John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBSS) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call May 3, 2023 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Jeffrey Sanfilippo - Chief Executive Officer
Frank Pellegrino - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Operator
Good day and welcome to the John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. Third Quarter Fiscal 2023 Operating Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. As a reminder, this call is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the call over to Jeffrey Sanfilippo, CEO. You may begin.
Jeffrey Sanfilippo
Thank you. Good morning, everyone and welcome to our 2023 third quarter earnings conference call. Thank you for joining us.
On the call with me today is Frank Pellegrino, our CFO; and Mike Finn, our Vice President and Corporate Controller.
We may make some forward-looking statements today. These statements are based on our current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties. The factors that could negatively impact results are explained in the various SEC filings that we have made, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q. We encourage you to refer to the filings to learn more about these risks and uncertainties that are inherent in our business.
I am proud to report record diluted earnings per share for our third quarter and our second consecutive quarter of double-digit diluted earnings per share growth. This strong performance was mainly driven by volume growth in all three of our distribution channels, as our net sales increased by $20 million or 9.1% compared to last year's third quarter. I'm especially proud of this accomplishment, given the ongoing challenging operating and inflationary environment.
Our Board of Directors met yesterday and approved $1.50 per share special dividend, reinforcing our goal of creating long-term shareholder value by returning capital to our shareholders. The dividend will be paid June 22, 2023 to stockholders of record as of June 1, 2023.
As announced last quarter, we began to ship our new product line of private brand nutrition bars to mass merchandising retailer during the third quarter and anticipate shipping private brand nutrition bars to additional customers during the fourth quarter. We have received favorable feedback from our retail partners and expect to gain additional nutrition bar customers in subsequent quarters.
As we look ahead to the fourth quarter and to fiscal 2024, we are focused on executing our long range plan to accelerate volume growth and deliver sustainable earnings growth. We will continue to optimize our cost structure, focus on portfolio optimization, diversify our product offerings and increase flexibility as we continue to respond to the ongoing macroeconomic volatility.