Universal Corporation Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Results
Universal Corporation (NYSE:UVV) (“Universal” or the “Company”), a global business-to-business agriproducts company, today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Preston D. Wigner, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Universal, stated, “We are starting fiscal year 2027 with confidence in the long-term strategic direction of our company. We are focused on creating sustainable value through disciplined execution across our businesses. In tobacco, we believe that our long-standing market expertise and measured approach position us well to navigate current oversupply conditions, make prudent buying decisions, and be a trusted, full-service partner to our customers. In ingredients, we are leveraging our platform growth investments and focusing on improving commercial execution, facility utilization, and financial and operational efficiencies. We expect certain of our improvement efforts to continue through our next fiscal year.”
Mr. Wigner continued, “Our first fiscal quarter results reflected the expected timing and market dynamics in our tobacco business, in comparison to our exceptional first quarter results in the prior fiscal year. Purchasing activity was slower as we and our customers evaluated green tobacco price trends amid oversupply conditions in flue-cured and burley markets and monitored potential weather impacts on next season’s crops. We are pleased with our current customer indications and commitments, and we expect customer demand to remain consistent with our fiscal year sales plan. In our ingredients business, revenue was down slightly from the prior year’s quarter, and results continued to be negatively affected by persistent consumer market headwinds, high fixed costs at our expanded Lancaster facility, and longer-than-anticipated product development cycles. We continued to implement our initiatives to strengthen the ingredients platform for long-term success, which include enhancements to leadership, systems, operational capabilities, and commercial execution. During the fiscal quarter, our liquidity position remained strong, and our debt levels were down due to reduced working capital usage, driven by tobacco crop purchase timing and lower green tobacco prices.”
