American Vanguard (AVD) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

American Vanguard (AVD) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript

Greetings, and welcome to the American Vanguard 2019 fourth quarter and full-year conference call.. Eric Wintemute, the chairman and CEO of American Vanguard; Mr. David Johnson, the company's chief financial officer; and also assisting in answering your questions, Mr. Bob Trogele, the company's chief operating officer.. American Vanguard will file our Form 10-K with the SEC tomorrow.. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for your continued support of American Vanguard.. While dollar stocks were trading at about 2x normal volume, American Vanguard traded slightly under its normal daily volume.. We are following the matter closely and are keeping our workforce apprised of travel and hygiene recommendations published by the Center for Disease Control.. Following David, I will give you an update on our new product launches and our SIMPAS precision application technology.. Demand for many of our higher-margin products, those destined for corn sugar, beets, fruits and vegetables, diminished.. Our sales team had positioned our products strategically, particularly in the Midwest, where channel inventory levels were low at the start of the season.. Our operating expenses improved to 31% of net sales for the fourth quarter of 2019 as compared to 32% of net sales for the same period of