Compass Diversified - Q1 2024

Executive Summary

• Solid start to 2024: net sales +8% YoY to $524.3M; Adjusted EBITDA +28% YoY to $94.8M driven by Lugano (+61% sales) and contribution from The Honey Pot; Industrial remained soft (-10% sales). Management raised the full‑year Adjusted Earnings outlook to $148–$163M and kept Adjusted EBITDA ranges unchanged after offsetting the Crosman divestiture.
• Mix improving: Branded Consumer pro forma net sales +11% to $375.4M; Industrial sales -10% to $159.6M as inflation/macro weigh on Sterno’s consumer wax and project churn at Altor; BOA returned to growth and PrimaLoft bookings improved, supporting a 2H acceleration narrative.
• Capital and liquidity: $64.7M cash; ~$552M revolver availability; total leverage 3.84x (expected to decline in Q2 after using Crosman proceeds to pay down revolver). Management reiterated capacity to upsize revolver by $250M and willingness to temporarily operate with slightly higher leverage to pursue attractive M&A.
• Stock reaction catalysts: raised 2024 Adjusted Earnings guidance, strong momentum at Lugano including London salon opening, BOA reacceleration, and potential upside if inventory destocking turns to tailwind; divestiture of Crosman refocuses portfolio on higher‑growth assets.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

• What Went Well

  • Lugano delivered another “remarkable” quarter: revenue +61% YoY; Adjusted EBITDA +83% YoY, with early success from the London salon opening and continued maturation of flagship salons; management sees large international opportunity ahead.
  • BOA reaccelerated: revenues +13% and Adjusted EBITDA +15% YoY with bookings outpacing revenue, signaling a strong 2024 as supply chain destocking abates.
  • Consolidated outperformance drove a guidance raise on Adjusted Earnings; management emphasized a higher‑growth, more “disruptive” portfolio that reduces volatility and supports sustained outperformance.

• What Went Wrong

  • Industrial softness: net sales -10% YoY (to $159.6M), with wax‑melt pressure at Sterno and project churn at Altor; margins held up better due to efficiency gains and mix, but revenue headwinds persisted.
  • Velocity Outdoor impairment: $8.2M non‑cash goodwill impairment recorded; CODI divested Crosman (air gun division) shortly after quarter‑end to streamline the segment.
  • Operating cash flow: consolidated CFO was -$13.2M in Q1 as Lugano invested ~$65M in inventory to fund growth; outside of Lugano, subsidiaries generated $52M in CFO (management disclosure).

Transcript

Operator (participant)

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Cody Slach of Gateway Group for introductions and the reading of the Safe Harbor statement. Please go ahead, sir.

Cody Slach (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you, and welcome to Compass Diversified's first quarter 2024 conference call. Representing the company today are Elias Sabo, CODI's CEO, Ryan Faulkingham, CODI's CFO, and Pat Maciariello, COO of Compass Group Management. Before we begin, I'd like to point out that the Q1 2024 press release, including the financial tables and non-GAAP financial measure reconciliations for subsidiary adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earnings, and pro forma net sales, are available at the investor relations section on the company's website at compassdiversified.com. The company also filed its Form 10-Q with the SEC today after the market closed, which includes reconciliations of certain non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call and is also available at the investor relations section of the company's website.

Please note that references to EBITDA in the following discussions refer to adjusted EBITDA as reconciled to net income or loss from continuing operations in the company's financial filings. The company does not provide a reconciliation of its full-year expected 2024 adjusted earnings, adjusted EBITDA or subsidiary adjusted EBITDA because certain significant reconciling information is not available without unreasonable efforts. Throughout this call, we will refer to Compass Diversified as CODI or the company. Now allow me to read the following Safe Harbor Statement. During this call, we may make certain forward-looking statements, including statements with regard to the expectations related to the future performance of CODI and its subsidiaries, the impact and expected timing of acquisitions and divestitures, and future operational plans, such as ESG initiatives. Words such as believes, expects, anticipates, plans, projects, should, and future or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ on a material basis from those projected in these forward-looking statements, and some of these factors are enumerated in the risk factor discussion in the Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC for the year ended December 31st, 2023, as well as in other SEC filings. In particular, the domestic and global economic environment, supply chain, labor disruptions, inflation, and changing interest rates all may have a significant impact on CODI and our subsidiary companies. Except as required by law, CODI undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Elias Sabo.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. I am pleased to report yet another strong quarter of results. We once again exceeded our expectations. Our success in this first quarter can be attributed to our deliberate focus on owning and managing a growing number of innovative and disruptive businesses that have industry-leading growth potential. This strategy not only reduces financial volatility, but also accelerates our annual core growth rate. As we saw this past quarter, the diversification of our subsidiaries means that if a few of our companies lag in growth, others may be able to compensate, resulting in a more consistent and reliable growth engine. This quarter, we saw the strongest performance from our branded consumer vertical, which reported 11% growth in pro forma revenue and 22% growth in pro forma Adjusted EBITDA.

Pat and Ryan will, of course, go into greater detail, but I will tell you Lugano produced another quarter of remarkable results, and the company currently shows no signs of slowing down. With the opening of its new London salon earlier this week, we believe international expansion will be a huge opportunity for this business. You will remember we were expecting both BOA and PrimaLoft to rebound against the inventory destocking headwinds of the recent past, and we believe they are now through the worst of it. I am pleased to announce BOA had a great first quarter, better than expected. While PrimaLoft continued to see revenue and Adjusted EBITDA declines in Q1, they saw bookings growth in the first quarter, which provides confidence they will return to growth in the second quarter.

The Honey Pot Company, a business we only acquired in the first quarter of this year, is already integrated with a newly appointed world-class board of directors, and we are seeing significant gains in shelf space across key retail partners. Additionally, point-of-sale data remains robust, reflecting strong consumer demand for The Honey Pot Company's better-for-you products. Thanks to the strong performances at Lugano, BOA, and the acquisition of The Honey Pot Company, adjusted earnings for this quarter were above our expectations and up significantly over Q1 of last year. I'd also like to briefly discuss the divestiture of Crosman, the Air Gun division of Velocity Outdoor, to Daisy Outdoor Products. We are grateful for its contributions to Velocity Outdoor and CODI, and I want to thank the entire Crosman team for their dedication over the years.

Velocity Outdoor continues to be a subsidiary, specializing in archery and hunting apparel, and we are excited by its planned product launches in the coming years. This opportunistic divestiture of Crosman also aligns with our strategic focus of adding value through the management of innovative and disruptive companies that are poised to outpace industry growth rates. We believe Crosman's sale to Daisy, a recognized industry veteran in the air gun space, positions it well for future success. Despite our outperformance in the quarter, continued elevated inflation, delayed rate cuts, and heightened geopolitical risks all combined to create a weakening macroeconomic backdrop, which has negatively affected our industrial vertical. Across our three industrial businesses, we saw a slight decline in both revenues and Adjusted EBITDA in Q1. However, we remain confident in the positioning of these businesses and anticipate our industrial vertical could possibly see modest growth later this year.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with our first quarter. This is our strategic repositioning in action. Despite a mixed economic environment, we delivered a strong first quarter. Both our results for the quarter and our outlook for the rest of the year demonstrate that owning and managing a diversified group of companies with a growing share of disruptive, high-growth businesses is the right strategy, and we believe positions our business for sustained outperformance. We believe across our branded consumer vertical, inventories are now more balanced, and we expect the headwinds suffered in 2023 to turn into tailwinds for the remainder of the year. We also believe, through company-led innovation, our industrial vertical could see another year of modest growth in 2024 and is positioned well for 2025.

Combining our first quarter performance with our forward momentum, we are feeling bullish about the rest of the year, so we are raising our full-year adjusted earnings outlook, which Ryan will detail for you in just a few minutes. With that, I will now turn the call over to Pat.

Pat Maciariello (COO)

Thanks, Elias. As a reminder, throughout this presentation, when we discuss pro forma results, it will be as if we own The Honey Pot Company as of January 1st, 2023. I'm pleased to report on another successful quarter. On a combined basis, revenue and pro forma adjusted EBITDA grew by 4% and 15%, respectively, in the quarter. Though Lugano, once again, was a significant driver of our growth, growing revenue and EBITDA by 61% and 83%, respectively, we continue to see positive trends throughout our business. Within our industrial vertical, for the first quarter of 2024, revenues decreased by 10% and adjusted EBITDA decreased by 3% versus Q1 2023. Arnold continued to grow revenue in the quarter, though experienced higher SG&A costs due to increased sales and marketing expenses and the timing of certain professional services fees.

Bookings for the quarter significantly outpaced revenues, and we believe the company remains poised for a solid 2024 and continues to build upon its long-term project pipeline. At Altor, revenue declined slightly as we experienced churn in projects with a couple of our larger customers. The pipeline of new products is robust, however, and we believe the company will return to revenue growth in the back half of this year. We also know that Altor continues to increase margins in the face of revenue headwinds, and we remain confident in the business and the team. Sterno grew Adjusted EBITDA slightly in the quarter as the strength of the company's food service division offset slightly weaker demand levels in its scented wax division. Turning to our branded consumer vertical.

For the first quarter of 2024, pro forma revenues increased by 11% and pro forma Adjusted EBITDA increased by 22% versus Q1 2023. As Elias mentioned, clearly, the strongest performer in the quarter remained Lugano. We saw growth in each salon and geography and benefited significantly from investments made in our flagship salons in Newport Beach and Palm Beach. This week, the company opened its long-awaited London salon, and though early, by all accounts, the opening has been a success, and we look forward to expanding the Lugano model internationally. Last quarter, we touched specifically on two of our businesses furthest up the supply chain, BOA and PrimaLoft, and how order patterns were normalizing as their respective channels cleared.

At that point, it appeared that BOA was perhaps a bit more than a quarter ahead of PrimaLoft in clearing the inventory headwinds in their supply chains and returning to growth. We are pleased to report that BOA grew revenues and Adjusted EBITDA by 13% and 15%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2024. In addition, bookings outpaced revenue growth, which supports our expectations of a strong 2024. At PrimaLoft, though revenue and Adjusted EBITDA continued to decline in Q1 of 2024, we did see solid double-digit bookings growth in the quarter, which gives us increased confidence as we enter the second quarter. Touching on our newest business, The Honey Pot Company, it performed in line with expectations as revenues were approximately flat and Adjusted EBITDA declined slightly in the first quarter of 2024 on a pro forma basis.

Consistent with our understanding at the time of the transaction, the company had one large promotional event at retail in February 2023 that did not repeat in the same magnitude this quarter. In addition, the company continued to add infrastructure, including headcount and a dedicated distribution center, to support its growth, which pressured Adjusted EBITDA margins slightly. Importantly, though, the company grew point-of-sale for its core product in almost all its retail partners and added shelf space for new products with several partners so far this year. We remain excited about The Honey Pot Company and expect a solid year in 2024. 5.11 was approximately flat in revenue and up slightly in Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024. Strong revenue growth in the professional channel offset both market-related and self-induced challenges in our DTC channels.

We've seen improvement in these areas subsequent to quarter end, and we believe the 5.11 management team is taking the right actions, and the company is on solid footing. As a whole, we were very pleased with the first quarter and have confidence in our increased outlook for the full year. I will now turn the call over to Ryan for additional comments on our financial results.

Ryan Faulkingham (CFO)

Thank you, Pat. Moving to our consolidated financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, I will limit my comments largely to the overall results for CODI, since the individual subsidiary results are detailed in our Form 10-Q that was filed with the SEC earlier today. On a consolidated basis, revenue for the quarter ended March 31st, 2024, was $524.3 million, up 8% compared to $483.9 million for the prior year period. This increase was primarily a result of The Honey Pot Company and strong growth at Lugano and BOA, which was partially offset by lower revenue at Sterno, Altor, and Velocity. Consolidated net income for the first quarter of 2024 was $5.8 million, compared to net income of $109.6 million in the prior year.

The first quarter of 2024 included an $8 million goodwill impairment charge at our Velocity Outdoor subsidiary. Net income in 2023 included a $98 million gain on the sale of Advanced Circuits. Adjusted EBIT in the first quarter was $94.8 million, up 28% compared to $74.1 million in the prior year. The increase was due to the acquisition of The Honey Pot Company and strong growth at Lugano and BOA. Included in adjusted EBITDA in the first quarters of 2024 and 2023 were management fees and corporate costs of $21.4 million and $19.4 million, respectively. Adjusted earnings for the first quarter were above our expectations, coming in at $34.3 million. This is up significantly from $19.8 million in the prior year quarter due to strong performances at Lugano and BOA.

So now moving to our 2024 guidance. As a result of the strong performance in the first quarter and our expectations for the remainder of the year, we are raising our Subsidiary Adjusted EBITDA guidance by $10 million. However, with the sale of Crosman, we are reducing our guidance by a similar amount. Thus, our full-year 2024 Subsidiary Adjusted EBITDA is consistent with what we provided on our last earnings call of between $480 million and $520 million, despite the sale of Crosman. The Subsidiary Adjusted EBITDA range for our industrial vertical remains $125 million-$135 million. The Subsidiary Adjusted EBITDA range for our branded consumer vertical remains $355 million and $385 million.

We expect full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA to be between $390 million and $430 million. This range factors in an expected $86 million in corporate-level overhead and management fees in 2024. This compares to $341 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2023. Now on to adjusted earnings. With a paydown of revolver debt outstanding of approximately $60 million, which includes proceeds from the sale of Crosman, we are increasing our full year 2024 adjusted earnings guidance range by $3 million and expect it to be between $148 million and $163 million.

At the midpoint of this range, and assuming the same share count at March 31st, 2024, of 75.3 million shares, we expect to earn $2.07 in adjusted earnings per common share in 2024. A note for investors and analysts, the Crosman sale will not be recorded as discontinued operations, and thus, we expect we will record a relatively small financial statement impact from the sale in the second quarter. We plan to offset any positive or negative impact from the sale in our adjusted earnings calculation in the second quarter and for the full year of 2024. Turning to our balance sheet. As of March 31st, 2024, we had approximately $64.7 million in cash, approximately $552 million available on our revolver, and our total leverage ratio was 3.84 times.

Our leverage at the end of the quarter was lower than we anticipated as a result of strong operating performance. We used our proceeds from the sale of Crosman to pay down revolver debt outstanding, and thus, absent any acquisitions in Q2, we expect our total leverage ratio to decline in the second quarter. We have substantial liquidity, and as previously communicated, we have the ability to upsize our revolver capacity by an additional $250 million. With our liquidity and capital, we stand ready and able to provide our subsidiaries with the financial support they need, invest in subsidiary growth opportunities, and act on compelling acquisition opportunities as they present themselves. Turning now to cash flow provided by operations. During the first quarter of 2024, we used $13 million of cash flow from operations.

Lugano used $65 million in cash flow from operations to support its continued extraordinary growth. Outside of Lugano, our subsidiaries produced $52 million in cash flow from operations in the first quarter, allowing us to reduce our leverage, as stated earlier. Finally, turning to capital expenditures. During the first quarter of 2024, we incurred $7.7 million of CapEx at our existing subsidiaries, compared to $14.9 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily a result of a decline in 5.11 store rollouts in 2024. For the full year of 2024, we anticipate total CapEx of between $50 million and $60 million. We continue to see strong returns on invested capital at several of our growth subsidiaries and believe they will have short payback periods. Capital expenditures in 2024 will primarily be at Lugano for new retail salons.

With that, I will now turn the call back over to Elias.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Thank you, Ryan. I would like to close by recognizing a significant ESG milestone and also by giving you a brief update on our view of the current M&A market. On the ESG front, I am proud to announce that earlier this week, we released our inaugural sustainability report. The report provides insight into how we manage ESG, both at CODI and at our subsidiaries. It outlines our ESG framework and the actions we have taken, designed to bring about social and environmental benefits. This report underscores our belief that ESG is an ongoing commitment, and we are dedicated to achieving substantial, deliberate progress. You can view the report on our website to learn more about our vision and our progress to date.

We have made significant strides over the last few years, and this progress wouldn't have been possible without the engagement of our board, our leadership team, and most importantly, the participation of our employees, both at CODI and at our subsidiaries. Our goal remains to make improvements that align with our company values and create strong financial returns for our stakeholders. I would like to thank our head of ESG, Zoe Koskinas, and her team for their passion and all the work they have put in to get us to this point. When it comes to the M&A markets, we feel a level of optimism that we have not felt in years. We continue to see an improvement in the quality of businesses coming to market. We also see our competitors continue to struggle with leveraged buyout financing, specifically when it comes to branded consumer businesses.

This only creates more opportunities for us. When debt markets are weak for single asset buyouts, our competitive advantage grows. We believe today's market landscape allows our competitive advantage to shine, setting the stage for consummating M&A at more attractive valuations, which, of course, leads to improved shareholder returns. We remain steadfast in our efforts to identify, acquire, and manage disruptive and innovative companies, and as Ryan mentioned, our strong liquidity position enables us to act on acquisition opportunities and also invest in our subsidiaries to further build upon our track record of delivering growth for our shareholders. While I have tremendous confidence in our strategy and our competitive advantages, I'd also like to take a minute to recognize our employees who deliver these outstanding results day in and day out.

Thank you to our subsidiary management teams and employees, and to the entire CODI team for your hard work executing this growth strategy. With that, operator, please open the lines for Q&A.

Operator (participant)

As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. One moment for our first question. Our first question comes from Larry Solow from CJS Securities. Your line is now open.

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Great. Good afternoon, guys. I guess first question, just Elias, just sort of following up on your. I appreciate the commentary on the M&A market, and it sounds like you sound very enthusiastic there. So I'm just curious, with your leverage still relatively, you know, sort of at the higher end, I think, of the range you'd, you know, like it to be at, what's your, you know, what's your appetite at these levels? And maybe the sale of Crosman, maybe other things in the wings, maybe, you know, that you might be able to do also to improve that leverage lower to, you know, so you can be maybe even more aggressive? Sounds like opportunities-

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah. So Larry, yeah, sure. So, you know, and I think we mentioned this on the last call, you know, there is the ability to consummate acquisitions, and, you know, we're comfortable bringing our leverage up higher than where it is today. The reason we're comfortable is, you know, frankly, what we've demonstrated here in the first quarter and in the fourth quarter, and what we expect is gonna continue not only this year, but well into 2025 and beyond. You know, we've repositioned the company to just have a dramatically faster growth rate, and our ability to create cash flow and deleverage is really strong now. And so, you know, I think the company profile allows it to handle more leverage temporarily because the earnings growth profile is so strong and our cash flow profile.

And remember, you know, Lugano used $65 million of cash, but it delivered 83% growth in EBITDA. Outside of that, our business delivered north of $50 million free cash flow from operations. And I do think you have to separate Lugano out, given the extraordinary growth rate and the returns on invested capital there. So, you know, we look at kinda how the company is positioned today, and with, as you mentioned, the sale of Crosman, which the proceeds of which will go to delever even further, you know, we feel that we have a very strong deleveraging trend that's coming not only in the second quarter, but beyond. And as a result of that, it's gonna open up more capacity.

Now, you know, to the other part of your question, you know, we have been since, you know, 2018 when I took over and Pat became COO, you know, we've been kind of moving the portfolio around and creating, you know, much higher percentage of businesses that are, you know, more disruptive and innovative and can materially outgrow their core growth rate. You know, the sale of Crosman is an extension of that, but that isn't done yet.

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Mm-hmm.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

So I would say, you know, there are other assets in the portfolio which, you know, are not growing at the level or expected to, that we will continue to make some divestitures. So, you know, we feel that there's adequate, you know, sources of capital that will be coming in, both through continued portfolio repositioning as well as growth in the portfolio, free cash flow generation, and then lastly, you know, kind of when we can, you know, find opportunities to run the common and preferred ATMs.

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Got it. No, I appreciate all that color. And just the second point, just on the sort of the outlook. It sounds like maybe the macro, you know, I think obviously interest rates are staying up longer than, I guess, some had hoped. So, you know, maybe from a macro level, things are slightly worse for you guys, but it sounds like you have, you know, some specific offshoots at a bunch of your companies that are basically offsetting that, all in, and then you have Lugano, which is still kicking it, you know, kicking ass there, and that's why the guidance is going up. Is that kind of a good way to sort of summarize the outlook in a broad brush?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah. I mean, you know, we all saw Q1 GDP came in kind of disappointing with inflation, you know, increasing-

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Right

Elias Sabo (CEO)

A little bit. So I think that was-

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Mm-hmm

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Kind of needs to be taken into consideration. Frankly, we're seeing it a little bit in our industrial businesses.

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Right.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

There's a little bit of weakness, but, you know, over 70% of our EBITDA comes from consumer, and we aren't seeing that same weakness there, Larry. I mean, the consumer remains, you know, very strong and resilient. Now, clearly, depending where the consumer is, you know, the more inflation has impacted a consumer, you know, that spending pattern's a little lower. But remember, we skew towards the upper-end consumer globally for the vast majority of our portfolio. And then we do have, you know, things that were massive headwinds last year, like these inventory destocking, that hit all of our consumer businesses and caused sell-in to be far below sell-through. You know, that headwind is dissipating.

So there's a factor that's sort of unique to our, you know, kind of group of subsidiaries right now that give us confidence that, you know, we're more likely to be surprising going forward on the upside than we are, you know, the other way.

Larry Solow (Managing Director and Equity Analyst)

Okay, great. Fair enough. I appreciate the call. Thanks a lot.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

And thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Marc Feldman from William Blair. Your line is now open.

Marc Feldman (Equity Research Associate)

Hi, guys. Thanks for taking the question. I guess, you know, on my first one, can you talk about, you know, any initiatives that you had at Velocity to. Also, you know, you guys came off of a demand surge during COVID, and, you know, you obviously saw the inventory, the stocking trends that you saw at PrimaLoft and BOA as well. So can you talk about any initiatives to work through that going forward now that you've sold off the Crosman division?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Sure. Initiative? Yeah, I mean, I would say, in short, it's a focus on technology and new product development. I think if you look at the archery side, we have some exciting new technologies coming out that, you know, we think could help accelerate sales in, you know, in 2025. And then if you look, the company subsidiary, King's, is just a really on-trend hunting apparel business, you know, that each year continues to take market share, granted from a small base. So we're excited about both those businesses.

Marc Feldman (Equity Research Associate)

Great. Thank you for that. And then, you know, another one also on the stocking here. So it's great to hear with the double-digit growth of bookings with PrimaLoft. But can you just talk about timing of when we can actually see those convert to revenue? I know there's seasonality built in with ordering and, you know, when those have to be done by to see it in the actual results for the year. Thank you.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

So we believe we'll grow in the second quarter at PrimaLoft. We believe we'll grow top line, and we believe we'll grow EBITDA. The quarter's bookings are not fully in yet, but I would just say all signs are pointing to growth as soon as this quarter.

Marc Feldman (Equity Research Associate)

Great. Thanks for taking the questions.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Derek Sommers from Jefferies. Your line is now open.

Derek Sommers (Equity Research Senior Associate)

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Just on the industrial segment, on the revenue decline, is that more of a price story or a unit or quantity story? And then, you know, kind of, you know, EBITDA margin held up a little bit better there. You know, what's happening on the expense side of the P&L to have those hold up a little bit better?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah. So I'd say on the revenue versus quantity, it is a little bit of both. You know, on the Sterno side, we did see some pressure in our wax melt business, which is, you know, predominantly sort of a middle income and below purchaser. And then I think your second question, as it relates to margins and margin improvement, we're our management teams are doing a good job. We mentioned before, and we've touched on the new management team at Altor, which continues to drive efficiency gains. We have, you know, a strong management team now at Sterno, at Sterno, and as well as we have at Arnold.

They just had some, got caught with the timing of some professional services and marketing expenses.

Derek Sommers (Equity Research Senior Associate)

Got it. And then just to pivot to Lugano, on the London store rollout, you know, kind of what's the. You know, do you guys expect, like, a 12-month runway to get this, you know, fully kind of operational and a good spot? Or kind of what's the timeline for implementation, so to speak, there?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

I mean, I think our stores, our salons usually take some time to get up to sort of, you know, to become optimized. I would say it is going to have, you know, sales and be a driver of sales, though, as soon as, you know, this week. It's a good store that we have a lot of expectations on. It's right there on Mayfair - right there in Mayfair. It's in a great location. It's beautiful. They're doing a lot of promotion around it, so we're confident it's gonna have a positive impact on revenue almost immediately.

Derek Sommers (Equity Research Senior Associate)

Got it. That's all for me. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Matt Koranda from Roth MKM. Your line is now open.

Matt Koranda (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. I guess on the Crosman portfolio action, I'm curious why only carve out Crosman? Why not just sort of divest of the entire Velocity segment? Are we waiting for some improvement at Ravin and the other subsidiaries there? And I just wanted to understand, just on sort of your posture toward acquisitions going forward, it sounds a lot like we'd be comfortable making acquisitions first and then selling down certain assets to drop leverage. Not necessarily. We don't necessarily need to wait for divestitures as a gating item to get to the acquisitive stuff. So maybe just put a finer point on that for us, if you could, as well.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah, Matt. So, you know, with Velocity, I would say the Air Gun business was, you know, performing okay. And, you know, we just felt that it made sense, and there was a natural buyer out there, where combining the businesses, both which, you know, the industry has created some excess capacity over the last few years of declines. You know, it kind of makes sense that those businesses would be combined. And, I think Daisy, you know, will have a great asset, and they'll be able to, you know, create a lot of efficiencies out of putting those businesses together. And so I think there's more value to be created by separating the two businesses and having the Air Gun business, you know, kind of be sold off first.

You know, in terms of what is left and why not having sold the, you know, the whole thing, you know, we think what remains, as Pat said, has some really exciting new technology that's coming next year and has the, you know, the potential to really reinvigorate the category and provide some substantial upside growth in, you know, kind of 2025 and 2026. And so I think it makes more sense, given, you know, that's kind of consistent with what we like in our businesses, you know, kind of highly innovative businesses that can, you know, drive, you know, kind of category growth. And we're gonna. You know, we expect to see that here in Velocity next year.

So, you know, I think there's a better path to maximizing value out of the overall Velocity asset by having split the business up and, you know, kind of doing it as we are right now. I think it's, you know, very much consistent with our strategy, and, you know, frankly, I think it, you know, is consistent along what our ESG strategy is as well, to move on from that asset. With respect to your second question in leverage, the answer, you know, simply is yes. We're comfortable taking on leverage now more than we have to fund an acquisition. There could be, you know, the deleveraging activities that will happen after that, anywhere from, you know, selling under the ATMs to potential further divestitures, you know, those are all there.

And so the timing doesn't need to be, you know, funded on the ATMs or, you know, divest an asset in order to acquire. If we find a great $500 million acquisition opportunity, we're gonna execute against it. And we feel very comfortable with where our leverage is now, especially pro forma for the sale of the Crosman business and repayment of those proceeds towards, you know, debt reduction. And so we're very comfortable now going out and doing an acquisition. And again, you know, Matt, given the strength of the business, given the, you know, kind of, growth in earnings that we are really confident about, especially in Q2, but really more so for the rest of the year and how it looks into 2025, we're just comfortable having a little bit more leverage right now.

And so the timing of, you know, kind of this, the portfolio repositioning is a little bit less relevant. Now, we're not gonna go haywire and go outside of, you know, kind of reasonable parameters, but bringing our leverage up another 0.5 turn or 0.75 turn, you know, for a temporary period, would not distress us, given all the signs we're seeing of growth and deleveraging in our business.

Matt Koranda (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay, super clear and appreciate all that detail, Elias. I guess on the Lugano front, obviously was not an issue this quarter to lap some pretty big two-year sort of stack comps there. But just wondering as we progress through this year, why the confidence level is so high that we sort of continue to see the large growth rate that Lugano has been on for the last several quarters? Maybe just unpacking, you know, the drivers of that growth a little bit more clearly for us would be helpful. Like, how much is related to kind of salon expansion and some of the international expansion that you're alluding to, versus just kind of like for like growth at existing salons and maybe, you know, AOV growth.

It'd just be helpful to hear a little bit more on that.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah. Matt, that's a lot to unpack. Let me take, let me take a shot at it. So first and foremost, I think, you know, the market penetration is incredibly low at Lugano. Particularly, you know, we think we're converting non-jewelry buyers to, to jewelry buyers as well. So the market penetration, when you include that, is even lower, right? Number one. Number two, we're investing significantly in inventory as you can see and as we've told you, and, you know, we're more and more getting the right pieces in the right places at the right time, to be sold. Number three, I think you will still see some maturation of some of the stores that, you know, we invested in in the last couple of years.

Be that DC, particularly, the Palm Beach flagship salon, particularly Newport Beach. I think you'll still see continued growth there, you know, as those stores, salons, excuse me, just continue to mature. And then I'd say, lastly, there will be geographic growth. Obviously, having a London salon now open will drive growth. There are a couple more areas or cities we're looking in, though I wouldn't expect any announcements probably till the fourth quarter, at the earliest. So I think it's a combination of all of the things you said, plus, you know, investing in the right product. And I'll just remind you, you know, this is a disruptive business that's able to convey a lot of value to their customers, through, you know, their disruptive supply chain as well, right?

We believe we're able to buy very well and pass on that value to the end customer.

Matt Koranda (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay, super. Could I sneak one more in just on Honey Pot since it's kind of newer? Just curious, the growth drivers that you're seeing there. I think you guys alluded to kind of additional shelf space with some key retailers. Maybe just a little bit more on where you're seeing those shelf space gains, maybe in which product categories and which types of retailers you're seeing some gains there, and just sort of the growth runway you see there.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Sure. So there's a couple big box retailers that sort of dominate the industry. We are, you know, strong with both of them, particularly one getting stronger. Outside of that, it's really growth in drug and grocery channels, which we've been under-indexed to historically. And then, you know, there are some new products, projects hitting the shelf now. We're very excited about, you know, sort of the new product pipeline in 2025 and 2026 as well.

Matt Koranda (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay, great. I'll take the rest of mine offline, guys. Thank you.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

And thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Robert Dodd, from Raymond James. Your line is now open.

Robert Dodd (Equity Analyst)

Hi, guys, and congratulations on the quarter. On PrimaLoft, and recognize everything you said about the bookings, et cetera, is, and I know it's difficult to get see through to the end consumer, obviously, an inventory channel, like, but do you know the source of the booking? Is it the same products that are, that are finally ramping back up, or is this new SKU wins or new client relationships, or any color on, on what's driving the turnaround? Is it just inventory clearing out or are there other factors at play, with this one here?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

No, we're adding to some products. A couple products have rolled off, but we're also adding you know, particularly in the performance segment, some new customers and some new project wins as well. And then I would say, as far as you know, it's also. It's just what we're hearing as far as you know, later order patterns, et cetera. It's just what we're hearing from our brand partners. And so I can't point to data specifically to that, but in general, they're saying that the supply chain is improving.

Robert Dodd (Equity Analyst)

Got it. Thank you. Almost same kind of question. BOA, right? Very strong quarter this quarter. It's been one that, you know, its mix has been historically a lot, you know, snow boots and seasonality and, or snowboarding shoes, boots. But you've been adding a lot of SKUs. You've been adding, you know, new or trying to add new product verticals. I mean, how much is the new responsible for this rebound versus, I don't want to call it old, because, I mean, the product's not that old, but, you know, the older verticals versus the newer verticals and SKUs driving it? How much? What's the contribution there?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Boy, that's a, that's a tough one to unpack. I actually have some data on this to say that it's roughly half and half, it feels. We are growing, you know, our number of SKUs, but we're growing revenue at a faster rate than that. And so I think our SKUs are also taking market share.

Robert Dodd (Equity Analyst)

Got it. Thank you. And then last one, if I can on Lugano. I mean, obviously, London's open now. Are you willing to articulate more, you know, spell it out? Like, are there other international locations that have been scouted in process, or is it still, are you just not willing to name names in terms of countries and cities?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Not willing to name names, but been scouted, not yet in process. Currently being looked at.

Robert Dodd (Equity Analyst)

Got it. Thank you.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

You got it.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Matt Howlett from B. Riley Securities. Your line is now open.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

No, hey, guys, thanks for taking my question. Just on the guidance, you know, this inventory destocking, you know, this headwind that's gonna turn into a tailwind. The guidance does not incorporate the snapback that we've, you know, we've all discussed over the last few quarters, that there could be, you know, that there could be a re-acceleration at some point if this is really the end of it.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

That is correct, Matt. The guidance assumes sort of the same trajectory we're seeing right now in the first quarter, sort of the slow turning of the boat, if you will. And it, you know, kind of is improving, and it feels like it's steadily improving, but it doesn't assume, you know, sort of a big snapback and rebound. And, you know, what we're hearing is that customers globally, after having so much excess inventory, are now just being extra cautious.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

Right.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Obviously, the cost of carrying inventory is a lot higher now, you know, where rates are, so I think that has a dampening effect on it. But, you know, my sense is, just given what we know, like, if you look at a BOA, for example, and, you know, where we're getting more than 10% annual SKU growth over the last few years, you know, you can start to run the math and say, okay, you know, there should be a bigger rebound here, and we probably haven't cleared all the inventory, you know, yet, and kind of had stabilization. So remember, these companies serve a lot of different end markets. They're not, you know, synchronized by any means.

So, you know, maybe rather than a snapback, it's a slow, constant build that happens, you know, from, you know, the beginning of this year into next year, and it surprises by, you know, just continuing to build. But I would say this does, our forecast doesn't reflect that inventories have sort of that snapback in or any continued progressive increases, although it's likely that that probably will happen, which is why, you know, I say, I think, you know, we're poised to surprise on the upside, not the other way around as the year unfolds.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

Right. And just take BOA, for example, I mean, normalized organic growth could be still something like 20%+ easily, right? When things, you know, get back to normalization. Just talking out loud.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah, I mean, I think it's historically, until we had some real craziness in the supply chain, where, you know, we had massive over-ordering, which benefited their numbers in late 2021 and early 2022, and then destocking. So if you kind of clear all that noise, you know, BOA's been sort of a 20% plus or minus top-line grower, you know, over, you know, kind of the, its history. Now, you know, we don't sign up and say that's what we think the company is gonna deliver, but it still has a lot of the same core attributes of relatively low market share, you know, outstanding management, outstanding technology, you know, great strategy and execution.

So it still has all the elements in place, but, you know, we don't like to get out over our skis, so we're not gonna say that's kind of what we think its core growth rate is. We'll be a little bit more modest than that. But look, those things still exist, and it's been a 20% grower historically, and so, you know, I would expect it to, you know, continue to be a really strong grower that is above the portfolio average.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

Gotcha. Great. And then just one last one, if I may. I mean, Lugano is just an incredible investment, an incredible story. I don't know if you've done this in the history, but do you look at it as something that you could sell a minority interest, bring in a partner? It's so big you could use it, some flexibility to, you know, buy another portfolio company. How should investors look at this? I mean, you have this at your hip pocket. This, you know, this company is growing phenomenally, throwing off cash. I mean, what can you tell us what you could do with it, you know, long-term to create even more value than it already has for shareholders?

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Yeah, I think those options exist, Matt. You know, the problem becomes, it gets a little bit, you know, complex when you start bringing in third-party investors into our structure.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

Right.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

You got to look at, you know, kind of them betting, you know, benefiting from how we structure our deals by being the lender and the equity, which clearly performs so good at Lugano. Do you really wanna, you know, cut off that strip anymore? So let's just suffice to say, there's lots of opportunities. I think those opportunities create complexity, and in general, we're trying to create a little bit more simplification so that we're an easier story to understand, not harder.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

Right.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

But that clearly is a benefit. And I would say, you know, given the growth rate of Lugano and, you know, frankly, our forecast doesn't assume that it continues to grow at the pace that it has been. And there's upside, but, you know, it also manifests itself through far greater earnings per share. And so I would hope that, you know, yes, there's creative financing opportunities, but obviously, as our earnings grow, that creates just direct financing opportunities, you know, in the business, whether that be on equity financings or whether that be in debt financing. But yeah, it, it will give a plethora of options. And having a company like this, which, you know, if you remember back, we, you know, had Fox Factory, which was an extraordinary, you know, investment for us. You know, Lugano is an extraordinary investment.

We've had a lot of them. BOA, you know, is in that same vein, but, you know, Lugano, just based on its sheer growth rate and mass at this point, you know, it is a little bit unique and, you know, we'll, you know, clearly think about what we can do to create even more incremental value from owning that asset.

Matt Howlett (Equity Research Analyst)

I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions. I would now like to turn the call back over to Elias Sabo for closing remarks.

Elias Sabo (CEO)

Thank you, operator. As always, I'd like to thank everyone again for joining us on today's call and for your continued interest in CODI. Thank you for your support.