Inter Parfums - Q4 2022
March 1, 2023
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Good evening, welcome to the Inter Parfums 2022 fourth quarter and year-end conference call and webcast. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Karin Daly, Inter Parfums investor relations representative and President and Vice President at The Equity Group. Thank you. You may begin.
Karin Daly (VP of Investor Relations)
Thank you, Doug. On behalf of the company, I would like to note that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from projected results. These factors may be found in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the headings Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors in their most recent annual report on Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Inter Parfums, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update the information discussed. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Mr. Jean Madar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Inter Parfums. Jean, you may begin.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you, Karin. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's call. I will start the ball rolling, and later you will hear from Michel Atwood, our CFO, who has been with us now for 6 months. For anyone new to Inter Parfums, keep in mind that when we refer to our European-based operations, we are talking about our 72% owned French subsidiary called Inter Parfums SA. When we refer to our U.S.-based operation, we're talking about our wholly owned domestic subsidiaries. 2022 will always be remembered as the year we topped $1 billion in net sales.
In 2022, our sales reached $1.087 billion to be exact, resulting in diluted EPS of $3.78, a record year marked by a 24% increase in net sales and a 38% increase in earnings per share. 2022 will also be remembered as the year Donna Karan and DKNY Fragrances joined our portfolio as the first full year producing and selling Ferragamo fragrance, and also the first full year that our Italian office was operational. Finally, the year in which we entered into a license agreement with Lacoste. It wasn't easy sailing. 2020 was also a year of rampant inflation, surging dollar, hold ups in transportations, component shortages and other supply chain headaches, along with China lockdowns and of course, a war in Eastern Europe. Let's move on to business by region.
First, I want to focus on North America, our largest market. You may recall that for several reasons, through the first nine months of 2022, sales were up by only 4% in North America. As we reported earlier this year, we had logistic difficulties stemming from a change in shipping software which delayed shipments. Plus, in 2021, you may recall many U.S. customers pressed us to deliver their holiday shipments in the third quarter, fearing supply chain problems. Those two factors were the main reasons why North American sales rose 140% through the first nine months of 2021. That flip-flopped in 2022, when a large amount of holiday gift sets initially scheduled for delivery in the third quarter didn't get shipped until the fourth quarter, making for a huge fourth quarter comeback.
We booked $147 million in sales in the final quarter, resulting in a 22% increase in 2022 North American sales for the full year. For the rest of the world. Sales in Western Europe and Asia rose 28% and 19%, respectively. Central and South America grew sales by 24% and the Middle East by 44%. Even Eastern Europe achieved modest sales growth of 6%, despite the conflict in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. What is notable about Eastern Europe is that through the first nine months of the year, sales were down 16%. To be 6% ahead at year-end is a good turn of events. With the exception of China, our travel retail business has shown remarkable resiliency.
As we have stated over the course of 2022. The strength of the dollar minimized the accomplishments of our European operation, which grew sales in U.S. dollars by 12%, but grew 20% in constant currency. For Montblanc, we launched a new flanker called Legend Red, which contributed to a 15% sales increase in dollars, but 22% increase in constant currency. Jimmy Choo welcomed the I Want Choo Forever pillar and Man Aqua, both flankers, which combined with legacy scents, produced a 23% increase in sales in dollars, but a 29% increase in constant currency. Coach fragrance sales were up 18% in dollars and 22% in constant currency as we introduced a new men's fragrance family called Open Road and Wild Rose for women.
Our Moncler duo was on the market for a full year, while in 2021, the program debuted in a limited number of outlets late in the year. Among our other new product launches was fragrance for Boucheron called Singulier, Sparkle for Kate Spade, and Byzance Gold for Rochas. Let's discuss U.S. operations, which achieved sales growth of 58% in 2022, we have doubled our sales versus 2019 pre-COVID. In the U.S., we launched Uomo for men and the sister scents for the Bella Vita fragrance family for GUESS, which spurred brand sales growth by 24%. With the introduction of Alibi and continued sales of brand favorites, Oscar de la Renta brand sales rose also by 24%.
Abercrombie & Fitch enlarged the Authentic and Away pillars with new flankers, growing sales by 28%. Hollister welcomed Canyon and Wave brand extensions to grow the brand's fragrance franchise by 16%. As we have said, newer brands, such as Ferragamo, were included for all of 2022, but only in the final quarter of 2021. Donna Karan and DKNY sales were consolidated starting in July of 2022. It now appears very clearly that the combination of Donna Karan and DKNY franchise will emerge as our second-largest brand within U.S. operations. Starting this year, we have taken over production from the former licensee, Estée Lauder, and have been able to build inventory and gain better control over the supply chain, which in 2022, limited sales and shipments.
As our guideline implies, 2023 should be an even better year with new products and brand extensions unveiling throughout the year. 2023, not unlike 2022, will be dominated by brand extension for all of our major and mid-sized brands, following an exceptional new product launch schedule in 2021, which included many that we have delayed from 2020. As I have said on previous calls, the advantage of flankers and extensions for successful pillar is that we can leverage the design elements, packaging, components, photography labels, as well as advertising and promotional materials across all members of the fragrance family. The big news we announced in December was the signing of a 15-year exclusive fragrance license agreement with Lacoste, perhaps the most widely recognized sports fashion brand globally.
Effective January 1, 2024, we will take over the brand's legacy fragrance collection for men and women. Our plan calls for something new to hit the market that year. For generations, the instantly identified crocodile logo has adorned sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, home goods, watches, and of course, fragrance. In fact, I recently read that when Lacoste was founded in 1933, it was the first brand to feature a logo on its clothing. Lacoste should rank among our largest brands, having generated 2022 sales of over $100 million. As I say on every conference call, our search for additional brands, both established and rising star, remains a priority for the company.
Another piece of good news is Richemont, the owners of Montblanc, our largest brand, with sales approaching $200 million, has agreed to extend our fragrance license through December 31, 2030, adding five years to our partnership. With a seven-year window, we are better able to plan new product launches, promotion and advertising, and distribution plans well into the future. While our new ERP system is hardly a fun topic, it is virtually important to our future. I'm sorry, not virtually, vitally important to our future. I will admit that we outgrew our old system faster than we could replace it, but it was worth the wait. With component suppliers, fillers, and customers across the globe, it was quite a task to keep track of inventory real-time.
Today, authorized personnel can easily access from any secure device anywhere in the world, whatever they need, from the quantities and location of goods to the status of existing orders. They can reserve goods pending the sale, and we have implemented EDI for certain large customers. A major portion of the ERP system has been deployed with additional modules in the works, including more vendor portals. This was a big investment, a big headache along the way, and many problems still to solve, but the payoff, even if viscerally in the game, will be very rewarding. I don't have to tell you that the growth of the fragrance industry has been extraordinary over the past two years, and we see no sign of a slowdown. Of all the key beauty categories, fragrance is the fastest-growing, far outpacing hair care, makeup, and skin care.
As a pure play in fragrance with a diverse, well-balanced, and well-recognized portfolio of brands, plus an exceptional staff, we are well-positioned to continue to gain market share. We now have four brands with sales ranging from $100 million-$200 million, and they have been growing annual sales by double digits. Overall, our midsize brands are performing exceptionally well as well. Among the trends working in our favor, and for most of our peers, is the popularity of higher concentration products and higher-priced luxury brands. In addition, while perfume has always been and continues to be a popular gift for Mother's Day, Christmas, and Valentine's Day, in recent years, more shoppers are buying fragrance for themselves. They are building fragrance wardrobes, and they are indulging in brands that may be out of reach price-wise in clothing and jewelry.
Since the pandemic, fragrance buyers have grown exponentially. When consumers start taking interest in a category, they typically stay. While our 2023 guidance barely factors in China, perhaps kicking in late in the year, the opportunity over time is enormous. I've read estimates that only 3% of the Chinese population is wearing fragrance. Those that do are young, high-end shoppers. Doing business in China has a host of challenges beyond COVID-related restrictions, China's weaker economy, and sluggish store traffic. For example, it can take eight to 12 months to be granted today a health registration on a new fragrance product. That said, if the Chinese retail and online markets open faster and if Chinese travel retail becomes more robust, we will need to revisit the subject of guidance. For now, we are rightfully conservative, cautious, and comfortable with our estimates.
Similarly, as the year progresses, we will have better visibility as to orders and sales that may once again call for guidance adjustments. Now, I will turn the call over to Michel for a more detailed financial review. Michel?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Thank you, Jean, good morning, everyone. I'm delighted to be on today's conference call, my second since joining Inter Parfums in September, as Jean pointed out six months ago. Before moving on to our financial results, I will again address the subject of foreign currency exchange rates, specifically the strength of the dollar against the euro throughout 2022. Over 50% of our net sales of our European operations are denominated in U.S. dollars, while almost all its costs are incurred in Europe. That has a negative effect on our sales but boosts our gross margin. For the fourth quarter of 2022 and full year, net sales reflect a -10% and 7% foreign exchange impact versus comparable periods in 2021. We also expect that these headwinds will also impact quarter one of 2023.
As we reported in the final quarter of 2022, net sales were $311 million, a 47% increase from the $211 million in 2021. At comparable foreign exchange rates, fourth quarter sales actually increased 57% from the same period in 2021. For the full year, 2022 net sales rose to $1,087 million, up 24% from the $880 million in 2021, while at comparable foreign exchange rates, net sales increased 30% from 2021. I will again point out that our U.S. operations where reported sales growth was 58%. Removing newly added brands like for like, 2022 sales rose 24%, with basically new brands adding 38% for the year.
For European-based operations, the 2022 gross margin was 68.2%, up from 66.6% one year earlier, with the increase attributable to several key factors. First, the net sales of our U.S.-based distribution subsidiary increased 16% in 2022 as compared to 2021, leading to favorable mix. Also, as I just noted, our gross margins benefited from the strong dollar. Finally, we enacted modest price increases last year, All these inputs combined more than offset higher costs of materials and transportation. For U.S. operations, gross margin rose to 54.7% from 53.1% in 2021.
The scale benefits coming from our significant growth, combined with pricing actions and favorable channel and brand mix, especially with our newer designer brands, have enabled us to more than offset the impacts of inflation and thus expand gross margins by about 160 basis points in 2022. Moving on to SG&A expenses. For European operations, 2022 SG&A expenses increased 9% from 2021 and represented 48.2% of sales, down from 49.4% in 2021, as we're able to leverage our scale. For U.S. operations, SG&A expenses increased 70% from 2021 and represented 39.1% of net sales, compared to 36.5% in 2021.
With regards to both European and U.S. operations, increased promotion and advertising expenditures were key contributors to the rise in SG&A as we invested to continue to build our brands. Additionally, in 2022, the U.S.-based operations increased expenses related to staffing as we built the organization and infrastructure to support our new brands and future growth. As Jean mentioned earlier, U.S. operations grew sales by 58% in 2022 and doubled versus 2019, which was pre-COVID. quite a large, and significant, you know, change over the last three years for this organization. While it would seem very cavalier to complain about upside surprises in sales, but that's pretty much what has happened over the past two years. Already, we've raised guidance for 2023 twice since our initial attempt in November. The issue is not modesty or conservatism, but rather visibility.
When we say our goal is to spend 21% of net sales on promotion and advertising, we mean it, and we have done it back in the pre-COVID years. In 2022, promotion and advertising aggregated to $212 million, which came to about 19.5% of net sales. Of that amount, 40% was spent in the final quarter of the year. As in past years, we do a big spend in quarter four to stimulate holiday sell-through, to diminish inventory in stores, and push stores into stocking up in quarter one of the following year. In 2021, we spent $171 million on promotion and advertising, which likewise totaled 19.5% of net sales. Strong spending, but not necessarily in line with our long-term goals.
As you read in our release yesterday and in our 10-K, an evaluation of Rochas fashion trademark value was conducted by an independent expert who concluded that the brand value was $11.3 million at the end of 2022. This resulted in a $6.8 million impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2022. At the end of the day, our 2022 operating margin was 17.9%, up from 16.8% in 2021, both of which are in our high teen sweet spot. Below the operating line, due to the sizable swings in currency rates during 2022, we went from recognizing a gain of $2.3 million on foreign currency in 2021 to a loss of $1.9 million in 2022.
On a consolidated basis, our effective income tax was 22%, down from 27% in 2021, with both the U.S. and European-based operations charged a lower tax rate. In Europe, the lower rate was primarily because the lower corporate tax rate in France, in the U.S., the rate declined because we recognized a one-time tax benefit of $2.5 million associated with the 2021 Ferragamo acquisition, which we had discussed already in quarter three. Overall, when we count the one-time gains and losses for the year, which include impairments, one-time gains and losses, and other income expense and tax gains in Italy, they broadly neutralize themselves on an after-tax basis. A few other financial points worth mentioning. We closed the years with strong...
With very favorable working capital of $443 million, including approximately $256 million in cash equivalents, and short-term investments, and a working capital ratio of 2.3 to 1. A very strong balance sheet. $151 million of long-term debt relates to Inter Parfums SA headquarter acquisition, which was financed by a ten-year, EUR 120 million loan. Which is about $128 million, plus a $53 million four-year loan agreement for Inter Parfums as acquisition of the Lacoste trademark. With regards to accounts receivable, I think you would agree that the 24% increase from year-end 2021 is quite acceptable in light of the record fourth quarter sales levels.
We haven't had any real problems in terms of collections as days sales outstanding was 64 days, up slightly from 2021, 61 days. Down significantly for the 86 days we had in 2020. Inventory levels are up 46% from year-end 2021, and I know if it was up to Jean, that percentage would be larger. To repeat a point raised in our last call, we have no qualms about carrying higher inventory levels in an environment where shortages abound and transportation is often unreliable. It is better to carry more inventory than lose the sale due to a lack of goods. Our inventory doesn't go stale due to color, size or season, protecting us from any risk of obsolescence. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to maintain over-sufficiency in inventory of components and finished goods.
Inventory days on hand increased to 231 days in 2022, as compared to 208 days in 2021. Turning to the outlook for the new year, we see more growth ahead, but as you can see from our guidance, the growth rate we envision for net sales should exceed that of earnings, and that is attributable to our commitment to the 21% of net sales invested in promotion and advertising. With the addition of more upscale designer brands, our gross margin, particularly for U.S.-based brands, should continue to grow. For European operations, the average euro-dollar exchange rate has moderated, and we don't look for that to be a gross margin catalyst in 2023.
Lastly, as you've probably also seen in our press release, we are pleased to increase our annual dividend by 25% from $2 a share to $2.50 a share, which further demonstrates our confidence in our prospects for our business for both the near and the long term. Our strong financial position enables us to continue to invest in growth opportunities within our portfolio and enlarge our brand portfolio while continuing to reward our shareholders. Operator, please open the line for questions.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, you may press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Linda Bolton Weiser with D.A. Davidson. Please proceed with your question.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Yes, hello. Congratulations. I remember when you were much smaller than $1 billion, so congrats on reaching that.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Can you maybe just update us on what you're seeing in China since the market has reopened? Are you seeing an uptick in store traffic? Estée Lauder had mentioned some excess inventory in the Hainan region. I guess that's in travel retail. Are you experiencing that, or is that more of a skincare situation?
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Yes, I can try to answer that. For us, the start of China is quite slow. Of course, because of Chinese New Year, we saw a lot of people traveling and a lot of traffic in the stores. I still have some reservations of when China is gonna be really open. It's quite slow. On the top of that, I think it was said in my remarks, there have been some changes in the importation of fragrances and cosmetics in China, and it's becoming more and more complicated and longer to process.
Any new products that we want to sell in China, the registration of, could take anywhere from six to 12 months. That's why we are quite conservative in our business in China. If we see at the end of the first quarter or beginning of the second quarter that things open up faster, of course, we will let you know, and we'll revisit. Right now, especially in the last 30 to 45 days, it has been quite slow. Hainan, yes, is reopened. We don't have issues of inventory per se. That's what I can tell you now.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Okay. Thank you. Then,
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you. Thank you, Linda.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Can I ask you, is there any way to quantify how much in sales shifted from the third quarter to the fourth quarter?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah. We said it was about $10 million.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
$10 million?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Okay.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
-with in quarter 3.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Okay. Then what are you seeing in terms of the component shortages? Is that improving at all, or is it still a challenge?
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
It has been a challenge and it is still a challenge for especially for certain category of plastic and certain metal pieces that are difficult to get. But as you know, we have taken the decision to multiply the source of supply. We are buying from the U.S., we are buying also now a lot in Europe. It's still very tight. We come up very long. Just to give you an idea, we have to place our orders for glass 1 year in advance. 1 year in advance. For instance, now all our orders for glass has been placed for this year.
You can imagine the difficulty to react in case of when you need more or when you need less. Like Michel said, we think it's better to have more inventory than less. We are taking some position on inventory that will enable us to beat our own projection if the market continues to grow. Michel, you want to add something?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
No, no. I was nothing specific to say. I mean, yes, the other thing we're seeing is we're also seeing some significant inflation on glass products, particularly at, you know, the stuff that's purchased in Europe, due to the higher increases in energy. As you know, glass is a lot of sand and energy. So we have been diversifying also our supply base to evaluate new markets where energy is less of an issue.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Okay.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
The only good news.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Okay, I'm done.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
If there is one good news, if I may.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Mm-hmm.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
The cost of transportation is going down at a very, very fast rate. We used to pay a container from Asia to America, $25,000 for a 40-ft container a year ago. Now the price is less than $3,000. The cost of transportation is going down. Cost of energy is not going up. We should see, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.
Linda Bolton Weiser (Managing Director)
Okay. Thank you.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Our next question comes from the line of Korinne Wolfmeyer with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question.
Korinne Wolfmeyer (Senior Research Analyst)
Good morning and congrats on a really good quarter. Thank you for taking the questions. First, could you just comment a bit on what you're seeing with your retail partners, particularly in the United States? I mean, we've been hearing from some other players that maybe there is some inventory rebalancing, maybe in the department stores. If you can provide any color on kinda like the United States, state of the business. Thank you.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
I didn't hear the full question. I'm calling from overseas. You asked us about the inventory at our.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yes.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
At our retailers in the U.S.?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yes.
Korinne Wolfmeyer (Senior Research Analyst)
Yeah. Yeah. The inventory positions of your retail partners in the United States.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Yeah. Yeah. What I can tell you is that Christmas was very strong. Our sell-through, the sell-through was very, very good. So the inventory at store level is quite low. That's why we have to replenish quite strongly in the first quarter. There is no piling up of inventory at U.S. retailer. At the contrary, I think they need more merchandise right now. Michel?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
I think, if you look at the market, the U.S. market, grew about 12% last year. We obviously, you know, grew ahead. What we found is, I think December was, you know, it's all relative, right? I mean, to what we've had. I think December was at 10%, versus the year of average of 12%. Maybe a little bit of a, you know, I would say a slowdown. It's still a very high number. Yeah, our inventory levels in trade, are actually quite low, is what we're, what we're finding. Our gift sets have sold through, and we're actually, you know, entering 2023 in a pretty good position.
Korinne Wolfmeyer (Senior Research Analyst)
Very helpful. Thank you. Can you just touch a little bit more on the planned increase in marketing spend that you mentioned? Is that gonna be kinda pretty balanced across the year, or are we gonna see it maybe hit a little bit heavier towards the back half? Just how should we be thinking about the cadence of that marketing? Thank you.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah. I mean, our marketing spending, I mean, at the end of the day, what you wanna do, there's two parts of, there's two parts related to your marketing spending. There's the ongoing building of the brand, the overall equity. In most cases, what you really wanna do is you wanna be advertising at a moment when the shoppers are in the stores buying your products, which are gonna be during your key consumption periods. The largest one obviously being Christmas. As you, as the, you know, as we run up towards Christmas, it's always a very big quarter. Typically, 50% of our spending happens in that quarter. We expect that that will be very, very much the same.
I would say during the rest of the year, it's more equally spread, even though we generally do spend a lot during Mother's Day, Father's Day, so in quarter 2.
Korinne Wolfmeyer (Senior Research Analyst)
Awesome. Thank you.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Our next question comes from the line of Ashley Helgans with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.
Sydney Wagner (Equity Research Analyst)
Hi, this is Sydney on for Ashley. I was just wondering if you could talk about expectations around durability of demand and then just any differences by region and trends that you would call out?
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Durability of demand, across the region. The demand is not slowing down. What we see in the US department stores, in European perfumeries, is and what we see from NPD, is a continued growth of this category. Stores are giving more space to fragrance, in Europe, in the U.S., in the Middle East, in Asia. We are recruiting new customers. I would like to tell you that we think that one day it's going to slow down, but right now it's still very, very strong.
Sydney Wagner (Equity Research Analyst)
Great. Thank you.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah. Yeah. Maybe just to build on Jean. I mean, if you really look at, if you look at the world today, you've got really three groups. You've got Europe, where typically fragrance penetration has always been very, very high, you know, about 50%. What we're seeing there is continued, you know, strong demand, premiumization of the category, and people, you know, more increasing their usage habits as opposed to basically more penetration. A lot of the growth there is coming from, you know, I would say increased usage and premiumization. If you look at the U.S., the U.S. historically has had a much lower level of penetration. In the U.S., we're really hitting across all cylinders.
We're seeing clearly an increase in the penetration that started during COVID and that continues to be strong. That offers, I think, a very strong, you know, pipeline of new consumers entering the category. We know that when consumers enter these categories, they build up their knowledge, they get more premium, they increase their usage. That could be a strong, I think, pipeline of growth for us going forward. Obviously the question is when does that penetration slow down? Does it eventually get to the European levels, in which case the market could still double, or will that eventually slow down? That is a pretty sizable building block.
The other thing we're also seeing in the U.S. is more and more people are increasing their usage. We're seeing you know, heavier and heavier usages, people using it at different moments during the day. Also, an increase in the usage. The last piece is really China and Asia generally, but China in particular, where penetration is very, very low, where we are seeing, you know, as we said at the beginning of the call, in, you know, young affluent people entering the category, more premium you know, looking for more premium brands, more aspirational brands. And that offers obviously a huge growth opportunity and building block, you know, going forward.
Sydney Wagner (Equity Research Analyst)
That's super helpful. Thank you so much.
Operator (participant)
Our next question comes from the line of Hamed Khorsand with BWS Financial. Please proceed with your question.
Hamed Khorsand (Principal)
Hi. Just on the ad spend, Given the demand dynamics that you're experiencing, do you need to spend 21% of your sales? Is your scale-
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
I love this question. Thank you for asking Hamed. I think to answer, do we need to spend? Absolutely. Because the spend of advertising, the spend on the marketing our brand is our insurance for the future. This will guarantee repeat sales going forward. Yes, I think it's very important to continue to spend not only in advertising, but also in point of sale, also in training beauty advisor behind the counter.
All this that makes of the 21% is definitely a good spend for the present and for the future. This is why we are able to grow faster than the market. Michel?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah. I would just, yeah, maybe just build on that, right? I mean, it really depends if your focus is on, you know, driving short-term profits or growing your business sustainably, right? I mean, if your goal is to deliver short-term profits, then yes, you could reduce. If your goal is to drive long-term shareholder return, which is really ultimately our goal, you need to maintain the right level of spending. This is a category, remember, there's a lot of innovation, so when you innovate, you need to communicate that innovation. You need to drive trial with sampling. You need to educate the people in the stores so they can talk about the product.
You need to get those products in the hands of the consumers. So there is a significant amount of, you know, activity that goes behind ensuring that these products are top of mind for the consumers. Remember as well, this is a very fragmented category, which is good because it means that if you have something that is working, there's an opportunity to gain a lot of growth, which is what we've seen. It also means that you have to be on your toes because competition isn't standing still.
Hamed Khorsand (Principal)
Understood. Given that you didn't spend as much as you would like in 2022, are you doing some sort of like a catch-up process here in the first half of 2023, or do you feel comfortable with the kind of ad spend that you have planned out?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah, I think it's more a philosophy, right? Than, you know, the. You can't, you know, this isn't just about equity, it's about having the advertising at the right moment. It's about share of voice versus market share and versus the market share that you're trying to achieve. So, you know, we're looking for ROI. You know, the idea isn't to advertise when nobody's in the store, which is kind of what's happening right now in January. Obviously, it's always a shorter month, you know. You don't start advertising in January just because you didn't advertise in December, you know. What it means is that, you know, as we do our long-term planning, we are planning for more spending.
You know, we wanted to make sure that that was clear as we were guiding for 2023, that, you know, we weren't looking to expand our margins at this point in time. We're focusing really on growing our top line.
Hamed Khorsand (Principal)
Okay. Then, just a housekeeping on the, on the script, you were saying about the having better control of the supply chain shipments. Was that related to DKNY? What kind of difference have you seen so far, with that comment that you just made?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
I'm not sure I understood the question, sorry.
Hamed Khorsand (Principal)
Jean had said it in the script earlier on.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Sorry.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
I will have to go over it again. If you don't mind, I will look at it and will answer to you offline.
Hamed Khorsand (Principal)
Okay. Perfect.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah.
Hamed Khorsand (Principal)
Thank you.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Thank you very much, Hamed.
Operator (participant)
There are no further questions in the queue. I'd like to hand the call back over to Jean Madar for closing remarks.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yeah.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
No, I'm gonna let Michel do the closing remarks. But I can say thank you to everyone for listening. Michel is gonna tell you that we're going, I'm sure, to participate to certain conference soon.
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yes.
Jean Madar (Chairman and CEO)
Michel?
Michel Atwood (CFO)
Yes. Yes. Thanks, Jean. Yeah. Yes, we will be participating in the D.A. Davidson conference in New York on the 21st of March. You know, wanted to thank Linda for inviting us. Hope we'll be able to meet you all or some of you at least at that time. I wanna thank you all for having joined the meeting this morning. If you have any questions, please contact, you know, Karin Daly at The Equity Group. We'll be happy to help. I wanted to just close this call by thanking the IP U.S. team who has been working relentlessly on fixing some of our startup issues related to our ERP. It's been a huge effort.
We've made tremendous progress and we're, I think, in a great place now. I wanna recognize, you know, those heroes that aren't on the call today, that have put in long hours to get us back on track. Wanted to thank them as well, in this call. I wanted everybody to stay well also and stay safe. Thanks again for your time today.
Operator (participant)
Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.