Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWAY) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 14, 2024 9:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Julie Smolyansky - Chairperson of the Board, President and CEO

Conference Call Participants

Operator

Good morning. Welcome to Lifeway Foods' First Quarter 2024 Conference Call. On the call with me today is Julie Smolyansky, President and Chief Executive Officer. By now, everyone should have access to the press release that went out this morning. If you have not received the release, it is available on the Investor Relations portion of Lifeway's website at www.lifewayfoods.com. A recording of this call will be available on the company's website.

Before we begin, we would like to remind everyone that the prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements. The words believe, expect, anticipate, and other similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on them. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements.

Lifeway assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking projections that may be made in today's release or call. All of the forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this call.

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Lifeway's Chief Executive Officer, Julie Smolyansky.

Julie Smolyansky

Thank you, John, and good morning to everyone joining us today. As always, we greatly appreciate your interest in Lifeway Foods.

I'm excited to be speaking with you today and thrilled to report that the momentum from our record breaking fiscal year 2023 has flowed smoothly into yet another strong quarter to start 2024. For the fourth quarter in a row, we have broken the company record for quarterly net sales, all while consistently delivering improved profitability metrics.

Our consistent growth and the excellent level of service we are providing to our valued customers and clients would not be possible without the effort and execution of our entire Lifeway team. And we could not be more pleased with their efforts.

With that said, I will now review our results for the first quarter of 2024. Net sales were $44.6 million for the period ended March 31, 2024, which is yet another record high quarter for Lifeway and an increase of $6.7 million or 17.8% compared to the first quarter in 2023. The net sales growth was primarily driven by higher volumes of our branded drinkable kefir. After a year of consistent volume growth in 2023, we're excited to continue the trend in the first quarter.