La-Z-Boy Reports Fiscal 2024 Second Quarter Results

• La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® network written same-store sales increased 1%
• GAAP diluted EPS of $0.63; Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.74
• Year to date operating cash flow of $57 million, 84% above year ago period
• Dividend increased 10% over the prior dividend to $0.20 per share

MONROE, Mich., Nov. 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB), a global leader in the manufacture and retail of residential furniture, today reported second quarter results for the period ended October 28, 2023. Sales totaled $511 million, on the high end of guidance provided last quarter and a decrease of 16% against a year ago period that benefited from delivery of pandemic related backlog. Written same-store sales for the entire La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® network increased 1% versus a year ago, with company-owned written same-store sales essentially flat against a challenged consumer environment. Operating margin was 6.6% in the quarter on a GAAP basis and 7.9% on a Non-GAAP basis, which exceeded previously provided guidance. Earnings per diluted share totaled $0.63 on a GAAP basis and $0.74 on a Non-GAAP basis.

Melinda D. Whittington, President and Chief Executive Officer of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, said, "In spite of a challenging macro environment and the continued soft home furniture industry, La-Z-Boy Incorporated continues to outperform. These results were achieved via strong execution, particularly in our retail stores and across our supply chain. We continue to make progress on our Century Vision strategy, highlighted by growth in our company-owned Retail store base, which now represents just over half of our entire network. Building on that foundation, we recently signed an agreement to acquire an additional six store network from an independent La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® dealer in the Midwest."

Whittington added, "We are excited about the potential of our new brand campaign, "Long Live the Lazy," which was introduced in August. In the quarter, we activated our new marketing strategy, leveraging data based consumer insights and our brand heritage of comfort and quality to connect with a broader consumer base. Despite weakness in near-term industry traffic trends, we continue to take a long-term approach to investing in our business and are making steady progress toward building a more agile supply chain and optimizing our network. Although consumer traffic trends remain a headwind, La-Z-Boy remains well positioned to continue outperforming the industry due to our iconic brand, consumer preferred shopping experience, and long-term approach to investing in our business, enabled by the strength of our balance sheet. We are confident in our ability to grow at a pace double the industry and deliver double-digit operating margins over the long term."

Third Quarter Outlook:
Bob Lucian, Chief Financial Officer of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, said, "Our second quarter results were roughly in line with the top end of sales guidance, and exceeded Non-GAAP operating margin⁽²⁾ expectations given strong execution, particularly in our Retail business. Looking forward, we expect consumer trends for our industry to remain challenging. With this in mind, we are prudently planning for sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 to be relatively consistent with the second quarter. Further, we expect third quarter Non-GAAP operating margin⁽¹⁾ to be similar to the first half of the year. As such, we are forecasting fiscal third quarter sales to be in the range of $515-535 million and Non-GAAP operating margin⁽¹⁾ to be in the range of 7-8%."

Key Results:

Liquidity Measures:

FY24 Q2 Results vs. FY23 Q2:
Consolidated Results:

• Consolidated sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2024 decreased 16% to $511 million, primarily reflecting lower delivered unit volume versus last year's results that included delivery of backlog but increased 14% versus the most recent pre-pandemic second quarter in fiscal year 2020
• La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® network written same-store sales increased 1%
• Consolidated GAAP operating margin was 6.6% versus 10.1%
  • Consolidated Non-GAAP operating margin decreased 210 basis points to 7.9% versus 10.0%, driven primarily by fixed cost deleverage
• GAAP diluted EPS decreased to $0.63 from $1.07 and Non-GAAP diluted EPS decreased to $0.74 from $1.05
   

Retail Segment:

• Sales:
  • Written sales for the Retail segment (company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® stores) increased 3% driven primarily by acquired stores
    • Written same-store sales for the Retail segment were essentially flat
  • Delivered sales for the Retail segment decreased 15% to $214 million versus last year's sales, which included delivery of pandemic related backlog, but increased 44% versus the most recent pre-pandemic second quarter in fiscal year 2020
• Operating Margin:
  • Non-GAAP⁽²⁾ operating margin and operating income was 13.0% and $28 million, respectively, down 350 basis points and 33%, respectively, primarily driven by fixed cost deleverage

Wholesale Segment:

• Sales:
  • Decreased 18% to $365 million driven primarily by a decline in delivered volume versus the year ago period, which benefited from pandemic backlog production and deliveries
• Operating Margin:
  • Non-GAAP⁽²⁾ operating margin decreased to 7.7%, down 90 basis points; gross margin improvement from lower raw material cost and duty expense was more than offset by fixed cost deleverage and increased marketing investments to support the launch of our "Long Live the Lazy" brand campaign

Corporate & Other:

• Joybird written sales increased 5% and delivered sales decreased 15% to $32 million, reflecting sequential improvement in both metrics. E-commerce trends remain challenging following the broad industry slowdown, which began in prior year's second quarter.
   

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow, Second Quarter Fiscal 2024:

• Ended the second quarter with $333 million in cash⁽³⁾ and no external debt
• Generated $31 million in cash from operating activities versus a use of $2 million in the second quarter of last fiscal year. Year to date, cash flow from operations was $57 million, up 84% from last year's comparable period
• Invested $13 million in capital expenditures, primarily related to La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® (new stores and remodels), and projects at our manufacturing and distribution facilities
• Returned $18 million to shareholders, including $10 million in share repurchases and $8 million in dividends

Dividend:
On November 29, 2023, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share on the common stock of the company, a 10% increase over the previous dividend. The dividend will be paid on December 18, 2023, to shareholders of record on December 11, 2023.

Conference Call:
La-Z-Boy will hold a conference call with the investment community on Thursday, November 30, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The toll-free dial-in number is (888) 506-0062; international callers may use (973) 528-0011. Enter Participant Access Code 126177.

The call will be webcast live, with corresponding slides, and archived on the Internet. It will be available at https://lazboy.gcs-web.com/. A telephone replay will be available for a week following the call. This replay will be accessible to callers from the U.S. and Canada at (877) 481-4010 and to international callers at (919) 882-2331. Enter Replay Passcode: 48910. The webcast replay will be available for one year.

Investor Relations Contact:
Mark Becks, CFA, (734) 457-9538
mark.becks@la-z-boy.com

About La-Z-Boy:
La-Z-Boy Incorporated is a global leader in the manufacture and retail of residential furniture, marketing furniture for every room of the home. The Wholesale segment includes La-Z-Boy, England, American Drew^®, Hammary^®, Kincaid^® and the company's international wholesale and manufacturing businesses. The company-owned Retail segment includes 177 of the 353 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® stores. The Corporate and Other segment includes Joybird, an e-commerce retailer and manufacturer of upholstered furniture that also has 11 stores in the U.S.

The corporation’s branded distribution network is dedicated to selling La-Z-Boy Incorporated products and brands, and includes 353 stand-alone La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® stores and 521 independent Comfort Studio^® locations, in addition to in-store gallery programs for the company’s Kincaid and England operating units. Additional information is available at https://www.la-z-boy.com/.

Notes:
⁽¹⁾This reference to Non-GAAP operating margin for a future period is a Non-GAAP financial measure. We have not provided a reconciliation of Non-GAAP operating margin for future periods in this press release because such reconciliation cannot be provided without unreasonable efforts.

⁽²⁾Non-GAAP amounts for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 exclude:

• a charge of $6.6 million pre-tax, or $0.11 per diluted share, related to our supply chain optimization actions
• purchase accounting charges related to acquisitions completed in prior periods totaling $0.3 million pre-tax, or less than $0.01 per diluted share, all included in operating income

Non-GAAP amounts for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 exclude:

• purchase accounting benefit related to acquisitions completed in prior periods totaling $0.4 million pre-tax, or $0.01 per diluted share, primarily due to the write-off of the Joybird contingent consideration liability, based on forecasted future performance with $0.4 million included in operating income and less than $0.1 million included in interest expense
• a benefit of $0.3 million pre-tax, or $0.01 per diluted share, related to our business realignment plan, including costs associated with the closure of our Newton, Mississippi manufacturing facility

Please refer to the accompanying “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for detailed information on calculating the Non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

⁽³⁾Cash includes cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Generally, forward-looking statements include information concerning expectations, projections or trends relating to our results of operations, financial results, financial condition, strategic initiatives and plans, expenses, dividends, share repurchases, liquidity, use of cash and cash requirements, borrowing capacity, investments, future economic performance, and our business and industry.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on certain assumptions and currently available information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are unforeseeable and beyond our control. Additional risks and uncertainties that we do not presently know about or that we currently consider to be immaterial may also affect our business operations and financial results. Our actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in our fiscal 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other factors identified in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not rely on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. We are including this cautionary note to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or for any other reason.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), this press release also includes Non-GAAP financial measures. Management uses these Non-GAAP financial measures when assessing our ongoing performance. This press release contains references to Non-GAAP operating income, Non-GAAP operating margin, and Non-GAAP net income attributable to La-Z-Boy Incorporated per diluted share, Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (and components thereof, including Non-GAAP income before income taxes and Non-GAAP net income attributable to La-Z-Boy Incorporated), which may exclude, as applicable, business realignment charges, supply chain optimization charges, and purchase accounting charges. The business realignment charges include severance costs, asset impairment costs, and costs to relocate equipment and inventory related to organizational changes we undertook as a result of our response to COVID-19, including a reduction in the company's work force, temporary closure of certain manufacturing facilities and subsequent gains resulting from the sale of related assets. The supply chain optimization charges may include asset impairment costs, accelerated depreciation expense, lease termination gains, severance costs, and employee relocation costs resulting from the closure, consolidation, and centralization of various global supply chain operations and includes the closure of our Torreón manufacturing facility (previously disclosed as Mexico optimization). The purchase accounting charges may include the amortization of intangible assets and fair value adjustments of future cash payments recorded as interest expense. These Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered superior to or a substitute for La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s results of operations prepared in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Reconciliations of such Non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are set forth in the accompanying tables.

Management believes that presenting certain Non-GAAP financial measures will help investors understand the long-term profitability trends of our business and compare our profitability to prior and future periods and to our peers. Management excludes purchase accounting charges because the amount and timing of such charges are significantly impacted by the timing, size, number and nature of the acquisitions consummated and the success with which we operate the businesses acquired. While the company has a history of acquisition activity, it does not acquire businesses on a predictable cycle, and the impact of purchase accounting charges is unique to each acquisition and can vary significantly from acquisition to acquisition. Similarly, business realignment charges and supply chain optimization charges are dependent on the timing, size, number and nature of the operations being closed, consolidated or centralized, and the charges may not be incurred on a predictable cycle. Management believes that exclusion of these items facilitates more consistent comparisons of the company’s operating results over time. Where applicable, the accompanying “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” tables present the excluded items net of tax calculated using the effective tax rate from operations for the period in which the adjustment is presented.

Source: La-Z-Boy Incorporated