UNIVERSAL CORP /VA/

The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports filed by the Company under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer evaluated, with the participation of the Company’s management, the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)), as of March 31, 2025. Based on this evaluation, the Company’s management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, concluded that, as a result of the material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting described below, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of March 31, 2025.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance to management and the Board of Directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Due to inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect all errors or misstatements in the financial statements, and even control procedures that are determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions.

As required by Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(c), the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, with the participation of other members of management, assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2025. The evaluation was based on the criteria set forth in “Internal Control – Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework). Based on this assessment, the Company’s management concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was not effective at the reasonable assurance level as of March 31, 2025, due to the material weakness described under “New Material Weakness” below. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

Remediation of Previously Disclosed Material Weakness

As previously disclosed under “Item 9A – Controls and Procedures” in Amendment No. 1 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, in August 2024, shortly before filing the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, the Company’s management was made aware of embezzlement by a former senior finance employee at the Company’s Mozambique subsidiary, Mozambique Leaf Tobacco Ltda. (“MLT”). The Company promptly commenced an internal investigation regarding these allegations and related matters. With the assistance of outside advisors, the Company’s internal investigation identified approximately $7 million in the aggregate of unauthorized payments during fiscal years 2022 through 2025. The Company has identified approximately $16.7 million in the aggregate of unauthorized payments during fiscal years 2016 through 2025.

As result of the discovery of the embezzlement, the Company’s management reassessed the design and effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting. This reassessment identified certain control activities at MLT that were deficient in that they had failed to prevent or detect the embezzlement in a timely manner. Additionally, the Company’s management concluded that it was unable to rely on controls performed at MLT due to the lack of competence and integrity of certain individuals at MLT executing those controls. The Company’s management concluded that these control deficiencies collectively constituted a material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2024.

Notwithstanding the material weakness, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the Company’s previously filed consolidated financial statements were fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with GAAP for each of the periods presented. Therefore, no restatement of any prior period financial statements was required.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, the Company, with the oversight of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, designed and implemented measures pursuant to management’s overall internal control over financial reporting remediation plan and also completed testing of the design and operating effectiveness of all remediated controls. The remediation efforts included the following:

1. Discontinued employment of the employee who perpetrated the embezzlement in Mozambique and the employee’s supervisor and replaced those individuals.

2. Required recurring remedial internal control training to all internal control performers and owners, including journal entry review and reconciliation procedures.

3. Designed and implemented additional internal controls of banking systems access.

Based on management’s evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls as of March 31, 2025, including newly remediated controls, management concluded that the previously identified material weakness had been successfully remediated as of March 31, 2025.

New Material Weakness

As noted above, the Company’s management concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of March 31, 2025 as a result of certain control deficiencies that were determined to constitute a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, the Company’s management determined that the internal controls at one of the Company’s tobacco subsidiaries were not effectively documented and executed to ensure that the existence of all dark air-cured tobacco inventories subject to physical inventory counts were appropriately counted, and that the controls related to the compilation and reconciliation of the related inventory to ensure complete and accurate reporting of inventory in the consolidated financial statements were not effective.

While the material weakness did not result in a material misstatement of the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, there is a reasonable possibility that these deficiencies could have resulted in a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2025. The material weakness identified by the Company’s management resulted in Ernst & Young LLP issuing an adverse opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2025. See “Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in Item 8.

Notwithstanding the material weakness, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the Company’s consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report are fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with GAAP for each of the periods presented. Therefore, no restatement of any prior period financial statements is required.

Remediation Plan for New Material Weakness

To remediate the new material weakness described above, the Company will implement the following remediation steps at the tobacco subsidiary:

1. Require enhanced documentation associated with management review controls and validation of the completeness and accuracy of key reports used across the inventory process, including physical inventory counts.

2. Design and implement additional reports to be utilized in inventory reconciliation controls at the subsidiary.

The Company believes these measures, once they have operated effectively for a sufficient period of time, will remediate the control deficiencies identified and strengthen its internal control over financial reporting. However, there may not be sufficient time for the Company to remediate the material weakness or, if remediated, to test the operating effectiveness of the remediated controls as of the Company’s next fiscal year end. As the Company continues to evaluate, and works to improve, its internal control over financial reporting, management may determine that additional measures to address control deficiencies or modifications to the remediation plan are necessary. The Company cannot assure you, however, when it will remediate such weakness, nor can it be certain whether additional actions will be required or the costs of any such actions. Moreover, the Company cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses will not arise in the future.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Except as noted above with respect to the completion of the steps in the remediation plan for the previously disclosed material weakness and the identification of the new material weakness, there were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s last fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.