Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. (NYSE:HVT) Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call February 22, 2023 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Clarence Smith - Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Richard Hare - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Steve Burdette - President
Conference Call Participants
Anthony Lebiedzinski - Sidoti
Cristina Fernandez - Chelsea Advisory Group
Operator
Hello. And welcome to today’s conference call. Haverty reports operating results for Fourth Quarter 2022. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to CFO, Richard Hare. Please go ahead, sir.
Richard Hare
Thank you, operator. During this conference 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 of 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 then our President, Steve Burdette, will provide additional commentary about our business.
Clarence Smith
Good morning. Thank you for joining our 2022 fourth quarter and full year conference call. We're very pleased to report a record fourth quarter and full year performance. Haverty has produced the highest sales quarters in our history over the past nine quarters going back to the fourth quarter of 2020. For two consecutive years, we have reached $1.1 billion in net sales with record earnings per share. The net sales in 2022 of $1.05 billion was 3.4% higher than the record sales achieved in 2021. The earnings per share of $5.24 was up 6.9% over the prior year record. As we anniversary our business against the outsize demand generated during the pandemic, our written business for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 but up compared to 2019. Store traffic is also tracked lower. However, we continue to close more visits, and we've increased our average ticket 25% over the fourth quarter in 2019.
The importance of successful customer engagement has never been more critical. Our H design program is competitive advantage, driving our average ticket increase, an important differentiator from our competition. When a H Design professionals involved in a sale the average ticket increases over 90%. 2022 saw a return to more historically normal sales patterns with holidays and weekends driving volume. To fuel our historic sales, we brought in more goods than ever before. In addition to record sales, we're able to replenish the inventory in our warehouses. We are better position now than any time in the past three years to fulfill a customer's order. Our pricing discipline and management of the entire distribution process from shipping containers to the final mile of home delivery has allowed us to achieve record margins for the year.