Matthew J. McNulty
Thank you, Mr. Kathwari. Our financial performance during fiscal 2025 was highlighted by strong margins, positive operating cash flow and a robust balance sheet. Despite operating in a challenging environment, our operations produced positive financial results, which I will now discuss. Our fiscal 2025 consolidated net sales were $614.6 million, which included fourth quarter sales of $160.4 million. Our sales reflect higher average ticket prices and fewer returns, offset by lower delivered unit volume, reduced backlog, less traffic and fewer contract sales. As noted in our earnings release, the home furnishings industry has been challenged. However, overall demand patterns began to show signs of improvement during the just-completed fourth quarter as Retail written orders rose by 1.6%, driven by the strength of new product introductions, promotional levels, elevated clearance and the pause of additional tariffs. Wholesale orders decreased by 6.8% during the quarter as the segment was impacted by our contract business. We ended the fiscal year with Wholesale backlog of $48.9 million, reflecting historical norms. A lower volume of contract orders, combined with improved customer lead times helped to reduce our backlog. For the full year, our consolidated gross margin was 60.5%, comparable to 60.8% last year. In the just-completed fourth quarter, our consolidated gross margin was 59.9%, which was impacted by fewer delivered orders, higher clearance sales, increased promotional activity and lower manufacturing production, partially offset by a change in sales mix, lower raw material input costs, reduced head count and a higher average ticket price. Our head count totaled 3,211 at fiscal year-end, a decrease of 5.7% from a year ago as we continue to identify operational efficiencies and streamline workflows. For the full year, our adjusted operating margin was 10.2%, while our fourth quarter operating margin was 9.7%. These strong operating margins reflect our ability to tightly manage expenses while increasing advertising spend. Compared to our pre-pandemic 2019 fourth quarter, adjusted operating margin has improved 110 basis points. On a full year basis, adjusted EPS was $2.04. Our fourth quarter adjusted EPS was $0.49. Our effective tax rate was 25.2% for the full year and 26.4% for the quarter, which varies from the 21% federal statutory rate due to tax -- state taxes and recording of valuation allowance on retail deferred tax assets. Now turning to our liquidity. We ended the year with a robust balance sheet, including cash and investments of $196.2 million and no outstanding debt. We generated $24.8 million in operating cash flow during the quarter, which brought our full year total to $61.7 million. We also reduced our inventory levels as clearance sales helped to offset new product introductions. Capital expenditures were $11.3 million, including $1.9 million during the just-completed fourth quarter as we invested capital into manufacturing, retail and technology. We are confident in the investments we are making for the future but recognize the need to remain cognizant of the uncertain economic environment. We continued our practice of paying quarterly cash dividends. In May, our Board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.39 per share, which was subsequently paid and brought our total annual dividend paid to $50.1 million. Also, as announced earlier today, our Board declared a special cash dividend of $0.25 per share in addition to a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.39 per share, both of which will be paid in August. This recent action marks the fifth consecutive year we have paid a special cash dividend. In summary, our vertically integrated business delivered positive fiscal 2025 results. We are confident in the strength of our business model as Ethan Allen has successfully navigated challenging times to serve our clients and deliver value to our shareholders throughout its 93-year history. Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing our strategic initiatives in the face of ongoing macro uncertainty. Our robust balance sheet and financial stability provide a solid foundation and positions us well as we head into fiscal 2026. With that, I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Kathwari.