United Natural Foods Inc Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: John Edward Heinbockel - Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division - Analyst : Sandy, maybe talk to what procurement gains were pre-COVID in a normal environment right? It looks like, I don't know, maybe they got up to $250 million or $300 million at the peak. Was that all just gains on stuff that was in your inventory? Or was there a lot of forward buy, that went along with that. And when you think about that, does that then, what you had earned right over the past couple of years, sort of an EBITDA margin REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 / 12:30PM, UNFI.N - Q4 2023 United Natural Foods Inc Earnings Call in the upper 2s, is that no longer retainable anytime, or over a very long period of time because those inventory gains are just going to be very de minimis in the next couple of years.

Question: John Edward Heinbockel - Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division - Analyst : Great. And then maybe second thing, right? So leverage is going to go from 3 to 4x returns this year. You'd say that's temporary I think there was some commentary with the Board changes of strengthening the balance sheet. So do you feel a need to do that urgently? And then what do you do? I know you securitized receivables before. I don't know if you want to do that? I don't know if you want to sell retail right at a low level? I don't know what the options are, right, to strengthen the balance sheet in short term?