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spk06: Greetings and welcome to LEAC Corporation fourth quarter and year-end 2021 results conference call. At this time, all participants are on 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. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Michael Mason, Investor Relations. Thank you.
spk08: Thanks, Rob, very much.
spk03: Good morning and welcome to the LIAT Corporation Investor Conference call to discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 2021. The company issued a press release today, Thursday, March 10, at 8 a.m. Eastern, and also filed its report with the SEC. The press release is posted on LIAT's website at liat-corp.com. This call is being broadcast live and may be accessed on the company's website. An audio replay of this call will be available for seven days and may be accessed from North America by calling 1-844-512-2921 or 1-412-317-6671 for international callers. The replay PIN number is 13727761. A replay of the webcast will be available immediately following this call and will continue for 30 days. Certain statements in this conference call may constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in this call. Liet Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update such statements made in this call. Please refer to the complete cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements in today's press release dated March 10, 2022. The company will make a presentation on the quarterly results and then open the call to questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Sean McDonald, CEO of LEAC Corporation. Good afternoon to you in Cape Town, Sean.
spk00: Good morning and thank you, Mike, and thank you all for joining us today. 2021 was by virtually every measure the most successful year in our company's history. Total global revenues for the year was $72.5 million, an increase of 88% or $33.9 million compared to 2020. Net income was $12.6 million, an increase of 184% or $8.1 million compared to 2020. Gross profit was $31.4 million, an increase of 81% compared to 2020. Basic earnings per share increasing by a multiple of more than 2.5 to $2.29, up 179%, compared to 82 cents in 2020. We achieved double-digit revenue growth in all of our product categories. Again, it was an exceptional year, and I'd like to thank our entire team for their incredible, persistent efforts. We closed out the year with a strong fourth quarter, the strongest quarter in our history in terms of revenues. Total revenues were $23.2 million, an 82% increase over the fourth quarter of 2020. Net income for the fourth quarter was $3.8 million, an increase of 115% over the fourth quarter of 2020. We have now achieved record-breaking revenue for six quarters and year-over-year revenue growth for 15 consecutive quarters. Despite some challenging trucking delays as a result of poor congestion in the second half of 2021, revenues in the United States grew by $6.2 million, up 45% to $20.1 million in 2021. Continued investment in building a professional domestic sales force to reach more dealers, backed with a strong product offering and well-positioned brand, resulted in strong U.S. momentum. Our recent investment in relocating Liat USA's distribution facility to Reno, Nevada is a great step forward. It's significantly larger than our Santa Clarita, California facility with dedicated warehouse staff and management in place to improve operational efficiency and stock turnover. This positions us to service a much wider community of riders across the U.S. with more products, faster. International revenues grew by $27.7 million or 112% for 2021. Our international teams focus on building high performing multi-channel sales initiatives that are well coordinated with our distribution partners contributed to these exceptionally strong results. We continue to strive to build a highly professional and effective sales and brand management team globally. Ultimately, surging global consumer demand for our head to toe product categories resulted in these fantastic growth levels, which is extremely encouraging for our entire team. Not only did every single product category grow by double digits, we achieved double digit revenue growth in every single major geographical region that we sold to, established and emerging. In terms of our sustainability efforts, late last year we launched an important initial effort to do our part to lessen the effects of climate change and reduce industrial pollution. We introduced innovative packaging that makes use of eco-friendly materials across our entire product range and an initial range of biodegradable mountain biking high-performance apparel that are made with durable plastic-free materials containing anti-odor and moisture-wicking properties so that they can be used for longer periods and require less washing. The new materials include Tensyl Linosol, a product made from excess tree pulp that is extremely soft, offering unmatched comfort and temperature control, and yarn produced from recycled coffee grounds. Our jerseys come in Warm Yarn, a fast-drying, odor-controlled fabric made for warmth in lower temperatures, and Ice Yarn, a breathable fabric for low-speed temperature control with laser-cut ventilation for high-speed cooling. In more recent news, last month we proudly announced a partnership with the Pivot Factory mountain biking racing team. The prestigious mountain biking team is racing this year with a full range of Lear's apparel and protective products. These athletes are among the best riders in mountain bike racing today, and they will not only be wearing our innovative gear, but will help us continue to develop a pipeline of exceptional products. This is fantastic news for our company. and yet another testament to the global acceptance of the Lear brand. Now let me turn to more detail on our product sales breakout. Sales of our flagship neck braces continue to grow. In 2021, worldwide neck brace sales totaled $8.4 million, a 73% increase over 2020. Neck brace sales are particularly important for us because they generate a higher gross margin than our other product categories and account for 12% of 2021 revenue. Body armor sales totaled $41.2 million, an 85% increase over 2020. We saw breakout revenue in our footwear category, now consisting of a full line of exceptional off-road motorcycle boots and mountain biking shoes, as well as our line of innovative upper body protection. Body armor products remain a key development and refinement area for us in order to remain at the forefront of this competitive category. Body armor accounted for 57% of 2021 revenue. Helmets continue to be an important safety category, and our investments in re-engineering and refining our full motor helmet lineup is starting to show encouraging returns. Helmet sales were up 134% over 2020 to $9 million. Our innovative award-winning NCB helmet line and our refined motor helmets for off-road motorcycle use were the leaders in this category. Helmets accounted for 12% of 2021 revenue. In addition, our 8.5 motor helmet kit, which is an important part of our fully re-engineered off-road motorcycle helmets, was selected by the editors of Powersports Business for its Nifty 50 award, honoring the top products and services for winter and spring of 2022. The award cited Lear's category-defining 360-degree turbine technology, that not only provides superior comfort, but reduces impact to the head and brain. It is very encouraging to see the innovating work of our in-house engineering and design team get this kind of recognition. Two of our other products were also honored with awards. Our 4.0 Velocity Goggles won a Design and Innovation Award, and the 2021 Racer X Reader's Choice Award was given to our flagship neck brace for being the number one worn neck brace in 2021. We are also seeing strong demand in our other products, parts, and accessories category. This includes goggles, hydration bags, and apparel such as jerseys, pants, shorts, and jackets. Worldwide sales increased 82% over 2020 to $13.8 million. In particular, we see strong demand for our line of technical apparel for off-road motorcycle and mountain biking use, as well as our bulletproof military-grade Velocity line of goggles, which was up by 55% over last year. The other products, parts, and accessories category accounted for 19% of 2021 revenue. Now I'll turn to the financial results of 2020 in a bit more detail, starting with the details from the fourth quarter. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2021 increased to $23.2 million, up by 82%, compared to $12.7 million for the same 2020 period. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 21 increased to $9.7 million, up by 71% compared to $5.7 million for the same 2020 period. Income from operations for the fourth quarter increased to $5 million, up 115% compared to $2.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. And net income for the fourth quarter of 2021 increased to $3.8 million compared to $1.8 million for the same 2020 period. Moving on to more of the fall year 2021 results.
spk01: Total revenues for 2021 increased to $72.5 million, up by 88% compared to $38.6 million for 2020.
spk00: The increase during 2021 was driven by a 73% increase in neck brace sales, an 85% increase in body armor sales, a 134% increase in helmet sales, and an 82% increase in other products, parts, and accessory sales. Gross profit for 2021 increased to $31.4 million, up by 81% compared to $17.4 million for 2020. Total operating expenses for 21 increased to $15 million, up by 29% compared to $11.6 million for 2020. Income from operations for 2021 increased to $16.6 million, up by 185% compared to $5.8 million for 2020. And then income for 2021 increased to $12.6 million, or $2.29 per basic share, and $2.07 with our looted share, up by 184% compared to $4.4 million, or $0.82 per per basic share and $0.74 per diluted share for 2020. Lear continued to meet its working capital needs from cash on hand and internally generated cash flow from operations. At December 31, 2021, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $5 million, up 69% compared to 2020, a current ratio of 2.4 to 1. Once again, to summarize, 2021 was an absolutely exceptional year for Lyot, particularly in terms of our financial performance and our global brand development. Revenue totals continue to grow and set new records. All of our product categories grew by double digits around the world, and we continue to reach a wider, wider audience. Our investments in research and development is producing innovative, eco-friendly, and exceptional award-winning products, We will continue to monitor consumer buying patterns, geographical risks, the macroeconomic inflationary environment, and the COVID-19 pandemic. But our entire team is extremely optimistic about our future and the momentum that we have built in our brand. Consumer demand continues to surge as people around the world continue to participate in outdoor activities. Our new partnership with teams like the Pivot Factory Racing Team will provide a tremendous boost in exposure throughout the coming year and beyond. Our strategy and goals remain unchanged. To continue to refine our product categories and deliver exceptional products to a wider rider community. To increase our portfolio of protected intellectual property and to gain market share through product innovation and brand management in order to increase shareholder value. Many of our products have launched extremely well but are still in their infancy and show great potential to contribute to exponential growth. We do still have a lot of work to do to remain at the forefront of product innovation, but we are extremely proud of our team's resilience and our ability to gain market share, which we are confident will continue in 2022 and beyond. Finally, on a personal note, I am looking forward to attending more shows and events and connecting with our friends in the industry in the coming months as COVID restrictions are lifted. Eurobike in July in Frankfurt is going to be absolutely awesome, and we plan on visiting the US in the coming quarters. As always, we'd like to thank our entire Lear family, our dedicated employees, business partners, and team riders for the continued strong efforts and support in making Lear the success it now is. With that, I'd like to turn the call over for questions.
spk01: Operator?
spk06: Thank you. At this time, we'll be conducting a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from Mike Andrews, a private investor. Please proceed with your question.
spk07: Good afternoon. Sean from New England.
spk01: Hi, Mike.
spk07: I wanted to just get your thoughts on a possible uplisting for the stock to increase sort of exposure and open it up to new investors. What are your thoughts there? And I guess the second part of that question is I heard what you said about attending industry trade shows. What about investor conferences here in the U.S.? ?
spk00: Okay, so those are good questions, Mike, and I'll answer the first one just in terms of uplisting. Of course, our board is always looking at ways to reach more investors and to get more exposure. It's certainly something which is a hot topic for us, and our feeling is that when the timing is right, that is certainly something that we will look to. It's not an immediate need in terms of raising capital and getting more exposure, but it's definitely something which would be on the cards at the right time. And then in terms of conferences, absolutely. Part of our trips that we'll make this year will include some investor conferences, again, to increase our exposure to new investors.
spk07: Okay. We're two months into 2022. Are you going to provide any guidance? And how do the first two months of the year look so far?
spk00: As a business at this stage, we don't provide direct guidance. What we do say is that we target double-digit revenue growth, and that still remains what our targets are. There are some challenges in the first two months. Obviously, we've got a global environment that is inflationary and probably going to become more inflationary. Some of the geopolitical risks that we're seeing have certainly affected sentiment a little bit. But the overall trends in terms of consumer demand for our kinds of products, those still remain positive.
spk07: Well, you're doing a great job, Sean. You have my support. Best of luck this year.
spk01: Thank you very much for the question, and chat soon.
spk06: Our next question comes from Chris Jarvis with Dunlap Equity. Please proceed with your question.
spk04: Hey, Sean. Congrats on what can only be said as a fantastic year.
spk00: Thanks very much, Chris. Nice to hear from you.
spk04: I just wanted to ask you, you mentioned your product. It's a couple questions on products. You mentioned that they are in the infancy. Can you expand on that a little bit, like how you think about that and what that could mean as we look out the next couple of years?
spk00: Sure. So we've obviously been working really hard to become a head-to-toe brand on Moto and also on MTB. So we've got some really good categories now. And although we still are looking to category expansion, I think a lot of our growth would come from refining the current categories that we have and expanding on the current categories that we have and gaining market share. So it's quite exciting for us to see big opportunities with these kinds of growth levels, 88% growth, looking at some of the market shares that are published, some of the big publications. Some of these products where we've had exponential growth are still well below 5% in terms of market share. And then we've got some that are a little bit more established that have been in the market for a little bit longer, and we are able to gain 15% to 20% in a matter of years. So those are the kinds of things that we'd be working really hard on, you know, just to increase market share in some of these new products that we've got out there. So I think there's still a massive opportunity in a lot of our categories to increase our market share and obviously grow, you know, significantly.
spk04: Okay. And then as we think about the pivot team that just joined, what can they do for you that's different than maybe the opportunities you've had before? Sure.
spk00: Yes, I think, you know, they're a team that obviously, I mean, they do get podiums. They are results-driven. But they've got Bernard Kerr, who's kind of the main driving force behind the team, and he has an absolutely fantastic following on social media channels and just globally is a superstar. He adds, I think, a lot of credibility in terms of gaining acceptance with a much wider group of riders than what we've kind of been selling to, you know, For a long time, of course, we've been expanding our products, but we were selling to mainly gravity-orientated riders, and he has appealed to a much wider rider audience. So I think he can really do some great promotional work for us and really be a Leith ambassador. We're hoping to build a long-term relationship with him.
spk04: Okay. So we can expect – I mean, I've seen some of the ads and some of the things he's done online. This is just the beginning. We'll expect to see a lot more from him. Great.
spk00: Correct. This is just the beginning. We just got in with him. He's obviously just got all of our gear. He's been riding in our gear. He's really happy with all the gear. He's comfortable. You'll start seeing quite a lot more activation with Bernard and with the rest of the team.
spk04: Okay. Fantastic. We look forward to talking to you after Q1, Sean.
spk06: Cool. Thanks a lot, Chris. Chat soon. Our next question is from Christopher Muller, a private investor. Please proceed with your question.
spk08: Hi, Sean. Congrats on a very strong finish to 2021. Hey, Chris.
spk01: Thanks very much for the support.
spk05: Yeah, three quick questions for you today. First, I see that helmet revenues exceeded $4 million in the fourth quarter, which looks very encouraging after the years of work you've put in there. Were there one-time factors involved there in the fourth quarter, or are you seeing that strength continuing in 2022?
spk00: Sorry, could you just repeat? I didn't hear you clearly. Which revenue? The helmet revenues in the fourth quarter. Oh, helmet revenues. Oh, absolutely, yeah. So really two reasons. We're starting to see some great traction on our mountain biking helmets. So we've just widened the range there, brought out some key new products that I think meet a lot more needs of end consumers in terms of price points and also just the kinds of riders that can wear those helmets. a little bit more mainstream, so those have done really, really well for us, and we expect that to grow further. And then on the off-road motorcycle side of things, with this fully re-engineered line of 7.5, 8.5 and 9.5 helmets, they've got fantastic fit, they've had great reviews, consumers really love them, and award-winning now with the 8.5 helmet kit, You know, we've seen really good consumer uptake there, and I think that that's going to continue. Again, that's the kind of helmet which is the kind of line that is just in its infancy. We're going to be working really, really hard. It's been a full relaunch over the last year and a half of our entire motor line of helmets, a big push from our side, a big investment, you know, to kind of redevelop all of those helmets to make sure that the fit was right inside and that the design elements were right outside. and so far that's been successful. So it's, you know, we expect the helmet category to continue growing. It's the largest safety category of products that you have to have if you're riding pretty much anything at speed. So, I mean, we are expecting that to grow, and it's a key area for us that we are going to be pushing.
spk05: That's great to hear. And the second question for me, in the 10K where you break out revenue by source, I see that the consumer and athlete direct segment is the only one that didn't show significant growth for the year. I'm assuming this is at least partly the result of limited inventory for U.S. e-commerce sales, but any color you could provide around that result and the expectations for it going forward would be helpful.
spk00: Sure. So, correct. I think there's two reasons. Number one, if you look at the comparative in 2020, we went through numerous lockdowns with COVID-19 and our consumer direct business through our website and directly to athletes increased massively just because people could not buy stuff in stores. One of the reasons why that didn't have the same kind of level that we had hoped is really just that the 2020 comparative was just absolutely massive. We did see a little bit of contraction on our website with consumers. which was to be expected. And then also, as you say, I mean, inventory levels for some of the products, the very fast-moving consumer products, they just were not there, something also which we really are working hard on. Been at some difficult times in the U.S. in terms of some delays in some of the ports with congestion. I think it's pretty well publicized. That definitely held us back a little bit there, Chris.
spk05: Thanks. That's good to know. And I guess my only other question is a much more general one. I would expect with the rapid pace of growth you've had over the last couple of years, that that's probably presented some new challenges for you and the team. And whether that be supplier relationships during COVID or hiring in a tight labor market, or even just managing your working capital with an 88% growth rate. So now that we're hopefully moving past the largest COVID impact, for better or worse, it would be helpful to understand maybe what are your top two or three priorities or challenges over the next year that will allow you to build upon this recent success?
spk00: Well, I think, I mean, as you've identified, you know, I mean, we've been working really, really hard on the supplier relationships during COVID. You know, we also do need to make sure that we fine tune our working capital because we've grown so quickly now. And particularly at the HUSA where we hold inventory and we have receivables that we need to manage on a kind of daily basis. I mean, it's really important that we do make sure that our working capital is managed correctly. We've got a much bigger stock holding there now. We've got a much bigger warehouse. And we really need to focus very hard on increasing stock turnover, and particularly in the U.S. and in South Africa where we hold, you know, inventory. I think for us the kind of big challenges that this kind of growth level presents itself with is that we do need to act quite quickly in order to catch up on some of the opportunities that are out there. Now that we have got more cash on hand, and some of it is, of course, going towards working capital, we're looking strongly at our marketing spend to see how we can kind of add some fuel to the fire. to continue with these kinds of growth levels, to continue gaining market share, to continue making sure that we stay at the forefront of innovation on some of our more established product categories like body armor. So it's really optimizing where we put our efforts, where we put our spend, and making sure that we do make those investments as efficiently as possible. And then in the U.S. in particular, we need to build the rep force out as fast as possible. We've got the inventory to sell. We've got a great presence. We do have solid reps in certain areas, but of course it takes time to build up those reps in some of the areas. I think one of the challenges that we are seeing, as you said, is there's a tight labor market. That's something which we're facing every single day. But it goes a bit further than that with some of the geopolitical risks that we're seeing now. We already were expecting some inflationary pressures, and certainly we've already seen some raw material increases in China, which we've managed to manage quite well. I think the team's done pretty well there. But hopefully the congestion in the ports clears. It's really started clearing in the U.S., which is obviously encouraging. But, I mean, we are very much aware of the fact that we're going to have to manage some inflationary pressures in the forms of oil price increases, fuel increases, the cost of salaries is absolutely going up in this tight labor market that we're facing. So we're going to have to manage all of that really carefully. Those are just some of the balls that are in the air for us at the moment. And, of course, investing in innovation and sustainability is absolutely key.
spk05: Thanks a lot, Sean. I appreciate all the color there, and I look forward to speaking with you next quarter.
spk01: Great. Thanks a lot, Chris. Thanks for the support. Chat soon.
spk06: We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Sean McDonald for closing comments. Oh, excuse me. Someone jumped into the queue. Our next question is from Olivier Colombo, a private investor. Please proceed with your question.
spk02: Yes. Hello, Sean. Hello, Olivier. How are you? Doing fine, thanks. And you? And congratulations for the incredible 2021 here. Congrats to you and the team. And actually, you were hit in 21, what I had expected in 23. So it gives you an idea of how you outperformed my wisest expectations. So congratulations.
spk00: Thank you very much for the support, Olivier. And I guess you need to change your model now. That's for sure.
spk02: Sean, I had a few questions for you. The first one is coming back to Q3 of last year. You had some products that were still stuck in ports and in the supply chain. Did we see something like that again in Q4?
spk00: Yes, so in Q4, and particularly in the U.S., as I said earlier, there was definitely some congestion in the ports, and that certainly did affect our run rate in the U.S. I'd say if I had to estimate, and I don't have exact numbers, but if I had to estimate, it certainly would be in the millions. of stock that was tied up in the ports that could have been sold before the year closed out. So certainly it was a factor, but we've got those orders on backorder and we should be able to still ship them.
spk02: Perfect, thank you. The other question is regarding the biggest challenges that you faced in 21. Are they the same you think in 22? And I'm talking here, of course, about the supply chain issues. You mentioned inflation as well. I mean, regarding inflation, does this mean that you will have to pass over price increases to the end customer?
spk01: So that's a good question, Olivier, a very good question.
spk00: And I think some of these, the challenges we had in 2021 have improved, like the supply chain. And We did increase our prices towards the end of Q3 and into Q4 in order to try to mitigate some of the huge increases in shipping costs. And that was actually pretty well received by our customers. It was kind of expected. And we weren't really looking to increase prices due to inflation at the time. Of course, we'll have to monitor inflation very carefully now because that is still going to be a challenge, looking at what's happened to the oil price in the last few weeks and just looking at general price inflation and interest rates globally. I think central banks are going to be increasing rates relatively aggressively now. That will be a factor that will come into our business that may affect costs on various different levels. It may also affect the cost of manufacturing. You know, raw material prices increased, certainly potentially a challenge, if I could put it that way. And supply chain is looking a lot more positive. You know, we still have got inflated prices there. There's no doubt about it. But the port challenges are starting to clear, which is really, really good to see. In terms of COVID, you know, last year, the big challenge was not in China. The big challenge was outside of China. where we had port congestion at the recipient ports. What we're seeing more this year is that China is battling actually, although it's obviously not very well publicized in the press because they're relatively private, but China is battling some COVID outbreaks in some key areas. So that means that some areas get closed down and that can cause congestion at the outgoing ports. So that's been a bit of a challenge so far this year. Of course, we've got supply chain people in China, which has certainly helped us. But it's very difficult to move around China right now when whole cities get closed down because there's an outbreak of COVID. So COVID is certainly still in certain areas a challenge that we are having to manage on a daily basis. I think as Chris Miller said, it is a continuous balancing act for us. We do need to make sure that we grow sustainably and manage our working capital and manage where we place investments and look at marketing costs and how we're going to get the best bang for buck. That's obviously always a challenge. Of course, as we're bigger now, the environment becomes a lot more competitive for us. We are playing with some bigger brands now in a big marketplace in some of these areas, areas like boots, and we're becoming a much stronger helmet player now. Things do become more competitive, and we're up for the challenge, but it is certainly a challenge.
spk02: That's great. That's a very full answer to my question. Thank you very much. And the last one I have is you have a pretty good cash position now. do you think you could be a bit more aggressive on marketing and advertising? And of course, you just did this deal with Pivot. I mean, are you focusing mostly on the mountain bike side now rather than on the moto front?
spk00: So the short answer to your question would be yes. I think we are in a position where we can be a bit more aggressive now on our advertising and marketing spend. Obviously, in a going to do it in an efficient way. In terms of the teams, we're looking at Moto and we're looking at MTB all the time to try and get the teams that are really going to represent our brand as well as possible. There's a lot of growth at the moment on the MTB side, so that is a priority, but at the same time, making sure that we have a team from our roots, which is Offroad Motocross, that really represents us well, is something that we are always looking to do. So it will be across the board, and we are looking at ways of, you know, smart ways of adding fuel to the marketing fire. That's perfect. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
spk02: So I wish you all the best for 2022, and thank you once more.
spk06: Thank you very much, Olivier. Thank you. Okay, we're at the end of the question and answer session. I would now like to turn the call over to Sean McDonald for closing comments.
spk00: Thank you all for joining us today for this conference call, and I really am looking forward to presenting the results of Q1 2022.
spk08: This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.
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