Earnings Labs

Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. (TLF)

Q2 2013 Earnings Call· Sun, Aug 11, 2013

$2.34

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Tandy Leather Factory Second Quarter 2013 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we'll have a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Shannon Greene. Ma'am, you may begin.

Shannon Greene

Management

Thank you. Good morning and thank your for joining us for our second quarter 2013 earnings conference call. I am Shannon Greene, Chief Financial Officer of Tandy Leather Factory and I'm joined by Jon Thompson, our Chief Executive Officer and Mark Angus, our Senior Vice President. Before we begin, I call your attention to the fact that these conversations will contain forward-looking statements to the extent we speak today of any future events or make other forward-looking statements. You are reminded of the inherent uncertainties of looking into the future that there are risks to Tandy Leather Factory that could prevent these events from occurring in the manner foreseen. Please see our From 10-K for 2012 and subsequent form 10-Q for a discussion of some of these risks. Copies of these documents are available through the SEC's EDGAR system and from our Investor Relations office. Also, statements made today by us as management of Tandy Leather Factory are made as of this moment and we disclaim any duty to the update of those statements. So, we performed reasonably well in the second quarter achieving a 12% sales increase and a 6% earnings increase compared the second quarter of 2012. Gross profit margin for the quarter was 62.8% while operating income decreased by 5%. We ended the quarter with $7.6 million in cash, $27.5 million in inventory. Totals assets at June 30 increased $4.1 million from year-end 2012 to $53.2 million. Now, for the numbers from today's press release. Second quarter consolidated sales increased 12%. Current quarter sales were $19 million compared to last year's second quarter sales of $16.9 million. Wholesale Leathercraft sales were $6.7 million this quarter, up 7% from $6.3 million in the second quarter last year. The same stores posted a 5% sales increase reporting sales of…

Operator

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Steve Shaw of Sidoti & Co. Your line is open. Steve Shaw - Sidoti & Co.: Hey, guys. Shannon, regarding the gross margin, what was the primary driver in the contraction. Was that lower leather sales?

Shannon Greene

Management

Generally speaking, yes. Gross profit margins are always affected by a couple of things. The mix of the products sold and, as you probably know, leather is our lowest margin item. So, if we sell more leather in a quarter than we did the comparable quarter before, it can absolutely mean that gross profit margin is going to come down a little bit. Obviously, what we hoped is we sell a lot of leather and then all the other things to with it. The other possibility with gross margin is the customer mix. Retail customers -- the selling prices to Retail customers, pure Retail customers is higher than some of -- at the other price levels, Wholesale, et cetera, so it's a combination of those two mixes, customers mix and product mix that can positively or negatively affect margin. Steve Shaw - Sidoti & Co.: Okay. And then you mentioned some additions to employees to the store sizes. Do you guys have a number of headcount that you added for the quarter?

Shannon Greene

Management

I don’t have the number in front of me, but I want to say it was like 20. Steve Shaw - Sidoti & Co.: Okay. And how much expenses were related to the legal expenses with the trademarking?

Shannon Greene

Management

About $60,000 - $75,000. Steve Shaw - Sidoti & Co.: Okay. And then did you mention where the new store was going to be opened in the fourth quarter?

Shannon Greene

Management

We have not announced that yet, no. Steve Shaw - Sidoti & Co.: Okay, all right, thanks a lot.

Shannon Greene

Management

Yes.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open.

Bruce Silver - Silver Capital Management

Analyst · Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open

Hi, can you hear me?

Shannon Greene

Management

Hi, Bruce, yes.

Bruce Silver - Silver Capital Management

Analyst · Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open

Hi, I want today ask about how much cash do you really need to keep on the balance sheet? And what are you considering doing with the cash as far as either buyback stock, giving something to shareholders as dividends would be nice.

Shannon Greene

Management

Yes. The minimum cash that we are comfortable with is about $5 million. When we did the dividend in 2012, I think we pulled the cash down to about $2.5 million or $3 million and that gets pretty tight. So, $5 million at a minimum, so we're a little bit over that now. As far as plans, obviously, that's very much a Board decision. The two things that make the most sense are another dividend or the consideration of implementing a quarterly dividend as opposed to doing a one-time deal. Or, stock buybacks is always on the list as well. I can assure you, it's a discussion that's held at every Board meeting.

Bruce Silver - Silver Capital Management

Analyst · Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open

I would have hoped for a quarterly dividend as opposed to a one-time.

Shannon Greene

Management

Say that again.

Bruce Silver - Silver Capital Management

Analyst · Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open

I would prefer a quarterly dividend as opposed to one-time.

Shannon Greene

Management

Got you.

Bruce Silver - Silver Capital Management

Analyst · Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open

Thank you.

Shannon Greene

Management

It makes sense at some point if the cash generation continues like it has historically.

Bruce Silver - Silver Capital Management

Analyst · Bruce Silver of Silver Capital Management. Your line is open

Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of [Russell Molan of Baer Capital]. Your line is open.

Shannon Greene

Management

Hi, Russell.

Russell Molan - Baer Capital

Analyst

Hey, how is going?

Shannon Greene

Management

Good.

Russell Molan - Baer Capital

Analyst

I know it's only been a couple of months, but I was just curious I know you gave a little color, but you know how the new store up there in Forth Worth has gone. Is anything surprised you guys, good or bad, and just any other thoughts on it will be great?

Jon Thompson

Analyst

Well, I think it's gone good. Well, I think some of the best things about it has probably been the [classroom] and the amount (inaudible) that we're getting and the turn out in that area. But, you know, again, the -- how well it's been received, it's been great. We get a lot of compliments. And you know, we would like to stay a little busier, but I think everything's gone to plan and everything looks great.

Russell Molan - Baer Capital

Analyst

Got it. Thanks. That's it.

Shannon Greene

Management

Thanks, Russell.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Parker. Your line is open.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst · Chris Parker. Your line is open

Thank you. Good morning, Shannon.

Shannon Greene

Management

How are you?

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst · Chris Parker. Your line is open

Very well, thanks. And yourself?

Shannon Greene

Management

Doing fine, thank you.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst · Chris Parker. Your line is open

Good. Good. So, I want to echo, I believe, it was Mr. Silver's comment about a quarterly dividend would be really nice going forward. I imagine one thing might be that the anticipated inventory build as we get into the rest of the year that you're reserving some cash for, I would imagine that might be a reason to save more cash now, but maybe 2014 we can expect quarterly dividends, I hope. My question is regarding operating income at the division level. It seems to me -- I'm guessing that most of the one-time expenses were in the Retail division, yet it looks like the Wholesale Leathercraft division is the division that really sustained a significant decrease in operating margins. And I was just wondering what the margin issues are within Wholesale Leathercraft and what you might do to address those going forward.

Shannon Greene

Management

Yes, so our Wholesale Leathercraft division, which was prior to the time we bought Tandy in 2000 was the only significant we had. All of the corporate divisions, advertising, accounting, the warehouse, factory, et cetera, all of those departments are part of the Wholesale Leathercraft division. So, what happens, and I'll use advertising as a great example, all of the stores contribute or all the segments contribute to our advertising efforts. But, as has been the case this first six months, we are spending more on advertising than the stores are contributing. So, what happens is, because the advertising department is part of the Wholesale Leathercraft division, as the support department, if they spend more than all of the stores are contributing, then that excess spend shows up on the Wholesale Leathercraft segment results. So, that's a great example of why is operating margin down for them, because -- and I’m going to throw out numbers, because these are not real numbers, but to make it easy, if we're collecting $1 million from the stores to pay for advertising, and we spend $2 million, somebody's got to pick that up, where that shows up on. Because the advertising department is part of Wholesale Leathercraft, that extra $1 million worth of expenses shows up on the Wholesale Leathercraft segment.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst · Chris Parker. Your line is open

Okay. Going forward, would -- do you have any plans to reallocate some corporate expenses that are really Retail Leathercraft to the Retail Leathercraft or do you not see this as an issue going forward?

Shannon Greene

Management

Yes. We continue to -- I mean, if it stays as my example of -- if we continue to spend as much on advertising as we are right now, yes, we will do some adjustments, so that the stores are contributing, because, obviously, it's the stores that get the benefit -- the advertising dollars have a direct impact on the sales and the customer traffic in the stores. So, yes, this is kind of -- this first six months, we've done some extra things, we're trying some different things with advertising and the fallout has been on the Wholesale Leathercraft side. But if it continues to work well, and is going to be something that we're going to continue, i.e., mailing those flyers every month instead of going back to every month or what have you, then, yes, the charges or the collection from the stores will have to go up in order to appropriately pay for that. So, it will be something that -- we watch those types of things very carefully.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst · Chris Parker. Your line is open

Okay. Thank you very much.

Shannon Greene

Management

You bet.

Operator

Operator

I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I would like to turn the program back to you, Shannon, for closing remarks.

Shannon Greene

Management

Thank you. Thank you very much. On behalf of Jon Thompson, Mark Angus and myself, thank you for your participation in today's call. Have a good day.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This does conclude the program and you may all disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.