Hayward Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HAYW) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Rafe Jadrosich: Got it. Okay.

Eifion Jones: Adding another — I would add the difference to the guidance, the channels you saw.

Rafe Jadrosich: Can you just remind us what 2021? Yes. Can you remind us what the 2021 sellout was? So we can sort of think about how you’re sell-in versus sellout has trended over the last few years here?

Kevin Holleran: Yes. I believe 2021, rate, was mid-20s. Sorry, sorry, sorry. That’s wrong. No, no, no. That was rate, sorry. That was our expectation on sellout for 2022. We were actually mid-30s on sell-outs for 2020 — for 2021. Sorry, yes, I want to correct the record there. We were calling for mid-20s in 2022 and actually realized kind of low double digits after or so actual 2021.

Rafe Jadrosich: That’s really helpful. And just on the — you commented that channel inventories, you’re expecting them to get to sort of historically low levels versus where they’ve been in the past. Is there anything structural about that where you’d expect that to continue into 2024? Or as sellout kind of stabilizes and there’s just more certainty around the economic environment, would you expect the channel to try to return to normal levels? Like could we see a restock at some point where sell-in starts to track ahead of sellout? And like how early could that happen?

Kevin Holleran: Yes. I don’t think that we’re seeing or will experience a change forever more to lower days on hand. I think that this is in response to an interest rate environment, a macro economic environment that’s causing carrying cost impacts that is impacted by an outlook for less discretionary purchasing in the marketplace. So I do think that for a period of time, we’ll operate kind of less or lower than normal inventory levels, but I see ultimately that we’ll get back to more historical days on hand. As we move through the different quarters of the year, that obviously changes how much you need. How much the channel wants on the shelf to start a season versus exiting a season are different numbers or different amounts. So I’m not sure I’m ready to call when that could occur. I think that for the time being, we’re more focused on the destock, and we’ll continue to work closely with our channel partners for when those historical levels will be restored.

Operator: Our final question comes from John Joyner of BMO.

John Joyner: So on the other 4% to 5% price increase that you implemented at the beginning of the year, I guess can you remind us how much of the price increase increases from last year carried over into this year? And then with things normalizing a bit, how much of the price increases have you historically realized in similar type environments, understanding that distributors are typically receptive of price hikes?

Kevin Holleran: I’ll start off by saying, John, that 4% to 5% which took effect in January, additive to that would be about 2% per half year wrapped from our announcement midyear of 2022. So that’s what would be combined. I would just put the caveat that the contribution to revenue growth is lower given the reduced volumes in 2023. But those are the 2 pieces that go into our pricing expectation for 2023.

Eifion Jones: Can you repeat the last part of the question, please, John?

John Joyner: Yes, Eifion. So just with regard to things kind of normalizing and how much of price increases have you historically realized in similar types of environments with fully understanding that distributors are typically receptive of price hikes, but you’re putting through 4% to 5%, how much of that would you expect to actually realize? I mean I know you probably had a 4% to 5%, but what has been the norm?