Havertys Reports Earnings for Third Quarter 2019


ATLANTA, Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HAVERTYS (NYSE: HVT and HVT.A) reports earnings per share of $0.31 for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019 compared to $0.39 for the same period of 2018. The earnings per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is $0.77 compared to $0.98 for the same period in 2018.

Clarence H. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “The third quarter continued to challenge our teams with product flow disruption and merchandise pricing. Our vendors are working closely with us to ensure that our supply chain information is timely as manufacturing locales shift. The changes in costs have tested our retail pricing strategies and pressured gross profit margins. 

Our written business for the third quarter was positive compared to last year’s third quarter and we continue to generate good cash flow. The low interest rate and unemployment environment and recent uptick in housing are positive indicators for future home furnishings sales. We believe our focus on merchandising, stores, and operational plans will enable us to profitably grow our business in the future.”

Financial Highlights

Third Quarter 2019 Compared to Third Quarter 2018

  • Net sales decreased 0.6% to $209.3 million. Comparable store sales decreased 0.4%. 
  • Total written sales for the third quarter of 2019 were up 1.6% and written comparable store sales rose 1.5%. 
  • Average written ticket increased 4.7% and custom upholstery business was up 13.9%. 
  • Gross profit margins fell 130 basis points to 53.5% in 2019 versus 54.8% in 2018. Most of the decline is due to merchandise pricing and mix as we used slightly more aggressive promotions and incurred higher product and freight costs.
  • SG&A costs increased $1.0 million and as a percent of sales increased 80 basis points to 49.8% from 49.0%. Fixed and discretionary expenses were up approximately $0.5 million primarily from higher employee benefits costs and additional costs for two new locations. Variable expenses were 18.2% as a percent of sales in 2019 compared to 17.9% in 2018. This increase is due in part to higher third‑party credit costs.
  • We repurchased 83,348 shares of common stock for $1.5 million during the third quarter of 2019.
  • We adopted the new lease accounting standard on January 1, 2019 which significantly impacted our balance sheet. See the notes after the following financial statements.

Nine Months ended September 30, 2019 Compared to Same Period of 2018

  • Net sales decreased 3.3% to $588.5 million. Comparable store sales decreased 2.4%. 
  • Average ticket increased 5.7% and custom upholstery business rose 10.0%. 
  • Gross profit margins were 54.2% compared to 54.6%.
  • SG&A costs as a percent of sales was 50.8% in 2019 and 49.8% in 2018. Total SG&A dollars decreased $4.1 million. Fixed and discretionary expenses were $190.4 million in 2019 versus $191.2 million in 2018. The variable type costs were 18.4% of sales in 2019 and 2018.

Expectations and Other

  • We expect that gross profit margins for the full year 2019 will be approximately 54.1%.
  • Our estimate for fixed and discretionary type SG&A expenses for 2019 is in the $257.0 to $258.0 million range, compared to $254.9 million for these same costs in 2018. The variable type costs within SG&A for the full year of 2019 are expected to be 18.4% compared to 18.3% in 2018.
  • We expect selling square footage will increase approximately 1.4% in 2019. We opened a location in a new market in St. Louis, MO in August, an additional store in the Atlanta market in Newnan, GA in September, and will complete a store relocation in Baton Rouge, LA in November. Total capital expenditures are estimated to be approximately $18.5 million in 2019.
  • We have approximately $16.9 million remaining in current board authorization for common stock repurchases.
  
HAVERTY FURNITURE COMPANIES, INC. 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME  
(in thousands, except per share data – Unaudited) 
  
  Three Months Ended
September 30,
 Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2019 2018 2019 2018 
              
Net sales  $209,320  $210,547  $588,455  $608,765 
Cost of goods sold  97,301  95,175  269,796  276,689 
 Gross profit  112,019  115,372  318,659  332,076 
Credit service charges  19  24  60  81 
 Gross profit and other revenue  112,038  115,396  318,719  332,157 
              
Expenses:             
 Selling, general and administrative  104,161  103,185  298,824  302,942 
 Provision for doubtful accounts  42  34  66  58 
 Other (income) expense, net  (42) 713  (323) (98)
  Total expenses  104,161  103,932  298,567  302,902 
              
Income before interest and income taxes  7,877  11,464  20,152  29,255 
Interest (income) expense, net  (292) 260  (980) 1,184 
               
Income before income taxes  8,169  11,204  21,132  28,071 
Income tax expense  2,072  2,852  5,367  7,192 
 Net income  $6,097  $8,352  $15,765  $20,879 
              
Diluted earnings per share:             
 Common Stock  $0.31  $0.39  $0.77  $0.98 
 Class A Common Stock  $0.30  $0.38  $0.73  $0.94 
              
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding:             
 Common Stock  19,893  21,230  20,444  21,408 
 Class A Common Stock  1,536  1,765  1,637  1,766 
              
Cash dividends per share:             
 Common Stock  $0.20  $0.18  $0.56  $0.54 
 Class A Common Stock  $0.19  $0.17  $0.53  $0.51 


  
HAVERTY FURNITURE COMPANIES, INC. 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS  
(in thousands - Unaudited) 
  
  September 30,
2019
 December 31,
2018
 September 30,
2018
 
  (Unaudited)   (Unaudited) 
ASSETS        
Current assets          
 Cash and cash equivalents  $89,528  $71,537  $96,269 
 Restricted cash and cash equivalents  6,632  8,272  8,226 
 Accounts receivable, net  1,570  1,833  1,827 
 Inventories  99,958  105,840  108,344 
 Prepaid expenses  10,476  8,106  9,818 
 Other current assets  6,449  6,262  6,291 
  Total current assets  214,613  201,850  230,775 
           
Accounts receivable, long-term, net  204  226  227 
Property and equipment, net  158,087  216,852  220,286 
Right of-use lease assets  183,524     
Deferred income taxes  12,202  12,544  12,896 
Other assets  9,873  8,707  9,400 
  Total assets  $578,503  $440,179  $473,584 
           
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY          
Current liabilities          
 Accounts payable  $27,495  $19,840  $24,926 
 Customer deposits  34,852  24,465  30,541 
 Accrued liabilities  41,163  39,903  41,713 
 Current lease liabilities  29,283     
 Current portion of lease obligations    4,018  3,938 
  Total current liabilities  132,793  88,226  101,118 
           
Noncurrent lease liabilities  155,046     
Lease obligations, less current portion    46,785  47,829 
Other liabilities  21,942  30,539  32,214 
  Total liabilities  309,781  165,550  181,161 
           
Stockholders’ equity  268,722  274,629  292,423 
  Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity  $578,503  $440,179  $473,584 


  
HAVERTY FURNITURE COMPANIES, INC. 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS  
(in thousands – Unaudited) 
  
  Nine Months Ended
September 30,
 
  2019 2018 
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:       
 Net income $15,765 $20,879 
 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net
 cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
       
  Depreciation and amortization  15,412  22,650 
  Share-based compensation expense  2,690  3,781 
  Deferred income taxes  (1,942) (592)
  Provision for doubtful accounts  66  58 
  Other  615  825 
 Changes in operating assets and liabilities:       
  Accounts receivable  219  550 
  Inventories  5,882  (4,907)
  Customer deposits  10,387  2,728 
  Other assets and liabilities  316  6,534 
  Accounts payable and accrued liabilities  8,957  9,988 
   Net cash provided by operating activities  58,367  62,494 
        
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:       
 Capital expenditures  (12,446) (18,231)
 Proceeds from sale of property and equipment  2,268  2,421 
 Other    55 
   Net cash used in investing activities  (10,178) (15,755)
        
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:       
 Payments on lease obligations    (2,824)
 Taxes on vested restricted shares  (1,328) (1,233)
 Dividends paid  (11,194) (11,337)
 Common stock repurchased  (19,316) (14,456)
   Net cash used in financing activities  (31,838) (29,850)
Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents during the period  16,351  16,889 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents at beginning of period  79,809  87,606 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents at end of period $96,160 $104,495 
        

Comparable Store Sales 
Comparable store sales include those made on our website and in stores, and excludes locations opened, closed or otherwise non-comparable during the last 12 months. 

Cost of Goods Sold and SG&A Expense 
We include substantially all our occupancy and home delivery costs in SG&A expense as well as a portion of our warehousing expenses.  Accordingly, our gross profit may not be comparable to those entities that include these costs in cost of goods sold. 

We classify our SG&A expenses as either variable or fixed and discretionary.  Our variable expenses are comprised of selling and delivery costs.  Selling expenses are primarily compensation and related benefits for our commission-based sales associates, the discount we pay for third party financing of customer sales and transaction fees for credit card usage.  We do not outsource delivery, so these costs include personnel, fuel, and other expenses related to this function.  Fixed and discretionary expenses are comprised of rent, depreciation and amortization and other occupancy costs for stores, warehouses and offices, and all advertising and administrative costs. 

Leases 
In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued an accounting standards update (ASU 2016-02), which amended various aspects of existing guidance for leases. ASU 2016-02 requires an entity to recognize assets and liabilities arising from a lease for both financing and operating leases, along with additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures. The main difference between ASU 2016-02 and previous U.S. GAAP is the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities by lessees on the balance sheet for those leases classified as operating leases under previous U.S. GAAP. As a result, we have recognized a liability representing our lease payments and a right-of-use asset representing our right to use the underlying asset for the lease term on the balance sheet. We adopted the requirements of the new lease standard effective January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective method and have not restated comparative periods.  

As part of the adjustment for ASU 2016-02 effective January 1, 2019, we derecognized certain assets and liabilities associated with certain legacy build-to-suit arrangements and the deferred gain on previous sale leaseback transactions. Accordingly, $53.5 million of net property and equipment, $50.8 million of financing obligations, $9.3 of other net liabilities, and $2.3 million of deferred tax assets recorded on the balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 were removed as part of our transition adjustment. Effective January 1, 2019, we recognized right-of-use lease assets totaling $177.9 million and recorded lease liabilities totaling $175.4 million. The net adjustment recorded to equity as of January 1, 2019 was a credit of $6.8 million.  

Since we are not restating prior periods as part of adopting this guidance, our results in 2019 will not be directly comparable to our results for periods before 2019. Specifically, for those leases that were previously recognized on our balance sheet prior to 2019, their associated depreciation and interest expense will be replaced by rent expense. For these properties in our lease portfolio for 2019, the amount of rent expense is less than the associated depreciation and interest expense by approximately $2.0 million. The adoption of ASU 2016-02 had an immaterial impact on our consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2019.

Conference Call Information

The company invites interested parties to listen to the live audiocast of the conference call on October 31, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. ET at its website, havertys.com under the investor relations section. If you cannot listen live, a replay will be available on the day of the conference call at the website or via telephone at approximately 1:00 p.m. ET through, November 7. The number to access the telephone playback is 1‑888‑203‑1112 (replay passcode: 6331827).

About Havertys

Havertys (NYSE: HVT and HVT.A), established in 1885, is a full-service home furnishings retailer with 122 showrooms in 16 states in the Southern and Midwestern regions providing its customers with a wide selection of quality merchandise in middle to upper-middle price ranges. Additional information is available on the company’s website, havertys.com.

Safe Harbor 
This press release includes statements that constitute forward-looking statement within the meaning of the federal securities laws.  Generally, the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which are not historical in nature. We intend for all forward-looking statements contained herein or on our website, and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf, to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Forward-looking statements may relate to, for example, future operations, financial condition, economic performance (including gross profit margins and expenses), capital expenditures, and demand for our products.  The Company cautions that its forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and while we believe that our expectations for the future are reasonable in view of currently available information, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.  Actual results or events may differ materially from those indicated as a result of various important factors.  Such factors may include, among other things, the state of the economy; state of the residential construction and housing markets; the consumer spending environment for big ticket items; effects of competition; management of relationships with our suppliers and vendors and disruptions in their operations; the imposition of tariffs and the effect of retaliatory trade measures; new regulations or taxation plans, as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  You are urged to consider such factors.  The Company assumes no obligation for updating any such forward-looking statements. 

Contact:
Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc., 404-443-2900
Richard B. Hare
  EVP & CFO
Jenny Hill Parker
  SVP, Finance and Corporate Secretary

SOURCE:  Havertys