Hooker Furnishings Corporation

Ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Hooker Furniture Quarterly Investor Conference Call, reporting its operating results for the first quarter 2022. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. To ask a question during the session, you'll need to press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Paul Huckfeldt. Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer for Herka Furniture Corporation.

Thank you, Liz. Good morning, and welcome to our quarterly conference call to review the financial results for our fiscal 2022 first quarter, which ended May 2, 2021. Joining me this morning is Jeremy Hoff, our Chief Executive Officer. We certainly appreciate your participation this morning. During our call, we may make certain 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 filing announcing our fiscal 2022 first 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. For our fiscal 2022 first quarter, which began February 1, 2021 and ended on May 2nd, Consolidated net sales were $163 million, an increase of $58 million, or 55%, compared to the prior year first quarter. We reported revenue gains in all three of the company's reportable segments, with Home Meridian sales up $27 million, or 46%, Hooker Branded sales up $24 million, or 89%, and domestic upholstery sales up $7.7 million, or 46%, compared to the prior year first quarter. The company reported a net income of $9.4 million, or 78 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $34.8 million a year ago, which was principally due to a $44.3 million or $33.7 million after-tax non-cash impairment charge. Now I'll turn this call over to Jeremy to comment on our first quarter results.

Thank you, Paul, and good morning, everyone. Our goal this quarter was to return to the growth trajectory we were on prior to the global pandemic and economic downturn. We are pleased to have surpassed that goal. While we expected a sizable sales improvement over last year's first quarter, when the pandemic-driven economic downturn began in mid to late March, our results this quarter represent a strong improvement over the first quarter of fiscal 2020 as well. Sales are up 20% compared to the first quarter two years ago, profitability has improved significantly in all segments, and incoming order rates are more than double our historical norms. In fact, both our quarterly revenues and net profit performance represent record high sales and earnings for the company's fiscal first quarter. I'm especially proud of our team for delivering this strong rebound a year after the onset of the pandemic, despite industry-wide logistics challenges, including higher ocean and freight transit costs, and shipping equipment bottlenecks, raw materials shortages, and inflation. The Hooker branded segment led the way during the quarter with a nearly 90% sales increase compared to a year ago, while the Home Meridian and domestic upholstery segments both reported sales increases of approximately 46%. We attribute the double-digit gains to industry-wide high consumer demand for home products and dramatic improvements and expansions of our product lines, and rationalizing our stocking inventory, helping us to maximize shipping and production capacity along with improving our cash utilization. In order to accommodate travel restrictions in place earlier this year, the High Point Spring Market was officially pushed to June. In its place, the Hooker-branded home renting and domestic upholstery segments participated in a High Point pre-market event in late April. Hooker Furnishing's results from the pre-market were exceptionally strong in terms of traffic, buying activity, and reception to new product introductions. We enjoyed record attendance at the High Point pre-market with very positive customer response to a number of introductions, including Hooker Case Goods Collections, the new brand launches of the Scott Brothers License Collections, Commerce and Market, and Accent Furniture Line with pricing, styling, and materials to reach millennials and Gen X customers. and Hooker Upholstery's launch of the upscale Aspire motion seating brand. Consolidated operating income for the quarter was $12.2 million compared to a $45.4 million operating loss in the prior year period. Last year's loss was primarily attributable to $44.3 million in non-cash impairment charges related to a write-down of goodwill and trade names in the Home Radiance segment, and goodwill in the Shenandoah division prompted by the impact of the COVID-19 downturn on our financials last year. Now I want to turn the discussion over to Paul Huckfelt, who will discuss highlights in each of our reportable segments.

Thanks, Jeremy. I'll begin with the Hooker branded segment, which led the way in the company's record first quarter sales and earnings. Net sales increased by 24 million, or about 90%, and incoming orders nearly doubled compared to the pandemic-impacted prior year quarters. The quarter ended with a backlog three times that of the prior year first quarter. Because much of the segment's product line is shipped out of U.S. distribution centers and product is ordered on a consistent weekly basis, we had goods in stock, which enabled us to ship more than expected despite the limitations on ocean vessel space and trucking capacity. With our strategy to prioritize best sellers, we maximized our ability to perform against significant operational constraints and increased Due to the industry-wide demand surge for home furnishings, we were able to sell through some slow-moving inventory in this favorable demand environment. As a result, the Hooker branded segment remained highly profitable thanks to increased revenues and reduced discounting and contributed over 75% of the consolidated operating profit for the quarter. The strengthening of our product line over the past two years, including an expanding lifestyle collection focus and a renewed emphasis on our value proposition within our various product categories, has begun to significantly affect our top and bottom line performance. Now moving to the Home Meridian segment, HMI Q1 sales were $84 million, up 46% over the prior year. The Q1 sales increase was the result of continued strong retail demand versus weak demand during the initial weeks of the COVID-related economic shutdown last year. Q1 sales would have been higher had we not struggled with inventory availability and shipping limitations. Q1 operating income was $866,000, an increase of $3.3 million over the pre-impairment loss recorded during the industry shutdown last year. Operating income was driven by higher sales, reduced allowances, and reduced fixed expenses. Q1 profits were constrained by significant excess freight cost experienced during the quarter. Unfortunately, these headwinds are expected to continue impacting results over the next several months. The supply chain-related headwinds we're facing cannot be overstated. There are multiple factors at play that include general increased global demand for imported products, particularly for home goods, significant shipping equipment disruptions resulting from the COVID pandemic and the recent blockage of the Suez Canal, current unloading bottlenecks at most US ports, and rampant dislocation of empty containers. All these factors are compounding a situation. It's difficult to secure shipping space at virtually any price, and the price of shipping has multiplied to levels that discourage retailers from releasing their shipments. This dynamic creates another compounding issue when factories cannot move out finished goods. They quickly run out of space to operate, which forces them to stop or slow production despite record consumer demand for furniture. In general, HMI's service position improved moderately in Q1 as inbound shipments replenished out of stock items. Nonetheless, logistical limitations will likely continue to constrain service at some level for the balance of the year. As mentioned on our last conference call, material and product cost increases are driving up our cost of goods sold. We're working diligently to pass these product and freight increases along to our customers. The vast majority of our retail customers understand the situation and are accepting these increases. Regardless, there are time lags that negatively impact margins in the short term. We continue to work on this issue and expect to return to target margins later this year. Breaking the results down by business unit, Q1 net sales were up strongly at Pulaski Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Furniture, at Prime Resources International, and HM Idea, largely driven by weak comparisons in the prior year and strong demand this year. Sales at Eccentric Homes, our e-commerce-focused business unit, were flat due to service limitations and strong e-commerce sales last year. SLH, our hospitality division, struggled with significantly lower demand this due to the ongoing negative impact of the pandemic on the hospitality industry. Overall, Q1 profits were much improved across every business unit except SLH. We believe the hospitality business will struggle for at least another quarter. However, we're beginning to see signs that demand will improve later this year. Q1 orders were 85 million, up 44 million or 108% compared to the unusually low order rate we experienced last year during the early weeks of the pandemic. Incoming orders and backlog continue to run much higher than average, resulting from a combination of robust retail demand and ongoing shipping limitations. HMI participated in the High Point pre-market event in late April. Of note was the extremely enthusiastic response to our Scott Brothers brand, Scott Living, and Drew and Jonathan Home, which are planned to officially launch later this year. We have numerous major dealers committing to buy the branded introductions now and floor them as soon as we can deliver. Even though the High Point Market does not open until tomorrow and no Scott Brothers furniture products are yet in stores, we're already hearing about consumers inquiring about where they can buy these products at retail. All these positive reactions underscore the tremendous opportunity we see in bringing together HMI, one of the largest suppliers of home furnishings, with Scott Brothers Global, the most popular celebrity lifestyle brand in the home furnishing space. The reach of the Scott Brothers brand via print, television, streaming, social media, and other digital mediums, combined with the scope of HMI's design, product development, sourcing, sales, and distribution capabilities, create a formidable combination to drive enthusiastic consumer buying for years. Turning now to domestic upholstery, the segment's net sales increased by 7.7 million, or 46%. during the fiscal 22 first quarter due to significantly increased sales at all three divisions. In response to the COVID-19 restrictions and reduced orders that began in March a year ago, manufacturing plants at Braddington Young and Shenandoah were closed for about a month during the prior year first quarter, and Sam Orr operated at about 50% capacity. As a result, these divisions reported sales at a much lower level during that period. Although we're encouraged by incoming orders for the domestic upholstery segment during the quarter, we started to experience foam allocation shortages and inflation in certain raw materials, such as foam, lumber, plywood, fabric, and mechanisms during the second half of the quarter. These supply chain and manufacturing constraints led to reduced production levels, which adversely impacted sales volume and operating efficiencies for much of the quarter. We expect these challenges to continue in the short term. And in all other, net sales decreased by 368,000, or 12%, compared to the prior year period, principally due to a 17% decrease in each contract, which serves the senior living and retirement industry. As you know, the senior living industry was hit particularly hard by the COVID crisis and has not yet recovered. However, we believe the ongoing progress in vaccinations will improve conditions in most senior living communities. and H contract incoming orders increased by 9.5% during the quarter, and the backlog was 35% higher than a year ago. Despite the sales decline, H contract will contribute operating income for the quarter. Lifestyle Brands, a new business started in fiscal 2019, also reported a small profit. Finally, I'd like to touch on our cash and inventory positions. Since the end of last year, we've increased our inventory levels by about $10 million. This increase is about evenly divided between products in transit and in our warehouses and will help get us back in position to better service our backlog and increase our in-stock position on best sellers. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $61.6 million at the fiscal 22 first quarter end, a decrease of $4.2 million compared to the balance at the end of fiscal 21. Consolidated inventories stood at $81.5 million compared to $70.2 million at fiscal year end, an increase of $11.3 million. We expect our cash balances to decrease slightly in the coming months as strong sales continue and we build inventories to meet increased customer demand. Now I'll turn the discussion back to Jeremy for his outlook.

Thank you, Paul. Our consolidated orders and backlogs are more than double historical norms as we head into the summer months. Given the strong position, we're cautiously optimistic that considering the industry-wide supply chain, logistics, and raw material shortages and inflation. We believe we have mitigated these dynamics as much as possible through surcharges and price increases, yet these supply-side factors are unpredictable and can involve unexpected changes occurring almost daily. Several macroeconomic factors provide a nice runway for growth, such as the ongoing strong housing market, and favorable demographics with the massive millennial generation becoming highly engaged in household formation and home furnishings purchases. On the negative side, we expect increased competition for the consumer's discretionary income from industries such as travel, apparel, and events as the COVID-19 vaccinations continue to roll out. While we expect the extraordinary levels of demand for home furnishings to diminish somewhat, We also expect that demand for home furnishings will settle into a higher level of demand than pre-pandemic. Consumers aren't going to fall out of love with their homes, and we are positioned to help them enhance their homes with comfortable, stylish, and quality home furnishings. We believe our company is strongly positioned to win in this environment. That ends the formal part of our discussion, and at this time I will turn the call back over to our operator, Liz, for questions.

If you'd like to ask a question at this time, please press the star, then the number one key on your touchdown telephone. To withdraw your question, press the pound key. Our first question comes from Anthony Lubitsynski with Sidoti & Company.

Good morning, and thank you for taking the questions. So, yeah, first I wanted to see if you guys could quantify perhaps the, you know, order trend or maybe if you guys could quantify the backlogs that you're seeing now at the end of the first quarter. That would be very helpful.

Let's see. Consolidated backlog is at the end of the quarter was 280 million compared to 91 million the same time last year.

Okay, got it. Okay, thanks, Paul. And then, you know, as far as the price increases, obviously we're in an extraordinary time period, you know, given inflation. So can you just talk about how many rounds of price increase have you done over the past 12 months or so, or maybe also, like, what would be the cumulative effect of the price increases that you've seen in the last few quarters?

Good morning, Anthony. Good morning. This is Jeremy. I would tell you that it really varies depending on which of the 12 brands that you're asking. So if you're in domestic upholstery, you're reacting to raw material increases and shortages of foam and various movement parts in the furniture that increase as well. So domestic upholstery, you would be looking at – like two different increases would probably be an accurate number across that segment. When you look at more of the import divisions, you know, the freight, you know, is really, it's been unpredictable at best, and it's usually a reactionary versus what you would like as being able to be proactive. So you find out, you know, obviously end of each month, okay, what has happened to freight at this point. So That's been a little more reactionary with a surcharge strategy, which the surcharge has probably changed three or four times on our different import companies. And then there's been also first cost increases from factories that vary by brand of import products as well. And so I can't really say it consistent because they're different with each one of them, but we have everything from two different adjustments to zero adjustments thus far on factory increases.

Got it. Okay. Yeah, thanks, Jeremy, for that. Yeah. So in terms of your skew rationalization, so obviously you benefited from that in the quarter period, Is it possible for you guys to give some more details as to the benefit that you saw in the quarter, and then what's the outlook going forward as far as the benefits from that SKU rationalization?

Yeah, so fortunately we started pretty deep into that exercise on our largest warehouse program, which is really the Hooker branded product, and that really became an ABC mentality, not to oversimplify it, but really trying to make sure we weren't investing cash in Cs, trying to manage the obsolescence at very low levels, which we've been able to do, and really putting all of our capacity and all of our utilization of our container space towards As and Bs. And that has definitely helped us. weather this storm that we're in, for sure. And it is significant. And it will continue to be significant because we have an extremely disciplined approach about how we're going to utilize our cash for these stocked items.

It allowed us to shift at the level.

Right, right, right. Got it. Okay. So you think this will benefit you guys for the balance of the year as far as the SKU rationale is in?

Yes. What it essentially does when we have a large transfer of product, we would love to be able to stock up more products in our warehouses, but when we do have large transfers, most of it's sold. Got it. Those are SKUs that obviously are better SKUs, and we're not stocking up SKUs that don't matter.

Got it. Okay. And then, so, you know, this past Monday we just wrapped up Memorial Day weekend, which is typically a strong selling season for retailers. So just curious, you know, coming off Memorial Day, what are you hearing from your, you know, retail partners as far as the demand outlook?

Very strong. Everyone we've spoken with has relayed to us that Memorial Weekend continued to this very strong demand environment that we're in. And so that was encouraging. So we really haven't seen much of a lull in the demand really since just past the start of the pandemic.

Okay. Great. That's great to hear. And then a couple more questions for me. So So, Jeremy, when you joined as CEO at the beginning of February, one of the things you've put in place is Project One, one company, one culture. So I just wanted to get a better sense as to what you've done. What have you seen from that initiative, and how should we think about that for the balance of the year?

Well, you know, we've been able to quickly see benefits, I believe, from, all of our operations coming together and really supporting each of the 12 businesses with utilizing our scale. So having one team that's HMI Group, another team that's Hooker Branded, and then another, right? So we took all those really good people. And by the way, this was not a cost-saving exercise. It was a get-better exercise. It was us becoming more efficient and getting better at what we do and trying to be the best sourcing company that we can be, the best quality company, and the best safety. So we try very hard to make sure everyone is running in the same direction and working on what we need to work on with all the good people that we have. And that's what it really has done.

Got it. And then last question for me. So given the strong balance sheet that you guys have, I mean, what is your outlook for acquisitions?

You know... We continue to fine-tune our profile regarding what type of company, you know, we would be interested in. And so our management team and our board are very well aligned in what that would look like. And we, you know, we're very – I've said before, we're not in a hurry to do anything that wouldn't be positive and the right fit culturally, the right fit economically. Keep it out of the right fit. In all categories that matter, we would want to make sure that it would make an incremental difference and be accretive. We don't want anything that would possibly be dilutive. I mean, I'm stating the obvious, but, you know, that's where we are, and if that doesn't happen, we won't buy anyone.

Right, and we're comfortable actually having this strong balance sheet makes us, you know, it's been a tradition in this company, and it makes us a lot more comfortable weathering these ups and downs. You know, just we weathered the COVID crisis pretty well. We can look back 10 years ago to the recession. And I think, you know, having that maybe what you might consider an excessive balance sheet is a pretty positive thing when things get tough. So we're not in a hurry to spend that money. But we will spend it for the right acquisitions.

Right. Okay. That makes a lot of sense. Well, thank you. Best of luck. We appreciate it. Thank you, Anthony. Thank you.

Our next question comes from Sandy Mehta with Evaluate Research.

Yes, congratulations on the strong results. All of the CAPEX that you guys are doing, including the 800,000 square foot facility in Georgia, can you tell us once all these facilities are up and running, what would be the run rate revenues, incremental revenues, as well as profits you hope to get from all this incremental capex? Thank you.

Well, that's a tough one. The warehouse in Georgia is primarily a cost-saving exercise. Now, obviously, we hope to grow our warehouse businesses, which is like our e-commerce business in particular, but there's also a new initiative to to grow the warehouse business on the Home Meridian side which is traditionally focused on mega accounts. The cost saving on that is the difference between hauling containers 25 miles or to the Savannah port versus about 300 miles to our Georgia and North Carolina ports. So that should be a significant cost savings. I mean it will take days off the transit process allowing us to ship more quickly. And, you know, honestly, there's an environmental benefit, too, because we're not running trucks up and down the road. So I think we expect to see incremental growth, but that one is primarily a cost saving. You know, some of our other major projects, the ERP, it's time to upgrade that ERP. I'm not sure you can pin incremental savings or incremental growth to an ERP project, but those are end-of-life systems that need to be replaced, and those are going to support our Project 1 bringing the company together as a single back office operation. So I know I'm dodging your question a little bit, but we think that they're all going to be accretive to the bottom line, and maybe not all the top line.

And, you know, the current housing boom and furniture boom, What are your thoughts on the longevity of this cycle? Do you think that demand will remain strong both for housing and furniture going until the end of next year at least? Thank you.

Yeah, we do. We believe we have a nice runway for demand mainly due to the demographics with millennials really starting to purchase homes and really starting to furnish these homes. And we feel like we have some dynamics that have occurred from the pandemic with, with, um, you know, consumers moving out of big cities into larger homes. There's a lot of things going on that, that do benefit us. And as I said earlier, we're, we are going to compete, uh, more for the discretionary dollars, uh, being spent on travel and the things that people are going to be able to do, um, post pandemic. And as this vaccine gets more and more rolled out, but, um, you know, all in all that are the, It really, from our standpoint, the future looks bright as far as demand is concerned.

The numbers I've heard is that there's a nationwide shortage of about 4 million homes. And so, you know, even if people are moving into new homes, there's going to be a lot of furniture. We believe there's going to be a lot of furniture purchased.

Great. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you.

Our next question comes from J.P. Gagan with Global Value Investment Corp.

Hey, good morning, and congratulations on the strong quarter. I think between the previous two analysts, some of my questions or at least elements have been answered already, but at the risk of sounding redundant, let me piggyback on Anthony's question about your use of cash. And you'll obviously be flush in cash. Well, you are flush in cash right now. I think in your prepared remarks you said, You expect your cash balance to decline modestly throughout the year, but if your strong end markets persist, you'll generate quite a bit of cash going forward. More generally, I'd ask about capital allocation, including any sort of plans to allocate capital in addition to your intent to acquire.

Well, I think building the assets to make an acquisition is our primary focus. And, you know, like I said, also I think we've got a longstanding tradition of being perhaps overly cautious and, you know, overly carrying more cash than you might expect that maybe the textbooks would tell you. Of course, you know, we've been increasing our dividend, which is a small use of capital. And, you know, we do have these capital projects that are going to be more than our typical, you know, our typical capital spending was $3 or $4 million a year. We've got the CRP project. We've got the Savannah Warehouse project. So we're going to have a couple of years. We'll be refurbishing showrooms. So we've got a couple of years that involve, are going to use a little more capital than typical. And I know this question usually winds up with share repurchase. And we talk about share repurchase a lot, and so far we've felt like there have always been higher priorities. But you're right, if we continue to generate cash, it's obviously going to be a significant discussion at our board meetings. I can't tell you that we're planning to repurchase at this point.

That's helpful. I appreciate your insight. We're well aware of shortages in components like foam and plywood, but I thought I heard you say in your prepared remarks that there are shortages in other components. Can you put some flesh around that comment and perhaps talk about your perception of the appetite of consumers for additional price increases, particularly as demand might settle in at a higher normalized level than we've previously seen?

As far as the earlier comments, you know, steel is another thing that seems to be a little bit, you know, we're not as predictable as usual with a lot of the movements in motion furniture and whatnot. But the big – The biggest part of all of this is logistics, the container shortages, the amount of money it takes to get a container from overseas, which we don't believe will, we believe it will continue really through, probably through the next quarter, but we think there will start to be a light at the end of the tunnel. We do think that we'll be paying more than historical norms eventually when it settles, but not at anywhere near the rates we're talking about. So a lot of the Much of the inflation or price increases that have occurred for us have been related to that, not all to do with cost increases from factories and raw materials, although that has happened, too, just not at the level that is more than the logistics.

The industry has gone a long time without significant price increases.

That's deflation, actually.

Yeah. So this is a little bit of a catch-up. I mean, it's just like the whole country. This is a bit of a catch-up.

Got it. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate the caller, and congratulations again on a good quarter. Thank you.

We appreciate it.

I'm showing no further questions in queue. I'd like to turn the call back to Jeremy Hoff for closing remarks.

Thank you, Liz. I'd like to thank everyone for participating in our call today and your interest in Hooker Home Furnishings. We look forward to sharing our second quarter results with you in September. Thank you, and have a great day.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.