Russel Metals Q1 2026 Earnings Report

Russel Metals EPS Results

• Actual EPS: C$1.30
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Russel Metals Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $1.42 billion
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Russel Metals Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2026
• Date: 5/5/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 9:00AM ET

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals. Its energy field stores carry a specialized product line focused on the needs of energy industry customers. Its steel distributors operations act as master distributors selling steel in large volumes to other steel service centers and large equipment manufacturers mainly on an 'as is' basis.

Russel Metals Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 delivered record revenues (>CAD 1.4B) and record service‑center shipments, with EBITDA of CAD 124M (apples‑to‑apples EBITDA CAD 93M) and annualized ROIC of 22%, signaling materially stronger operating performance.
• Positive Sentiment: The Kloeckner acquisition (closed Dec 31, 2025) contributed ~CAD 8M EBITDA and CAD 183M revenue in Q1, implies ~4x purchase price to EBITDA on early results, and management expects gradual margin normalization through 2026–2027 as integrations and value‑add CapEx are implemented.
• Positive Sentiment: Management completed a strategic real estate monetization (Delta, B.C.) for ~CAD 39M cash (after‑tax gain ~CAD 31M), and has extracted roughly CAD 100M of capital from legacy Western Canada assets, highlighting meaningful hidden real estate value.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong capital allocation and balance sheet discipline — dividend raised to CAD 0.44/share (4th consecutive annual increase), Q1 returns to shareholders ~CAD 31M (CAD 7M buybacks + CAD 24M dividends), cumulative NCIB reduced shares ~14%, net debt ~CAD 130M and ~CAD 0.5B liquidity.
• Positive Sentiment: Market backdrop is supportive with U.S. mill operating rates ~80%, tighter supply, and same‑store service‑center gross margin improvement (~111 bps QoQ); management expects Q2 volumes to be flat to slightly up and further margin improvement.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2026 first quarter results for Russel Metals. Today's call will be hosted by Mr. Martin Juravsky, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. John Reid, President and Chief Executive Officer of Russel Metals. Today's presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period. At that time, if you have a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. I will now turn the meeting over to Mr. Martin Juravsky. Please go ahead, Mr. Juravsky.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Great. Thank you, operator, good morning, everyone. I plan on providing an overview of the Q1 2026 results, and if you want to follow along, I'll be using the slides that are on our website. You can go to the Investor Relations section, and it's located in the Conference Call submenu, or alternatively, you can click on the link that is in the Investor Conference Call paragraph of our recent press release. If you go to page three, you can read our cautionary statement on forward-looking information.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

To begin, I would characterize Q1 as a very positive inflection point for two primary reasons. One, a number of the strategic initiatives that have been discussed over the past year or so have translated into positive impacts within our Q1 results. Two, we are starting to see the benefits from favorable market conditions.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

In particular, the market conditions improved through Q1, with the end of the quarter being stronger than the start of the quarter. This sets the stage well for Q2. On page five, we've got a snapshot of our quarter. In Q1, we had record overall revenues and also record shipments for our steel service center segment, and this was the result of three items. One, the Kloeckner acquisition that we closed on December 31st, 2025, a seasonal rebound in same-store volume versus Q4, and good pricing and market conditions. More specifically, on the last point related to market conditions, we saw a 111-basis point improvement in our service center same-store gross margins in Q1 versus Q4.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

The Kloeckner business generated about CAD 8 million of EBITDA contribution, which was in line with our near-term expectations for the business as it currently is. We have many incremental initiatives that will benefit the business over the next year or so. We completed the sale of our property in Delta, B.C. As most people know, this was an initiative that started quite some time ago. This resulted in proceeds of CAD 39 million, a pre-tax gain of CAD 36 million, and an after-tax gain of CAD 31 million. More importantly, it was the final piece in pulling capital out of Western Canada that was part of the Samuel acquisition strategy. In total, we have now taken out around CAD 100 million worth of capital as compared to the original announced purchase price of CAD 225 million.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

It's a pretty meaningful change in the valuation metrics and implied multiple from that transaction. This real estate monetization also highlights another example of how the inherent market value for some of our legacy real estate is significantly higher than the book values. In this case, the realized cash proceeds of almost CAD 40 million compared to the book value, which was only around CAD 3 million. On the middle row of the diagram, our Q1 CapEx was CAD 18 million, which was a pickup from the last couple of quarters, and I'll talk more about this later. expect the discretionary CapEx to increase in the later part of 2026 and into 2027 as John and I are seeing more projects being reviewed and approved.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Capital deployed is around CAD 1.8 billion. Our capital grew from CAD 1.3 billion at the end of 2023 to CAD 1.6 billion at the end of 2024, and there's additional opportunities on the come. We generated strong return on invested capital. Our annualized return on invested capital in Q1 was 22% versus 15% over the past two years, and these levels compare well against our industry peers and against our stated target of greater than 15% over the cycle.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

We grew in strategic ways. Our U.S. platform now represents 53% of revenues, and in Q1, it represented 58% of operating profit. This is the first time that our U.S. business units contributed more revenue than our Canadian business units.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Also, the market conditions in the U.S. are currently strong and have resulted in a higher relative profitability in our U.S. units versus our Canadian units, which is why there's a higher proportion of operating profits coming out of the U.S. than revenues coming out of the U.S. Our non-ferrous business was 10% of revenues in Q1, which was down from 11% in 2025, as the former Kloeckner branches were carbon-based and added to our total sales, but not necessarily to our non-ferrous mix. On the last row of the diagram, returning capital to shareholders, our balanced approach is pretty simple. In Q1, we returned CAD 7 million via share buybacks, CAD 24 million via dividends for a total of about CAD 31 million.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

In addition, we just announced an increase in our dividend to CAD 0.44 per share. This is now the fourth consecutive year of a per-share dividend increase, which in aggregate totals 16% since we started to increase the dividend back in 2023. In the bottom right box on the page, maintaining capital structure is critical as we operate in a cyclical industry. We've talked about this a lot in the past, and it's a key tenet for us. As a result, our liquidity is strong. We have flexible bank covenants, no financial covenants in our term debt, and our maturities are several years down the road.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Let's turn to market conditions on page six. Quick summary. Market conditions are pretty good right now. We saw sheet and plate prices exhibit increases on a steady basis over the last six months. Hot-rolled coil and plate prices in the U.S. were up in Q1 versus Q4, and those prices are currently prevailing higher than the Q1 averages. Overall demand is solid and supply is tight, with mill operating rates tracking near 80%, which is a very healthy level. Lead times are extended and supply chain inventories are modest. This suggests continued optimism going into Q2.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

On page seven, you see a summary of our trend EBITDA. We've talked a lot in the past about changing our EBITDA profile to raise the cycle floor, raise the cycle ceiling, and as a result, raise the cycle average, in addition to focus on reducing the volatility through the cycle. This chart represents those elements as each of the EBITDAs are on a trailing 12-month basis at various points in time. Two charts showing on the left pre-COVID period and the right being the more to the post-COVID period. The takeaways, if you look at the right-hand chart, our trailing 12-month trend results continue to improve.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Our LTM EBITDA and our Q1 2026 annualized EBITDA, if we are to exclude some of the non-recurring items in Q1, like the gain on sale and the mark-to-market on our stock-based compensation, are both around CAD 370 million, which is slightly above the recent multi-year average, as we are now realizing the benefits from our recent initiatives. This is another example of how the change in our business mix has really shaped our earnings profile over the cycle in such that our average cycle EBITDA is trending higher than it has in the past, and our volatility is lower than it has been in the past.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page eight, a view of our EBITDA and working capital trends on a longer-term basis. If I can focus more on the bottom chart, which is the working capital changes. In particular, if you look at most Q1 periods over the past several years, we do use cash for working capital purposes due to the seasonal items, including our company-wide annual incentive compensation payments. This factor, plus the impact of higher product prices, led to the use of CAD 46 million of cash for working capital in Q1, which you see in the far right-hand side of the bottom chart. That being said, the use of cash for working capital in Q1 2026 was within the normal range for comparable Q1 periods from other years.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

On page nine, a little bit of a trend on some of our historical results. If we look across the various charts going from top left, revenues were a quarterly record at over CAD 1.4 billion. EBITDA of CAD 124 million was up from Q4 2025 due to the favorable conditions that I previously mentioned and the gain on the property sale. EBITDA margin came in at 8.7% for the quarter, which was a very nice level, including the property sale, or 6.2% if we exclude it. Either metric is very favorable in the context of the market that we've seen.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

EPS was CAD 1.30 per share in Q1, which was a higher level than the comparable periods in the chart. Even if we exclude the gain on sale of property and the mark-to-market on stock-based comp, the Q1 EPS was noticeably higher in Q1 than Q4 2025 and the comparable Q1 of 2025. As I mentioned earlier, our return on capital for Q1 annualized at 22%, and our three-year average remains above our internal hurdle of 15%.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

A few more details on the financials on page 10. From an income statement perspective, some of the high-level items I've already covered off, a few other items to note. Revenues up 30% from Q4, up 21% from Q1 of 2025. I'll talk more about volumes later, it was a record shipping quarter in spite of some weather-related issues that impacted most of the eastern side of North America in late January.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Our gross margin percent was up slightly in Q1 versus Q4. The margin profile from the former Kloeckner branches was around 300 basis points lower than our equivalent same-store gross margins due to their product mix and the legacy business approach. That being said, those former Kloeckner branches contributed around CAD 8 million of EBITDA in Q1. As I've mentioned already, there were a couple of non-operational items in the quarter included in our results. CAD 36 million pre-gain, which was CAD 31 million after-tax gain on the sale. The mark-to-market on a stock-based comp was an expense of CAD 5 million in Q1. It was also an expense, but of CAD 3 million in Q4, but the comparative period to Q1 2025 was a CAD 3 million recovery.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

One of the items that we have shown in both our press release and in our MD&A is a table that illustrates the quarterly EBITDA on an apples-to-apples basis to exclude both the gain on the property sale and the mark-to-market on stock-based comp. If you look at that table, it shows that we generated CAD 93 million of EBITDA in Q1 2026, which was a CAD 21 million increase versus Q4 of 2025 and a CAD 10 million increase from Q1 2025. Under any basis of measure, we are pretty proud of the results that came in in Q1. From a cash flow perspective, in Q1, we used CAD 46 million of cash from working capital, which typically happens in Q1.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

As I mentioned earlier, Kloeckner acquisition closed and the final purchase price based upon refined working capital was $94 million. As a result, we received a $8 million or about CAD 11 million payment back from Kloeckner in April, to adjust for what was otherwise paid on a preliminary basis in December. To put that $94 million purchase price into context, it equates to around CAD 128 million, and the former Kloeckner branch has generated CAD 183 million of revenues, CAD 8 million EBITDA in Q1. Based upon the early results and our expectations going forward, this transaction should equate to a purchase price multiple of around 4x EBITDA.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Share buybacks were CAD 7 million in Q1. Cumulative share buybacks since August 2022, 14% of then shares outstanding for CAD 333 million at an average cost of CAD 38.13. Again, the theme of us being opportunistic in the past approach, I think, has worked out very well. Our quarterly dividend was CAD 0.43. That was paid in March, and as I said earlier, we've just declared an increase to CAD 0.44 that will be paid in June. Our CapEx CAD 18 million was up a bit from Q4. Balance sheet perspective, we remain in a strong position with only CAD 130 million of net debt, and our book value per share is just above CAD 30 per share.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

On page 11, EBITDA variance, last quarter to this quarter and looking starting at the left-hand side of the page, service centers. Same-store volumes were up versus Q4, which translates to about a CAD 15 million EBITDA pickup. Same-store margin showed an improvement of CAD 36 per ton, which equated to a CAD 14 million EBITDA pickup. Same-store costs were higher by CAD 13 million due to greater volumes and greater profitability. I said earlier, the Kloeckner part of the business contributed about CAD 8 million of EBITDA.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Energy field stores had a nice quarter. Slow start to the year, when we look at Q1 in totality, field stores were up CAD 5 million, and it was a nice pickup in the tail end of the quarter. Steel distributors were down a little bit, comparable to Q4 if we are to exclude the CAD 2 million tariff recovery that we picked up in Q4 of 2025.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

In the other bucket, there was an increase in corporate expenses due to higher profitability, a negative variance from the mark-to-market on stock-based comp, which I mentioned earlier, and the seasonal dynamic at our Thunder Bay terminal operation.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page 12, segmented P&L. Service centers, I'll go through this in more detail on the next page, but it was a really nice, and favorable improvement versus Q4. Energy field stores revenues were up and gross margins were flat, remaining at a very healthy level in Q1 versus Q4, and that translated into the higher profitability in the energy field store segment. Distributors revenue, as I mentioned earlier, revenues were up a little bit. Gross margins, EBITDA were very comparable in Q1 versus Q4.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page 13, a deeper dive into the metrics within our service center segment, there are some really nice and noticeable changes quarter-over-quarter, starting with the top right graph is tons shipped. Q1 was a record by a lot. Shipments were up 32% over Q4 and up 18% over Q1 2025. The Kloeckner branches contribute about 17% to our Q1 shipments. On a same-store basis, shipments were up 9% versus Q4 and very comparable with Q1 of 2025. Said another way, the market conditions are good, leading to increased demand. The actions that we have taken, in particular related to acquisitions, have also translated into impactful results. Margins picked up in Q1 versus Q4. Margin dollars were up CAD 25 per ton and CAD 36 per ton on a same-store basis.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

As I mentioned earlier, the Kloeckner margin profile is lower than our average that we had in our same-store basis, and gross margin in percentage terms was up 60 basis points overall, but 111 basis points if we look at on a same-store basis. Again, contributions and improved market conditions as part of the outcome that we saw in Q1.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page 14, inventory turns. Overall inventory turns improved to 4.2 in Q1. Inventories are tight as business conditions are strong. Page 15, we've illustrated our inventory dollars. Total inventory at March 31st was comparable to what it was at December 31st, which is a combination of lower tonnage, as our folks are doing a really nice job in managing through the environment we're in right now, but higher cost per ton within the service center segment.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

If we go to page 16, quick update on our capital structure. Our liquidity is strong, which gives us a lot of flexibility. We recently had DBRS reaffirm our investment grade rating, which goes along with our investment grade rating from Standard & Poor's. Since last quarter, our net debt was reduced by CAD 14 million, and our liquidity remains right around CAD 0.5 billion.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page 17, last page. Excuse me, second last page. We have an update of our capital allocation priorities going forward. On the left part of the page, we show our investment approach, seek average returns greater than 15% over the cycle, and as I've mentioned a couple times already, we've delivered that pretty consistently, including this most recent quarter.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

On the right side of the page, we show our approach to returning capital to shareholders, it's continued to be that flexible approach. Over the last two years, we have returned an average amount on an annual basis of about CAD 99 million to shareholders via the NCIB. While the annual run rate for a dividend is now CAD 97 million after taking into account both the reduced share count and the increased dividend to CAD 0.44 per share. Pretty balanced and very comparable amounts between both the historical NCIB and the dividend level.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page 18 provide a context on our capital reinvestment program. In Q1, we invested CAD 18 million in CapEx, which is a slight increase from the recent quarters, and expect the pickup in discretionary projects to gain some momentum in the back half of this year, as there have been a series of projects that have crossed my desk and John's desk and others' desks in the last little bit and have been recently approved and should be underway shortly. These projects are spread across many of our operating divisions on both sides of the border.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Page 19. This is now the last page. We show a deeper dive on returning capital to shareholders. Top left graph, our longer-term dividend profile, with the most recent dividend increase to CAD 0.44 per share per quarter. This represents, as I said earlier, the fourth year in which, fourth increase in four years and represents about a 16% cumulative increase since the early 2023 dividend level.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Bottom left chart, we show our quarterly NCIB activity since it was put in place back in August of 2022. It's an opportunistic way to buy back shares, and we've been aggressive at certain price points, more so than others. In Q1, we acquired 150,000 shares at an average price of CAD 47.42 per share. As I mentioned earlier, our cumulative NCIB since 2022 has been a 14% reduction on our share count at an average cost of CAD 38.13 per share.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Top right chart. The aggregation of dividends at NCIB over the past two years shows pretty balanced approach. It's worth noting on the chart that even though our dividend per share has increased in a meaningful amount, our total dividend outlay, which is the darker blue part of that chart, has remained at around CAD 24 million per quarter as a result of the continuing reduction in our share count, which is also illustrated in the bottom right chart on the page.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

In closing, on behalf of John and other members of the management team, just really like to express our thanks to everyone on the Russel team for their contributions. This has been a really nice start to 2026 and look forward to more opportunities on the come. Operator, that concludes my introductory remarks. You can now open the lines for questions, please.

[Operator]

Thank you. The first question comes from James McGarragle from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

[James McGarragle, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me on.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Great. Thanks, James.

[James McGarragle, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Yeah. I just wanted to ask on the Q2 commentary on volumes. You mentioned, you know, kind of stable volumes quarter-over-quarter. You know, it seems like, you know, the early part of the Q1 was impacted by, you know, some tough operating conditions, things picked up into March. When we looked at, you know, transportation reporting, it seems like that strength from March carried into April, which, I assume is kind of consistent with what you guys are seeing. You know, why the commentary for, you know, flat volumes quarter-over-quarter when, you know, all indications, you know, are that things kind of accelerated throughout the quarter and that strength from March is continuing into April?

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Yeah, James, your observation is pretty accurate, which is the tone today is better than probably the tone a month ago or two months ago. We're continuing to see that positive trend. Your observation is not unreasonable. You know, if we were to actually extrapolate that into Q2, flat volumes would be a conservative point of view. Slightly up volumes, which is probably a little bit more realistic the way we look at it right now.

[James McGarragle, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Okay, perfect. Then, on the margin commentary, again, you mentioned, you know, the improvement quarter-over-quarter. You know, it seems like there's still a little bit of a favorable pricing lag on steel prices, potentially higher volumes. Can you kinda help us, you know, quantify that quarter-over-quarter margin improvement a little more just to help with our modeling into Q2?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. Thanks, James. Again, good observation. You do have, again, very steady demand from the steel mill perspective, especially in the U.S. right now. They're bouncing right around 80%. Keep in mind, you also have scheduled mill shutdowns in Q2, which will tighten supply. It gives further pricing opportunity to the steel mills, so we anticipate price increases throughout the quarter. We are seeing demand improve. Again, it's strong in the U.S. It's steady and slightly improving in Canada. If you look at the Architecture Billings Index, it's now above 50. If you look at the Purchasing Managers' Index, it's now above 50. All those are good signs for our business going forward. We think we'll see continued margin improvement in our Kloeckner acquisition.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Again, they do not have the value-added component that our traditional service centers do, so we'll start to implement some of that for some of our pricing metrics. We think there'll be continued margin improvement in the service centers. I would say on the energy side and the steel distribution side, it would be more the same on the margin.

[James McGarragle, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets]

Oh, great. Appreciate the color, and I'll turn the line. Thanks.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Thanks, James.

[Operator]

Thank you. Next question comes from Maxim Sytchev from National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.

[Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial]

Hi, good morning, gentlemen. John, maybe if you don't mind, if you can discuss the Kloeckner integration, maybe if you don't mind addressing sort of, you know, the operational sort of things you're focusing on, kind of change management. I guess the second part of the question would be in relation to Marty, around sort of the margin normalization over which time frame we should be modeling. Thank you.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Max, on the Kloeckner integration, again, the first quarter was really a focus. Again, you're doing a shared service agreement with the computer system, so we made sure we're stabilized. We started to implement our approach to the market, pricing is different than Kloeckner. We've seen an increase throughout the quarter in the gross margin percentage. We think we'll continue to see that into second quarter. We'll move to our computer system late third quarter, early fourth quarter. Also we'll be spending some CapEx in the latter part of the year, to introduce the value-added, the higher-end value-added products that we do and services that we offer.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

We think that'll be a gradual improvement over the course of the year and early into next year to where they start to look and feel more like our service centers from a gross margin profile.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Max, does that last comment from John address the time horizon-

[Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial]

Perfect. Yeah, yeah.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

...that you were asking?

[Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial]

Yeah. For sure. For sure. Yeah.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Thank you.

[Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial]

Marty, like in terms of the margin normalization dynamic, is this sort of like a 12 months or 24 months type bounce off?

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. I think the way you should think about that is there's probably two, if not three phases to margin normalization. We're in the middle and the early stages of phase I, which is just business practices. Some of that is around procurement, some of that is around customer approach and pricing in the market, and we're at the early stage, but actively in that phase I. Phase II will involve integrating into the rest of the Russel system in the regions. That's going to be happening later in 2026 and into early 2027. That will also have an additional component attached to margin normalization. The third phase is really triggered around CapEx opportunities.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

You know, as John talked about, we do a lot more value add in our comparable operations than they do, and we're mapping out what those investment opportunities will be in the Kloeckner branches. As a practical matter, just the lead time attached to putting equipment in and getting it up and running and getting the benefits of it, that's why I put that into that third phase. That first phase will be happening in 2026. The second phase will be happening in late 2026 and early 2027. That third phase is probably latter part of 2027 before we start to see the benefits of some of those investments.

[Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial]

Okay. Super helpful. Thank you so much. Last quick question, in terms of, you know, real estate optimization, obviously, you continue to sort of streamline your platform. Is there anything else that is sort of hidden value that you can surface in the future? Maybe any thoughts there? Thank you.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Yeah, it's a good question, Max. In some ways, the Delta monetization highlights there is a lot of inherent market value well in excess of our book value. You know, as I mentioned earlier, that was a deal where we ended up realizing close to CAD 40 million on something that was on the books for CAD 3 million. That being said, we're always looking at the portfolio, and there's probably a couple smaller things that are in the works right now. Nothing near close to that order of magnitude, but we're constantly looking at the portfolio.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

As a minimum, whether we monetize some real estate or don't monetize some real estate, there is this notion of there is an awful lot of market value in excess of our book value. The Delta one highlights it, and we're always looking at stuff. Near term, though, there's a couple of situations that we're looking at, but they don't come anywhere close to the orders of magnitude attached to the Delta one.

[Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial]

Okay. Super helpful. Thank you so much.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Thanks, Max.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question comes from Frederic Bastien from Raymond James. Please go ahead.

[Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James]

Morning, guys.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Frederic.

[Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James]

More higher level, I guess. The changes made in the past five years have obviously strengthened Russel and raised the ceiling and floor on earnings growth profile, as you mentioned. Have these improvements enhanced your visibility on revenue and earnings? In other words, does your visibility extend beyond the current quarter and perhaps into Q3 and even Q4 now?

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Let me tackle it from one angle and then maybe it's less about the revenue visibility and the profitability visibility because we are still a highly transactional business. I think if you look back at Russel's history over a longer term, it wasn't so much the revenue visibility that caused the volatility, it was the negative surprises. The streamlining and changes to the business have substantially reduced, perhaps even, dare I say, eliminated some of those meaningful negative surprises. The core of the business is still highly transactional, highly adaptable. That is part of the underpinning of how Russel is set up. Is that fair, John?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. No, I think that's very fair, Marty. Frederic continued, and again, Marty was, I think, alluding to the OCTG line pipe was something that was very volatile for us. There's some other areas that we have tightened up in. What that's done is actually given us more flexibility in that the ability to react to the market as it changes due to our transactional nature. We can now move very quickly with the market and mitigate any downside risk. We can also move to maximize upside risk quicker than we have in the past. Again, long-term visibility is still that same two to three months out, but we can adjust so much faster now because we don't have that lagging risk that's over our head.

[Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James]

Okay. That's super helpful. If we look maybe five years ago, you were less, probably around 30% U.S. You're now over 50%. Where do you think that settles? I mean, presumably, you're gonna continue to increase that proportion of revenue coming out of the U.S., pending some acquisition. If you were to venture to say, you know, where would you be in five years or perhaps three years in terms of exposure?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

I think logically, yeah, the U.S., there's a lot more opportunity for us. We're growing in the U.S. We're strong in the U.S. South right now. We've got some in the Midwest. We're starting on the East Coast, but there's just a lot more geographic opportunity in the U.S. We're pretty much number one or two in every market across Canada. Growth there is more targeted. That being said, we'll remain opportunistic. If there are opportunities either in Canada or in the U.S., we'd remain opportunistic.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

More specific to your question, over the next five years, we'll probably move more towards the U.S. in growth just because there's so much more opportunity there. You know, it's a 60/40 mix. Could it go 70/30? We'll just play it opportunistically and see. I think directionally, yeah, the U.S. will continue to grow at a little bit faster clip.

[Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James]

Okay. Sorry, I'm gonna throw in one more. One of the frustrations by a lot of our management teams is that multiples in the private sector have been really come down. There's still a lot of private equity competition. Are you feeling the same kind of environment? Are you still seeing some pretty hefty prices there, or is it reasonable?

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Are you talking for M&A deals, Fred?

[Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James]

Yes.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

There's surprisingly not that much private equity competition in the world that we operate in. I mean, it does pop up every now and again. But it is the competitors that we find on M&A deals are typically strategics. I think, you know, when we have been successful on M&A, it's because of the unique things that we can bring to the table, and it's not necessarily just paying more. In fact, a number of cases, we haven't paid more the way we've approached it, just to be very targeted in our approaches. Private equity hasn't really been our competition.

[Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James]

Great. Thanks for those, for that color, guys. Thank you very much.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Thanks, Fred.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question comes from Michael Tupholme of TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

[Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Thank you.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Hey, Mike.

[Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Hey, good morning. Maybe just to pick up on that last line of questioning, just with respect to M&A. Obviously, you've, you know, you've recently closed in the last several years, several larger transactions that are more involved in terms of some of the work that needs to be done. Obviously, lots of work to do still on Kloeckner. Regardless, just wondering if you can comment on other potential M&A opportunities. Is this something you're focused on? What are you seeing in the market right now opportunity-wise?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah, Mike, we're seeing opportunities that are out there right now. The pipeline is still steady, I would say. I think a lot of private investors are looking at this turn in the market and saying, "How long is the run?" What are they looking at? The separation in the two economies, be it Canada and the U.S. right now. People may be looking at things a little differently. We are seeing some activity. We'll continue to look at opportunities that fit with us. Again, as you know from our past history, we are very selective and work very diligently to make sure it fits culturally with our company and also fits into our financial metrics model.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

If I could make one adjacent comment to that. You know, when we look back at, as John was alluding to, our acquisition history, there's been times where we've been active, and there's times where we haven't completed any deals. It's not for lack of looking, it's been remaining disciplined. If we look back at, was it 2022, 2023, we didn't close a single acquisition in those two years. A primary component was not for lack of opportunity or for lack of looking, it was lack of stuff that met our criteria. Markets were really good and valuations were exceptionally high. There's times where you stay on the sidelines and there's times that you're active, and it really is a function of being adaptable to whatever the market conditions are.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

If valuation expectations move up in conjunction with the market environment we're in right now, we're probably more likely to be on the sidelines than the periods of time where we've been aggressive, where valuations make a lot of sense.

[Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. Thank you for that. With respect to CapEx, you had previously talked about CAD 100 million was the expectation for the year. The level you're at in Q1 is a little bit lower than what that would imply on a full year basis run rate level. Just wondering how we think about CapEx. Is it gonna ramp from here? If you can provide a little bit more detail on some of the projects that you're pursuing this year, that'd be that'd be helpful as well.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. Maybe, John, you can talk about the projects, but when I think about the CAD 100 million, Mike, that's a multi-year average. We don't really have it so hardwired of this is what it's going to be in this quarter or this year, even though technically there is a piece of paper somewhere that says that, because it's always ebbing and flowing, and a 12-month period of time is a little bit of an artificial frame of reference for us at least to measure that. Think of that CAD 100 million as a multi-year average. Sir John?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah, just to be a little more granular, Mike, we probably got right now roughly CAD 40 million for the projects that are approved. We probably got that plus some that are coming forward for approval that we're already aware of and starting to see information on. It really comes back to lead time on equipment, depending on what the project is. Does it require a building? Some of those lead times can be six months, nine months, 12 months, 24 months. You can get some of this gets lumpy from time to time based on those lead times. Again, we still have a healthy pipeline right now of projects coming forward.

[Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. That's helpful. Is, you know, is a lot of that value-added or how does that sort of break down across different types of initiatives?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

I would say that it's probably 30%, 40% value add. Some of it is modernizations that's gonna allow us to operate more efficiently, that we're looking at out there right now. Some of that may be expansion, that we're, again, expanding, growing the market.

[Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. Perfect. Just last one. In terms of energy field stores, obviously saw some year-over-year growth in revenues in the first quarter. I think the outlook commentary is consistent with the way you've been describing that segment in terms of expecting solid activity to underpin the segment in the business. Just wondering if you can elaborate a little bit on how we should think about that business. The segment was down year-over-year in revenues last year. You started the year up here. I think the comp is a bit easier in the third quarter. Any assistance in just terms of how to think about that business? Obviously, we've got strong energy prices right now as well. Any commentary on that would be helpful.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

You know, you're exactly right, Mike. We've got strong energy prices. Obviously, energy prices move up and down. Some of that's driven by what's going on with the U.S. war right now. When we look at the energy field stores, there's a lot of projects going on in Canada. It looks like they're moving forward now in Canada, especially in Northern B.C., Northern Alberta. We're seeing more project-based business than we've seen in several years. We think that's coming to fruition. We're starting to see things that we do on the front end of those projects now turn into orders. We're very optimistic about what's gonna happen on the energy side for the energy field stores in Canada over the next year or two.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Also on the U.S. side, we're seeing again, high oil prices leading to high profits. That means repair and maintenance, there's nothing being held back there that they'll be running full bore on that side. We'll see project business pick up as well. The Permian is very busy and, you know, we're obviously very strong in the Permian Basin. We think it's a good year in the energy side with a lot of potential upside barring a, you know, dramatic change in the oil price.

[Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. Thank you. I will leave it there.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Thanks, Mike.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question comes from Aryan Arora with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

[Aryan Arora, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Hey, good morning. This is Aryan on for Devin Dodge. Are you able to provide any commentary on the disconnect between U.S. and Canadian steel prices, and if it varies more by product or category?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. Historically, Aryan, it's been a U.S. price currency adjusted. With the tariffs that are out there, it's disconnected, obviously. Currently, you're seeing Canada currency adjusted selling at a lower price. For the Canadian steel producers, again, there's more steel being supplied in Canada than is being used right now, that's keeping the price pressure on. Again, with the tariffs being there, with the derivative tariffs now being there. That is putting a lot of pressure on the Canadian steel mills, which has kind of put a top on the Canadian steel prices catching up to the U.S. steel prices, if you will, currency adjusted.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

However, we are seeing increases now in Canada and things are moving forward. Scrap prices are moving up, we're starting to see demand pick up in Canada. Again, I think as long as the tariffs remain where they are today, as long as the derivative tariffs remain in place, the Canadian government will have to continue to react to do things to keep Canada from becoming a dumping ground for the rest of the world. If you're gonna move product into North America, obviously Canada would be a logical choice. To help the Canadian steel mills and again, maintain their demand inside of Canada, I think they're gonna need some further assistance.

[Aryan Arora, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Understood. Appreciate the color on that. Just touching on the tariffs again. Within the steel distributor segment, has there been a lot of disparity between the performance on the U.S. and Canadian side?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Not really compared historical. There are opportunities there. There are certain products that are not made. It ebbs and flows. Obviously, you have some weather conditions with the St. Lawrence Seaway freezing up, so we always have the historic or the seasonal downturn, if you will, in Canada because we just can't get product in during that timeframe. Overall, both of those have remained remarkably steady throughout the tariff environment. We're seeing unique opportunities that are different within the U.S. and Canada. Again, some of that's working with domestic steel mills, and some of that's working with imports that can come in that are not made within the countries.

[Aryan Arora, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets]

Perfect. Thank you so much.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Great. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. The next question comes from Jonathan Goldman with Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

[Jonathan Goldman, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Hey, good morning, John. Hey, Marty. Thanks for taking my questions. Just circling back to the conversation on tariffs. Do you see the new Section 232 rules as an incremental positive net-net for your business? You talked about some of the dynamics in Canada and the U.S., I imagine you have a benefit now with higher exposure to the U.S. How do you see that overall holistically for your business?

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. From a U.S. side, again, it's obviously keeping pricing higher. It's helping demand again with the derivative product change that's come in recently, that's helping demand in the U.S. side. We're very busy on the U.S. side, we think it's very positive for us in that regard. On the Canadian side, again, still adjusting to the new world to some degree. The manufacturing is still adjusting. Can they send across snowmobiles and those things? What does the derivative tariff mean? I think they're working through that, I think the Canadian government is implementing a lot of capital right now into the Canadian economy to support manufacturing, to support industrials. I think that's gonna really help us during this year.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Again, it's gonna take some time to get that into play. The energy business is booming in Canada right now. It looks like it's in for a nice run. Again, big user of steel there. Mining, big user of steel. Obviously, data centers benefits us on both sides, and that's a very steady component for us both in Canada and the U.S. The tariffs have definitely had an impact in Canada, a very positive impact in the U.S., a negative impact in Canada. I think Canada is slowly adjusting to that

[Jonathan Goldman, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay, that's good color. Maybe thinking about some of the end markets a little more granular, can you remind us how you play data centers and your exposure there, and nation building, you know, a couple of these positive thematics that keep coming up? I just wanna know how Russel is involved in those themes

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. So, from data centers, we'll be involved obviously with the structural steel, with the facility itself, the racking that goes into them, a lot of conduit, galvanized pipe that uses hangers. We'll be involved in those projects extensively in both Canada and the U.S. The nation building projects as well, depending on what you're looking into, whether Again, we're doing the Navy vessels right now with Irving Shipbuilding on the East Coast. We're participating in that project in a big way. When you look at things out there for the oil and gas or for the mining sector, again, we're participating in all those sectors, whether it's in the service centers or in the energy field stores.

[John Reid, President and CEO at Russel Metals]

In Alberta, again, we're doing rig mats, we're doing tanks, we're doing those type of things that are out there for the service centers. Obviously, valves, fitting, flanges, those type of things for the energy field stores.

[Jonathan Goldman, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Okay, that's good color. Then, maybe one for you, Marty, you know, I guess the focus this year might be on integration of Kloeckner, but with the capital allocation priorities you laid out, does it change the pace at which you deploy capital, you know, if bandwidth is taken up for the integration?

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Yeah. The short answer is no. We don't put an artificial timeline on, we have to do this in this quarter, we have to do this in this year when it comes to capital allocation. We've built an inherent flexibility and a multi-year orientation around how we deploy capital. You know, your point is well taken, which is our focus is very much on the integration right now. We do have a lot of flexibility, it's not going to change our predisposition to accelerating things for the sake of it. It's always, you know, M&A is probably a really good context for that, sort of what John was saying, and what I was saying earlier.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

We don't really create artificial targets to say, this is what we want to buy this year, period, full stop, no matter what. I say that's true with all of our capital allocation decisions. We try to be flexible, we try and be adaptable, and we try and be opportunistic. There are some periods where more things come to the table as those opportunities, and there's some times where it's less, but we try not to put an artificial timeline on it. We're looking at the benefits that may accrue over multi-years. Long answer is no. The short answer is no to changing our orientation.

[Jonathan Goldman, Analyst at Scotiabank]

Understood. Thanks for taking my questions. I'll get back with you.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Thanks, Jonathan.

[Operator]

Thank you. We have no further questions. I'll turn the call back over to Martin Juravsky for closing remarks.

[Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO at Russel Metals]

Great. Thank you, operator. Thanks to everyone very much for joining our call. If you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to reach out. Otherwise, we look forward to staying in touch during the balance of the quarter. Take care, everyone.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Participants

Executives

• John Reid, President and CEO
• Martin Juravsky, EVP and CFO

Analysts

• Aryan Arora, Analyst at BMO Capital Markets
• Frederic Bastien, Analyst at Raymond James
• James McGarragle, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
• Jonathan Goldman, Analyst at Scotiabank
• Maxim Sytchev, Analyst at National Bank Financial
• Michael Tupholme, Analyst at TD Cowen