HOOKER FURNISHINGS Corp (HOFT) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Greetings ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hooker Furnishings quarterly investor conference call reporting its operating results for its fiscal 2023 third quarter. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Paul Huckfeldt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Hooker Furnishings Corporation.

Thank you, Michelle. Good morning and welcome to our quarterly conference call to review earnings financial results for the fiscal 2023 third quarter, which began August 1, 2022, and ended on October 30, 2022. Joining me this morning is Jeremy Hoff, our Chief Executive Officer. We appreciate your participation today. During our call, we may make forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. A discussion of factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations is contained in our press release and SEC filings announcing our fiscal 2023 third quarter results. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after today’s call. This morning, we reported consolidated net sales of $152 million, an increase of $18 million or 13.6% compared to last year’s third quarter. The increase was attributable to the addition of Sunset West results, as well as sales increases across all the other domestic upholstery divisions and higher sales of Home Meridian compared to last year, when container direct business was severely impacted by the temporary COVID-related lockdowns in Vietnam and Malaysia. The higher consolidated revenue was slightly offset by a $1.3 million or 2.4% sales decrease at Hooker Branded when comparing to record sales in the third quarter of last year. The company reported net income of $4.8 million or $0.42 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.2 million or $0.10 per diluted share a year ago. For the fiscal 2023 nine-month period, consolidated net sales decreased by $7 million or 1.5% compared to last year’s same period due to decreases in net sales in the Home Meridian and Hooker Branded segment, partially offset by higher sales in the Domestic Upholstery segment and in our H Contract business. Hooker Branded sales volumes decreased due to inventory unavailability primarily in the first quarter this year. Home Meridian's sales decrease was attributable to the absence of sales from the unprofitable Clubs channel, which we exited at the end of last year, as well as lower sales in the e-commerce channel and lower sales with some retailers who are delaying shipments to help rationalize inventory levels. We reported net income of $13.6 million or $1.14 per diluted share for the nine-month period compared to $15.7 million and $1.30 in the prior period. Now I’ll turn the call over to Jeremy to comment on our fiscal '23 third quarter results.

Thank you, Paul, and good morning everyone. Despite macroeconomic uncertainties and a challenging retail inventory environment, we were grateful that many of the obstacles we faced last year were behind us and we were able to report revenue and earnings which both exceeded the prior year third quarter. Steady order backlog fulfillment, full production capacity, healthier inventory levels, and operational improvements fueled these gains, which we expect to build and improve upon next quarter. Year-over-year profitability gains for the quarter were driven by sales growth and successful mitigation of supply chain bottlenecks that have impacted us for over the last two years. Improving our operational costs and exiting unprofitable businesses at HMI is beginning to show up in our margins and will continue to help improve profitability; however, economic indicators are mixed and there are potential headwinds, including rising interest rates, declining home sales, and consumer confidence. On a positive note, the recent fall High Point Market was the best attended market since the pandemic and gave us a real momentum boost. The Market attendance exceeded October 2019 by 12%. We found retailers to be upbeat and receptive to new products they can now expect to receive within several months of order for the first time in a couple of years. HMI debuted a remodeled 100,000 square foot showroom, including a 10,000 square foot area showcasing the new portfolio program featuring a breadth of in-stock styles of bedroom, dining, occasional and upholstery across HMI brands, which was very well received. The portfolio’s launch was a successful first step in expanding and diversifying HMI’s customer base to include interior designers and a greater number of independent furniture retailers. At Hooker Casegoods, we debuted the Charleston collection. The updated traditional styling and finishes were met with enthusiasm from retailers, who believe there is a void for timeless designs in the marketplace, a furnishing style that’s sought after by a significant set of younger consumers in their prime furniture buying years. This collection will be shipped before the next High Point Market in spring 2023, when we look forward to the grand opening of our new Hooker Legacy showroom encompassing an entire floor of the Showplace building in High Point. Now I want to turn the discussion over to Paul, who will discuss highlights in each of our segments.

Thanks, Jeremy. At Hooker Branded, net sales decreased by $1.3 million or 2.4% compared to the same period last year. The lower sales were driven by temporary inventory mix issues. Some vendor factory shipments were received in our warehouses as incomplete collections with missing items and retailers delayed receipt of orders until collections and groups get shipped completely. This issue has been resolved and we’re shipping more of our backlog now. Our Asian suppliers are improving their lead times and Hooker Branded inventories are now about $44 million higher than they were at the end of last year’s third quarter, positioning us well for the holiday selling season. Gross profit increased by about 100 basis points for the quarter, which partially offset that slight sales decline and higher SG&A expenses, which were up due to higher salary and benefits costs and higher commission rates, among other things. Hooker Branded reported $5.2 million in operating income and a 9.5% operating margin for the quarter. Incoming orders in Hooker Branded decreased as compared to the prior year quarter as the market is gradually returning to more typical levels of demand. The quarter-end backlog was lower than the prior year-end quarter but was still about three times higher than pre-pandemic levels in calendar 2019. Moving to Home Meridian, segment net sales increased by about $4.4 million or 9.4% as compared to the abnormally low volume in the prior year third quarter when container business was severely impacted by the temporary COVID-related factory shutdowns in Vietnam and Malaysia. In addition, the hospitality division reported strong sales as that sector continues to recover from COVID-related downturns. The sales increases were largely offset by the absence of the unprofitable clubs channel sales and decreased ecommerce sales. The exit from the clubs channel resulted in significant improvement in returns and allowances and gross margin. Ecommerce sales decreased mostly due to the normalization of post-COVID consumer demand. Gross profit and margin improved significantly due to the absence of excess charge-backs in the clubs channel and order cancellation costs when we exited the ready-to-assemble furniture category last year; however, HMI shipments were lower than expected due to mass merchant retailers with high inventories delaying some shipments. Due to deflated sales from delayed shipments and higher than expected transition and labor costs related to our new Georgia distribution center, HMI reported an operating loss of $3.2 million, a $7 million improvement from the operating loss in the prior year quarter. As expected, incoming orders and quarter-end backlog decreased significantly due to the absence of Club channel orders as well as decreased orders from our retail customers, who are delaying orders to rationalize inventories with current demand. In the Domestic Upholstery segment, we were pleased to report the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth. Net sales increased by $14.1 million or 48% compared to the prior year third quarter. The increase was driven by the addition of Sunset West results as well as organic sales growth at each of the domestically produced factory divisions: Bradington Young, Sam Moore, and Shenandoah, which all delivered double-digit net sales gains for the quarterly and nine-month periods. Gross profit and margin increased due to the inclusion of Sunset West results, favorable sales variances, better overhead absorption on higher sales volumes, and near full operating capacity. These improvements were partially offset by increased raw material costs such as leather, foam, and upholstery materials. For the third quarter, the segment generated operating income of $3.8 million and reported an operating margin of 8.8%. Incoming orders decreased compared to the prior year quarter due to current demand, long lead times, and high backlog, but year-to-date orders were about on the same level as calendar 2019. Quarter-end backlog was lower than the prior year quarter end and fiscal 2022 year end, when demand was exceptionally strong and production capacity was constrained. Comparing to calendar 2019, backlog was more than three times higher than pre-pandemic levels. Turning now to our cash inventory and debt position, cash and cash equivalents stood at $6.5 million at the fiscal 2023 quarter end, down $62.9 million from the balance at fiscal 2022 year end due primarily to a $58.9 million increase in inventories as well as almost $10 million of share repurchases. During the fiscal 2023 nine-month period, we purchased and retired 598,000 shares of our common stock under the $20 million share repurchase authorization approved by our board of directors earlier this year. Through December 7, we’ve purchased 705,000 shares at a total cost of $11.2 million, and even while spending $11 million on share repurchases to date, we’ve been generating cash since last quarter. With lead times shortening as much as they have, we’re aiming to reduce inventories by $25 million by roughly this time next year, which will further enhance our cash position. To improve liquidity, we’ve also implemented some targeted promotions on certain products. Also related to cash flow, let me take a minute just to discuss our capital allocation priorities. On December 5, 2022, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share, which will be paid on December 30 to shareholders of record on December 16. This 10% increase in the dividend is the seventh consecutive year in which we’ve been able to increase our annual dividend. We believe it demonstrates our continued confidence in our strategy and business model, and we believe our relatively stable balance sheet and variable cost business model will allow us to adapt to economic downturns that may be on the horizon. Other capital allocation priorities include rebuilding our cash reserves, fulfilling the remainder of our share repurchase authorization, and capital investments in our soon-to-be-implemented ERP upgrade and other capital expenditures to improve our competitive position, such as outfitting the new Hooker Legacy brand showroom for its opening in April 2023. Now I’ll turn the discussion back to Jeremy for his outlook.

Thank you, Paul. Current economic indicators are mixed and we are closely monitoring potential disruptors, including rising interest rates, consumer confidence, and a slowing housing market. At the same time, we see reasons for optimism as the U.S. enjoys healthy employment levels, rising household incomes, and continuing strength in consumer spending. Our backlogs on the legacy side are still much higher than pre-pandemic levels and our recent entry into outdoor furniture with Sunset West is performing above expectations. We believe the environment in the home furnishings industry is shifting from a reliance on historic demand to a dependence on market share, and we believe that many of our initiatives will help us gain market share, including the launch of the portfolio and our new showroom next spring. Strategically, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on this change. Despite our relative optimism, we are paying close attention to economic indicators and retail trends to ensure that our inventory planning and cost structure are appropriate to the short to midterm conditions while continuing to invest in our longer-term strategies. Typically, our earnings calls focus on financial highlights; however, we are grateful as an organization to be in the position to support charitable organizations throughout the communities we live and work and where great needs exist. Most recently, we had the opportunity to partner with two key retailers in Florida to send over 1,200 beds and supplies to help with relief efforts for Hurricane Ian. This spirit of giving back is embedded in our culture and has been for almost 100 years. Our employees take this part of our culture seriously and dedicate a significant amount of their own time and resources to many of these efforts. We believe this is a key differentiator for us as a company, which is why I wanted to mention this in our call today. This ends the formal part of our discussion, and at this time I will turn the call back over to our Operator, Michelle, for questions.

Our first question comes from Anthony Lebiedzinski with Sidoti. Your line is open.

Yes, good morning. Thank you for taking the questions, and I’m actually Anthony Lebiedzinski, not Andrew. First on Hooker Branded, just wanted to get a better sense as far as the inventory mix issues. Any way that you guys could quantify what the impact was, and I know you said you’re shipping better in 4Q, so do you expect to get most of that back in 4Q, whatever you lost because of these mix issues, or do you think that will spill over into the first quarter of next year?

I think we’ll get a lot of it back. We’re shipping considerably better than we were through most of the quarter. Jeremy?

It's a bit challenging to quantify, but I believe the furniture category that was on hold due to waiting for other orders to ship was around $5 million to $7 million. That’s a figure we can somewhat quantify. We have been managing this on a weekly basis and feel confident that we will recover from it in the fourth quarter.

Got it, okay. Thanks for that. Then I know you guys talked about the backlog being up overall versus pre-pandemic. Any way you could quantify what the consolidated backlog was at the end of the quarter, and how does that compare to the third quarter from calendar ’19?

Consolidated backlog was $137 million now and $126 million in ’19.

Okay, got it. Thanks for that.

And that is obviously consolidated. The legacy side gets much more pronounced as far as how much larger it is.

Right, branded is 35 versus 11.

Right.

Oh wow, okay, so that’s a meaningful difference. Thanks for that clarification. Then for Home Meridian, you mentioned that some customers are delaying shipments. We all know there’s a lot of inventory out there in the retail channel, so do you think these are mostly firm orders or could some be cancelled? What's your view on when you think inventory levels at your retail partners will return to a more normal state?

First of all, the first part of the question, we do believe those are firm orders. We feel like we went through the process of rationalizing our backlog with all of our major retailers, and what we have left is solid, so that’s how we feel on that question. Secondly, a lot of that is starting, because there is a fairly decent retail environment going on out there. You can’t feel it on the order side because of what’s going on with inventories, but we are hearing that the inventories are starting to correct themselves to the level that it’s going to finally break through. We don’t really know, but we feel like it’s definitely getting better, kind of on a weekly basis.

It's good to hear that. Regarding the distribution center in Georgia, I understand you've mentioned some labor costs and inefficiencies. When do you anticipate that facility will be fully operational and meet your efficiency standards?

We feel like we’ll make significant steps at the end of the first and into the second quarter, and I think we’ll make more significant steps actually into the third quarter too because as we rationalize our inventory more and more on that side of the business, we’re going to be able to reduce our costs pretty significantly.

Yes, we’ve already seen some improvement there. We’re not incurring a lot of excess freight charges for goods that haven’t been on time and stuff like that, so we’re starting to see that progress, and we just need to see continued efficiencies first.

Got it, okay. Thanks. Then a couple more questions, if I could. As far as on the cost side, ocean freight costs have certainly normalized. As far as the other costs across the business, what are you seeing there, whether it’s labor or domestic transportation? Can you just talk about what you’re seeing there?

I believe the current environment is significantly more stable. Previously, we were experiencing daily price increases across various materials, including foam and plywood, but now the situation has become much more stable. As you mentioned, ocean freight costs are coming down quite a bit. However, as we have discussed before, it's challenging to quickly take advantage of this decrease due to existing contracts, many of which we have already renegotiated. We are continuously working to capitalize on the benefits of lower ocean freight costs, but it’s important to note that the goods already shipped into our warehouse still reflect the higher costs.

Mm-hmm, okay. Got it. Then as far as your ability to gain market share, you talked about benefiting from the portfolio, you’re moving to a new showroom next year in High Point. What are some of the other things that you think will enable you to gain market share? And also one of your competitors, Lane Furniture, just abruptly shut down. Just wondering if you think that could be an opportunity for you to also gain share from that.

I’ll begin with the last part. There is indeed a gap in the marketplace for what they were offering, and I believe that once we navigate through the current bottleneck involving their overseas operations, a significant opportunity will arise. Regarding our growth strategies, Sunset West plays a vital role. We acquired this company anticipating the chance to leverage our operational scale to expand their business, which has historically been focused on the West Coast, into the Eastern U.S. Additionally, with Savannah, they will implement a distribution method that is advantageous for that region, creating further opportunities in the outdoor category. While diversifying our product portfolio will take time, we had a successful High Point Market, which we expect will lead to substantial revenue in the HMI segment and broaden our customer base. Moving into Showplace is not just a relocation; it presents a unique chance to reach a much larger audience than we have previously. Although our company is relatively well-known, our visibility was limited at our former location on the 10th floor of Commerce. This new space allows us to showcase our brand to a fresh audience, which we see as a significant revenue growth potential. Lastly, we are focusing on improving the speed from order placement to shipping, ensuring we maintain stock levels, as these factors are crucial for enhancing our revenue turnover.

All right, well that’s great to hear, and thank you and best of luck.

Yes, thank you, Anthony. Appreciate it.

There are no further questions. I'd like to turn the call back over to Jeremy Hoff for any closing remarks.

I would like to thank everyone on the call for their interest in Hooker Furnishings. We look forward to sharing our fiscal ’23 full-year results in April next year. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Take care.

This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone have a great day.