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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549


FORM 10-Q

[ X ] QUARTERLY REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
[ _ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For Quarter Ended March 3, 2018
 
Commission File No. 001-15141


HERMAN MILLER, INC.

A Michigan Corporation
 
ID No. 38-0837640
 
 
 
855 East Main Avenue, Zeeland, MI 49464-0302
 
Phone (616) 654 3000


Indicate by check mark whether the registrant:
(1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months, and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes [ X ] No [_]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). 
Yes [ X ] No [_]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer [ X ]
 Accelerated filer [_]
Non-accelerated filer [_]
Smaller reporting company [_]

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act                 [__]

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes [_] No [ X ]


Common Stock Outstanding at April 9, 2018 - 59,624,237 shares





Herman Miller, Inc. Form 10-Q
Table of Contents

 
 
Page No.
Part I — Financial Information
 
 
Item 1 Financial Statements (Unaudited)
 
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income — Three and Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017
 
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets — March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows — Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity — Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017
 
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
 
 
 
 
 
Note 4 - Inventories, net
 
 
 
 
 
Note 9 - Income Taxes
 
 
 
Note 12 - Debt
 
 
 
Note 15 - Operating Segments
 
 
Note 17 - Subsequent Events
 
Item 2 Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
 
Item 3 Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
 
Item 4 Controls and Procedures
Part II — Other Information
 
 
Item 1   Legal Proceedings
 
Item 1A Risk Factors
 
Item 2   Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
 
Item 3   Defaults upon Senior Securities
 
Item 4   Mine Safety Disclosures
 
Item 5   Other Information
 
Item 6   Exhibits
 
Signatures
 

2





Herman Miller, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
(Dollars in millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Net sales
$
578.4

 
$
524.9

 
$
1,763.2

 
$
1,701.0

Cost of sales
372.6

 
329.4

 
1,118.5

 
1,057.6

Gross margin
205.8

 
195.5

 
644.7

 
643.4

Operating expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Selling, general and administrative
149.4

 
140.4

 
450.8

 
443.5

Restructuring expenses and other charges

 
2.7

 
1.9

 
3.7

Design and research
18.1

 
17.4

 
54.6

 
55.2

Total operating expenses
167.5

 
160.5

 
507.3

 
502.4

Operating earnings
38.3

 
35.0

 
137.4

 
141.0

Other expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest expense
3.2

 
3.8

 
10.6

 
11.4

Other, net
(1.1
)
 
(0.8
)
 
(2.9
)
 
(1.0
)
Earnings before income taxes and equity income
36.2

 
32.0

 
129.7

 
130.6

Income tax expense
6.9

 
9.5

 
35.4

 
41.1

Equity income from nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax
0.7

 

 
2.2

 
1.1

Net earnings
30.0

 
22.5

 
96.5

 
90.6

Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests
0.2

 

 
0.2

 
0.1

Net earnings attributable to Herman Miller, Inc.
$
29.8

 
$
22.5

 
$
96.3

 
$
90.5

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings per share — basic
$
0.50

 
$
0.38

 
$
1.61

 
$
1.51

Earnings per share — diluted
$
0.49

 
$
0.37

 
$
1.60

 
$
1.50

Dividends declared, per share
$
0.180

 
$
0.170

 
$
0.540

 
$
0.510

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Foreign currency translation adjustments
$
1.7

 
$
(0.4
)
 
$
6.3

 
$
(10.8
)
Pension and other post-retirement plans
0.9

 
0.5

 
2.6

 
2.1

Interest rate swaps
5.9

 
1.1

 
6.9

 
5.3

Unrealized holding gain

 
0.2

 

 
0.2

Other comprehensive income (loss)
8.5

 
1.4

 
15.8

 
(3.2
)
Comprehensive income
38.5

 
23.9

 
112.3

 
87.4

Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests
0.2

 

 
0.2

 
0.1

Comprehensive income attributable to Herman Miller, Inc.
$
38.3

 
$
23.9

 
$
112.1

 
$
87.3


See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.


3





Herman Miller, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Dollars in millions, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
 
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
ASSETS
 
 
 
Current Assets:
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$
193.0

 
$
96.2

Marketable securities
8.4

 
8.6

Accounts and notes receivable, net
191.6

 
186.6

Inventories, net
169.4

 
152.4

Prepaid expenses and other
46.3

 
48.1

Total current assets
608.7

 
491.9

Property and equipment, at cost
1,020.6

 
968.7

Less — accumulated depreciation
(690.6
)
 
(654.1
)
Net property and equipment
330.0

 
314.6

Goodwill
304.4

 
304.5

Indefinite-lived intangibles
78.1

 
78.1

Other amortizable intangibles, net
41.4

 
45.4

Other noncurrent assets
79.1

 
71.8

Total Assets
$
1,441.7

 
$
1,306.3

 
 
 
 
LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS & STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
 
 
 
Current Liabilities:
 
 
 
Accounts payable
$
160.9

 
$
148.4

Accrued compensation and benefits
70.7

 
79.7

Accrued warranty
52.9

 
47.7

Other accrued liabilities
98.8

 
109.9

Total current liabilities
383.3

 
385.7

Long-term debt
275.0

 
199.9

Pension and post-retirement benefits
25.4

 
38.5

Other liabilities
76.4

 
69.9

Total Liabilities
760.1

 
694.0

Redeemable noncontrolling interests
24.3

 
24.6

Stockholders' Equity:
 
 
 
Preferred stock, no par value (10,000,000 shares authorized, none issued)

 

Common stock, $0.20 par value (240,000,000 shares authorized, 59,683,286 and 59,715,824 shares issued and outstanding in 2018 and 2017, respectively)
11.8

 
11.9

Additional paid-in capital
129.4

 
139.3

Retained earnings
583.0

 
519.5

Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(66.4
)
 
(82.2
)
Key executive deferred compensation plans
(0.7
)
 
(1.0
)
Herman Miller, Inc. Stockholders' Equity
657.1

 
587.5

Noncontrolling Interests
0.2

 
0.2

Total Stockholders' Equity
657.3

 
587.7

Total Liabilities, Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests, and Stockholders' Equity
$
1,441.7

 
$
1,306.3


See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

4



Herman Miller, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Dollars in millions)
(Unaudited)

Nine Months Ended
March 3, 2018

March 4, 2017
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:



Net earnings
$
96.5

 
$
90.6

Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities:
 
 
 
Depreciation and amortization
49.4

 
43.0

Stock-based compensation
4.8

 
9.2

Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation

 
(0.5
)
Pension and post-retirement expenses
1.1

 
0.3

Pension contributions

(12.0
)
 

Earnings from nonconsolidated affiliates net of dividends received
(0.5
)
 
(1.0
)
Deferred taxes
(10.3
)
 
3.9

Gain on sales of property and dealers
(0.8
)
 
(0.7
)
Restructuring expenses
1.9

 
3.7

Increase in current assets
(18.1
)
 
(8.4
)
Decrease in current liabilities
(12.2
)
 
(23.2
)
Increase in non-current liabilities
11.4

 
4.2

Other, net
(0.5
)
 
1.0

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
110.7

 
122.1

 
 
 
 
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
 
 
 
Proceeds from sale of property and dealers
2.0

 

Marketable securities purchases
(0.7
)
 
(1.2
)
Marketable securities sales
0.8

 
0.8

Equity investment in non-controlled entities

 
(13.3
)
Capital expenditures
(51.0
)
 
(70.5
)
Payments of loans on cash surrender value of life insurance

 
(15.3
)
Proceeds from life insurance policy
8.1

 

Net (advances) receipts on notes receivable
(1.1
)
 
1.4

Other, net
(0.6
)
 
(0.9
)
Net Cash Used in Investing Activities
(42.5
)
 
(99.0
)
 
 
 
 
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
 
 
 
Dividends paid
(31.7
)
 
(29.2
)
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt
340.4

 
659.3

Payments of long-term debt
(265.4
)
 
(646.7
)
Payment of deferred financing costs

 
(1.4
)
Common stock issued
16.0

 
7.6

Common stock repurchased and retired
(30.1
)
 
(17.2
)
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation

 
0.5

Purchase of redeemable noncontrolling interests
(1.0
)
 
(1.5
)
Payment of contingent consideration

 
(1.1
)
Other, net
0.1

 
0.1

Net Cash Provided by (Used in) by Financing Activities
28.3

 
(29.6
)
 
 
 
 
Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash and Cash Equivalents
0.3

 

Net Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents
96.8

 
(6.5
)
 
 
 
 
Cash and Cash Equivalents, Beginning of Period
96.2

 
84.9

Cash and Cash Equivalents, End of Period
$
193.0

 
$
78.4


See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

5



Herman Miller, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity
(Dollars in millions)
(Unaudited)
 
Nine Months Ended
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Preferred Stock
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year and end of period
$

 
$

Common Stock
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year
$
11.9

 
$
12.0

Exercise of stock options

0.1

 

Repurchase and retirement of common stock
(0.2
)
 

Balance at end of period
$
11.8

 
$
12.0

Additional Paid-in Capital
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year
$
139.3

 
$
142.7

Cumulative effect of accounting change
(0.3
)
 

Repurchase and retirement of common stock
(29.9
)
 
(17.1
)
Exercise of stock options
14.0

 
5.8

Stock-based compensation expense
4.6

 
8.8

Excess tax benefit for stock-based compensation

 
(0.3
)
Restricted stock units released
0.2

 
0.1

Employee stock purchase plan issuances
1.5

 
1.7

Deferred compensation plan
(0.4
)
 
(0.1
)
Directors' fees
0.4

 
0.3

Balance at end of period
$
129.4

 
$
141.9

Retained Earnings
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year
$
519.5

 
$
435.3

Cumulative effect of accounting change
0.1

 

Net income attributable to Herman Miller, Inc.
96.3

 
90.5

Dividends declared on common stock (per share - 2018: $0.54; 2017; $0.51)
(32.4
)
 
(30.7
)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests valuation adjustment
(0.5
)
 
0.7

Balance at end of period
$
583.0

 
$
495.8

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year
$
(82.2
)
 
$
(64.5
)
Other comprehensive income (loss)
15.8

 
(3.2
)
Balance at end of period
$
(66.4
)
 
$
(67.7
)
Key Executive Deferred Compensation
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year
$
(1.0
)
 
$
(1.1
)
Deferred compensation plan
0.3

 
0.1

Balance at end of period
$
(0.7
)
 
$
(1.0
)
Herman Miller, Inc. Stockholders' Equity
$
657.1

 
$
581.0

Noncontrolling Interests
 
 
 
Balance at beginning of year and end of period
$
0.2

 
$
0.3

Total Stockholders' Equity
$
657.3

 
$
581.3


See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.


6



Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
Three and Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018
(in millions)

1. Basis of Presentation


The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by Herman Miller, Inc. (“the company”) in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Management believes the disclosures made in this document are adequate with respect to interim reporting requirements.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, contain all adjustments that are of a normal recurring nature necessary to present fairly the financial position of the company as of March 3, 2018. Operating results for the three and nine months ended months ended March 3, 2018, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending June 2, 2018. It is suggested that these condensed consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 3, 2017.

The company's fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to May 31. Fiscal 2018, the year ending June 2, 2018, and fiscal 2017, the year ended June 3, 2017, contain 52 and 53 weeks, respectively. The nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 contained 39 and 40 weeks, respectively. The three months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 each contained 13 weeks.

2. Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
Standard
 
Description
 
Effective Date
 
Effect on the Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting
 
Under the new guidance, all excess tax benefits/deficiencies should be recognized as income tax expense/benefit, entities may elect how to account for forfeitures and cash paid by an employer when directly withholding shares for tax withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity on the cash flow statement.
 
June 4, 2017
 
The company adopted the accounting standard in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. As a result, the company elected to change its policy from estimating forfeitures to recognizing forfeitures when they occur, which resulted in an increase in Retained earnings of $0.1 million, a decrease in Additional paid in capital of $0.3 million and an increase in Other noncurrent assets of $0.2 million in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The other impacts resulting from adoption did not have a material impact on the company's Financial Statements.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted
Standard
 
Description
 
Effective Date
 
Effect on the Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Revenue from Contracts with Customers
 
The standard outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle of the revenue model is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard is designed to create greater comparability for financial statement users across industries and jurisdictions and also requires enhanced disclosures. The standard allows for two adoption methods, a full retrospective or modified retrospective approach.
 
June 3, 2018
 
The company has completed a preliminary review of the impact of the new standard and expects changes in the identification of performance obligations around product and service revenue. For commercial contracts in which the company sells directly to end customers, in most cases, the company currently delays revenue recognition until the products are shipped and installed and records third-party installation and certain other fees net. However, under the new standard, in most cases, the company will recognize product revenue when title and risk of loss have transferred and will recognize service revenue upon the completion of services. Additionally, the company will record certain product pricing elements related to its direct customer sales within revenue and Cost of Sales rather than net within revenue as is current practice. The company has determined that these elements relate to the product performance obligation which the company is considered to control under the new standard. The company is also in the process of implementing changes to its business processes, systems and controls to support recognition and disclosure under the new standard. The company expects to adopt the standard in fiscal 2019 using the modified retrospective approach.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


7



Standard
 
Description
 
Effective Date
 
Effect on the Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial Instruments - Overall: Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities
 
The standard provides guidance for the measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial assets and liabilities. The standard requires entities to measure equity investments that do not result in consolidation and are not accounted for under the equity method at fair value and recognize any change in fair value in net income. The standard does not permit early adoption and at adoption a cumulative-effect adjustment to beginning retained earnings should be recorded.
 
June 3, 2018
 
The company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Compensation - Retirement Benefits: Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost
 
This standard changes the rules related to the income statement presentation of the components of net periodic benefit cost for defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans. Under the new guidance, entities must present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line items as other employee compensation costs related to services rendered during the period. Other components of net periodic benefit cost will be presented separately from the line items that include the service cost. Early adoption is permitted.

 
June 3, 2018
 
The standard is expected to impact the classification of certain costs within the company's Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. No impact to the company's Consolidated Balance Sheets or Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow are expected as a result of the standard.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income
 
This update allows for the reclassification to retained earnings of the tax effects stranded in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income resulting from The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Early adoption is permitted.
 
June 2, 2019
 
The company is still evaluating these amendments and has not determined its accounting policy and whether or not an election will be made to reclassify the stranded effects.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Derivatives and Hedging: Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities
 
This update amends the hedge accounting recognition and presentation with the objectives of improving the financial reporting of hedging relationships to better portray the economic results of an entity's risk management activities and simplifying the application of hedge accounting. The update expands the strategies eligible for hedge accounting, relaxes the timing requirements of hedge documentation and effectiveness assessments and permits the use of qualitative assessments on an ongoing basis to assess hedge effectiveness. The new guidance also requires new disclosures and presentation.
 
June 2, 2019
 
The company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this guidance.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Leases
 
Under the updated standard a lessee's rights and obligations under most leases, including existing and new arrangements, would be recognized as assets and liabilities, respectively, on the balance sheet. The standard must be adopted under a modified retrospective approach and early adoption is permitted.
 
June 2, 2019
 
The standard is expected to have a significant impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements; however, the company is currently evaluating the impact.



8



3. Acquisitions and Divestitures


Contract Furniture Dealerships
On July 31, 2017, the company completed the sale of a wholly-owned contract furniture dealership in Vancouver, Canada for initial cash consideration of $2.0 million. A pre-tax gain of $1.1 million was recognized as a result of the sale within the caption Selling, general and administrative within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

On January 1, 2017, the company completed the sale of a wholly-owned contract furniture dealership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in exchange for $3.0 million, that was comprised of both a term note receivable and a line of credit. A pre-tax gain of $0.7 million was recognized as a result of the sale within the caption Selling, general and administrative within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. These long-term receivables were deemed to be variable interests in a variable interest entity. The carrying value of the long-term receivables was $2.3 million and $1.4 million as of March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017, respectively, and represents the company's maximum exposure to loss. The company is not deemed to be the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity as the buyers of the dealership control the activities that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance, including sales, marketing and operations. 
 
Naughtone Holdings Limited
On June 3, 2016, the company acquired a 50 percent noncontrolling equity interest in Naughtone Holdings Limited ("Naughtone"), a leader in soft seating products, stools, occasional and meeting tables, for $12.4 million in cash consideration. In the second quarter of fiscal 2017, the company paid additional purchase consideration of approximately $0.6 million as part of the final net equity adjustment.

4. Inventories, net


(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
Finished goods
$
133.8

 
$
119.0

Raw materials
35.6

 
33.4

Total
$
169.4

 
$
152.4


Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market and include material, labor, and overhead. The inventories at our West Michigan manufacturing operations are valued using the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method, whereas inventories of certain other operations are valued using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method.

5. Goodwill and Indefinite-lived Intangibles


Goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets included in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets consisted of the following as of March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017:
(In millions)
Goodwill
 
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets
 
Total Goodwill and Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets
June 3, 2017
$
304.5

 
$
78.1

 
$
382.6

Foreign currency translation adjustments
0.2

 

 
0.2

Sale of owned contract furniture dealership
(0.3
)
 

 
(0.3
)
March 3, 2018
$
304.4

 
$
78.1

 
$
382.5



6. Employee Benefit Plans

The following table summarizes the components of net periodic benefit costs for the company's International defined benefit pension plan for the three and nine months ended:
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Interest cost
$
0.8

 
$
0.7

 
$
2.5

 
$
2.2

Expected return on plan assets
(1.7
)
 
(1.2
)
 
(5.3
)
 
(3.7
)
Net amortization loss
1.3

 
0.6

 
3.9

 
1.8

Net periodic benefit cost
$
0.4

 
$
0.1

 
$
1.1

 
$
0.3

The company made a voluntary contribution of $12.0 million to its International defined benefit pension plan in the nine month period ended March 3, 2018.

9



7. Earnings Per Share


The following table reconciles the numerators and denominators used in the calculations of basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the
three and nine months ended:
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Numerators:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Numerator for both basic and diluted EPS, net earnings attributable to Herman Miller, Inc. - in millions
$
29.8

 
$
22.5

 
$
96.3

 
$
90.5

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Denominators:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Denominator for basic EPS, weighted-average common shares outstanding
59,691,709

 
59,846,034

 
59,753,271

 
59,910,844

Potentially dilutive shares resulting from stock plans
670,375

 
537,152

 
620,943

 
511,134

Denominator for diluted EPS
60,362,084

 
60,383,186

 
60,374,214

 
60,421,978

Antidilutive equity awards not included in weighted-average common shares - diluted
101,763

 
554,320

 
381,446

 
745,583



During fiscal 2017, the company had certain share-based payment awards that met the definition of participating securities. During fiscal 2018, the company no longer had share-based payment awards meeting the definition of a participating security. For fiscal 2017, the company evaluated the impact on EPS of all participating securities under the two-class method, which had no impact on diluted EPS.

8. Stock-Based Compensation

The following table summarizes the stock-based compensation expense and related income tax effect for the three and nine months ended:
(In millions)
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Stock-based compensation expense
$
1.8

 
$
2.7

 
$
4.8

 
$
9.2

Related income tax effect
0.5

 
1.0

 
1.4

 
3.3



Stock-based compensation expense recognized in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the three and nine months ended March 4, 2017 has been reduced for estimated forfeitures, as it is based on awards ultimately expected to vest. Effective June 4, 2017, the company adopted ASU 2016-09 - Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. As of June 4, 2017, the company has elected to record forfeitures as they occur rather than estimating forfeitures.

The following table includes common stock issued by the company related to the exercise of stock options, vesting of restricted stock units and vesting of performance share units.
(Shares)
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Stock Options
506,565

 
211,566

Restricted Stock Units
116,981

 
89,290

Performance Share Units
130,179

 
113,040



9. Income Taxes


The company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax benefits through income tax expense in its Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income. Interest and penalties recognized in the company's Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income were negligible for the three and nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017.

The company's recorded liability for potential interest and penalties related to uncertain tax benefits was:
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
Liability for interest and penalties
$
1.0

 
$
0.8

Liability for uncertain tax positions, current
3.0

 
2.8




10



On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was signed into law in the United States. In accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, the results of operations for the three-month period ended March 3, 2018 included the provisional amounts of the effect of the reduction of the federal corporate income tax rate as well as the effect of the new participation exemption system of taxation on foreign earnings, among other provisions.

Effective January 1, 2018 the federal income tax rate was reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent. For fiscal tax payers a full year federal income tax rate is calculated based upon the number of days in the year subject to the 35 percent and the 21 percent tax rates. As a result, the company’s statutory federal tax rate for the fiscal year ending June 2, 2018 is 29.1 percent. The three-month and nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 include a provisional, discrete amount of $3 million in reduced income tax expense resulting from the reduced federal income tax rate. Also, a provisional, discrete favorable impact totaling $8.7 million was triggered as a result of applying the lower federal income tax rates to the company’s net deferred tax liabilities.

As part of the transition towards the participation exemption system, in the three-month period ended March 3, 2018, the company recorded a provisional discrete U.S. tax liability of $9.2 million on certain undistributed foreign earnings. The one-time tax is based in part on the amount of earnings held in cash and other specified assets as of June 2, 2018. No other provision was made for income taxes that may result from future remittances of the undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries as these amounts continue to be indefinitely reinvested in foreign operations and determining the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liability is not practicable. The company will continue to refine its calculations as additional analysis is completed and these changes could be material to the consolidated financial statements.

For tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the Act subjects a U.S. shareholder to tax on global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) earned by certain foreign subsidiaries. The FASB Staff Q&A, Topic 740, No. 5, Accounting for Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, states that an entity can make an accounting policy election to either recognize deferred taxes for temporary basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI in future years or provide for the tax expense related to GILTI in the year the tax is incurred. The company is still evaluating the effects of the GILTI provisions and has not yet determined its accounting policy.
In determining the provision for income taxes for the three-month period ended March 3, 2018, the company used an estimated annual effective tax rate which was based on expected annual income and statutory tax rates across the various jurisdictions in which it operates, which included effects of the Act. The effective tax rates were 19.0 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively, for the three-month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017. The effective tax rates were 27.3 percent and 31.5 percent, respectively, for the nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017. The year over year decrease in the effective tax rate for the three and nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 was the result of the Act and an increase in the mix of earnings in tax jurisdictions that had rates that were lower than the United States federal statutory rate. The effective tax rates for the three and nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 are lower than the United States federal statutory rate due to the mix of earnings in taxing jurisdictions that had rates that were lower than the United States federal statutory rate, along with the manufacturing deduction under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (“AJCA”) and the research and development tax credit under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes ("PATH") Act of 2015.

The company is subject to periodic audits by domestic and foreign tax authorities. Currently, the company is undergoing routine periodic audits in both domestic and foreign tax jurisdictions. It is reasonably possible that the amounts of unrecognized tax benefits could change in the next twelve months as a result of the audits. Tax payments related to these audits, if any, are not expected to be material to the company's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.
For the majority of tax jurisdictions, the company is no longer subject to state, local, or non-United States income tax examinations by tax authorities for fiscal years before 2012.

10. Fair Value Measurements


The company's financial instruments consist of cash equivalents, marketable securities, accounts and notes receivable, deferred compensation plan, accounts payable, debt, redeemable noncontrolling interests, interest rate swaps and foreign currency exchange contracts. The company's financial instruments, other than long-term debt, are recorded at fair value. The carrying value and fair value of the company's long-term debt, including current maturities, is as follows for the periods indicated:
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
Carrying value
$
278.3

 
$
203.1

Fair value
$
281.9

 
$
213.0



The following describes the methods the company uses to estimate the fair value of financial assets and liabilities, which have not significantly changed in the current period:


11



Cash and cash equivalents — The company invests excess cash in short term investments in the form of commercial paper and money market funds. Commercial paper is valued at amortized costs while money market funds are valued using net asset value.

Available-for-sale securities — The company's available-for-sale marketable securities primarily include equity and fixed income mutual funds and government obligations. These investments are recorded at fair value using quoted prices for similar securities.

Foreign currency exchange contracts — The company's foreign currency exchange contracts are valued using an approach based on foreign currency exchange rates obtained from active markets. The estimated fair value of forward currency exchange contracts is based on month-end spot rates as adjusted by market-based current activity. These forward contracts are not designated as hedging instruments.

Interest rate swap agreements — The value of the company's interest rate swap agreements is determined using a market approach based on rates obtained from active markets. The interest rate swap agreements are designated as cash flow hedging instruments.

Deferred compensation plan — The company's deferred compensation plan primarily includes various domestic and international mutual funds that are recorded at fair value using quoted prices for similar securities.

Other — The company's contingent consideration liabilities and redeemable noncontrolling interests are deemed to be a nonrecurring level 3 fair value measurement. Refer to Note 14 for further information regarding redeemable noncontrolling interests. 

The following tables set forth financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and the respective pricing levels to which the fair value measurements are classified within the fair value hierarchy as of March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017.
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017


Financial Assets
Quoted Prices with
Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)
 
Management Estimate (Level 3)
 
Quoted Prices with
Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)
 
Management Estimate (Level 3)
Cash and cash equivalents:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Money market funds
$
31.4

 
$

 
$

 
$

Commercial paper
70.0

 

 

 

Available-for-sale marketable securities:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mutual funds - fixed income
7.6

 

 
7.7

 

Mutual funds - equity
0.8

 

 
0.9

 

Foreign currency forward contracts
0.5

 

 
0.5

 

Interest rate swap agreement
13.7

 

 
3.3

 

Deferred compensation plan
11.7

 

 
12.8

 

Total
$
135.7

 
$

 
$
25.2

 
$

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial Liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Foreign currency forward contracts
$
0.6

 
$

 
$
0.6

 
$

Contingent consideration

 
0.4

 

 
0.5

Total
$
0.6

 
$
0.4

 
$
0.6

 
$
0.5



The table below presents a reconciliation for liabilities measured at fair value using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) (in millions).
Contingent Consideration
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
Beginning balance
$
0.5

 
$
2.7

Net realized losses (gains)

 
(0.2
)
Payments
(0.1
)
 
(2.0
)
Ending balance
$
0.4

 
$
0.5



The contingent consideration liabilities represent future payment obligations that relate to business and product line acquisitions. These payments are based on the future performance of the acquired businesses or product line. The contingent consideration liabilities are valued using estimates based on discount rates that reflect the risk involved and the projected sales and earnings of the acquired businesses. The estimates are updated and the liabilities are adjusted to fair value on a quarterly basis.

The following is a summary of the carrying and market values of the company's marketable securities as of the respective dates:

12



 
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
(In millions)
Cost
 
Unrealized
Gain/(loss)
 
Market
Value
 
Cost
 
Unrealized
Gain/(Loss)
 
Market
Value
Mutual funds - fixed income
$
7.6

 
$

 
$
7.6

 
$
7.6

 
$
0.1

 
$
7.7

Mutual funds - equity
0.7

 
0.1

 
0.8

 
0.9

 

 
0.9

Total
$
8.3

 
$
0.1

 
$
8.4

 
$
8.5

 
$
0.1

 
$
8.6



Adjustments to the fair value of available-for-sale securities are recorded as increases or decreases, net of income taxes, within Accumulated other comprehensive loss in stockholders’ equity. These adjustments are also included within the caption Unrealized holding gain within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. Unrealized gains recognized in the company's Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income related to available-for-sale securities were nominal for the three and nine month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017. The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method; realized gains and losses resulting from such sales are included in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income within "Other, net".

The company reviews its investment portfolio for any unrealized losses that would be deemed other-than-temporary and require the recognition of an impairment loss in earnings. If the cost of an investment exceeds its fair value, the company evaluates, among other factors, general market conditions, the duration and extent to which the fair value is less than its cost, the company's intent to hold the investment, and whether it is more likely than not that the company will be required to sell the investment before recovery of the cost basis. The company also considers the type of security, related industry and sector performance, and published investment ratings. Once a decline in fair value is determined to be other-than-temporary, an impairment charge is recorded and a new cost basis in the investment is established. If conditions within individual markets, industry segments, or macro-economic environments deteriorate, the company could incur future impairments.

The company views its available-for-sale portfolio as available for use in its current operations. Accordingly, the investments are recorded within Current Assets within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities
Foreign Currency Forward Contracts
The company transacts business in various foreign currencies and has established a program that primarily utilizes foreign currency forward contracts to reduce the risks associated with the effects of certain foreign currency exposures. Under this program, the company's strategy is to have increases or decreases in our foreign currency exposures offset by gains or losses on the foreign currency forward contracts to mitigate the risks and volatility associated with foreign currency transaction gains or losses. Foreign currency exposures typically arise from net liability or asset exposures in non-functional currencies on the balance sheets of our foreign subsidiaries. Foreign currency forward contracts generally settle within 30 days and are not used for trading purposes. These forward contracts are not designated as hedging instruments. Accordingly, we record the fair value of these contracts as of the end of the reporting period in the Consolidated Balance Sheets with changes in fair value recorded within the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income. The balance sheet classification for the fair values of these forward contracts is to Other current assets for unrealized gains and to Other accrued liabilities for unrealized losses. The Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income classification for the fair values of these forward contracts is to Other expenses (income): Other, net, for both realized and unrealized gains and losses.

Interest Rate Swaps
The company enters into interest rate swap agreements to manage its exposure to interest rate changes and its overall cost of borrowing. The company's interest rate swap agreements were entered into to exchange variable rate interest payments for fixed rate payments over the life of the agreement without the exchange of the underlying notional amounts. The notional amount of the interest rate swap agreements is used to measure interest to be paid or received and does not represent the amount of exposure to credit loss. The differential paid or received on the interest rate swap agreements is recognized as an adjustment to interest expense.

The interest rate swaps were designated cash flow hedges at inception and remain an effective accounting hedge as of March 3, 2018. Since a designated derivative meets hedge accounting criteria, the fair value of the hedge is recorded in the Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of the derivatives is immediately recognized in earnings. The interest rate swap agreements are assessed for hedge effectiveness on a quarterly basis.

In September 2016, the company entered into an interest rate swap agreement. The interest rate swap is for an aggregate notional amount of $150.0 million with a forward start date of January 3, 2018 and a termination date of January 3, 2028. As a result of the transaction, the company effectively converted indebtedness anticipated to be borrowed on the company’s revolving line of credit up to the notional amount from a LIBOR-based floating interest rate plus applicable margin to a 1.949 percent fixed interest rate plus applicable margin under the agreement as of the forward start date.

13




On June 12, 2017, the company entered into an interest rate swap agreement. The interest rate swap is for an aggregate notional amount of $75.0 million with a forward start date of January 3, 2018 and a termination date of January 3, 2028. As a result of the transaction, the company effectively converted the company’s revolving line of credit up to the notional amount from a LIBOR-based floating interest rate plus applicable margin to a 2.387 percent fixed interest rate plus applicable margin under the agreement as of the forward start date.

As of March 3, 2018, the fair value of the company’s two outstanding interest rate swap agreements was an asset of $13.7 million. The asset fair value was recorded within Other noncurrent assets within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The net unrealized gain recorded within Other comprehensive loss, net of tax, for the effective portion of the company's designated cash flow hedges was $5.9 million and $1.1 million for the three months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017, respectively. The net unrealized gain recorded within Other comprehensive loss, net of tax, for the effective portion of the company's designated cash flow hedges was $6.9 million and $5.3 million for the nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017, respectively.

There were no gains or losses recognized against earnings for hedge ineffectiveness and there were no gains or losses reclassified from Accumulated other comprehensive loss into earnings for three and nine month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017, respectively.

11. Commitments and Contingencies


Product Warranties
The company provides coverage to the end-user for parts and labor on products sold under its warranty policy and for other product-related matters. The standard length of warranty is 12 years for the majority of products sold; however, this varies depending on the product classification. The company does not sell or otherwise issue warranties or warranty extensions as stand-alone products. Reserves have been established for the various costs associated with the company's warranty program and are included in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets under “Accrued warranty.” General warranty reserves are based on historical claims experience and other currently available information. These reserves are adjusted once an issue is identified and the actual cost of correction becomes known or can be estimated.
(In millions)
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Accrual Balance — beginning
$
53.3

 
$
44.6

 
$
47.7

 
$
43.9

Accrual for product-related matters
4.2

 
6.7

 
19.2

 
17.6

Settlements and adjustments
(4.6
)
 
(4.8
)
 
(14.0
)
 
(15.0
)
Accrual Balance — ending
$
52.9

 
$
46.5

 
$
52.9

 
$
46.5



Guarantees
The company is periodically required to provide performance bonds to do business with certain customers. These arrangements are common in the industry and generally have terms ranging between one and three years. The bonds are required to provide assurance to customers that the products and services they have purchased will be installed and/or provided properly and without damage to their facilities. The bonds are provided by various bonding agencies. However, the company is ultimately liable for claims that may occur against them. As of March 3, 2018, the company had a maximum financial exposure related to performance bonds totaling approximately $8.9 million. The company has no history of claims, nor is it aware of circumstances that would require it to pay, under any of these arrangements. The company also believes that the resolution of any claims that might arise in the future, either individually or in the aggregate, would not materially affect the company's financial statements. Accordingly, no liability has been recorded in respect to these bonds as of either March 3, 2018 or June 3, 2017.

The company has entered into standby letter of credit arrangements for purposes of protecting various insurance companies and lessors against default on insurance premium and lease payments. As of March 3, 2018, the company had a maximum financial exposure from these standby letters of credit totaling approximately $8.2 million, all of which is considered usage against the company's revolving line of credit. The company has no history of claims, nor is it aware of circumstances that would require it to perform under any of these arrangements, and believes that the resolution of any claims that might arise in the future, either individually or in the aggregate, would not materially affect the company's financial statements. Accordingly, no liability has been recorded in respect of these arrangements as of March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017.

Contingencies
The company is also involved in legal proceedings and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of management, the outcome of such proceedings and litigation currently pending will not materially affect the company's consolidated financial statements.


14



12. Debt


Long-term debt as of March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017 consisted of the following obligations:
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
Series B senior notes, due January 3, 2018
$

 
$
149.9

Debt securities, due March 1, 2021
50.0

 
50.0

Syndicated revolving line of credit, due September 2021
225.0

 

Supplier financing program
3.3

 
$
3.2

Total debt
$
278.3

 
$
203.1

Less: Current debt
(3.3
)
 
(3.2
)
Long-term debt
$
275.0

 
$
199.9



The company's syndicated revolving line of credit provides the company with up to $400 million in revolving variable interest borrowing capacity and includes an "accordion feature" allowing the company to increase, at its option and subject to the approval of the participating banks, the aggregate borrowing capacity of the facility by up to $200 million. The facility will expire in September 2021 and outstanding borrowings bear interest at rates based on the prime rate, federal funds rate, LIBOR or negotiated rates as outlined in the agreement. Interest is payable periodically throughout the period if borrowings are outstanding.

On January 3, 2018, the company borrowed $225.0 million on its existing revolving line of credit. Of these proceeds, $150.0 million was used to repay its Series B senior notes, while the rest of the proceeds was used for general business purposes.

As of March 3, 2018, the total debt outstanding related to borrowings under the syndicated revolving line of credit was $225.0 million. Available borrowings against this facility were $166.8 million due to $8.2 million related to outstanding letters of credit. As of June 3, 2017, there were no outstanding borrowings against this facility and available borrowings were $357.1 million due to $8.3 million outstanding letters of credit.

Supplier Financing Program
The company has an agreement with a third party financial institution to provide a platform that allows certain participating suppliers the ability to finance payment obligations from the company. Under this program, participating suppliers may finance payment obligations of the company, prior to their scheduled due dates, at a discounted price to the third party financial institution.

The company has lengthened the payment terms for certain suppliers that have chosen to participate in the program. As a result, certain amounts due to suppliers have payment terms that are longer than standard industry practice and as such, these amounts have been excluded from the caption “Accounts payable” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as the amounts have been accounted for by the company as a current debt obligation. Accordingly, $3.3 million and $3.2 million have been recorded within the caption “Other accrued liabilities” for the periods ended March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017, respectively.

Construction-Type Lease
During fiscal 2015, the company entered into a lease agreement for the occupancy of a new studio facility in Palo Alto, California. In fiscal 2017, the company became the deemed owner of the leased building for accounting purposes as a result of the company's involvement during the construction phase of the project. The lease is therefore accounted for as a financing transaction and the building and related financing liability were initially recorded at fair value in the Consolidated Balance Sheets within both Construction in progress and Other accrued liabilities. The fair value of the building and financing liability was determined through a blend of an income approach, comparable property sales approach and a replacement cost approach. The value of the building and the related financing liability at March 3, 2018 and June 3, 2017 was $7.0 million. Upon completion of construction, the financing liability will be reclassified into Long-term debt.


15



13. Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The following table provides an analysis of the changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss for the nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017:
(In millions)
Cumulative Translation Adjustments
 
Pension and Other Post-retirement Benefit Plans
 
Unrealized
Gains on Available-for-sale Securities
 
Interest Rate Swap Agreement
 
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
Balance at May 28, 2016
$
(29.6
)
 
$
(34.9
)
 
$

 
$

 
$
(64.5
)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications
(10.8
)
 

 
0.2

 
5.3

 
(5.3
)
Reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive loss - Selling, general and administrative

 
1.7

 

 

 
1.7

Tax benefit

 
0.4

 

 

 
0.4

Net reclassifications

 
2.1

 

 

 
2.1

Net current period other comprehensive income
(10.8
)
 
2.1

 
0.2

 
5.3

 
(3.2
)
Balance at March 2, 2017
$
(40.4
)
 
(32.8
)
 
$
0.2

 
$
5.3

 
$
(67.7
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance at June 3, 2017
$
(36.8
)
 
$
(47.6
)
 
$
0.1

 
$
2.1

 
$
(82.2
)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications
6.3

 

 

 
6.9

 
13.2

Reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive loss - Selling, general and administrative

 
3.2

 

 

 
3.2

Tax expense

 
(0.6
)
 

 

 
(0.6
)
Net reclassifications

 
2.6

 

 

 
2.6

Net current period other comprehensive income
6.3

 
2.6

 

 
6.9

 
15.8

Balance at March 3, 2018
$
(30.5
)
 
$
(45.0
)
 
$
0.1

 
$
9.0

 
$
(66.4
)


14. Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests

Redeemable noncontrolling interests are reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets in mezzanine equity in “Redeemable noncontrolling interests.” The company recognizes changes to the redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interests as they occur and adjusts the carrying value to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. The redemption amounts have been estimated based on the fair value of the subsidiary, determined based on a weighting of the discounted cash flow and market methods. This represents a level 3 fair value measurement.

Changes in the company’s redeemable noncontrolling interests for the nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 are as follows:
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Beginning Balance
$
24.6

 
$
27.0

Purchase of redeemable noncontrolling interests
(1.0
)
 
(1.5
)
Net income attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interests
0.2

 
0.1

Redemption value adjustment
0.5

 
(0.7
)
Other adjustments

 
0.1

Ending Balance
$
24.3

 
$
25.0



15. Operating Segments


Effective in the first quarter of fiscal 2018, the company moved the operating results of its Nemschoff subsidiary, which primarily focuses on healthcare, from its North America Furniture Solutions operating segment to its Specialty operating segment. This change was made to better leverage the skills and capabilities of the company's Specialty business teams, particularly in the areas of craft wood and upholstery manufacturing. Additionally, the company has refreshed its methodology of allocating selling, general and administrative costs to the operating segments. The company has also identified certain corporate support costs that will no longer be allocated to the operating segments and that will be tracked and reported as "Corporate Unallocated Expenses". The company made these changes in the way that it allocates and reports its costs to better reflect the utilization of functional services across its operating segments and to also more closely align to industry practice. Prior year results disclosed in the table below have been revised to reflect these changes.


16



The company's reportable segments consist of North American Furniture Solutions, ELA ("EMEA, Latin America, and Asia Pacific") Furniture Solutions, Specialty and Consumer. The North American Furniture Solutions segment includes the operations associated with the design, manufacture and sale of furniture products for work-related settings, including office, education and healthcare environments, throughout the United States and Canada. The business associated with the company's owned contract furniture dealers is also included in the North American Furniture Solutions segment. The ELA Furniture Solutions segment includes EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. ELA includes the operations associated with the design, manufacture, and sale of furniture products, primarily for work-related settings, in these geographic regions. The Specialty segment includes the operations associated with the design, manufacture, and sale of high-craft furniture products and textiles including Geiger wood products, Maharam textiles, Nemschoff and Herman Miller Collection products. The Consumer segment includes operations associated with the sale of modern design furnishings and accessories to third party retail distributors, as well as direct to consumer sales through eCommerce and Design Within Reach retail studios.

The company also reports a “Corporate” category consisting primarily of unallocated expenses related to general corporate functions, including, but not limited to, certain legal, executive, corporate finance, information technology, administrative and acquisition-related costs. Management regularly reviews corporate costs and believes disclosing such information provides more visibility and transparency regarding how the chief operating decision maker reviews results of the Company. The accounting policies of the reportable operating segments are the same as those of the company.

The following is a summary of certain key financial measures for the respective fiscal periods indicated.
 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Net Sales:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
North American Furniture Solutions
$
316.4

 
$
294.5

 
$
975.3

 
$
955.6

ELA Furniture Solutions
102.6

 
88.0

 
309.0

 
292.9

Specialty
72.6

 
69.3

 
222.2

 
224.4

Consumer
86.8

 
73.1

 
256.7

 
228.1

Total
$
578.4

 
$
524.9

 
$
1,763.2

 
$
1,701.0

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Operating Earnings (Loss):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
North American Furniture Solutions
$
37.8

 
$
35.9

 
$
131.6

 
$
125.7

ELA Furniture Solutions
7.2

 
6.5

 
26.1

 
27.1

Specialty
2.0

 
1.3

 
5.7

 
12.2

Consumer
4.2

 
(0.7
)
 
5.5

 
1.9

Corporate
(12.9
)
 
(8.0
)
 
(31.5
)
 
(25.9
)
Total
$
38.3

 
$
35.0

 
$
137.4

 
$
141.0


(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
June 3, 2017
Total Assets:
 
 
 
North American Furniture Solutions
$
506.1

 
$
533.6

ELA Furniture Solutions
259.0

 
230.3

Specialty
177.9

 
157.9

Consumer
283.6

 
276.4

Corporate
215.1

 
108.1

Total
$
1,441.7

 
$
1,306.3



16. Restructuring Expenses

During the first quarter of fiscal 2018, the company announced restructuring actions involving targeted workforce reductions primarily within the North American segment. These actions related to the company's cost savings initiatives and resulted in the recognition of restructuring expenses of $1.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The restructuring actions were completed at December 2, 2017, and final payments are expected to be made over the next quarter.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2018, the company announced further restructuring actions involving targeted workforce reductions primarily within the North American segment. These actions related to the company's previously announced cost savings initiatives and resulted in the recognition of restructuring expenses of $0.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018. The restructuring actions were completed at December 2, 2017, and final payments are expected to be made over the next three quarters.


17



During the second and third quarters of fiscal 2017, the company announced restructuring actions involving targeted workforce reductions within the North American, ELA and Specialty segments. These actions resulted in the recognition of restructuring expenses related to severance costs of $2.7 million and $3.7 million in the third quarter and nine month periods, respectively. The restructuring actions were deemed to be complete as of March 4, 2017.

The following table provides an analysis of the changes in restructuring costs reserve for the nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017:
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Beginning Balance
$
2.4

 
$
0.4

Restructuring expenses
1.9

 
3.7

Payments
(4.0
)
 
(1.6
)
Ending Balance
$
0.3

 
$
2.5



17. Subsequent Event

On March 14, 2018, the company announced a facilities consolidation plan related to its ELA segment. This will impact certain office and manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom and China. It is currently contemplated that this plan will generate approximately $4 million in annual cost reductions as part of the company's three-year cost savings initiatives with an estimated $6 million to $8 million of future restructuring and related charges. The company expects the facilities consolidations to be completed by the first quarter of fiscal 2020.

18



Item 2: Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Three and Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018
(in millions)

The following is management's discussion and analysis of certain significant factors that affected the company's financial condition, earnings and cash flows during the periods included in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 3, 2017. References to “Notes” are to the footnotes included in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.
Discussion of Current Business Conditions

For the third quarter of fiscal 2018, the company reported net sales totaling $578.4 million, which was an increase of 10 percent from the same quarter of the prior year period. Orders of $563.2 million represented an increase of 4 percent relative to the prior year period. The company achieved diluted earnings per share of $0.49, which was an increase of 32 percent from the prior year level. The increase in earnings per share was driven by a combination of improved operating performance combined with the impact of a lower normalized U.S. tax rate. The decrease in the U.S. tax rate related to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was passed at the beginning of the third quarter of fiscal 2018. As a result of the Act, the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate decreased from 35 percent to 21 percent. Given the timing of the company's fiscal year, the company will be subject to a blended U.S. federal corporate income tax rate of 29.1% in fiscal 2018. The company's estimated annual effective tax rate for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 was 19.0 percent as compared to 29.8 percent for the same period of the prior fiscal year.

The North American segment reported net sales of $316.4 million in the current period, an increase of 7 percent as compared to the prior year period. On an organic basis, net sales were $315.3 million(*), which represented growth of 8 percent(*) over the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Orders during the third quarter of fiscal 2018 of $294.7 million were 7 percent lower than the same quarter of last fiscal year and were negatively impacted by a relative reduction in large and medium-sized projects. Operating earnings for North America in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $37.8 million or 12 percent of sales as compared to $35.9 million or 12 percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

The ELA segment recorded net sales of $102.6 million during the current period represented growth of 17 percent compared to last year, while organic net sales increased by 11 percent(*). Growth in net sales compared to last year was driven primarily by increased sales volumes within the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. Orders in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 of $113.9 million represented an increase of 33 percent from the prior year. After adjusting for changes in foreign currency exchange rates, organic order growth was 27 percent relative to the prior year period. This growth was broad-based across all regions, with particular strength in the U.K., continental Europe, Australia, Mexico and the Middle East. Operating earnings within the ELA segment for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $7.2 million or 7 percent of sales as compared to $6.5 million or 7 percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

The Specialty segment reported growth in both net sales and orders compared to the same three month period of the prior year. Net sales of $72.6 million and orders of $71.2 million represented growth compared to the prior year of 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively. These increases were driven by growth within the company's Geiger and Maharam subsidiaries, as well as the Herman Miller Collection. Operating earnings for Specialty increased from $1.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2017 to $2.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2018. The increase in operating earnings as compared to the prior year was mainly by driven increased profitability at the company's Maharam subsidiary and the Herman Miller Collection portfolio of products.

The Consumer segment reported net sales of $86.8 million were approximately 19 percent ahead of the same quarter last year. Orders of $83.4 million, period over period growth of approximately 14 percent, both on an as reported and an organic basis. This represented the third consecutive quarter of double digit organic order growth for the Consumer segment. Operating earnings for Consumer segment in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $4.2 million or 4.8 percent of sales as compared to an operating loss of $0.7 million or (1.0) percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017. The year-over-year increase in profitability was driven by improved fixed cost leverage on higher net sales, efficiencies within the company’s retail studio operations, and a continued mix shift toward the company’s exclusive product designs.

The company believes that the economic environment in North America and abroad remains generally supportive, but acknowledges certain areas of risk within the foreign geographies in which it operates. Macro-economic indicators, including GDP growth, service sector employment, architectural billings and the potential benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act continue to support a positive outlook in North America. Abroad, the company believes that global growth still exists; however, there are areas of risk, such as in the U.K. related to Brexit and in oil-producing regions in the Middle East, where economic and political pressures are present. The company is also monitoring the potential impact of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, including potential retaliatory responses from other nations. Additionally, while our recently announced facility consolidation efforts in China are expected to generate future cost reductions, this creates near-term risk for operational disruption while the plans are being implemented.
(*) Non-GAAP measurements; see accompanying reconciliations and explanations.


19



The remaining sections within Item 2 include additional analysis of our three and nine months ended March 3, 2018, including discussion of significant variances compared to the prior year periods.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This report contains references to Organic net sales and Adjusted earnings per share - diluted, which are non-GAAP financial measures. Organic growth (decline) in net sales represents the change in net sales, excluding currency translation effects and the impacts of acquisitions, divestitures, the impact of the change in DWR shipping terms in fiscal 2018 and the extra week in fiscal 2017. Adjusted earnings per share - diluted represents earnings per share - diluted, excluding the impact of restructuring expenses and other charges or gains, including related taxes. These items include certain restructuring expenses related to actions involving targeted workforce reductions, as well as non-recurring costs related to the planned CEO transition, third party consulting costs related to the company's profit enhancement initiatives, a non-recurring gain from a dealer divestiture, and the one-time impact of adopting the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The company believes presenting Organic net sales and Adjusted earnings per share - diluted is useful for investors as it provides financial information on a more comparative basis for the periods presented by excluding items that are not representative of the ongoing operations of the company. The first nine months of fiscal 2018 included 39 weeks of operations as compared to 40 weeks in the first nine months of fiscal 2017. The additional week is required periodically to more closely align Herman Miller’s fiscal year with the calendar months.

Organic net sales and Adjusted earnings per share - diluted are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to the related GAAP measurement. These non-GAAP measurements have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Our presentation of non-GAAP measures should not be construed as an indication that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or infrequent items. We compensate for these limitations by providing prominence of our GAAP results and using the non-GAAP financial measures only as a supplement. The following table reconciles Net sales to Organic net sales for the periods ended as indicated below:
 
Three Months Ended
Three Months Ended
 
3/3/18
3/4/17
 
North America
ELA
Specialty
Consumer
Total
North America
ELA
Specialty
Consumer
Total
Net Sales, as reported
$
316.4

$
102.6

$
72.6

$
86.8

$
578.4

$
294.5

$
88.0

$
69.3

$
73.1

$
524.9

% change from PY
7.4
%
16.6
%
4.8
%
18.7
%
10.2
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proforma Adjustments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dealer Divestitures





(2.6
)



(2.6
)
Currency Translation Effects (1)
(1.1
)
(5.0
)

(0.1
)
(6.2
)





Organic net sales
$
315.3

$
97.6

$
72.6

$
86.7

$
572.2

$
291.9

$
88.0

$
69.3

$
73.1

$
522.3

% change from PY
8.0
%
10.9
%
4.8
%
18.6
%
9.6
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nine Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
 
3/3/18
3/4/17
 
North America
ELA
Specialty
Consumer
Total
North America
ELA
Specialty
Consumer
Total
Net Sales, as reported
$
975.3

$
309.0

$
222.2

$
256.7

$1,763.2
$
955.6

$
292.9

$
224.4

$
228.1

$
1,701.0

% change from PY
2.1
%
5.5
%
(1.0
)%
12.5
%
3.7
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proforma Adjustments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dealer Divestitures





(21.4
)



(21.4
)
Currency Translation Effects (1)
(2.7
)
(7.4
)
(0.1
)
(0.2
)
(10.4
)





Impact of Extra Week in FY17





(21.7
)
(6.3
)
(4.3
)
(4.7
)
(37.0
)
Impact of change in DWR shipping terms



(5.0
)
(5.0
)





Organic net sales
$
972.6

$
301.6

$
222.1

$
251.5

$1,747.8
$
912.5

$
286.6

$
220.1

$
223.4

$
1,642.6

% change from PY
6.6
%
5.2
%
0.9
 %
12.6
%
6.4
%
 
 
 
 
 
(1) Currency translation effects represent the estimated net impact of translating current period sales and orders using the average exchange rates applicable to the comparable prior year period




20



The following table reconciles Earnings per share - diluted to Adjusted earnings per share - diluted for the three and nine months ended:

 
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
 
3/3/2018
3/4/2017
3/3/2018
3/4/2017
Earnings per Share - Diluted
$
0.49

$
0.37

$
1.60

$
1.50

 
 
 
 
 
Less: One-time impact of adopting U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
(0.04
)

(0.04
)

Less: Gain on sale of dealer

(0.01
)

(0.01
)
Add: Special charges
0.05


0.06


Add: Restructuring expense

0.03

0.02

0.03

Adjusted Earnings per Share - Diluted
$
0.50

$
0.39

$
1.64

$
1.52


Analysis of Results for Three and Nine Months

The three months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 each contained 13 weeks, while the nine months ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 contained 39 and 40 weeks, respectively. The following table presents certain key highlights from the results of operations for the periods indicated.
(In millions, except per share data)
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
Percent
Change
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
Percent
Change
 
(13 weeks)
 
(13 weeks)
 
 
 
(39 weeks)

 
(40 weeks)

 
 
Net sales
$
578.4

 
$
524.9

 
10.2
 %
 
$
1,763.2

 
$
1,701.0

 
3.7
 %
Cost of sales
372.6

 
329.4

 
13.1
 %
 
1,118.5

 
1,057.6

 
5.8
 %
Gross margin
205.8

 
195.5

 
5.3
 %
 
644.7

 
643.4

 
0.2
 %
Operating expenses
167.5

 
157.8

 
6.1
 %
 
505.4

 
498.7

 
1.3
 %
Restructuring expenses

 
2.7

 
n/a

 
1.9

 
3.7

 
(48.6
)%
Total operating expenses
167.5

 
160.5

 
4.4
 %
 
507.3

 
502.4

 
1.0
 %
Operating earnings
38.3

 
35.0

 
9.4
 %
 
137.4

 
141.0

 
(2.6
)%
Other expenses, net
2.1

 
3.0

 
(30.0
)%
 
7.7

 
10.4

 
(26.0
)%
Earnings before income taxes and equity income
36.2

 
32.0

 
13.1
 %
 
129.7

 
130.6

 
(0.7
)%
Income tax expense
6.9

 
9.5

 
(27.4
)%
 
35.4

 
41.1

 
(13.9
)%
Equity income from nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax
0.7

 

 
n/a

 
2.2

 
1.1

 
100.0
 %
Net earnings
30.0

 
22.5

 
33.3
 %
 
96.5

 
90.6

 
6.5
 %
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests
0.2

 

 
n/a

 
0.2

 
0.1

 
100.0
 %
Net earnings attributable to Herman Miller, Inc.
$
29.8

 
$
22.5

 
32.4
 %
 
96.3

 
90.5

 
6.4
 %
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Earnings per share — diluted
0.49

 
0.37

 
32.4
 %
 
1.60

 
1.50

 
6.7
 %
Orders
563.2

 
543.2

 
3.7
 %
 
1,787.4

 
1,714.7

 
4.2
 %
Backlog
341.7

 
331.6

 
3.0
 %
 
 
 
 
 
 

The following table presents, for the periods indicated, select components of the company's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income as a percentage of net sales.

21



 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
Net sales
100.0
%
 
100.0
%
 
100.0
%
 
100.0
%
Cost of sales
64.4

 
62.8

 
63.4

 
62.2

Gross margin
35.6

 
37.2

 
36.6

 
37.8

Operating expenses
29.0

 
30.1

 
28.7

 
29.3

Restructuring expenses

 
0.5

 
0.1

 
0.2

Total operating expenses
29.0

 
30.6

 
28.8

 
29.5

Operating earnings
6.6

 
6.7

 
7.8

 
8.3

Other expenses, net
0.4

 
0.6

 
0.4

 
0.6

Earnings before income taxes and equity income
6.3

 
6.1

 
7.4

 
7.7

Income tax expense
1.2

 
1.8

 
2.0

 
2.4

Equity income from nonconsolidated affiliates, net of tax
0.1

 

 
0.1

 
0.1

Net earnings
5.2

 
4.3

 
5.5

 
5.3

Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests

 

 

 

Net earnings attributable to Herman Miller, Inc.
5.2

 
4.3

 
5.5

 
5.3


Performance versus the Domestic Contract Furniture Industry

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA) is the trade association for the North American contract furniture industry. The company monitors the trade statistics reported by BIFMA and considers them an indicator of industry-wide sales and order performance. BIFMA publishes statistical data for the contract segment and the office supply segment within the North American market. The contract segment of the industry relates primarily to products sold to large to mid-size corporations and installed via a network of dealers. The office supply segment relates primarily to products sold to smaller customers via wholesalers and retailers. The company participates, and is a leader in, the contract segment. The company's diversification strategy lessens its dependence on the North American contract office furniture market.

The company analyzes BIFMA statistical information as a benchmark comparison against the performance of its contract business in North America and also to that of its competitors. The timing of large project-based business may affect comparisons to this data in any one period. Finally, BIFMA regularly provides its members with industry forecast information, which the company uses internally as one of several considerations in its short and long-range planning process.

While the sales and order data for our North American reportable segment provide a relative comparison to BIFMA, it is not intended to be an exact comparison. The data we report to BIFMA is consistent with the BIFMA definition of office furniture “consumption.” This definition differs slightly from the categorization we have presented in this report. Notwithstanding this difference, we believe our presentation provides the reader with a relevant comparison.

For the three months ended ended March 3, 2018, the company's domestic United States shipments, as defined by BIFMA, increased by 6.8 percent while the company's domestic orders decreased by 2.4 percent year-over-year. BIFMA reported an estimated year-over-year decrease in shipments of 0.9 percent and an increase in orders of 2.3 percent for the comparable period.

Performance versus the Consumer Furnishings Sector

We also monitor trade statistics reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, which reports monthly retail sales growth data across a number of retail categories, including Furniture and Home Furnishing Stores. This information provides a relative comparison to our Consumer segment, but is not intended to be an exact comparison. The average monthly year-over-year growth rate in sales for the Furniture and Home Furnishing Stores category for the calendar three month period through ended February 2018, was approximately 5.8 percent. By comparison, net sales in our Consumer segment increased by approximately 18.7 percent as reported and 18.6 percent(*) on an organic basis for the three months ended March 3, 2018.

(*) Non-GAAP measurements; see accompanying reconciliations and explanations.



22



Consolidated Sales

The following charts present graphically the primary drivers of the year-over-year change in net sales for the three and nine months ended March 3, 2018. The amounts presented in the bar graphs are expressed in millions and have been rounded to eliminate decimals.

CHART-5246849DCD8556C7B49.JPG CHART-E9B6A045CD5E5C239BB.JPG

CHART-DC122A13FA61593183A.JPG CHART-F629138E00D05F03864.JPG

Consolidated net sales increased $53.5 million or 10.2 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2017. The following items led to the change:

Sales volumes within the North American segment increased by approximately $27 million, resulting from increased demand within the company's North America office furniture businesses.
Incremental sales volumes within the Consumer segment of approximately $14 million were driven by growth across the DWR studio, e-commerce and contract channels.
Increased sales volumes within the ELA segment of approximately $12 million were driven primarily by broad-based growth across all regions.
Foreign currency translation had a positive impact on net sales of approximately $6 million.
Increased sales volumes within the Specialty segment of approximately $4 million due primarily to increased sales volumes for the Herman Miller Collection and Geiger subsidiary.
Deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, reduced net sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 by roughly $7 million as compared to the prior year. Of this change, approximately $4 million related to the North American operating segment.
The impact of the divestiture of the company's dealerships in Vancouver, Canada in fiscal 2018 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in fiscal 2017 had the effect of reducing sales by $2.6 million in the current three month period as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year.

23




Consolidated net sales increased $62.2 million or 3.7 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 compared to the first nine months of fiscal 2017. The following items led to the change:

Sales volumes within the North American segment increased by approximately $72 million, resulting from increased demand within the company's North America office furniture business.
Incremental sales volumes within the Consumer segment of approximately $33 million were driven partly by a change in shipping terms at Design Within Reach that resulted in approximately $5 million of net sales being accelerated into the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The rest of the change was due mainly to growth across the DWR studio, e-commerce and contract channels.
Increased sales volumes within the ELA segment of approximately $20 million were driven primarily by growth in the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions.
Foreign currency translation had a positive impact on net sales of approximately $10 million.
Deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, reduced net sales in the first half of fiscal 2018 by roughly $15 million as compared to the prior year. Of this change, approximately $12 million related to the North American operating segment.
The impact of the divestiture of the company's dealerships in Vancouver, Canada in fiscal 2018 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in fiscal 2017 had the effect of reducing sales by $21.4 million in the current nine month period as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year.
The nine month period of fiscal 2018 had 39 weeks as compared to the same period of fiscal 2017, which had 40 weeks. The impact of this additional week decreased net sales by approximately $37 million compared to the prior year period.

Consolidated Gross Margin

Consolidated gross margin was 35.6 percent for the three month period ended March 3, 2018 as compared to 37.2 percent for the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. The following factors summarize the major drivers of the year-over-year change in gross margin percentage:

Incremental price discounting, net of price increases, reduced the company's consolidated gross margin by approximately 50 basis points relative to the same period of last fiscal year.
Material cost performance at the company's West Michigan manufacturing facilities decreased gross margin by approximately 20 basis points as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. The company incurred higher than expected outsourcing costs in its West Michigan operations to meet increased customer demand for products made in capacity-constrained areas of the factory.
Unfavorable product mix shift at the company's West Michigan operations drove a decrease of approximately 20 basis points as compared to the same period of last fiscal year.
Manufacturing overhead and labor cost leverage was unfavorable by approximately 40 basis points at the company's West Michigan operations. This was driven primarily by incremental costs related to depreciation and wage base increases in comparison to the same period last fiscal year.
The rest of the decrease in gross margin was driven by several factors, including the unfavorable impact of increased incentive compensation costs as well as lower volume leverage at the company's Nemschoff subsidiary, partially offset by improved channel mix across operating segments including the growth in the company's Consumer business.

Consolidated gross margin was 36.6 percent for the nine month period ended March 3, 2018 as compared to 37.8 percent for the same period of the prior fiscal year. The following factors summarize the major drivers of the year-over-year change in gross margin percentage:

Incremental price discounting, net of price increases, reduced the company's consolidated gross margin by approximately 50 basis points relative to the same period of last fiscal year.
Higher commodity costs due to higher steel prices in the first half of this fiscal year drove an unfavorable year-over-year margin impact of approximately 30 basis points.
Material cost performance at the company's West Michigan manufacturing facilities decreased gross margin by approximately 20 basis points as compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. The company incurred higher than expected outsourcing costs in its West Michigan operations to meet increased customer demand for products made in capacity-constrained areas of the factory.
Unfavorable product mix shift at the company's West Michigan operations drove a decrease of approximately 30 basis points as compared to the same period of last fiscal year.
These decreases in gross margin were partially offset by improved channel mix across operating segments including the growth in the company's Consumer business.
 

24



Operating Expenses and Operating Earnings

The following chart presents graphically the primary drivers of the year-over-year change in operating expenses for the three and nine months ended March 3, 2018. The amounts presented in the bar graphs are expressed in millions and have been rounded to eliminate decimals.
CHART-F6D892495BCF5B29AA7.JPG CHART-1C293B8873085C2F910.JPG
Consolidated operating expenses increased by $7.0 million or 4.4 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 compared to the prior year period. The following factors contributed to the change:

Special charges, primarily associated with the planned CEO transition and consulting fees related to the profit optimization of the company's consumer business increased operating expenses by $3.9 million.
Higher employee incentive costs increased operating expenses by $1.5 million. The increase reflects higher incentive compensation costs that are variable based on the achievement of earnings levels for the fiscal year relative to plan.
Depreciation expense increased by approximately $2 million and was driven primarily by investment in facilities.
Sales volume based costs, such as sales commissions and royalties, drove an increase in operating expenses of $1.7 million.
Incremental costs related to the continued growth and expansion of DWR retail studios increased operating expenses by approximately $1 million.
Higher restructuring costs in the prior year period had the effect of decreasing operating expenses by $2.7 million.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2018, the company reduced operating expenses by an estimated $5 million as a result of its previously announced cost savings initiatives. These cost savings were realized across several of the company's operating expense categories and offset spending on strategic initiatives, general inflationary pressures on operating expenses and lower relative gross margin performance in the current period compared to the same quarter of fiscal 2017.

Consolidated operating expenses increased by $4.9 million or 1.0 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 compared to the prior year period. The following factors contributed to the change:

Special charges, primarily associated with the planned CEO transition and consulting fees related to the profit optimization of the company's consumer business increased operating expenses by $5.9 million.
Incremental costs related to the continued growth and expansion of DWR retail studios increased operating expenses by approximately $4 million.
Sales volume based costs, such as sales commissions and royalties, drove an increase in operating expenses of approximately $4 million.
Depreciation expense increased by approximately $4 million and was driven primarily by investment in facilities.
Higher employee incentive costs increased operating expenses by $2.9 million. The increase reflects higher incentive compensation costs that are variable based on the achievement of earnings levels for the fiscal year relative to plan.
Foreign currency translation had an incremental impact on operating expenses of approximately $2 million.
Higher restructuring costs in the prior year period had the effect of decreasing operating expenses by $1.8 million.
The divestiture of the company's dealerships in Vancouver and Philadelphia in fiscal 2018 and 2017, respectively, resulted in a decrease in operating expenses of $5.0 million.

25



Operating expenses were approximately $9 million lower due to the extra week of operations included in the results of the prior year.

During the nine month period of fiscal 2018, the company reduced operating expenses by an estimated $13 million related to its previously announced cost savings initiatives. These cost savings were realized across several of the company's operating expense categories and offset spending on strategic initiatives, general inflationary pressures on operating expenses and lower relative gross margin performance in the current fiscal year compared to the same period in fiscal 2017.

Operating earnings for the three and nine month periods ended March 3, 2018 were $38.3 million or 6.6 percent of sales and $137.4 million or 7.8 percent of sales, respectively. This compares to $35.0 million or 6.7 percent of sales and $141.0 million or 8.3 percent of sales for the respective periods during last fiscal year. The nine month period of fiscal 2018 had 39 weeks as compared to the same period of fiscal 2017, which had 40 weeks. The impact of this additional week decreased operating earnings over the nine month period of fiscal 2018 by approximately $5 million compared to the prior year period.

Other Income/Expense and Income Taxes

During the three months ended March 3, 2018, net other expense was $2.1 million, a decrease of $0.9 million compared to the same period in the prior year. This decrease resulted mainly from lower interest expense and lower foreign currency losses relative to the same period of last fiscal year.

During the nine months ended March 3, 2018, net other expense was $7.7 million, a decrease of $2.7 million compared to the same period in the prior year. This decrease resulted mainly from lower foreign currency losses and lower interest expense relative to the same period of last fiscal year.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was signed into law in the United States. The results of operations for the three-month period ended March 3, 2018 included the effect of the enactment of the Act. The effects of the Act included the reduction of the federal corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and a new participation exemption system of taxation on foreign earnings, among other provisions.

Effective January 1, 2018 the federal income tax rate was reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent. For fiscal tax payers a full year federal income tax rate is calculated based upon the number of days in the year subject to the 35 percent and the 21 percent tax rates. As a result, the company’s statutory federal tax rate for the fiscal year ending June 2, 2018 is 29.1 percent. The impact of the lower statutory rate applied to the earnings before tax for the period starting at the beginning of fiscal 2018 and ending on the date that the Act was signed into law was recorded as a discrete item in the company’s income tax expense for the three months ending March 3, 2018. Also recorded in the same three-month period was a remeasurement of the deferred tax assets and liabilities to reflect the anticipated rate at which the deferred items will be realized. The Act introduces a new participation exemption system of taxation on foreign earnings. As part of the transition towards this system, in the three-month period ended March 3, 2018, the company recorded a provisional U.S. tax liability of $9.2 million on certain undistributed foreign earnings. The analysis of the actual impact of these changes is not fully complete, therefore the company determined and disclosed the estimated impact in note 9 as part of its third quarter fiscal 2018 results.

The effective tax rates for the three-month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 were 19.0 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively. The effective tax rates for the nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 were 27.3 percent and 31.5 percent, respectively. The year over year decrease in the effective tax rate for the three and nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 was the result of the Act and an increase in the mix of earnings in tax jurisdictions that had rates that were lower than the United States federal statutory rate. The effective tax rates for the three and nine-month periods ended March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017 are lower than the United States federal statutory rate due to the mix of earnings in taxing jurisdictions that had rates that were lower than the United States federal statutory rate, along with the manufacturing deduction under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (“AJCA”) and the research and development tax credit under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes ("PATH") Act of 2015.


26



Reportable Operating Segment Results

The business is comprised of various operating segments as defined by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. As described in “Discussion of Current Business Conditions”, the company moved the operating results of its Nemschoff subsidiary from its North America Furniture Solutions operating segment to its Specialty operating segment and as a result, prior year financial information has been revised. These operating segments are determined on the basis of how the company internally reports and evaluates financial information used to make operating decisions. For external reporting purposes, the company has identified the following reportable segments:

North American Furniture Solutions — Includes the operations associated with the design, manufacture and sale of furniture products for work-related settings, including office, education, and Herman Miller healthcare environments, throughout the United States and Canada.
ELA Furniture Solutions — Includes EMEA, Latin America and Asia-Pacific operations associated with the design, manufacture and sale of furniture products, primarily for work-related settings.
Specialty — Includes operations associated with the design, manufacture, and sale of high-craft furniture products and textiles including Geiger wood products, Maharam textiles, Nemschoff and Herman Miller Collection products.
Consumer — Includes operations associated with the sale of modern design furnishings and accessories to third party retail distributors, as well as direct-to-consumer sales through eCommerce and DWR retail studios and outlets.
Corporate Consists primarily of unallocated expenses related to general corporate functions, including, but not limited to, certain legal, executive, corporate finance, information technology, administrative and acquisition-related costs.

The charts below present the relative mix of net sales and operating earnings across the company's reportable segments during the three and nine month periods ended March 3, 2018. This is followed by a discussion of the company's results, by reportable segment.

27



CHART-AA2B3B501E2051ED9DF.JPG CHART-30305CF10D015F84A7A.JPG CHART-805900816AF55B3D9B7.JPG CHART-F49BC557DF26530181C.JPG
North American Furniture Solutions ("North America")

Three Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $316.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 7.4 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Orders totaled $294.7 million, a decrease of 7.4 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $315.3 million(*) for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 8.0 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $293.6 million, a decrease of 5.7 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $37.8 million or 11.9 percent of sales as compared to $35.9 million or 12.2 percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

Sales volumes within the North American segment increased by approximately $27 million, resulting from increased demand within the company's North America office furniture business.
Deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, reduced net sales and operating earnings in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 by roughly $4 million as compared to the prior year.
The third quarter of fiscal 2017 included the full results of operations for the company’s dealership in Vancouver, Canada and one month of operations for the company's dealership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Accordingly, the increase in sales volumes for the North American segment for the current three month period was partially offset by a $2.6 million decrease in net sales due to the

28



divestitures. The sale of these dealerships also decreased orders for the North America segment in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 by $6.9 million compared to the same quarter last year.
Operating earnings increased primarily due to increased sales volumes and reductions in operating expenses related to company-wide cost savings initiatives. These factors were partially offset by deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, and a mix shift into lower margin products which had the combined impact of decreasing gross margin by approximately $7 million as compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2017.

Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $975.3 million for the nine month period of fiscal 2018, an increase of 2.1 percent from the same period of fiscal 2017. Orders totaled $970.5 million, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $972.6 million(*) for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, an increase of 6.6 percent from the same period of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $968.1 million, an increase of 3.9 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 were $131.6 million or 13.5 percent of sales as compared to $125.7 million or 13.2 percent of sales in the same period of prior year.

The impact of an extra week in fiscal 2017 caused net sales and orders in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 to be lower than the prior year comparative period by approximately $22 million and $20 million, respectively.
Sales volumes within the North American segment increased by approximately $72 million, resulting from increased demand within the company's North America office furniture business.
The first nine months of fiscal 2017 included the full results of operations for the company’s dealership in Vancouver, Canada that was divested in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The first nine months of fiscal 2017 included seven months of operations for the company's dealership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was divested in the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Accordingly, the increase in sales volumes for the North American segment for the current nine month period was partially offset by a $21.4 million decrease in net sales due to the divestitures. The sale of these dealerships also decreased consolidated orders and operating earnings for the North America segment in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 by $22.4 million and $0.7 million respectively, compared to the same period last year.
Deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, reduced net sales and operating earnings in the nine month period of fiscal 2018 by roughly $12 million as compared to the prior year.
Operating earnings increased primarily due to increased sales volumes and reductions in operating expenses related to company-wide cost savings initiatives. These factors were partially offset by deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, a mix shift into lower margin products, outsourcing costs due to capacity constraints within the company's plants and commodity price pressure which had the combined impact of decreasing gross margin by approximately $23 million as compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2017.

ELA Furniture Solutions ("ELA")

Three Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $102.6 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 16.6 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Orders totaled $113.9 million, an increase of 33.2 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $97.6 million(*) for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 10.9 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $108.8 million, an increase of 27.3 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $7.2 million or 7.0 percent of sales as compared to $6.5 million or 7.4 percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

Increased sales volumes within the ELA segment of approximately $12 million were driven primarily by growth in Asia Pacific and EMEA.
The impact of foreign currency translation increased net sales and operating earnings by $5.0 million and $0.8 million, respectively.
Deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, reduced net sales and operating earnings in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 by roughly $2 million as compared to the prior year.
Operating earnings in the current three month period of fiscal 2018 were higher due to increased sales volumes and lower restructuring costs and special charges of $0.4 million as compared to the same period of the prior year. These increases were offset partially by deeper discounting, net of incremental price increases and increased royalty costs of $0.3 million in the period.

Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $309.0 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, an increase of 5.5 percent from the same period of fiscal 2017. Orders totaled $340.4 million, an increase of 15.4 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $301.6 million(*) for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, an increase of 5.2 percent from the first half of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $332.8 million, an increase of 16.0 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 were $26.1 million or 8.4 percent of sales as compared to $27.1 million or 9.3 percent of sales in the same period of prior year.


29



The impact of an extra week in fiscal 2017 caused net sales and orders in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 to be lower than the prior year comparative period by approximately $6 million and $8 million, respectively.
Increased sales volumes within the ELA segment of approximately $20 million were driven primarily by growth in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
The impact of foreign currency translation increased net sales and operating earnings by $7.4 million and $1.6 million, respectively.
Deeper contract price discounting, net of incremental price increases, reduced net sales and operating earnings in the nine month period of fiscal 2018 by roughly $5 million as compared to the prior year.
Operating earnings in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 decreased as compared to the same period in the prior year due to the impact of the extra week of operations included in the prior year results, increased royalty costs of $0.8 million, increased warranty costs of $0.5 million and deeper discounting, net of incremental price increases. These decreases were partially offset by the increase in operating earnings from increased sales volumes.

Specialty

Three Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $72.6 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 4.8 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Orders totaled $71.2 million, an increase of 7.4 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $72.6 million(*) for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 4.8 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $71.2 million, an increase of 7.4 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $2.0 million or 2.8 percent of sales as compared to $1.3 million or 1.9 percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

Net sales increased in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 as compared to the same period of the prior year due primarily to increased sales volumes of approximately $4 million, which was driven primarily by the company's Herman Miller Collection and Geiger businesses.
The increase in operating earnings as compared to the prior year was mainly by driven increased profitability at the company's Maharam subsidiary and the Herman Miller Collection portfolio of products. The increase in operating earnings for Maharam was driven by a decrease in operating expenses of approximately $1.3 million as compared to the prior year, while the increase in operating earnings for the Herman Miller Collection was driven by higher sales volumes. These increases were partially offset by decreased operating earnings at the company's Nemschoff subsidiary of approximately $1 million as compared to the same period of the prior year.

Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $222.2 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, a decrease of 1.0 percent from the same period of fiscal 2017. Orders totaled $223.7 million, an increase of 2.4 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $222.1 million(*) for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, an increase of 0.9 percent from the same period of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $223.6 million, an increase of 4.7 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 were $5.7 million or 2.6 percent of sales as compared to $12.2 million or 5.4 percent of sales in the same period of prior year.

The impact of an extra week in fiscal 2017 caused net sales and orders in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 to be lower than the prior year comparative period by approximately $4 million and $5 million, respectively.
The company's Nemschoff subsidiary experienced a decrease in operating earnings of approximately $5 million as compared to the prior year period. This decrease was driven by unfavorable product mix, the negative impact on operating earnings from decreased sales volumes and higher warranty costs.
Increased inventory reserves of approximately $0.5 million, which was driven by all entities in the Specialty segment, had a negative impact on operating earnings in the first nine months of fiscal 2018.

Consumer

Three Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $86.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 18.7 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Orders of $83.4 million increased 14.1 percent from the same period last year. Organic net sales totaled $86.7 million(*) for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 18.6 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $83.3 million, an increase of 14.0 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were $4.2 million or 4.8 percent of sales as compared to an operating loss of $0.7 million or 1.0 percent of sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

Net sales increased due to incremental sales volumes of approximately $14 million which was driven by growth across the DWR studio, e-commerce and contract channels.
Operating earnings in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 were higher than prior year driven by the increase in sales, an increase in shipments of higher margin proprietary products. This includes improvements in the operating performance of new studio locations that have been put in place over the past 18 months.

30




Nine Months Ended March 3, 2018
Net sales totaled $256.7 million for the nine month period of fiscal 2018, an increase of 12.5 percent from the same period of fiscal 2017. Orders of $252.8 million increased 11.1 percent from the same period in the prior year. Organic net sales totaled $251.5 million(*) for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, an increase of 12.6 percent from the first nine months of fiscal 2017. Organic orders totaled $252.6 million, an increase of 13.0 percent from the same period in the prior year. Operating earnings for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 were 5.5 million or 2.1 percent of sales as compared to Operating earnings of $1.9 million or 0.8 percent of sales in the first nine months of fiscal 2017.

Incremental sales volumes within the Consumer segment of approximately $33 million were driven partly by a change in shipping terms at Design Within Reach that resulted in the acceleration of approximately $5 million of net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The balance of the change was due to growth across the DWR studio, e-commerce and contract channels.
The impact of an extra week in fiscal 2017 caused net sales and orders in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 to be lower than the prior year comparative period by approximately $5 million and $4 million, respectively.
The impact of the changes in DWR shipping terms and the incremental $5 million of first quarter revenue had a favorable impact on operating earnings of approximately $1 million in the current period as compared to the same period of last fiscal year.
Operating earnings in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 were higher due to increased sales volumes as compared to the same period of the prior year. This increase was offset partially by the negative impact of the addition of new DWR studio locations, which add incremental selling square footage but take time (twelve to eighteen months on average) to achieve full operational efficiency. These incremental costs increased operating expenses by approximately $4 million as compared to the prior year.
Increased warranty costs of $0.2 million and inventory reserves of $0.5 million related to the bankruptcy of a product vendor also negatively impacted operating earnings in the current nine month period.

Corporate

Corporate unallocated expenses totaled $12.9 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2018, an increase of 61.3 percent from the third quarter of fiscal 2017. The increase was driven mainly by special charges of $3.6 million from third party consulting costs related to the company's profit improvement initiatives, as well as transition costs related to the impending retirement of the company's CEO.

Corporate unallocated expenses totaled $31.5 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2018, an increase of 21.6 percent from the first half of fiscal 2017. The increase was driven mainly by special charges of $5.5 million from third party consulting costs related to the company's profit improvement initiatives, as well as transition costs related to the impending retirement of the company's CEO.

Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources


The table below presents certain key cash flow and capital highlights for nine months ended as indicated.
 
March 3, 2018
 
March 4, 2017
(In millions)
(39 weeks)
 
(40 weeks)
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
$
193.0

 
$
78.4

Marketable securities, end of period
8.4

 
8.0

Cash provided by operating activities
110.7

 
122.1

Cash used in investing activities
(42.5
)
 
(99.0
)
Cash provided by (used in) financing activities
28.3

 
(29.6
)
Capital expenditures
(51.0
)
 
(70.5
)
Stock repurchased and retired
(30.1
)
 
(17.2
)
Common stock issued
16.0

 
7.6

Dividends paid
(31.7
)
 
(29.2
)
Interest-bearing debt, end of period
275.0

 
234.5

Available unsecured credit facility, end of period (1)
$
166.8

 
$
357.1

(1) Amounts shown are net of outstanding letters of credit of $8.2 million and $8.3 million as of March 3, 2018 and March 4, 2017, respectively, which are applied against availability under the company's unsecured credit facility.


31



Cash Flows - Operating Activities

Nine Month Period Ended March 3, 2018
Cash generated from operating activities was $110.7 million for the nine months ended March 3, 2018, as compared to $122.1 million in the same period of the prior year. During the current nine month period, the company made a voluntary contribution of $12.0 million to its international defined benefit pension plan. Additionally, changes in working capital balances drove a use of cash totaling $30.3 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2018. The main factors driving this use of cash were an increase in inventory of $17.0 million and a decrease in accrued compensation and benefits of $9.0 million. Inventory increased mainly due to growth in demand at DWR, as well as a build of inventory in the ELA segment to fulfill demand. Accrued compensation and benefits decreased due to the annual payout of the prior year accrued bonus and profit sharing. These factors more than offset drivers within working capital that increased cash, including an increase in accounts payable of $12.5 million.

Nine Month Period Ended March 4, 2017
Cash generated from operating activities was $122.1 million for the nine month period ended March 4, 2017, as compared to $125.9 million in the same period of the prior year. During the nine month period ended March 4, 2017, changes in working capital balances drove a use of cash totaling $31.6 million. The main factors driving this use of cash were an increase in inventory of $27.5 million and a decrease in accrued compensation and benefits of $19.6 million. Inventory increased due mainly to the Consumer segment related to new product introductions, as well as the seasonal build of inventory in the third quarter to fulfill demand from planned promotional events in the fourth quarter. Accrued compensation and benefits decreased due to the annual payout of the prior year accrued bonus and profit sharing and due to lower employee incentive cost accruals as compared to the prior year. These factors more than offset drivers within working capital that increased cash, including a decrease in accounts and notes receivable of $36.2 million.

Cash Flows - Investing Activities

Investing activities in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 resulted in a net cash outflow of $42.5 million as compared to a net cash outflow of $99.0 million in the same period of the prior year. The largest contributor to the change in cash used in investing activities was the prior year repayment of loans against the cash surrender value of life insurance policies in the amount of $15.3 million. Additionally, prior year equity investments in noncontrolled entities resulted in a cash outlay of $13.3 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2017, which also drove a portion of the change in investing outflows from the prior year. Also, the company received cash proceeds from a company-owned life insurance policy in the amount of $8.1 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2018.

The company had cash outflows for the purchase of $51.0 million of capital assets in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 as compared to $70.5 million during the first nine months of the prior year. The decrease in capital expenditures as compared to the prior year was driven mainly by a reduction in expenditures related to manufacturing assets in West Michigan and a reduced expenditures in connection with Design Within Reach studio build outs. At the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2018, there were outstanding commitments for capital purchases of $29.6 million compared to $16.5 million at the corresponding date in the prior year. The company expects full-year capital purchases to be between $75 million and $85 million, which will be primarily related to investments in the company's facilities and equipment. This compares to full-year capital spending of $87.3 million in fiscal 2017.

Cash Flows - Financing Activities

Cash inflows from financing activities were $28.3 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2018 compared to cash outflows of $29.6 million during the same period of the prior year. Cash inflows from net borrowings on our revolving line of credit were $225.0 million during the nine-month period of fiscal 2018. In the third quarter of fiscal 2018, the company used borrowings on the revolver to repay its $150.0 million Series B Notes. By comparison, cash inflows from net borrowings were $12.6 million during the same period of fiscal 2017. Cash outflows for dividend payments were $31.7 million and $29.2 million for the nine month periods of fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2017, respectively. Cash paid for the repurchase of common stock was $30.1 million and $17.2 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 and 2017, respectively. Cash inflows for stock issuances related to employee benefit programs were $16.0 million and $7.6 million during the nine month periods of fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2017, respectively.

Certain minority shareholders in a subsidiary have the right, at certain times, to require the company to acquire a portion of their ownership interest in those entities at fair value. During the nine months ended March 3, 2018, the company purchased $1.0 million of minority ownership shares as compared to $1.5 million in the same period last year. It is possible that within the next three fiscal years the company could be required to acquire the balance of this ownership interest. The fair value of this redeemable noncontrolling interest as of March 3, 2018 was $24.3 million and is included within "Redeemable noncontrolling interests" on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.


32



Sources of Liquidity

In addition to cash flows from operating activities, the company has access to liquidity through credit facilities, cash and cash equivalents, and short-term investments. These sources have been summarized below. For additional information, refer to Note 12 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.
(In millions)
March 3, 2018
March 4, 2017
Cash and cash equivalents
$
193.0

$
78.4

Marketable securities
8.4

8.0

Availability under syndicated revolving line of credit
$
166.8

$
357.1


At the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2018, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $193.0 million, including $84.5 million of cash and cash equivalents held outside the United States. In addition, the company had marketable securities of $8.4 million held by one of its international subsidiaries.

The subsidiary holding the company's marketable securities is taxed as a United States taxpayer at the company's election. Consequently, for tax purposes, all United States tax impacts for this subsidiary have been recorded. Additionally, the company has $11.6 million of cash held outside of the United States for which United States taxes have been recorded. Historically, the company’s intent was to permanently reinvest the remainder of the cash outside the United States.  However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”), enacted on December 22, 2017, assesses a one-time tax on deferred foreign income upon transition to a participation exemption system of taxation. The company is considering the impact of the Act and the one-time transition tax on its foreign earnings which are invested in liquidable assets.  As a result, the company may repatriate certain balances during fiscal 2018 or subsequent periods and is assessing the amount of cash that will remain permanently reinvested.

The company believes cash on hand, cash generated from operations, and borrowing capacity will provide adequate liquidity to fund near term and foreseeable future business operations, capital needs, future dividends and share repurchases, subject to financing availability in the marketplace.

Contractual Obligations

Contractual obligations associated with ongoing business and financing activities will require cash payments in future periods. A table summarizing the amounts and estimated timing of these future cash payments as of June 3, 2017 was provided in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 3, 2017. Other than the change in debt noted below, there has been no material change in such obligations since that date.

On January 3, 2018, the company borrowed $225.0 million on its existing revolving line of credit. Of these proceeds, $150.0 million was used to repay its Series B senior notes, while the rest of the proceeds was used for general business purposes. As a result, the company's debt-related contractual obligations increased by $75.0 million since the issuance of Form 10-K for the year ended June 3, 2017.

The interest rates of the new borrowings were fixed through the use of interest rate swap agreements that have a start date of January 3, 2018 and a termination date of January 3, 2028. Of the borrowings on the revolving line of credit, $150.0 million has a fixed interest rate of 1.949 percent, plus applicable margin and $75.0 million has a fixed interest rate of 2.387 percent, plus applicable margin. The maturity date of the borrowings on the revolving line of credit is January 3, 2028.

Guarantees

The company provides certain guarantees to third parties under various arrangements in the form of product warranties, loan guarantees, standby letters of credit, lease guarantees, performance bonds and indemnification provisions. These arrangements are accounted for and disclosed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 460, Guarantees, as described in Note 12 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Variable Interest Entities

On occasion, the company provides financial support to certain independent dealers in the form of term loans, lines of credit, and/or loan guarantees that may represent variable interests in such entities. As of March 3, 2018, the company was not considered to be the primary beneficiary of any such dealer relationships under FASB ASC Topic 810, Consolidation. Accordingly, the company is not required to consolidate the financial statements of any of these entities as of March 3, 2018.

Contingencies


33



See Note 11 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Critical Accounting Policies

The company strives to report financial results clearly and understandably. The company follows accounting principles generally accepted in the United States in preparing its consolidated financial statements, which require certain estimates and judgments that affect the financial position and results of operations for the company. The company continually reviews the accounting policies and financial information disclosures. A summary of the more significant accounting policies that require the use of estimates and judgments in preparing the financial statements is provided in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 3, 2017. During the first nine months of fiscal 2018, there were no material changes in the accounting policies and assumptions previously disclosed.

New Accounting Standards

See Note 2 to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Safe Harbor Provisions

Certain statements in this filing are not historical facts but are “forward-looking statements” as defined under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, that are based on management’s beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates, and projections about the office furniture industry, the economy, and the company itself. Words like “anticipates,” “believes,” “confident,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” likely,” “plans,” “projects,” and “should,” variations of such words, and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood, and degree of occurrence. These risks include, without limitation, the success of our growth strategy, employment and general economic conditions, the pace of economic growth in the U.S., and in our International markets, the potential impact of changes in U.S. tax law, the increase in white collar employment, the willingness of customers to undertake capital expenditures, the types of products purchased by customers, competitive-pricing pressures, the availability and pricing of raw materials, our reliance on a limited number of suppliers, our ability to expand globally given the risks associated with regulatory and legal compliance challenges and accompanying currency fluctuations, the ability to increase prices to absorb the additional costs of raw materials, the financial strength of our dealers and the financial strength of our customers, our ability to locate new DWR studios, negotiate favorable lease terms for new and existing locations and the implementation of our studio portfolio transformation, our ability to attract and retain key executives and other qualified employees, our ability to continue to make product innovations, the success of newly-introduced products, our ability to serve all of our markets, possible acquisitions, divestitures or alliances, the pace and level of government procurement, the outcome of pending litigation or governmental audits or investigations, political risk in the markets we serve, and other risks identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, actual results and outcomes may materially differ from what we express or forecast. Furthermore, Herman Miller, Inc., undertakes no obligation to update, amend or clarify forward-looking statements.

Item 3: Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

The information concerning quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk contained in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended June 3, 2017 has not changed significantly, other than the disclosures related to Direct Material Costs below. The nature of market risks from interest rates and commodity prices has not changed materially during the first nine months of fiscal 2018.

Direct Material Costs

The company is exposed to risks arising from price changes for certain direct materials and assembly components used in its operations. The largest of such costs incurred by the company are for steel, plastics, textiles, wood particleboard, and aluminum components. Because of this potential exposure, the company is monitoring the potential impact of the recently announced U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, as these measures could have an adverse impact on the company’s cost of these commodities. As of the end of the fiscal periods ending March 3, 2018, the company is uncertain of the potential impact that these tariffs could have on its result of operations.

Foreign Exchange Risk

The company primarily manufactures its products in the United States, United Kingdom, China and India. It also sources completed products and product components from outside the United States. The company's completed products are sold in numerous countries around the world. Sales in foreign countries as well as certain expenses related to those sales are transacted in currencies other than the company's reporting currency, the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, production costs and profit margins related to these sales are affected by the currency exchange relationship between the countries where the sales take place and the countries where the products are sourced or manufactured. These currency exchange relationships can also impact the company's competitive positions within these markets.


34



The principal foreign currencies in which the company conducts its business are the British pound sterling, European euro, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Japanese yen, Mexican peso, Brazilian real, Indian rupee, South African rand, Hong Kong dollar and Chinese renminbi. In the normal course of business, the company enters into forward foreign currency exchange swap contracts. Changes in the fair value of such contracts are reported in earnings in the period the value of the contract changes. The net gain or loss upon settlement and the change in fair value of outstanding contracts is recorded as a component of other expense (income), net. 

Item 4: Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, management has evaluated the effectiveness of the company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of March 3, 2018, and the company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial officer have concluded that, as of that date, the company's disclosure controls and procedures are effective.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in the company's internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) during the quarterly period ended March 3, 2018, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the company's internal control over financial reporting.

Part II - Other Information

Item 1: Legal Proceedings

Referred to in Note 11 of the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Item 1A: Risk Factors

Other than the risk factor disclosed below, there have been no material changes in the company's risk factors from those set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 3, 2017.

Tariffs imposed by the U.S. government could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
The U.S. recently imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imported from several countries where we conduct business. These tariffs and the possibility of trade conflicts stemming from the tariffs could negatively impact our business in the future. The tariffs on imports could also significantly impact the cost of domestic steel, a key commodity that we consume in producing our products, which would negatively impact our gross margin and our operating performance. Additionally, there is a risk that the U.S. tariffs on imports are met with tariffs on U.S. produced exports and that a broader trade conflict could ensue. This has the potential to significantly impact global trade and economic conditions in many of the regions where we do business.

Item 2:     Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following is a summary of share repurchase activity during the quarter ended March 3, 2018.
Period
(a) Total Number of Shares (or Units)
Purchased
 
(b) Average price Paid per Share or Unit
 
(c) Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs
 
(d) Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares (or Units) that may yet be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (in millions)
12/3/17 - 12/30/17
25,494

 
$
36.33

 
25,494

 
$
90,317,595

12/31/17 - 1/27/18
61,939

 
$
40.27

 
61,939

 
$
87,823,265

1/28/18 - 3/3/18
249,416

 
$
37.60

 
249,416

 
$
78,444,810

Total
336,849

 
 
 
336,849

 
 

No repurchase plans expired or were terminated during the third quarter of fiscal 2018, nor do any plans exist under which the company does not intend to make further purchases. The Board has the authority to terminate any further repurchases.

35




During the period covered by this report, the company did not sell any of its equity securities that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933.

Item 3: Defaults upon Senior Securities

None

Item 4: Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable

Item 5: Other Information

None
Item 6: Exhibits


The following exhibits (listed by number corresponding to the Exhibit table as Item 601 in Regulation S-K) are filed with this Report:

Exhibit Number
Document

10.1

10.2

31.1

31.2

32.1

32.2

101.INS
The instance document does not appear in the interactive data file because its XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document.

101.SCH
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

101.CAL
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

101.LAB
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

101.PRE
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

101.DEF
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
 













36



SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereto duly authorized.


HERMAN MILLER, INC.


April 11, 2018
 
/s/ Brian C. Walker
 
 
 
 
Brian C. Walker
 
 
 
 
Chief Executive Officer
 
 
 
 
(Duly Authorized Signatory for Registrant)
 
 
 
 
 
April 11, 2018
 
/s/ Jeffrey M. Stutz
 
 
 
 
Jeffrey M. Stutz
 
 
 
 
Chief Financial Officer
 
 
 
 
(Duly Authorized Signatory for Registrant)

                        
                        
                        
                        

                        
                        
                        



37


Exhibit 10.1

RETIREMENT AGREEMENT
THIS RETIREMENT AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is entered into as of February 5, 2018 between Herman Miller, Inc., a Michigan corporation (“HMI” or the “Company”) and Brian C. Walker (the “Executive”).
WHEREAS, Executive has informed the Company that he intends to retire from his position;
WHEREAS, the Company desires (i) to incentivize the Executive to continue employment until a replacement CEO is found, (ii) for the Executive to provide for an orderly transition of his duties and responsibilities, and (iii) to enhance Executive’s non-compete, non-solicitation, confidential information and non-disparagement covenants following his retirement.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants and mutual promises contained in this Agreement the parties agree as follows:
1.Retirement and Employment.

(a)Retirement and Separation. Executive agrees to continue his employment until August 31, 2018 (the “Retirement Date”) at which time he agrees to retire and terminate his employment with the Company. The Company agrees to continue Executive’s employment through the Retirement Date, unless it has reason to terminate his employment for Cause (as defined below), in which case the Company may terminate his employment prior to the Retirement Date. The date that the Executive’s employment terminates, either on the Retirement Date or the date it is terminated earlier for Cause is referred to in this Agreement as the “Separation Date.”

(b)Position and Duties. At any time prior to the Retirement Date the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) may replace Executive as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”). If the Board replaces Executive as CEO, then Executive will continue to serve as an advisor to the Chairman of the Board through his Separation Date. Until his Separation Date, Executive will devote his full-time efforts and attention to the Company.

(c)Employment Compensation. Through the Separation Date Executive will continue to be paid his regular base salary at the rate as currently in effect and remains eligible for all employee benefits (including bundled benefits and perquisites) except that he will not be granted any long-term incentive award grants or be eligible for a 2019 fiscal year annual incentive award. As soon as practicable following his Separation Date the Company will pay Executive: (i) any portion of his base salary earned but not paid, (ii) any unreimbursed business expenses owed pursuant to applicable Company policy, (iii) any accrued but unused vacation pay owed to Executive, and (iv) any amounts arising from Executive’s participation in, or benefits under, any employee benefit plans, programs or arrangements in which the Executive participated as of immediately prior to his termination of employment, which amounts will be payable in accordance with the terms and conditions of such employee benefit plans, programs or arrangements (collectively the “Accrued Benefits”).

(d)Cause Definition. As used in this Agreement “Cause” means: (A) a material breach by Executive of his duties and responsibilities which (1) do not differ in any material respect from his duties and responsibilities during the 90-day period immediately prior to such breach (other than due to disability), (2) is demonstrably willful and deliberate on Executive's part, (3) is committed in bad faith or without reasonable belief that such breach is in the best interests of the Company, and (4) is not remedied in a reasonable period of time after receipt of written notice from the Company specifying such breach; or (b) the commission by Executive of a felony involving moral turpitude.

2.Post-Retirement Date Compensation. As long as Executive does not resign or retire and is not terminated for Cause prior to the Retirement Date, and subject to Executive’s compliance with all terms of this Agreement, the Covenant Agreement (as defined below) and execution of the Release (as defined below), then in addition to his Accrued Benefits, the Company will provide Executive with the following compensation:

(a)Salary Continuation. For a period of eighteen (18) months following the Retirement Date, the Company will continue to pay Executive the amount of his base salary as in effect on the Retirement Date.

(b)COBRA Subsidy. The Company will pay Executive a lump sum equal to the product of (i) the total monthly premium payable for Executive’s medical and dental insurance benefits as in effect on the Retirement Date, less the portion of such premiums for which Executive is responsible, and (ii) eighteen (18).

3.Termination for Cause or Resignation Prior to the Replacement Date, and Effect of Death.






(a)Resignation or Termination for Cause. If prior to the Retirement Date Executive resigns or is terminated for Cause, or, then Executive will be entitled only to receive his Accrued Benefits and the Company will have no further obligations under this Agreement or to provide the compensation or benefits described in Section 2. Executive, however, will remain obligated to fulfill and be subject to all requirements of the Covenant Agreement and this Agreement.

(b)Death. If Executive dies following the Retirement Date, but prior to payment of all compensation due under Section 2, then any remaining amounts will be paid to his spouse, if any, or if none, as required by the laws of succession or intestacy, subject to such recipient signing the Release.

4.Withholding. All payments required to be made by the Company to the Executive will be subject to tax and other legally required withholdings.

5.Releases.

(a)Executive, on behalf of himself and his personal and legal representatives, heirs, devisees, executors, successors, and assigns, hereby acknowledges full and complete satisfaction of, and fully and forever waives, releases, acquits, and discharges and covenants not to sue the Company, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Releasees”) from any and all claims, causes of action, grievances, demands, rights, liabilities, damages of any kind, obligations, costs, expenses, and debts, of every kind and nature whatsoever, whether based on statute, tort, contract, common law, or other theory of recovery, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, or fixed or contingent (collectively, “Claims”), which Executive holds or at any time previously held against any of the Releasees, through the date he signs this Agreement. This General Release specifically includes, but is not limited to, any and all Claims:

(i)Arising under, based upon, or in any way related to Executive’s employment with Releasees, the terms or conditions of Executive’s employment with Releasees, incidents occurring during Executive’s employment with Releasees, or the decision to terminate Executive’s employment with Releasees; and/or

(ii)Arising under, based upon, or in any way related to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, The Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. §1981, The Americans With Disabilities Act, The Family and Medical Leave Act, The Rehabilitation Act, The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (excepting claims for vested benefits, if any, to which Executive is legally entitled thereunder), The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, The Older Workers’ Benefit Protection Act, the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA), Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act (WFBA), Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act (WPA), Bullard-Plawecki Employee Right to Know Act, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act (MIOSHA), the Michigan Social Security Number Privacy Act, and the Michigan Internet Privacy Protection Act, and any other federal, state, county, or local common law, statute, rule, ordinance, decision, order, policy, or regulation (i) prohibiting employment discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation, (ii) providing for the payment of wages or benefits, (iii) or otherwise creating rights or claims for employees, including but not limited to, any and all claims alleging breach of public policy, the implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing, or any express, implied, oral or written contract, handbook, manual, policy statement or employment practice, or claims alleging misrepresentation, defamation, libel, slander, interference with contractual relations, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, false imprisonment, assault, battery, fraud, negligence, or wrongful discharge.

(iii)Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the foregoing will not constitute a release of (A) any right to Accrued Benefits through the date hereof; (B) any right to indemnification under the Company’s Articles of Incorporation. By-Laws or any applicable Directors and Officers insurance policy of the Company or any Releasee, as may be applicable; (C) any claim for unemployment or workers’ compensation; or (D) claims that cannot be released as a matter of law.

(b)If Executive participates in any claim for discrimination, harassment, interference with leave rights, or retaliation he hereby waives his right to secure any monetary awards or damages. Executive does not need the prior authorization of the Company to make any such reports or disclosures, and Executive is not required to notify the Company that he has made such reports or disclosures.

(c)The payments and benefits to the Executive pursuant to Section 2 of this Agreement are contingent upon Executive executing and delivering to the Company on the first business day following the Retirement Date, a release of claims in substantially the same form attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Release”) and the Executive not revoking the Release.

6.Covenants. The Company’s obligations under this Agreement are conditioned upon Executive complying with all covenants contained in the Covenant Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit B (the “Covenants”) and should Executive violate any of the Covenants, the Company will have no further obligations under this Agreement.






7.Return of Company Property. On or prior to the Retirement Date, Executive will return all of the Company’s property. Such property includes, but is not limited to, the original and any copies of any Confidential Information or trade secrets, PDAs, keys, pass cards, building identity cards, mobile telephones, tablet devices, laptop computers, corporate credit cards, customer lists, files, brochures, documents or computer disks or printouts, equipment and any other item relating to the Company and its business.

8.Cooperation. Following the Retirement Date, at the request of the Company, the Executive agrees to cooperate to the fullest extent possible with respect to matters involving the Company about which the Executive has or may have personal knowledge, including any such matters which may arise after the Retirement Date. The Company will reimburse Executive for any out of pocket expenses incurred as a result of such cooperation.

9.Resignations. Effective as of the Retirement Date, unless otherwise requested by the Company in writing, Executive will, automatically and without further action on his part or any other person or entity, resign from all offices, boards of directors (or similar governing bodies), committees of such boards of directors (or similar governing bodies) and committees of the Company, its subsidiaries and affiliates. In addition, and without limiting the effectiveness of the resignations in the immediately preceding sentence, on the Retirement Date, Executive will execute and deliver to the Company an omnibus resignation and any such further documents and instruments as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to carry out the intent of this Section 9.

10.Assignability. The rights and benefits under this Agreement are personal to the Executive and such rights and benefits shall not be subject to assignment, alienation or transfer, except to the extent such rights and benefits are lawfully available to the estate or beneficiaries of the Executive upon death. The Company may assign this Agreement to any parent, affiliate or subsidiary and shall require any entity which at any time becomes a successor whether by merger, purchase, or otherwise acquires all or substantially all of the assets, stock or business of the Company, to expressly assume this Agreement.

11.Section 409A.

(a)Exempt Payments. The intent of the Parties is that the payments and benefits under this Agreement comply with or be exempt from Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and guidance promulgated thereunder (collectively, “Section 409A”) and, accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted, this Agreement shall be interpreted to be in compliance therewith.

(b)Separation from Service and Specified Employee Delay. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, any compensation or benefits payable under this Agreement that is considered nonqualified deferred compensation under Section 409A and is designated under this Agreement as payable upon Executive’s termination of employment shall be payable only upon Executive’s “separation from service” with the Company within the meaning of Section 409A (a “Separation from Service”). Additionally, notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to or any other agreement providing compensatory payments to Executive to the contrary, if Executive is deemed by the Company at the time of Executive’s Separation from Service to be a “specified employee” for purposes of Section 409A, any payment of compensation or benefits to which Executive is entitled under this Agreement or any other compensatory plan or agreement that is considered nonqualified deferred compensation under Section 409A payable as a result of Executive’s Separation from Service shall be delayed to the extent required in order to avoid a prohibited distribution under Section 409A until the earlier of (i) the expiration of the six-month period measured from the date of Executive’s Separation from Service with the Company or (ii) the date of Executive’s death. Upon the first business day following the expiration of the applicable Section 409A period, all payments deferred pursuant to the preceding sentence shall be paid in a lump sum to Executive (or Executive’s estate or beneficiaries), and any remaining payments due to Executive under this Agreement or any other compensatory plan or agreement shall be paid as otherwise provided herein or therein.

(c)Installments. Executive’s right to receive any installment payments under this Agreement are to be treated as a right to receive a series of separate payments and, each such installment payment will at all times be considered a separate and distinct payment as permitted under Section 409A. Except as otherwise permitted under Section 409A, no payment under this Agreement will be accelerated or deferred unless such acceleration or deferral would not result in additional tax or interest pursuant to Section 409A.

12.Entire Agreement. The Executive acknowledges and agrees that this Agreement, together with the Exhibits hereto and the other documents, Company plans and Company policies referred to herein, constitute the entire agreement and understanding between the parties and supersedes any prior agreements, written or oral, with respect to the subject matter hereof, including the termination of the Executive’s employment after the effective date of this Agreement and all amounts to which the Executive shall be entitled, other than as specifically provided in this Agreement.

13.Severability/Reasonable Alteration. In the event that any part or provision of this Agreement are held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will nevertheless continue to be valid and enforceable as though the invalid or unenforceable part or provision had not been included.






14.No Strict Construction. The language used in this Agreement is the language chosen by Executive and the Company to express their mutual intent, and no rule of strict construction will be applied against Executive or the Company.

15.Applicable Law, Venue and Jurisdiction. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan, without regard to conflicts of laws principles, rules or statutes of any jurisdiction. The parties irrevocably agree that all actions to enforce an arbitrator’s decision pursuant to Section 16 of this Agreement or to pursue injunctive relief as provided in the Covenants may be instituted and litigated in federal, state or local courts sitting in Detroit, Michigan and each of such parties hereby consents to the jurisdiction and venue of such court, waives any objection based on forum non conveniens and any right to a jury trial as set forth in Section 17 of this Agreement.

16.Arbitration of Claims. Except as provided in the Covenants, all disputes or controversies arising under or in connection with this Agreement, are to be settled exclusively by arbitration, conducted before a single neutral arbitrator in Detroit, Michigan in accordance with the National Rules for the Resolution of Employment Disputes of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) then in effect, in accordance with this Section 16, except as otherwise prohibited by any non-waivable provision of applicable law or regulation. Discovery shall be conducted in accordance with the Michigan Rules of Civil Procedure, except that each party shall have the right to propound no more than 15 special interrogatories and requests for admission, and to take the deposition of one individual and any expert witness designated by another party. Additional discovery may be had only where the arbitrator selected pursuant to this Agreement so orders, upon a showing of need. This Agreement includes and Executive agrees to waive any constitutional or other right to assert claims as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding, unless otherwise prohibited by law. The parties hereby agree that the arbitrator shall construe, interpret and enforce this Agreement in accordance with its express terms, and otherwise in accordance with the governing law as set forth in Section 15. Judgment may be entered on the arbitration award in any court having jurisdiction, provided, however, that the Company shall be entitled to seek a restraining order or injunction in any court of competent jurisdiction to prevent any continuation of any violation of the provisions of this Agreement and Executive hereby consents that such restraining order or injunction may be granted without requiring the Company to post a bond. Unless the parties otherwise agree, only individuals who are on the AAA register of arbitrators shall be selected as an arbitrator. Within 20 days of the conclusion of the arbitration hearing, the arbitrator shall prepare written findings of fact and conclusions of law. It is mutually agreed that the written decision of the arbitrator shall be valid, binding, final and enforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction. The Company shall pay all administrative fees, and the fees and expenses of the arbitrator, to the extent that such fees and expenses exceed the amount that Executive would have incurred to file a claim in court. In the event action is brought pursuant to this Section 16, the arbitrator shall have authority to award fees and costs to the prevailing party, in accordance with applicable law. If in the opinion of the arbitrator there is no prevailing party, then each party shall pay its own attorney’s fees and expenses. EXECUTIVE ALSO ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HE HAS BEEN GIVEN ADEQUATE TIME TO CONSIDER THIS AGREEMENT AND THE AAA RULES AND PROVISIONS REGARDING ARBITRATION OF CLAIMS AND HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS THIS AGREEMENT WITH HIS PRIVATE LEGAL COUNSEL.

17.Waiver of Jury Trial. EACH OF EXECUTIVE AND THE COMPANY HEREBY WAIVES, RELEASES AND RELINQUISHES ANY AND ALL RIGHTS HE/IT MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY WITH RESPECT TO ANY ACTIONS ARISING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY AS A RESULT OR IN CONSEQUENCE OF THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY CLAIM OR ACTION TO REMEDY ANY BREACH OR ALLEGED BREACH HEREOF, TO ENFORCE ANY TERM HEREOF, OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY RIGHT, BENEFIT OR OBLIGATION ACCORDED OR IMPOSED BY THIS AGREEMENT.

18.Acknowledgements and Effective Date. Executive acknowledges that he has been given at least twenty-one (21) days to consider this Agreement and that he has seven (7) days following execution of this Agreement which to revoke it. This Agreement will become effective on the eighth day after signing, as long as Executive has not revoked the Agreement. If Executive revokes this Agreement, then the Company shall have no obligations under this Agreement.

19.Counterparts and Electronic Signatures. This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts, each of which shall be deemed as an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument; signed copies of this Agreement may be delivered by .pdf, .jpeg or fax and will be accepted as an original.

20.Amendment/Waiver. This Agreement may not be modified without the express written consent of the parties hereto. Any failure by any party to enforce any of its rights and privileges under this Agreement will not be deemed to constitute waiver of any rights and privileges contained herein.
[Signature Page Follows]





IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the parties hereto has duly executed this Retirement Agreement as of the date and year first set forth above.
 
EXECUTIVE
/S/ Brian C. Walker












Exhibit A

GENERAL RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS
This release (the “General Release”) is being executed as the “Release” pursuant to the Retirement Agreement dated as of February 5, 2018 by and between Herman Miller, Inc., a Michigan corporation (the “Company”) and Brian C. Walker (the “Executive”) (the “Retirement Agreement”).
(a)For valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, Executive, on behalf of himself and his personal and legal representatives, heirs, devisees, executors, successors, and assigns, hereby acknowledges full and complete satisfaction of, and fully and forever waives, releases, acquits, and discharges and covenants not to sue the Company, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Releasees”) from any and all claims, causes of action, grievances, demands, rights, liabilities, damages of any kind, obligations, costs, expenses, and debts, of every kind and nature whatsoever, whether based on statute, tort, contract, common law, or other theory of recovery, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, or fixed or contingent (collectively, “Claims”), which Executive holds or at any time previously held against any of the Releasees, through the date he signs this General Release. This General Release specifically includes, but is not limited to, any and all Claims:

(i)Arising under, based upon, or in any way related to Executive’s employment with Releasees, the terms or conditions of Executive’s employment with Releasees, incidents occurring during Executive’s employment with Releasees, or the decision to terminate Executive’s employment with Releasees; and/or

(ii)Arising under, based upon, or in any way related to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, The Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. §1981, The Americans With Disabilities Act, The Family and Medical Leave Act, The Rehabilitation Act, The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (excepting claims for vested benefits, if any, to which Executive is legally entitled thereunder), The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, The Older Workers’ Benefit Protection Act, the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA), Payment of Wages and Fringe Benefits Act (WFBA), Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act (WPA), Bullard-Plawecki Employee Right to Know Act, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act (MIOSHA), the Michigan Social Security Number Privacy Act, and the Michigan Internet Privacy Protection Act, and any other federal, state, county, or local common law, statute, rule, ordinance, decision, order, policy, or regulation (i) prohibiting employment discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation, (ii) providing for the payment of wages or benefits, (iii) or otherwise creating rights or claims for employees, including but not limited to, any and all claims alleging breach of public policy, the implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing, or any express, implied, oral or written contract, handbook, manual, policy statement or employment practice, or claims alleging misrepresentation, defamation, libel, slander, interference with contractual relations, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, false imprisonment, assault, battery, fraud, negligence, or wrongful discharge.

(iii)Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the foregoing will not constitute a release of (A) any right to Accrued Benefits (as defined in the Retirement Agreement) through the date hereof; (B) any right to indemnification under any applicable Directors and Officers insurance policy of the Company or any Releasee, as may be applicable; (C) claims that cannot be released as a matter of law; or (D) claims for any benefits set forth in Section 2 of the Retirement Agreement.

(b)For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this General Release will be construed to prohibit Executive from filing a charge with, reporting possible violations to, or participating or cooperating with any governmental agency or entity, including but not limited to the EEOC, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress, or any agency Inspector General, or making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower, anti-discrimination, or anti-retaliation provisions of federal, state or local law or regulation; provided, however, that Executive may not disclose information of the Company or any of its affiliates that is protected by the attorney-client privilege, except as otherwise required by law. If Executive participates in any claim for discrimination, harassment, interference with leave rights, or retaliation he hereby waives his right to secure any monetary awards or damages. Executive does not need the prior authorization of the Company to make any such reports or disclosures, and Executive is not required to notify the Company that he has made such reports or disclosures.

(c)Executive represents and warrants that there has been no assignment or other transfer of any interest in any Claim which he may have against Releasees, or any of them, and he agrees to indemnify and hold Releasees, and each of them, harmless from any liability, Claims, demands, damages, costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees incurred by Releasees, or any of them, as the result of any such assignment or transfer or any rights or Claims under any such assignment or transfer. It is the intention of the parties that this indemnity does not require payment as a condition precedent to recovery by the Releasees against the undersigned under this indemnity.






(d)Executive agrees that if he hereafter commences any suit, action, arbitration, investigation, or regulatory claim arising out of, based upon, or relating to any of the Claims released hereunder or in any manner asserts against Releasees, or any of them, any of the Claims released hereunder, then the undersigned agrees to (A) repay all amounts paid to him under Section 2 of the Retirement Agreement, and (B) pay to Releasees, and each of them, in addition to any other damages caused to Releasees thereby, all attorneys’ fees incurred by Releasees in defending or otherwise responding to said Claim.

(e)Executive further understands and agrees that neither the payment of any sum of money nor the execution of this General Release shall constitute or be construed as an admission of any liability whatsoever by the Releasees, or any of them, who have consistently taken the position that they have no liability whatsoever to the undersigned except for the payments and other benefits due to Executive pursuant to the Retirement Agreement.

(f)Executive acknowledges that he has been given at least twenty-one (21) days to consider this General Release and that he has seven (7) days following execution of this General Release which to revoke it. This General Release will become effective on the eighth day after signing, as long as Executive has not revoked this General Release. If Executive revokes this General Release, then the Company shall have no further obligations under the Retirement Agreement. Executive may revoke this General Release by delivery of a notice of revocation to the General Counsel of the Company prior to 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on the eighth day following execution hereof.

(g)Signed copies of this General Release may be delivered by .pdf, .jpeg or fax and will be accepted as an original.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this Release this ____ day of ___________, 2018.
EXECUTIVE

/S/                        
Brian C. Walker












Exhibit B

COVENANT AGREEMENT
This Covenant Agreement (the “Agreement”) is being entered into pursuant to and in consideration of the benefits being provided pursuant to the Retirement Agreement dated as of February 5, 2018 between Herman Miller, Inc. (the “Company”) and Brian C. Walker (“you”) (the “Retirement Agreement”), the receipt and sufficiency of which you acknowledge, you agree to the terms below. Capitalized terms used in this Agreement that are not otherwise defined will have the meaning given them in the Retirement Agreement.
I.
OWNERSHIP RIGHTS
In the course of your employment with the Company, you have created and may continue to be creating, designing, drafting, developing or adding to the Company’s inventions or copyrights. You have and will promptly communicate all such work product to the Company.
A.
Inventions.

Any design, improvement, discovery, computer program, software development, know how, product or service idea, whether or not patentable or subject to copyright protection, developed by you during your period of employment with the Company shall be considered a “Company Invention” that belongs to the Company if it: (a) involved the use of working time; (b) involved the use of the Company’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secrets; (c) at the time conceived or first reduced to practice, related to the Company’s current or planned business activities; or (d) resulted from work performed for the Company (collectively, “Company Inventions”). You assign and agree to assign to the Company, and the Company accepts and agrees to accept, your entire right, title, and interest in all the Company Inventions (as just defined), and any patent rights arising therefrom.
B.
Copyrights.

Any material written, created, designed, or drafted by you for the Company or connected to your employment with the Company shall be considered a work for hire and the property of the Company. With respect to all intellectual property that is first created and prepared by you that is not covered by the definition of a “work made for hire” under 17 U.S.C. § 101 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, such that you would be regarded as the copyright author and owner, you hereby assign and agree to assign to the Company, and the Company accepts and agrees to accept, your entire right, title, and interest in and to such works, including all copyrights therein.
C.
Cooperation.

When requested by the Company, during or after employment, you shall support and cooperate with the Company in pursuing any patent or copyright protection in the United States and foreign countries for any Company Invention or work for hire. You shall sign such assignments or other documents considered necessary by the Company to convey ownership and exclusive rights, including patent rights, to the Company. The costs of obtaining and defending patent and copyright rights will be paid by the Company, and the Company will pay reasonable compensation to you for your services under this paragraph if you are not then employed by the Company.
D.
Prior Inventions.

Upon request, you must provide a list describing all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, and improvements which you made prior to employment with the Company, which belong to you and which are not assigned to the Company (collectively referred to as “Prior Inventions”). If there are no such Prior Inventions, you represent and warrant that there are no such Prior Inventions. If, in the course of employment with the Company, you incorporate any Prior Inventions into any work for hire or Company Invention, you grant to the Company an irrevocable, worldwide, fully paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive license. with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers, to make, use, sell, improve, reproduce, distribute, perform, display, transmit, manipulate in any manner, create derivative works based upon, and otherwise exploit or utilize in any manner the Prior Invention so incorporated.
E.
Notice of Limits to Assignment.

Your obligations do not apply to any work product that you developed entirely on your own time without using the Company’s or a customer’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or Protected Information, unless the work product (1) relates to the Company’s business or to the Company’s actual or demonstrably anticipated research, development, or services, or (2) results from any work performed by you for the Company or one or more of the Company’s customers while employed by the Company.







II.
CONFIDENTIALITY

A.
Necessity.

In the course of your employment with the Company, you have and will continue making use of, acquiring, or adding to the Company’s confidential information, trade secrets, and Protected Information. In addition, your work for the Company requires you to be provided access to valuable confidential information, trade secrets, and Protected Information. The confidential information, trade secrets, and Protected Information to which you will have access are valuable to the Company and it takes steps to maintain the secrecy and confidential nature of these matters, including the regular use of computer passwords, locks and other security measures, and requires employees with access to this information to execute agreements similar to terms of this offer letter, where possible.
B.
Promises.

You make the following promises regarding Protected Information. Nothing in the following promises is intended to restrict your opportunities for employment, those are the subject of the restrictions outlined in the Restrictive Covenants section below.
The promises in this section are made to ensure that you do not use Protected Information except for the Company’s benefit.
C.
Promise To Protect.

You promise to protect and maintain the confidentiality of Protected Information. You shall follow all Company policies and procedures for the protection and security of this information. You shall also immediately report to the Board any potential or actual security breach or loss.
D.
Promise to Return.

As soon as practicable following your Separation Date, you agree to return (and not retain) any and all materials reflecting Protected Information that you may possess (including all the Company-owned equipment) or upon demand by the Company. This includes the immediate deletion of any Protected Information to which you may have access on a cloud-based repository.
E.
Promise Not To Use Or Disclose.

You agree to not use or disclose, except as necessary for the performance of your services on behalf of the Company or as required by law or legal process, any Protected Information. This promise applies only for so long as such Protected Information remains confidential and not generally known to, or not readily ascertainable through proper means by, the Company’s competitors. In compliance with the requirements of the Defend Trade Secrets Act you acknowledge the following: (i) you will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, (ii) you will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal and (iii) if you file a lawsuit for retaliation by the Company for reporting a suspected violation of law, you may disclose trade secrets to your attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding if you: (A) file any document containing the trade secret under seal; and (B) do not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

F.
Required Disclosures.

If the Company requests or requires you to provide Protected Information in any legal proceeding or governmental investigation, you shall promptly notify the Company of the request so that the Company may either seek an appropriate protective order or waive your obligations.
G.    Whistleblower Protections.
For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Agreement will be construed to prohibit you from filing a charge with, reporting possible violations to, or participating or cooperating with any governmental agency or entity, including but not limited to the EEOC, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress, the Inspector General, or any government agency or making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower, anti-discrimination, or anti-retaliation provisions of federal, state or local law or regulation; provided, however, that you may not disclose information of the Company or any of its affiliates that is protected by the attorney-client privilege, except as otherwise required by law.







III.
RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS

You understand and agree that the Company has legitimate interests in protecting its goodwill, its relationships with customers and business partners, and in maintaining its confidential information, trade secrets and Protected Information, and hereby agree that the following restrictions are appropriate to protect such interests and are narrowly construed to meet such goals.
A.
Non-Solicitation.

You acknowledge that the relationships and goodwill that you develop with the Company Customers as a result of your employment belong to the Company and that using such relationships and goodwill against the interests of the Company would be unfair. You further acknowledge that because those relationships and goodwill are based on personal trust, the Company will need an opportunity, free from interference by you, to secure the relationships and goodwill for itself after your employment ends. You therefore agree that while employed by the Company and for a period of eighteen (18) months after your employment with the Company ends, for whatever reason, you shall not, and shall not assist anyone else to, (1) solicit or encourage any the Company Customer to terminate or diminish its relationship with the Company relating to Competitive Services or Competitive Products; or (2) seek to persuade any the Company Customer to conduct with anyone other than the Company any business or activity relating to Competitive Services or Competitive Products that such the Company Customer conducts or could conduct with the Company.
B.
Non-Interference.

You agree that during your employment with the Company, and for a period of eighteen (18) months from your voluntary or involuntary termination of employment with the Company for any reason whatsoever, you will not, either personally or in conjunction with others either (a) solicit, interfere with, or endeavor to cause any employee of the Company (other than your executive assistant) to leave such employment or (b) otherwise induce or attempt to induce any such employee to terminate employment with the Company. Nothing prohibits an employee of the Company that is not a party to this Agreement from becoming employed by another organization or person.
C.
Non-Competition.

You agree that while employed by the Company and for a period of eighteen (18) months after your employment with the Company ends for any reason, you shall not, for yourself, or on behalf of any other person or entity, directly or indirectly, provide services to a Direct Competitor.
IV.
Non-Disparagement

You agree not to disparage the Company, its subsidiaries and affiliates as well as their directors or officers. The Company’s current officers and members of its current Board of Directors will not, at any time following the date of this Agreement, disparage you. Nothing in this Agreement will be construed to limit the ability of you or the Company’s officers or members of the Board to give truthful testimony pursuant to valid legal process, including but not limited to, a subpoena, court order or a government investigative matter.

V.
Enforcement

A.
Injunctive relief

You agree that a breach by you of any of the covenants contained in this Agreement will cause irreparable damage to the Company and its goodwill, the exact amount of which will be difficult or impossible to ascertain, and that the remedies at law for any such breach shall be inadequate. Accordingly, you agree that in the event of a breach or threatened breach of this Agreement, in addition to any other remedy which may be available at law or in equity, the Company will be entitled to seek injunctive relief and specific performance to prevent or prohibit such breach. You agree to waive any requirements for the securing or posting of any bond in connection with such remedy.

B.    Arbitration

Except as provided above regarding injunctive relief, all other disputes under this Agreement will be settled pursuant to the terms of the dispute resolution provisions of the Retirement Agreement.






VI.
MISCELLANEOUS

A.    Severability.
In the event that a court finds that any time, territory, or any other provision of this Agreement is unenforceable or invalid as an unreasonable restriction, then we both agree such court will have the power to revise this Agreement as necessary to limit the term, territory or provision, to delete specific words or phrases, or to replace any invalid or unenforceable time, territory or other term or provision with a time, territory or other term or provision that would be reasonable, valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term. Should a court not be able to revise part of this Agreement in such a manner, then any such provision that is unenforceable or invalid will be treated as removed from and not part of this, Agreement, but all other portions of the Agreement will remain in effect.
B.    Governing Law.
The terms and conditions of this Agreement are governed by and are to be interpreted under the laws of the State of Michigan.
VII.
Definitions

Company Customer is limited to those customers or partners who did business with the Company within the most recent eighteen (18) months of your employment and (a) with whom you personally dealt on behalf of the Company in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the last day of your employment and you had business contact or responsibility with such the Company Customer as a result of your employment with the Company, (b) about whom you, as a result of your employment had a managerial role with oversight of the individual(s) who had responsibility for a business contact or relationship with the Company Customer, or (c) had information or goodwill with respect to the Company Customer. “the Company Customer” shall also include an individual or business to whom a pitch to solicit or secure business or a sale was prepared (even if not yet made) within the 6-month period immediately preceding the end of your employment, and with which you had not an insignificant amount of involvement in the preparation, or had greater than an insignificant exposure to specific information developed for that particular pitch. “Company Customer” shall not, however, include any individual who purchased a Competitive Product from the Company by direct purchase from one of its retail establishments or via on-line over the Internet, unless such purchase was of such quantity that the purchase price exceeded $15,000.
Competitive Products means products that serve the same function as, or that could be used to replace, products the Company provided to, offered to, or was in the process of developing for a present, former, or future possible customer/partner at any time during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the last day of your employment (or at any time during your employment if you was employed for less than twelve months), with which you had direct responsibility for the sale or development of such products or managing those persons responsible for the sale or development of such products. Competitive Products does not include any product that the Company no longer provides and/or does not intend to provide in the 12-month period following the date on which your employment with the Company ends.
Competitive Services means services of the type that the Company provided or offered (or was in the process of developing for offering) to its customers or partners at any time during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the last day of your employment with the Company (or at any time during your employment if you were employed for less than twelve months), and for which you were involved in providing or managing the provision of such services. “Competitive Services” also includes those services that the Company was in the process of developing or which it was actively engaged in research and development to offer to a customer/partner or anticipated customer/partner at the time your employment with the Company ended, but only if, you were involved in the research or development of such service. Competitive Services does not include any service that the Company no longer provides and/or does not intend to provide in the 12-month period following the date on which your employment with the Company ends.
Direct Competitor means a person, business or the Company providing Competitive Products or Competitive Services anywhere in the world. “Direct Competitor” does not include any business which the parties agree in writing to exclude from the definition, and the Company shall not unreasonably or arbitrarily withhold such agreement. The parties acknowledge and agree that each company set forth on Exhibit A is a Direct Competitor and provides Competitive Products and/or Competitive Services, but that Exhibit A does not contain an exhaustive list of all Direct Competitors. Targets for acquisition, investment, partnership, joint venture or alliance contemplated by the Company in the 24-month period prior to the date on which your employment with the Company ends are also considered Direct Competitors for purposes of this Agreement.
Protected Information means the Company information not generally known to, and not readily ascertainable through proper means by, the Company’s competitors on matters such as customer lists, customer information, customer relationships, customer needs, and customer practices or treatment specialties; partner lists, partner information, partner relationships, partner needs, and partner practices; the relative skills and experience of the Company’s other employees or agents; nonpublic financial information; strategic plans; business methods; investment strategies and plans; patent and copyright applications; sales and marketing plans; future market and product plans; the Company (not individual)





know-how; trade secrets; the Company research and development, techniques, processes, product development, product designs. work processes or methodologies; analytical analyses, product analyses, inventions, formulaic work, formulas, formulaic techniques, analytical methodology, efficacy data and testing data; technology, drawings, engineering, code, code writing, software (and hardware) development and platform development used in our research and development and design processes; and other information of a technical or economic nature relating to the Company’s business. Protected Information includes negative know-how, which is information about what the Company tried that did not work, if that information is not generally known or easily ascertainable by the Company’s competitors and would give them an advantage in knowing what not to do. Information, data, and materials received by the Company from others, such as the Company partners, in confidence (or subject to nondisclosure or similar covenants) shall also be deemed to be and shall be Protected Information.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Protected Information shall not include information that you can prove (i) was in the public domain, being publicly or openly known through lawful and proper means, (ii) was independently developed or acquired by you without reliance in any way on other Protected Information of the Company, (iii) was approved by the Company for use and disclosure by you without restriction, or (iv) is the type of information which might for the basis for protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (for example, employee pay or employee terms and conditions of employment) .
VIII.
Acknowledgement

You acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand its terms and legal consequences, have been given an opportunity to consider this Agreement, and have voluntarily entered into it after having had the opportunity to seek advice of an attorney prior to executing this Agreement.

                        
Brian C. Walker

                        
Date

HERMAN MILLER, INC.

By:
Its:

                        
Date
EXHIBIT A
The following companies (or brands) and their subsidiaries are considered Direct Competitors.
Steelcase
Haworth   
Knoll          
Teknion   
HNI          
Allsteel    
KI             
Kimball    
Trendway
Inscape
Riviera
Humanscale
Halcon
Vitra
Room & Board
Restoration Hardware
Ethan Allen
Holly Hunt
Nucraft Furniture
OFS/First Office





Watson
HAY
Sit On It
Bernhardt
DECCA
Touhy
Weiland
WeWork





Exhibit 10.2

COVENANT AGREEMENT
This Covenant Agreement (the “Agreement”) is being entered into pursuant to and in consideration of the benefits being provided pursuant to the Retirement Agreement dated as of February 5, 2018 between Herman Miller, Inc. (the “Company”) and Brian C. Walker (“you”) (the “Retirement Agreement”), the receipt and sufficiency of which you acknowledge, you agree to the terms below. Capitalized terms used in this Agreement that are not otherwise defined will have the meaning given them in the Retirement Agreement.
I.
OWNERSHIP RIGHTS
In the course of your employment with the Company, you have created and may continue to be creating, designing, drafting, developing or adding to the Company’s inventions or copyrights. You have and will promptly communicate all such work product to the Company.
A.
Inventions.

Any design, improvement, discovery, computer program, software development, know how, product or service idea, whether or not patentable or subject to copyright protection, developed by you during your period of employment with the Company shall be considered a “Company Invention” that belongs to the Company if it: (a) involved the use of working time; (b) involved the use of the Company’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secrets; (c) at the time conceived or first reduced to practice, related to the Company’s current or planned business activities; or (d) resulted from work performed for the Company (collectively, “Company Inventions”). You assign and agree to assign to the Company, and the Company accepts and agrees to accept, your entire right, title, and interest in all the Company Inventions (as just defined), and any patent rights arising therefrom.
B.
Copyrights.

Any material written, created, designed, or drafted by you for the Company or connected to your employment with the Company shall be considered a work for hire and the property of the Company. With respect to all intellectual property that is first created and prepared by you that is not covered by the definition of a “work made for hire” under 17 U.S.C. § 101 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, such that you would be regarded as the copyright author and owner, you hereby assign and agree to assign to the Company, and the Company accepts and agrees to accept, your entire right, title, and interest in and to such works, including all copyrights therein.
C.
Cooperation.

When requested by the Company, during or after employment, you shall support and cooperate with the Company in pursuing any patent or copyright protection in the United States and foreign countries for any Company Invention or work for hire. You shall sign such assignments or other documents considered necessary by the Company to convey ownership and exclusive rights, including patent rights, to the Company. The costs of obtaining and defending patent and copyright rights will be paid by the Company, and the Company will pay reasonable compensation to you for your services under this paragraph if you are not then employed by the Company.
D.
Prior Inventions.

Upon request, you must provide a list describing all inventions, original works of authorship, developments, and improvements which you made prior to employment with the Company, which belong to you and which are not assigned to the Company (collectively referred to as “Prior Inventions”). If there are no such Prior Inventions, you represent and warrant that there are no such Prior Inventions. If, in the course of employment with the Company, you incorporate any Prior Inventions into any work for hire or Company Invention, you grant to the Company an irrevocable, worldwide, fully paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive license. with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers, to make, use, sell, improve, reproduce, distribute, perform, display, transmit, manipulate in any manner, create derivative works based upon, and otherwise exploit or utilize in any manner the Prior Invention so incorporated.
E.
Notice of Limits to Assignment.

Your obligations do not apply to any work product that you developed entirely on your own time without using the Company’s or a customer’s equipment, supplies, facilities, or Protected Information, unless the work product (1) relates to the Company’s business or to the Company’s actual or demonstrably anticipated research, development, or services, or (2) results from any work performed by you for the Company or one or more of the Company’s customers while employed by the Company.







II.
CONFIDENTIALITY

A.
Necessity.

In the course of your employment with the Company, you have and will continue making use of, acquiring, or adding to the Company’s confidential information, trade secrets, and Protected Information. In addition, your work for the Company requires you to be provided access to valuable confidential information, trade secrets, and Protected Information. The confidential information, trade secrets, and Protected Information to which you will have access are valuable to the Company and it takes steps to maintain the secrecy and confidential nature of these matters, including the regular use of computer passwords, locks and other security measures, and requires employees with access to this information to execute agreements similar to terms of this offer letter, where possible.
B.
Promises.

You make the following promises regarding Protected Information. Nothing in the following promises is intended to restrict your opportunities for employment, those are the subject of the restrictions outlined in the Restrictive Covenants section below.
The promises in this section are made to ensure that you do not use Protected Information except for the Company’s benefit.
C.
Promise To Protect.

You promise to protect and maintain the confidentiality of Protected Information. You shall follow all Company policies and procedures for the protection and security of this information. You shall also immediately report to the Board any potential or actual security breach or loss.
D.
Promise to Return.

As soon as practicable following your Separation Date, you agree to return (and not retain) any and all materials reflecting Protected Information that you may possess (including all the Company-owned equipment) or upon demand by the Company. This includes the immediate deletion of any Protected Information to which you may have access on a cloud-based repository.
E.
Promise Not To Use Or Disclose.

You agree to not use or disclose, except as necessary for the performance of your services on behalf of the Company or as required by law or legal process, any Protected Information. This promise applies only for so long as such Protected Information remains confidential and not generally known to, or not readily ascertainable through proper means by, the Company’s competitors. In compliance with the requirements of the Defend Trade Secrets Act you acknowledge the following: (i) you will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, (ii) you will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal and (iii) if you file a lawsuit for retaliation by the Company for reporting a suspected violation of law, you may disclose trade secrets to your attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding if you: (A) file any document containing the trade secret under seal; and (B) do not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

F.
Required Disclosures.

If the Company requests or requires you to provide Protected Information in any legal proceeding or governmental investigation, you shall promptly notify the Company of the request so that the Company may either seek an appropriate protective order or waive your obligations.
G.    Whistleblower Protections.
For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Agreement will be construed to prohibit you from filing a charge with, reporting possible violations to, or participating or cooperating with any governmental agency or entity, including but not limited to the EEOC, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress, the Inspector General, or any government agency or making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower, anti-discrimination, or anti-retaliation provisions of federal, state or local law or regulation; provided, however, that you may not disclose information of the Company or any of its affiliates that is protected by the attorney-client privilege, except as otherwise required by law.







III.
RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS

You understand and agree that the Company has legitimate interests in protecting its goodwill, its relationships with customers and business partners, and in maintaining its confidential information, trade secrets and Protected Information, and hereby agree that the following restrictions are appropriate to protect such interests and are narrowly construed to meet such goals.
A.
Non-Solicitation.

You acknowledge that the relationships and goodwill that you develop with the Company Customers as a result of your employment belong to the Company and that using such relationships and goodwill against the interests of the Company would be unfair. You further acknowledge that because those relationships and goodwill are based on personal trust, the Company will need an opportunity, free from interference by you, to secure the relationships and goodwill for itself after your employment ends. You therefore agree that while employed by the Company and for a period of eighteen (18) months after your employment with the Company ends, for whatever reason, you shall not, and shall not assist anyone else to, (1) solicit or encourage any the Company Customer to terminate or diminish its relationship with the Company relating to Competitive Services or Competitive Products; or (2) seek to persuade any the Company Customer to conduct with anyone other than the Company any business or activity relating to Competitive Services or Competitive Products that such the Company Customer conducts or could conduct with the Company.
B.
Non-Interference.

You agree that during your employment with the Company, and for a period of eighteen (18) months from your voluntary or involuntary termination of employment with the Company for any reason whatsoever, you will not, either personally or in conjunction with others either (a) solicit, interfere with, or endeavor to cause any employee of the Company (other than your executive assistant) to leave such employment or (b) otherwise induce or attempt to induce any such employee to terminate employment with the Company. Nothing prohibits an employee of the Company that is not a party to this Agreement from becoming employed by another organization or person.
C.
Non-Competition.

You agree that while employed by the Company and for a period of eighteen (18) months after your employment with the Company ends for any reason, you shall not, for yourself, or on behalf of any other person or entity, directly or indirectly, provide services to a Direct Competitor.
IV.
Non-Disparagement

You agree not to disparage the Company, its subsidiaries and affiliates as well as their directors or officers. The Company’s current officers and members of its current Board of Directors will not, at any time following the date of this Agreement, disparage you. Nothing in this Agreement will be construed to limit the ability of you or the Company’s officers or members of the Board to give truthful testimony pursuant to valid legal process, including but not limited to, a subpoena, court order or a government investigative matter.

V.
Enforcement

A.
Injunctive relief

You agree that a breach by you of any of the covenants contained in this Agreement will cause irreparable damage to the Company and its goodwill, the exact amount of which will be difficult or impossible to ascertain, and that the remedies at law for any such breach shall be inadequate. Accordingly, you agree that in the event of a breach or threatened breach of this Agreement, in addition to any other remedy which may be available at law or in equity, the Company will be entitled to seek injunctive relief and specific performance to prevent or prohibit such breach. You agree to waive any requirements for the securing or posting of any bond in connection with such remedy.

B.    Arbitration

Except as provided above regarding injunctive relief, all other disputes under this Agreement will be settled pursuant to the terms of the dispute resolution provisions of the Retirement Agreement.






VI.
MISCELLANEOUS

A.    Severability.
In the event that a court finds that any time, territory, or any other provision of this Agreement is unenforceable or invalid as an unreasonable restriction, then we both agree such court will have the power to revise this Agreement as necessary to limit the term, territory or provision, to delete specific words or phrases, or to replace any invalid or unenforceable time, territory or other term or provision with a time, territory or other term or provision that would be reasonable, valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the intention of the invalid or unenforceable term. Should a court not be able to revise part of this Agreement in such a manner, then any such provision that is unenforceable or invalid will be treated as removed from and not part of this, Agreement, but all other portions of the Agreement will remain in effect.
B.    Governing Law.
The terms and conditions of this Agreement are governed by and are to be interpreted under the laws of the State of Michigan.
VII.
Definitions

Company Customer is limited to those customers or partners who did business with the Company within the most recent eighteen (18) months of your employment and (a) with whom you personally dealt on behalf of the Company in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the last day of your employment and you had business contact or responsibility with such the Company Customer as a result of your employment with the Company, (b) about whom you, as a result of your employment had a managerial role with oversight of the individual(s) who had responsibility for a business contact or relationship with the Company Customer, or (c) had information or goodwill with respect to the Company Customer. “the Company Customer” shall also include an individual or business to whom a pitch to solicit or secure business or a sale was prepared (even if not yet made) within the 6-month period immediately preceding the end of your employment, and with which you had not an insignificant amount of involvement in the preparation, or had greater than an insignificant exposure to specific information developed for that particular pitch. “Company Customer” shall not, however, include any individual who purchased a Competitive Product from the Company by direct purchase from one of its retail establishments or via on-line over the Internet, unless such purchase was of such quantity that the purchase price exceeded $15,000.
Competitive Products means products that serve the same function as, or that could be used to replace, products the Company provided to, offered to, or was in the process of developing for a present, former, or future possible customer/partner at any time during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the last day of your employment (or at any time during your employment if you was employed for less than twelve months), with which you had direct responsibility for the sale or development of such products or managing those persons responsible for the sale or development of such products. Competitive Products does not include any product that the Company no longer provides and/or does not intend to provide in the 12-month period following the date on which your employment with the Company ends.
Competitive Services means services of the type that the Company provided or offered (or was in the process of developing for offering) to its customers or partners at any time during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the last day of your employment with the Company (or at any time during your employment if you were employed for less than twelve months), and for which you were involved in providing or managing the provision of such services. “Competitive Services” also includes those services that the Company was in the process of developing or which it was actively engaged in research and development to offer to a customer/partner or anticipated customer/partner at the time your employment with the Company ended, but only if, you were involved in the research or development of such service. Competitive Services does not include any service that the Company no longer provides and/or does not intend to provide in the 12-month period following the date on which your employment with the Company ends.
Direct Competitor means a person, business or the Company providing Competitive Products or Competitive Services anywhere in the world. “Direct Competitor” does not include any business which the parties agree in writing to exclude from the definition, and the Company shall not unreasonably or arbitrarily withhold such agreement. The parties acknowledge and agree that each company set forth on Exhibit A is a Direct Competitor and provides Competitive Products and/or Competitive Services, but that Exhibit A does not contain an exhaustive list of all Direct Competitors. Targets for acquisition, investment, partnership, joint venture or alliance contemplated by the Company in the 24-month period prior to the date on which your employment with the Company ends are also considered Direct Competitors for purposes of this Agreement.
Protected Information means the Company information not generally known to, and not readily ascertainable through proper means by, the Company’s competitors on matters such as customer lists, customer information, customer relationships, customer needs, and customer practices or treatment specialties; partner lists, partner information, partner relationships, partner needs, and partner practices; the relative skills and experience of the Company’s other employees or agents; nonpublic financial information; strategic plans; business methods; investment strategies and plans; patent and copyright applications; sales and marketing plans; future market and product plans; the Company (not individual)





know-how; trade secrets; the Company research and development, techniques, processes, product development, product designs. work processes or methodologies; analytical analyses, product analyses, inventions, formulaic work, formulas, formulaic techniques, analytical methodology, efficacy data and testing data; technology, drawings, engineering, code, code writing, software (and hardware) development and platform development used in our research and development and design processes; and other information of a technical or economic nature relating to the Company’s business. Protected Information includes negative know-how, which is information about what the Company tried that did not work, if that information is not generally known or easily ascertainable by the Company’s competitors and would give them an advantage in knowing what not to do. Information, data, and materials received by the Company from others, such as the Company partners, in confidence (or subject to nondisclosure or similar covenants) shall also be deemed to be and shall be Protected Information.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Protected Information shall not include information that you can prove (i) was in the public domain, being publicly or openly known through lawful and proper means, (ii) was independently developed or acquired by you without reliance in any way on other Protected Information of the Company, (iii) was approved by the Company for use and disclosure by you without restriction, or (iv) is the type of information which might for the basis for protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (for example, employee pay or employee terms and conditions of employment) .
VIII.
Acknowledgement

You acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand its terms and legal consequences, have been given an opportunity to consider this Agreement, and have voluntarily entered into it after having had the opportunity to seek advice of an attorney prior to executing this Agreement.

/S/ Brian C. Walker
                        
Date: March 19, 2018

HERMAN MILLER, INC.

By: /S/ /s/ H. Timothy Lopez

Its: Senior Vice President - Legal Services, General Counsel and Secretary

Date: March 20, 2018
EXHIBIT A
The following companies (or brands) and their subsidiaries are considered Direct Competitors.
Steelcase
Haworth   
Knoll          
Teknion   
HNI          
Allsteel    
KI             
Kimball    
Trendway
Inscape
Riviera
Humanscale
Halcon
Vitra
Room & Board
Restoration Hardware
Ethan Allen
Holly Hunt
Nucraft Furniture
OFS/First Office
Watson
HAY





Sit On It
Bernhardt
DECCA
Touhy
Weiland
WeWork





Exhibit 31.1
 
CERTIFICATE OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
OF HERMAN MILLER, INC. (THE “REGISTRANT”)
 
I, Brian C. Walker, certify that:
1.
I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 3, 2018, of Herman Miller, Inc;
2.
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.
Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.
The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
b)
Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
c)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
d)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.
The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
 
Date: April 11, 2018
 
/s/ Brian C. Walker
Brian C. Walker
Chief Executive Officer
 





Exhibit 31.2
 
CERTIFICATE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
OF HERMAN MILLER, INC. (THE “REGISTRANT”)
 
I, Jeffrey M. Stutz, certify that:
1.
I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 3, 2018, of Herman Miller, Inc;
2.
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.
Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.
The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
b)
Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
c)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
d)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.
The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
 
Date: April 11, 2018
 
/s/ Jeffrey M. Stutz
Jeffrey M. Stutz
Chief Financial Officer
 





Exhibit 32.1

CERTIFICATE OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
OF HERMAN MILLER, INC. (THE "COMPANY")


Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002:

I, Brian C. Walker, Chief Executive Officer of the company, certify to the best of my knowledge and belief pursuant to Section 906 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that:

(1)
The quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 3, 2018, which this statement accompanies, fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

(2)
The information contained in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 3, 2018, fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the company


Dated: April 11, 2018

/s/ Brian C. Walker
Brian C. Walker
Chief Executive Officer

The signed original of this written statement required by Section 906, or other document authenticating, acknowledging, or otherwise adopting the signature that appears in typed form within the electronic version of this written statement required by Section 906, has been provided to Herman Miller, Inc. and will be retained by Herman Miller, Inc. and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.





Exhibit 32.2
 
CERTIFICATE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
OF HERMAN MILLER, INC. (THE "COMPANY")
 
 
Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002:
 
I, Jeffrey M. Stutz, Chief Financial Officer of the company, certify to the best of my knowledge and belief pursuant to Section 906 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that:
 
(1)
The quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 3, 2018, which this statement accompanies, fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

(2)
The information contained in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 3, 2018, fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the company.
 
 
Dated: April 11, 2018
 
/s/ Jeffrey M. Stutz
Jeffrey M. Stutz  
Chief Financial Officer
 
The signed original of this written statement required by Section 906, or other document authenticating, acknowledging, or otherwise adopting the signature that appears in typed form within the electronic version of this written statement required by Section 906, has been provided to Herman Miller, Inc. and will be retained by Herman Miller, Inc. and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.