ACCO Brands Corp (ACCO) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the ACCO Brands Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Nadia, and I'll be coordinating the call today. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 ACCO Brands 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。我叫納迪亞，今天我將負責協調通話。（操作員說明）

I will now hand over to your host Chris McGinnis, Senior Director of Investor Relations to begin. Chris, please go ahead.

現在請主持人投資者關係高級總監克里斯麥金尼斯 (Chris McGinnis) 開始發言。克里斯，請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome to the ACCO Brands second quarter 2024 conference call. This is Chris McGinnis, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Speaking on the call today is Tom Tedford, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCO Brands Corporation. Tom will provide an overview of our second quarter results and update you on our 2024 priorities.

早安，歡迎參加 ACCO Brands 2024 年第二季電話會議。我是投資者關係高級總監克里斯·麥金尼斯。ACCO Brands Corporation 總裁兼執行長 Tom Tedford 在今天的電話會議上發表講話。Tom 將概述我們第二季的業績，並向您介紹我們 2024 年優先事項的最新情況。

Also speaking today is Deborah O' Connor, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, who will provide greater detail on our second quarter results and update you on our outlook for the full-year 2024 and the third quarter. We will then open the line for questions. Slides that accompany this call have been posted to the Investor Relations section of accobrands.com.

今天發表講話的還有執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Deborah O'Connor，她將提供有關我們第二季度業績的更多詳細信息，並向您介紹我們對 2024 年全年和第三季度的展望。然後我們將開通提問熱線。本次電話會議隨附的幻燈片已發佈到 accobrands.com 的投資者關係部分。

When speaking about our results, we may refer to adjusted results. Adjusted results exclude amortization and restructuring costs, noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges and other nonrecurring items and unusual tax items and adjustments to reflect the estimated annual tax rate on quarterly earnings.

當談到我們的結果時，我們可能會提到調整後的結果。調整後的業績不包括攤銷和重組成本、非現金商譽和無形資產減損費用以及其他非經常性項目和異常稅項以及反映季度收益估計年稅率的調整。

Schedules of adjusted results and other non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are in the earnings release and slides that accompany this call.

調整後的績效表和其他非公認會計原則財務指標以及這些指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則指標的調節表均包含在本次電話會議隨附的收益發布和幻燈片中。

Due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts, we do not reconcile our forward-looking non-GAAP measures. Forward-looking statements made during the call are based on the beliefs and assumptions of management based on information available to us at the time the statements are made.

由於預測和量化某些金額有固有的困難，我們不調整我們的前瞻性非公認會計準則指標。電話會議期間所做的前瞻性陳述是基於管理階層的信念和假設，這些信念和假設是基於我們在做出陳述時可獲得的資訊。

Our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially. Please refer to our earnings release and SEC filings for an explanation of certain risk factors and assumptions. Our forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we assume no obligation to update them going forward.

我們的前瞻性陳述存在風險和不確定性，我們的實際結果可能有重大差異。請參閱我們的收益報告和 SEC 文件，以了解某些風險因素和假設的解釋。我們的前瞻性陳述是從今天起作出的，我們不承擔未來更新這些陳述的義務。

Now I'll turn the call over to Tom Tedford.

現在我將把電話轉給湯姆·特德福德。

Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today's call. Last night, we reported second quarter 2024 results with adjusted EPS above our outlook range, improved cash flow, lower inventory balances, gross margin expansion and a lower leverage ratio versus the prior year.

謝謝你，克里斯。大家早安，歡迎參加今天的電話會議。昨晚，我們公佈了 2024 年第二季度業績，調整後每股收益高於我們的預期範圍，現金流有所改善，庫存餘額較低，毛利率擴張，槓桿率較上年較低。

I'm pleased with the company's performance as we continue to navigate a challenging business and consumer spending environment. We have good momentum on the cost side of our business and the decisive actions we have taken are resulting in improved financial performance.

我對公司的業績感到滿意，因為我們繼續應對充滿挑戰的商業和消費者支出環境。我們的業務成本方面勢頭良好，我們採取的果斷行動正在改善財務表現。

We've made substantial progress in our cost-reduction efforts and are on track to realize over $20 million in savings this year. Our team remains laser-focused on improving profitability, which resulted in gross margins expanding 150 basis points and a reduction in SG&A up 10% for the quarter.

我們在降低成本方面取得了實質進展，今年預計將實現超過 2000 萬美元的節省。我們的團隊仍專注於提高獲利能力，這使得本季的毛利率擴大了 150 個基點，SG&A 減少了 10%。

We are strategically investing in new product development, strengthening our partnerships across all our sales channels and implementing targeted initiatives to gain market share. While we are encouraged with the progress we are making on our cost structure and operational footprint, we are actively evaluating additional cost reduction opportunities.

我們正在策略性地投資於新產品開發，加強我們所有銷售管道的合作夥伴關係，並實施有針對性的舉措來獲得市場份額。雖然我們對成本結構和營運足跡所取得的進展感到鼓舞，但我們正在積極評估額外的成本削減機會。

Building upon our financial achievements I'd like to highlight another area where we made significant strides on our supply chain. A key focus of our global supply chain team has been inventory management. Through a combination of improved business planning, the use of technology tools and a focus on strategic SKU rationalization, we've successfully reduced our inventory levels by 17% versus the prior year.

在我們的財務成就的基礎上，我想強調我們在供應鏈上取得重大進展的另一個領域。我們全球供應鏈團隊的一個重點是庫存管理。透過改善業務規劃、使用技術工具以及注重策略性 SKU 合理化，我們已成功地將庫存水準比上一年降低了 17%。

The improvement in cash flow and our commitment to debt reduction are contributing to an improved balance sheet. We ended the second quarter with a net debt position 13% lower compared to last year and a consolidated net leverage ratio of 3.7 times well below last year. We expect to end 2024 at a leverage ratio of about 3 times, as we move into our stronger cash generation cycle of the year.

現金流的改善和我們對減少債務的承諾有助於改善資產負債表。第二季結束時，我們的淨負債部位比去年下降了 13%，綜合淨槓桿率為 3.7 倍，遠低於去年。隨著我們進入今年更強勁的現金生成週期，我們預計到 2024 年底槓桿率將達到約 3 倍。

This is a level we have not achieved since 2019, and this improvement provides us more financial flexibility with our capital allocation priorities which I will expand upon later. Now let me share a few insights on our second quarter revenue performance. The year-over-year decline in certain categories has been greater than we projected. Recently, the rate of sales decline is moderating in many categories and our Kensington branded computer accessories category returned to growth.

這是我們自 2019 年以來從未達到的水平，這項改進為我們的資本配置優先事項提供了更大的財務靈活性，我將在稍後詳細介紹。現在讓我分享一些關於我們第二季營收表現的見解。某些類別的年減幅度超出了我們的預期。最近，許多類別的銷售下降速度正在放緩，我們的 Kensington 品牌電腦配件類別恢復了成長。

The sales decline and gross margin improvement was partially driven by the exit of lower-margin business in North America, which had a significant impact in the quarter as a large portion of the exits related to back-to-school which falls heavily in the second quarter. We anticipate less of an impact to revenue from these exits in both the third and the fourth quarters.

The sales decline and gross margin improvement was partially driven by the exit of lower-margin business in North America, which had a significant impact in the quarter as a large portion of the exits related to back-to-school which falls heavily in the second四分之一.我們預計這些退出對第三和第四季的收入影響較小。

On a segment basis, the Americas segment was down more than the International segment. However, when backing out the business exits, trends were similar for both. Globally, demand for our office product categories remained below our expectations.

從細分市場來看，美洲市場的跌幅超過國際市場。然而，在退出業務時，兩者的趨勢相似。在全球範圍內，對我們辦公產品類別的需求仍低於我們的預期。

We continue to work closely with our valued channel partners to maximize incremental revenue opportunities with our category-leading brands and high-quality products. Our market shares are stable and our selling teams are actively pursuing incremental revenue opportunities with an improving sales pipeline and better engagement with our key customers.

我們繼續與重要的通路合作夥伴密切合作，透過我們的領先品牌和高品質產品最大限度地增加收入機會。我們的市場份額穩定，我們的銷售團隊正在透過改善銷售管道和更好地與主要客戶互動來積極尋求增量收入機會。

Within our technology accessories categories, gaming accessories was down as the prior year benefited from a stronger lineup of new game releases. Our computer accessories category returned to growth, driven by new products and improving demand environment. We remain positive about the continued recovery in both of these categories in the second half of the year.

在我們的技術配件類別中，遊戲配件有所下降，因為去年受益於更強大的新遊戲發布陣容。在新產品和需求環境改善的推動下，我們的電腦配件類別恢復成長。我們對下半年這兩個類別的持續復甦保持樂觀。

Touching on back-to-school for North America. Industry experts are still forecasting sales for the season to be down compared to prior year. It is too early to draw conclusions on the 2024 back-to-school season, but we are seeing good sell-through results for both our Five Star and Mead brands.

談到北美的返校。行業專家仍然預測本季的銷售額將比去年有所下降。現在對 2024 年返校季節下結論還為時過早，但我們看到我們的五星級和米德品牌都取得了良好的銷售業績。

ACCO Brands has a long history of leading our categories with innovative product solutions that help our customers work, learn and play. Our innovation efforts are pivoting from a strong focus on our traditional core categories as our consumer preferences have changed as work has moved to hybrid environments.

ACCO Brands 長期以來一直以創新的產品解決方案引領我們的產品類別，幫助我們的客戶工作、學習和娛樂。隨著工作轉移到混合環境，我們的消費者偏好發生了變化，我們的創新工作正從對傳統核心類別的強烈關注轉向。

We're mining consumer insights for product solutions that solve new consumer pain points. While still early, I'm encouraged by the work we are doing to launch new products that meet the needs of our consumers. Our team's good work has been recently recognized as the Kensington brand was awarded three prestigious Red Dot awards for design and innovation.

我們正在挖掘消費者洞察，尋找能夠解決新消費者痛點的產品解決方案。雖然還為時過早，但我對我們為推出滿足消費者需求的新產品所做的工作感到鼓舞。我們團隊的出色工作最近得到了認可，肯辛頓品牌榮獲三項著名的紅點設計和創新獎。

I am proud of our commitment to bring innovative new product solutions to market and confident that our work will help improving revenue trends in the near term. Before turning it over to Deb, let me share a few comments on our capital allocation priorities. Over the last two years, our focus has been supporting our quarterly dividend and reducing debt.

我為我們致力於將創新的新產品解決方案推向市場感到自豪，並相信我們的工作將有助於改善短期內的收入趨勢。在將其交給 Deb 之前，讓我分享一些關於我們的資本配置優先事項的評論。在過去的兩年裡，我們的重點一直是支持季度股息和減少債務。

This disciplined approach has served us well, allowing us to strengthen our balance sheet significantly. Given the strong foundation, we are now able to contemplate a more balanced capital allocation strategy. We have the ability to opportunistically buy our shares in the market which will help offset share dilution from our employee equity grants.

這種嚴格的方法對我們很有幫助，使我們能夠顯著增強我們的資產負債表。有了堅實的基礎，我們現在可以考慮更平衡的資本配置策略。我們有能力在市場上機會主義地購買我們的股票，這將有助於抵消我們的員工股權授予所帶來的股票稀釋。

With our improved balance sheet and consistent cash flow, we will consider M&A as a part of our capital allocation moving forward. We have a strong position in our existing categories and a history of successful M&A integrations. We will target tuck-in acquisitions that provide a quick return on our investment and have realizable synergies. We will remain committed to keeping a low leverage ratio.

隨著我們改善的資產負債表和穩定的現金流，我們將考慮將併購作為我們未來資本配置的一部分。我們在現有類別中擁有強大的地位，並且擁有成功併購整合的歷史。我們將瞄準能夠快速收回投資並具有可實現的協同效應的收購。我們將繼續致力於保持低槓桿率。

In closing, I'm confident in the actions we are taking to reset our cost structure and improve future revenue trends. We have a solid foundation with our global portfolio of leading brands and consistent free cash flow generation, as well as an experienced leadership team. Our strong balance sheet with no debt maturities until 2026 and low fixed interest rates on more than half of our debt put us in sound financial condition.

最後，我對我們為重置成本結構和改善未來收入趨勢所採取的行動充滿信心。我們擁有堅實的基礎，擁有全球領先品牌組合、持續的自由現金流產生以及經驗豐富的領導團隊。我們強大的資產負債表，到 2026 年為止都沒有債務到期，而且一半以上的債務固定利率較低，使我們的財務狀況良好。

I will now hand it over to Deb and we'll come back to answer your questions. Deb?

我現在將其交給黛布，我們將回來回答您的問題。德布？

Thank you, Tom, and good morning, everyone. When we last spoke in May, we highlighted softer consumer and business demand, especially related to our office product categories. The challenging market conditions we've identified previously persisted throughout the second quarter and were a significant factor contributing to our sales shortfall versus outlook. Offsetting the lower top line, we continue to make progress in improving our operational efficiency.

謝謝你，湯姆，大家早安。當我們上次在五月講話時，我們強調了消費者和企業需求的疲軟，特別是與我們的辦公室產品類別相關的需求。我們先前發現的充滿挑戰的市場狀況在整個第二季度持續存在，是導致我們的銷售與前景相比出現短缺的一個重要因素。我們在提高營運效率方面繼續取得進展，抵消了收入下降的影響。

Our gross margin rate expanded by 150 basis points year-over-year, and we lowered our SG&A cost by 10% compared to the same period last year. These improvements came from a combination of moderating product costs, improved product mix and our cost actions. This allowed us to deliver adjusted EPS above our outlook range, underscoring our ability to drive bottom line performance even in a challenging sales environment.

我們的毛利率年增了150個基點，SG&A成本較去年同期降低了10%。這些改進來自於降低產品成本、改善產品結構和我們的成本行動的組合。這使我們能夠實現高於預期範圍的調整後每股收益，突顯我們即使在充滿挑戰的銷售環境下也有能力推動獲利業績。

In the second quarter, we took a noncash impairment charge of $165 million related to goodwill and intangible assets. The triggering event for the impairment charges included declines in our market capitalization since the start of 2024 as well as reduced volumes in certain product categories. Overall, we remain confident in our portfolio of leading brands and our ability to generate strong cash flow going forward.

第二季度，我們提列了與商譽和無形資產相關的 1.65 億美元非現金減損費用。減損費用的觸發事件包括自 2024 年初以來我們的市值下降以及某些產品類別的銷售量減少。總體而言，我們對我們的領先品牌組合以及未來產生強勁現金流的能力仍然充滿信心。

Now turning to sales. Reported sales in the second quarter of 2024 decreased 11% versus the prior year. Comparable sales, excluding foreign exchange, were down 10%. The planned exit of lower-margin business negatively impacted sales by approximately 4%.

現在轉向銷售。2024 年第二季報告銷售額比上年下降 11%。不計外匯的可比銷售額下降了 10%。計劃退出利潤率較低的業務對銷售額產生了約 4% 的負面影響。

We continue to see overall soft global demand for our categories, which was in line with industry trends. Gross profit for the second quarter was $153 million, a decrease of 7% due to the lower sales. SG&A expense of $88 million was down 10% versus the prior year due to our cost reduction actions, timing of certain spends and lower incentive compensation expense in the quarter.

我們繼續看到全球對我們類別的整體需求疲軟，這與行業趨勢相符。第二季毛利為 1.53 億美元，因銷售額下降而下降 7%。由於我們的成本削減行動、某些支出的時間安排以及本季激勵補償費用的降低，SG&A 費用為 8800 萬美元，比上年下降 10%。

Adjusted operating income for the second quarter was $65 million, a similar level to last year. The sales decline was offset by 130 basis points of adjusted operating margin improvement. Now let's turn to our segment results. In the Americas segment, comparable sales declined 13%. The exit of lower-margin business, primarily related to back-to-school accounted for a little more than 5% of the decline.

第二季調整後營業收入為 6,500 萬美元，與去年水準相似。銷售額下降被調整後營業利潤率提高 130 個基點所抵銷。現在讓我們看看我們的細分結果。在美洲市場，可比銷售額下降了 13%。主要與返校相關的低利潤業務的退出佔下降的 5% 多一點。

The remaining decline is attributable to lower business and consumer spending for our traditional office products category, and difficult compares for our gaming accessories. This was partially offset by growth in computer accessories.

剩餘的下降歸因於我們傳統辦公產品類別的商業和消費者支出減少，以及我們的遊戲配件的比較困難。這被電腦配件的成長部分抵消。

The Americas adjusted operating income margin for the second quarter improved 170 basis points to 21.6% compared to the prior year, with the improvement in the margin rate due to moderating product costs, improved product mix from our planned exit of lower-margin business and our SG&A cost reduction efforts. Now let's turn to our International segment.

美洲第二季調整後營業利潤率比上年同期提高了 170 個基點，達到 21.6%，利潤率的提高是由於產品成本的下降、我們計劃退出低利潤業務而改善的產品組合以及我們的降低SG&A成本的努力。現在讓我們轉向國際部分。

For the second quarter, comparable sales declined 5% due to volume declines as the demand environment remains soft for our traditional categories. We saw double-digit growth in the computer accessories category, driven by improving demand trends.

第二季度，由於傳統類別的需求環境依然疲軟，銷量下降，可比銷售額下降了 5%。在需求趨勢改善的推動下，我們看到電腦配件類別出現了兩位數的成長。

International adjusted operating income margin for the second quarter increased 60 basis points to 8% with adjusted operating income flat. The improvement in adjusted operating income margin rate was due to moderating product costs and the cumulative effect of our pricing and cost reduction actions.

第二季國際調整後營業利益率成長 60 個基點至 8%，調整後營業利益持平。調整後營業利潤率的改善是由於產品成本的緩和以及我們定價和成本削減行動的累積效應。

Switching to cash flow and balance sheet items. Historically, due to our seasonality, we generally use cash in the first half of the year, and generate significant cash flow in the second half of the year. Through the first six months of 2024, we have improved our free cash flow by $43 million versus the prior year. This reflects the timing of certain customer collections and vendor payments.

切換到現金流量和資產負債表項目。從歷史上看，由於我們的季節性，我們通常在上半年使用現金，並在下半年產生大量現金流。2024 年前六個月，我們的自由現金流比前一年增加了 4,300 萬美元。這反映了某些客戶收款和供應商付款的時間。

The free cash outflow of $2 million through June 30, positions us well to achieve our free cash flow outlook of approximately $130 million for the year. We ended the quarter with total gross debt of $986 million, $100 million lower than the same time last year. Our cash balance was $113 million, which is higher than a year ago due to timing of cash flows in Brazil. At the end of the quarter, we had $501 million of remaining availability on our $600 million revolving credit facility.

截至 6 月 30 日，自由現金流出為 200 萬美元，這使我們能夠很好地實現今年約 1.3 億美元的自由現金流前景。截至本季末，我們的總債務為 9.86 億美元，比去年同期減少了 1 億美元。我們的現金餘額為 1.13 億美元，由於巴西現金流的時間安排，該數字高於一年前。截至本季末，我們 6 億美元的循環信貸額度中剩餘 5.01 億美元。

As shown on our earnings slide, more than half of our debt is at a fixed interest rate of 4.25% and does not mature until 2029. We ended the quarter with a consolidated leverage ratio of 3.7 times, down from the 4.3 times leverage ratio in Q2 of last year, and well below our 4.5 times covenant ratio.

正如我們的收益幻燈片所示，我們一半以上的債務的固定利率為 4.25%，並且要到 2029 年才會到期。本季結束時，我們的綜合槓桿率為 3.7 倍，低於去年第二季的 4.3 倍槓桿率，也遠低於我們的 4.5 倍契約比率。

Longer term, we are still targeting a ratio of 2 times to 2.5 times. The company consistently generates strong free cash flow. And as our leverage improves, this will allow us to deploy capital in multiple ways that create value for our shareholders. Our capital allocation priorities are as follows: First, we will continue to invest in our strong brands and product innovation to ensure long-term success.

長期來看，我們的目標仍是2倍到2.5倍。該公司持續產生強勁的自由現金流。隨著我們槓桿率的提高，這將使我們能夠以多種方式部署資本，為股東創造價值。我們的資本配置重點如下：首先，我們將繼續投資於我們的強大品牌和產品創新，以確保長期成功。

Second, we will support our quarterly dividend program. Third, our focus on debt reduction will remain until we achieve our long-term targeted ratio of 2 times to 2.5 times. Next, by achieving meaningful debt and leverage reduction over the last two years, we believe our strong cash flow gives us the flexibility to repurchase shares. We will do this opportunistically and to help offset dilution from our employee equity grant.

其次，我們將支持我們的季度股息計劃。第三，我們將繼續專注於削減債務，直到實現2倍至2.5倍的長期目標。接下來，透過在過去兩年中實現有意義的債務和槓桿削減​​，我們相信我們強勁的現金流使我們能夠靈活地回購股票。我們將抓住機會這樣做，並幫助抵消我們的員工股權授予的稀釋作用。

Finally, another potential use of our cash flow will be M&A. ACCO Brands has a long history of successfully integrating acquisitions to expand brand presence, to extend their geographic reach, and to complement our product lines. We have been prudent with purchase prices, and we will remain committed to a low debt leverage.

最後，我們現金流的另一個潛在用途是併購。ACCO Brands 在成功整合收購以擴大品牌影響力、擴大其地理覆蓋範圍並補充我們的產品線方面擁有悠久的歷史。我們對收購價格一直持謹慎態度，並將繼續致力於維持低債務槓桿。

Now let's move to outlook for 2024 and the third quarter. We are updating our full-year outlook, which caused the reported sales to be within a range of down 8% to 9%. For the full-year, we expect adjusted EPS to be in a range of $1.04 to $1.09 per share. We continue to expect full-year gross margin to be improved compared to 2023.

現在讓我們展望 2024 年和第三季。我們正在更新全年展望，這導致報告的銷售額下降 8% 至 9%。我們預計全年調整後每股收益將在每股 1.04 美元至 1.09 美元之間。我們繼續預計全年毛利率將較 2023 年有所改善。

SG&A costs will be down to the prior year as savings from our cost actions helped to offset inflationary pressures related to labor and other costs. The adjusted tax rate is expected to be approximately 30%. Intangible amortization for the full-year is estimated to be $45 million, which equates to approximately $0.32 of adjusted EPS.

SG&A 成本將下降至前一年，因為我們的成本行動節省下來有助於抵消與勞動力和其他成本相關的通膨壓力。調整後的稅率預計約為30%。全年無形攤銷預計為 4,500 萬美元，相當於調整後每股收益約 0.32 美元。

We are updating our free cash flow expectation for the full-year. We now believe it will be approximately $130 million and expect to end 2024 with a consolidated leverage ratio of approximately 3 times to 3.2 times, a level not reached since 2019.

我們正在更新全年自由現金流預期。我們現在認為該金額約為 1.3 億美元，預計到 2024 年底，綜合槓桿率約為 3 倍至 3.2 倍，這是 2019 年以來未達到的水平。

For the third quarter, we expect reported sales to be down 5% to 7%. Important to note that the impact of the exit of lower margin business will be significantly less in the second half of the year. Our third quarter outlook is for adjusted EPS to be in the range of $0.21 to $0.24 per share.

我們預計第三季報告銷售額將下降 5% 至 7%。值得注意的是，下半年低利潤業務退出的影響將明顯減輕。我們預計第三季調整後每股收益將在 0.21 美元至 0.24 美元之間。

Now let's move on to Q&A, where Tom and I will be happy to take your questions. Operator?

現在讓我們進入問答環節，湯姆和我很樂意回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Greg Burns, Sidoti & Co.

（操作員說明）Greg Burns，Sidoti & Co.

Morning. Looking at the the technology business, I think last quarter you had mentioned maybe some excess channel inventory for some product categories, where does the channel inventory now stand? And with Windows, the Windows Update occurring in AIPC's coming out, how do you view the growth prospects for that business as we go into the back half of this year and into 2025. Thank you.

早晨。看看技術業務，我想上個季度您曾提到某些產品類別的通路庫存可能過剩，渠道庫存現在在哪裡？隨著 Windows、AIPC 推出的 Windows 更新的推出，當我們進入今年下半年和 2025 年時，您如何看待該業務的成長前景。謝謝。

Good morning, Greg, this is Tom. Thanks for your question. Yes. So let me first address the inventory part of the question. And the channel has made significant progress in reducing inventory really across the globe and the category that was most concerning to us, which was universal docking stations.

早安，格雷格，這是湯姆。謝謝你的提問。是的。因此，讓我先解決問題的庫存部分。該管道在減少全球庫存以及我們最關心的類別（通用塢站）方面取得了重大進展。

So we feel pretty good about where inventory positions are within the channel. There's still work to do in certain areas of the of the business. But for the most part, we're in a much better position today than we were even as we turn the calendar year. And so we feel good about the past.

因此，我們對庫存部位在通路內的位置感覺非常好。在業務的某些領域仍有工作要做。但在大多數情況下，我們今天的處境比年初時好得多。所以我們對過去感覺良好。

Second year. Kensington has historically been a strong growing brand within our portfolio. We anticipate that it will return to growth this year. I'm very encouraged by what we're seeing within the business. I'm encouraged by the trends. I was with a customer yesterday, encouraged by the feedback we're getting from our customers and on our engagement.

第二年。Kensington 一直是我們產品組合中一個強勁成長的品牌。我們預計今年將恢復成長。我們在業界看到的情況讓我深受鼓舞。我對這些趨勢感到鼓舞。昨天我和一位客戶在一起，我們從客戶那裡得到的回饋以及我們的參與度讓我深受鼓舞。

And I think that the kind of macro things that you discussed in your in your comments, some give us optimism for really good growth in the near term. So we're real pleased with the Kensington business and its performance and thanks.

我認為您在評論中討論的宏觀問題讓我們對短期內真正良好的成長感到樂觀。因此，我們對肯辛頓 (Kensington) 業務及其業績感到非常滿意，並表示感謝。

And then in terms of M&A, would you be looking to add like a new product category like gaming or or would you be more apt to do something bye-bye, smaller brands and maybe existing categories like the office market, how should we think about your your M&A strategy, maybe particularly how it might be used to drive growth in the office side in more traditional categories?

然後在併購方面，您是否會尋求添加新的產品類別（例如遊戲），或者您是否更傾向於做一些再見，較小的品牌，也許還有現有的類別（例如辦公市場），我們應該如何考慮您的併購策略，尤其是如何利用它來推動更傳統類別的辦公室方面的成長？

Yes, Greg. So we're going to be very careful with our approach, and we're committed to keeping our leverage ratio low. We're going to look for synergistic opportunities, which likely imply that there they will be more near end to our current categories. And we've established our criteria. We won't deviate from that. We're going to be very disciplined in our approach moving forward as we consider opportunities when they present themselves.

是的，格雷格。因此，我們將非常謹慎地對待我們的方法，並且我們致力於將槓桿率保持在較低水平。我們將尋找協同機會，這可能意味著它們將更接近我們當前類別的末端。我們已經制定了我們的標準。我們不會偏離這一點。我們將在前進的過程中非常自律，因為我們會在機會出現時加以考慮。

Okay. And then just lastly, when you look at the the market, what's the pipeline of opportunity how do the valuations look on a movie just start there?

好的。最後，當你觀察市場時，機會的管道是什麼？

So it's starting to open up a bit. And I think we still have some work to do to fill the pipeline, but it's starting to open up a bit. And I think there's some interesting opportunities that we're looking at, but that's about as much as we could say at this point.

所以它開始有點開放了。我認為我們仍然需要做一些工作來填補管道，但它已經開始開放了。我認為我們正在尋找一些有趣的機會，但這就是我們目前所能說的。

And Greg, I think you know, from historically, we've been able to fill that pipeline and have a lot of different things to look at. And as Tom said, we're going to be pretty disciplined and how we approach it.

格雷格，我想你知道，從歷史上看，我們已經能夠填補這個管道，並且有很多不同的事情需要考慮。正如湯姆所說，我們將非常自律以及我們的處理方式。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Joe Gomes, NOBLE Capital.

喬·戈麥斯，NOBLE Capital。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to start off this morning business. Pardon me, you mentioned the market for the office and back-to-school consumer still remains softer than what you guys were ahead anticipating kind of wondering if you could maybe highlight a few of those things where internally you are projecting, you know, it's business too grow faster than what it did in the quarter?

早安.感謝您回答我的問題。我想開始今天早上的工作。請原諒，您提到辦公室和返校消費者的市場仍然比你們預期的要疲軟，想知道您是否可以強調一下您在內部預測的一些事情，您知道，這是業務增長也比本季度快嗎？

And what have you as you're sitting there today, it needs to happen on the consumer side or on the office product side in order for those if revenue declines to significantly moderate from where they they have been here.

當您今天坐在那裡時，這需要在消費者方面或辦公室產品方面發生，以便在收入大幅下降的情況下為那些人提供幫助。

Yes, Joe, that's obviously a difficult one for us to ask in terms of kind of what needs to happen at a macro level. Let me first dive into the question about our expectations. So across most of our categories, particularly within our office product categories, the rate of decline in 2024 has been greater than what was forecasted.

是的，喬，對我們來說，就宏觀層面需要發生的事情而言，這顯然是一個困難的問題。讓我先深入探討有關我們的期望的問題。因此，在我們的大多數類別中，特別是在我們的辦公室產品類別中，2024 年的下降速度大於預期。

We use our own trend data. We use external sources such as Circana for example, in the US as we're building out our expectations for any particular year in those categories. And as we turn the calendar year and as the sales trends started to kind of moderate versus expectations.

我們使用我們自己的趨勢數據。我們使用外部來源，例如美國的 Circana，因為我們正在製定這些類別中任何特定年份的預期。隨著時間的推移，銷售趨勢開始比預期放緩。

It's clear to us that that's a trend that's here for a bit and that's really the root cause of kind of the mess is just the expectations predominantly in the office products categories. We had some difficult compares in our gaming accessories business in Q2, but we still long term, feel confident that, that business will be a grower for the portfolio.

我們很清楚，這種趨勢已經存在一段時間了，這實際上是造成這種混亂的根本原因，而這正是主要針對辦公產品類別的期望。第二季我們的遊戲配件業務進行了一些艱難的比較，但從長遠來看，我們仍然有信心該業務將成為產品組合的成長點。

And then as we mentioned, Kensington, we're encouraged. We're seeing some really nice rebound return to growth is encouraging, particularly given the steep declines of prior year. And then within learning and creative, it's really early in our seasons. In Latin America or pardon me, in Brazil, back-to-school is later in the year. We're just getting into the big season or big weeks of the season here in North America.

正如我們所提到的，肯辛頓，我們受到了鼓舞。我們看到一些非常好的反彈恢復成長令人鼓舞，特別是考慮到去年的急劇下降。然後在學習和創意方面，現在還處於我們的早期階段。在拉丁美洲，或請原諒我，在巴西，返校是在今年稍後。我們剛進入北美的重要季節或重要幾週。

So it's a bit early to tell. So the primary drivers of lower sales versus our expectations are really the soft demand in our office products categories. Relative to improvement, I just think general consumer and business sentiment is low at the moment, and we all need that to improve. And when that does, I think there'll be a tailwind in the business.

所以現在說還太早。因此，銷售額低於我們預期的主要驅動因素實際上是我們辦公室產品類別的需求疲軟。相對於改善，我只是認為目前一般消費者和商業信心較低，我們都需要改善。當這種情況發生時，我認為業務將會順風順水。

Yes. Okay, great. Thanks. And one more a great job on the on the gross margins, you mentioned that gross margins have improved. I think sequentially for six quarters. Is this a sustainable number as we go forward here? Or do you think there could be even more improvement in gross margin, especially given that you've exited a bunch of low margin products. Thanks.

是的。好的，太好了。謝謝。還有一項關於毛利率的出色工作，您提到毛利率有所改善。我認為連續六個季度。當我們繼續前進時，這個數字是可持續的嗎？或者您認為毛利率可能會有更多改善，特別是考慮到您已經退出了一堆低利潤產品。謝謝。

Yes. No, Joe, that's a great question. I will tell you we have a lot of good cost initiatives, reduction plans as you know, we've talked about in the past as far as our footprint rationalization and things like that, that will help us as we go forward. And I think we'll be strategic as we think about the gross margins and where we land.

是的。不，喬，這是一個很好的問題。我會告訴你，我們有很多好的成本舉措、削減計劃，正如你所知，我們過去曾討論過我們的足跡合理化之類的事情，這將幫助我們前進。我認為，當我們考慮毛利率和我們的定位時，我們將具有策略性。

But we're feeling good about the low margin exit. Those are out they'll stay out. So I think all in all we expect gross margin to improve as we end the year.

但我們對低利潤退出感覺良好。那些已經出去了，他們會留在外面。因此，我認為總而言之，我們預計毛利率將在年底有所改善。

Yes. Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

是的。偉大的。感謝您回答我的問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Kevin Steinke, Barrington Research.

凱文‧史坦克，巴靈頓研究中心。

Thank you. I wanted to start off by asking about gaming accessories. You talked about last quarter, you had some growth. And this quarter was down. You talked about the tough comparable you had noted kind of expected that recovery to be choppy. Although I believe you said in the opening remarks that you expect a recovery in gaming accessories in the second half can you just maybe elaborate a little bit more on that? What you would expect would drive that?

謝謝。我想先詢問遊戲配件。您談到上個季度，您取得了一些成長。而本季則出現下滑。您談到了您所注意到的艱難的可比性，預計復甦將是不穩定的。雖然我相信您在開場白中表示預計下半年遊戲配件將出現復甦，您能否詳細說明一下？您期望什麼會推動這一點？

Yes. So gaming is just in a cyclical low point, just given the lack of console releases over the last couple of years. And we also were comping, as we mentioned, some strong new game releases last year and being back in stock with wireless modules. So we had a number of difficult compare issues that we had to work through. And in Q2.

是的。因此，鑑於過去幾年缺乏遊戲機發布，遊戲正處於週期性低點。正如我們所提到的，我們還對去年發布的一些強大的新遊戲進行了比較，並重新恢復了無線模組的庫存。因此，我們必須解決許多困難的比較問題。在第二季。

As we look ahead, our international expansion is really what we are excited about. And we see opportunities predominantly in Asia to continue to penetrate markets like Japan, which is a very large, has a very large established gaming market as the third largest and the world.

展望未來，我們的國際擴張確實令我們感到興奮。我們看到主要在亞洲的機會，可以繼續滲透像日本這樣的市場，日本是一個非常大的、擁有非常大的成熟遊戲市場的第三大和世界遊戲市場。

And so we see those as really key growth drivers with our initiatives to expand in Asia in the back half of the year. So that's really what gives us confidence in kind of improving the Q2 results in the back half.

因此，我們認為這些是我們下半年在亞洲擴張的舉措的真正關鍵成長動力。所以這確實給了我們信心，讓我們有信心在後半段改善第二季的結果。

Okay. That's helpful. Thanks. And you continue to talk about product development and what while it sounds like it's still early there. It looks like you had a couple of press releases out over the last couple of months about launches in Kensington and so does that do those kind of fit into that?

好的。這很有幫助。謝謝。您繼續談論產品開發以及雖然聽起來還處於早期階段的事情。看起來你們在過去的幾個月裡發布了幾篇關於肯辛頓發布會的新聞稿，那麼這是否符合這一點呢？

It's a product development tailored to the changing world of work and maybe just talk about the overall product development pipeline and when we could start to see products start rolling out it more start rolling out on in a more meaningful way?

這是針對不斷變化的工作世界量身定制的產品開發，也許只是談論整個產品開發流程，我們什麼時候可以開始看到產品開始以更有意義的方式推出？

Yes. So that has been a very discrete area of focus for our leadership team, Kevin, is getting better outcomes from our product development work. As we're in a disruptive environment with changing preferences from our consumers as many of them have moved to a hybrid work environment.

是的。因此，對於我們的領導團隊凱文來說，這是一個非常離散的重點領域，他正在從我們的產品開發工作中獲得更好的成果。由於我們處於一個顛覆性的環境中，消費者的偏好不斷變化，他們中的許多人已經轉向混合工作環境。

And I think our teams are doing a really nice job mining those insights and finding opportunities for product solutions that meet the changing needs of our consumers. Importantly, there are also products that we can sell through our existing channels. And so there's a really nice line of work that our teams are doing. But we are a bit early. We've had a reset in some of the work that we've done.

我認為我們的團隊在挖掘這些見解並尋找滿​​足消費者不斷變化的需求的產品解決方案機會方面做得非常好。重要的是，我們也可以透過現有通路銷售一些產品。所以我們的團隊正在做一系列非常好的工作。但我們有點早了。我們對已經完成的一些工作進行了重置。

The Kensington business has done a really nice job of looking at trends. We're launching a line of sustainable products that we feel very confident will be important for that product portfolio as we move forward. We're seeing some really interesting TAMs that we have either know or low market shares, what we think our brands should be competing in.

肯辛頓公司在關注趨勢方面做得非常出色。我們正在推出一系列永續產品，我們非常有信心隨著我們的前進，這些產品對於該產品組合將非常重要。我們看到了一些非常有趣的 TAM，我們要么知道這些 TAM，要么市場份額較低，我們認為我們的品牌應該參與競爭。

And so there's some exciting developments within the business, but product development, it does take time. And so my hope is as we get more meaningful revenue from new products in 2025. And certainly, by 2026, we should be able to see significant dollars isolated to do product development or attributable to new product development. So excited about it, but we've got some work to do still.

因此，業務內部出現了一些令人興奮的發展，但產品開發確實需要時間。因此，我希望我們能夠在 2025 年從新產品中獲得更有意義的收入。當然，到 2026 年，我們應該能夠看到大量資金用於產品開發或新產品開發。對此感到非常興奮，但我們還有一些工作要做。

Okay. It sounds sounds good. I'm kind of searching through your 10-K here, just to find out where you stand with repurchase authorization, but could you update us on what what has been authorized there? You know, when you might expect to start buying back stock?

好的。聽起來不錯。我在這裡搜尋您的 10-K，只是為了了解您在回購授權方面的立場，但是您能否向我們介紹一下那裡已授權的最新情況？您知道，您預計什麼時候開始回購股票？

Yes. So we have authorization to your point of $106 million available still to still authorized and outstanding. We're going to take a good careful approach. We're sort of reverting back if you think about how Alcoa has been historically with a balanced portfolio allocation of capital. So we're working through some things with our board now, but we're going to be back as a balance allocation.

是的。因此，我們已授權您的 1.06 億美元仍可供授權且未償還。我們將採取非常謹慎的方法。如果你想想美國鋁業公司歷史上如何平衡資本投資組合配置，我們就有點回到過去了。因此，我們現在正在與董事會解決一些問題，但我們將作為平衡分配回來。

Okay. That makes sense. Well, thanks for taking the questions. I'll turn it back over.

好的。這是有道理的。好的，感謝您提出問題。我會把它翻回來。

Thank you, Kevin.

謝謝你，凱文。

(Operator Instructions) William Reuter, Bank of America.

（操作員指示）William Reuter，美國銀行。

Good morning, Tom. My first question is a lot of comments about the weakness in office products in back-to-school. Seems to imply that maybe the category is more or less recession resistant than I would have expected. And are you how confident are you that the declines are due to weak consumer spending relative to some less usage of some of your traditional paper products versus products that may be moving online and some capacity?

早上好，湯姆。我的第一個問題是關於返校期間辦公室產品疲軟的許多評論。似乎暗示該類別對經濟衰退的抵抗力可能比我預期的要強或弱。您是否有信心認為，下降是由於消費者支出疲弱（相對於某些傳統紙製品的使用量相對於可能轉移到網上的產品和一些產能的減少）所致？

Yes, Will, thanks for the question. I think it's a combination of both certainly we've referenced the changing consumer preferences and work habits of consumers as they've migrated to hybrid that's impacting our business. I think uncertainties business spending never responds well and certain economic times. And then as you know, consumers are under pressure.

是的，威爾，謝謝你的提問。我認為這是兩者的結合，當然我們已經提到了消費者偏好和工作習慣的變化，因為他們已經轉向混合動力，這正在影響我們的業務。我認為商業支出在某些經濟時期永遠不會對不確定性做出良好反應。如您所知，消費者面臨壓力。

I'm really confident in our back-to-school business. Our brands do hold up well in times of economic uncertainties that we proved that last year in season to date, we're performing well in BTS. So I think it's a combination of multiple things. It's not one factor.

我對我們的返校業務非常有信心。我們的品牌在經濟不確定的時期確實表現得很好，去年至今，我們證明了我們在 BTS 的表現良好。所以我認為這是多種因素的結合。這不是單一因素。

Got it. And then in terms of M&A, in the initial discussion, you kind of talked about M&A broadly than you used the word tuck-in, at least once maybe twice. Would you consider more transformative M&A or should be expected any sort of M&A would be relatively modest in size.

知道了。然後就併購而言，在最初的討論中，您廣泛地談論了併購，而不是使用“tuck-in”這個詞，至少一次也許兩次。您是否會考慮更具變革性的併購，或者應該預期任何類型的併購規模都相對較小。

I think in the near term, we have to consider all alternatives that will enhance shareowner value. But realistically, they're going to be smaller, opportunistic and highly synergistic incremental EBITDA that enables us to keep our leverage ratio low. And that's that's the most likely outcome in the near term.

我認為在短期內，我們必須考慮所有能提高股東價值的替代方案。但實際上，它們將變得更小、機會主義和高度協同的增量 EBITDA，使我們能夠保持較低的槓桿率。這是近期最有可能出現的結果。

Yes. I think Tom said it right. We worked too hard to get our leverage where it's at, and we're going to maintain it at those kinds of levels. We're going to look at things that have a good payback in a short payback period.

是的。我認為湯姆說得對。我們付出了太多努力才達到現在的水平，而且我們將把它維持在這樣的水平。我們將著眼於在短期投資回收期內獲得良好回報的事物。

Got it. And then on the decision to kind of reallocate capital to a little more balanced approach between share repurchases and debt reduction. While you guys have made great progress, you're clearly still a little ways away from your target of 2% to 2.5%. I guess why is this the time to kind of change that allocation versus getting leverage down a little more before we do that yet?

知道了。然後決定在股票回購和債務削減之間採取更平衡的方式重新分配資本。雖然你們已經取得了很大的進步，但顯然距離 2% 到 2.5% 的目標還有一些距離。我想為什麼現在是改變分配的時候，而不是在我們這樣做之前進一步降低槓桿？

No, it's a great question. And I think where the stock is today, it's a great value. And I think we're putting our money to get our return on our shares is key today. So we're going to have a very balanced approach. We're still targeting the 2% to 2.5%. But given the dilution from some of our employee grants as well as the stock price where it is, it's just a good value right now.

不，這是一個很好的問題。我認為該股票今天的價格非常有價值。我認為我們投入資金以獲得股票回報是今天的關鍵。所以我們將採取一種非常平衡的方法。我們的目標仍然是 2% 到 2.5%。但考慮到我們的一些員工補助金的稀釋以及目前的股價，它現在是一個很好的價值。

Got it. That makes sense. All right. Thanks. That's all for me.

知道了。這是有道理的。好的。謝謝。這就是我的全部。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. We have no further questions. I'll hand back to Tom for any closing comments.

謝謝。我們沒有其他問題了。我將把任何結束語交還給湯姆。

Thank you for your interest in ACCO Brands. We look forward to talking to you in a couple of months to report on our third quarter results.

感謝您對 ACCO 品牌的興趣。我們期待在幾個月後與您交談，報告我們的第三季業績。

Thank you. This now concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。