UNIVERSAL CORP /VA/ (UVV) Business

Item 1.  Business

A.    The Company

Overview

Universal Corporation is a global business-to-business agriproducts company with over 100 years of experience supplying products and innovative solutions to meet our customers’ evolving needs. With operations in over 30 countries on five continents, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our worldwide network to access a diverse, reliable supply of plant-based materials. This presence, combined with our supply chain expertise, integrated processing capabilities, and commitment to sustainability, enables us to deliver high-quality, customizable, and traceable value-added agriproducts essential to our customers’ success.

We have two operating segments: Tobacco Operations and Ingredients Operations. Our Tobacco Operations segment involves procuring and processing flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured, and oriental leaf tobacco for manufacturers of consumer tobacco products and performing related services. We are the leading global leaf tobacco supplier. Through our Ingredients Operations segment, we procure raw materials globally and process the raw materials through a variety of value-added manufacturing processes to produce high-quality, innovative, specialty plant-based ingredients, including fruits, vegetables, botanical extracts, and flavorings for consumer-packaged goods manufacturers, retailers, and food and beverage companies. We do not sell any direct-to-consumer products. Rather, we support consumer product manufacturers by selling them transformed agriproducts and performing related services for them.

Our business strategy focuses on three pillars: maximizing and optimizing our Tobacco Operations segment, growing our Ingredients Operations segment, and strengthening our Company for the future. In our Tobacco Operations segment, we continue to look for opportunities to increase our sales volumes and market share, expand services across our customers’ supply chains, participate in the evolution of next generation products, and improve operating efficiency. In our Ingredients Operations segment, we seek opportunities to grow both organically and through disciplined acquisitions to provide customers with a solutions-based portfolio of value-added product offerings. Under our corporate pillar, we pursue strategies and initiatives intended to strengthen and support our Company for the future. These strategies and initiatives are expected to focus on efficient financial management, effective human capital management, optimal utilization of technology, including artificial intelligence (“AI”), and operational synergies between our business segments. Our goal is to drive excellence across the Company and position Universal for long-term success and value creation.

We generated approximately $2.9 billion in consolidated revenues and earned $168.5 million in total operating income and $214.8 million in total segment operating income in fiscal year 2026. We are a holding company that operates through numerous directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries. Our primary subsidiaries are Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Incorporated, which is associated with our Tobacco Operations segment, and Universal Ingredients, Inc. (“Universal Ingredients”)(formerly Universal Global Ventures, Incorporated), which is associated with our Ingredients Operations segment.

Additional Information

Our website address is www.universalcorp.com. We post regulatory filings on this website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. These filings include annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, Section 16 reports on Forms 3, 4, and 5, and any amendments to those reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. Access to these filings on our website is available free of charge. Copies are also available, without charge, from Universal Corporation Investor Relations, 9201 Forest Hill Avenue, Richmond, VA 23235. Reports filed with the SEC may be viewed at www.sec.gov. We also post our press releases on our website. Information on our website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

In addition, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Conduct, and charters for the Audit Committee, the Compensation and Human Resources Committee, the Executive Committee, the Finance and Pension Investment Committee, and the Nominating, Governance and Risk Committee are available free of charge to shareholders and the public through the “Investors-Governance” section of our website. Printed copies of the foregoing are available to any shareholder upon written request to our Treasurer at the address set forth on the cover of this Annual Report or may be requested through our website, www.universalcorp.com.

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B.    Description of Business

Tobacco Operations

Universal is a vital link between farmers and manufacturers of consumer tobacco products, sourcing the crop for our customers and processing it to meet their exact specifications. We are the leading global leaf tobacco supplier and have a presence in all major flue-cured, burley, dark air-cured, and oriental tobacco growing origins. Our Tobacco Operations procure, process, pack, store, and ship tobacco all over the world for use in international consumer tobacco brands. We also provide specialty services to our customers like custom blending, chemical and physical testing of tobacco, service cutting, reconstituted leaf tobacco manufacturing, and just-in-time product delivery. In addition to our leaf tobacco business, we are involved in other tobacco-related opportunities, including liquid nicotine for manufacturers of next generation tobacco products and recycled waste materials from tobacco production.

We contract directly with farmers and farmer organizations in most of the countries in which we operate. Partnering with Universal offers most growers the added benefit of access to crop input packages (including advances of seeds or seedlings and fertilizer) that may not otherwise be readily available. As we are dedicated to promoting a sustainable farmer base, Universal provides significant agronomic support throughout a growing season, including educational programs in such matters as good agricultural practices (“GAP”), the reduction of non-tobacco related materials, product traceability, environmental sustainability, agricultural labor standards, and social responsibility.

Before each growing season, we use customer indications of tobacco type, style, and volume requirements to help us determine our farmer contracting needs in each region. Discussions of a customer’s needs may begin as early as one to two years in advance of a particular crop purchase. Ultimately, sales agreements specifying quantity, quality, grade, and price are executed, leading to inventory allocations of purchased “green” and processed leaf as well as packed leaf that we have acquired. Revenues for our Tobacco Operations are generated from product sales of green and processed leaf as well as packed tobacco that we source; from processing fees for tobacco owned by third parties; and from fees for other services.

Timely processing is an essential service to our customers because “green” or unprocessed tobacco leaf is a perishable product. Processing leaf tobacco includes grading in the factories, blending, removing of non-tobacco material, separating of leaf from the stems, drying, packing to precise moisture targets for proper aging primarily in corrugated cardboard cases, as well as temporarily storing packed tobacco. Processing generally requires investments in factories and machinery in the geographic areas where tobacco is grown. Processed tobacco that has been properly packed can be stored by customers for several years prior to use, but most processed tobacco is used within two to three years.

We conduct our tobacco business in varying degrees in a number of countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Paraguay, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Poland, the Republic of South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Zimbabwe. In addition, our oriental tobacco joint venture, Socotab, L.L.C., has operations in Bulgaria, Greece, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Türkiye. We also operate in major dark tobacco producing countries, including the United States, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Indonesia, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Brazil.

We are a major purchaser and processor in the primary exporting regions for flue-cured and burley tobacco throughout the world. Africa, Brazil, and the United States produce approximately two-thirds of the flue-cured and burley tobacco grown outside of the People's Republic of China. We estimate that over the last five years we have handled, through leaf sales or processing, on average between 20% and 30% of the annual production of such tobaccos in Africa, between 15% and 25% in Brazil, and between 35% and 45% in the United States. These percentages can change from year to year based on the size, price, and quality of the crops.

We believe that our leading position in the leaf tobacco industry is based on our volumes handled; our operating presence in all of the major sourcing areas; our ability to meet customer style, volume, and quality requirements; our experience in dealing with large numbers of farmers; our expertise in delivering a sustainable supply of compliant, traceable, competitively-priced leaf tobacco; and our long-standing relationships with customers. We believe that our ability to market most styles and grades of leaf to a diverse customer base, and the efficiencies we offer customers due to our operational expertise and established infrastructure, are also key to our success.

We believe our Tobacco Operations will continue to produce solid financial returns and enhance shareholder value through the following key operating principles:

•Strategic market position. By working closely with both our customers and our suppliers throughout the year, we seek to ensure the consistent delivery of a product that meets our customers' needs and to cultivate a strong, sustainable supplier base. We also aim to maximize supply chain efficiencies by balancing product purchases against indicated customer demand and maintaining global procurement and production operations.

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•Strong local management. Empowered and experienced local management in our supply origins, coupled with global coordination, affords us the flexibility to quickly and successfully adapt to constantly shifting market conditions, while continuing to deliver high-quality, competitively-priced products and services.

•Compliant products. Customers expect a sustainable supply of compliant, traceable, competitively priced products, and we seek to meet this demand through our investment in GAP training for farmers which encompasses crop quality, environmental stewardship, and agricultural labor standards.

•Diversified sources. We operate in over 30 countries on five continents and maintain a presence in all major tobacco origin markets. This global presence allows us to meet our customers' diverse product requirements while minimizing the effects of adverse crop conditions and other localized supply disruptions.

•Financial strength. Financial strength is critical to our existing global operations and enables us to invest in suitable opportunities when they arise. We believe management of liquidity, borrowings, and capital costs provides us with a competitive advantage, affords us flexibility when responding to customer requirements and market changes, and allows us to enhance shareholder value.

Seasonality

Our tobacco operations are seasonal in nature. While the growing, marketing, and purchasing cycles differ from region to region, we typically operate each of our tobacco processing plants for seven to nine months of the year. During this period for each region, inventories of “green” or unprocessed tobacco, inventories of processed tobacco, and trade accounts receivable normally reach peak levels in succession. We normally finance this expansion of current assets with cash, short-term borrowings from banks, and customer advances, and these funding sources normally reach their peak usage in each region during its respective purchasing or processing period. Our financial performance is also impacted by the seasonality of our business. Due to global tobacco growing cycles, as well as customer shipment preferences, we typically ship a larger portion of our volumes in the second half of our fiscal year. Changes in customer shipment schedules or changes in crop timing in a season can shift recognition of revenue in a given fiscal year or between fiscal years.

Customers

A material part of our tobacco business is dependent upon a few customers. Sales to our top five customers, with whom we have long-standing relationships, have accounted for more than 50% of our consolidated revenues for each of the past three fiscal years. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, each of Imperial Brands plc and Philip Morris International Inc., including their respective affiliates, accounted for 10% or more of our revenues.

Competition

Competition among leaf tobacco suppliers is based on the ability to meet customer specifications in the growing, buying, processing, and financing of tobacco, and on the prices charged for products and services. The number of competitors varies in each operating country, but there is competition in most areas to buy and sell the available tobacco. Our principal competitor is Pyxus International, Inc. (“Pyxus”), and we consider ourselves and Pyxus to be the only global leaf suppliers based on our worldwide scope of operations. However, Universal is the only global leaf tobacco supplier with operations in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Mozambique, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Poland and that participates meaningfully in the sale and production of dark air-cured tobaccos. Most of our major customers are partially vertically integrated, thus they also compete with us for the purchase of leaf tobacco in several of the major markets. However, each of our customers generally has specific preferences for certain styles of tobacco leaves and only utilizes certain stalk positions of the tobacco plant. In contrast, we have the ability to commercialize the entire tobacco plant and supply all major varieties of tobacco.

In most major leaf tobacco markets, smaller competitors are active and typically are opportunistic and have lower overhead requirements, but they generally provide less agronomic support to farmers. Due to their lower cost structures, they tend to offer a lower price, but among other things, our long-term presence, our investments in employees, facilities and communities, our GAP and Agricultural Labor Practices (“ALP”) programs, our sustainability efforts and supply chain monitoring as well as our quality controls add value for our customers in an increasingly regulated world. Our GAP training supports an approach to farming that is focused on sustainability, sound field production, and fair labor management practices that promote farmer profitability and reflect environmental sensitivity. We provide comprehensive training, technical support in the field, and crop analytics through ongoing research and development. Our major customers increasingly require these services, and we believe our programs increase the quality and value of the products and services we offer. In addition, our customers value the security of supply that we can provide due to our strong relationships with our farmer base and our global footprint.

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Ingredients Operations

Similar to Universal’s Tobacco Operations, our Ingredients Operations source raw materials globally and utilize value-added manufacturing processes to provide customers with a consistent, high-quality, and reliable supply of plant-based ingredients. Through the Universal Ingredients platform, we produce and supply a broad portfolio of products, including fruit and vegetable juices and concentrates, purees, dehydrated products, botanical extracts, flavorings, colorings, and other customized, value-added ingredient solutions.

The Universal Ingredients platform has been built through strategic investments in established businesses with strong operating histories and complementary capabilities across fruits, vegetables, and flavorings. Our primary subsidiaries – FruitSmart, Inc. (“FruitSmart”), Silva International, Inc. (“Silva”), and Shank’s Extracts, LLC d/b/a Universal Ingredients–Shank's (“Universal Ingredients–Shank’s”) – operate in distinct but highly complementary categories. Collectively, these businesses enable the delivery of integrated, customized solutions that leverage sourcing, processing, and product development capabilities across the platform.

FruitSmart supplies a diversified portfolio of fruit- and vegetable-based ingredients to customers in the United States and international markets, including juices, concentrates, essences, purees, pomaces, fibers, seeds, and seed-based products. Core offerings include not-from-concentrate apple juice and a range of juice concentrates, including apple, blueberry, Concord grape, and raspberry. Headquartered in the Yakima Valley in Washington State, FruitSmart operates separate liquid and dry production facilities. The business focuses on operational efficiency, capacity utilization, and health and safety initiatives, while positioning its portfolio of products to benefit from increasing demand for premium, better-for-you, and functional ingredients.

Silva procures over 70 types of dehydrated vegetables, fruits, and herbs and spices from over 20 countries around the world and specializes in processing natural materials into dehydrated vegetable- and fruit-based ingredients tailored for a range of food applications. Silva’s product portfolio includes vegetable blends and individual ingredients such as peppers, spinach, carrots, and pumpkin. Headquartered in Momence, Illinois, Silva operates a large-scale manufacturing facility and maintains strong supplier relationships and quality control processes to support consistent, high-quality supply of ingredients. Silva has established a strong position in clean-label, natural, and specialty dehydrated ingredients, providing solutions for diverse applications in the human food industry as well as the pet food market.

Universal Ingredients–Shank’s provides a diversified portfolio of botanical extracts, distillates, natural and artificial flavors, and colors for industrial and private label customers worldwide, with particular expertise in vanilla. The business also offers custom formulation, bottling, and packaging services. The manufacturing campus in Lancaster, Pennsylvania includes extraction, blending, and aseptic processing and packaging capabilities, supported by refrigerated storage and expanded production capacity. Recent investments in this facility have enhanced the business’s ability to serve growth categories, including beverages, food service, and specialty applications, while enabling greater innovation and speed to market.

To support the continued growth of Universal Ingredients, we have made investments in centralized sales, marketing, and product development capabilities that operate across the platform. Our research and development team, including our product development lab in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is staffed with food scientists and technical professionals who collaborate with customers to develop and commercialize new products. These capabilities support a wide range of applications, including ready-to-drink beverages, coffees, teas, carbonated beverages, nutritional products, and bakery items. Our teams work closely with our research and development professionals to provide integrated solutions and to leverage the full breadth of the platform’s capabilities in bringing products to market.

We believe our ability to combine global sourcing, value-added processing, and customer-focused innovation differentiates us in this highly-fragmented market. Over time, we intend to explore the enhancement of our product offerings and the promotion of operational efficiencies by leveraging our global supply chain, agronomic expertise, and long-standing relationships with growers and suppliers.

Customers

Our Ingredients Operations primarily serve the food and beverage industry, including multinational consumer packaged goods companies, food service providers, beverage manufacturers, and retailers, as well as regional and specialty brands. These customers operate across diverse end-markets and applications, spanning a wide range of distribution channels.

Many customers across these end-markets place value on research and development, application expertise, and collaborative product innovation. To support these needs and anticipated growth, our recent investments, particularly in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania facility, have expanded our research and development and application capabilities, as well as production capacity in beverage, food service, and related channels. These investments enhance the platform’s ability to support customized formulations, rapid product development, and reinforce readiness to meet evolving customer demand over time.

Competition

The plant-based ingredients market is large and highly fragmented, with thousands of participants ranging from small, privately-owned companies to large multinational suppliers. Many competitors focus on specific product categories or regional

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markets and may have more limited capabilities in areas such as product development, integrated sourcing, or large-scale capital investment.

We compete by offering high-quality, customized ingredient solutions supported by global sourcing capabilities, value-added processing, and integrated platform-level sales, marketing, and product development. We believe our scale, breadth of capabilities, customer relationships, and continued investments in innovation and capacity position Universal Ingredients to compete effectively across its markets.

Sustainability

As a global agricultural company, we believe that the success of our business is linked to the health and resiliency of the environments in which we operate, and we have a fundamental responsibility to our stakeholders to set high standards of social and environmental performance to support a sustainable supply chain. We consistently disclose our operational activities and sustainable practices in a transparent manner through our annual Sustainability Report, which can be found on our website. Our Nominating, Governance and Risk Committee has primary oversight of our sustainability programs. We continue to further strengthen our approach to sustainability throughout the organization in alignment with recognized best practices, regulatory compliance, and shareholder interests.

We are a global agriproducts supplier operating in numerous countries around the world, and we primarily focus our sustainability efforts on our own operations and the farmers in our supply chain with whom we contract for raw materials. Sustainability efforts with respect to our facilities around the world involve the adoption and implementation of policies and procedures related to environmental impacts, workforce protections and programs such as those we address in “Human Capital Management” below, and other important considerations. Sustainability efforts in our supply chain emphasize important issues related to the countries and communities in which we operate and include and focus on the protection of tobacco farm worker rights through appropriate agricultural labor practices and monitoring the reduction of environmental impacts through compliance with industry-recognized GAP programs, as well as our own environmental programs and initiatives.

Agricultural Labor Practices

Throughout the world, we work side-by-side with our contracted farmers to produce a sustainable tobacco crop that adheres to GAP and appropriate ALP. As part of our ALP program, we train contracted farmers on the ALP Code principles and monitor their adherence through multiple in-person visits during the tobacco growing season. The significant investment of time and resources we commit each year to our ALP program evidences the importance of sustainable labor practices to our business. Our global ALP Code consists of seven principles that set forth human rights expectations for our contracted farmers to meet:

1.Progressive elimination of child labor.

2.Adherence to income and work hour requirements.

3.Fair treatment of workers.

4.Prohibition of forced labor.

5.Providing safe working environments.

6.Recognition and respect of workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

7.Compliance with local employment laws.

Environmental Impacts

Universal is committed to abiding by environmental laws and regulations, monitoring our supply chain activities, and cooperating with supply chain partners to implement strategies that mitigate and reduce environmental impacts that may be associated with our business. We recognize three primary environmental responsibilities throughout our global footprint: responsible consumption of water and natural resources; responsible forestry management; and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

Recent Initiatives

Universal released our 2025 Sustainability Report in January 2026, highlighting our efforts in reducing emissions, conserving resources, advancing fair labor practices, and improving farmer livelihoods. Responsible business practices are integrated into Universal’s business strategy.

As disclosed in our 2025 Sustainability Report, we continued to support our supply chain sustainability goals and achieve measurable results across key environmental and social priorities. Our leaf technicians made over 2 million visits to more than 200,000 contracted farmers to maintain our visibility and traceability in our supply chain. Our operations continue to enhance transparency and collaboration with our stakeholders by reporting to the Sustainable Tobacco Program and training over 200,000 farmers on GAP and ALP to advance environmental and human rights best practices throughout our contracted farmer base.

Universal’s climate transition plan includes reducing fossil fuel use, purchasing renewable forms of electricity, and enhancing operational efficiencies throughout our operations and value chain. To align our carbon reduction strategy with industry standards, we updated our emissions reduction goals and received approval of near-term, long-term and net zero

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emissions targets from the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI) during 2025. These actions support the Company’s goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2050.

For a discussion of recent developments and trends in our businesses, along with factors that could have a material adverse effect on our businesses see Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”

C.    Human Capital Management

Workforce Overview

Our employees are among our most important resources, and we rely on them to execute our business plan with integrity and efficiency. We believe that investing in human capital is critical to our continued success. Our employees enable us to be a leading global supplier of leaf tobacco and other agriproducts. We strive to foster an inclusive workplace; attract, retain, and develop talented personnel; and keep our employees safe and healthy.

As of March 31, 2026, we employed more than 25,000 employees, operating in over 30 different countries across five continents. Approximately 55% of our employees are seasonal and approximately 45% are full-time employees. Almost 42% of our employees are female and more than 23% of our managers are female. Globally, Universal has 13 collective bargaining agreements in place, covering approximately 30% of our workforce. The sizeable seasonal nature of our global workforce makes these numbers fluctuate throughout the year.

We are a multinational and multicultural organization, with employees and operations located around the world, and we are committed to maintaining an inclusive workplace. Less than 5% of our employees are located in the United States. Almost all of our employees are from the same country in which our related operations are located. Our expatriate hires represent less than 0.3% of our workforce, and they are hired due to their essential professional knowledge necessary for the operation of our business.

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Board of Directors’ Role in Human Capital Management

Our Board of Directors (“Board”) believes that human capital management is an important component of our continued growth and success and is essential to our ability to attract, retain, and develop talented and skilled employees. We pride ourselves on a culture that respects co-workers and values concern for others. The recent name change of the Compensation Committee to the Compensation and Human Resources Committee reflects the importance of human capital management to the Company.

Our Nominating, Governance and Risk Committee and our Compensation and Human Resources Committee both have important roles with respect to human capital management. The Nominating, Governance and Risk Committee oversees and reviews our sustainability programs, which include important policies and practices related to human rights, prohibitions against discrimination, employee health and safety, and other policies related to our workforce. The Compensation and Human Resources Committee oversees administration of the Company’s human resource programs, including with respect to talent management, succession planning, and performance management.

We are committed to protecting the human rights of our employees and have policies in place to support this effort, including those relating to whistleblowing, harassment, equal employment, and compliance with local labor laws. Our Board also adopted our Code of Conduct (the “Code”) and Anti-Corruption Compliance Manual (the “Manual”) to promote ethical behavior throughout the Company and address violations of ethical standards. The Code and Manual have been translated into 16 languages and apply directly to all officers, directors, and employees in the Universal family of companies. The Board also adopted our Human Rights Policy, which defines the high ethical and social standards we implement across our global operations. We support these rights and programs through compliance communications, face-to-face and online training, and an anonymous compliance line that we maintain globally. Our compliance line is available to all our employees and any other interested parties 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by internet or phone. The Board oversees our global compliance program and receives reports from our Chief Compliance Officer at each quarterly Board meeting.

Employee Compensation and Benefits

We offer our employees competitive base salaries and wages, and we have a salary administration process where we regularly review and adjust our employees’ total compensation and benefits when warranted to ensure they are competitive in our industry and are aligned with our performance. In addition, we believe employee benefits are an essential component of our total compensation package. Each of our global operations provides benefits that are designed to attract and retain our employees. These benefits vary depending on the location, seniority, and employment status of our employees, and can include medical insurance, long-term disability insurance, retirement benefits, and similar programs.

In the United States, benefits to our employees include medical, dental, disability and life insurance, flexible spending accounts, and a 401(k) Retirement Plan with a 5% match and immediate vesting. We provide a health care advocacy service to assist our employees with various medical needs as they make these decisions, and we provide a mental health and financial counseling program for our employees and their families. We also offer other benefits which may vary by location, but which include performance, holiday, attendance and other bonus opportunities, a tuition assistance program (offering assistance up to 75%) as well as a 501(c)(3) matching gift program to benefit communities in which our employees work and reside.

We support our employees outside of work through a variety of initiatives and strongly believe that our success relies on the prosperity of the communities in which we operate. We fund various programs that enhance local communities, economies, and cultures. For example, in numerous locations we support projects designed to impact our employees and their families such as establishing health clinics and wellness programs to assist our employees, administering after school care for schoolchildren, or funding local cultural events. Ultimately, we recognize our impact extends beyond the workplace and are proud to engage as both active corporate citizens and leaders in our neighborhoods, communities, and countries. We publicly disclose additional information about our community support activities each year in our Sustainability Report.

Talent Development and Training

This fiscal year we created the role of Chief Human Resources Officer to further strengthen Universal’s organizational capabilities. Reporting directly to our Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Human Resources Officer provides strategic direction and oversight for our global human resources function and human capital management programs, supporting the development, engagement, and long-term success of our workforce.

Employee training and development of both technical and leadership skills are integral aspects of our human capital strategy. We provide employees with a range of development opportunities that vary by location and seniority of employees, such as online training and live classes. These programs often include safety and technical job skill training as well as programs focused on soft skills such as effective communication. Development of leadership skills is also a priority and is specialized for different levels of employees. For example, members of management in our global operations participate in our succession planning programs, which include the identification of employees who are offered development opportunities for career advancement. To further develop leadership skills, we also maintain some specific leadership programs for aspiring leaders and new supervisors, managers, and directors.

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Health and Safety

The health and safety of our employees, contractors, and visitors is a core business priority and a fundamental component of Universal’s risk management framework. Universal is committed to preventing work-related injuries and illnesses through a structured health and safety management system that emphasizes leadership accountability, employee participation, and compliance with applicable laws and requirements. Health and safety expectations are embedded into operational decision-making and reinforced through governance, performance monitoring, and continual improvement processes.

Our health and safety management system is designed to strengthen organizational safety culture by establishing clear expectations for leadership behavior, empowering employees to identify and address hazards, and reinforcing accountability at all levels of the organization. Standardized reporting and performance tracking tools enable facilities to monitor local performance while providing corporate leadership with timely, comparable insights across operations. This approach supports the identification of emerging risks, prioritization of corrective actions, and effective allocation of resources to reduce exposure and prevent harm.

To support continuous improvement, key health and safety performance measures have been established across our tobacco processing and agronomy operations. We regularly evaluate historical performance, identify site-specific risk drivers, and implement measurable objectives. These measures are designed to support informed decision-making, strengthen prevention efforts, and promote accountability and long-term risk reduction. Performance is reviewed through established governance processes to ensure alignment with corporate expectations and to inform ongoing improvement planning.

Assurance and shared learning are reinforced through corporate audits and regional cross-auditing initiatives. Our “fresh eyes” approach brings together employees from different locations to participate in peer reviews, promoting consistency, collaboration, and the exchange of best practices. This approach complements formal audits, broadens organizational perspective, and reinforces shared responsibility for safety performance across the organization.

Legal compliance remains a foundational requirement of our health and safety program. Universal companies are expected to comply with applicable occupational health and safety laws and regulations and to cooperate with regulatory authorities in maintaining effective and compliant programs. As part of our broader commitment to a responsible and resilient supply chain, our policies require suppliers and business partners to provide healthy and safe working environments and to meet applicable legal and contractual health and safety requirements. Through governance, monitoring, and engagement, we seek to apply health and safety expectations consistently across our operations and supply chain, supporting sustained improvement and long-term value creation.

D.    Research and Development

While we invest in research and development activities in both our Tobacco Operations and Ingredients Operations segments, these costs as a portion of global expenditures were not material during the fiscal years ended March 31, 2026, 2025, or 2024.

E.    Intellectual Property

We hold no material patents, licenses, franchises, or concessions.

F.    Government Regulation, Environmental Matters, and Other Matters

Our business is subject to general governmental regulation in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions where we conduct business. Such regulation includes, but is not limited to, matters relating to environmental protection. To date, governmental provisions regulating the discharge of material into the environment have not had a material effect upon our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors” for a discussion of government regulations and other factors that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

G.    Information About Our Executive Officers

See Item 10. “Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance” of this Annual Report.