MillerKnoll, Inc.

Good evening, and welcome to Miller-Knowles' second quarter earnings conference call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Senior Vice President Kevin Beltman.

Good evening. Thanks for joining us today. I'm joined by Andy Owen, Chief Executive Officer, and Jeff Stutz, Chief Financial Officer. Also available during the Q&A are John Michael, President of America's Contracts, and Debbie Probst, President of Global Retail. Before I turn the call over to Andy, please remember our safe harbor regarding forward-looking information. During the call, management may discuss information that is forward-looking and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results to be different than those expressed or implied. Please evaluate the forward-looking information in the context of these factors, which are detailed in today's press release. The forward-looking statements are as of today and assume no obligation to update or supplement these statements. We may also refer to certain non-GAAP financial metrics, which are reconciled and described in our press release, posted on our investor relations website at millernull.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Andy.

Thanks, Kevin. Good evening, everyone, and thanks again for joining the call. As Miller Knoll, we know that one of our strongest assets is our collective of design brands. offered across multiple channels to customer segments around the globe. Our second quarter results speak to the benefits of the strategic emphasis that we have placed on diversifying our business model over the past few years and the resilience of that model in shifting economic conditions. This strategic direction includes both the expansion of our global retail business to now over $1 billion in annual revenue and the combination of Herman Miller and Knoll, which creates even further opportunities to bring our collective of brands to new channels and geographies. We've led the way on industry consolidation with our acquisition of Null. This has created the opportunity to leverage our increased scale to capture synergies, further build capabilities, and refine processes and organizational structures to maximize efficiency and agility. Continued synergy opportunities ahead will help us further optimize our cost structures as we navigate softer order levels across our business segments. Across the globe, different regions are in varying phases of return to office, compounded by varying economic conditions and a general slowdown in the housing market. Our teams continue to focus on contract wins, retail success, and delivering on our commitment to our shareholders. In the America contract segment, we saw strong operating margin expansion over last year, while uncertain macroeconomic conditions pressured order levels for the quarter, and we saw customers take longer to make decisions and also take on smaller return to office projects. Our price increases and cost synergies have helped improve profitability. Our international contract and specialty segment delivered sales growth and meaningful operating margin expansion over last year. The international business complements the Americas with different market conditions, including a faster return to the office, an opportunity to capture new regional accounts. We've onboarded nearly 50 dealers to cross-sell the Millernal Collective of brands in Europe, and we'll emphasize Asia-Pacific, and Middle East dealer onboarding during the back half of this year. Similarly, our specialty businesses also contributed to sales growth for the quarter and offer further opportunities to expand in new markets and channels around the world. Turning to global retail, as I mentioned earlier, we're seeing a slowdown in the housing market, particularly in luxury. Despite this, our retail segment also contributed organic sales growth for the quarter. While orders were down overall, we finished the quarter by delivering our best cyber week on record, with an increase of 22% over last year. Investments in our digital capabilities, excellence in customer service and reliability, and strategic promotion management all helped to bolster this sales period. We'll continue to reach customers through our direct-to-consumer channels and have continued investment in technology, with more robust customer data and metrics coming online in the latter half of this year. These improvements will help us attract new customers and drive repeat business through our broader collective of brands and products. Turning to product, we continue to innovate, launching several collaborations across Hay, Meharam, and Null Textiles. Our collective of brands also pushed design boundaries with new launches, including Herman Miller's EEN shell chair with recycled materials, Geiger's wood chair, and Holly Hunt's new lighting fixtures. In addition, our newest performance gaming chair was launched, Phantom, in time for the holiday gift-giving season. We're attracting new customers with gaming, and we're working to further expand the gaming category globally. As Miller & Noll, we know we can do more with our brands and our associates. This quarter, we held our company-wide Day of Purpose, giving our employees a day out of the office to ensure they had time to vote in the U.S. elections and also give back in their communities around the world. Our associates held over 150 Day of Purpose events around the globe, bringing greater purpose and support to our commitment to better our local communities and our planet. We aim to serve as a model for the future of work, and this quarter our retail headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut received WELL certification at the platinum level, the highest level possible, alongside receiving the WELL Health Safety rating. This award is only given to facilities that go through rigorous performance testing in 10 different categories. I'm proud of our commitment to our associates and also to building spaces that promote wellness, inclusivity, and productivity. Despite uneasiness in the current macroeconomic environment, I remain confident in our ability to reach customers in a variety of channels and markets and to deliver further results through our innovative products, personal customer service, and dedicated associates and dealers. We continue to find synergy in our integration, leaning to meaningful cost savings and opportunities to maintain a strong balance sheet and cash flow. We'll remain flexible and nimble in this environment while continuing to focus on serving our customers' needs. With that, I pass the call over to Jeff.