Tandy Leather Factory Reports Q4 and FY 2017 Financial Results

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLF) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2017.  A conference call will be conducted by senior management at 10:00 am Eastern Time on March 8, 2018.  Dial-in details have been provided previously.

• Q4’17 net sales increased 1.7% to $24.5 million, compared to prior year’s $24.1 million.  North America reported SSS decline of 0.8% and International reported SSS decline of 8.0%.  New and newly re-opened stores added $0.7 million of sales. 
• Q4’17 gross profit margin improved to 62.4% compared to prior year’s 60.2%.
• Q4’17 operating income was approximately $3,199,000 and diluted EPS was $0.18.
• FY’17 net sales decreased 0.7% to $82.3 million, compared to prior year’s $82.9 million.  North America reported SSS decline of 2.3% and International reported SSS decline of 3.3%.  New and newly re-opened stores added $1.3 million of sales.
• FY’17 gross profit margin improved to 63.3% compared to prior year’s 62.4%.
• FY’17 operating income was approximately $7,242,000 and diluted EPS was $0.48.
• Excluding impact of tax reform, results would have been at the top end of the prior guidance range.

“After a challenging first nine months of 2017, we were pleased with the positive fourth quarter finish to the year,” commented Shannon Greene, Chief Executive Officer.  “We believe the foundation we’ve been laying with our new store growth strategy and district manager program are starting to make a difference.  In addition, the investments in our expanded product line have been well received by our customers, as were our extended holiday shopping hours.  Overall, the improvement in gross profit margin continues to shift higher as we sell more to our retail customers, while our operating expenses were in line with expectations.” 

Consolidated net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2017 was $1.7 million compared to $2.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, a decrease of 19%.  Fully diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) for the fourth quarter of 2017 were $0.18, compared to $0.23 in last year’s fourth quarter.  Excluding the $341,000 charge for tax reform, our fourth quarter 2017 EPS would have been $0.22.  Consolidated net income for full year 2017 decreased to $4.5 million or EPS of $0.48 versus $6.4 million or $0.69 in the comparable period last year.

Sales from the North America segment, consisting of all stores in the US and Canada, increased $490,000 in the fourth quarter, up 2.1% from last year's fourth quarter sales.  For the year ended December 31, 2017, North America’s sales decreased $474,000 or 0.6% from prior year. Our International segment consisting of four stores outside of North America, added sales of $1,014,000 for the quarter compared to last year’s fourth quarter sales of $1,102,000, a decrease of 8.0%. For the full year 2017, International sales, totaling $3.8 million, were down 3.3%, or $129,000, over the same period last year.    

Consolidated gross profit margin for the current quarter was 62.4%, compared to 60.2% for the fourth quarter of 2016.  For the full year 2017, consolidated gross profit margin was 63.3%, improving from last year's gross profit margin of 62.4%.  Consolidated operating expenses increased approximately 10.4% or $1,137,000 for the quarter, and 8.4% or $3,459,000 for the year, compared to the same periods in 2016.   For the full year 2017, significant increases in operating expenses relate to $1.3 million in personnel, selling, occupancy, and start-up costs for the seven new stores that have opened/reopened since October 2016, $1.1 million in personnel and travel costs related to the new district manager structure that began in early 2017, $0.2 million of higher base pay for our store managers, with the remaining increase related to increases in credit card processing fees, occupancy costs across our store footprint, new marketing initiatives, and home office wages.

Included in fourth quarter 2017’s results was a $341,000 charge for tax reform, primarily due to $805,000 of transition and withholding tax on the deemed repatriation of certain foreign earnings, offset by a $464,000 benefit from remeasuring our deferred tax position at the new corporate lower income tax rate.  This charge has been based on reasonable estimates and our current interpretation of the new tax reform but could change as new guidance is issued by regulators and as we finalize the underlying tax calculations. 

Tina Castillo, Chief Financial Officer, commented, “Even though we took a hit from the new tax law in 2017, we believe, based on our current understanding of the tax law, we are better positioned for the future in the form of an overall lower effective tax rate.  We are still evaluating the impact of the new taxes on certain foreign sourced income, as well as the impact of eliminating the domestic manufacturing deduction and limitations on certain business deductions which take effect on January 1, 2018.  From a cash perspective, we can opportunistically bring back accumulated cash from overseas, without further tax consequences, to strengthen our domestic cash position.”

At December 31, 2017, inventory equaled $37.3 million, with an average inventory per store of $176,000 (excluding inventory at our home office manufacturing and distribution center and in-transit inventory).  Since December 31, 2016, inventory has increased $4.1 million as we invested in new stores and expanded our product line to support new marketing and merchandising initiatives. 

Financial Outlook

The following statements are based on TLF's current expectations as of March 7, 2018.  These statements are forward-looking statements and should be read in conjunction with the cautionary information about these statements that appears below.

Estimated consolidated net sales for 2018 will be in the range of $82-84 million.  EPS for 2018 are expected to be in the range of $0.63 to $0.68.  Average shares outstanding, both basic and diluted, in 2018 are estimated to be approximately 9.3 million.  The Company assumes an effective tax rate for the year of 21%.

Ms. Greene added, “Our 2018 top line forecast includes a flat-to-2% same store sales improvement, along with the addition of two more stores.  Our bottom line forecast assumes a flat-to-slight decrease in our gross profit margin as we increase our efforts to grow sales to our business customers and add higher ticket, but lower margin products to further expand our product line-up.  From an opex standpoint, we expect a slight decrease in overall dollars spent as we make changes to our advertising and marketing spend and other home office costs.  Looking at our inventory levels, we do expect that there will be continued investment as we expand our merchandising for higher ticket products.” 

TLF’s long term strategy to drive sustainable growth in traffic and sales and achieve fiscal year 2020 financial targets of $87 - 90 million in net sales and greater than 10% operating income margins include the following key priorities:

• Grow sales by increasing the average ticket, expanding store hours and providing more incentive-based compensation to associates;
• Improve our stores’ financial performance with an initial focus on correcting underperforming stores;
• Upgrade our technology platform to provide more insightful data and analytics;
• Attract, motivate and retain associates through a pay for performance culture and enhanced training;
• Focus on product innovation including new classes and formats, as well as adding higher ticket products;
• Maximize channels, including print, digital and e-commerce to attract new customers while retaining our established customers; and
• Evaluate the District Manager program’s effectiveness to improve the overall return on investment.

Conference Call Information

A conference call will be conducted by senior management at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on March 8, 2018, and will be accessible to the public by calling 877-312-5524 or 253-237-1144.  Callers should dial in approximately 5 minutes before the call begins. A conference call replay will be available through 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on March 13, 2018 and can be accessed by calling 855-859-2056 or 404-537-3406.  For both, reference conference ID number 5879805.  This call will be webcast and can be accessed at the company’s web site at www.tandyleather.com.   

Tandy Leather Factory, Inc., (http://www.tandyleather.com), headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a specialty retailer of a broad product line including leather, leatherworking tools, buckles and adornments for belts, leather dyes and finishes, saddle and tack hardware, and do-it-yourself kits. The Company distributes its products through its 115 North American stores located in 42 US states and 7 Canadian provinces, and four International stores located in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain.  Its common stock trades on the Nasdaq with the symbol "TLF".  To be included on Tandy Leather Factory’s email distribution list, go to http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1625&to=ea&s=0.

Contact:

Tina Castillo, Tandy Leather Factory, Inc.
(817) 872-3200 or tcastillo@tandyleather.com

Mark Gilbert, Magellan Fin, LLC
(317) 867-2839 or MGilbert@MagellanFin.com

This news release may contain statements regarding future events, occurrences, circumstances, activities, performance, outcomes and results that are considered “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results and events may differ from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: changes in general economic conditions, negative trends in general consumer-spending levels, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of opening retail stores; availability of hides and leathers and resultant price fluctuations; change in customer preferences for our product, and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Selected financial data (UNAUDITED):

International – there were no new stores or closed stores for the three and twelve-months ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, so total sales are equal to same store sales.

* We operate in two segments:  North America and International.  Prior to January 1, 2017, we operated in three segments:  Wholesale, Retail and International.  To better reflect how management analyzes the business and allocates resources, we combined Wholesale and Retail into North America effective January 1, 2017, while International remains the same. All prior year data discussed throughout this press release has been restated to conform to the new reporting segment structure.  There is no change to our consolidated financial position or results.

TANDY LEATHER FACTORY, INC.
(UNAUDITED)
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

TANDY LEATHER FACTORY, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
(UNAUDITED)
FOR THE THREE AND TWELVE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31,

TANDY LEATHER FACTORY, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(UNAUDITED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,