LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the fourth quarter 2022 earnings conference call for Light in the Box Holding Company Limited. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Rene Van Gesteen for any closing remarks.

Thank you, Betsy. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Light in the Box fourth quarter 2022 earnings call. The company's earnings results were released earlier today and are available on the company's IR website as well as through PR Newswire. On the call from right in the box are Mr. Jian He, CEO, Ms. Yang Jun Ye, Chief Financial Officer, and Ms. Wenyu Liu, Chief Growth Officer. Mr. Hurd will give an overview of the company's strategy and recent developments, followed by Monsieur, who will go over the financial reserves. They will all be available for the Q&A session that will follow. Before we proceed, I would like to remind you all of our safe harbor statement. Please note that the discussion today may contain certain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. To understand the factors that could cause results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements, please refer to our Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law. At this point, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Hertz. Mr. Hertz, please go ahead.

Thanks, Serena, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. The cap of 2022, delivering a quarter of a solid operating and financial performance. Revenues increased 38% year over year to a record high of $156 million. This brought our annual revenues above $500 million and our apparel sales to $400 million. a new milestone in our history. And our year-end cash balance increased to $95 million. Our revenue growth rate in the second half of 2022 was also remarkable at 23% and 38% in Q3 and Q4, respectively. This is a testament to the soundness of our strategy and strong execution skills. of our team has operated under a very tough macro environment. The gross margin for the year improved significantly to 55% from 46% in 2021. We took a one-off non-cash impairment on an equity investment of $56 million, and the after-tax impact of this impairment was negative 43 million for the first quarter. The impairment was taken due to the extreme and rapid deterioration of the business over the last month of 2022. This impairment has low impact on our old business operations, which, as demonstrated by our operating performance, remain healthy and continue to grow. In a year marked by global inflation and economic uncertainty, there made many consumers more cautious in their spending. And the pandemic-related supply disruptions, our performance has been quite remarkable. Thirdly, in 2022, the revenue growth rate in our apparel category significantly outpassed the overall market. During the fourth quarter, revenues from apparel increased 59% year-over-year to $124 million. For the fall year 2022, revenues from apparel reached about $400 million, representing 79% of our total revenues. This solid performance is the result of three specific factors. We are offering a wide selection of value-for-money apparel and products that help customers mitigate the impact of inflation on their daily spending. Second, we have been targeting a vital generation of middle-class consumers 40 years older and older who have higher disposable income. And third, over the past two years, we have gradually increased our efficiency in targeting customers by leveraging our R&D capabilities. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in R&D to improve user experience and efficiency in reaching our customers. We want to continuously offer our target customers affordable, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, and visually interesting clothing. This can bring happiness and vibrancy to their daily life. As supply chain issues have been resolved and uncertainty lifted, we will start to give quarterly guidance from this quarter on. With that, I will now hand the call over to Yuanjun to go through the financial results.

Thank you, Mr. He. Let me start with the financial highlights for the quarter. In the fourth quarter, our total revenues were $156 million. up 38% year-over-year from $113 million. Revenues from apparel increased 59% to $124 million, representing 79% of total revenues, compared with 69% in the same quarter of 2021. Accordingly, gross margin improved to 54% from 47% a year ago, thanks to a higher margin for apparel sales. Meanwhile, we managed to keep our inventory level to a minimum thanks to the dedication and hard work of our entire team under this very challenging environment. Total operating expenses were $89 million compared with $61 million during the same quarter of 2021. Selling and marketing expenses were $72 million, an increase of $31 million year-over-year, as we continue to invest in building our awareness and driving top-line growth in the face of macroeconomic headwinds. Fulfillment expenses were $9 million, compared with $8 million during the same quarter of 2021. G&A expenses decreased by $4 million year-over-year to $8 million in the fourth quarter as we continue to increase efficiency across our entire organization. Included in G&A expenses, R&D expenses were stable at $5 million on a sequential basis. We remain focused on further improving user experience through continuous innovation. Last firm operation was $5 million. compared with $7.5 million the same quarter of 2021. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $48 million, compared with net income of $9 million the same quarter of 2021. The increase in net loss was mainly due to the impairment loss of $43 million net of income tax impact on our equity investment, Shenzhen Meta Light Technology Co., Ltd. which is a live stream retailer for personal cleaning and beauty products and household cleaning products. The impairment was made due to the adverse change in market conditions that caused the extreme and rapid deterioration of its operations. On the balance sheet, as of December 31, 2022, we had cash, and cash equivalents and restricted cash of $95 million, compared with $60 million a year ago. Now let me walk you through our 2022 full-year financials very briefly. Total revenue rose 13% to $504 million from $446 million in 2021. Revenues from apparel increased 46% to $400 million in 2022, compared with $274 million in 2021, representing 79% of total revenues in 2022, compared with 62% in 2021. Gross margin improved to 55% from 46% in 2021. Total operating expenses were $289 million compared with $223 million in 2021. Net loss was $57 million, compared with net income of $13 million in 2021, due to the reasons explained previously. Despite the external challenges, we are confident in our ability to navigate through difficult times and stand out in the competitive market and deliver long-term value to our shareholders. Finally, for the first quarter of 2021 guidance, based on information currently available and business seasonality, we expect net revenues to be between $135 million and $145 million, representing a growth rate between 44% to 54% compared with the same quarter of 2022. This concludes our prepared remarks At this point, we are ready to take some questions. Operator? Thank you.

If you wish to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star then 2. If you are on a speaker phone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. The first question today comes from Matt Lee with CRS Capital. Please go ahead.

Yeah, hello, good morning. We see that the top line grew pretty rapidly in Q4 despite some of those challenges you talked about. And now I also hear you're providing positive revenue guidance for Q1. So I wonder if you could just share your thoughts on whether you can maintain that growth rate looking out over the full year. Thanks.

Hi, Matt. Thank you for your question. Yes, as mentioned, the Q1 guidance represents a good growth rate. As for the rest of the year, we expect consumers to keep cautious on their spending and therefore value for money or cheaper products are still on high demand during this period of inflation. And our key product offerings have shifted to daily necessities like clothing at a very affordable price over the past two years. This is a successful move which satisfies consumers' needs. Through customer reviews, we see more and more happy customers shop more often with us, which means higher repeated purchase rates. So we will remain our efforts to focus on consumers' needs and improve our operational efficiency. and do our best to grow our top line in the rest of the year.

All right. Thank you very much.

Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star then 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. That's star then 1 to ask a question. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand the call back to Mr. Van Gassain for any closing remarks.

Thank you, Betsy. This concludes our fourth quarter 2022 earnings conference call. Thank you all for your participation and ongoing support of Light in the Box. We look forward to providing you with updates of our business in the coming weeks and months. Have a good day.

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.