Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (NYSE:LEG) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Tyson Hagale: I’ll take that one. Good morning, Bobby. No, we’re not walking away from anything in the first quarter, that’s not been a drag. If anything, I know we put out the sales attrition estimates early in the first quarter as part of the restructuring announcement. And today, I think we’ve found that so far it’s been less than what we originally put out. We were conservative in that estimate. Big drags, and we’ve talked about this before, but we’ve really had struggles around volume and both open coil and grids. And it’s a combination of product and consumer preference, moving away from some of those product categories, and also extreme price competition on some of those, especially on open coil, and even on lower-end commodity pockets that just don’t make sense for us. But those continue to be a longer-term drag on the overall volume. But we do feel like our ComfortCore Special and some of the newer products are more in line with the domestic market.

Bobby Griffin: And Tyson, when you look at that, is that trend leveling out, where like that incremental pressure is leveling out, or is that incremental pressure still growing? And if you’re to unpack that further within the industry is that — you mentioned the price side, but is there just a function where there’s better spring-making machinery available from other countries today than there used to be five or seven years ago?

Tyson Hagale: For sure on the last part, Bobby. I mean, that we have to recognize that, that we have some competitors making innerspin equipment internationally that are very capable and they can make some good equipment, and that is a part of the market that we have to deal with at this point. We still feel good about what we can do internally and the efficiencies that we have with our [fuel] (ph) business. But that is a challenge and something that we have to deal with. There is — we have to be mindful that it’s a very competitive market, especially right now, where there is overcapacity that exists, not just in finished mattresses, but in components. And so it makes it a very aggressive marketplace right now. And we’re going to have to continue to deal with that as long as we’re in kind of this low-demand environment especially.

But we think we’re dealing with it well. And that’s why we’re also investing heavily in not just differentiated product offerings, but also trying to find cost solutions for our customers that get away not just from commodity products, but helping them save money in their assembly process.

Bobby Griffin: Okay. And then maybe [Multiple Speakers] Go ahead. I’m sorry, Mitch.

Mitchell Dolloff: Sorry, Bobby,. I was going to add, this goes into our focus in those higher-value products, right? So we’re not just chasing the low-value products, but continuing the shift. And that’s having a meaning — a positive impact. Right?

Tyson Hagale: That’s right. They come at lower units overall, especially relative to some of the legacy products, but they have been successful so far and we are seeing improvements there.

Bobby Griffin: Okay, that’s helpful. And then maybe switching gears a little just to overall raw material deflation is — I’ve covered you guys for a while and there was a typical relationship between kind of when you would get the deflation, you kind of hold on to a little bit and you’d see it help a little of the margins, but it would hurt, obviously the top line. Is the business still behaving that way in a deflationary environment? Or have some of these pressures that have taken place caused the prototypical relationship that we’re used to on the street to be a little bit different when Leggett experiences deflation across some of its product categories?

Mitchell Dolloff: Bobby, I think it’s pretty similar. We just probably have a little bit different timing dynamics. Like with specialty foam, the timing is a bit different than what we’d see in innersprings. But I think it’s probably pretty similar.

Bobby Griffin: Okay. And then I guess, Mitch, lastly for me is just back on the steel mill. I think I talked to you guys about this last quarter as well. It’s just what — that — it is part of the big vertically integrated strategy. But at the same time, with it running at less than full capacity, it does have probably a drag on the operations. Is that just purely market-related that has to come back, or is there some external kind of sales force things you can do to drive that back to full capacity? Or are we just kind of at the beholdings of the end market and the consumer?

Mitchell Dolloff: Yes, I’ll take that one, Bobby. Yes, it is a drag. It is a high fixed-cost operation, and it is something that running at below capacity is definitely impactful to our margins. But we do see that just over time as products have changed. Grids [indiscernible] that’s been historically a big user of rod tons, and we see a pretty permanent shift in the attachment rate for that long term. So it does require us to go out and diversify in some of the markets we can serve, and we are actively doing that. We have seen, even over the last year where some of the industrial markets were stronger, that there’s been some more weakness there. So that’s still a challenge in the near term, but we are actively looking at other end markets more in industrial markets that help us offset some of that. We’re not just solely relying on the recovery of the innerspring market.

Bobby Griffin: Very good. I appreciate the details this morning. I’ll jump back in the queue.

Mitchell Dolloff: Thank you, Bobby.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question is from Peter Keith with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question.

Peter Keith: Hi. Thank you. Good morning. Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. I actually want to ask a few follow-ups. So, to Susan’s question on capital allocation, you’ve mentioned maybe not as focused on dividends that you have been in the last five years. I guess it applies maybe thinking about share repurchases. The question is, are you thinking about getting to 2 times net leverage as that target before you contemplate acquisitions or share repurchases? Or are you going to be opportunistic? I guess just trying to understand the timing of when some of the cash return to shareholders could pick up.

Mitchell Dolloff: Yes, thanks for asking that question. And we try to comment on that, but I’m glad to clarify. The 2 times leverage target is a long-term target, and we will try and be opportunistic along the way. It’s a priority. We want to make sure we’re maintaining our investment grade credit rating and access to commercial paper, but that doesn’t mean we will pass up opportunities, for example, small bolt-on acquisitions or things like that. Nothing is on the list right now, but we do plan to maintain some flexibility. But, Ben, anything you would add there?