Bill Shea
Analyst · Sidoti & Company. Please go ahead
Thank you, Chris. As Chris indicated, we are pleased with the strong start we have had for fiscal 2019. Our results for the fiscal first quarter across all three of our business segments were on or ahead of our plan highlighted by the accelerated growth in both our consumer floral and BloomNet businesses. Before I jump into some of the metrics for the quarter, I would like to hit on two specific areas to provide some additional clarity. First, in terms of gross profit margin percentage, the decline of 240 basis points in consolidated gross profit margin percent for the quarter compared to the prior year was essentially in line with our expectations and primarily reflected several factors, including a strategic investment in BloomNet to drive significantly increased order volumes, which we discussed back in our August conference call. While these investments impacted gross margin percent during the quarter, they helped drive double-digit revenue growth and solid increases in gross margin dollars as well as higher contribution margin dollars in BloomNet. Going forward, we expect BloomNet to continue to show strong top and bottom line growth albeit with a lower year-over-year gross profit margin percent compared with the prior year. In our Consumer Floral segment, gross margin declined 100 basis points during the quarter primarily related to increased shipping costs and strong growth in our Passport loyalty program. As we have noted in past calls, while growth in our Passport program impacts gross profit margin percent in the near-term, it provides significant benefits in terms of frequency and customer lifetime value. As a result of the higher shipping costs and our expectation for continued growth in Passport, we expect gross margin percent in this segment to be down slightly for the remainder of the fiscal year. With that said, we expect to continue to drive strong growth in both revenue and gross margin dollars in this segment. In our Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets segment, gross margin percent in the first quarter was impacted by the combination of product mix and increased labor and transportation costs. This was in line with our expectations and in terms of product mix was primarily related to the timing of certain wholesale gift baskets and the Food of the Month Club shipment that Chris mentioned in his remarks. These impacts were primarily timing issues. Looking ahead, we expect consolidated gross profit margin in this segment to be roughly flat to slightly up for the remainder of fiscal 2019. The second area I would like to touch on is the impact of tax and accounting changes on first quarter net loss and EPS and its comparability with Q1 of the prior year. The increased loss in the quarter primarily reflects the combination of a lower tax benefit compared with the prior year and the required adoption of accounting standard ASC 606. The combination of these factors represented a several million dollar impact on the quarter. The lower tax benefit reflected the lower effective tax rate of 27.1% in the quarter compared with the prior year period’s effective tax rate of 35.1%. As you will remember, the lower effective tax rates went into effect during our fiscal second quarter last year when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed. As a result, we recorded a higher tax benefit in Q1 a year ago, which was subsequently adjusted to the lower rate in the second quarter. Regarding ASC 606, the adoption of this accounting standard required us to expense the cost of catalogs upon mailing. Previously, these costs were amortized over the life of the catalogs, which for Q1 mailings would have extended into our fiscal second quarter. Going forward, we will benefit from the fact that these expenses were recorded in Q1 this year compared with the prior year when they were recorded primarily in Q2. Now, breaking down the highlights of our fiscal first quarter, first, in terms of revenue, total consolidated revenues increased 7.7% to $169.5 million compared with $157.3 million in the prior year period. This was driven by double-digit growth in our Consumer Floral and BloomNet segments, which more than offset the flat revenue growth in our Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets segment, which as Chris noted was primarily related to timing. As we head into the key holiday period, our largest in terms of revenue, we expect to achieve solid revenue growth in our Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets business. This is based on several positive factors, including the strong growth in Harry & David’s e-commerce demand and its customer file during our first quarter, the operational enhancements at our Cheryl’s Cookies business and solid growth in our 1-800 Baskets direct-to-consumer and wholesale businesses. Regarding operating expenses during the first quarter, in dollar terms, operating expenses increased 5.3%, reflecting marketing related expenses to support the 7.7% revenue growth we achieved as well as the impact of ASC 606. However, as a percent of total revenue, our operating expense ratio improved by 120 basis points reflecting our focus on leveraging our operating platform. Like my earlier comments regarding net loss and EPS, our EBITDA loss for the quarter of $13.9 million was better than our plan. The increase in our EBITDA loss compared with the prior year period primarily reflected the impact of ASC 606 as well as the aforementioned timing shipments within our Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets segment. Turning to our balance sheet, our cash and investment position was $27 million at the end of the first quarter. Inventory was $160.7 million compared with inventory of $148.4 million at the end of last year’s first quarter. The increase in inventory supports our expected growth and includes the strategic pre-building of some inventory for the holiday season that we discussed back in our August call. This allows us to use core workforce during the slower summer months to somewhat mitigate the headwinds associated with the very tight labor market and rising hourly wages. In terms of debt, we had $100.4 million in debt outstanding, including current maturities on our long-term credit facility compared with $107.4 million at the end of last year’s fiscal first quarter and we had zero borrowings under our revolving credit facility. Now regarding guidance, we are reiterating the guidance we provided at the beginning of the current fiscal year, which includes our plans to increase investments to take advantage of market conditions and build on the revenue growth momentum we are seeing across all of our business segments. Additionally, our guidance for fiscal 2019 bottom line metrics assumes the restoration of 100% bonus payout compared with the minimum payout in fiscal 2018. As a result, our guidance is as follows: consolidated revenue growth accelerating to a range of 5% to 7% compared with the prior year; EPS in the range of $0.38 to $0.42; adjusted EBITDA in the range of $77 million to $80 million; and free cash flow for the year in the range of $30 million to $40 million. It is important to note that absent the one-time catch-up in bonuses, we expect to significantly improve our bottom line metrics. And in fiscal 2020 and ‘21, we anticipate adjusted EBITDA and EPS will grow at a double-digit pace as we approach $100 million in EBITDA. I will now turn the call back to Chris.