Q1 2022 LL Flooring Holdings Inc Earnings Call
A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.
And our explanation of why the non-GAAP financial measures may be useful are discussed in today's earnings release.
The information contained in this call is accurate only as of the date discussed investors should not assume that the statements will remain operative after today and <unk> undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed in this call.
Now I am pleased to introduce <unk>, President and CEO Charles Tyson Charles.
Thank you Julie.
Good morning, everyone on today's call I will cover our fourth quarter performance review progress on our six core growth strategies fueling our three year growth goal and our outlook for 2022.
I would like to start by thanking all of our associates for their ongoing hard work, serving our customers improving our inventory levels and opening new stores as we continue to navigate a volatile macroeconomic environment.
During the first quarter, our teams continued to execute as we gain traction on our six core growth strategies supporting our goal to deliver $1 5 billion of net sales with expanded operating margins by 2024.
We were particularly pleased to deliver record double digit sales to pro customers.
And to have opened seven new stores.
Our first quarter financial results were in line with our expectations.
Even though comparable store sales were down three 6%.
We achieved sequential improvement from down six 7% last quarter, and we delivered a three 3% increase on a two year stack basis.
We face macroeconomic headwinds from inflation and the shift in consumer spending to travel and leisure this year compared to stimulus in nesting spending in the first quarter of 2021.
Also in January we experienced significant store closures related to the COVID-19 variant, including three Sundays when all our stores were closed nationwide.
Thanks to the efforts of our supply chain and sourcing teams during the first quarter, we increased total inventories by $64 million compared to.
At December 31, 2021.
While much of that remained in transit throughout the quarter it will benefit us going forward.
First quarter adjusted operating income of $4 8 million or one 7% of net sales was also in line with our expectations and reflects continued supply chain cost pressures on gross margin as well as the investments, we're making to support our three year growth.
Our balance sheet is strong and we have total liquidity of $231 million.
In April we commenced our share repurchase program and through April 29, we repurchased one $5 million under that program underscoring our confidence in our long term growth and profitability.
Turning now to progress on our six core growth strategies that will position <unk> flooring for long term success.
Our goal is to transform L O flooring into the leading destination for hard surface flooring.
We strongly believe we offer a compelling value proposition to customers with selection expertise and service of a local store combined with the scale convenience and value of our national chain.
Now I want to share more details about the six core growth strategies, we're investing in that will position us to achieve our long term vision.
Accelerating new store openings.
Growing sales to pros.
Broadening awareness of the LLS flooring brand <unk>.
Improving the customer experience to deliver on the brand promise.
Innovative new products and driving our people and culture initiatives.
First accelerate new store openings.
<unk> new stores is an important strategy that will help us both increased convenience and build awareness of the Ll flooring brand.
On track to open 20 to 25, new stores in 2022.
All in a standard format, which is a 500 square foot showroom and untapped five to 6000 square foot warehouse with deep in stock inventory readily available for our customers.
During the first quarter consistent with our plan, we successfully opened seven new stores across the south and northeast and Midwest.
Second gross sales to pro customers.
Sales for pro customers are a key component of our long term growth strategy and we see a large opportunity ahead.
During the first quarter, we posted another record quarter of pro sales with double digit growth versus the first quarter of 2021.
Our pro relationship program continues to drive greater pro customer retention and higher sales per pro customer.
Our strategy is to build and strengthen relationships with pros through a team comprised of local store talent and dedicated outside pro account reps in the major markets, we serve as well as our inside sales team.
<unk> really appreciate the dedicated expert service that our team provides and view us as a trusted resource that makes that jobs easier.
Through this program, which we call T S trough, but drive trial build scale and on retention.
Successfully increasing the number of scaled pros, who spend more with us annually.
And we are retaining more of them.
The <unk> program is a key driver to our record growth in sales to pros.
And we continue to make investments in this team.
<unk> also value adds dedicated everyday pro pricing and our pro website that makes it easier for them to do business with us.
And they value in stock selection of trend right flaws in the local store.
Our store managers assistant customizing, the local assortment to stock a flawed approach request.
Once the probe places their order we provide the additional service of storing materials at no charge until the pros ready to complete the purchase.
We also do not charge customers restocking fees.
We continue to build awareness with pros, we developed approach digital marketing strategy that allows us to deliver personalized messaging based on the pros behaviors and where they are on that journey with us.
Able to tailor messages by segment by market or by pro delivering value to the pro by communicating with them based on their needs.
We look forward to growing our sales with pros through continued execution of our tsi relationship program everyday low pricing website assortment.
<unk> marketing strategies.
Moving to our third strategic growth driver broadened awareness of the LLS flooring brand.
We continue to progress on our long term journey to build brand awareness and equity and establish L. L flooring as the leading destination for hard surface flooring.
Our research shows increased customer perception of style quality and category leadership for the L flooring brand versus lumber liquidators.
We are excited about the new <unk> flooring brand as a catalyst for growth.
One way we are building awareness of our new brand is through the store rebranding and new store openings.
Our rebranded showrooms highlight the quality and variety of our assortment as well as support a more curated and guided shopping experience for our customers.
With signage featuring lifestyle photographs, so customers can envision our flooring in their homes and QR codes that customers can click through to our website to learn more about our products.
We continue to evolve our marketing strategies and capabilities to increase relevance with our customers.
That evolution includes a more targeted approach and our creative and segmentation leveraging new content that is tailor made for specific media channels and delivers more impactful messages to audiences at different stages of their journey.
The fourth strategic growth driver is improving the customer experience to deliver on the brand promise.
Shopping for flooring as a big purchase that requires careful consideration.
Our goal is to position <unk> flooring as the go to expert in flooring through our comprehensive omnichannel experience spanning our website customer contact center stores and for installation customers in the home.
There are three key elements of our customer experience strategy, the digital omnichannel experience the in store experience and the installation experience.
Starting with the digital Omnichannel experience, we are continuously improving LLS flooring dot com digital experience for customers.
Integral to our digital strategy is providing online tools like picture it as well as inspirational and educational content to guide customers on their journey to select the perfect floor.
We're also proud to help customers shop portfolios from the comfort of their own home.
We are one of the only retailers are also exploring some flows completely free.
Even the delivery charge.
Another important component of guiding our customers through the flooring journey digitally is our customer contact center with.
We've expanded the number of sales agents with flooring expertise in our contact center.
These agents guide customers throughout the flooring journey and helped drive sales conversions.
In summary, we provide multiple personal touch points, including virtual guidance to better educate customers. So they are ready to make this important purchase decisions for their homes.
While the majority of customers start their flooring journey online most complete that purchase in one of our 431 stores across the country.
Our stores offer a welcoming environment, where customers are immediately created by one of our personal flooring experts, who can help them select the Florida state laws.
We believe a key competitive advantage is the high touch service and expertise we provide in our stores and we continue to invest in our associates with competitive wages and benefits extensive training programs are numerous career opportunities.
During the first quarter, we launched a new training program for associates called Great, which stands for greif relate explore and excite ask and answer and Taylor next steps.
Through the great sales methodology, our associates will further develop the consultative sales skills necessary to become a trusted adviser to our customers.
We're really excited to rollout this program across our sales organization to reinforce our leadership position in providing expert service to our customers.
Because the customer experience is so important to us we.
We have developed a customer feedback mechanism that provides us with daily customer feedback to help us improve our customer experience journey.
Next the installation experience.
We're pleased to offer an end to end solution to our customers from inspiration to installation.
During the first quarter net service sales comprised of installation and delivery services increased four 1%.
Got off to a slow start in January due to the impacts of COVID-19, but we were able to complete more installation projects as the quarter progressed.
We continue to focus on providing a superior installation experience by using technology and training to make the installation process is seamless fast and easy as possible for customers associates and contractors alike.
The first growth strategy is innovating new products and delivering them at a compelling value for our customers.
Our merchant and sourcing teams are proactively identifying trends and driving innovation to create exclusive product offerings, and then partnering with the best sourcing providers around the globe to deliver our vision.
We believe a key competitive advantage for US is our direct sourcing model, we partner with more than 85 manufacturers across 22 countries to deliver on trend private label product.
Our direct sourcing strategy drive better innovation lower costs and heightened agility in adapting to global supply disruptions due to COVID-19 or other factors.
We have continued to reduce our sourcing from China as we broadened our supplier base from other parts of the globe in the first quarter, we sourced only 16% of product from China down from 23% at the end of 2021 and down from 48% at the end of 2018 the.
Year that tariffs were first imposed.
By going factory direct we're able to achieve cost efficiencies that we pass onto our customers.
For pros, we offer everyday low prices of the homeowners, we offer great value with the opportunity to capitalize on special promotions throughout the year.
We also offer a best price guarantee for customers.
Within our assortment of 500, plus choices, we uniquely stock each store based on local demand, which gives us the best opportunity to meet customers' needs at the local level.
For example, in our Connecticut market, just under 50% of sales in 2021 more hardwoods, such as our best selling <unk> brand, while in Tampa, Florida, roughly 80% of sales were manufactured and performance flooring, including our new <unk> brand.
And because we have a warehouse attached to our showrooms our stores can easily stock with our pro customers and homeowners, one giving us an advantage over smaller independent retailers.
In short we believe we have a strong competitive advantage with our direct sourcing merchandising assortment and stocking strategies that enables us to deliver quality on trend hard surface flooring, and our customer assortment for customers in each local market.
Now I'd like to speak about our fixed strategy driving our people and culture initiatives.
People are critical to achieving our goal to become the customers' first choice in hard surface flooring in today's competitive market for talent, we feel good about our positioning as an employer of choice.
We're building a culture that differentiates us and not only makes us an attractive place to work and build a career, but also drive our success.
We believe engaged associates aligned with our values are critical to meeting our strategic growth objectives, and delivering outstanding service to our customers.
During the first quarter, we completed our second annual employee cultural survey.
We're pleased to report that we experienced greater levels of participation with strong results and improvement year over year, reflecting both our commitment to our associates as well as their increased engagement and enthusiasm as well.
L flooring employees.
We continue to emphasize internal promotions and career popping extensive training and a culture that embraces diversity equity and inclusion to strengthen our position as an employer of choice as we look to attract and retain top talent.
In summary, we're excited about our six strategic growth drivers accelerating new store openings growing sales for France, broadening awareness of the LLS flooring brand improving the customer experience to deliver the brand promise innovating new products and driving our people and culture initiatives will.
Position us for accelerated top line and profitability growth over the next three years.
Turning now to our 2020 outlook.
On our last conference call, we shared our outlook for 2020 to be a tale of two hub with a challenging first half turning to growth in the second half.
Positive growth for the full year.
While we see more volatility in the macro economic environment at this time 2022 outlook remains unchanged.
That said, we continue to monitor global and domestic inflation and the impact from rising interest rates on discretionary consumer spending as well as the impact from supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 shutdowns in China.
Inflation hit 40% highest in February and March and has been further exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine.
We've also seen a shift in spending to travel and leisure after two years of pent up demand.
Housing faxes, a mixed while existing and new wholesale slows due to availability and affordability, we feel good about the remodel business based on the increase in home equity value on homeowners desire to improve their homes as they adapt their lifestyle to a hybrid work environment.
With respect to the supply chain, we are monitoring the impact of Covid related shutdowns in China on our ability to secure inventory from that region as well as increased material costs in Europe , and our ability to mitigate these higher costs through continued pricing promotion and sourcing strategies.
As previously stated we have reduced our sourcing from China to just 16%.
While we continue to monitor the economic trends impacting our business based on what we know today, we still expect to deliver positive same store sales growth in 2022.
A key reason for our confidence is that we remain on track to return inventories in us towards the distribution centers to optimal levels by the end of the second quarter.
And as we have demonstrated over the past two years, we can be agile in navigating a challenging macro environment, while remaining laser focused on delivering our value proposition to our customers.
Our balance sheet and liquidity is strong and we're well positioned to achieve our outlook for 2022 as well as our growth objectives over the next three years.
As a reminder, our goal is to achieve net revenue of $1 $5 billion by 2024, representing a 9% CAGR from 'twenty one to 'twenty four combined with expanded operating margin.
We're excited about the growth opportunities ahead, and our ability to bid some L. L flooring as the leading destination for hard surface flooring.
In closing in the first quarter, we gained traction on our six core growth strategies, including delivering record pro sales and opening seven new stores and were on course to deliver our goal to achieve $1 $5 billion in net sales with expanded operating margin by 2024.
First quarter financial results were in line with the expectations, we communicated on our year end call.
We are successfully rebuilding inventories to optimal levels by the end of second quarter supporting our future growth.
Balance sheet is strong with no debt and strong liquidity positioning us well to achieve our outlook for 2022 and to execute our vision to position <unk> as the leading destination for hard surface flooring.
I look forward to reporting on our progress next quarter I will now turn the call over to Nancy to share our financial details and outlook Nancy.
Thanks, Charles and good morning, everyone before I begin I'd like to make sure everyone knows that I'll be discussing non-GAAP adjusted numbers today, which eliminate certain items that are not indicative of our core business results.
Please refer to our first quarter results press release for more detail.
Turning to the first quarter results.
During the first quarter, our associates did a tremendous job delivering results in line with our expectations in the face of significant macro challenges.
Net sales of $279 million decreased $4 $4 million or one 6% versus the first quarter of 2021.
This was due to a two 3% decrease in net merchandise sales that was partially offset by a four 1% increase in net service sales.
We saw a 19, 8% increase in our average ticket, reflecting a greater mix of net services sales, which grew to 13% of net sales from 12% in the first quarter of 2021 as well as the higher merchandise average ticket.
The higher merchandise average ticket was driven by pricing and promotion strategies as well as favorable product mix, which primarily reflected a greater mix of hardwood flooring and the launch of our new <unk> performance flooring brand.
We saw a 23, 3% decrease in transaction count compared to the same period in 2021, largely reflecting the decrease in sales to homeowners.
First quarter 2022 comparable store sales decreased three 6% versus the first quarter of 2021, but increased three 3% on a two year stack basis.
Turning now to gross profit.
Adjusted gross profit was $103 8 million in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $109 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Adjusted gross margin was 37, 2% for the first quarter of 2022 compared to 38, 5% for the first quarter of 2021.
130 basis point decrease in the first quarter 2022, adjusted gross margin versus 2021, primarily reflect significantly higher transportation and material cost, which were collectively up more than 1000 basis points that we were able to partially mitigate through pricing promotion and alternative country and <unk>.
Anders sourcing strategies.
Nonetheless, our factory direct sourcing model and new product innovation are key competitive advantages as evidenced by the 200 basis point improvement in adjusted gross margin rate compared to 2019.
While we continue to navigate higher supply chain costs in the near term. We are encouraged about our ability to expand gross margin rate over the long term.
Adjusted SG&A expense for the first quarter of 2022 with $99 million compared.
Compared to $94 7 million in 2021.
As a percent of net sales adjusted SG&A for the first quarter of 2022 was 35, 5% an increase of 210 basis points for the first quarter of 2021 due to increased investment in our growth strategies, including new stores and <unk> initiatives as well as continued investment in customer facing and dish.
Tribunal Center personnel.
Even as we increase our investment in growth initiatives, we continue to maintain disciplined expense management.
Adjusted operating income in the first quarter of 2022 with $4 8 million compared to $14 4 million for the prior year period, due primarily to lower net sales increased gross margin headwinds and higher SG&A spend to support our growth initiatives.
Adjusted operating margin for the first quarter of 2022 with one 7% a decrease of 340 basis points from five 1% in the first quarter of 2021.
In the first quarter of 2022, we reported adjusted other expense of $69000 compared to adjusted other expense of $1 1 million for the three months ended March 31 2021.
The decrease was driven by lower interest expense as a result of the repayment of all outstanding debt during the second quarter of 2021.
In the first quarter of 2022, we recognized income tax expense of $1 million or an effective rate of 24%.
This compared to income tax expense of $3 3 million or an effective tax rate of 23, 4% for the first quarter of 2021.
The lower effective tax rate in 2022 was due to the greater impact of permanent items on lower pre tax income this year.
Adjusted earnings for the first quarter of 2022 of $3 8 million deep.
Decrease by $6 4 million compared to the first quarter of 2021.
Adjusted earnings per diluted share of <unk> 13, compared to adjusted earnings of <unk> 34 for the first quarter of 2021, primarily due to lower adjusted operating income.
Turning now to the balance sheet.
Inventory at the end of the first quarter was $319 million compared to $254 million at December 31, 2021, and $225 million at the end of March 2021.
We were pleased to report that total inventory improved to $64 million and.
Inventory per store increased 151000 as of March 31, 2022 versus December 31, 2021.
That said, while the total inventory improved many of the shipments arrived late in the quarter and we continue to experience inventory constraints at the store level and in some of the most popular skus during the first quarter.
Encouragingly, we expect to return to optimal levels by the end of the second quarter of this year as we bring in transit inventories into our stores and distribution centers.
As Charles noted we are monitoring the potential impact on our supply chain from COVID-19, Lockdowns in China, and ripple effects in Europe from the Ukraine conflict.
Our balance sheet and liquidity remains strong as a reminder, we repaid the entire $101 million of outstanding debt during the second quarter of 2021.
As of March 31, 2022, we had $231 million of liquidity comprised of $56 million of cash and cash equivalents and $175 million of excess availability under the credit agreement.
Net cash used in operating activities was $23 4 million for the first quarter of 2022, primarily driven by rebuilding inventories, partially offset by increased accounts payable and net income.
Turning now to 2022.
We continue to navigate uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment related to inflation consumer spending global supply chain disruption COVID-19 in a challenging labor market. As a result, we are not providing financial guidance today.
I can share is that while new macroeconomic risks have emerged with the Russia, Ukraine conflict and COVID-19, Lockdowns in China, we are reaffirming our business outlook for 2022 that we reported on February 23rd.
Our full year outlook assumes the macroeconomic headwinds will lessen as we enter the second half of 2022, we still expect to deliver positive net sales growth and comparable store sales growth for the full year as we gain traction on our initiatives.
Our outlook assumes that we will meet our hiring objectives in a continued tight labor market and we will continue to monitor the impact of inflation on consumer purchasing trends.
During the second quarter, we continued to battle macroeconomic headwinds, but we still expect comparable store sales to improve on a percentage basis versus the first quarter of 2020 to the.
The biggest uncertainty in our 2022 plan remains gross margin. We are currently anticipating both transportation and material costs to increase in 2022.
In addition, our plan assumes we are able to continue to use pricing promotion and sourcing strategies to offset higher costs and there remains significant uncertainty around the impact of inflation on consumer spending and our ability to pass on sufficient pricing to cover increased costs.
Turning to SG&A 2022 will be a year of investment to drive long term growth.
These investments will support our goal of one $5 billion of net revenue coupled with expanded operating margin by 2024.
We are focused on increasing investment behind our growth initiatives, including opening 20 to 25, new stores expanding our pro sales teams investing more in our customer facing organization and investing in technology and digital enhancements to improve the customer experience.
As a result of these investments we expect SG&A as a percentage of sales to increase in 2022 compared to 2021.
That said, we are planning for sequential improvement in operating profit from 2022 to 2023 and from 2023 to 2024 as we generate increasing returns on investments.
From a capital allocation perspective, we anticipate investing 50 million to $70 million in inventory in 2022.
We also plan to invest in Capex in the range of 28% to $32 million in 2022 to support our growth strategies, such as new store openings and to complete our store rebranding as well as to increase operational efficiency.
As a result, we expect to report negative free cash flow in 2022 with excess cash generation expected in 2023 and 2024.
Our balance sheet and liquidity are strong and we have the financial flexibility to rebuild inventory invest in our organic growth strategies and return value to shareholders through our share repurchase program.
In summary, we delivered first quarter results in line with our expectations, while we continue to navigate a challenging environment. We feel good about our full year 2022 outlook. We expect the increased investment in our growth strategies to drive topline growth in the second half and to support our three year growth goals.
Thank you all for your time this morning with that I'll ask the moderator to open the call for questions.
Thank you if you'd like to ask a question. Please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad, if you'd like to ensure your question. Please press star followed by <unk>.
I hate to ask you a question. Please ensure your mute locally.
Our first question comes from lower Champagne of loop capital. Your line is now open.
Hi, Thanks for taking my question this morning.
So in your 10-Q that your average price per unit is up 10%, but what's going on with mix.
Versus versus pure pricing.
So good morning, Laura.
So the average ticket went up 19, 8% and Thats driven both by the net service sales as well as the higher merch average ticket and that as you mentioned, it's a combination of the pricing and promo and the product mix and the product mix is mostly driven by greater hardwood flooring and then the launch of our <unk>, which both.
That have higher margins for us so thats primary factors.
Okay. So it sounds like mix is actually up so if I look at kind of.
Same unit the same unit, what what kind of price increase are you pushing through and how much of your cost increase are you able to recapture at this point.
Laura we're not sharing specifics on that but certainly the.
Increased costs that we're seeing from both transportation as well as material cost.
Partially offsetting that through pricing and promotions that we are seeing that.
And you called out the costs go up as well the retail price go up as well.
Got it thank you.
Thanks, Laura.
As a reminder, if you wish to submit a question. Please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad now.
Our next question comes from Seth Basham of Red The Securities. Your line is now open.
Thanks, a lot and good morning.
First just to follow up on that line of questioning from Laura just thinking about your ability to pass through your higher cost and price. What are you seeing in the marketplace right now and your gross margins you'd be a little bit lighter than I expected. This quarter do you expect to more than fully recover.
<unk> cost increases youre experiencing through the balance of the year.
Yes.
It's really a two part question I'll cover the short term which is.
We've seen what we believe is rational pricing in the marketplace and we've adjusted.
Retail pricing as we've needed to based on the inflationary pressure that's coming through.
And as we talked about in terms of mix, we have not seen any elements yet of a trading down from customers.
Out of out of the premium products, particularly in the new <unk> line and the solid Wood program. We're very pleased with our Delaware premium product. So the customers from a mixed perspective to date are absorbing those prices. When you asked about the future I think the biggest question there is going to be what impact.
Maybe external factors like interest rates have on potential discretionary spending so im not going to comment about what the balance of the year might look like.
<unk>.
Yes that does help and just thinking about that demand environment. You guys have a relatively long purchase cycle I think you'd say, it's as much as 60 days or so what are you seeing earlier in the purchase cycle from some of your indicators are you seeing decreased interest decreased demand at this point in time.
So in the quarter and our talk only about the quarter. Obviously January was challenging as we've said we had a lot of disruption from Covid, both with the shutdown in our stores for three full days.
As well as an impact on our installation business, where customers didn't want to have.
Install is coming into the home and doing measurements and so as we move through February the negative impact of Covid declining.
Actually increased.
The activities that we saw.
As we said we've been very pleased with what we're seeing in our pro business and what our future.
Our business looks like and.
We've been pleased with the results that we're getting from the investments that we've made in our installation services business and.
And we have work to do on consumer obviously.
Our transactions ended up for the quarter clearly, we feel really good about the rebranding that we're doing but that's a longer term journey. So.
We feel good about the overall demand that we saw coming through.
Q1.
Yes.
Got it and lastly for now you talked about the headwinds from Ocean shipping.
Some contracts up for renewal.
The spring can you give us some insight into how those <unk>.
Contracts are being reset and.
And how much of a headwind do you expect the ocean shipping to be for the next year.
Yes.
It's going to be an interesting question to look to see what happens with macro demand.
Obviously, the Covid interruptions in China are causing.
At least some supply chain slowdowns, but not as bad as we saw earlier.
Earlier last year with the shipping issues. So I think we feel very good about where we've ended up with a with our contract negotiations with the carriers. We've only just started they started in may so we have to see what happens to both.
The availability of containers versus a year ago.
And what happens more in the overall macro demand environment and what that does to pricing.
Got it thank you very much.
Youre welcome.
As a final reminder, if you wish to submit a question. Please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad now.
Okay.
At this time, we currently have no further questions. Therefore, this concludes today's call and I'll hand back over to Charles Thompson CEO for any closing remarks.
Thank you operator, thanks, everyone for joining us today again I want to thank our dedicated teams for their solid execution, while in the near term operating environment remains volatile. We are excited about our long term growth opportunity, we're seeing everyone. Good health and safety and we look forward to updating you on our performance next quarter. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's call you may now disconnect your lines.
Okay.
Okay.