Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from Jeffrey Zekauskas with J.P. Morgan.
Jeffrey Zekauskas – J.P. Morgan
How many employees did you have at the end of the quarter, if you know?
Michele Volpi
Well, I can tell you that the employee total at the company at the close of second quarter was 3162. That is the total H.B. Fuller census at the end of the second quarter.
Jeffrey Zekauskas – J.P. Morgan
Second question is you talked about this new pieces of business that grow now. Can you size the magnitude of this business you’ve picked up?
Michele Volpi
As you know, there are expectations in retail. It depends on how the construction market is doing, but it is significant enough for us to talk about it, and is significant, strategic, and solid enough for us to take some special charges in the quarter. We are very happy this has been going on. Of course, we didn’t speak about it for confidentiality reasons in the quarters before, but that was behind my commitment to turn around the business, and they’ve done a terrific business. It’s long-term business that we had targeted, that we have landed, and it goes in the direction of our strategy. Allow me not to be specific as far as numbers are related, but we are speaking clearly of several millions of dollars.
Jeffrey Zekauskas – J.P. Morgan
In terms of the price increases, what is the order of magnitude of new price increases that you’ve issued, and what do you hope to achieve over the next couple of quarters?
Michele Volpi
It is clear that we were able to remedy some situations in the second quarter, but the vast majority, it is fair to say, it was a time of preparation in the second quarter. Very tough time of preparation because things kept moving and keep moving, and you’ve seen all the announcements in the market place. At a certain point in time, we made a calculation and we said we’ll go with this, but it is clear that we are speaking for the full year of double-digit price increases, and they are necessary to cope with the ever-escalating raw material prices. You’ve seen our expectations; it is between 13-15% over the year. Of course, our sourcing teams and technology teams are working as much as possible on reformulation, but it is important that our teams and our customers understand this situation.
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