Lifetime Brands, Inc. (LCUT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Lifetime Brands, Inc. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Jeffrey Siegel, Executive Chairman of the Board of Lifetime Brands, Inc. Mr. Siegel, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good morning. It's time to convene the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Lifetime Brands, Inc. I am Jeff Siegel, Executive Chairman of the Board of the company. I hereby call the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Stockholders to order. I would like to start by extending a warm welcome to you, our stockholders, and to all guests, and thank you for your attendance today. At today's -- today's meeting is the company's second virtual-only Annual Stockholders' Meeting and is a live audio webcast. Due to the information and guidance currently available surrounding the coronavirus, the company has made the decision that this year's annual meeting will be virtual only. We believe in engaging with our stockholders, and we hope that this virtual meeting will maximize the participation of stockholders regardless of the location. I call your attention to the rules of conduct set forth for this meeting. These are being made available to each stockholder in the file section in the lower left of the screen. I would like to introduce you to the other directors of the company. They are: Robert Kay. Robert Kay is the Chief Executive Officer of the company; Rachael Jarosh, Rachael Jarosh is President and CEO of Enactus, a nonprofit organization; John Koegel, John Koegel is a principal of Jo-Tan, LLC, a retail consulting company; Cherrie Nanninga, Cherry Nanninga is a consultant for RESGroup and was the Chief Operating Officer of the New York Tri-State Region of CB Richard Ellis, Inc., a commercial real estate firm; Craig Phillips, Craig Phillips was Senior Vice President Distribution of the company; Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, Veronique Gabai-Pinsky was Global President of the Vera Wang Group; Bruce Pollack, Bruce Pollack is a managing partner of Centre Partners Management, LLC; Michael Regan, Michael Regan was a partner of KPMG LLP; Michael Schnabel, Michael Schnabel is a partner of Centre Partners Management, LLC. I would now like to introduce you to Daniel Siegel, President of the company; Larry Winoker, Larry is Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer of the company and our Chief Financial Officer; [ Roger Sabo, ] Roger is a partner of Ernst & Young LLP, the company's independent registered public accounting firm. Finally, I would like to introduce Sara Shindel, the company's General Counsel and Secretary. I have before me an affidavit of Computershare, our transfer agent, stating that a copy of the notice of Internet availability of proxy materials was mailed on or about May 5, 2021, to each stockholder of record as of the close of business on April 27, 2021, the record date for this meeting. The affidavit to which are attached copies of the notice and proxy statements will be appended to the minutes of the meeting. A list of the stockholders of record entitled to vote at this meeting is available for inspection. David Cohn, a Senior Relationship Manager of Computershare, has been appointed to act as inspector of election at this meeting. He is neither an officer or director of the company. His subscribed oath to faithfully execute his duty as inspector of election has been submitted and will be appended to the minutes. The inspector of election has polled the stockholders present and has examined the proxies. His report of stockholders present or represented by proxy at this meeting has been submitted and indicates that holders of shares of common stock in excess of the number necessary to constitute a quorum are present or represented by proxy. His report will be appended to the minutes. We will now vote on 3 items which were set forth in the notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and proxy statement to elect -- one, to elect 10 directors to the Board of Directors of the company; two, to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for 2021; and three, to approve on a nonbinding advisory basis, the compensation of the company's named executive officers. If you have not voted or wish to change your vote, you may do so now by clicking on the cast your vote link. Any stockholder who has already voted and does not want to change their vote, need not take any further action. Please reserve any questions until the appropriate question period. There will be a general Q&A portion of the meeting, which will be -- will take place after the formal matters are addressed. The first item of business to properly come before the meeting is the election of as directors of the 10 nominees named in the company's proxy statement to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified or until their earlier resignation or removal. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends the following 10 nominees for election as directors: Jeffrey Siegel; Robert B. Kay; Rachael A. Jarosh; John Koegel; Cherrie Nanninga; Craig Phillips; Veronique Gabai-Pinsky; Bruce G. Pollack; Michael J. Regan and Michael Schnabel. The names of each of the aforementioned nominees shall be deemed duly placed in nomination. These 10 individuals are the only persons who have been nominated for election as directors, Executive Chairman, Jeff. The second in of business to be properly come before the meeting is the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. The third item of business to properly come before the meeting is the approval on a nonbinding advisory basis of the compensation of the named executive officers. The Board of Directors unanimously recommend a vote for this proposal. All agenda items are deemed duly placed before the meeting. We will now give the inspector of election a moment to record the votes. [Voting]

Now that all of the ballots have been collected, I declare that the polls are now closed. While we are waiting for the report of the inspector of elections, we can move to the informal question-and-answer portion of the meeting. [Operator Instructions] There are no questions. I have before me the report of the Inspector of Election. The report shows that the votes representing, one, a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast for the election of each of Jeffrey Siegel, Robert B. Kay, Rachael A. Jarosh, John Koegel, Cherrie Nanninga, Craig Phillips, Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, Bruce G. Pollack, Michael J. Regan and Michael Schnabel as directors. Two, a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast in the favor of the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. Three, a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast in favor of the compensation of the named executive officers. Accordingly, I hereby declare that, one, the nominees of the Board of Directors have been duly elected as directors of the company to hold office until the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified or until earlier resignation or removal; two, the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent auditors of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021, has been ratified; three, the compensation of the company's named executive officers has been approved on a nonbinding advisory basis. Pursuant to SEC rules, the official results of the meeting will be published by the company within 4 business days of this meeting. There being no further business to come before the meeting, I hereby declare that the meeting is adjourned.

This concludes the meeting, and you may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.