Paul Huckfeldt
Analyst · Sidoti & Company. You may proceed with your question
Thanks, Jeremy. Let’s look at highlights from each segment, beginning with Hooker Branded. The Hooker Branded segment recovered from the pandemic downturn at the fastest pace of all of our segments, with sales rebounding in the third and fourth quarters. In the fourth quarter, Hooker Branded sales were $49.2 million, up almost $10 million or 25% over the prior year. Net sales for the full fiscal year were essentially flat, increasing by about $450,000 or 0.3% despite the pandemic-related shortfalls during Q1 and Q2. Incoming orders increased at a double-digit rate starting in June, sustaining through year end and the segment finished the year with a backlog 3x the level of a year ago. The segment is in the process of rebuilding inventories to meet this current higher demand. For the year, the Hooker Branded segment reported $22.8 million of operating income, an increase of $1.3 million or about 6% compared to the prior year. Given the economic circumstances, we are especially pleased to have not only maintained, but improved Hooker Branded segment profitability compared to the pre-pandemic conditions a year ago. We believe increased sales and demand were driven by a few factors. In the second half of 2019, we preordered our 2020 introductions of the three collections that have been among our most well-received introductions in several years, with all three rising into the top 10 of our best sellers. Two of the collections fill style voids in our line in soft, modern and coastal design, representing incremental business for us. We never canceled production orders for these collections, which help with product flow and availability. We were disciplined in Hooker Taste Goods and Hooker Upholstery to rationalize our inventory and drive underperforming SKUs in order to maximize production capacity around top sellers. Reduced expenses and higher sales helped us make improvements on already solid profitability of Hooker Branded. Now, turning to Home Meridian segment, HMI Q4 sales were $80 million, down 20% from the prior year. The Q4 sales decline was a direct result of disrupted global logistics driven by the economic impact of COVID-19 on manufacturing capacities, raw materials and the cost and availability of shipping containers. Fourth quarter operating income was $683,000, a decrease of $1.2 million versus the prior year. The reduction in profit was caused by the smaller top line compared to a year ago as well as increased freight expenses and a bad debt accrual of about $600,000, which more than offset improved gross margin and operating cost reductions implemented during the year. Retail demand remained strong for Home Meridian products and we ended Q4 with backlog more than double their levels a year ago. Orders in the quarter were down 26% versus last year after being up 36% in Q3. However, this decline is primarily the result of early ordering and extended shipping lead times. Full year results also were significantly impacted by the pandemic-related economic downturn. HMI fiscal year 2021 revenue was off 17% versus the prior year, driven by the same dynamics that deflated the Q4 sales. In addition, current dramatic downturn in the hospitality industry, which is highly dependent on travel, resulted in a sales decrease in our Samuel Lawrence Hospitality division that accounted for 45% of our total revenue decline in the HMI segment. Business unit highlights in HMI include for Pulaski Furniture, sales were off year-over-year due to limited production capacity and brand and shipping issues. This is the case in most HMI brands. However, like other brands, Pulaski finished the year with a record backlog. Interestingly, with the exception of our hospitality business and ACH, which is less dependent on backlog, backlogs grew in each of our residential division in excess of the divisional sales shortfall for the year. These comparisons suggest that retail demand remained strong and above prior year pre-COVID demand. At Samuel Lawrence Furniture, although sales were down compared to the prior year, orders, backlog and profits were up significantly in FY ‘21. These improvements are validations of our mega account sales strategy and our low cost sourcing strategy. With a sizable backlog programmed out through November, Samuel Lawrence shipments are expected to remain strong throughout the year. Regarding Samuel Lawrence Hospitality, it’s no secret that the hospitality business in the U.S. was severely disrupted by the pandemic. As a result, Samuel Lawrence came up short of breakeven in fiscal ‘21, and we will continue to struggle until business conditions improve. We are watching that segment carefully. Although prime resources, our import upholstery division is not yet at target performance, primary sources generated a significant turnaround in last year, finishing FY ‘21 with a 102% increase in backlog and a significantly improved operating result. This improvement is the result of our strategies to move away from lower profit businesses and dramatically improve returns and allowances as well as focused spending reductions. Accentrics Home, ACH, started the year strong and benefited from the consumer shift to e-commerce early in the pandemic, but ultimately struggled with service problems in the latter part of fiscal ‘21. These issues were especially impactful to ACH’s performance given the unprecedented demand in the e-commerce channel. Despite service challenges, except ACH performed – performance improved significantly due to lower customer chargebacks and enhanced pricing strategies. Lastly, at HMIdea, our business unit focused on upscale ready-to-assemble furniture and our clubs business, we experienced improved orders, sales and backlogs for the year. Unfortunately, excessive returns and allowances from the club business in prior years negatively impacted HMI’s results for the year. Accordingly, we have taken strong measures, including significant additional reserves to minimize the impact of these issues going forward. We believe we are appropriately priced and reserved for the future. Also of note, business disruptions from the pandemic delayed and reduced the launch of our new ready-to-assemble product category. Given the strong consumer demand for ready-to-assemble products, we have confidence that we will make good progress in this category in the future, especially branded lines sold through our e-commerce channel. Turning now to Domestic Upholstery segment, the year ended on a high note with this segment with net sales up $1.4 million or 6% in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Operating income also increased by $1.2 million during the quarter as all 3 domestic upholstery divisions ramped up production during the third quarter and returned to full capacity and a normal shipping cycle in the fourth quarter. For the full 2021 year, the Domestic Upholstery segment net sales decreased by $12 million or 12.5% due to temporary factory shutdowns and production delays in all 3 of our Domestic Upholstery operations at the onset of the pandemic-related economic downturn. The segment resumed production in the second quarter, and all 3 divisions operated at full capacity for much of the fourth quarter and into early fiscal ‘22. Since March, production has been temporarily slowed by a shortage of upholstery foam resulting from a disruption in the petroleum industry. Finally, in all other, net sales decreased by about $1 million or 7.9% due to sales declines in H Contract as this business unit, which serves as a senior living facility was adversely impacted by the pandemic. These decreases were offset by the addition of net sales in our Lifestyle Brands business unit, which targets the interior design channel. H Contract incoming orders decreased by about 12% for fiscal 2021. However, the company expects with COVID vaccine rollout to help senior living industry begin to recover and H Contract’s order deterioration eased in the fourth quarter. And finally, our balance sheet remains strong. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $65.8 million at the end of fiscal 2021, an increase of nearly $30 million compared to the balance of the prior year, even after we paid off $24.3 million in term loans at the end of January 2021. Additionally, we had accessed $28.7 million under our revolving credit facility to fund our working capital needs and about $25 million in cash surrender value of company-owned life insurance policy. We are confident that our strong financial position can weather the expected short-term impacts of COVID-19, disruptions to the supply chain, raw material pricing and the overall economy. Inventory stood at $70.2 million at year-end compared to $92.8 million at the prior year-end. Building inventory to meet increased demand and order backlog remains a top management priority. In early March, our directors approved an $0.18 per share dividend, which at current share prices gives us a dividend yield of about 1.9%. I will turn – now I will turn the discussion back to Jeremy for his outlook.