Dixie Group (NASDAQ:DXYN) Q3 2022 Earnings Conference Call November 3, 2022 2:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Dan Frierson – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Allen Danzey – Chief Financial Officer
Operator
Good day and welcome to the Dixie Group, Inc. 2022 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Today’s call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dan Frierson. Thank you, sir. Please go ahead.
Dan Frierson
Thank you, John and welcome everyone. I have with me, Allen Danzey, our CFO. Our Safe Harbor statement is included, by reference, both to our website and press release.
The company had net sales from continuing operations of $71.7 million and a net loss of $8.8 million or $0.58 per diluted share. In the third quarter – in the third quarter of 2021, net sales from continuing operations were $89.3 million with net income of $6.4 million or $0.40 per diluted share. Net sales from continuing operations for the 9-month period ending September 24 were $233 million, a decrease of 7.5% from the net sales of $252 million in the same period of the previous year. The net loss for the 9-month period ending September 24, 2022, was $16.6 million or $1.09 per diluted share compared to net income of $7.7 million or $0.49 per diluted share in the 9-month period ending September 25, 2021.
During the third quarter, our sales were weaker than we anticipated as the retail market softened in all geographic regions and product categories. The lack of volume resulted in higher unabsorbed costs and inflationary pressure impacted material people, energy and transportation costs. We have undertaken a number of initiatives to mitigate the impact of these trends, which I will discuss after Allen has reviewed our financial results. Allen?
Allen Danzey
Thank you, Dan. The third quarter reflected a very significant unfavorable impact on our inventory costs in the first half of the year related to the price increases that were imposed by our former primary raw material provider and also extremely high freight rates on imported products and also the higher cost overall as a result of inflation. As a result of these collective negative factors combined with lower sales volume, our gross profit as a percent of net sales for the quarter was 17.5% compared to the 27.9% in the third quarter of 2021.
Within the third quarter, we completed the conversion to other fiber suppliers at price points more in line with the market, and we have seen significant improvement in recent freight rates on our imported products. As Dan mentioned, we also began a plan to reduce costs through plant consolidations on the East Coast and other initiatives to bring our margins more closely in line with our expectations.
Selling and administrative expenses were 25.9% of net sales in the third quarter of 2022, and that compares to 20.3% in the third quarter of 2021. The increased expenses in 2022 were primarily directed in investment in samples, professional fees and finance and information systems and higher overall costs as a result of inflation.
Interest expense in the quarter was $1.3 million, an increase over the previous year of $1.2 million and driven by a higher level of debt during the quarter. Again, the changes on the balance sheet for the third quarter, our receivables decreased by $8.5 million from our 2021 fiscal year-end balance, primarily due to the loss of sales volume with our primary home center customer and as well as lower retail sales volume within the current quarter. Investment in inventory for the launch of our decorative segment along with inflationary increases in raw material costs drove an $11.2 million increase in inventory from the 2021 fiscal year-end balance.
Founding of payments on AP and accrued expenses decreased the total balance by $0.6 million from fiscal year end. Our capital expenditures during the quarter were $1 million, bringing our year-to-date CapEx to $4.4 million. So capital expenditures are planned at approximately $5 million for the 2022 fiscal year and depreciation on the year-to-date was $6.1 million. Our debt increased by $8.2 million during the quarter, driven by the investment in inventory and the higher cost of operations. Our borrowing availability under our senior credit facility at quarter end was $23.7 million. Our investor presentation is also available on our website at www.dixiegroup.com. Dan?
Dan Frierson
Thank you, Allen. Our third quarter results were the culmination of the impact of several factors beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021 that have had an unfavorable impact on our company. We also experienced a general industry downturn, which began in mid-second quarter and extended through the third quarter. The lower sales volume in the third quarter was also partially attributable to an $8 million year-over-year loss of volume with our largest mass merchant retail customer.
Our sales with this customer ended earlier in the year as a result of their change in strategy to focus on lower price point products. Our sales volume in 2022 has also been negatively impacted by the delay of new product introductions due to supply chain problems and issues with our sample vendors. This caused particular delays with the launch of our new decorative and hard surface products, which meant we have incurred the cost of launching these products, but have not benefited from the sales.
Gross margins in the third quarter of 2022 reflected the impact of several major items. In the third quarter, we continued to work through the balance of the higher cost inventory resulting from the unprecedented price increases from our previous raw material supplier, coupled with their decision to exit the business. We identified other suppliers to replace this volume and bring our costs down in line with the market. And we began manufacturing inventory using these new lower-cost raw materials in the third quarter.
Secondly, margins from our sales of hard surface products, hard surface goods reflected the negative impact from dramatic increases in ocean freight costs. Fortunately, beginning with – in the second quarter, these freight costs have continued to decline, but remain above prior year levels. And last, as with most every industry, we have received inflation from cost increases throughout the year and almost all of our raw materials, freight, people and energy-related costs.
In the third quarter, we began a restructuring plan in order to reduce our manufacturing costs. Under this plan, we have consolidated all of our East Coast testing to 1 plant in North Georgia. We also began relocating our East Coast distribution of luxury vinyl flooring from our facility in Saraland, Alabama to our plant in Atmore, Alabama. Our Atmore plant will have the LVF distribution and our previously announced joint venture for future LVF production.
We will retain office space in Saraland, Alabama for our valued and experienced administrative team located there as we look to sublease our warehouse space in the building. The cost of this restructuring plan in the third quarter was $1 million. And at this time, we estimate the total cost of this plan to be approximately $3 million. We are implementing our restructuring plans to lower both our fixed and variable costs by shutting higher-cost assets, reducing staffing and aligning production with demand. As a result of these and other actions, our headcount is down by 20% for the year.
We are currently experiencing much lower ocean freight costs for our imported products, as I indicated earlier and lower raw material costs as we exit the Invista fibers in our inventory. Additionally, we’re seeing reductions in raw material costs that should align our current pricing when our higher cost inventory is depleted. All of the actions taken should reduce cost by approximately $25 million or more in 2023. While we expect cost reductions in the fourth quarter and next year to be significant, we plan to reduce inventories in the fourth quarter, which will result in higher level than normal of unabsorbed fixed costs, but will significantly improve our cash flow.
We are postponing capital projects that do not impact our long-term strategies while completing those that are critical to the near-term performance of the business. Our capital expenditures this year, as Allen pointed out, will be about $5 million, but included investment in new testing technology. By investing in products for the decorative and hard surface markets, we’re preparing for the market rebound that always occurs after our industry contracts. We believe our position in these segments will continue to be very strong. Under our stock purchase plan, which we began in late August, we have purchased approximately 250,000 shares to date.
At this time, we will open the meeting to questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Dan Frierson
Thank you, John and thank all of you for joining us today. Obviously, third quarter was a difficult quarter for us, but we are making plans to improve our results going forward. Thank you.
Allen Danzey
Thank you.
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