HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call February 22, 2024 11:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Matt McCall - VP, IR & Corporate Development

Jeff Lorenger - Chairman, President and CEO

Marshall Bridges - SVP and CFO

Conference Call Participants

Reuben Garner - The Benchmark Company

Greg Burns - Sidoti & Company

Steven Ramsey - Thompson Research Group

Budd Bugatch - Water Tower Research

Operator

Good morning. My name is Dennis, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the HNI Corporation Fourth Quarter and Year End Fiscal 2023 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instruction]

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. McCall. Please go ahead, sir.

Matt McCall

Thank you. Good morning. My name is Matt McCall. I'm Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development for HNI Corporation. Thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth quarter and year end fiscal 2023 results.

With me today are Jeff Lorenger, Chairman, President and CEO; and Marshall Bridges, Senior Vice President and CFO. Copies of our financial news release and non-GAAP reconciliations are posted on our website. Statements made during this call that are not strictly historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, actual results could differ materially.

The financial news release posted on our website includes additional factors that could affect actual results. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during the call.

I'm now pleased to turn the call over to Jeff Lorenger. Jeff?

Jeff Lorenger

Thanks, Matt. Good morning, and thank you for joining us.

Our members continue to deliver outstanding results and had a strong finish to the year. For the fourth quarter, non-GAAP earnings per share increased 56% versus the prior year period. This was despite a 6% year-over-year organic revenue decline during the quarter, which was primarily driven by continued housing market weakness. Overall, 2023 was an outstanding year for HNI.

During the year, we completed the largest acquisition in our company's history, with the addition of Kimball International to the HNI family, delivered on our plan to improve margins, without the benefit of top line support. Entering 2023, we anticipated a challenging demand year, and we built a plan, to deliver earnings growth in the face of these challenges.

We also generated significant cash flows to strengthen our business and provide returns to shareholders. This resulted in 2023 non-GAAP EPS that increased, by more than 20% year-over-year, despite an organic revenue decline. This was on top of 35% non-GAAP EPS growth in the prior year.