Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) Q2 2023 Results Conference Call August 2, 2023 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Richard Hare - CFO
Clarence Smith - Chairman and CEO
Steve Burdette - President
Conference Call Participants
Anthony Lebiedzinski - Sidoti & Company
Michael Legg - The Benchmark Company
Cristina Fernández - Telsey Advisory Group
Operator
Greetings, and welcome to Haverty’s Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Richard Hare, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.
Richard Hare
Thank you, operator. During this call, we'll make forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those made or implied in such statements, which speak only as the date they are made and which we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include economic and competitive conditions and other uncertainties detailed in the company's reports filed with the SEC.
Our Chairman and CEO, Clarence Smith, will now give you an update on our results and our President, Steve Burdette will provide additional commentary about our business.
Clarence Smith
Good morning. Thank you for joining our second quarter conference call. Consolidated sales decreased 18.5% to $206.3 million, reflecting the consumers' pullback in home-related spending and the impact of higher interest rates on home sales.
Incoming orders or written sales were down 14.7% with written comp store sales down 15.2%. Our earnings per share came in at $0.70 versus $1.27 last year. Recognizing the significant shift of consumer spending and inflationary pressures, I believe that we delivered a solid performance.
The quarter sales were negatively impacted the most in April and began to improve along with the increased temperature. We saw a very nice increase in our average sales driven by increases in special order and customer -- and custom design-oriented sales. We continue to gain recognition for our quality products, service and free design.
While we are investing heavily in our website is the first way customers learn about us and shop, the physical store and the personal relationship that we develop is the primary way we serve our customers, that in-person relationship has increased in importance since COVID.
As our design focus and customization helps drive our average sale over $3,000, the importance of our brick-and-mortar stores where customers can see and touch their selections and gain knowledgeable input from a team member becomes more critical. We're strengthening our store locations in the footprint we are positioned from Maryland to Texas.