This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.
spk11: Greetings. Welcome to the Columbia Sportswear first quarter 2024 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Andrew Burns.
spk08: You may begin. Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us to discuss Columbia Sportswear Company's first quarter results. In addition to the earnings release, we furnished an 8K containing a detailed CFO commentary and financial review presentation explaining our results. This document is also available on our investor relations website, investor.columbia.com. With me today on the call are Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Tim Boyle, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jim Swanson, and Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel Peter Bragdon. This conference call will contain forward-looking statements regarding Columbia's expectations, anticipations, or beliefs about the future. These statements are expressed in good faith and are believed to have a reasonable basis. However, each forward-looking statement is subject to many risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from what is projected. Many of these risks and uncertainties are described in Columbia's SEC filings. We caution that forward-looking statements are inherently less reliable than historical information We do not undertake any duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this conference call to conform the forward-looking statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations. I'd also like to point out that during the call, we may reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, including constant currency net sales. For further information about non-GAAP financial measures and results, including a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures and an explanation of management's rationale for referencing these non-GAAP measures, Please refer to the supplemental financial information section and financial tables included in our earnings release and the appendix of our CFO commentary and financial review. Following our prepared remarks, we will host a Q&A period during which we will limit each caller to two questions so we can get to everyone by the end of the hour. Now, I'll turn the call over to Tim.
spk03: Thanks, Andrew, and good afternoon. I'm pleased to report that 2024 has started out broadly in line with our expectations. We are reiterating our full-year net sales outlook while modestly raising our diluted earnings per share range. In this challenging environment, we continue to take a disciplined approach to expense management, and our commercial teams are working to maximize sales across all channels. Our Fortress balance sheet enables us to take a thoughtful approach to unlocking the long-term growth and profit improvement opportunities we see across the business. During the quarter, we made meaningful progress on our top priorities. Our inventory reduction plan has yielded substantial benefits. Inventory was down 37% year-over-year exiting the quarter. I'm proud of our team's efforts to navigate the supply chain challenges of the last several years while generating healthy gross margins. We are now shifting our focus towards longer-term supply chain goals, including improving inventory terms and enhancing the speed and efficiency of our operations. Growth is vital for our success. We are implementing strategies across the portfolio to accelerate the business. For Columbia, we're focused on bringing younger active consumers into the brand through a reinvigorated product line that further emphasizes innovation, performance, and style. On the marketing front, we're targeting a more balanced, full funnel approach to drive consideration from new customers. We are also focused on elevating our product assortment and enhancing our in-store retail presentations across all channels. We have several proof points across the globe that this strategy is successful. We've driven meaningful growth in recent years in China and several markets across our Europe direct and distributor businesses. We know that when we target the right consumers with our innovative products, We win in the marketplace. In our emerging brands, we have new leaders at Sorrel and Prana formulating the brand and product strategies to fuel their next phase of growth. Mountain Hardware has strong momentum from its recent brand refresh, and the team is thinking bigger as they map out paths to meaningfully scale the business. Turning to our profit improvement program, we're on track to deliver between 125% and $150 million in savings by 2026, including $75 to $90 million in cost savings this year. We are eliminating expenses associated with carrying excess inventory and driving cost efficiencies throughout our supply chain. We've also begun realizing indirect spend savings. During the quarter, we completed a reduction in force It's never easy to lose valued members of our team who have contributed to our company during their tenure. Our teams handle this process with respect and thoughtfulness, consistent with our core values. We remain confident that our Fortress balance sheet, differentiated brand portfolio, and strategies position us to reaccelerate growth and capture market share over time. I will now review first quarter financial results. Net sales decreased 6% year-over-year to $770 million. This exceeded the high end of our guidance range, primarily driven by earlier timing of spring wholesale shipments. Direct-to-consumer net sales increased 3%, led by brick-and-mortar growth. E-commerce sales declined as we anniversary last year's promotional activity. Our wholesale business declined 14% year-over-year, primarily reflecting lower spring 24 orders. Gross margin expanded 190 basis points, as lower inbound freight costs and favorable channel mix more than offset promotional activity. SG&A expenses were essentially flat, as higher DTC expenses were offset by lower supply chain and variable demand creation spending. Deliverance per share decreased 4% to 71 cents. I'll now review first quarter year-over-year net sales growth by region. For this review, I'll reference constant currency growth rates. Overall, North America remains our most challenging market. We are facing several headwinds in this market, including consumers continue to grapple with inflationary pressures, which is impacting soft goods demand. Traditional outdoor category trends are weak, particularly in footwear, And retailers are taking a cautious approach in placing future season orders. Outside of Growth America, we have stronger trends in several markets, including China, Japan, and our Europe Correct businesses. In the U.S., net sales decreased 8%, driven by mid-teens percent decrease in wholesale sales, resulting from lower spring 24 orders. U.S. DTC net sales were down slightly. Across all channels, we experienced strength in January, fueled by favorable winter weather, followed by softer trends in February and March. USDTC e-commerce net sales were down 0.15%. Sorrel.com was particularly hard hit in the first quarter, and the overall e-commerce environment remains challenging. Since late last year, we have been proactively managing promotional activity on Columbia.com to help establish the site as the best expression of the brand. We know that our site is already an important destination for our younger, active consumers. We want to ensure that when they visit Columbia.com, they see our latest products and innovations with enriched brand storytelling. USDTC brick and mortar sales increased high single-digit percent, driven by the contribution from temporary clearance locations New stores opened over the last year and, to a lesser extent, improved store productivity. In 2023, we used our fleet of outlet stores and temporary clearance locations to profitably liquidate excess inventory. This year, we will continue to leverage these stores to manage inventory levels, including PFAS inventory, and to drive sales as consumers seek out value in the marketplace. Latin America, Asia Pacific region, or LAAP, net sales increased 7%. China net sales increased high 20%, led by exceptional e-commerce performance across our platform partners. In fact, the team was proud to receive special recognition from TikTok this quarter as one of the fastest growing outdoor brands on the platform. The spring 24 transit line, a premium China-specific collection, is outpacing last year's sell-through and clearly resonating with younger Chinese consumers. We expect China to continue being one of the fastest-growing parts of our business in 2024. Japan net sales increased low double-digit percent. Sales benefit from increasing foreign tourist activity, which is helping to offset softer domestic consumer spending. Korea net sales declined mid-single-digit percent. LAP distributor markets decreased high 20s percent, reflecting a greater portion of spring 24 orders shipping in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the first quarter. Excluding the impact of shipment timing, LAP distributor sales were relatively flat. Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, or EMEA, net sales decreased 6 percent. Europe direct net sales were essentially flat as healthy DTC growth offset the impact of lower spring 24 wholesale orders. The Columbia brand continues to perform well in the marketplace, measured by healthy DTC and wholesale sell-through, despite economic and geopolitical pressures. This quarter, we extended our popular Hike Society program into France following its successful launch in the UK last year. As a reminder, we have Columbia Hike Society programs across several European and Asia direct markets. This series of events allows young hikers to meet like-minded people, to explore the outdoors, and learn about the Columbia brand's technologies. To further strengthen Columbia's presence in the important hike category, we're continuing our exclusive partnership with Mega Marsh. This year, it includes a series of 23 hiking events, that take place across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with each event typically fielding over 1,000 participants. Our EVA distributor business declined low 40%, reflecting a greater portion of spring 24 orders shipping in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the first quarter. Excluding the impact of shipment timing, EVA distributor sales were down only slightly, despite several markets being impacted by geopolitical conflicts. Canada net sales declined 11 percent because lower spring 24 wholesale orders were partially offset by modest BTC growth. Similar to the U.S., Canadian consumers are seeking out value in the marketplace, which is driving healthy performance at our outlet stores. Looking at performance by brand, Columbia brand net sales decreased 6 percent, reflecting lower spring orders partially offset by DTC brick and mortar growth. The delivery of our spring shipments is well underway, and we're excited for consumers to gain access to our newest product innovations. Our industry-leading cooling and sun protection innovations, like OmniFreeze and OmniShade Sun Deflector, differentiate Columbia from the competition. This spring, we launched OmniShade Broad Spectrum Airflow, offering exceptionally breathable sun protection with OmniWick Evaporation for fast drying next to skin comfort. We're also focused on re-energizing PFG with new products like the PFG Uncharted Collection. This new assortment features a younger, more active fit, tech-packed performance, and new fabric versions. In footwear, we launched the OmniMax system, which combines versatile cushioning, enhanced stability, and increased traction. OmniMax is available in a variety of hiking, trail running, and fishing styles. In our DTC stores, we supported the launch with in-store and window displays, helping to drive encouraging sell-throughs of higher price point OmniMax styles like the Konos. I'm encouraged by the consumer response to several of the new footwear and apparel offerings that I referenced. These are early indications that the Columbia brand strategies to attract new consumers and drive long-term growth are on the right path. We look to build on these successes in the coming seasons and years as we expand our consumer base. In February, Columbia's innovative spirit was on full display as our OmniHeat Infinity technology helped protect Intuitive Machines' lunar lander on its historic mission to the moon. Columbia Sportswear is a proud scientific partner of Intuitive Machines. Our thermal reflective technology helped protect the Nova Sea lunar lander from the extreme temperatures of outer space. This partnership brings Columbia's technology full circle. We're sending a product to the moon that was inspired by NASA space blankets. The mission was featured in hundreds of media outlets, creating billions of impressions worldwide. We are proud to share that we've signed on to Intuitive Machines' next mission scheduled for later this year. In April, we partnered with Academy Sports and Outdoors to host a special Bubba Wallace meet and greet in Dallas ahead of the NASCAR race at Texas Boater Speedway. Both Columbia PFG and Academy have a long history with NASCAR, and this event created a unique opportunity to further connect Bubba's energetic fan base with our brand. The week was capped off with other driving academy and PHE-wrapped car on its way to a seventh-place finish. As we have mentioned before, the wholesale channel remains a top priority for the Columbia brand, and we're excited to leverage our ambassadors to create brand heat with our key strategic partners. This spring, we launched our latest collaboration with New York-based boutique Kiff, featuring apparel, accessories, and footwear designed for outdoor camping. The collection blends functionality with style while appealing to a younger audience. Shifting to our emerging brands, as a reminder, our emerging brand portfolio sales mix is predominantly in North America, which is our most challenged market. The headlines we outlined earlier on the call are evident in our emerging brands' performance. Sorel brand net sales decreased 24%, with challenging trends across DTC and wholesale. With new leadership now in place, the Sorrell team is focused on revitalizing the brand, building a compelling product range, and driving long-term sustainable growth. I remain confident in the future of the Sorrell brand. Mountain Hardware is building on the momentum from its recent brand refresh. In the quarter, net sales increased 17% reflecting earlier timing of spring shipments and BTC growth. The product line and brand positioning are on track, and the team is focused on accelerating growth. Chrono net sales decreased 4% with a decline in wholesale partially offset by modest BTC growth. The product team remains focused on building brand awareness, refining the product assortment, and unlocking the brand's growth potential. We're encouraged by Fall 24 orders and the potential to return to growth in the second half of the year. I'll now review our 2024 financial outlook. This outlook and commentary include forward-looking statements. Please see our CFO commentary and financial review presentation for additional details and disclosures related to these statements. Looking to Fall 24, our teams are continuously working to minimize any shipment delay resulting from disruptions in the Red Sea. At this time, delays appear manageable. The vast majority of our product line is expected to be delivered on time and in full. We are reiterating our net sales outlook of a 2% to 4% decline. While there are modest changes across our portfolio, our overall net sales expectations has not meaningfully changed. Gross margin is now expected to expand approximately 80 to 120 basis points to 50.4 to 50.8 percent. We are expecting modestly higher clearance and liquidation activity as consumers seek value, and we will continue to opportunistically work down inventory levels and maximize sales. SG&A is expected to be 43 to 43.4 percent of net sales, leading to an operating margin of 7.7% to 8.5%. Our diluted earnings per share outlook has increased modestly to $3.65 to $4.05, driven by higher interest income, licensing income, and a lower share price. We expect strong output in cash flows of at least $350 million in the year. Overall, I'm confident in our team, our strategies, and our ability to achieve the significant long-term growth opportunities we see across the business. We are investing in our strategic priorities to accelerate profitable growth, create iconic products that are differentiated, functional, and innovative, drive brand engagement with increased focused demand creation investments, enhance consumer experiences by investing in capabilities to delight and retain consumers, amplify marketplace excellence that is digitally-led, omnichannel, and global, and empower talent that's driven by our core values. That concludes my prepared remarks. We welcome your questions for the remainder of the hour. Operator, could you help us with that?
spk11: Absolutely, thank you at this time we will be conducting a question and answer session, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue you may press star two if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handsets before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Once again, please press star one if you have a question or a comment. And the first question comes from Bob Durbel with Guggenheim. Please proceed.
spk10: Hi. Good afternoon. I guess, Tim, on my two questions, the first one is, Inventories down, was it 37%? Is this the leanest that you've run inventories, you know, in heading into a fall season? And you just talk about sort of your comfort level with the composition and sort of how you're positioned for the rest of the year. And I guess the second piece is, can you talk a little bit more around the European business, you know, the order book, the trends, you know, just the health of the business in Europe and what you're seeing and expect from you know, in that region specifically. Thanks.
spk03: Yeah, I think the 37% reduction, we're very proud of that, especially in relation to the gross margin we were able to achieve. And that was a function of really utilizing our outlet store fleet to help us to get the inventories down in the right area. We think, frankly, there's still more room for us to improve on our inventory utilization. We'd like to get our inventory terms up to about three, and we've seen great opportunities with the automation we have in place now around estimating our demand and actualizing demand according to the plan. So more to come, and again, we think there's way more opportunity for us to be better in inventory management. This is close to the best we've done, but there's still more room to improve. European business has been good. I'm headed over there in this company at the end of June to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary of doing business in Europe. We occasionally hear from our partners and from our team members in Europe that the brand is not well known in Europe, but frankly, I'm just thrilled with the exposure we're getting as it relates to some of these global marketing efforts, including a hike system, a lunar lander.
spk13: And I think there's great opportunity for us in Europe, and we'll continue to grow there, I think, rapidly. Great. Thank you very much, Tim.
spk11: Okay. The next question comes from Laurent Vasilescu with BNP. Please proceed.
spk14: Oh, good afternoon. Thank you very much for taking my questions. I wanted to ask about the 1Q, the top line beat. January, I think on the last call you commented, right, Jan, you had good favorable weather. But I think then the weather kind of got very challenging for the outdoor category in February and March. So I'm just curious to know, was there maybe a, what was the upside surprise versus your guide when you got it in February? Was there something like on the international side that we should consider? Was there a pull forward from 2Q into 1Q? Anything that you can share on that front, that'd be very helpful. Thank you.
spk03: Yeah, the improvement in front of a bit of a surprise was the January winter weather in North America. You know, we had just come off a very warm winter in the third and fourth quarter of last year. And the fact that the weather was nicely appropriate in the fourth quarter, excuse me, in the first quarter of January was, I don't want to say a surprise, but we were very glad to see it. You know, our business is much more weather dependent than it is economically dependent. So when the weather is appropriate, our business is exceptional. And, you know, it's vastly impacting. So that's where the numbers really were a bit of a surprise in January.
spk07: Yeah, and Laurent, I might add, when we had our earnings call in February, we indicated that the upside that we were seeing from a weather standpoint through the month of January, that was reflected in our Q1 outlook. So when you look at the quarter, we're about $17 million better, I think, on the top line relative to the high end of our outlook. And you can attribute most of that to slightly earlier shipments in the U.S. business. We don't want that to be an upside. Most of the quarter, I think, was right in line with where we thought it would be in either shifts of just days, not anything of any meaningful nature, at least at this stage.
spk14: Okay, Tim and Jim, that's super helpful. And then because, as you mentioned, Tim, that, you know, it is weather dependent, because there was better weather, it came late, but it did arrive early. How do we think about that in the context of the U.S. business guided down mid-single digits? I don't know if you have any comment about what your order book on the U.S. wholesale side, how it's shaping up in terms of maybe reorders, cancellations. I mean, it looks like you're calling for the U.S. business to be kind of flattish on the back half. Any comment there would be super helpful.
spk03: Yeah, well, remember, we take our order book. primarily in November, December, and to a certain extent in January. So it reflects the mood of our retail partners in that period. It will have some additional inventory in the event that the weather is much colder than a normal early winter. But for all intents and purposes, we've based this on an average winter weather year.
spk07: Yeah, Laurent, maybe just to add in a couple extra points. Our U.S. business, we contemplate that being down mid-single-digit percent year-to-year for the full year. That's not different than where we thought we would be 90 days ago. And when you look at the wholesale business, the wholesale business will still be down in the second half of the year. That's more than, by and large, or partially offset, I should say, by the direct-to-consumer business through a combination and really led by a brick-and-mortar business that we continue to annualize new stores that have opened, coupled with these temporary clearance stores that have been operating.
spk14: Excellent. That's very clear. And then maybe my last question, two-part question, sorry, but Jim, can you comment about, I know you kind of tweaked down the gross margin for the year, but can you kind of give us a kind of a range on where the 2Q gross margin should shake out. And then on the $75 to $90 million of savings, how do we think about that over the course of the quarters? I don't know if you recognized anything in the first quarter, but kind of could it be equal tranches across the next, you know, next three quarters on that savings?
spk07: Yeah, Laurent, in the CFO commentary that we published earlier, We did provide some detail on our Q2 outlook. So we do contemplate our Q2 gross margin being down 190 to 230 basis points. That's by and large a reflection of a year-over-year comparative difference. We had some sales and inventory-related provisions that were one time in nature and favorable last year that we're anniversarying against. If you set those aside, our gross margins the second quarter are going to be essentially even to where we were last year. And then as it pertains to our profit improvements program, from an overarching standpoint, we're making great progress on that. You know, first and foremost, I'd say with the great work that our operations and supply chain team and just collectively across the business that we've had in terms of getting our inventories back down to a more normalized level, that's certainly going to benefit the elevated carrying costs we incurred a year ago. In fact, our U.S. distribution and third-party logistics costs in the next quarter, Q1, We're down 10 million. We took some actions that Tim had referred to in the prepared remarks with regard to a reduction in force. That was executed late in the quarter, late March. So we wouldn't anticipate beginning to see the benefits of that until Q2. But, you know, we're very much on track in terms of being able to achieve that 75 to 90 million that's built into our outlook.
spk14: Very clear.
spk13: Thank you very much, Jim, for all the color. Thanks, Laurent.
spk11: The next question comes from Jim Duffy with Stifel. Please proceed.
spk12: Thank you for taking my questions. I want to start on the US market. Your comments on the US remain quite sober. Can you speak to what you're seeing from the U.S. consumer activity early in the spring season? As you see spring begin in earnest and certain U.S. reasons, are there any signs of life to be hopeful? And then I'm curious how all this kind of relates to the outdoor category as a whole in the U.S. Are we getting any indications that the COVID hangover is lessening?
spk13: Yeah, I think, you know, there's a number of
spk03: Brands in the marketplace today, and we're competing with many of those, I think there may have been just too exuberant an expansion of the business. And frankly, with our balance sheet, as strong as it is, we're obviously going to be here when the dust settles. I think that the consumers today are more used to get back outdoors. And again, as I said, the weather is impactful on on how our business is functional. We do a significant amount of our business in Father's Day and Father's Day gifts. And so there's all the expectation that those kinds of activities will continue and be more robust as well.
spk12: And then, Tim. I'm interested in your efforts to bring new and younger consumers to the brand. The Hike Society initiative in Europe seems like something you're really pleased with, getting good traction with. Can you comment on, you know, evidence of progress with bringing the younger consumer to the brand in the United States?
spk03: Certainly. Well, you know, it's interesting. Our PFG styles, which are by far the youngest part of our business, have traditionally been quite generous in their sizing. And we add some of these new components to our PFG line, which are much more active fits. The uptake there has been, quite frankly, surprising. And so it looks like we've got younger people certainly approaching the PFG styles in a better way and a more robust way. And then our footwear, as we begin to have which are trail running and really designed for a more active person, that we're getting a very good lift on that stuff. So I think the opportunity is there, and the expectations are that we'll continue to define and design styles in that area.
spk12: And should we expect hike society to come to the U.S.? ?
spk03: I think it's definitely likely. I mean, it's been really sort of a pan, a global uptake. We have high society across Asia, and the European uptake was super, and it's certainly a candidate for inclusion in our marketing efforts.
spk13: Great. Thank you, guys, for your perspective. Thank you.
spk11: The next question comes from Jonathan Komp with Baird. Please proceed.
spk01: Yeah, good afternoon. Thank you. Can I just follow up on the gross margin? I want to ask about the competitive environment, and I may have missed. The reasons to take down the gross margin guide slightly for the year, just given the progress you've made on inventory, could you share a little more perspective there? And just related to that, can you comment on the temporary stores? I think you're up to 44%. in the U.S., any way to size up how much volume that's driving this year or last year, just to give more perspective there?
spk07: Yeah, I can start and then let Tim jump in and add some color. As it relates to our full year outlook and the revision we've made to the gross margin, there's some puts and takes in terms of our revenue. And we've held the revenue constant with our prior outlook. But when you get into the underlying composition of it, There's been some shifts in parts of the business. We took down our Sorrel Outlook slightly. We took down our e-commerce business down slightly. The area of our business that we took up was in the case of our brick and mortar with our outlet and clearance stores. We continue to operate those through the balance of the year. And so as a result of that change in the mix of our business and with an increased dependence on that outlet and clearance locations, that's effectively what's driving a portion of the margin coming down. And then as it relates to the temp stores, you saw in the quarter we're operating about 44 stores. We're operating at just under 2% of sales, I think, in the quarter. And then for the year, it'll be a like amount. It'll be slightly above that, 2% of sales. And from an overall profitability standpoint, you know, these stores are contributing very little to the overall operating margins, but they're obviously a great vehicle for us to liquidate inventory to a much more profitable vehicle and less disruptive than going through the wholesale closeout or value channel.
spk03: Yeah, our typical method of selling on-price merchandise would be to sell to TJ Maxx or Marshalls, and those channels were frankly flooded with inventory, and so the best approach for us was to take the take it and sell it ourselves in these temporary stores. So as that inventory has come down at decent margins, certainly by comparison to what the other liquidation methods were, we will begin to close those temporary stores up and go back to our standard method of operating the stores. So I think it really gave us an opportunity to flush the inventory, and it didn't have the kind of broad impact on the marketplace that something with a big discount in our e-comm business would have done.
spk01: Makes sense. Looks like a good brand move there. Just one follow-up on the year. Columbia brand for the year, the revenue of about flat globally. Could you just comment? It looks like you're assuming something positive, maybe mid-single digits in the back half. So I'm hoping you could maybe share the visibility that you see and maybe the key drivers as we think about Columbia and whether you're baking in benefits from some of the newer growth initiatives or if those have a longer tail. Thank you.
spk07: Yeah, as it relates to the outlook itself, on a full year basis, John, that's right, we're about flat. And looking at the second half in particular, we do contemplate growth in the brand. I would say that that leans more towards the apparel category. Footwear, I think as Tim touched on, you know, the outdoor footwear trends remain challenged. So I'd expect to continue to see some challenges there, at least in the near term. But longer term, you know, we've got a lot of confidence in the direction we're taking from a footwear standpoint. And then that growth that we're planning for in the back half of the year, some of that's based on our wholesale order book. And for Columbia Apparel, the wholesale order book for the fall 24 season, we're anticipating modest growth out of the wholesale business. So that's encouraging. And I think there is the benefit of, you know, the brand continues to perform well from an international standpoint. And certainly that'll be the brand when we look at the brick and mortar side of the business with our store fleet and additional stores that'll see the most benefit from that part of the business.
spk13: Okay, great. Thanks again.
spk11: Okay, the next question comes from Mitch Kometz with Seaport Research. Please proceed.
spk09: Yeah, thanks for taking my questions. I guess my first question, just on the order book, I think when you guys reported 4Q, you mentioned that fall orders were down low to mid-single digits. I'm wondering if there's any change in that now that we're a little bit further into that process. And then also on the CIRREL guide change, I'm just wondering if that's order book related, or are you changing other assumptions around CIRREL? I have a follow-up.
spk07: Yeah, the biggest change in the case of CIRREL, more a reflection of what we saw in the e-commerce business in the first quarter, in which the business had been down a bit more sharply than we had anticipated. And so... With that in mind, it's been a tough environment. You know, we revised the outlook down to the reflecting down mid-20s. Obviously, we've got the order book in hand for fall 24 that would also be indicative of those declines. And, you know, we've got new leadership in place and looking forward to the updates that they make to the brand, the product line, and really looking forward to, you know, reinvigorating growth. But it's going to take some time and obviously challenging in the near term.
spk09: And then is the order book, the consolidated order book, still in that down low to mid-single-digit range? Has that changed at all?
spk07: I think so on a global basis, our order book for the fall 24 season is contemplated to be down a low single-digit percent. So, you know, call it the 1% to 2% range. Okay.
spk09: And then just a second question, on the gross margin, So you guys shed a nice gross margin in the first quarter, but you expect to be down pretty substantially in 2Q. From a kind of puts and takes standpoint, what's the main reason for that big swing?
spk07: The biggest one is what I was referring to. I can't remember if I asked the question a little bit earlier, but Q2 of last year, we had some exceptional provisions related to sales and inventory that benefited the gross margin. So there were one-time adjustments last year were favorable. We don't have those same things this year. If you take those aside, we're basically neutral on margin in Q2. And then, Mitch, as you think about the back half of the year, we've planned our gross margin up, and by far, in a way, the thing that's going to drive gross margin in the latter part of the year is the healthier inventory position that we have. And even though we continue to operate the additional outlet and clearance locations the assortment of merchandise that we'll have available within those stores to sell is a better assortment that we expect to drive a better margin that's planned in that outlook.
spk09: Okay, understood. Thanks.
spk11: Okay, the next question comes from John Kernan with TD Cowan. Please proceed.
spk04: Hi, this is Alex Douglas on for John. Thank you for taking our questions. So my first one was on some of the fiscal 24, one of the fiscal 24 gross margin puts and takes, specifically the lower inbound freight costs. I know that's something you guys have commented on, on the last couple earnings calls. So I was just wondering what, what's the timing for when you guys will start lapping those lower freight costs and you know, would it maybe be fair to assume that by the end of the year, you know, that impacts either flatter and flex to a headwind?
spk07: Thank you. Well, the more meaningful impact that we've experienced each of the last several quarters as it relates to inbound freight coming off the highs in terms of what we're seeing in inbound ocean freight charges from over a year ago. And as you look back on our last our gross margin has benefited in the tune of, on average, 300 basis points per quarter. Q1 was plus 200 basis points. So as we move forward from here, beginning of the second quarter, we would expect that to be far less of a benefit. Having said that, just given lower overall demand and supply being built Overall, the freight negotiations that we're in currently would indicate to us that there's continued opportunity where we see those freight rates come down a bit more, but certainly not on the order of magnitude of what we've seen over the course of the last year.
spk04: That's very helpful. Thank you. And then my next question was on one of your comments on inventory turns, just more of a clarifying question. You mentioned a goal of three times. Is that more of a long-term goal or end-of-fiscal 24 goal? If you could help clarify that for modeling purposes, it would be very helpful. Thank you.
spk03: Yeah, we'll improve our inventory terms over prior periods, but to get to three, which is a good goal for the company and other companies achieve this, we believe is is attainable, but it would be more of a long-term goal.
spk07: Yeah, certainly not 24. You know, our expectation, though, would be that, and while we don't want to give a specific inventory forecast at the end of the year, there's a lot of complexities to that. Our expectation would be that we're able to manage inventory down year-over-year relative to where we exited out of 23. So we'll see that inventory efficiency and that improvement in the terms.
spk13: Okay. Yeah, that's very helpful. Thank you.
spk11: Okay, the next question comes from Paul Louise with Citigroup. Paul, please proceed.
spk02: Hey, thanks, guys. I'm curious within the USPTC bricks and mortar business, can you maybe talk about how much of that business is being driven by traffic versus ticket? I don't know if you could share what comps were, excluding the additional temporary clearance locations. And just one point of clarification on those. Did you say 2% of total sales in the second quarter? That's what those represented? And then how many do you plan to have in the back half? Thanks.
spk03: Yeah, we consider ourselves really to be a wholesale company, so we really don't release a lot of information on the KPIs around our retail business. But I can tell you generally the traffic numbers have been good in those markets. where we're operating outlet stores, and the conversion rates have been exceptional. So the brand is in high demand, and really the focus for us is on these temporary stores to get our inventories down with high gross margins for the company overall, and then to operate the suite of stores really in line with what we believe are long-term inventory liquidation plans should be as we begin and continue to operate at an efficient turn level for our inventories.
spk07: Yeah, and then just a follow-up point on there. You asked about the comps, and as Tim touched on, we don't provide specific retail KPIs of our business. Having said that, in Tim's prepared remarks, we did indicate that the growth from a direct-to-consumer brick-and-mortar perspective was a combination of the temporary new stores. but also included productivity gains that you can take away from that. It's a positive comp. And some of Tim's comments with regard to traffic and conversion helped contribute towards that. And then, yeah, my prior comment was with regard to our temporary clearance stores, that those represented just slightly less than 2% of consolidated net sales for the first quarter. And on a full year basis, we plan for that to be slightly greater than 2%. But again, back to my point, you know, these are – These are modestly profitable. And, you know, if we think out to 2025, we begin to ramp down and exit out as a lion's share of these.
spk02: Got it. Thanks. And then just one follow-up. Could you just give us an update on clearing through the PFAS product, where you are in that process?
spk13: Yeah, we believe that by the end of this year, we will be virtually out of PFAS products.
spk03: And it will hopefully be a topic that's in our rearview mirror.
spk07: Yeah, we've made great progress. You know, we feel good about being able to work through the balance of what inventory we do have, most of which is already sold and allocated to a customer that we intend to sell through our own direct-to-consumer business. And to the degree there's excess that remains there, certainly when you look at the clearance capability we have from an outlet standpoint, this is perfectly saleable, high-quality inventory. We don't envision that being a challenge and be able to move through that profitably.
spk13: Got it. Thank you. Good luck. Thanks, Paul.
spk11: Once again, if you have a question or a comment, please press star 1 on your touchtone phone. The next question comes from Alex Perry with Bank of America. Please proceed.
spk05: Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to ask about China, actually. Can you talk about what's driving the outperformance there versus a lot of your peers? Is it strong new product reception? Are you doing any distribution expansion there? And then maybe just remind us on how the margins of the China business compared to the other regions. Thank you.
spk03: Sure. Well, just as a reminder, we've been doing business in China for about 20 years and operating the business directly ourselves for five, six years. And we underperformed there for many years. Even though we were first in the marketplace, we were underperforming. So when you look at our business by comparison to others, we're smaller. And the fact that we've turned the business around maybe has some outsized results when you compare it with the rest of the business. I would say that the bulk of the improvement is a function of just cleaning up our operations and making them much more relevant for the local market. We haven't really expanded our distribution in a great way, but we've been focusing on improving our monthly performance and store productivity, utilizing a number of different ways, including key retail operations, as well as directly designing merchandise, which has been improved for the local market, more focused on the local market's requirements. And lastly, the management team that we have is exceptional. It's been really instrumental in making the business much better.
spk07: Yeah, I just doubled down on Tim's talking points there. From a distribution standpoint, We're operating no less. In fact, we may be operating a door or two less than we were a year ago. So this is all coming through productivity gains within our existing store fleet and online dealers that we work with. And then one other follow-up point to your question, Alex, with regard to the margins in China, we'll provide specifics on it, but I can share that it's among the most profitable parts of our business from an overall contribution perspective, certainly far above the overall corporate operating margin.
spk05: Perfect. That's really helpful. And then I just wanted to parse out the DTC guide a bit more. I think sort of the implied guide for DTC brick and mortar is for it to be up quite a bit. I guess what's the driver there? Is that just year over year door count? And then I think it implies some acceleration in DTC.com as you move through the year. Can you maybe talk about what would be driving that? Yeah, good question.
spk07: So as it relates to the brick and mortar side of the business, the combination of the new stores we opened last year, our plans for this year, combined with those temporary clearance stores, we ramped up those temporary clearance stores throughout last year. So you're going to see the annualized benefit of them being open throughout this year. Case in point, we had 44 that we operated in Q1 of this year versus eight last year. And so we'll continue to see the annualization associated with that. To a lesser degree, we are contemplating some improvement from a productivity standpoint. Keep in mind, given the excess inventory that we're flushing through the outlets for most of last year, the assortment, size, runs, color that we had available to the consumer in those stores is pretty weak for different points in time throughout last year. As we've got better assortment in the stores this year, we believe there's opportunity where we left revenue on the table last year, and we can recapture that this year. So that's, by and large, the brick-and-mortar side of things, not to mention the brick-and-mortar business we have internationally, particularly in Asia and our China business, that that'll drive growth as well. And then with respect to the e-commerce business, we do contemplate some degree of improvement of that in the back half of the year. And as Tim touched on, Late last year, mid last year, we began making changes, particularly on Columbia.com in the U.S. with regard to the degree of promotions. And so in the earlier part of the year, we were highly promotional and discounted. As you get into the latter part of the year, we essentially backed off of that to a better representation of the brand online. So as we get into the latter part of this year, Alex, we'll be comping against that. So it's a more easier comp, if you will. And some of that's also reflected in our outlook. I think the other thing I would mention is, well, we have been, over the course of the past few years, been making strategic digital-based investments. And so we've made enhancements to our membership program. And our digital teams are working on efforts to better personalize their sites for the consumer and how we market to the consumer. So I think increasingly as we get in the back half this year, we're able to begin leveraging and seeing some of the returns on some of those investments.
spk05: Perfect. That's all incredibly helpful. Best of luck going forward. Thanks.
spk11: The next question is from Mauricio Sema with UBS.
spk13: Please proceed. Mauricio, your line is live.
spk00: Hello. Sorry about that. I was in mute. Thank you for taking our questions. I guess the first question, maybe could you talk about the sell-through that you've seen in the U.S. and European businesses? That would be super interesting to hear. And then on the sales guidance, just wanted to reconcile. I think you beat the midpoint of the guidance for Q1 by about $30 million, but then you're keeping it pretty much stable. So I wanted to just be sure to understand, like, what drove that outperformance and, like, where is that being offset in the upcoming quarters? And then just lastly, I think, like, if you do the math on the SG&A, inside SG&A, relative to the previous guide, like, it's a decline of about $10 million or something like that. I just wanted to understand, like, What is, like, the changes in the SG&A versus the previous guide as you're already, like, you're keeping the savings plan? So, thank you.
spk03: Yeah, I can tell you that in the North America market, our sales here is about on average where it is on average here. So, we're pleased with that. Looks like the liquidations through our stores and our retail partner stores are about on average. In Europe, they're slightly ahead of where they would typically be. So we're pleased with how that's performing. It looks like it's going to be a positive for us.
spk07: Yeah, I can jump in on the other couple of questions. So first, as it relates to the Q1 revenue beat, that Maurizio's by and large earlier wholesale shipments, you know, that can be days or within a couple weeks different. So that's just a timing difference between first quarter and second quarter, and hence you're not seeing any changes to our full year outlook. So that came out of Q2. And then with regard to SG&A, you know, there's slight adjustments that we're making in fine-tuning the SG&A forecast. We've brought that down slightly. You know, I think it's going to be a reflection of the efficiency of what we're capturing from a cost reduction standpoint and just be able to manage the business with discipline. So nothing of – specific note outside of that.
spk00: Got it. And just very quick follow up on the temporary outlet stores. Like, like, you know, like essentially you're using them this year to clear up down a lot of, there are a lot of merchandise. But how is it going to be like the approach next year as you wind them down? Is it going to be like gradual or just like, you know, I don't know, like all out in Q1? Just wanted to understand because I guess like from a consumer standpoint, I don't know if that would affect like how the consumers perceive pricing of the company stores.
spk03: Yeah, the temporary locations are really going to be timed as a function of how effective we are in liquidating the inventory. So they're month to month, so I would expect that we'll be gradually closing these stores over the next really year to the point where they'll virtually all be gone or there may in fact be one or two, some small number that are converted to permanent stores if we'd like their performance. But basically, these are established to help us liquidate that cloud of inventory that we had around 18 months ago.
spk00: Got it. Very helpful. Thank you so much.
spk11: Okay. We have no further questions in queue. I'd like to turn the floor back to management for any closing remarks. Well, thank you all for listening in.
spk03: We're excited about the potential for the business and the future looks very bright. We will talk to you Next reporter.
spk11: This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
Disclaimer