JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. (JELD) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

My name is Matt Ross, and I am the Chairman of the Board. I would like to welcome you to the 2021 Annual Meeting of the stockholders of JELD-WEN Holding, Inc., which we are hosting in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy. I would like to begin by introducing the current members of the company's Board of Directors. Rod Wendt, Vice Chairman; Bill Banholzer; Stormy Byorum; Greg Maxwell, Chair of the Audit Committee; Gary Michel, President and CEO; Anthony Munk; Suzanne Stefany, Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee; Bruce Taten, Chair of the Compensation Committee; and Steve Wynne. Ms. Byorum will be retiring at the end of this meeting, and we would like to thank her for her commitment to the success of the company during her tenure as a Board member. In addition, I would like to introduce Tracey Joubert, Cynt Marshall and Dave Nord, our 3 Director nominees, who, if elected, will be new additions to the Board. I will now turn the meeting over to Gary Michel, our President and CEO, who will serve as the chair for the annual meeting.

Thank you, Matt, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today at our virtual meeting. In addition to our Board of Directors, we also have members of the company's executive leadership team with us, along with our PwC audit partner, Mike Kuhn, who has worked on the audit of the company's financial statements for 2020. After adjournment of the meeting, we will be glad to answer any questions you may have about JELD-WEN and PwC will be available to answer any questions on the company's financial statements. An agenda that outlines the order of business for the meeting and rules of conduct are available on the virtual meeting platform. To conduct an orderly meeting, we ask that participants abide by these rules. The meeting will take place as described in the agenda. If you wish to make a statement or comment on any of the proposals as presented, please submit your comments through the virtual meeting platform during the meeting, and we will address your comments and questions after our prepared remarks. You may vote on the matters to be presented through the virtual meeting platform when the polls open. James Hayes, our Corporate Secretary, will serve as Secretary of the meeting and record the proceedings. He has received an affidavit of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., as to the mailing of the notice of the meeting which states that on or about March 18, 2021, notice of the meeting and notice of the Internet availability of proxy materials was mailed to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 1, 2021, the record date for this meeting. This Affidavit will be filed with the minutes of this meeting. I hereby appoint Ray Dunn of American Election Services, LLC as Inspector of Election for the meeting. He has signed an oath to act as inspector, and this oath will be filed with the minutes of this meeting. The inspector has the stockholder list of the company as of the close of business on the record date for the meeting, which shows stockholders and their respective number of shares entitled to vote at this meeting. This list is currently available on the virtual meeting platform, if any stockholder wishes to examine it, and it will be filed with the minutes of this meeting. Mr. Hayes has advised that a quorum is present at the meeting. So I declare the meeting duly and lawfully convened. The meeting is now open and ready for business. We will go through each item of business and then open the polls for voting. The first item of business is the election of 9 directors to our Board. As reflected in our proxy statement, the candidates who have been nominated to serve until the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are Tracey I Joubert, Cynthia Marshall, Gary S. Michel, Anthony Munk, David G Nord, Suzanne L. Stefany, Bruce M. Taten, Roderick C. Wendt, and Steven E. Wynne. In accordance with the bylaws of the company, stockholders are required to provide advanced notice of their intent to nominate candidates for directors. No such notice was received. Therefore, I declare the nominations for directors closed. The Board recommends that you vote for each of our 9 director nominees. The second item of business is to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers. This proposal is a nonbinding advisory vote. The company's executive compensation is discussed in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of the proxy statement that was made available to you and also posted on the company's website and this virtual meeting platform. The Board recommends that you vote for on an advisory basis, our say-on-pay proposal. The third item of business is to ratify the appointment of PwC as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2021. The appointment of PwC is discussed in our proxy statement. The Board recommends that you vote for the ratification of PwC as the company's independent auditor for 2021. I now declare the polls open to vote on the 3 proposals before the meeting. Any stockholders desiring to vote during the virtual meeting should do so at this time. Please note that there is no need for you to vote again if you have already returned your proxy and do not wish to change your vote. [Voting]

I now declare the polls closed on these proposals. The preliminary tabulation report indicates that all 3 proposals have been approved by the required votes cast. The final voting results will be reported by the company on a Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 4 business days of this meeting. I hereby request that the final report of the Inspector of Election be filed with the minutes of this meeting. This completes the formal business to be conducted at this meeting. If there is no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting is now adjourned. I would now like to provide a brief business update. In 2020, despite the pandemic and other unique headwinds, we delivered strong financial performance through strength in residential new construction and repair and remodel markets, disciplined deployment of our operating system, the JELD-WEN excellence model and the strategies we set out to expand our capabilities to serve our customers and deliver shareholder returns. We advanced our strategy and delivered results while navigating unprecedented challenges, including the effects of the global pandemic. With safety at the forefront, we kept a relentless focus on delivering for our customers and shareholders. Deemed an essential business in the markets we serve, we swiftly adapted our operations to protect the health and safety of our associates and value partners while still serving customers. Progress in our strategic growth drivers was the result of the JEM commercial excellence work. Customer and channel segmentation, innovation and expanded distribution of JELD-WEN products and services across geographies and channels resulted in market share gain and margin expansion. Our performance has been and will be based on continuing to deliver margin expansion and growth through our disciplined deployment of JEM, the execution of the rationalization and modernization programs and the benefits of commercial excellence, including innovation, segmentation and price realization. We are on a good trajectory, and we look forward to announcing first quarter earnings tomorrow. We're also hosting our first Investor Day on May 18, where we'll discuss further our multifaceted growth strategy and our commitment to continued revenue growth, margin expansion, disciplined capital management and shareholder value. The strong results we're delivering are a direct result of the strategic work, persistence and tenacity of the talented people at JELD-WEN. Their commitment to our customers and communities where we live, work and serve, exemplify the unique culture we are building as we transform JELD-WEN to become a premier building products company. On behalf of other directors, officers and associates of JELD-WEN, I would like to thank you for attending our 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. We appreciate your continued support of JELD-WEN.