Live Ventures Inc Aktie

Welcome to the Live Ventures Fiscal Year 2026 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Greg Powell, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Jen. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Live Ventures Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Conference Call. Joining us this afternoon are Jon Isaac, our Chief Executive Officer and President; and David Verret, our Chief Financial Officer.

Some of the statements we are making today are forward-looking and are based on our best view of our businesses as we see them today. The actual results could differ materially due to the number of factors, including those outlined in our latest filings, Forms 10-K and 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements after this call, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise. You can find our press release and our 10-Q referenced on this call in the Investor Relations section of the Live Ventures website. I direct you to our website, liveventures.com or sec.gov for our historical SEC filings.

I will now turn the call over to David to walk through our financial performance.

Thank you, Greg. Good afternoon, everyone. Before discussing our financial results, I'd like to touch on a key -- a few key highlights from the quarter. During the quarter, our Retail-Entertainment and Steel Manufacturing segments posted revenue growth, improved operating income and higher adjusted EBITDA. The Retail-Entertainment segment's revenue grew 12.7%, while operating income and adjusted EBITDA increased 33.8% and 28.9%, respectively. The Steel Manufacturing segment's revenue increased 7.3% with operating income and adjusted EBITDA up 68.9% and 16.3%, respectively. These results were partially offset by continued weakness in the Retail-Flooring segment where softness in the new home construction and home refurbishment markets weighed on operating performance.

Let's now discuss the financial results for the third quarter ended June 30, 2026. Revenue decreased approximately $3.6 million or 3.2% to $108.9 million compared to revenue of $112.5 million in the prior year period. Notably, 3 of our 4 operating segments delivered year-over-year growth. Revenue decreased primarily due to a decline of approximately $9 million in the Retail-Flooring segment, partially offset by an increase of approximately $2.4 million in the Retail-Entertainment segment, $1.8 million in the Steel Manufacturing segment and $1.1 million in the Flooring Manufacturing segment.

The Retail-Entertainment segment revenue increased approximately $2.4 million or 12.7% to $21.4 million compared to $19 million in the prior year period. The revenue growth was driven by strong consumer demand across all product lines.

Retail-Flooring segment revenue decreased approximately $9 million or 29.4% to $21.4 million compared to $30.4 million in the prior year period. The decline was primarily driven by lower retail and contractor sales due to continued headwinds in the home and new home construction and home refurbishment markets.

Flooring Manufacturing segment revenue increased approximately $800,000 or 2.8% to $31.8 million compared to $31 million in the prior year period. Revenue net of intercompany eliminations increased approximately $1.1 million compared to the prior year period.

Steel Manufacturing segment revenue increased approximately $2.5 million or 7.3% to $36.3 million compared to $33.8 million in the prior year period. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by higher sales volumes in the fabricated, hardened wear, tool and die businesses, partially offset by lower revenue in the metal forming, assembly and finishing solutions business. Revenue net of intercompany eliminations increased approximately $1.8 million compared to the prior year period.

Gross profit decreased approximately $1.2 million or 3.1% to $37.1 million compared to $38.3 million in the prior year period, driven primarily by lower revenue in the Retail-Flooring segment. Gross margin increased approximately 10 basis points to 34.1%, reflecting improved margins in the Retail-Flooring and Steel Manufacturing segments.

General and administrative expenses increased 5% to approximately $27.6 million. The increase was primarily driven by increased compensation and professional fees in the Retail-Entertainment, Flooring Manufacturing and Corporate segments. These increases were partially offset by lower general and administrative expenses in the Retail-Flooring and Steel Manufacturing segments.

Sales and marketing expenses increased 5.4% to approximately $4.2 million, primarily reflecting higher sales and marketing expense in the Retail-Flooring and Retail-Entertainment segments. Operating income decreased approximately $2.7 million or 34% to $5.3 million compared to $8 million in the prior year period. The decrease was driven by lower gross profit of $1.2 million as well as higher operating expenses previously mentioned. Interest expense was approximately $3.8 million, flat compared to the prior year period.

Income before income taxes was approximately $1.4 million compared to $7.5 million in the prior year period. Net loss was approximately $1.1 million and a loss per share of $0.34 compared to net income of approximately $5.4 million and diluted EPS of $1.24 in the prior year period. The prior year period results benefit from a $1.5 million gain on employee retention credits and a $1.3 million gain on the settlement of a holdback liability related to Precision Marshall.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased approximately 3.9% or -- I'm sorry, $3.9 million or 29.5% to $9.3 million compared to $13.2 million in the prior year period. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to the decrease in revenue.

Turning to liquidity. We ended the second quarter with total cash availability of approximately $39.8 million, consisting of cash on hand of approximately $10.9 million and $28.9 million available for borrowing under our various lines of credit. As of June 30, total assets were $385.8 million and total stockholders' equity was $91.9 million. As a part of our capital allocation strategy, we may make share repurchases from time to time. We currently have approximately $9.5 million remaining available under our $10 million share repurchase program.

In conclusion, our third quarter performance demonstrates the resilience of our diversified operating portfolio. While we continue to navigate challenging conditions in our Retail-Flooring segment, our Retail-Entertainment segment, our Steel Manufacturing segment both delivered solid growth and improved profitability. We remain focused on initiatives to improve performance across our operating segments and drive sustainable value creation over the long term.

We will now take questions from those of you on the conference call. Operator, please open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Okay. Seeing as there are no questions, I'll go ahead and just give closing remark. I want to thank everyone attending our Q3 fiscal 2026 earnings call, and we look forward to talking with you on our year-end call. Thank you.

And this does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for attending.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Live Ventures Fiscal Year '26 Q2 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Now I'll turn the call over to your host, Greg Powell, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Greg.

Thank you, Elvis. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Live Ventures Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Conference Call. Joining us this afternoon are Jon Isaac, our Chief Executive Officer and President; and David Verret, our Chief Financial Officer. Some of the statements we're making today are forward-looking and are based on our best view of our businesses as we see them today.

The actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including those outlined in our latest financials, Forms 10 and Forms 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And a matter of fact, our 10-Q will be filed here in a few minutes for this quarter. We have no obligation to publicly update our forward-looking statements after this call, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise. You can find our press release referenced on this call in the Investor Relations section of the Live Ventures website. I direct you to our website, liveventures.com or sec.gov for our historical SEC filings.

I will now turn the call over to David to walk us through our financial performance. David?

Thank you, Greg. Good afternoon, everyone. Before discussing our financial results, I'd like to touch on a few key highlights from the quarter. During the quarter, our Retail Entertainment and Flooring Manufacturing segments delivered strong operating income growth of 32.8% and 24%, respectively.

However, these gains were offset by a $1.9 million decrease in operating loss -- increase in operating loss in the Retail Flooring segment and a noncash goodwill impairment charge of approximately $4 million in our Steel Manufacturing segment. Excluding the impairment charge, consolidated operating income would have been approximately $2 million, essentially in line with the prior year period.

Let's now discuss the financial results for the second quarter ended March 31, 2026. Revenue decreased approximately $4.1 million or 3.8% to $102.9 million compared to revenue of $107 million in the prior year period. The decrease in revenue primarily reflects a decline of approximately $7.2 million in the Retail Flooring segment, partially offset by an increase of approximately $2.7 million in the Retail Entertainment segment.

Retail Entertainment segment revenue increased approximately $2.7 million or 14.8% to $21.2 million compared to $18.5 million in the prior year period. The revenue growth was driven by strong consumer demand across all product lines. Retail Flooring segment revenue decreased approximately $7.2 million or 26.2% to $20.2 million compared to $27.4 million in the prior year period. The decline was primarily driven by lower retail and contractor sales due to the continued headwinds in the new home construction and home refurbishment markets.

Flooring Manufacturing revenue decreased approximately $1 million or 3.2% to $30.3 million compared to $31.3 million in the prior year period. The decline was primarily attributable to continued softness in the housing market. Net of intercompany eliminations, revenue decreased approximately $600,000 compared to the prior year period.

Steel Manufacturing segment revenue increased approximately $1.1 million or 3.4% to $32.5 million compared to the prior year period. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by higher sales volumes in the fabricated, hardened ware, tool and die businesses, partially offset by lower revenue in the metal forming, assembly and finishing solutions business.

Net of intercompany eliminations, revenue increased approximately $900,000 compared to the prior year period. Gross profit decreased approximately $600,000 or 1.6% to $34.6 million compared to $35.1 million in the prior year period. The decrease in gross profit was driven primarily by the lower revenues in the Retail Flooring segment. Gross margin increased 80 basis points to 33.6% compared to 32.8% in the prior year period, reflecting improved margins in the Steel Manufacturing, Flooring Manufacturing and Retail Flooring segments as well as a more favorable revenue mix as the higher-margin Retail Entertainment segment represented a larger share of consolidated revenue.

General and administrative expense decreased 2.3% to approximately $27.7 million. The decline was driven primarily by targeted cost reduction initiatives in our Retail Flooring and our Flooring Manufacturing segments, including lower compensation expense and reduced professional fees, partially offset by increased compensation and occupancy costs in our Retail Entertainment segment.

Sales and marketing expense increased 3.4% to approximately $4.9 million, primarily reflecting higher sales and marketing activity in the Retail Flooring segment. Operating loss was $2 million compared to operating income of $2.1 million in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily driven by a noncash goodwill charge of $4 million in the Steel Manufacturing segment. Excluding the noncash goodwill impairment charge, consolidated operating income would have been $2 million compared to $2.1 million in the prior year period.

Interest expense remained consistent at approximately $3.9 million as compared to the prior year period. Net loss was approximately $2.4 million and diluted loss per share was $0.80 compared with net income of approximately $15.9 million and diluted EPS of $5.05 in the prior year period. The net loss in the quarter -- for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, includes the goodwill impairment charge as well as a $1.4 million gain related to employee retention credits in the Retail Flooring segment.

The prior year period benefited from a $22.8 million gain related to the modification of the Flooring Liquidators' seller note. Adjusted EBITDA was $5.9 million, a decrease of approximately $600,000 or 8.8% compared to the prior year period. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to the lower gross profit.

Turning to liquidity. We ended the second quarter with total cash availability of approximately $39.8 million, consisting of cash on hand of $15.2 million and availability under our various lines of credit of $24.6 million. Our working capital was $74.4 million as of March 31, 2026, compared to $62.1 million as of September 30, 2025. As of March 31, total assets were $392.5 million and total stockholders' equity was $92.9 million.

In conclusion, this quarter demonstrated both the resilience of our business model and the ongoing challenges in the Retail Flooring market. We are focused on reducing costs and improving operations across our businesses, and we are pleased with the operating improvements in our Retail Entertainment and Flooring Manufacturing segments. We remain committed to building on that progress in the second half of the fiscal year while driving further efficiencies in our Retail Flooring business.

We will now take questions from those of you on the conference call. Operator, please open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] First up, we have Joseph Kowalsky of JD Financial Planners.

I hope there's not an echo here. I have to actually step out to a different room and have to leave the other phone. I'm just curious about the goodwill impairment. I generally understand accounting. But when it comes to things like goodwill, I always find it a little bit confusing. Could you go into just what exactly that refers to, please?

Sure. So for accounting purposes, there's an annual goodwill test. Ours is in Q4. But if there's ever a triggering event that happens before that or outside of that testing period, then you're required to do kind of impromptu test. And essentially, because of some of the loss in production that we're seeing, really stemming from a decline in the market, namely, this has to do with -- in our steel industry with our stamping and metal forming business.

And a lot of what they do relates to appliances and automobiles and things like that. And then as we're seeing our customers pull back because sales are lagging on their end, we're coming in lower than what we expected to produce in the period because they're adjusting their volume as they go. So really, it's all stemming just from just continued uncertainty in the market. Interest rates...

Is that a paper loss, but you still have the revenues coming in? Is it...

That is correct. It is all just a paper loss. So it has no impact on EBITDA. There is no cash aspect related to it. It is just a charge that kind of wipes out the goodwill. In the old days, you used to amortize goodwill down over 15 years for book purposes, but GAAP had changed that where you do not amortize it. So the only way it ever comes off the book is if, I guess, you run to an impairment.

I understand. Is the company -- has the company been considering acquiring anyone at this point? Or is the focus on paying down the debt from prior acquisitions and...

Yes. I think our strategy has remained the same. I think if there are good opportunities that are coming up, we're absolutely interested in looking at those. And while there isn't anything out there, we are taking advantage of that time and paying down our debt. I believe our debt was paid down about $8 million from March of last year to the current year, so.

And then the final question is, when you are looking for other potential acquisitions, and this is similar to a question I've asked in the past, but maybe I'm looking at it a little differently. Do you tend to look in the same areas that you currently have companies? Or are you looking more to diversify the portfolio into other areas? Or does that just depend on what comes up in the market?

I think it depends on what comes up in the market. But I think what we've seen is as we begin to establish a presence in a certain market, i.e., like in the steel industry, we start to see more of opportunities just from our presence in that space. But we will diversify it. If there's something that kind of meets our criteria, then it doesn't matter the industry.

And there is actually one final question. You've had a couple of missteps in the past. And I just wonder what you can say you've learned from those missteps as far as acquiring companies in the future. And then I will be quiet and listen.

Yes. Well, that's kind of a tough one right there. I just think really it's all just around due diligence. And every time there may be a little nuance related to an acquisition that we will kind of pick up on and then try to fine-tune that kind of going forward. So I mean, after every acquisition, I believe we get better. We get a little bit more knowledgeable. And so all we do is kind of look at what has happened, do a postmortem type of assessment on acquisitions and find out what worked and what didn't work and just trying to build on the positives and mitigate those negative aspects.

[Operator Instructions] We have no further questions at this time. David, back over to you for any closing comments.

Thank you. I want to thank everyone for joining our Q2 earnings call, and we look forward to seeing you next quarter. Thank you.

That concludes our meeting today. You may now disconnect.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Live Ventures Fiscal Year 2026 Q1 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Now I'll turn the call over to Greg Powell, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, Elvis. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Live Ventures First Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Conference Call. Joining us this afternoon are Jon Isaac, our Chief Executive Officer and President; and David Verret, our Chief Financial Officer.

Some of the statements we're making today are forward-looking and are based on our best view of our businesses as we see them today. The actual results could differ materially due to the number of factors, including those outlined in our latest filings, Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the SEC. We have no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements after this call, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise. You can find our press release and 10-Q, which we filed today, referenced on this call in the Investor Relations section of the Live Ventures website. I direct you to our website, liveventures.com or sec.gov for our historical SEC filings.

I will now turn the call over to David to walk you through our financial performance. David?

Thank you, Greg. Good afternoon, everyone. Before discussing our financial results, I'd like to touch on a few key highlights from the quarter. During the quarter, our portfolio companies continued to strengthen their operating disciplines and optimize their cost structures. These efforts contributed to a $2.7 million or 352.9% increase in operating income compared to the prior year period. Additionally, we reported adjusted EBITDA of $7.8 million, a $2 million or 35.7% increase compared to the prior year period.

These results were delivered despite sustained softness in new home construction and home refurbishment markets, which continue to weigh on our Retail-Flooring segment. In addition, we successfully refinanced one of our credit facilities in the Steel Manufacturing segment, strengthening our balance sheet and enhancing our ability to support future growth.

Let's now discuss the financial results for the first quarter ended December 31, 2025. Total revenue decreased approximately $3 million or 2.7% to approximately $108.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, compared to revenue of approximately $111.5 million in the prior year period. The decrease in revenue is primarily attributable to a $7.1 million decline in the Retail-Flooring and Steel Manufacturing segments, partially offset by a $4.1 million increase in the Retail-Entertainment and Flooring Manufacturing segments, net of intercompany sales eliminations.

Retail-Entertainment segment revenue for the first quarter was approximately $23.6 million, an increase of approximately $2.3 million or 11% compared to $21.3 million in the prior year period. The revenue growth was driven by strong consumer demand across all product lines. Retail-Flooring segment revenue for the first quarter was approximately $25.3 million, down $6.4 million or 20.2% compared to $31.7 million in the prior year period. The decline was primarily driven by changes in our store footprint and continued softness in the housing market.

During the quarter, we operated 2 fewer locations compared to the first quarter of 2025 due to store closures over the last year. That said, we did open 3 new stores late in the first quarter of 2026. While those locations have not yet materially contributed to revenue in the period, we're encouraged by the expansion and the opportunity they represent going forward.

Flooring Manufacturing segment revenue for the first quarter was approximately $28.9 million, a decrease of approximately $300,000 or 1.1% compared to approximately $29.2 million in the prior year period. The decrease in revenue is primarily due to lower sales to the Retail-Flooring segment. Net of intercompany sales eliminations, revenue increased approximately $2 million compared to the prior year period.

Steel Manufacturing segment revenue for the first quarter was approximately $31.9 million, a decrease of approximately $1.4 million or 4.3% compared to approximately $33.3 million in the prior year period. The decrease in revenue was primarily driven by lower sales volumes in the metal forming, assembly and finishing solutions business. Net of intercompany sales eliminations, revenue decreased approximately $700,000 compared to the prior year period.

Gross profit was approximately $35.4 million for the first quarter, essentially unchanged compared to the prior year period. However, gross margin increased by 90 basis points to 32.6% as compared to 31.7% in the prior year period. Gross margin improvement was attributable to higher margins in the Flooring Manufacturing segment due to improved efficiencies and favorable product mix, improved efficiencies in the Steel Manufacturing segment and favorable product mix in the Retail-Entertainment segment, partially offset by lower gross margins in the Retail-Flooring segment. Gross margin for the Retail-Flooring segment declined year-over-year, primarily due to a greater mix of aged inventory sold during the seasonally slower period.

General and administrative expense decreased approximately $2.2 million or 7.4% to approximately $27.8 million. The decrease was driven primarily by targeted cost reduction initiatives in our Retail-Flooring segment, including lower compensation and professional fee expenses. Sales and marketing expense decreased 10.4% to approximately $4.1 million, primarily reflecting lower compensation and product sample-related expenses in our Flooring Manufacturing segment.

Operating income increased approximately $2.7 million or 352.9% to $3.5 million for the first quarter compared with operating income of approximately $800,000 in the prior year period. The increase in operating income was primarily driven by higher gross margins and lower operating expenses in the Retail-Flooring, Flooring Manufacturing and Corporate and Other segment, reflecting targeted cost reduction initiatives. Interest expense decreased 14.4% to approximately $3.6 million. The decrease was primarily due to lower average debt balances as compared to the prior year period.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, net loss was approximately $100,000 and loss per share was $0.02 compared to net income of approximately $500,000 and diluted EPS of $0.16 in the prior year period. Net income for the prior year quarter includes a $2.8 million gain related to the settlement of the earn-out liability from the Precision Metal Works acquisition and a $700,000 gain from the settlement of PMW seller notes.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was approximately $7.8 million, an increase of approximately $2 million or 35.7% compared to $5.7 million in the prior year period. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by higher operating income.

Turning to liquidity. We ended the first quarter with total cash availability of $38.7 million, consisting of cash on hand of $15.1 million and availability under various lines of credit of $23.6 million. Our working capital was approximately $69.1 million as of December 31, 2025, compared to $62.1 million as of September 30, 2025. As of December 31, total assets were $389.2 million and total stockholders' equity was $95.3 million.

In conclusion, we delivered a solid first quarter marked by meaningful operating improvements across the businesses despite a still challenging housing market backdrop. To build on this momentum, we are rolling out a comprehensive strategy to integrate AI across the business units. By applying AI alongside robotics and data analytics, we are modernizing operations, improving efficiency across the organization and reinforcing the cost discipline that supports our long-term strategy.

We will now take questions from those of you on the conference call. Operator, please open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions] David, we have no questions at this time. I'll turn it back over to you for any additional or closing comments.

We thank everyone for attending our Q1 conference call, and we look forward to speaking with you when we release our Q2 earnings. Thank you.

So that concludes our meeting today. You may now disconnect.

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Live Ventures Fiscal Year 2025 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Now I'll turn the call over to Greg Powell, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Greg.

Thank you, Elvis. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Live Ventures Fiscal Year 2025 Conference Call. Joining us this afternoon are Jon Isaac, our Chief Executive Officer and President; and David Verret, our Chief Financial Officer.

Some of the statements we are making today are forward-looking and are based on our best views of our businesses as we see them today. The actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including those outlined in our latest Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements after this call, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

You can find a copy of our press release referenced on this call in the Investor Relations section of the Live Ventures website. I direct you to our website, liveventures.com or sec.gov for our historical SEC filings.

I'll now turn the call over to David to walk us through our financial performance.

Thank you, Greg. Good afternoon, everyone. Before discussing our financial results, I'd like to touch on a few key highlights from the year. We are pleased to report that our portfolio companies have spent the past year strengthening operating disciplines and optimizing their cost structures. Fiscal year 2025 marked a significant turnaround for Live Ventures. Decisive actions, including hiring a new executive team at Flooring Liquidators, implementing strategic pricing initiatives as well as targeted cost reduction measures drove our progress despite a mixed economy. These efforts contributed to a $10.2 million or 231.7% increase in operating income compared to the prior year when excluding the $18.1 million goodwill impairment recorded in fiscal year 2024.

Additionally, we reported adjusted EBITDA of $33.4 million, an $8.9 million or 36.3% increase compared to fiscal year 2024. This strong performance came despite continued softness in the new home construction and home refurbishment markets, which continue to weigh on our Retail-Flooring and Flooring Manufacturing segments.

Let's now discuss the financial results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. Total revenue decreased approximately $27.9 million or 5.9% to approximately $444.9 million for the year ended September 30, 2025, compared to revenue of approximately $472.8 million in the prior year. The decrease is attributable to the Retail-Flooring, Flooring Manufacturing and Steel Manufacturing segments, which decreased by approximately $33.3 million in the aggregate, partially offset by an increase of approximately $6.5 million in the Retail-Entertainment segment. Although revenues declined in fiscal year 2025, we are pleased to report that fourth quarter showed year-over-year improvement with the fourth quarter of 2025 generating higher revenues than the fourth quarter of 2024.

Retail-Entertainment segment revenue for fiscal year 2025 was approximately $77.5 million, an increase of $6.5 million or 9.1% compared to the prior year. The revenue growth was driven by strong consumer demand for vintage and collectible media.

Retail-Flooring segment revenue for fiscal year 2025 was approximately $122.3 million, a decrease of $14.7 million or 10.7% compared to the prior year. The decrease was primarily attributable to the disposition of certain Johnson Floor and Home stores in May 2024 as well as decreased consumer demand driven by the ongoing weakness in the housing market.

Flooring Manufacturing segment revenue for fiscal year 2025 was approximately $121.6 million, a decrease of $11.5 million or 8.6% compared to the prior year. The decline in revenue was primarily due to reduced consumer demand as a result of the ongoing weakness in the housing market.

Steel Manufacturing segment revenue for fiscal year 2025 was approximately $132.6 million, a decrease of $7.2 million or 5.1% compared to the prior year. The decline was primarily driven by lower sales volumes at certain business units as we focus on higher-margin business, partially offset by incremental revenue of $11.1 million at Central Steel, which was acquired in May 2024. Despite the decline in revenues, gross profit for fiscal year 2025 increased approximately $900,000 to $145.7 million. Gross margin increased 210 basis points to 32.7% as compared to 30.6% in the prior year period. The improvement in gross profit was attributable to increased gross margins in the Retail-Entertainment, Steel Manufacturing and Flooring Manufacturing segments, primarily due to improved efficiencies as well as the acquisition of Central Steel in May 2024, which has historically generated higher margins, partially offset by slightly lower margins at the Retail-Flooring segment.

General and administrative expense decreased by approximately $4.3 million or 3.6% to $113.7 million. The decrease was mainly attributable to targeted cost reduction measures, including lower compensation, reduced professional fees and other expense reductions across the Retail-Flooring and Corporate and Other segments.

Selling and marketing expenses decreased by $5.1 million or 22.6% to $17.3 million. Selling and marketing expenses were lower in the Retail-Flooring and Flooring Manufacturing segment as we prioritize higher impact, more efficient marketing initiatives to ensure continued support for revenue growth. In connection with our continued efforts to strengthen the balance sheet, total debt declined approximately $33.5 million in fiscal year 2025, which includes a $19 million modification to the Flooring Liquidators seller note. As a result, interest expense decreased by approximately $1.3 million or 7.7% to $15.6 million.

For fiscal year 2025, net income was approximately $22.7 million and diluted EPS was $4.93, compared to a net loss of approximately $26.7 million and a loss per share of $8.48 in the prior year. The increase in net income reflects stronger operating performance and the additive benefit of onetime gains realized during fiscal year 2025. Net income for fiscal year 2025 includes onetime items totaling a net gain of $28.2 million, primarily consisting of a $22.8 million gain from the modification of the Flooring Liquidators seller notes, a $2.6 million net gain on earnout and holdback settlements and a $2.1 million gain related to employee retention credits. Net loss for fiscal year 2024 includes an $18.1 million goodwill impairment charge in the Retail-Flooring segment.

Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal year 2025 was approximately $33.4 million, an increase of approximately $8.9 million or 36.3% compared to $24.5 million in the prior year. The increase in adjusted EBITDA is primarily due to improved operating performance during fiscal year 2025, reflecting the company's targeted cost reduction initiatives.

Turning to liquidity. We ended the fiscal year with total cash availability of approximately $38.1 million, consisting of cash on hand of approximately $8.8 million and availability under various lines of credit of approximately $29.3 million. Our working capital was approximately $62.1 million as of September 30, 2025, compared to $52.3 million in the prior year. As of September 30, total assets were $386.4 million and total stockholders' equity was $95.3 million. As part of our capital allocation strategy, we may make share repurchases from time to time. We believe our stock repurchases represent long-term value for our stockholders. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, we repurchased 59,704 shares of the company's common stock at an average price of $8.85 per share.

In conclusion, we are pleased with our results for fiscal year 2025. We are not just holding steady. We are building a durable platform of businesses that move and matter in the real economy. Throughout the year, we strengthened our operational discipline and improved our cost structure while navigating ongoing softness in the new home construction and home refurbishment markets. Our team executed well in a challenging environment and delivered solid margin improvements. Across our portfolio companies, our businesses are stronger, more efficient and more resilient than a year ago.

Looking ahead, we believe the actions taken this year position Live Ventures for continued progress as we focus on driving sustainable profitability and enhancing the overall performance of our businesses.

We will now take questions from those of you on the conference call. Operator, please open the line for questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Our first question today comes from Joseph Kowalsky of JD Financial Planners.

With regard to the shares that are repurchased, have you ever reissued shares either in conjunction with buying a company or otherwise? Or do you have some sort of a collar or price where you'd say this is a good price to buy shares, either PE or PEG or something like that. This is a good price to buy shares. This is a good place to issue shares? Do you do it strategically like that? That's my first question.

My second question is with regard to debt. Do you intend to pay down the debt entirely? Is there a certain debt level that you think might be reasonable to keep for the longer term? I don't know based on the interest rates, if it would make sense, but that's my second question.

And then my third question is, have the interest rate reductions benefited the company in any way? And I thank you very much. And I'll be quiet now.

Okay. So the first question is about issuance of shares. We may from time to time, we have in the past at least issued some shares in connection with acquisitions to help from a financing standpoint. And so I think it's going to be depending on kind of where we feel like the market is representative to our value of the company and whether that makes sense or not. We do kind of monitor kind of where our purchase levels are as far as what price we will execute the repurchase program. And it's somewhat fluid as we monitor again, kind of where the markets are relative to our price and our valuation.

And by the way, I'm sorry to interrupt, I said I'll be quiet, but I think your purchase -- average purchase price was excellent either way.

Yes. Yes, yes. And so -- and it can be fluid depending again on how the markets are and our valuation. So -- but we also see that it is a tool in a form of consideration that can be given in future acquisitions. So it's something that we evaluate as we're going through the acquisition process on cash, borrowing and stock. Those are kind of our levers.

With regards to the paydown of debt, yes, we're very excited about lowering our debt levels and we will continue to pay down that debt. There will be a point where once the debt gets to kind of a little more moderate level that we can evaluate where our money can be spent and provide the highest return for our shareholders, whether that is continuing to pay down debt or using that money in acquisitions and so forth. So again, that's going to be something that we'll evaluate as we go. But over this last year, one of the things that we focused on was really getting that debt level down.

And with regards to interest rates, we're excited. There's been, I guess, 3 rate cuts over the course of this year. So that will certainly improve or help us on our interest expense going forward. And also, there's the big beautiful bill, which I believe has also some relief on the interest rate deductions that you can take versus where we are today. So I think we see some positive things in nature of that even in the future. But yes, it has benefited us. And I think actually, the interest rates will also benefit us even more when that kind of trickles down into the housing market and really stimulate the housing sales and purchases as well as flooring remodels and things like that.

[Operator Instructions] We have no further questions at this time. Greg, I'll turn the program back over to you for any additional or closing comments.

Okay. I just want to thank everyone for joining us today. We were really proud of the year, and we look forward to delivering more results in the upcoming year. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

That concludes our meeting today. You may now disconnect.