Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

David Palmer: Thanks. Good morning. Another one on foodservice, obviously, impressive EBITDA. Could you talk about maybe some of the drivers there, what perhaps is outsized versus what you think would be a typical quarter? And you mentioned that the fourth quarter was something we shouldn’t annualize. I am wondering if there is a typical quarter, and I am looking at the third quarter that $85 million to $90 million range might €“ if you think like that might be more of a typical quarter that we could think of in terms of annualizing for fiscal €˜23?

Rob Vitale: Yes. I mean, we specifically give guidance at the enterprise level to allow ourselves some room to be wrong at the individual company level. And one of the things we think that we offer investors is the benefit of a portfolio. And I think that nothing has demonstrated that more than the last couple of years. So, I think I don’t want to get into the game of giving individual segment guidance. So, I am going to dodge that question a little bit. In terms of some of the things that were unusual in the quarter, there were some custom €“ excuse me, there were some competitors that had some supply issues that we were able to take advantage of. There was some pricing in the marketplace that has been unusual given, again, some of the exigencies, we performed very well.

We are able to react to it to keep our customers as well filled as possible, even though we are not filling at really very attractive rates ourselves. So, I don’t want to call this a normal quarter. It was a quarter in which we took advantage of opportunities that we had, and we did it well. But most importantly, what we are trying to do is continue to service our customers as ably as we can, make sure our value proposition is supportive of their business efforts. And I think something to recognize about the long-term prospects for Michael Foods is that Michael Foods and our Foodservice segment, I sometimes use those interchangeably. Our basic selling proposition is that we take labor out of operators. And as labor escalates and as labor becomes more challenging from even an availability perspective, our selling proposition becomes that much more valuable and provides a tailwind to our volumes, which ultimately then drives margin.

David Palmer: And then just a quick one. Consumer Brands and Refrigerated Retail, do you think that we should see shipments or ship sales more or less approximate consumption going forward, or do you think maybe even a little bit more than that if some of the supply chain constraints ease out there and you get some increase in inventory and fill rates? Thanks.

Rob Vitale: Yes. So, I mean within plus or minus a couple of percentage points, they should track each other. There will be periods of time when retail inventories have inflow a bit, but in general, yes. And I think both companies continue to have supply chains that are not where they need to be and that cost aspect, and that has an inhibition of volume aspect that we need to remedy.

David Palmer: Thank you.

Rob Vitale: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Bill Chappell of Truist Securities.

Steve Lengel: Hey. Good morning guys. This is Steve Lengel on for €“ this is Stephen Lengel on for Bill Chappell. Thanks for taking my question.

Rob Vitale: Sure.

Steve Lengel: I wanted to kind of touch on labor. We have heard from some of the other players in the food space that they are still kind of experiencing some minor issues at some of the facilities, and you kind of mentioned some challenges last quarter. Is there any color you can kind of provide on how the labor situation is progressing and how things are shaping up for €˜23? Thanks.

Rob Vitale: Yes. What I would tell you, Steve, is that the quantum of labor has improved a bit. But what we still face is a higher-than-ordinary turnover level. And if you now look at that having compounded for 3 years, we have in general, less experienced workforce than we had in 2019, and that most experienced workforce has knock-on implications in terms of the efficiencies within our factories and within our supply chain. So, labor is generally better, but there are some second order effects that we are all dealing with that we will continue to deal with for some time as we train and retain this less experienced or less tenured portion of our workforce.

Steve Lengel: Awesome. Thanks very much guys.