Derek Schmidt
Analyst · SGF Capital. Please go ahead
Thank you, Jerry. As Jerry just discussed, like many companies, we felt an enormous impact of COVID-19 in the most recent quarter. Demand started dropping rapidly at the end of March and came to a screeching halt in April when virtually all of our brick-and-mortar retail partners closed their stores to varying degrees due to COVID-19. At the same time, we saw a healthy increase in our e-commerce sales. Yet this gain was greatly overshadowed by the loss of brick-and-mortar sales. Fourth quarter net sales were $64.8 million, down $35.4 million or 35% compared to $100.2 million in the prior year period. Residential sales, which represent approximately 90% of our business in fiscal 2020, were down $24.4 million or 29% during the fourth quarter due primarily to the adverse impact of the COVID pandemic impact on our business. Within residential, home furnishings products sold through retail stores were down $34 million or 46%, while ecommerce sales were up $9.5 million or 86%. On the contract front, total sales were $4.1 million, reflecting our decision to exit the non-core RV seating and remaining hospitality businesses. For fiscal year 2020, net sales declined 17% to $366.9 million versus sales of $443.6 million in fiscal 2019. The lower sales in fiscal 2020 were a function of higher China tariff, the COVID-19 pandemic and the exit of the RV seating and remaining hospitality businesses. The decline was partially offset by an increase in our ready to assemble furniture sold through ecommerce, which grew 35.7% year-over-year primarily driven by increased demand. As retail stores began opening up around Memorial Day, we experienced a surge of sales related to pent up consumer demand, which was sustained for several weeks in June. To give you some contextual perspective on the monthly sales momentum in the fourth quarter; April sales were 43% of prior sales; May sales were 61% of prior sales; June sales were 90% prior year sales; and in July, we were even with 100% of prior sales. While July sales were encouraging, near term sales demand remains highly variable and vulnerable to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. The variables include the potential return of full or partial store shutdowns, the continuation of enhanced employment benefits and other government stimulus programs, intending to mitigate the impact of high unemployment, the potential worsening of U.S. China relations and the unknowns related to the upcoming presidential election. Our fourth quarter financial results were impacted by a multitude of factors making it difficult to accurately parse what normalized earnings would have looked like given the number and magnitude of individual factors, including dramatic fixed costs volume deleverage due to the precipitous drop in sales from COVID-19 related store shutdowns. Second, sizeable cost inefficiencies from quickly closing our plants and distribution centers during COVID-19 shutdown and then subsequently, ramping operations back up. Third, onetime costs associated with the exit of the RV and remaining hospitality businesses and the closure of a DC. And fourth, onetime costs associated with our SKU rationalization efforts and the deep discounting required to sell those discontinued items. We reported a fiscal fourth quarter net loss of $25.7 million or $3.23 per share that compared to a net loss of $19.9 million or $2.52 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. The reported net loss included $20.8 million pretax restructuring expense, a $3 million inventory impairment charge related to the company's exit of certain product lines and $2.9 million right of use asset impairment expense related to leases. Excluding these expenses, the non-GAAP adjusted net loss was $3.7 million or $0.47 per share in this fiscal fourth quarter as compared to a non-GAAP adjusted net loss of $4.3 million or $0.54 per diluted share in the fourth quarter last year. Please see the non-GAAP disclosure included in the earnings release for a detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP adjusted net loss. Turning now to profitability results for the quarter. Gross margin, as a percent of net sales in the fourth quarter, was 9.2% versus a reported 5.3% in the prior year quarter. There was quite a bit of noise that had an impact on both this year and last year's quarterly results. The approximate 390 basis point improvement in adjusted gross margin is composed of three large drivers. First, a 720 basis point benefit or $4.7 million from lower year-over-year inventory impairment related to the company's restructuring program. Second, a 440 basis point benefit, or $2.9 million from a reduced valuation loan on foreign value added tax. And third, a 770 basis point detriment related to fixed costs the leverage from lower volume and operational inefficiencies related to closing and ramping-up operations during COVID related shutdown. Selling general administrative or SG&A expenses were 25.9% of sales compared with 18.8% of net sales in the prior year quarter. Approximately 440 basis points of this increase were due to to lease impairments, 200 basis points for COVID-19 related costs and 110 basis points due to higher bad debt expense. Regarding taxes, during the quarter, we reported a tax benefit of $5.6 million or an effective tax rate of 17.8% during the fourth quarter compared to a tax benefit of $6.5 million in the prior year quarter or an effective tax rate of 24.7%. Now turning to the balance sheet. As Jerry noted, we took aggressive and decisive actions during the quarter to reduce costs and preserve cash. And as a result, we ended the fourth quarter with a strong cash position of $48 million and no debt. During fiscal year 2020, we generated $18.3 million in cash from operations compared with $6.7 million at year end fiscal 2019. As previously released, we secured a commitment for a new $45 million line of credit prior to the end of fiscal year 2020. Given our strong cash position and confidence in future cash flows, we have initiated a renegotiation of the new line to a lower amount of $25 million and with more favorable terms to the company, which better fits the business's current needs and reduces unnecessary costs. We anticipate finalizing the modified credit agreement within the next week or two. Working capital, defined as current assets minus current liabilities at June 30, 2020, was $128.4 million compared to $118.2 million at June 30, 2019. The $10.2 million increase in working capital was due to an increase in cash of $26 million, primarily attributable to proceeds from the sale of Riverside California facility of $20.5 million and increase in assets held for sale of $12.3 million, and increase in other current assets of $6.6 million and a decrease in restructuring liability of $4.2 million, partially offset by $23.1 million reduction in inventory as a result of inventory management and SKU rationalization activities, a decrease in trade receivables of $5.9 million due to lower sales and an increase in accounts payable of $9.3 million. Capital expenditures for the 12 months ended June 30, 2020 were at $3.7 million. During fiscal 2021, we anticipate spending between $3 million and $4 million for capital expenditures, and we believe we have adequate working capital to meet these requirements. And finally, a quick update on restructured expenses. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, the company incurred $34.2 million of restructuring expense, primarily for the write down of assets due to impairment, facility closures, professional fees, pension withdrawal liability and employee termination costs, as part of Flexsteel's previously announced comprehensive transformation program. The company expects to incur approximately $2 million of ongoing facility and transition restructuring expense in fiscal 2021, while the company will remain steadfast in pursuing continuous improvement and business optimization opportunities. Activities related to the previously announced transformation program are expected to be fully-completed by the end of the first half of fiscal year 2021. Now, I'll turn the call back to Jerry. Jerry?