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spk02: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to David's T's first quarter 2022 earnings webcast. Today's webcast is being recorded and is in a listen-only mode. Before we get started, I would like to remind you of the company's safe harbor language. This presentation includes forward-looking statements about our expectations for the performance of our business in the coming quarter and year. Each forward-looking statement contained in this presentation is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such statements. Additional information regarding these factors appears under the heading Risk Factors in our Form 10-K, which was filed with the Canadian and U.S. Securities Regulatory Authorities and is available on www.cdar.com, www.s.sec.gov, as well as in the investor relations section of the company's website at www.davidst.com. The forward-looking statements in this discussion speak only as of today's date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. If any non-IFRS financial measure is used on this call, a reconciliation to the most directly comparable IFRS financial measure will be detailed in our Form 10-Q. As a reminder, all dollar amounts referred to are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. Now I would like to turn the call over to Sarah Siegel, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Brand Officer of David's Tea.
spk01: Thank you, Aider. Good afternoon, everyone. David's Tea has managed through industry-wide challenges such as spiraling inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages. with remarkable efficiency in the first of 2022. Despite these short-term headwinds, our vision to be the world's most innovative tea company, inspiring greater wellness and sustainability remains unchanged. We fully intend to continue sustainably growing our business with new product offerings while providing customers with a greater sense of well-being and a fun and accessible way to bring tea to a wider audience. The launch earlier this week of a new line of cold brew teas for the summer represents a striking example of the constant innovation that I'm talking about. While most loose leaf cold brew teas on the market take over eight hours to infuse, David's Tea continues to drive innovation. Instead of the previous hour and a half steep time of our previous blends, our new cold brew tea is steep in only 10 minutes. The brand's newest completely natural cold brews are available in three fresh and fruity flavors, Strawberry Kiwi, Classic Lemon, and Peach Passionfruit. And for the first time ever, there are two formats to choose from, loose leaf tea and sachet tea bags. Since there's no need to use hot water, electricity, or ice to brew these teas, they're ideal to enjoy anytime and anywhere. We are also proud of our recent and first-ever collaboration with a Canadian tea company called Tea Horse, a woman-led, Indigenous-owned tea company. This is yet another example of the innovation and creative collaboration nurtured at David's Tea. Last week, we announced a new black tea blend, Manoma Maple, in partnership with Tea Horse, which is now available at all David's Tea flagship stores across Canada and through our borderless digital platform. Manoman means wild rice in Ojibwe. This ancestral grain grows wild in northern Canada with no human manipulation, and it's hand harvested. Our smooth and cozy blend features a touch of maple, vanilla, and berries, and is named for its toasty notes of Manoman rice, which are featured in the tea. David's Tea is also proud that 10% of all proceeds from Nome and Maple will go towards the David Suzuki Institute to support Indigenous communities through the Reconciling Ways of Knowing program. Working on this collaboration with Tea Horse has been a rewarding experience as we have been able to share our creativity, knowledge, and passion for tea in Canada. Being able to contribute to the Indigenous community through the David Suzuki Institute further strengthens our efforts to support a more inclusive and diverse tea community on a local level. A third case of David's Tea being a creative force within the tea industry centered around our National Ice Tea Day celebrations, culminating on June 10th. Our Ice Up Your Life event sought to infuse people's lives with joy through exciting giveaways, special promotions that extended over three days. This event highlighted our extensive collection of over 100 signature teas and blends that can be enjoyed both hot and iced, including 25 iced tea flavors specially crafted with refreshing, innovative ingredients to ensure the best iced tea possible. Best-selling iced teas like Caribbean Crush and Just Peachy were highlighted, along with our brand-new summer tea, which is a green tea, Very Cherry. featuring a lively balance of juicy red cherry, floral hibiscus, and feel-good moringa that invoke the carefree vibes of a healthy summer routine. Our seasonal summer collections feature wellness ingredients, new blends, and limited-edition teas that allow new and returning customers to continue discovering new favorites. As a leading tea merchant with a strong brand, we seek to share our passion and love for tea through innovation across everything we do, from iced tea, matcha, tea powders, to traditional garden-to-cup origin teas and specialty loose-leaf tea blends. Our expertise across many categories of loose-leaf tea-based product is what ensures we can fulfill our mission to be the destination for loose-leaf tea and to truly have a tea for all. Thank you for your attention today. I will now turn the call over to Frank.
spk03: Thank you, Sarah, and good afternoon, everyone. Sales decreased 12.1% to $20.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal 22, as evolving consumer buying patterns post-pandemic affected our results. Brick-and-mortar sales improved more than 42% year-over-year, while e-commerce and wholesale revenues which account for the majority of our sales, decreased 21% following the transition from last year's pandemic-fueled surge of online sales to serving customers through our omni-channel capabilities. Despite a 12% decline in overall sales year-over-year, we believe we're on the right path with our digital-first strategy, supported by our expansion into wholesale. We intend to continue investing in initiatives that stimulate demand as we create a path to sustain profitable growth for David's Tea and value creation for all shareholders. Gross profit decreased 1.8 million or 16.7% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2022 due to a decline in sales, partially offset by lower delivery and distribution costs. As a percentage of sales, gross profit amounted to 43.9% for the quarter compared to 46.3% in the first quarter of 2021. SG&A expenses increased 1.6 million or 17.4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2022, including software implementation and configuration costs, as well as the wage and rent subsidies received under the Canadian government COVID-19 economic response plan. Adjusted SG&A rose 0.7 million year-over-year, The increase can be attributed to additional staffing and online marketing expenses as we continue our transformation into becoming a digital-first organization. As a percentage of sales, adjusted SG&A expenses in the first quarter of 2022 attained 49.2% compared to 40.4% in the same period last year. Net loss in the first quarter of 2022 totaled $2 million compared to net income of $3.2 million in the first quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, reached $0.1 million versus $2.5 million in the same period last year. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA reflects reduced sales and lower gross profit year-over-year. At quarter end, we had a cash position of $22.7 million. This solid financial position will support investments in innovation that Sarah talked about earlier, while accelerating our transition into becoming a digital-first, omnichannel key supplier. The company's objective, as previously outlined, is to deliver sustained profitable growth and ultimately create shareholder value for all. This concludes our Q1 2022 webcast, and on behalf of the entire DataCity team, thank you for joining us today.
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