PARTICIPANTS
Corporate Participants
Lou Anne J. Nabhan – Head of Investor Relations, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Gregory H. Trepp – President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Michelle O. Mosier – Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer & Vice President, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Scott Tidey – Senior Vice President-North America Sales and Marketing, Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc., Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Other Participants
Justin E. Kleber – Analyst, Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.
Todd S. Lechtenberger – Chief Executive Officer, Amalfi Investments, LLC
MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION SECTION
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company Third Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]
I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Lou Anne Nabhan, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.
Lou Anne J. Nabhan, Head of Investor Relations, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Thank you, Jodi, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our third quarter 2019 earnings conference call and webcast for Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company. Greg Trepp, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Michelle Mosier, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, will discuss the company’s third quarter results and our outlook. Also present for the Q&A will be Al Rankin, Chairman of Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company; and Scott Tidey, Senior Vice President, North America Sales and Marketing for Hamilton Beach Brands.
Yesterday, after the market closed, we issued an earnings release announcing our third quarter results and filed a 10-Q with the SEC. Both documents can be found on our website at www.hamiltonbeachbrands.com. A replay of today’s call will be posted on the website this afternoon and when available, a transcript will be posted.
Today’s presentation contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in either the prepared remarks or during the Q&A. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties was included in our earnings release and 10-Q. The company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, which may not be updated until our next quarterly conference call, if at all.
I’ll now turn the call over to Greg.
Gregory H. Trepp, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Thank you, Lou Anne. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining our call. My comments will focus on our Hamilton Beach Brands segment while Michelle will discuss our consolidated results and Kitchen Collection.
I’ll take a few minutes now to provide some high level comments about Kitchen Collection. As I’m sure you’ve read, on October 15, we announced that Kitchen Collection would wind down its retail operations and close all of its 160 stores by the end of the year. Sales began at all stores soon after the announcement and will continue through the holiday selling season. While it’s early in the process, the wind down is in line with expectations.
As we’ve discussed previously, Kitchen Collection had been taking steps for some time to enhance its position and prospects by reducing its store portfolio to a core that was expected to support longer term profitability. While operating losses had moderated in the first half of 2019 compared to last year, Kitchen Collection continued to experience decreased comparable store sales resulting from a decline in foot traffic.
Despite our best efforts to return Kitchen Collection to profitability through store count consolidation, further deterioration in foot traffic lowered Kitchen Collection’s outlook for the prospects of a future return to profitability and positive cash flow generation. We evaluated strategic alternatives to maximize the value of the business and reached the difficult but necessary conclusion that it was in the best interest of the company and all of its stakeholders to wind down the business by the end of 2019.
We’re deeply grateful to all of our Kitchen Collection employees for their hard work and dedication during a difficult time and we commend their efforts and professionalism in conducting an orderly wind down process. As difficult as this action is for the Kitchen Collection’s 800 employees, the move should be positive for shareholders. The wind down is occurring at a time of year when we should be able to capture the most value from the inventory. Additionally, our strategy for moving the vast majority of the stores to a one-year lease term also improves our ability to wind down. We expect that over time, the benefits of this move will become evident in our market value.
Now, let me turn to our Hamilton Beach Brands segment. You may recall that during our second quarter earnings call, we reminded everyone that in 2018, we had a strong third quarter and a soft fourth quarter and that we expected the 2019 fourth quarter to be stronger than the third quarter. We noted that with the seasonality of our business, retail orders can move up or back up by a few weeks and these small shifts can have a big impact on a particular quarter.
In fact, not only did we experience the usual timing shifts in our US consumer business we experienced a significant change in retail order patterns driven by the adverse impact of tariffs. That is a very detailed discussion that I’ll get into in a moment. I will add for now that because of a lot of the third quarter revenue decrease was due to timing issues, we expect to recover a large portion of it in the fourth quarter.
First, let me quickly provide the key highlights of third quarter results for Hamilton Beach Brands. Revenue was $150.9 million compared to a very strong 2018 third quarter when revenue reached a record $172.5 million. The shortfall was across all of our markets except for global commercial. Gross profit margin decreased to 20.7% from 22.3% due to higher inbound freight costs, increased transportation and warehousing expenses and the adverse impact of tariffs. This along with lower sales volumes led to a decrease in operating profit.
In addition to the expected difficult comparison to last year, the shortfall was due to a number of issues, starting with the adverse impact of tariffs. Some of you may recall that on the same day as our last earnings call, August 1, new 10% tariffs were announced on all remaining goods imported from China, List 4, and the effective date was September 1. A couple of weeks later, it was announced that List 4a would take effect on September 1 and List 4b would be delayed until December 15 to avoid disruptions to the holiday season.
A week after that, the tariff on all List 1 through 4 products would be increased by 5%, meaning that List 4a and List 4b would increase from 10% to 15% as of their effective dates andLists 1 through List 3 would increase from 25% to 30% on October 1. In September, the 5% increase on Lists 1 through List 3 were delayed until October 15 and then it was later suspended.
That timeline illustrates the short notice and abrupt changes faced by all companies affected by the tariffs and it has been very disruptive to us, our customers and our suppliers. Understanding the timing and the level of the tariffs mitigating the impact of these tariffs in a way that minimizes the disruption to our retail partners just as the key holiday order season begins, is a significant challenge and resource drain.
Additionally, due to the List 4a implementation date coinciding with retail holiday order timing, our customers have been less open to tariff related negotiations and the process has taken much longer to finalize than it did for Lists 1 through List 3. We have mitigated a significant portion of List 4a, but the timing of mitigation varies, so the ultimate impact will be determined in the coming weeks and months.
As the List 4 tariffs are layered onto our business, the impact has become much more meaningful. As we’ve stated before, Lists 1, 2 and 3 had a relatively small impact on our business approximately 10% of total purchases on an annualized basis. That impact was mostly mitigated. List 4a, which captured the large coffeemaker category among others, increased the impact to approximately 25% of company purchases annualized.
List 4b will increase the amount to approximately 70%. I’ll note that the tariffs impacted our US consumer business and our US food service business and hospitality businesses. As further evidence of how fluid the situation is, there is news this morning of potential progress in the trade talks. We will adjust as announcements become official.
Another unfavorable impact of the tariffs is that in our US consumer market, nearly 50% of the third quarter revenue decrease was due to lower direct import sales. Before the List 4 tariffs, retailers were more inclined to take ownership of some inventory directly from our suppliers in China, which has the benefit of a modest cost savings to the retailer and earlier revenue recognition to us.
However, in order to avoid the full impact of tariff increases, retailers have increasingly opted to take ownership of inventory from our US warehouse transferring the tariff impact to us. This shift can add up to five weeks to the date on which we recognize the revenue, which is how we experience a significant revenue timing shift from the third quarter to the fourth quarter portion of our revenue.
As long as the current tariffs remain in place, we utilize a number of strategies to offset the impact of tariffs focusing on all as a package to improve gross margin percent over time. For example, we negotiate with suppliers for cost concessions. We apply for exclusions. We were successful in obtaining some limited exclusions last year for certain products and we also benefited from some exclusions obtained by other companies. We’re working on List 4a exclusions under the process that just opened.
We continue to explore options with respect to qualified suppliers from a number of countries, which is part of our normal sourcing process. Tariffs are only one factor that we would consider in determining whether a supplier is qualified to manufacture our products. There isn’t a significant small kitchen appliance manufacturing infrastructure set up outside of China and it will take time to establish that. HBB has moved production many times over the years, so we are confident we can successfully move production if needed. Finally, we are passing along price increases where possible.
In addition to the tariffs, other issues that contributed to the third quarter revenue decrease included a loss of placements in the dollar store channel resulting from a decision we made to not compete to maintain some very low margin business. Also, foot traffic challenges at some retailers and other pressure points facing individual retail companies had a negative impact on US sales in the third quarter. In our international consumer markets, the lower sales volume was due in large part to a one-time special purchase in 2018 by a customer in Latin America and to a lesser degree to reduced demand in several markets.
At the same time, there were many bright spots in an otherwise difficult quarter. For example, our global e-commerce revenue continued to grow in the third quarter and the star rating performance of our brands and products across retail channels continues to be 4-star and above on average. In e-commerce, the Hamilton Beach Brand remains number one in units in the small kitchen appliance category. In 2019, we expect to generate e-commerce sales growth in all of our markets.
Our global commercial revenue increased in the third quarter. As we reported, we’re working to accelerate sales growth from our commercial products around the world. We’ve been growing at a rate of 6% annually. And the team is building programs designed to increase the rate over time to more than 10% annually. One of the elements of the program is increasing feet on the ground in fast-growing or underdeveloped markets. We have several new team members in place that will provide extra focus on Asia, e-commerce sales and marketing, and the hospital, culinary, school and education markets.
Our only-the-best brands revenue increased in the third quarter, driven by our Wolf Gourmet and Hamilton Beach Professional products and the new Bartesian premium cocktail delivery system that we began selling early this year. We’re on track to introduce 70 to 80 new product platforms this year and we’ve introduced several new products that we expect to be popular sellers for the holidays. Some of our new air fryers were introduced earlier this year and we’re also introducing three more air fryers and four pressure cookers making us well represented in brands and sizes.
Our new Hamilton Beach Brand Digital Sure-Crisp Air Fryer Toaster Oven, a multifunction appliance, is being particularly well received. Another new item that will roll out in early December is an innovative egg bite maker, a small appliance that will enable consumers to easily make this popular coffee shop item at home. Also, at this holiday time of year, we’re benefiting from our leadership position in a number of categories for traditional items like hand mixers and can openers, which we offer with a variety of special features and consumer-friendly functionality.
From a new category perspective, we just entered the oral care category, which has a large and growing presence in the e-commerce channel, with a sonic rechargeable toothbrush under the Brightline brand name. Our product received the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance, one of the few brands to have that distinction, which should be a strong selling point. We’re very excited with the initial online ratings averaged 4.5 stars including a lot of 5-star ratings and the reviews are very favorable. All these exciting new developments give us confidence that our strategic initiatives have strong potential to drive long-term growth in our core business and in new areas.
I’ll now turn the call over to Michelle.
Michelle O. Mosier, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer & Vice President, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Thank you, Greg. And good morning, everyone. I’ll discuss the quarterly results for Kitchen Collection, our consolidated results for the quarter, and then, I’ll review our outlook for the full year 2019. Kitchen Collection’s third quarter revenue declined to $20.3 million from $25.9 million last year due to the closure of 37 stores and to lower comparable store sales. An operating loss of $3.1 million included a $1 million impairment charge and compared to a loss of $2.4 million last year.
As previously reported, Kitchen Collection expects to incur expenses in the range of $4 million to $6 million during the fourth quarter, primarily for severance obligations and professional fees related to its wind down. Total cash expenditures related to the wind down excluding cash expenditures in the ordinary course as Kitchen Collection continues to operate are expected to be in the range of $6 million to $8 million.
These charges and expenses do not include lease termination obligations as the amount is subject to negotiation and is not known at this time. Our estimate of the charges and expenses is preliminary and subject to change until finalized. We expect that the historical and future financial results of Kitchen Collection will be classified as discontinued operations in the period during which the assets are abandoned, which we currently anticipate to occur during the 2019 fourth quarter.
In connection with the wind down, Kitchen Collection and Wells Fargo entered into a Forbearance Agreement with respect to the Kitchen Collection’s secured revolving line of credit. Under the terms of the agreement, Wells Fargo has agreed to forbear from exercising its rights and remedies as a result of the events of default resulting from the decision to wind down the business, pending payment in full on or before December 15, 2019. Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company has not guaranteed any of the obligations of Kitchen Collection under the credit agreement.
Turning to our consolidated results, revenue was $169.8 million compared to $196.9 million last year and reflected a 12.5% decrease at Hamilton Beach Brands and a 21.6% decrease at Kitchen Collection. Consolidated gross profit was $40.6 million compared to $50.4 million last year. Gross margin percent declined to 23.9% from 25.6% last year, primarily due to the decrease at Hamilton Beach Brands that Greg discussed earlier.
Consolidated selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $3 million or 7.7% to $36.2 million from $39.2 million last year. Despite the impairment charge at Kitchen Collection, their SG&A decreased by $1.8 million as a result of the benefit of closing unprofitable stores and lower corporate expenses. Hamilton Beach Brands’ SG&A also declined primarily as a result of lower legal and professional services fees related to patent litigation. Interest expense net decreased $100,000 primarily due to decreased average borrowings outstanding under both at the Hamilton Beach Brands and Kitchen Collection credit facilities.
Consolidated income before income taxes was $2.5 million for the third quarter of 2019 compared to $10.2 million for the third quarter of 2018. Income tax expense was $2.1 million compared to income tax expense of $2.2 million last year. The current quarter included $1.9 million of deferred tax expense related to establishing a valuation allowance against certain deferred tax assets of Kitchen Collection. Consolidated net income was $400,000 or $0.03 per diluted share compared to $8 million or $0.59 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2018.
Turning to our balance sheet and cash flows, as you know, we’ve been focused on getting our inventory, debt and cash flow back toward our desired levels with inventory being the key element. Consolidated inventory at September 30, 2019 was $181.8 million, down slightly from $183.8 million last year. Inventory at Kitchen Collection decreased $7.3 million due in large part to the store closures. At Hamilton Beach Brands, inventory increased slightly to $161 million this year from $155.7 million last year due to anticipated fourth quarter needs. As Greg discussed, we saw a change in the retail order patterns, which resulted in an increase in inventory due to timing.
Consolidated use of cash before financing activities was $38.4 million compared to $53.8 million for the first nine months of 2018. The improvement reflected an $11.4 million decrease in net cash used for operating activities in the first nine months of 2019. Capital expenditures were $3.3 million in the first nine months of this year compared to $7.2 million last year primarily due to lower capital expenditures related to internal use software development costs and tooling for new products. Consolidated debt at September 30, 2019 was $89.7 million compared to $99.9 million last year. The decrease was due primarily to lower net borrowings at Hamilton Beach Brands.
We continued to repurchase shares in the third quarter. Our currently authorized share buyback program runs through the end of December and is for the purchase of up to $25 million of our outstanding Class A common stock. In the third quarter, we repurchased 235,206 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $3.6 million. Since the inception of this program, we have repurchased a total of 364,893 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $6 million. The Board of Directors has approved a new stock repurchase program providing for the purchase of up to $25 million of our outstanding Class A common stock, which starts on January 1, 2020 and runs through December 31, 2021.
And now, let me turn to our outlook for Hamilton Beach Brands. Based on early fourth quarter results, we expect to recover much of the third quarter revenue decrease. The extent of the recovery will ultimately depend on retail and consumer response to increased product cost and higher prices at retail caused by the tariffs.
For the full-year 2019, we expect revenue to be approximately even with 2018. Operating profit is expected to be in the range of even to a modest decrease compared with 2018. Cash flow before financing activities is expected to increase significantly in 2019 compared to 2018 as we continue to work toward a goal of returning to pre-2018 levels of exceeding $20 million. However, the timing of accounts receivable collections could move into the first quarter of 2020 due to the impact of certain revenue shifting from the third quarter to fourth quarter. Capital expenditures are expected to be $4.3 million.
Looking ahead to 2020, we believe that progress with our strategic initiatives will continue to support our long-term growth goals. We expect improvement next year compared to 2019 in revenue, operating profit and cash flow before financing activities. However, due to the unknown impact of tariffs and the response of retailers and consumers to tariffs, the extent of improvement cannot be fully anticipated this time. We’ll provide an update on our expectations for 2020 when we announce our fourth quarter results.
That concludes our prepared remarks. We’ll now turn the line back to the operator for Q&A.
QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION
Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Justin Kleber of Baird. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: Yeah. Thanks. Good morning, guys.
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Good morning.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: I wanted to first follow up on the direct import sales comment. Can you give us a sense as to the mix of revenues historically that comes from retailers directly importing the product versus, I guess, more traditional fulfillment from your US distribution centers?
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: It varies by year, so it really depends on the retailer’s desire to focus on that one year to the next. But we – right now, the – as we’ve sort of looked at, we think the comparison is based on our promotions of this year and our order pattern this year, it’s roughly half of the US consumer mix. So, it’s not – it’s a number really that can affect a percentage of our business but it’s not something that’s a majority of our business.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: Okay. Thanks, Greg. And then, I guess as it relates when you say the retailers realized cost savings by taking possession of product in China, is that just because they can move it from China at a lower cost than you guys so it’s an inbound transportation savings or is there something else? Like, what’s creating that cost favorability to the retailer?
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Sure. So, it’s – it can – it depends on the event or the type of order that it is. They have internal models that they put it through. We feel like we’re very efficient at bringing it in with our container rates and through – and handling it through our distribution system. But by moving it through to our DC and then having to either come get it or we ship it to them, there’s extra transportation and steps involved. If we pass those along on certain events, when it gets into their systems, they can distribute it in a way that helps them save a small amount. We don’t think it’s a dramatic amount. When they put it through their models for big large orders in the fourth quarter, it looks like it can save them a percent or two or half a percent, then they’ll make the decision on whether they want to take that in and take the inventory risk earlier.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: Okay. So, it’s just cutting out one step in the distribution process, effectively? Okay, that’s helpful.
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Yes.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: And then, maybe another question somewhat around tariffs and as it relates to just the cost increases that you’re trying to push through. Are you guys already trying to pass through increases in anticipation of List 4b going into effect in December or are the actions to-date really have been more so in response to the tariffs that are currently in place?
<A – Scott Tidey – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Hey, Justin, this is Scott. So, on the tariffs side of things, we are looking and preparing if List 4b were to go into effect on December 15, but those increases aren’t in place. We do have some retailers that require a certain amount of lead time to price increases, so we take that into consideration. But we’re going to be able to get closer to that date and better understand what may be happening. But we are going to be prepared in case that does happen and work with our retailers to let them know what those prices would be if those tariffs were to go in place December 15.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: Okay. Maybe shifting gears just a bit. Any way to maybe quantify the impact? You mentioned the decision to walk away from some of the dollar store channel business and was that a material impact here in the quarter or as we look out to the fourth quarter?
<A – Scott Tidey – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Yeah. We still have a little bit of – we’re – about 50% of that loss is going to be in the back half of this year and so we’ve got a little bit more to go. We’ve got a little bit that will continue into the first quarter. But I think as we indicated while the revenue dollars were there, the margin dollars are very minimal in total and we think will be passed in the first quarter of next year.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: Okay. And then, as you guys just think about the holiday season and how things are shaping up just in terms of placements and I guess the mass channel you guys feel pretty good about how things are looking for the holiday season from that standpoint, just from a placements perspective?
<A – Scott Tidey – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Sure. I mean – and again, this is Scott. Looking at the [indiscernible] (00:27:46) Canada, I think we feel like our holiday promotions are well in place. Some of the retailers are already leaking out their Black Friday promotions and trying to start things a little bit earlier since Thanksgiving falls a little bit later this year. But we look at overall distributions and promotions and we feel like we’re in a good place to claw back some of the declines that we had in the third quarter.
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Justin, this is Greg. Just to – as we – you think about the wording that Michelle provided on how we think the full year will end up based on what we think will happen in the fourth quarter, what we did is account by account, division by division built our view of the fourth quarter and try to make that as middle of the road as we could. We then said, okay, well, if it doesn’t work out the way we think, what is the downside to that and took some revenue off of that and used those two numbers; the middle of the road view and the down side to clarify our view of how the year would be.
And so, when Michelle said that we expect revenue to be approximately even with 2018 and operating profit to be in the range of even to modest decrease compared to 2018. That takes into account those, that range of potential numbers. If there’s a negative reaction in some way to price increases or foot traffic or anything in that might reduce it from our downside then we would not hit that estimate, that guidance. And if things were – sales were a little stronger, we could be a little better. But we feel that’s kind of, sitting here today, that’s our best view of how we could end up.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: That makes sense. Thanks for that color, Greg. Just the last question as a follow-up to that as I think about those updated guidance parameters and what it implies for the fourth quarter. It seems like the outlook would embed a pretty material increase in gross margin during the fourth quarter, which is obviously a reversal from what the experience has been year-to-date. So, what’s changing in the fourth quarter? Is it simply fixed cost leverage on higher sales or there’s something else going on within gross margin that we should be aware in 4Q? Thank you.
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Yeah, that’s good. Definitely, leverage is a big part of it. And we just – we make the vast majority of our profit in the back half of the year when we have such a high volume. With that volume now shifting in a larger way to the fourth quarter, that’s going to provide even more leverage. We do feel like we do happen to sell some other, some higher end products in the fourth quarter that helps, but the majority of that increase is due to just the higher volume at that time of the year.
<Q – Justin Kleber – Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.>: All right, guys. Well, I appreciate the time and best of luck over the holidays.
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Thank you, Justin.
Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Todd Lechtenberger of Amalfi Investments. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
<Q – Todd Lechtenberger – Amalfi Investments, LLC>: Thank you. Good morning, guys. I just want to kind of follow up on the lower direct import sales thing. Help me understand, so instead of them taking, them being the retailers, taking the product in China and that’s when you recognize revenue, they’re saying – the way I understand is they’re saying ship it over here and then we’ll take delivery once it gets over here and so that delay; there’s four, five, six week delay to get it over on the [ph] boat (00:31:38), which you guys don’t, if I remember correctly. Don’t you guys take possession of the inventory when it crosses the rail in China? So, that will lead me to believe that that there would be an uptick in the inventory that you guys have, but it’s only about a $5 million increase in inventory. Can you just help me understand how that works a little bit better?
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>:Sure. So, as far as the DI methodology, we do take – we do recognize ownership of the inventory when it crosses the rail in China when we’re the importer. If the customer is the importer, then that moves to their books not our books. The other progress we’re making on inventory is really coming from the fact that last year, we were too high on inventory, and we’re sort of working that down all year long. We came into this year in a better position, but not where we needed to be, and we’ve just been working very hard to get that back into our normal range.
So really, the inventory comp period that you’re looking at is really one that was too high last year and is better this year. Now, if we hit our sales number, we’ll be even lower because we bought inventory to support little stronger business in the third quarter as we went into the quarter during the ordering period. But with all the change we just talked about, that is shifting into the fourth quarter. So, we’ll move that through we believe in good order here in the fourth quarter.
<Q – Todd Lechtenberger – Amalfi Investments, LLC>: Okay. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Greg.
<A – Greg Trepp – Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.>: Thank you.
Operator: And there are no further questions in the queue at this time. I will turn the call back over to Greg Trepp.
Gregory H. Trepp, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co.
Thank you. I’d like to leave you with a few key takeaways. As we’re closing on the end of the year, we have many positive things happening in the business and our teams continue to execute the creativity and professionalism that we believe will win over time.
We’re looking forward to entering 2020 focused entirely on Hamilton Beach Brands, as our Kitchen Collection business will be closed. Many of the short-term issues we’re experiencing will be addressed or behind us, although we potentially have the 4b tariffs to address in early 2020.
We remain very optimistic about our longer term opportunities and the potential for our six strategic initiatives to drive significant growth. As a reminder, these initiatives are outlined in detail in our earnings release in the section called Investor Perspective.
With that, I’ll conclude our call today. The holidays are just around the corner and I wish you and your families a wonderful season. Thank you for joining us.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.