $0.04 gain that you talked about for this quarter?

James Giertz

Analyst

Right. Exactly. Yes.

Dmitry Silversteyn

Analyst

Okay. So basically, we're still looking at something like $0.04 a quarter for the back end of the year as the impact from Paint?

James Giertz

Analyst

Yes. Although -- yes. I think that's right. I mean, $0.16 for the full year. It could be $0.04 a quarter. Usually, the fourth quarter is quite a bit higher than the others. The first quarter was a little weaker, so yes.

Dmitry Silversteyn

Analyst

Got it, got it. Secondly, just -- you did mention that you're doing well relative to the market in the EIMEA region. And certainly, having delivered what looks like about 2.5%, 3% growth in volumes over the first half of year, it's hard to argue. On the other hand, your volumes in North America have been fairly weak with the economy that certainly seems to be better when compared to Europe. How much of that is sort of reformulation and getting better value at lower volumes? And how much of that is particular end markets not doing well, or perhaps your business in those markets not doing well? You mentioned Adhesives being a struggle. But is there anything beyond that? And where do you see the Adhesives part as opposed to the Construction part in North America perhaps turning the corner?

James Owens

Analyst

Yes. So yes, I think -- so as you say, good solid performance in Europe. In North America, really strong performance in our Construction Products with 7% growth year-to-date. And the issue is around our North American Adhesive business. And if you recall first quarter, it was down 4% in volume. This quarter, it's probably about 1% in volume. And that's a big improvement, and we see that trend continuing. In terms of the markets, Dmitry, we've dug into some details on a volume of what our customers are reporting. So getting external data on how many cases of beverages are being produced, how many baby diapers are being produced and sold. Interestingly, when economic times get tougher, people train their children off of diapers at a slightly earlier age, right? And months generate lots of differences in diapers. So those kinds of trends are underlying some of the volume softness that's out there. And so we don't see huge trends negatively, certainly going forward in terms of the market, but we don't see huge upticks. But what we do see is, with us moving through the Forbo acquisition, gathering these 2 strong teams together, focus with these teams, we see some good positive momentum in terms of how we're winning in the market. Some of that showed up this quarter. I expect that our performance will improve in the next 2 quarters, although that's coming from us winning, not from the market helping us.

Dmitry Silversteyn

Analyst

Got it. Got it. And then final question, you mentioned the destocking or restocking really doesn't play a big role in your business. But clearly raw material pricing, at least upstream raw material pricing, kind of the more basic propylene and derivatives and ethylene and derivatives and whatnot, has softened. Your customers must see that. Has there been any sort of resistance to new price increases? Or have you started to hear back from customers, that they're losing for some price cuts next time? Do they sit at the table with your salesmen and negotiate the future deliveries? Kind of can you talk about the pricing environment and whether it's different by regions or whether it's just a sort of across the globe that people are looking at petrochemical costs and expecting you guys to do something about it.

James Owens

Analyst

Right. Yes. So we're pretty transparent, especially with our more sophisticated customers, on our raw materials. So while the whole world sees externally the price of propylene, ethylene and butadiene, we try and help educate our customers and share as much as we can what happens with the materials between propylene and adhesives and what happens there. And so those don't -- when the cycle goes up, they don't go up us much as the commodity materials. And when the cycle goes down, they don't go down as much or as quickly. So -- especially our sophisticated customers, they understand that, and they don't expect dramatic changes when we see the kind of things that have happened over the last 60 days. If that prolonged, we'd expect it and we'd get it, and we'd pass it through. But -- so I think the answer to the question on pricing pressure is, if this were to continue for another 4, 5, 6 months, then definitely you'd see some downtick, and we'd manage that as our raws went down. But the short answer is no, were not getting a lot of pressure. We're not raising prices based on raw materials. Where there's a value position or repositioning, we're doing that. But there's, at this point, a relatively stable environment. Subject to change, based on how the world changes over the next 3 to 6 months.

Operator

Operator

And it appears we have no further questions at this time. I'll now turn the conference back to our speakers for any additional or closing remarks.

James Owens

Analyst

Okay, great. Well, thanks, everyone, for your attention and the detailed look at our business. We appreciate your time on today's conference call.

Operator

Operator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's H.B. Fuller Second Quarter 2012 Investor Conference Call. You may now disconnect.