AKA Brands Holding Corp (AKA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the a.k.a. Brands fourth quarter and fiscal 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. At this time, I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Emily Schwartz.

大家好，歡迎參加 a.k.a. Brands 第四季和 2023 財年財報電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在，我想將會議交給主持人艾米麗·施瓦茨 (Emily Schwartz)。

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining a.k.a. Brands' fourth-quarter 2023 conference call to discuss the results released this afternoon, which can be found on our website at ir.aka-brands.com. With me on the call today is Ciaran Long, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

午安.感謝您參加 a.k.a. Brands 的 2023 年第四季度電話會議，討論今天下午發布的結果，該結果可以在我們的網站 ir.aka-brands.com 上找到。今天與我一起參加電話會議的是臨時執行長兼財務長 Ciaran Long。

Before we get started, I'd like to remind you of the Company's Safe Harbor language management may make forward-looking statements, which refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events, including guidance and underlying assumptions. Forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. For a further discussion of risks related to our business, please see our filings with the SEC. Please note, we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，公司的安全港語言管理層可能會做出前瞻性陳述，這些陳述是指對未來事件的預期、預測或其他特徵，包括指導和基本假設。前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與所表達的結果有重大差異。有關我們業務相關風險的進一步討論，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件。請注意，我們不承擔更新任何此類前瞻性陳述的義務。

This call will contain non-GAAP financial measures such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin adjusted gross margin and free cash flow. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in the release furnished to the SEC and available on our website.

此次電話會議將包含非公認會計準則財務指標，例如調整後 EBITDA、調整後 EBITDA 利潤率、調整後毛利率和自由現金流。這些非 GAAP 衡量標準與最具可比性的 GAAP 衡量標準的調整包含在向 SEC 提供的新聞稿中，並可在我們的網站上取得。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Ciaran.

這樣，我就把電話轉給 Ciaran。

Thanks, Emily. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining our call. 2023 was a transformational year for HCA, and I want to thank our teams for their continued dedication to building next-generation fashion brands for the next generation of consumers. As a group, we stepped up to every challenge, created new opportunities, expand our customer touch points and significantly strengthen our balance sheet.

謝謝，艾米麗。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們的通話。 2023 年對 HCA 來說是轉型的一年，我要感謝我們的團隊持續致力於為下一代消費者打造下一代時尚品牌。作為一個團隊，我們迎接每一個挑戰，創造新的機遇，擴大我們的客戶接觸點並顯著增強我們的資產負債表。

Before I go through the results, I want to share a few highlights from the year. We delivered US net sales growth of 1%, inclusive of 12% growth. In the fourth quarter, we generated $33 million of operating cash flow. We reduced our year-end inventory by 28% compared to last year, we paid down approximately $50 million of debt, reducing our debt levels by 35%.

在公佈結果之前，我想先分享這一年的一些亮點。我們的美國淨銷售額成長了 1%，其中成長了 12%。第四季度，我們產生了 3,300 萬美元的營運現金流。與去年相比，我們年終庫存減少了 28%，還清了約 5,000 萬美元的債務，債務水準降低了 35%。

We opened a princess poly store in Los Angeles, propelling the brand into physical retail for the first time hurricanes demand continued to accelerate in the US and registered double digit net sales growth for the year. And lastly, we tested and expanded a number of omnichannel initiatives across our brands, including wholesale engagements with PacSun, Victoria's Secret and Liverpool and marketplace partnerships with Target and Macy's, which exceeded our expectations.

我們在洛杉磯開設了 Princess Poly 專賣店，首次推動品牌進入實體零售。美國颶風需求持續加速，全年淨銷售額達到兩位數成長。最後，我們測試並擴展了多個品牌的全通路計劃，包括與 PacSun、Victoria's Secret 和 Liverpool 的批發合作，以及與 Target 和 Macy's 的市場合作夥伴關係，這超出了我們的預期。

Turning now to the fourth quarter we delivered $149 million of net sales, which was flat to last year. As I mentioned, we were very pleased that the US business grew 12% in the fourth quarter, which is a testament to the strength of our offering. As a reminder, our US region is now our largest market and where we see the greatest potential moving forward.

現在轉向第四季度，我們實現了 1.49 億美元的淨銷售額，與去年持平。正如我所提到的，我們非常高興第四季度美國業務成長了 12%，這證明了我們產品的實力。提醒一下，我們的美國地區現在是我們最大的市場，也是我們認為未來發展潛力最大的市場。

Despite the strength in the US, our total net sales came in slightly below expectations due to the ongoing headwinds in the Australia and New Zealand region. And we delivered $1.3 million of adjusted EBITDA, which was in line with our expectations. I'm really pleased that we ended the fourth quarter feeling confident with our current inventory composition and levels which decreased 28% as compared to 2022.

儘管美國市場強勁，但由於澳洲和紐西蘭地區持續的不利因素，我們的總淨銷售額略低於預期。我們實現了 130 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，這符合我們的預期。我非常高興的是，我們對第四季末的庫存組成和水準充滿信心，與 2022 年相比下降了 28%。

And lastly, we paid off an additional $13 million of debt in the fourth quarter, further strengthening our balance sheet for the full year, we delivered $546 million in net sales. And despite the challenging macro environment in Australia, we delivered $14 million of adjusted EBITDA for the year.

最後，我們在第四季額外償還了 1,300 萬美元的債務，進一步加強了我們全年的資產負債表，我們實現了 5.46 億美元的淨銷售額。儘管澳洲的宏觀環境充滿挑戰，我們今年仍實現了 1,400 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA。

As we look at 2024, we have three key strategic priorities driving our strategic framework. First, we will continue to deliver innovative next-generation retail strategies to attract and retain customers. This includes the evolution of our test and repeat merchandising approach, delivering newness to customers weekly, expanding our product categories, particularly at our women's brands and leveraging technology and differentiated marketing strategies to deepen our direct relationships with our customers.

展望 2024 年，我們有三個關鍵策略重點來推動我們的策略架構。首先，我們將持續提供創新的下一代零售策略，以吸引和留住客戶。這包括我們的測試和重複行銷方法的演變，每週為客戶提供新產品，擴大我們的產品類別，特別是我們的女性品牌，並利用技術和差異化行銷策略來加深我們與客戶的直接關係。

Second, as we look to the future of fashion retail, we are confident that winning brands will be wherever their customers were the best online in experiential stores of true marketplace and wholesale channels. We are committed to showing up for our customers or ever they seek inspiration and transact based on the success of our omnichannel tests last year.

其次，當我們展望時尚零售的未來時，我們相信，獲勝的品牌將出現在真正的市場和批發管道的體驗式商店中，只要其客戶在網路上的體驗最好。我們致力於向我們的客戶展示，或者他們在去年全通路測試的成功基礎上尋求靈感和交易。

We're excited to scale our omnichannel initiatives in 2024, which I'll take you through shortly. And third, we will continue to streamline our operations to deliver financial benefits across the Company. We are focused on rapidly converging contract gains, Australia, Tasmar repeat merchandising approach, which will improve the assortment and inventory levels, providing gross margin expansion in the back half of the year, and we're committed to finding additional operating efficiencies to drive rate improvements across the P&L.

我們很高興能夠在 2024 年擴展我們的全通路計劃，我很快就會向您介紹這項計劃。第三，我們將繼續簡化運營，為整個公司帶來經濟效益。我們專注於快速收斂合約收益，澳洲、Tasmar 重複推銷方法，這將改善品種和庫存水平，從而在下半年實現毛利率擴張，並且我們致力於尋找額外的運營效率來提高增長率損益表的改善。

Now let me share some recent highlights from our brands as well as growth drivers for the year.

現在讓我分享一下我們品牌的一些近期亮點以及今年的成長動力。

Starting off with Princess poly, our largest brand that targets Gen Z and millennial women with on-trend quality fashion Princess body has gained tremendous popularity in the US over the last few years, primarily as a direct-to-consumer online brand.

從Princess Poly 開始，我們最大的品牌針對Z 世代和千禧世代女性，擁有流行的品質時尚Princess Body，在過去幾年中在美國獲得了巨大的知名度，主要是作為一個直接面向消費者的在線品牌。

As I mentioned, as we continue to build durable brands for the future, we're committed to staying in front of our customers, no matter what channel based on direct customer feedback and a shifting retail landscape. We're thrilled that Princess Bali opened its first store in Century City, LA in September 2023. This marks the first time that customers were able to truly interactive Princess poly and realize and the feedback was resoundingly positive.

正如我所提到的，隨著我們繼續為未來打造持久的品牌，我們致力於站在客戶面前，無論基於直接客戶回饋和不斷變化的零售格局的管道是什麼。我們很高興峇裡島公主於 2023 年 9 月在洛杉磯世紀城開設了第一家商店。這標誌著客戶第一次能夠真正與保利公主互動並實現，並且得到了非常積極的回饋。

The store in the Westfield Century City malls allows the authentic relationships and community that Princess poly has built over the last decade to come to life in person. Further strengthening brand affinity and loyalty store is also used as a marketing engine for content creation and in-store events, including a successful influencer friends gaming event in the fourth quarter and more to come this year based on the success of the first store Princess poly will expand its store footprint by three to four stores in 2024.

位於 Westfield Century City 購物中心的這家商店讓保利公主在過去十年中建立的真實關係和社區得以親自呈現。進一步加強品牌親和力和忠誠度商店也被用作內容創作和店內活動的營銷引擎，包括第四季度成功舉辦的影響者朋友遊戲活動，以及基於第一家公主保利商店成功的今年還將推出的更多活動到 2024 年，其門市規模將擴大三到四家。

And I'm excited to announce that we have officially signed leases on a store on Newbury Street in Boston and another store in Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego, which are both slated to open in the third quarter of the year. I look forward to sharing more details on store openings and further store expansion plans in the coming quarters.

我很高興地宣布，我們已正式簽署了波士頓紐伯里街的一家商店和聖地亞哥時尚谷購物中心的另一家商店的租約，這兩家商店都計劃於今年第三季度開業。我期待在未來幾季分享有關開店和進一步擴張計劃的更多細節。

Equally as important, Princess poly store expansion strategy is our continued focus on innovation staying ahead of trends and driving next-generation retail strategies online through the use of data analytics and customer feedback. Princess poly is launching several new categories in 2024 with sleepwear and loungewear already launched in January and performing ahead of expectations.

同樣重要的是，公主保利商店擴張策略是我們持續專注於創新，保持領先趨勢，並透過使用數據分析和客戶回饋來推動下一代線上零售策略。Princess Poly 將於 2024 年推出多個新品類，其中睡衣和家居服已於 1 月推出，表現超乎預期。

This month, we also launched an active wear collection, and we have plans for additional new categories as the year unfolds we're confident that a broader assortment of fashion styles will resonate with their existing customers and attract new customers to the brand. Princess poly is constantly innovating to enhance our direct connection with customers and reach new customers on every platform.

本月，我們還推出了運動服裝系列，並且計劃隨著時間的推移推出更多新類別，我們相信更廣泛的時尚風格將與現有客戶產生共鳴，並吸引新客戶加入該品牌。保利公主不斷創新，以增強我們與客戶的直接聯繫，並在每個平台上接觸新客戶。

Tiktok remains the preferred platform for princess polly customers with over 54 million TikTok views, reaching over 40 million people worldwide in 2020 for Prince poly will harness the power of TikTok to both tell their brand story and drive sales. They're fine-tuning the strategy, including expanding their TikTok content team and investing in more paid opportunities as well as scaling their TikTok influencer program.

Tiktok 仍然是波利公主客戶的首選平台，TikTok 觀看次數超過5400 萬，到2020 年，波利公主的全球受眾將超過4000 萬，因為波利公主將利用TikTok 的力量講述他們的品牌故事並推動銷售。他們正在微調策略，包括擴大 TikTok 內容團隊、投資更多付費機會以及擴大 TikTok 影響者計畫。

Moving to our other women's brands prevalent pulp, which target a slightly older customer base and Princess poly and offers more elevated event based items similar to the other brands in our portfolio, Platinum Plus as a chief great success in the U.S. as a direct to consumer brands, while the brand continues to grow its direct consumer business beginning in 2023. It also began testing omnichannel opportunities to increase its total addressable market.

轉向我們其他女性品牌流行紙漿，其目標是稍年長的客戶群和Princess Poly，並提供與我們產品組合中其他品牌類似的更多基於活動的高端產品，Platinum Plus 作為直接面向消費者的美國主要成功者品牌，同時該品牌從 2023 年開始繼續成長其直接消費者業務。它還開始測試全通路機會，以增加其總目標市場。

I'm really excited to announce the personal part is expanding its distribution and is now live in Nordstrom's website, adding to the brand's successful marketplace presence at both Macy's and target, which launched in the second half of last year. As a reminder, over 90% of customers that shop through marketplaces have been new to the Platinum Club brand, which demonstrates the power of expanding our distribution to new channels and getting in front of incremental customers in the back half of 2023. Platinum Club also tested wholesale arrangements with Victoria's Secret and one of Mexico's largest retailers, Liverpool, I'm pleased to report that based on positive results of the initial test, both retailers have reordered product in the first half of 2024.

我真的很高興地宣布，個人部分正在擴大其分銷範圍，現已出現在Nordstrom 的網站上，進一步增強了該品牌在梅西百貨(Macy's) 和去年下半年推出的塔吉特(Target) 上的成功市場影響力。提醒一下，超過 90% 透過市場購物的客戶都是 Platinum Club 品牌的新客戶，證明了我們將分銷擴展到新管道並在 2023 年下半年吸引增量客戶的力量。Platinum Club 還測試了與維多利亞的秘密和墨西哥最大零售商之一利物浦的批發安排，我很高興地報告，根據初步測試的積極結果，兩家零售商都已在 2024 年上半年重新訂購了產品。

Turning now to our streetwear brands, culture, Kings continues to take off in the U.S. and registered strong double-digit growth in both the fourth quarter and full fiscal year. In the region, budget Kings is creating more than just a fashion brand. It's fostering a lifestyle that's culturally relevant, on-trend and where people are going to be part of a community.

現在轉向我們的街頭服飾品牌和文化，Kings 在美國繼續蓬勃發展，並在第四季度和整個財年實現了兩位數的強勁增長。在該地區，Budget Kings 創造的不僅僅是一個時尚品牌。它正在培育一種與文化相關的、流行的、人們將成為社區一部分的生活方式。

They're disrupting the market. And I remain very bullish on the brand's expansion in the U.S. and globally. The one-of-a-kind flagship store in Las Vegas continues to activate its retail statement ethos every day, and they take it to the next level during key moments. Brand came to life in Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend with in-store events featuring Las Vegas, Raiders Star, Evanta, Adams global streaming icons, KC., not an RDC.

他們正在擾亂市場。我仍然非常看好該品牌在美國和全球的擴張。這家位於拉斯維加斯的獨一無二的旗艦店每天都在繼續激活其零售宣言精神，並在關鍵時刻將其提升到一個新的水平。該品牌在拉斯維加斯超級盃週末亮相，舉辦店內活動，包括拉斯維加斯、Raiders Star、Evanta、Adams 全球串流媒體偶像、KC.（而非 RDC）。

World and an in-store events and appearance by celebrity jacket designer. Jeff, Amazon's unique and next-generation in-store activations brought in thousands of customers and the store recorded two largest revenue days on record surpassing the grand opening and Formula One we can project is also continues to accelerate and brand awareness across the US through high-profile brand marketing, activations and collaborations with top-tier partners is an official sponsor of rolling load in Los Angeles next week, where it will have stage naming rights, a full court basketball experience and the new immersive element with on-site screen printing and exclusive merchandising collaboration postings is also an official partner of USC. 300, the upcoming mixed martial arts events in Las Vegas next month, which will include an exclusive product range and in-store activations surrounding the main events as an apparel led streetwear brand culture. Kings is uniquely differentiated from many other footwear led streetwear brands, setting project things up for continued growth over the long term.

世界和店內活動以及名人夾克設計師的亮相。傑夫，亞馬遜獨特的下一代店內活動吸引了數千名顧客，該商店創下了有史以來最大的兩個收入日，超過了盛大開業，我們可以預測一級方程式賽車也將繼續加速，品牌知名度在美國各地透過高- 品牌行銷、激活以及與頂級合作夥伴的合作是下週在洛杉磯舉行的Rolling Load 的官方贊助商，在那裡它將擁有舞台冠名權、全場籃球體驗以及現場絲網印刷的全新沉浸式元素並且獨家商品合作貼也是USC的官方合作夥伴。 300 是下個月即將在拉斯維加斯舉行的綜合武術賽事，其中將包括獨家產品系列和圍繞主要賽事的店內活動，作為服裝主導的街頭服飾品牌文化。Kings 與許多其他以鞋類為主導的街頭服飾品牌有著獨特的區別，它為專案的長期持續成長奠定了基礎。

We remain very excited by the performance of the first party partner brands, which continue to be top sellers, both online and in the Las Vegas store for the first party brands are a key priority. Hodgkin's also continues to add new brands to its assortment for the emerging brands and large international players enhancing the brand's credibility, industry risk-based, minimal or other streetwear brand remains a top performing brand at the contracting store in Las Vegas and is also accelerating its growth on its own platform as well, we're excited for a new exclusive capsule collection for minimal with NBA star three Sharon Madden launching this spring.

我們對第一方合作夥伴品牌的表現仍然感到非常興奮，這些品牌仍然是線上和拉斯維加斯商店中最暢銷的品牌，因為第一方品牌是首要任務。Hodgkin's 也繼續為新興品牌和大型國際品牌增加新品牌，以提高品牌的可信度，基於行業風險的簡約或其他街頭服飾品牌仍然是拉斯維加斯簽約店中表現最佳的品牌，並且正在加速其隨著自有平台的不斷發展，我們很高興能在今年春天推出由 NBA 球星三號人物 Sharon Madden 推出的全新獨家膠囊系列。

And the brand continues to be spotted and hundreds of celebrities and professional athletes as part of the broader omnichannel expansion plans, costings and minimal are also expanding their distribution channels for their exclusive products through Regent Street stores, starting with a more grassroots approach to reaching customers in an authentic way.

作為更廣泛的全通路擴張計劃的一部分，該品牌繼續受到關注，數百名名人和職業運動員也透過攝政街商店擴大其獨家產品的分銷管道，從更基層的方式接觸客戶開始以真實的方式。

Now I'll give you more detail on the P&L before taking your questions.

現在，在回答您的問題之前，我將向您提供有關損益表的更多詳細資訊。

As I mentioned, for the fourth quarter, net sales were $149 million, which was flat compared to the fourth quarter last year. In the U.S., we delivered strong sales growth of 12% compared to the fourth quarter last year, which is a nice sequential improvement from 2% growth in the third quarter. Sales in the Australia New Zealand region, although improved sequentially from the third quarter remained challenged and below our expectations, declining 12% as compared to the fourth quarter of last year.

正如我所提到的，第四季的淨銷售額為 1.49 億美元，與去年第四季持平。在美國，與去年第四季相比，我們的銷售額實現了 12% 的強勁成長，與第三季 2% 的成長相比，這是一個不錯的環比改善。澳洲紐西蘭地區的銷售額雖然較第三季較上季有所改善，但仍面臨挑戰，低於我們的預期，與去年第四季相比下降了 12%。

I'm pleased that net sales in the rest of world increased 9%, representing the strength of our brands internationally, which is a long-term growth opportunity for us. total orders for the fourth quarter were $2 million, an increase of 2% compared to the fourth quarter last year. In the U.S., we were pleased to see order growth of 23%, driven by higher traffic and our omnichannel tests, which was slightly offset by lower demand in the Australia and New Zealand region, where orders were down 9%.

我很高興世界其他地區的淨銷售額成長了 9%，這代表了我們品牌在國際上的實力，這對我們來說是一個長期成長機會。第四季訂單總額為200萬美元，較去年第四季成長2%。在美國，我們很高興看到訂單成長了23%，這主要得益於更高的流量和我們的全通路測試，但澳洲和紐西蘭地區的需求下降略微抵消了這一成長，該地區的訂單下降了9%。

We serve $3.7 million active customers in the fourth quarter. On a sequential basis, active customers grew nearly 3% despite a contraction of 12% in the Australia and New Zealand region. Importantly, we grew our active customer count in the US by 5%. As a reminder, our active customer count is calculated on a trailing 12 month basis. Our quarter average order value of $76 represents a decrease of 1% compared to the fourth quarter last year on a reported basis and was down 2% in constant currency. Importantly, our return rate remains one of the lowest among our peers and was 70% for the fourth quarter, which was a 260 basis point improvement for the third quarter of this year.

第四季我們為 370 萬美元的活躍客戶提供服務。儘管澳洲和紐西蘭地區的活躍客戶減少了 12%，但較上季成長了近 3%。重要的是，我們在美國的活躍客戶數量增加了 5%。請注意，我們的活躍客戶數量是按過去 12 個月計算的。根據報告，我們的季度平均訂單價值為 76 美元，與去年第四季相比下降了 1%，以固定匯率計算下降了 2%。重要的是，我們的回報率仍然是同業中最低的之一，第四季為 70%，比今年第三季提高了 260 個基點。

Moving note, profitability gross margin in the fourth quarter was 51.3% compared to 52.8% in the same period last year. Excluding the impact from actions we took in contract in Australia, our gross margin would have expanded 90 basis points to 53.7% due to the strength in full-price selling across our other brands. We continue to take action to culture things in Australia. And while I'm pleased with the progress. There's more work ahead of us. Importantly, under new leadership, the team is rapidly converting to attention repeat merchandising strategy similar to our successful and profitable women's brands which would be fully implemented in the back half of the year.

值得注意的是，第四季獲利毛利率為 51.3%，而去年同期為 52.8%。排除我們在澳洲合約中採取的行動的影響，由於我們其他品牌的全價銷售強勁，我們的毛利率將擴大 90 個基點至 53.7%。我們繼續採取行動保護澳洲的文化。雖然我對進展感到滿意。我們還有更多的工作要做。重要的是，在新的領導下，該團隊正在迅速轉向關注重複行銷策略，類似於我們成功且盈利的女裝品牌，該策略將在今年下半年全面實施。

Selling expenses increased 8% to $42 million compared to $39 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Selling expenses were 28% of net sales of 220 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of last year, primarily due to the sales shortfall in the Australia New Zealand region. Marketing expenses in the quarter were $17.3 million compared to $15.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. On a rate basis.

銷售費用成長 8%，達到 4,200 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季為 3,900 萬美元。銷售費用佔淨銷售額的 28%，較去年第四季上升 220 個基點，主要是由於澳洲紐西蘭地區的銷售短缺。本季的行銷費用為 1,730 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季的行銷費用為 1,540 萬美元。以費率為基礎。

Marketing expenses were 11.6% of net sales compared to 10.3% of net sales in the fourth quarter of 2022, which was in line with our expectations. We are working hard to improve our marketing effectiveness over the coming quarters. And we and as we further our omnichannel expansion efforts, we anticipate achieving improved levels of effectiveness.

行銷費用佔淨銷售額的 11.6%，而 2022 年第四季佔淨銷售額的 10.3%，符合我們的預期。我們正在努力提高未來幾季的行銷效率。隨著我們進一步推進全通路擴張工作，我們預計將實現更高的效率水準。

General and administrative expenses declined 16% to $22.3 million compared to $26.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 on a rate basis, G&A expenses were 15% of net sales compared to 17.5% of net sales in the fourth quarter last year. This was due to lower performance bonuses and a decrease in insurance costs. We delivered adjusted EBITDA of $1.3 million compared to $6.1 million in the same period last year, which was within our guidance range. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter of 2023 was 0.9% compared to 4.1% in the same period last year.

以費率計算，一般及行政費用下降16%，至2,230 萬美元，而2022 年第四季為2,610 萬美元。一般及行政費用佔淨銷售額的15%，而去年第四季佔淨銷售額的17.5%。這是由於績效獎金下降和保險成本下降。我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 130 萬美元，而去年同期為 610 萬美元，位於我們的指導範圍內。2023 年第四季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 0.9%，而去年同期為 4.1%。

Turning now to the balance sheet, we continued to make substantial progress strengthening our balance sheet, and we ended 2023 with significantly lower debt with an improved inventory position and composition which, as you remember, was a key priority for us at the start of last year. We ended the quarter with $22 million in cash and cash equivalents, and I'm very proud to highlight that we reduced our debt by 35% or $50 million over the last year, and we ended 2023 with $93 million of debt and total liquidity of approximately $70 million.

現在轉向資產負債表，我們繼續在加強資產負債表方面取得實質進展，到2023 年結束時，我們的債務顯著降低，庫存狀況和組成得到改善，正如您所記得的，這是我們去年年初的首要任務年。截至本季末，我們的現金和現金等價物為2,200 萬美元，我非常自豪地強調，我們的債務比去年減少了35%，即5,000 萬美元，截至2023 年，我們的債務為9,300 萬美元，流動性總額約7000萬美元。

Turning now to inventory, I want to thank our teams for their continued work, rightsizing our inventory in 2023. Total inventory was well-managed with inventory dollars, down 28% compared to last year. On a sequential basis, inventory was down 9% from the end of the third quarter of 2023.

現在談談庫存，我要感謝我們的團隊持續努力，在 2023 年調整了我們的庫存規模。總庫存管理良好，庫存金額較去年下降 28%。環比來看，庫存較 2023 年第三季末下降了 9%。

As I mentioned, the macro environment in Australia remains challenging and we continue to work aggressively to align contract means Australia, inventory in the region in preparation for the full transition to the test and repeat model in the back half of 2024. I'm pleased that inventory levels of Princess poly prevalent pop and minimal are in good shape across all regions.

正如我所提到的，澳洲的宏觀環境仍然充滿挑戰，我們將繼續積極努力調整澳洲的合約手段和該地區的庫存，為 2024 年下半年全面過渡到測試和重複模式做好準備。我很高興公主保利流行流行音樂和極簡音樂的庫存水準在所有地區都保持良好狀態。

In terms of composition, newness and quality. We generated $33 million of cash flow from operations in 2023 compared to cash use of $300,000 in 2022. In the fourth quarter, we generated $50 million of free cash flow, which compared to cash generation of $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. I'm very pleased that our positive EBITDA, coupled with prudent working capital management, enables us to have a stable positive operating cash flow profile.

在成分、新穎性和品質方面。2023 年，我們的營運現金流量為 3,300 萬美元，而 2022 年的現金使用量為 30 萬美元。第四季度，我們產生了 5,000 萬美元的自由現金流，而 2022 年第四季的現金產生量為 500 萬美元。我很高興我們的正 EBITDA 加上審慎的營運資金管理使我們能夠擁有穩定的正營運現金流狀況。

Quick update on our stock repurchase program. In the fourth quarter, we repurchased 175,161 shares for a total cost of approximately $1.3 million. As of the end of the year, we have $2.9 million remaining in our share repurchase authorization.

快速更新我們的股票回購計劃。第四季度，我們回購了 175,161 股股票，總成本約 130 萬美元。截至今年年底，我們的股票回購授權還剩 290 萬美元。

Note Turning to our outlook for 2024 and beyond. As you've heard today, we remain laser-focused on our strategic priorities to deliver a strong 2024 while setting the stage for an even stronger 2025. First, we will continue to deliver innovative retail strategies to reach our next generation customers Secondly, we will expand our omnichannel initiatives to reach new customers across multiple platforms and channels.

請注意我們對 2024 年及以後的展望。正如您今天所聽到的，我們仍然專注於我們的策略重點，以實現強勁的 2024 年，同時為更強勁的 2025 年奠定基礎。首先，我們將繼續提供創新的零售策略，以吸引下一代客戶。其次，我們將擴大全通路計劃，跨多個平台和通路接觸新客戶。

And third, we will continue to streamline our operations to strengthen our financials fully anticipate that the macroenvironment in the Australia region. Blue name remains dynamic and pressured in 2024. We're committed to building high-quality and profitable fashion brands for the long term. For the full year, we expect to deliver between $540 million to $555 million in net sales. For the other lines in the P&L, we expect gross margins between 55.5% and 56%.

第三，我們將繼續精簡我們的營運，以加強我們的財務狀況，充分預測澳洲地區的宏觀環境。藍色名稱在 2024 年仍然充滿活力並面臨壓力。我們致力於長期打造高品質、高利潤的時尚品牌。我們預計全年淨銷售額將在 5.4 億至 5.55 億美元之間。對於損益表中的其他項目，我們預期毛利率在 55.5% 至 56% 之間。

We expect gross margins will increase in the back half of the year as we lap the actions we took to move through inventory of contract gains. In 2023, we anticipate selling expenses to be approximately 26% of net sales and marketing expenses are approximately 12.5%. Marketing expenses will be slightly higher in the first quarter and leveraged throughout the year as we expand our omni-channel initiatives, we expect G&A expense between $100 million and $110 million for the full year 2024.

我們預計，隨著我們採取行動來轉移合約收益庫存，今年下半年的毛利率將會增加。到 2023 年，我們預計銷售費用約為淨銷售額的 26%，行銷費用約為 12.5%。隨著我們擴大全通路計劃，第一季的行銷費用將略高，並在全年發揮作用，我們預計 2024 年全年的一般管理費用將在 1 億至 1.1 億美元之間。

For the year, we expect adjusted EBITDA of between $16 million and $18 million, weighted average diluted share count of $10.7 million capital expenditures of $10 million to $12 million and an effective tax rate of 10%. For the first quarter, we expect net sales between $108 million and $112 million and adjusted EBITDA of between $300,000 and $700,000 .

今年，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,600 萬美元至 1,800 萬美元，加權平均稀釋股數為 1,070 萬美元，資本支出為 1,000 萬美元至 1,200 萬美元，有效稅率為 10%。我們預計第一季的淨銷售額將在 1.08 億美元至 1.12 億美元之間，調整後的 EBITDA 將在 30 萬美元至 70 萬美元之間。

When I think about the long term, I'm confident that we have significant opportunity to deliver both growth and profit as Gen Z and millennials continue to gain spending power. Our brands are young and at the beginning of their life cycle with a tremendous global runway ahead of them. Our flexible business model is working, and we remain steadfast in our mission to be the next generation of retail for the next generation of consumers. We are just getting started tapping into the US, and we'll look to expand our international strategies in 2025 to accelerate growth even faster. I'm confident that we have highly talented teams who are motivated every day to serve our customers and grow these brands together. I'm looking forward to an exciting year. Now we'll open it up for your questions.

從長遠來看，我相信隨著 Z 世代和千禧世代的消費能力不斷增強，我們有很大機會實現成長和利潤。我們的品牌還很年輕，正處於生命週期的開始階段，前面還有廣闊的全球跑道。我們靈活的商業模式正在發揮作用，我們仍然堅定不移地致力於成為下一代消費者的下一代零售業。我們剛開始進軍美國，我們將尋求在 2025 年擴大我們的國際戰略，以更快地加速成長。我相信我們擁有才華橫溢的團隊，他們每天都充滿動力為我們的客戶服務並共同發展這些品牌。我期待著激動人心的一年。現在我們將打開它來回答您的問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員說明）

Youssef Squali, Truist Securities.

優素福‧斯誇裡 (Youssef Squali)，Truist 證券公司。

Thank you very much. Hi, Ciaran. Thank you for taking the question. So starting with the weakness in Australia and New Zealand, can you maybe help us parse out what's macro and what's that maybe specific execution issues of the company and what you're doing there? And also related to that, what's baked into the guide for flat revenues for 2024 between US growth and the in Brazil and and Australia and rest of world, and then I have a follow-up. Thank you.

非常感謝。嗨，夏蘭。感謝您提出問題。因此，從澳洲和紐西蘭的弱點開始，您能否幫助我們解析什麼是宏觀的，什麼是公司的具體執行問題以及您在那裡所做的事情？與此相關的是，2024 年美國成長與巴西、澳洲和世界其他地區收入持平的指南中包含哪些內容，然後我有一個後續行動。謝謝。

Yes, as you know, as we think about the U.S. Australia market, I think overall looking, it was great to see the U.S. market grew 12% in Q4. I think Australia down 12%, obviously getting better than what we saw in Q3, but still very much a pressured market there. As we look across our brands, we were down and from a similar perspective across them, I would say more pronounced that culture Kings, where we're not fully on that test and repeat model that we have and fully implemented at the other brands and is really helping that growth and driving a lot of that growth that we saw in the U.S. and Wes and the team who came over from Princess poly are working hard to implement our test and repeat model.

是的，如您所知，當我們考慮美國澳洲市場時，我認為總體而言，很高興看到美國市場在第四季度增長了 12%。我認為澳洲下降了 12%，明顯好於我們在第三季看到的情況，但那裡的市場仍然面臨很大壓力。當我們審視我們的品牌時，我們感到沮喪，從類似的角度來看，我想說更明顯的是文化之王，我們沒有完全採用我們擁有並在其他品牌完全實施的測試和重複模型，確實有助於這種成長，並推動了我們在美國看到的成長，Wes 和來自Princess Poly 的團隊正在努力實施我們的測試和重複模型。

We expect to see the first product come in from that kind of mid Q2. And with that, we'd expect to see improvements in comps and improvements in gross margin as we go through the back half and for Australia, as we think about the overall year next year uses. And from a from an Australia perspective, we are modeling to be in that kind of negative mid 10s for the year. And I think we are kind of expecting to be in negative mid 20s in Q1 and improving as we go through the year and looked at kind of somewhat based on what we see and knowing that the benefits of customer repeat will take some time to flow in there in the market.

我們預計第一個產品會在第二季中期上市。有了這個，我們預計在下半年和澳大利亞，當我們考慮明年的整體使用情況時，我們會看到比較的改善和毛利率的改善。從澳洲的角度來看，我們正在建模今年的負值 10 左右。我認為我們預計第一季的業績將處於20 多歲左右的負數，並隨著這一年的發展而有所改善，並且在某種程度上基於我們所看到的情況並知道客戶回頭客的好處將需要一些時間才能體現出來市場上有。

Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. And then on the on the debt management help us think through the path to the debt repayment, how much of it is coming due when and how much money do you need and to actually continue to run the business? What's the minimum amount you need to run the business thinking?

好的。謝謝。這很有幫助。然後，債務管理幫助我們思考債務償還的路徑，其中有多少到期，何時到期，需要多少錢，並真正繼續經營業務？運行商業思維所需的最低金額是多少？

Sure. Yes, look, I think we're really happy that we paid down $50 million of debt last year, down 35%. And really that coming from just the strong cash flows, the operating cash flows, we had of $33 million. And obviously a big driver of that was the EBITDA we delivered, but also just bring down our inventory dollars by $35 million last year. And that's really helpful. I think as we think about our debt, it becomes due in September at kind of Q3 2026, right? So that's still a ways out.

當然。是的，我想我們真的很高興我們去年還清了 5000 萬美元的債務，下降了 35%。實際上，我們擁有 3300 萬美元的強勁現金流，即營運現金流。顯然，其中一個重要的推動因素是我們交付的 EBITDA，但去年我們的庫存金額也減少了 3,500 萬美元。這真的很有幫助。我認為，當我們考慮我們的債務時，它將於 9 月到期，即 2026 年第三季度，對嗎？所以這還是一條出路。

And then I think as we think about that, we expect to continue to make progress on paying down debt, strengthen the balance sheet as we go through this year and next and look, that's just going to come from the operating model that we have. We continue to generate EBITDA. And we expect to have strong cash flows from our from our EBITDA and also just continued and improving our working capital management as we go through this year and next.

然後我認為，當我們考慮這一點時，我們預計在今年和明年的過程中，我們將繼續在償還債務、加強資產負債表方面取得進展，看看，這將來自我們現有的營運模式。我們繼續產生 EBITDA。我們預計我們的 EBITDA 將會產生強勁的現金流，並且在今年和明年我們將繼續改善我們的營運資本管理。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Ashley Owens, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Ashley Owens，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Hi, thanks for taking the question. Though you talked a little bit about the implementation of that test certainty and culture teams and kind of how the gross margin shaping with it returning to expansion around the same timeframe in the back half of the year. Just curious if there's anything else that's pressuring the gross margin line we should be aware of. And then just maybe in terms of how you're thinking about markdowns and promotions for the year. Thank you.

您好，感謝您提出問題。儘管您談到了測試確定性和文化團隊的實施，以及毛利率如何隨著下半年同一時間段恢復擴張而形成。只是好奇是否還有其他因素對我們應該注意的毛利率線造成壓力。然後也許就您如何看待今年的降價和促銷而言。謝謝。

Sure. Thanks, Ashley. As we think about and FY24, maybe just kind of a lot of what informs that is, I would say the progress we made on inventory last year. So it being down $35 million, 28%, I would say across Princess, polypropylene, pulp and minimal, we feel really, really good about the composition and the quality of the inventory, the newness of the product we have and we can see that it's working well, I think as well, I just point out right.

當然。謝謝，阿什利。當我們思考 2024 財年時，我想說的是我們去年在庫存方面的進展。因此，我想說的是，公主、聚丙烯、紙漿和極簡的價格下降了 3500 萬美元，我們對庫存的成分和品質以及我們擁有的產品的新穎性感覺非常非常好，我們可以看到我認為它運作良好，我只是指出正確的。

The fact that we were and we are able to bring down inventory that level and then to be excluding the actions we took in contracting to be up 90 basis points in gross margin in Q4 and is just a testament to the strength of the model. So as we think of both FY24 and I feel that we should expect to see those improving gross margins. And as we go through the year, helped by the coach team has been on test and repeat, but also we were we took a lot of a pretty hard actions in Q3 and Q4 last year to move through that and progress inventory at contract gains.

事實上，我們曾經並且能夠將庫存降低到這一水平，然後排除我們採取的收縮措施，使第四季度的毛利率上升 90 個基點，這只是該模型實力的證明。因此，當我們考慮 2024 財年時，我認為我們應該期待看到毛利率的改善。當我們度過這一年時，在教練團隊的幫助下一直在測試和重複，但我們也在去年第三季度和第四季度採取了很多相當艱難的行動來克服這一問題並在合約收益方面提高庫存。

And that gives us confidence, I think there and there are other actions. The teams are working hard on getting the right mix of airfreight to see, and we think there's opportunities there. And also as we kind of we open up more of the omnichannel opportunities and use the wholesale opportunities. I think there's an opportunity to be less promotional on our own size and which I think long term will all help gross margin and kind of get this the overall business back to the level of EBITDA production that we would expect.

這給了我們信心，我認為還有其他行動。這些團隊正在努力尋找合適的空運組合，我們認為這方面有機會。此外，我們也開闢了更多的全通路機會並利用批發機會。我認為我們有機會減少對自己規模的促銷，我認為從長遠來看，這將有助於毛利率，並使整體業務恢復到我們預期的 EBITDA 生產水平。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Ciaran Long for closing remarks.

（操作員說明） 目前沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給夏蘭朗 (Ciaran Long)，讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you. Thank you all for joining our call. As we are, we're proud of the progress we're making across the business across the brands and across all of the teams and it really is being driven by individual team members. And I think it sets us up for a good 2024 and really shows the power of the operating model that we have and that these brands can go from strength to strength in the future.

謝謝。感謝大家加入我們的通話。就我們而言，我們對跨品牌和所有團隊在業務中取得的進步感到自豪，這確實是由各個團隊成員推動的。我認為這為我們迎接美好的 2024 年奠定了基礎，並真正展示了我們現有營運模式的力量，以及這些品牌在未來可以不斷發展壯大。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your questions.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。謝謝您的提問。