Turning Point Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TPB) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Michael Legg: Okay. Great. And then just the $4 million legal settlement, what was that?

Louie Reformina: We had a shareholder settlement that was disclosed in the [indiscernible].

Michael Legg: Okay. We’ll take a look then. And then the automation project, what is that for?

Louie Reformina: Yes. So we disclosed the project before. We decided to do in stages and we’re taking the first line and optimizing. So we’re able to defer some of the payments for the future lines for later this year.

Michael Legg: Okay. Thanks. And then just one last question on the debt. Do you plan on paying that off? Or do you plan on refinancing debt and continuing with the same leverage?

Louie Reformina: Yes. At this point, we’ve got enough cash to be able to buyback in July. So that is our current plan.

Michael Legg: Okay, thanks. Great quarter. Congrats.

Graham Purdy: Thanks Mike.

Operator: And we will take our next question from Eric Des Lauriers with Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Your line is open.

Eric Des Lauriers: Thank you for taking my questions. I offer my congrats on the quarter as well. So it’s great to see momentum at both the alternative channel for Zig-Zag and with the new FRE products really kind of gaining momentum here. Within the Zig-Zag alternative channel, you mentioned you’re sort of able to do a bit more brand building through that channel versus traditional C-store. Could you just expand on that? And maybe just give us some examples of sort of some of the ways that you are able to drive brand recognition, brand equity? Is this more shelf space? Is this sort of also being able to sell apparel? Just kind of expand on that, that would be great. Thank you.

Summer Frein: Yes. Hey Eric, thanks for the question. In terms of the difference in brand building in the alternative space versus the traditional C-store channel, it really is so much more wide open. If you think about walking into the variety of stores that are in the alternative channel, there’s a lot more receptivity to the sorts of things that you can hang and position in store. And certainly, you touched on apparel. These sorts of retailers are also open to selling different sorts of merchandise. And so it really opens a bag and the type of product expansion that we can capitalize on in those stores in a very different way than what is more traditional C-store space that has a more limited shelf space and opportunities to have those sorts of varieties of products.

Eric Des Lauriers: Okay. That’s helpful. And just in terms of the growth that you have been experiencing within the alternative channel, obviously, you guys have been going after this for some time here. Is there anything specific to call out to this sort of – this growth that’s been building over the past couple of quarters here? You mentioned new products like has there been a matter of sort of finding products that this channel is looking for and that’s sort of been able – that’s helped you increase your share within that channel? Or is it kind of all of the above with apparel and these other things as well. Just wondering if there’s anything to sort of call out as the driver to sort of increasing this penetration within this channel?

Louie Reformina: I mean no special call outs. And as you mentioned, we’ve had pretty strong success in this market for a while. And so we expect to continue the same things. A lot of it is just increasing our penetration, as Summer mentioned, within that channel and our product offering, our continued push and just kind of momentum that we’re getting is leading to this hypercribal we’re seeing. And we still think there’s a lot of further opportunity for us to attack that market.

Eric Des Lauriers: Okay. Great. And then just a couple more kind of quick ones from me. On CLIPPER, I know that we’ve sort of been working through some heightened inventory levels at retail. Can you kind of just give us an update on what you’re seeing there?

Graham Purdy: Yes. Look, I think the – this sort of goes across our business. We feel like the inventory overhang from last year are largely behind us at this point in time and that would include CLIPPER.

Eric Des Lauriers: Okay. Great. And then last one for me. So I understood this automation product – excuse me, projects, you’ve been optimizing this first line here. So a bit of a push out in some of the CapEx dollar expectations here. Could you just help us with cadence, I think maybe it sounds like some of this might be pushed to maybe Q2, maybe second half? Just any kind of commentary on cadence would be helpful.

Louie Reformina: Yes, listen, we expect to be through the majority of it in the first half of the year and continuing to ramp the production through the rest of the year on this project.

Eric Des Lauriers: Okay, thank you so much, guys.

Louie Reformina: Thanks Eric.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Mr. Graham Purdy for closing remarks.

Graham Purdy: Thanks, operator. I appreciate everybody’s time today. We’re excited about the quarter, and we’re excited to communicate with you here in a few months on results today. So thank you so much.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s call. We thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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