Dorel Industries Inc. (DIIB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Dorel Industries Second Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Before turning the meeting over to management, please be advised that this conference call will contain statements that are forward-looking and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded today, August 9, 2024. I would now like to turn the call over to Martin Schwartz, President and CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us for Dorel's second quarter earnings call for the period ended June 30. With me are Jeffrey Schwartz, CFO; and Jayson Kwasnik, VP of Finance. We will take your questions following our comments. And again, all figures mentioned during this call are in U.S. dollars. Dorel Juvenile has continued its trajectory of growth and improvement. Our profit turnaround is ongoing driven by strong results in North America, where our market share has grown for several consecutive quarters. This is also true in our other major market in Europe, where our innovative new product launches are leading the way with our retail partners and consumers. This positive outcome is a testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation. Our Home segment continues to operate in a difficult environment with the ongoing high inflation and interest rates affecting our consumers and the demand for new furniture. As a result, reduced earnings and cash flow projections forced us to record a noncash impairment loss of goodwill of $45.3 million in the quarter. Excluding this, our adjusted operating loss was similar to prior year second quarter. On a positive note, the Cosco Home product line of folding indoor furniture, step stools and utility products is growing year-over-year and sales to our brick-and-mortar retailers increased overall. We have also significantly reduced our operating expenses, and it remains a focus. We're excited about our new product listings and we remain committed to improving our operations, focusing on new product development and expanding our market presence. And now a look at our 2 segments. In Juvenile, we are returning to much better levels of profitability and are approaching where we expect to be. Our second quarter revenue was the highest since the second quarter of 2022. Adjusted operating profit approached $7 million and versus last year, improved by $15 million. This shows that the investments we are making in new product innovation are gaining traction, and this is evidenced by us gaining market share at our competitors' expense. Second quarter was fueled by a number of product introductions across the Juvenile segment. I would like to highlight the Kindred Collection by Maxi-Cosi, a high-end product line featuring a rotating car seat, a luxurious travel system and home equipment, including bassinets, which incorporate our unique AI-based cry detection technology, which allows parents to better understand the reason for their baby's cries. The detail to quality and fashion in this collection really created a lot of excitement with customers, and we were able to benchmark ourselves against the competition. Based on our perception as well as the feedback from customers, our product offering was the most compelling. Success in the specialty channel in the U.S. is a strategic priority and we are making significant inroads. This is a great growth opportunity for us. But of course, this does not mean that we are deemphasizing our more traditional channels, and the mass channel was the driver of our success in the first half. Worth mentioning is the recent rebrand of both Safety 1st and Cosco. Cosco now known as Cosco Kids. Those rebrands are working and we see it in our sales. We have 3 powerhouse brands in North America, each resonating with consumers at the opening, mid and high price points. In Europe, the momentum from our April customer event, where we introduced our new Maxi-Cosi Fame stroller, is continuing. Order levels exceeded expectations and a significant shipping will begin in the third quarter. During the quarter, we also received several accolades on other products in the portfolio. ADAC, Europe's largest automobile association and very influential reviewer of car seats, awarded us a 4-star overall rating on the Maxi-Cosi Pebble 360 Pro, the RodiFix Pro 2 and the Mica 360 Pro, which topped its category. In addition, Maxi-Cosi achieved the Red Dot '24 Design Award for 3 products. Red Dot, an international design competition for product and communication design, recognized the Mica 360 Pro Car Seat. And in addition, the Oxford Stroller and the See Pro Baby Monitor. They each received accolades for their sophisticated design, safety features and advanced technology, setting new industry standards. These ratings and awards for Maxi-Cosi highlights our commitment to safety, quality and innovation. Dorel Juvenile Brazil marked its 15th anniversary with a significant presence at the 7th Pueri Expo, Latin America's largest trade fair for premium juvenile products, where we unveiled over 60 new products. We won in 3 categories of the Pueri Trends Award for the Maxi-Cosi Pebble 360 Pro, the Infanti Mia Car Seat and the Maxi-Cosi See Pro 360 Baby Monitor. Dorel Juvenile Brazil is an important part of our business and is a key contributor to our overall profit, and I want to acknowledge their success and our gratitude to the team there on this major milestone. Overall, our product portfolio has never been healthier, and we are seeing consumer excitement for these new products across each of the divisions and our distributors -- and our distributor partners around the world. Now turning to Dorel Home. The furniture sector faces a challenging environment with interest and mortgage rates, coupled with fewer consumers relocating to new homes, suppressing demand in the Home segment. Increased promotional incentive offerings are continuing and lower sales volumes and production levels at our ready-to-assemble factories results in lower factory overhead absorption. Both of these factors continue to pressure margins in the short term. The brick-and-mortar channel is a bright spot of the growth of Dorel Home. The positive trend continues to be a strength and we have increased opportunities, which will lead to new placements in the balance of the year. In particular, Cosco Home and Office continued to be a significant contributor to the segment as the division's revenue and profits were up substantially. The segment continued to see results from its previously announced restructuring initiatives as selling, general and administrative expenses were reduced over the previous year by 15.9% or $2.4 million. Unfortunately, to reduce costs and match its operations to the reality of current demand, the Home segment continued its path to streamline operations. And on July 8, it was announced -- we announced the closure of the ready-to-assemble manufacturing facility in Tiffin, Ohio. Production of all RTA furniture will be done at our facility in Cornwall, Ontario. Equipment and customer orders have already started to transfer to Cornwall with the goal of having one, a highly efficient and profitable facility for domestic RTA furniture production. This decision was painful but necessary, and I want to thank all affected employees for their contributions to Dorel over the years. As I said at the end of the first quarter, we are working towards being a more streamlined efficient operation and remain confident that even with the diminished furniture industry, Dorel Home will be able to work within it and be profitable. The Dorel Juvenile segment is on track, and we still expect our second half results to improve versus the first half. The new product launches thus far this year will drive higher revenues in the back half, with the fourth quarter expected to be the strongest. While there is a risk of a slowing economy and we are facing higher supply chain costs, we believe we have the ability to offset these challenges and are confident that our strategic initiatives and focus on operational efficiencies will continue to drive growth and deliver value. Despite not seeing an industry improvement for Dorel Home, we are cautiously optimistic that we will deliver increased sales in the second half. This is based on our new product pipeline and the success we are seeing at brick-and-mortar. With our focus on cost reduction, we anticipate improving gross margins and a much improved second half versus the first and last year's comparative quarter. We continue to monitor the macro environment and we'll make additional operational improvements. We remain committed to delivering quality products and value to our customers. I will now ask Jeffrey to review the financials.

Thank you, Martin. For the second quarter of 2024, Dorel's revenue increased by $2.9 million or just under 1% compared to last year in the quarter. Organic revenue was approximately 1.7% after removing variations of foreign exchange rates. I do want to point out here that despite the general economy still being in inflationary times, our businesses are actually more in a deflationary times and have been for a while now, a couple of years since after COVID. We're seeing reduced selling prices as well as reduced costs. So that 1.7% is actually more meaningful than it seems. The revenue in organic or revenue improvements was in Dorel Juvenile, which was partially offset by the decline in Dorel Home. Dorel Juvenile, the revenue improvements were in the majority of markets, but most significantly in the United States, in Brazil and in Australia. In Dorel Home, the revenue and organic decline is mostly or pretty much explained by reduced online sales, which was almost entirely offset by an increase in brick-and-mortar channels. Gross profit for the second quarter increased by $5.9 million or almost 10%. Gross margin for the second quarter increased by 160 basis points, 19% versus 17.4% last year. The improvement was all in Dorel Juvenile, partially offset by a decline in Dorel Home. As Martin mentioned, the impairment loss on goodwill of $45.3 million was recognized in the quarter. The impairment loss was recorded. It was related to the Dorel Home division due to reduced earnings and cash flow projections in light of the general economic and financial conditions globally from the ongoing high inflationary environment and sustained high interest and mortgage rates. This continued to have a negative impact on the furniture industry and seems to be the case for the immediate future. For the second quarter, Dorel reported an operating loss of $49.3 million compared to $13 million last year. The improvement in the loss is mainly due to -- sorry, the increase in the loss was mainly due to the loss on goodwill, which was partially offset by the increase in gross profit dollars from the increase in gross margin and percentage of revenue and the overall lower expenses, operating expenses for the businesses. Excluding restructuring and the impairment loss, adjusted operating loss decreased by $9.6 million to $3.4 million from $13 million last year. Finance expenses increased by $3.5 million to $9.6 million during the quarter, mainly from higher debt balances as well as higher average interest rates. Overall, the loss for the second quarter was $59.5 million or $1.83 per share compared to $16.7 million or $0.51 last year. However, if you exclude the restructuring and impairment charges, the loss was $13.6 million or $0.42 per share compared to the $16.7 million or $0.51 per share from last year. If we look over to the Juvenile business, it continues to do well. The second quarter revenue increased by $4.7 million or 2.2%. Organic revenue improved by about 3.7%. The improvement, again, was mostly all over the place. However, the U.S., Brazil and Australia were the biggest contributors. In the U.S., the increase is pretty much across the board in all the brands and product categories. In Brazil, revenue improvement was both in the specialist channels and also in the e-commerce channels. And in Australia, we gained mostly from direct-to-consumer channel and other online sales. The gross profit in the second quarter increased by $6.7 million in Juvenile or 12.3% compared to last year. The gross margin was 28.5%, which was an improvement of 260 basis points over last year's 25.9%. The increase was driven by a combination of lower input costs, better product mixes and higher sales volume in the U.S. The operating profit was $6.3 million during the quarter compared to $800,000 last year. And then if we exclude the restructuring costs, adjusted operating profit improved by $6 million to $6.9 million versus the $800,000 last year. The increase in operating profit in the second quarter is mainly explained by an increase in gross profit dollars, which was partially offset by some higher operating expenses. Moving over to the Home segment. Revenue declined $1.8 million or 1.4%. The small decline in revenue in the second quarter was mainly explained by reduced online sales, which was almost entirely offset by increases sales in brick-and-mortar channels. The increase in the brick-and-mortar channels could be highlighted in areas like folding furniture, futons and step stools. Again, the current interest environment continues to constrain consumer spending related to home furnishing items and we're seeing it acutely in the online area. Gross profit for the second quarter decreased by $800,000, sorry, or 14.8% compared to last year's second quarter. The gross margin in the quarter was only 3.4%, representing a decline of 60 basis points from the 4% last year. However, it was a large decline from Q1. The decrease is mainly related to some promotional incentive offerings, some reduced online business that generates higher margins, but mostly because of the lower volume efficiencies and production levels at our factories. And as Martin mentioned, merging our 2 RTA factories into one we hope will have a material impact going forward in that area. And finally, the loss in the Home segment was $43.7 million for the quarter -- so the loss increased by $43.7 million to $53.6 million. Of course, that comes mostly from the impairment on the goodwill, which is noncash, and some lower gross profit partially offset by lower operating expenses. And with that, I'll pass it back to Martin.

Thank you, Jeffrey. Okay. With that, I now ask the operator to open the lines for questions and request that you limit them to 2 in the first round. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Derek Lessard with TD Cowen.

I just want to hit maybe on Juvenile. I think Martin, in your prepared remarks, you said that Juvenile is getting closer to where you want it to be. Can you just maybe put that into context in terms of sales level margins and maybe operating profit?

Yes. Interesting choice of words. I think what was meant by that statement was more like we're at where we want to be today, not where we're going. So basically, we're on plan for our internal plans for the year. That's kind of what the statement was supposed to say. I do see the other side of it, which means this is like as good as it gets. It isn't. We have significant plans to go forward to increase the net margins of the division as well as increasing the sales. We have a lot of new products that we talked about, was introduced but wasn't really -- isn't in the market as fast as we would like it. We have some, I'm going to call it, limited production on some of our new SKUs that are doing well and we're in the process of increasing that production so we can meet demand. So there's a lot of opportunities there. So I think that maybe if I rephrase it that way, it's not the same.

Yes. No, thanks for clearing that up. Jeffrey. That makes sense. And I guess maybe to your last point on, I guess, some backlog on the production of those new SKUs. Is that -- because your organic growth rate in Juvenile is still pretty solid but it is down from Q1. Is that part of the reason?

Yes. I mean we -- I mean that is part of the reason. We also had a pretty good, I think, second quarter in sales last year, if I'm not mistaken, in the U.S. But I mean, that's certainly -- I mean, we've introduced the new stroller. Martin talked about the Fame. And our demand is significantly outstripping our supply right now, which is obviously frustrating in this environment. But we are working on increasing production and getting the product to meet the demand. So yes, I mean, that would be partially some of it, but we do expect a better second half, even though we're happy. Better meaning, I think, more top line growth in the second half. But overall, this is second year in a row that we can say that our Juvenile numbers are coming in where we want them to be for the current year and we continue to have high expectations going forward.

The next question comes from Stephen MacLeod with BMO Capital Markets.

Just a couple of questions here. Just firstly, on the Home business. Can you talk about what your actual in-store versus e-commerce growth rates were in the quarter?

Yes. I mean we're mid-teens for growth in brick-and-mortar. And obviously, a decline of slightly more than that on the online area.

Okay. No, that's helpful. And then just along those lines. When you think about the brick-and-mortar business being up, are you still seeing that coming from inventory replenishment or are you seeing growth kind of more in line with what the POS trends are showing you?

If anything, I believe where replenishment is actually, I think, they're actually POS is outselling replenishment, if I'm not mistaken. So no, it is actually a couple of things going on here. One, the retailers are realizing that they could do well in store now and that there has been some shift, not a great shift, but a shift towards buying in store. We also are able to service -- I think this is the reason why we're winning so well, we have everything we need to service the retailers with the brick-and-mortar business. We have full customer service. We have the ability to bring any inventory. We have a lot. The ability to get large quantities of goods. Online is a lot more little players that bring in 100 pieces at a time or 500 pieces. And it's just a lot harder for us to be as good as we are in the Home -- in the brick-and-mortar side. And I think the retailers realize that. So I think that's why we're winning there, and it's a lot harder on the other side. So we're digging in deep and leaning into more opportunities in brick-and-mortar, and there are. And I think that's where we're aiming for going forward.

Okay. That's great. And then maybe just turning to the Juvenile business. I just wanted to clarify. I thought I heard you say that your back half improvement, is that just for sales or is that also for profitability?

Yes. I know the sales number is up. I know Q4 is always our best quarter. We're going to have all of our newest stuff at the time. I'm not ready to comment on -- yes, I'm not going to comment on the second half of it. It will be good. We don't have any -- there's no issues. I just don't want to like put out a number yet.

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Martin Schwartz for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you. I just want to thank everybody for joining us here this afternoon, and I wish you all a good weekend.

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.