HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Jeff Lorenger: Yes, Budd, really, all I would say is we had — we got — we dispossessed the Poppin thing. That was kind of job one as we got in there. And now we’re getting our arms around the synergies and the team, and they’re doing great. And there’ll be more — we’ll probably have more details on that going forward. But right now, I’d say 50,000 feet, it’s going great. I love the team and what they bring to the table, and we’re continuing to invest in that business as well.

Marshall Bridges: Budd, I would just add to that. And look, healthy margins in that business right now is very strong. We do see synergies moving forward. In the run rates we see right now in their profitability is about $10 million of annual improvement related to duplicative corporate costs. So that’s $10 million of the $25 million of synergies that we expect as a floor. And so the other $15 million, we see coming over the next couple of years and feel real clear line of sight to that. And as Jeff mentioned it, is strong potential for more that we’ll communicate as we get further into it.

Budd Bugatch: And how does that feather in? I mean how much have we seen so far? And how much — how much feathers in over the next couple of quarters — quarterly rate?

Marshall Bridges: Yes, we’re averaging about $2.5 million a quarter right now. So we’ve got about a $10 million run rate as we sit right now. Probably add $5 million to $8 million next year, and then we get the full incremental $15 million in 2025 for a $25 million run rate. When you take that $25 million plus the $20 million benefit from exiting Poppin plus the strong profitability that KII had before the acquisition. Again, we’re looking at EV to EBITDA multiple on the acquisition of near $5 million, it really speaks to the value creation opportunity that we have.

Budd Bugatch: Wow, okay, last for me is corporate overhead looks — is this the current run rate of $20-some million? Or how do we think about that on a quarterly basis? And how much of that was variable comp.

Marshall Bridges: Corp — if you look at the fourth quarter, we do think it’s going to be up $6 million or $7 million being that $21 million to $22 million range, not just up a little bit from the third quarter. And yes, the big drivers of the year-over-year increase are variable comp. It was pretty low last year and it’s rebounded this year. And we got some variation in insurance programs that also contribute to that variation.

Budd Bugatch: Okay, thank you very much. Congratulations again on a really impressive performance in the third quarter.

Jeff Lorenger: Thanks, Budd.

Operator: And there are no further questions at this time. I’d like to turn the call back over to Jeff Lorenger for any additional or closing remarks.

Jeff Lorenger: Great. Thanks, everybody, for joining us today. Again, once again, thanks to all HNI members. Have a great day.

Operator: And that concludes today’s presentation. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

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