Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ: MLHR) today announced results for its third quarter ended February 29, 2020. Net sales in the quarter totaled $665.7 million, an increase of 7.5% from the same quarter last fiscal year. New orders in the third quarter of $651.7 million were 6.3% above the prior year level.
On an organic basis, which excludes the impact of acquisitions and foreign currency translation, net sales and orders in the third quarter decreased by 0.5% and 1.4%, respectively, compared to the same quarter last fiscal year.
Herman Miller reported net earnings of $0.64 per share on a diluted basis in the third quarter compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.66 in the same quarter last fiscal year. Excluding restructuring expenses and other special charges, adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter totaled $0.74compared to adjusted earnings per share of $0.64 in the third quarter of last fiscal year.
Andi Owen, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Despite the uncertain global economic environment resulting from coronavirus concerns, we delivered adjusted earnings per share that exceeded the expectations that we established at the start of the quarter. While we experienced uneven demand patterns for sales and orders during the quarter, we focused our attention on what we could control - with our first priority to ensure the health and safety of our associates around the globe. We also remained focused on controlling expenses and achieving the savings target we previously set in connection with our profit optimization initiative. Supported by these efforts, we delivered adjusted operating margin expansion in the quarter of 110 basis points over last year. While we cannot determine the precise impact of the coronavirus outbreak on our third quarter results, we do know that the temporary closure of our China facility reduced International sales by approximately $6 million. Given the rapidly changing environment surrounding coronavirus, we are refraining from providing guidance for the upcoming fourth quarter. While this is clearly a time of near-term uncertainty, we remain confident the progress that we are making on our strategic priorities positions us for continued long-term profitable growth."
Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Financial Results
Consolidated gross margin in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 totaled 36.5%. This included the impact of special charges totaling $1.4 million related to the initial purchase accounting effects of Herman Miller's investment in HAY. Excluding these items, adjusted gross margin was 36.8% in the third quarter, representing a 110 basis point increase from the same quarter last year.
Operating expenses in the third quarter were $189.4 million compared to $172.9 million in the same quarter a year ago. Operating expenses included certain special charges totaling $4.7 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 and $0.5 million in the same quarter last year. These items in the current quarter related primarily to transaction costs and initial purchase accounting effects of Herman Miller's investments in HAY and naughtone. Excluding these items, operating expenses increased by $12.3 million compared to the same quarter last year, primarily related to the consolidation of HAY and naughtone.
The Company recognized pre-tax restructuring expense totaling $3.5 million in the third quarter. These items related primarily to restructuring actions associated with profit improvement initiatives.
Herman Miller's effective income tax rate in the third quarter was 22.4%, compared to 16.0% in the same quarter last fiscal year.
Jeff Stutz, Chief Financial Officer, noted, "Gross margin expansion this quarter was fueled by positive price realization, lower commodity costs and benefits from our profit improvement initiatives. Strong gross margins and well-managed operating expenses helped us deliver a 16% year-over-year improvement in adjusted earnings per share. Our financial performance also continued to generate robust operating cash flows and we maintain a strong balance sheet that provides us with ample liquidity and flexibility to both navigate the uncertain near-term climate and fuel investment opportunities in support of our growth strategy."
The Company ended the third quarter with total cash and cash equivalents of $110.6 million. Cash flow generated from operations was $49.4 million in the current quarter compared to $39.1 million in the same quarter last fiscal year.
Segment Sales and Orders
The following tables summarize reported and organic segment sales and orders for the third quarter of fiscal 2020:
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2020 Guidance
The outbreak of coronavirus has created a high degree of uncertainty throughout the global economy. Due to this uncertainty, and the rapidly changing effects of risk mitigation efforts to control the outbreak around the world, we are not able to reasonably estimate the impact of the outbreak on our business or financial results in the near-term. Accordingly, we are not following our typical practice of issuing guidance for the upcoming quarter.