Big Lots, Inc.'s (BIG) CEO Bruce Thorn on Q1 2022 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Big Lots, Inc. (BIG) Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call May 27, 2022 8:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Bruce Thorn - President & Chief Executive Officer
Jonathan Ramsden - Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Spencer Hanus - Wolfe Research
Joe Feldman - Telsey Advisory Group
Peter Keith - Piper Sandler
Kate McShane - Goldman Sachs
Jason Haas - Bank of America
Karen Short - Barclays

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the Big Lots First Quarter Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. On the call today are Bruce Thorn, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jonathan Ramsden, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer.

Before starting today's call, the company would like to remind you that any forward-looking statements made on the call involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to the company's safe harbor provisions as stated in the company's press release and SEC filings, and that actual results can differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The company's first quarter earnings release and related financial information are available at biglots.com/corporate/investors. Also available on the website is a previously released January investor presentation highlighting the company's long-term strategy and financial goals.

I will now turn the call over to Bruce Thorn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Big Lots. Mr. Thorn, please go ahead.

Bruce Thorn

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

As you will recall from our comments in March, our first quarter got off to a solid start, but trends materially slowed in April and drove the need to be more promotional. We believe the slowdown was caused by spending pressure our consumers felt from higher gas prices and broader inflation, which is affecting discretionary purchases across the retail industry. We felt the