Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLLI) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Rob Helm: Hi. And this is Rob. From a geometric stack perspective, we’ve talked about the three year business last year. The business, it’s a different time from what it was in 2019. So we’re not really going to speak to it from this point forward. We did see a small acceleration though from Q3 to Q4 in terms of a three year geo.

Matthew Boss: Great. And then maybe just on the expense front. For 2023 and then thinking forward, what’s the right level of comp growth needed to leverage SG&A? And how best to think about the 25-handle SG&A rate pre-pandemic? What’s the right — what’s the right level in the model multiyear from here?

John Swygert: Yeah, I think, Matt, we’re — I think we’re like a 26.8% for this year, 26.9% on the SG&A front. I don’t — I think 25-handle has left us, obviously, with the increased costs that we’ve incurred since, let’s call, 2019 through pandemic, the overall structure has changed. We need to drive additional comp store sales to lever that down below where we’re at today. So I think we can — if we do 2% comp we might be able to lever 10 bps to 20 bps on an annualized basis, but not much more than that.

Eric van der Valk: Yeah, Matt, this is Eric. I would just add that we continue to pursue productivity improvements in the business to offset some of the wage pressure we’re experiencing, especially in stores. We still do have a list of initiatives that we’re pursuing that will help to offset some of this wage pressure.

Matthew Boss: Great. Best of luck.

John Swygert: Thanks, Matt.

Eric van der Valk: Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Scot Ciccarelli from Truist. Your question, please. You might have your phone on mute. Scott, we’re not hearing you at this moment. All right. We’ll move on. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez from Citi. Your question, please.

Brandon Cheatham: Hi, everyone. This is Brandon Cheatham on for Paul. I was wondering if you could share your outlook on merchandise margin for the year. It sounds like there might be a little bit of pressure. I was wondering if you could break out like some of the puts and takes, what you’re investing in price versus what might be driven by mix?

John Swygert: Yes, Brandon, there’s no — the overall merch margin is basically flat year-over-year as Rob had said. So there’s really no puts and takes. We’re comfortable with where we’re sitting at. And I think we’ll be able to deliver that.

Brandon Cheatham: Got you. And I was just wondering, could you quantify when you get to the end of this year, if you look at your freight costs, how much are those up compared to 2019 levels? Just trying to get a sense of what could be the benefit in 2024 or for the out year should freight completely normalize to pre-pandemic.

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