Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We think those tools are really valuable in the market that we expect to encounter going forward. So having the kind of the best products at the right price in the right place, the ability to make margin when we do that and the ability to price strategically based on a difference between, say, everyday products and choosing, which projects we want to win is really valuable going forward.

Brian Lee: Okay. Fair enough. All makes sense. And then I guess maybe related to that a little bit, just China reopening, again, the comment around freight costs starting to normalize. Any updated thoughts on just sort of the competitive landscape, especially from overseas suppliers?

Neil Ashe: Yes. No, it’s always a good question, and we have tremendous respect for competition. We consider competition as a gift. Having said that, just to reiterate, about 20% of our product is sourced from Asia, about 60% is manufactured in North America, as I indicated, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. So – or 60% in Canada and 20% in the U.S. So what that allows us to do is compete effectively with whoever the new competitors are. So just like everyone else, we’ve dealt with challenges getting our products out of Asia and here. So net-net, while we expect there to – on the margin be a little bit more competition, obviously, we’ve been competing effectively in the same market they have.

Brian Lee: All right. Fair enough. I’ll pass it on. Thank you.

Neil Ashe: Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. And I’m showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I’d like to turn the call back to Neil Ashe for any closing remarks.

Neil Ashe: First of all, thank you all for joining us. As we indicated early on a Monday morning we are pleased with our performance in the first quarter. We had solid results. We’re well positioned in our end-user markets, both on the lighting and lighting control side and increasingly on the Intelligent Spaces side where we’re working to expand our addressable market. We expect the kind of the continuation of the current trends in the economy, and we’re pleased with our ability to be adaptable to whatever the market sends our way. So with that, we’ll send you on your way. And we hope you have a great rest of your day, and we look forward to talking to you again soon.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day.