Participants

Walter Johnsen; Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer; Acme United Corp

Paul Driscoll; Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary; Acme United Corp

Jim Marrone; Analyst; Singular Research

Jeffrey Matthews; Analyst; RAM Partners LP

Richard Dearnley; Analyst; Longport Partners

Presentation

Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Acme United Corporation's fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Walter Johnsen, Chairman and CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

Walter Johnsen

Good morning. Welcome to the fourth quarter and year 2024 earnings conference call for Acme United Corporation. I'm Walter C. Johnsen, Chairman and CEO. With me is Paul Driscoll, our Chief Financial Officer, who will first read the Safe Harbor statement. Paul?

Paul Driscoll

Forward-looking statements in this conference call, including, without limitation, statements related to the company's plans, strategies, objectives, expectations, intentions and adequacy of capital and other resources are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, among others, those arising as a result of the challenging global macro-economic environment characterized by continued high inflation, high interest rates and the imposition of new tariffs or changes in existing tariff rates.
In addition, we have experienced supply chain disruptions, and we may experience these disruptions in the future. We are also subject to additional risks and uncertainties as described in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in our current earnings release.

Walter Johnsen

Thank you, Paul. Acme United had a strong year in 2024. We had record net sales of $194.4 million and record EBITDA of $20 million. As you may recall, we sold our Cuda and Camillus hunting and fishing business in November 2023 for $19.8 million. We used the after-tax proceeds of approximately $15 million to reduce debt and position the company for growth. The sale of Cuda and Camillus represented a return of over 100 times our investment.
During 2024, we reported net sales growth of 2% despite the reduction of approximately $9 million in revenues from the businesses we sold. Net revenues adjusted for the sale of Cuda and Camillus increased 6% during 2024.
Our net income in 2024 was $10 million compared to $8.1 million in 2023, an increase of 23%. We adjusted our expenses to compensate for the loss contribution of the businesses we sold and generated productivity savings. This performance was better than we planned. Earnings per share was $2.45 in 2024 compared to $2.23 in 2023, an increase of 10%.
Our First Aid business had strong performance. Its revenues were approximately $120 million, refills of components for first aid kits were approximately $30 million and growing. We introduced SmartCompliance first aid cabinets with RFID technology in 2024, which permit automatic replenishment of refills. This is the annuity segment of our business that builds on our growing installed base of industrial first aid kits.
Automatic replenishment provides substantial savings to our customers and captures a high percentage of items needed to keep the kits compliant with OSHA and ANSI standards. Our Westcott cutting and DMT sharpening business had excellent performance in 2024. Net revenues in this segment were approximately $75 million, an increase of 10% compared to 2023.
We gained share in the craft market, expanded our distribution of high leverage and proprietary adjustable blade scissors and broadened the family of cutters to open boxes in industrial settings and in homes. We are excited about our new sharpening tools that we successfully introduced in the kitchen and culinary markets and the outstanding growth that we experienced in this category in 2024.
Our productivity initiatives resulted in over $2 million in annual savings. We attacked expenses on many fronts, including reducing the cost of first aid boxes, automating the placement of items into unitized packages, bidding our freight and carrier charges and installing new software tools to optimize placement of items in our warehouses.
We installed new warehouse racking in our largest distribution center. This facility in Rocky Mount, North Carolina has over 340,000 square feet on 33 acres of land and has been the backbone of our expansion during the past eight years. The new racking increases our capacity by 30% and positions us to handle additional growth.
Our businesses in Canada and Europe also had a good year. We moved into a new facility in Laval, Canada to handle growth in First Aid Central. Our European business made investments to expand in the First Aid in Medical segment and generated another profitable year.
We anticipate that there will be challenges with tariffs in 2025, and we feel we are ready. During the past eight years, we have purchased 10 companies with production facilities in the United States and Canada and work to diversify our sourcing to many global locations, including Thailand, Egypt, India and the Philippines.
We would like to acknowledge Stevenson Ward, who will be retiring from our Board of Directors in April. Steve has been Chair of our Audit Committee and a valued confidant, colleague and friend. He leaves us a much stronger company than when he arrived more than 20 years ago. I would like to personally say thank you to Steve Ward.
As we look into 2025, we are optimistic and confident. We have a strong customer base, excellent financial strength and a solid book of new business.
I will now turn the call to Paul. Paul?

Paul Driscoll

Acme's net sales for the fourth quarter were $45.9 million compared to $41.9 million in 2023, an increase of 10%. Sales for the year ended December 31, 2024, were $194.5 million compared to $191.5 million in 2023, an increase of 2%. Excluding the impact of the Camillus and Cuda hunting and fishing product lines sold on November 1, 2023, sales for 2024 increased 6%.
Net sales in the US segment increased 12% in the fourth quarter. Excluding Camillus and Cuda, sales increased 8% for the year ended December 31, 2024, due to market share gains with First Aid, Westcott, craft products and DMT sharpeners. Net sales in Europe declined 1% in local currency for the quarter sales for the year ended December 31, 2024, excluding Camillus and Cuda increased 8% compared to 2023.
The sales increase for the year was mainly due to market share gains in the office channel. Net sales in Canada were constant in local currency for the quarter. Sales for the year ended December 31, 2024, excluding Camillus and Cuda, increased 1% compared to 2023.
Sales of first aid products were strong, however, there was a decline in sales of school and office products. The gross margin was 38.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to 39.1% in 2023. The gross margin for the year was 39.3% compared to 37.7% in 2023.
The higher gross margin for the year was mainly due to productivity improvement initiatives in our manufacturing and distribution facilities. SG&A expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $15.5 million or 34% of sales compared with $14.3 million or 34% of sales for the same period of 2023. SG&A expenses for the 12 months of 2024 was $62 million or 32% of sales compared with $59 million or 31% of sales in 2023.
Interest expense for the year went from $3 million in 2023 to $1.9 million in 2024 due to a decline in the average debt of approximately $16 million. Net income for the fourth quarter 2024 was $1.7 million or $0.41 per diluted share. After excluding the $9.6 million gain on the sale of the Camillus and Cuda product lines in the fourth quarter 2023. This compares to $5.6 million or $0.40 per diluted share in Q4 2023, an increase of 9% in net income and 3% in diluted earnings per share.
Net income for the year ended December 31, 2024, was $10 million or $2.45 per diluted share. After excluding the gain on the sale of Camillus and Cuda, this compares to $8.1 million or $2.23 per diluted share in 2023, an increase of 23% of net income and 10% in diluted earnings per share.
The company's bank debt less cash on December 31, 2024, was $21.5 million compared to $19 million on December 31, 2023. During the 12-month period, we purchased the assets of a lease first aid for $6.1 million, paid $2.2 million in dividends and generated approximately $5 million in free cash flow.

Walter Johnsen

Thank you, Paul. I will now open the call to questions.

Question and Answer Session

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Jim Marrone, Singular Research

Jim Marrone

I have two questions. Both of them are related to the tariffs. With my first question, in your prepared remarks, you said that your company is ready for the upcoming tariffs. And you kind of alluded to the fact that you're already based on expansion with respect to acquisitions over a few years.
So I just was hoping that maybe you can just put a little bit more clarity to those prepared comments. And related to that, how do you plan on attacking or being prepared for tariffs -- both the tariffs that the US is going to impose as well as the retaliatory tariffs.
Do you plan on your operations in Canada, like selling from within and avoiding cross-border shipments as well as within the US? Or do you plan to continue cross-border trade. So I'm just curious if I'm looking forward to hearing your comments on that.

Walter Johnsen

That's really a very helpful question, Jim. The first part is the preparation. So over the past eight years, we've purchased manufacturing sites, Vancouver, Washington, that was first aid only. That's one of our major first aid production sites where we make first aid products. We also make first aid products in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. We bought Spill Magic, which makes spill cleanup powder, and in the medical area, we use that powder for bloodborne pathogen kits and bodily fluid cleanup kits. That production is in Santa Ana, California and Nashville, Tennessee.
We bought med Med-Nap, which makes alcohol prep pads, BZK Wipes, calamine lotion, hand sanitizers and other items, triple antibiotic wipes. That's in Brookfield, Florida, and we're working on an expansion there, all domestic production.
What we did in our Asian business, is a dual sourcing strategy in places like Egypt, which has a broad cotton industry. You may think of Egyptian cotton or Egyptian linen as an example, so gauze, tape. And it's very competitive with China. So we've moved quite a bit of production into Egypt as well as into China.
In the case of some of our production that's currently in China, we're moving pieces of it from the previous Trump tariffs into Thailand and the Philippines. The first production of Thai paper cutters as an example with a certificate awarded, Made in Thailand, was in December 2024. That's going to be followed by many, many other items. We do a lot of production today in India, and that's been as part of the diversification out of China.
So as you look at, first, the preparation, it's been something we've been responding to over the past eight years. And we are very broadly diversified compared to where we had been. Now specifically, the retaliatory tariffs and the question of how we address those, our subsidiaries are set up so that, for example, in Canada, our first aid central business produces first aid kits in Canada. There's very little cross-border shipping. There are some. For example, we make BZK wipes in Brooksville, Florida in Med-Nap. We ship them into Canada because there's a drastic shortage of those items in Canada.
And even if there was a retaliatory tariff, the availability of BZK wipes is something that we have that most of our competitors do not, and that would be a -- continue to be a plus. But the actual production, the sourcing in China, it's all in our Toronto location or Montreal location and our warehouse in Mount Forest. So it's really separate. In the case of Europe, it's similar. Our European business is a subsidiary that deals directly with China, and they have -- with the tariffs there, it's different than in the US. We don't ship from the US to Europe. It goes directly from the sources in China.
Our first aid production is done there as well as the other locations. So I'm not really too concerned about retaliatory tariffs. I think we're positioned to be able to respond to those very easily because we're whole within those locations.
Now when tariffs happen, we do a couple of things: First, we work with our suppliers to figure out ways to reduce cost, and they tend to respond to that; Second, we have an ongoing productivity program. I mentioned $2 million last year. Every year, you expect productivity in your factories and your suppliers have similar goals; Third, we do regular price increases for inflation, and that covers part of the cost of tariffs.
And frankly, if there's a tariff that's so big, like two or three, well, we're the largest scissor maker globally. So there's no one that can replace the volumes that we have. This is pricing power, and we are a leading brand.
In the case of our first aid, we're the leading brand in North America and again, with a very diversified sourcing base. Finally, if the tariffs were to be very, very high globally, we have the capability in our First Aid business to bring it back gradually into pieces of the US and vertically integrate further. So it's not perfect, but we're prepared.

Jim Marrone

Yes, that's great. Great insight. However, here's my follow-up. And right, it's not perfect, but you're prepared. So can you perhaps just comment like if the tariffs were to be imposed, like where exactly will your business hit the most? Will it be based on the input prices becoming higher and you have to pay higher input prices? Or will it be based on the sales where you're going to be having to sell at higher price points as a result of the tariff. Can you give us a sense of where the biggest hit is going to be and how that's going to play out.

Walter Johnsen

Well, it's a dynamic situation right now because tariffs. There's an extra 10% that was just announced for implementation next week and -- for China. So with that, as an example, first, it's on your cost, not your selling price, right, because you're importing. We pay the tariff.
We will be working with our suppliers to adjust their costs. We will adjust maybe the mix of some products, we will be getting productivity. And there is a price increase that will go with inflation, and we've already announced those and they're happening. So it's a mix. But generally, when we're done, we try to be pretty close to margin breakeven being sensitive to -- that we're giving real value to our customers.

Jim Marrone

Right. And what about on the other end, on the sales side. So like how much of an impact can you imagine having to sell with regards to the goods that are shipped cross-border as far as the price points of your selling prices being higher as a result of the tariffs? Can you get a sense of how much impact that could possibly be?

Walter Johnsen

Well, again, it just depends on the rest of the supply chain, but we've already put a price increase. Remember, there is inflation. So you've got that covering on your selling price. And there may be a pickup in a little bit of that, but then maybe the customer trades to a different item. And we work with them to keep the utility of what they're buying comparable and they don't actually get a price increase. They have a substitution. So it's not quite so simple. And I know the press says, well, you got a 10% increase in -- 10% selling prices increase. It doesn't work that way.

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Jeffrey Matthews, RAM Partners.

Jeffrey Matthews

That was a great answer, Walter, and leads into my question, which is also about tariffs, but more broadly, we have an economic policy that's kind of run out of the White House now, and it sort of depends on what side of the bed the President got up on.
And an advantage that you don't have is that if you're a very large company like Apple or Amazon and you can pay $1 million to -- for his -- President's Inauguration Committee, you now have a seat at the table and he's going to be your friend. And my question is, does the small manufacturer who could get run over depending on where the tariffs are applied. Does the small manufacturer have a voice at the table here?

Walter Johnsen

Well, we really do not have a voice at the table. The -- and you're absolutely right, we're not Apple. On the other hand, within our market segments, we're very good whether that's in the cutting area where we have the largest share in the world or in the scissors or in the first aid where we're major in North America, we do have pricing power.
So we -- and we do have negotiating power with our suppliers. But we are clearly not influencing policy. And -- so we're responding. We also, as you can imagine, we have purchased inventory in advance of these tariffs so that we have time to adjust our pricing mix and product mix to meet what might come forward. But you're absolutely right. We do not have a seat at the table.

Jeffrey Matthews

But you're flexible and you're responsive and you've got your eyes wide open, and I would have expected no less, but I appreciate that answer. My follow-up is the Canadian acquisition you made, the Red Cross out of bankruptcy. That -- I forget how long ago that was, but could you give an update on kind of how that is playing out and how it's developing relative to your expectations at the time?

Walter Johnsen

Yes. So for those who may not remember, we bought a company called Hawktree Solutions out of bankruptcy last September. So this is September 2023. And they have been supplying first aid kits to the Canadian Red Cross and to other customers in Canada. When COVID happened, they started to supply gloves and other PPE items to the Canadian government and they ballooned in sales, which was terrific. And then they financed themselves with quite a bit of debt for continued growth.
Then COVID ended, and the debt was called and the company went bankrupt. So we bought that business for about CAD1 million and it was -- it had inventory of about $1.3 million. So we bought it below its cost of inventory. We have built that to about a $2.5 million to $3 million business right now profitably. We've renewed the contract with the Canadian Red Cross. We're introducing the Elite first aid, first responder bags to the Canadian market through -- it's all First Aid Central today, but it's through the customer base that Elite had. And we've used the inventory very effectively. So it's a part of the business, and it's been a good acquisition.

Operator

Richard Dearnley, Longport Partners.

Richard Dearnley

Paul, why did you stop releasing the European sales numbers?

Paul Driscoll

I didn't know, I did stop releasing European sales numbers.

Richard Dearnley

Yes, you have US and Canada, but no Europe.

Paul Driscoll

No, I did mention Europe. I know I did. You mean in this call or -- ?

Richard Dearnley

In the press release?

Paul Driscoll

I'm pretty sure they're in the press release.

Richard Dearnley

I've read it.

Paul Driscoll

Okay, it's front of me, it's in there.

Richard Dearnley

Oh, gosh. Okay. Sorry about that.

Paul Driscoll

That's right.

Richard Dearnley

Well, Walter and Paul, if Westcott was $75 million for the year and up 10%, that would suggest a $7 million increase in sales. Sales of the $194 million was up $3 million. Does that -- are you coming me that First Aid was down for the year?

Paul Driscoll

No. First Aid was up approximately 5%. Included in the $191.5 million last year was $9 million of Camillus and Cuda. So Westcott was up 10% and first aid was up 5%. But we don't have the $9 million in Camillus and Cuda. -- So when I say Westcott, it's -- (multiple speakers).

Richard Dearnley

And the $30 million of refills, I thought refills were around $40 million?

Paul Driscoll

Well, I think in net sales, I believe it's $30 million.

Walter Johnsen

When we look at what's going out the door, we're looking at gross sales, and that has rebates and things, and that's what we measure. So I may have said $40 million at one point because that's what I see. But then when they netted out for reporting, it might be down to $30 million, but it's something like that.

Operator

Jake Patterson, Talanta Investment Group.

Just one question on SG&A. I think second quarter, you guys mentioned you expected it to decline as a percent of sales, a little below 31%, picked up a good bit here in the fourth quarter. So just kind of just curious if that is still a fair assumption going forward.

Walter Johnsen

The assumption being somewhere between 31% and 32%, that's probably right.

Yes, yes, that's right. Okay. Well, you said -- I think you said a little below 31%. So I was kind of -- what I was interested in.

Walter Johnsen

It's somewhere in that range.

Okay. And then I guess like the uptick this year, is there anything you could call out specifically, like growth investments or anything?

Paul Driscoll

Well, it was up by 1 percentage-point on net sales. That's just -- it's mostly inflationary reasons and typical wage increases. So other than that, there's not much there.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Johnsen for any closing comments.

Walter Johnsen

So if there are no further questions, this call is complete. Thank you for joining us. We look forward to discussing our first quarter of 2025 with you in April. Goodbye.

Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.