Trex Company, Inc. (NYSE:TREX) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Page 6 of 10

Reuben Garner: Thank you. Good evening everybody.

Bryan Fairbanks: Hey Reuben.

Reuben Garner: So, kind of a follow-up to Phil’s question on the EBITDA margin guide, I guess conversely, if the market is better, than you anticipated, are you kind of managing the business to this 26% to 27% level, meaning you will have more investments to make to bring capacity on faster and SG&A investments, or would you see some leverage in expansion on that margin if the market is better than you expect as the year progresses?

Dennis Schemm: Yes, I think that’s a great question. So, I would expect that we would see some margin expansion if we saw demand stronger then we are going to see better utilization, and that will be better cost absorption for us. So, I think that’s where you will see that benefit. And we are pretty committed to keeping the SG&A rate in that range of the 15% to 16%.

Reuben Garner: Got it. And then the contractor, any update on what you are hearing about contract or backlog, and even pricing of jobs. I know that was kind of a deterrent to some activity over the last couple of years, the extended lead times to get things done and pricing for the labor and other components of the job have gotten expensive? Are you hearing that those are reversing or are starting to settle in a little bit?

Bryan Fairbanks: Contractor backlogs have normalized at this point between four weeks and eight weeks. They had longer backlogs and some of them they were out 10 weeks, 16 type weeks. They can price jobs wherever they wanted to do excessive jobs, they didn’t really want to do. So, the more normalized backlog, the pricing is coming back in line in the marketplace, and they are looking to continue to drive that backlog. So, make sure that they have got competitive pricing.

Reuben Garner: Great. Congrats on the strong close to the year, guys and good luck.

Bryan Fairbanks: Thanks Reuben.

Operator: The next question is from Alex Rygiel with B. Riley. Please go ahead.

Alex Rygiel: Thank you. Good morning gentlemen. A couple of quick questions here. The mid-single digit decline in volume assumption, can you disaggregate that between the market decline expectation and maybe some market share gain assumptions that you have implied there based upon the pro and retail markets that you have commented on.

Bryan Fairbanks: Yes. I think the biggest question is the strength of the consumer in the back half. So, we have not disaggregated that number at least for this call. We know what’s coming through with some of the market share gains that we have had out there. But again, we are being conservative as we look to the back half of this year from a production perspective and then our expectations with the consumer.

Alex Rygiel: And then secondly, are you anticipating any product mix shift with your production plan?

Bryan Fairbanks: No, we have not seen a shift downward with any changes in the economy. And Dennis did mention that we will see a little bit of a mix shift only because during the summertime, we have a much higher DIY demand, which is heavier on basics. It doesn’t carry the same margin as our other profiles along the way. So, we do end up offsetting that with other continuous improvement along the way. But that’s probably the biggest impact is that we see a steeper curve in the year, which drives a little bit more of the basic sales to the summer months than normal.

Alex Rygiel: Thank you.

Bryan Fairbanks: Thanks.

Operator: The next question is from Kurt Yinger with D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead.

Kurt Yinger: Great. Thanks and good afternoon everyone.

Bryan Fairbanks: Hey Kurt.

Kurt Yinger: I just wanted to start out with a high-level question on margins. And Dennis, earlier you said, I think the big difference between the 26% to 27% EBITDA margin this year and what we have seen historically is call it, lower utilization. But I guess looking forward, what are the big areas of opportunity that you see on the margins side, kind of regardless of improvements in, I guess the volume environment?

Page 6 of 10