American Woodmark Posts a Loss and Equity Firms Move In

Winchester, VA—American Woodmark Corp. (NASDAQ: AMWD) moved into the red, losing $49.3 million in its latest quarter despite a 6.4 percent revenue rise to $459.7 million. In January and February, investors including Blackrock, Wellington, and Vanguard acquired 35 percent of the third largest U.S. kitchen cabinetry maker.

It was a stark shift from the $18.7 million in profits a year ago. A one-time settlement of $67.7 million to terminate the company pension plan accounted for the loss. But the third largest U.S. kitchen cabinetry manufacturer also sought outside help, voting to expand its board to bring Latasha Akoma on as a director. Akoma is an operating partner and chief compliance officer at private equity firm GENNX360, which specializes in operations and middle market companies.

Akoma held executive positions at Harley-Davidson Motor Company which she joined in 2009 as director of Operations, responsible for vehicle assembly and materials management. In 2011, she was promoted to general manager of Harley-Davidson’s Tomahawk Operations overseeing two plants, implementing a new labor agreement, lean manufacturing, and executing one of Harley-Davidson’s most significant motorcycle launches. Prior to joining Harley-Davidson, Akoma was a senior manager of Paint Operations at Chrysler and held a variety of executive positions in operations and general management.

Akoma holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Energy & Robotics from Howard University.

During the latest quarter, “Sales were negatively impacted by labor absenteeism as COVID cases increased due to the Omicron variant along with supply chain shortages in the later part of December and early January,” says American Woodmark CEO Scott Culbreth. “Our current quarter results include $30 million plus of pricing impacts that we realized in the third quarter of fiscal 2022.”

American Woodmark also filed several Statement of Ownership forms with the SEC in February, indicating significant share purchases by a number of equity investors. Broadview Investment acquired a 5.2 percent stake, buying over 800,000 shares; Cooke & Bieler bought nearly 1 million shares for and now holds a 7.5 percent stake in American Woodmark. Other investors arriving in February 2022 include The Vanguard Group (8.66 percent); the Wellington Group (6.54 percent). In late January Blackrock Group acquired 16.4 percent ownership; and With over 10,000 employees and more than a dozen brands, American Woodmark is also the manufacturer of Home Depot’s Hampton Bay lines of cabinetry and vanities.

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