Arko Corp. (ARKO) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's Argo Corporation second quarter 2024 earnings. (Operator Instructions) Please note this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions).

大家好，歡迎收看今天的 Argo Corporation 2024 年第二季財報。（操作員說明）請注意此通話正在錄音。（操作員說明）。

It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Senior Vice President of Capital Markets, Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations, Jordan Mann. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興將會議交給資本市場、企業策略和投資者關係高級副總裁喬丹·曼 (Jordan Mann) 主持。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to Arko's second quarter 2024 earnings conference call and webcast.

謝謝。下午好，歡迎參加 Arko 2024 年第二季財報電話會議和網路廣播。

On today's call are Arie Kotler, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer; and Rob Giammatteo, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

出席今天電話會議的有董事長、總裁兼執行長阿里‧科特勒 (Arie Kotler)；執行副總裁兼財務長 Rob Giammatteo。

Our earnings press release and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2024, as filed with the SEC, are available on Arko's website at www.arkocorp.com.

我們向 SEC 提交的收益新聞稿和 2024 年第二季 10-Q 表格季度報告可在 Arko 網站 www.arkocorp.com 上取得。

During our call today, unless otherwise stated, management will compare results to the same period in 2023. Before we begin, please note that all second quarter 2024 financial information is unaudited.

在我們今天的電話會議中，除非另有說明，管理層將把結果與 2023 年同期進行比較。在開始之前，請注意，2024 年第二季的所有財務資訊均未經審計。

During this call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of our second quarter 2024 earnings release, for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made during the call today.

在本次電話會議中，管理階層可能會做出 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。請查看我們 2024 年第二季財報發布結束時的前瞻性和警示性聲明部分，以了解可能導致實際結果與今天電話會議期間做出的前瞻性聲明有重大差異的各種因素。

Any forward-looking statements made during this call reflect our current views with respect to future events, and Arko is under no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements made on this call, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述均反映了我們目前對未來事件的看法，Arko 沒有義務更新或修改本次電話會議中所做的前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件或否則。

On this call, management will share operating results on both a GAAP basis and on a non-GAAP basis. Descriptions of those non-GAAP financial measures that we use, such as operating income as adjusted, and adjusted EBITDA, and reconciliations for those measures to our results as reported in accordance with GAAP, are detailed in our earnings release, or in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

在這次電話會議上，管理階層將根據公認會計原則和非公認會計原則分享營運績效。我們使用的非 GAAP 財務指標的描述，例如調整後的營業收入和調整後的 EBITDA，以及這些指標與我們根據 GAAP 報告的結果的調節，在我們的收益發布或我們的季度報告中詳細說明截至2024年6 月30 日的季度的10-Q 表格。

Additionally, management will share profit measures for our individual business segments, along with fuel contribution, which is calculated as fuel revenue, less fuel costs, and exclude intercompany charges by GPMP.

此外，管理層將分享我們各個業務部門的利潤指標以及燃料貢獻，燃料貢獻以燃料收入減去燃料成本計算，並排除 GPMP 的公司間費用。

And now, I would like to turn the call over to Arie.

現在，我想把電話轉給阿里。

Thank you, Jordan, and thank you all for joining.

謝謝喬丹，也謝謝大家的加入。

We reported earlier today that we deliver adjusted EBITDA that excluded our second quarter guidance. These results reflect our ongoing effort to manage key lever successful pricing and our vendor partner relationship as we navigate challenging microeconomic environment alongside our customers.

我們今天早些時候報告稱，我們交付了調整後的 EBITDA，其中排除了第二季度的指導。這些結果反映了我們在與客戶一起應對充滿挑戰的微觀經濟環境時，不斷努力管理成功定價的關鍵槓桿以及我們的供應商合作夥伴關係。

We continue to see pressure on consumers as they struggle with inflation and elevated prices for everyday goods, especially in markets with a large percentage of lower income consumers. Consumers have been hesitant in their spending and their purchases have remained suppressed despite multiple summer promotions.

我們繼續看到消費者面臨壓力，因為他們與通貨膨脹和日常用品價格上漲作鬥爭，特別是在低收入消費者佔很大比例的市場。儘管進行了多次夏季促銷活動，但消費者對支出一直猶豫不決，而且購買量仍然受到抑制。

As a result, during the quarter we saw lower same-store merchandise sales and retail volumes at the pump. However, our team worked hard and achieved merchandise margin rate growth while providing much-needed value to our customers.

因此，本季我們看到同店商品銷售額和零售量下降。然而，我們的團隊努力工作，實現了商品利潤率的成長，同時為我們的客戶提供了急需的價值。

As we discussed on our last call, we believe we are prepared to navigate this near-term headwind as we continue to believe in the long-term opportunities for the company.

正如我們在上次電話會議中所討論的那樣，我們相信我們已經準備好應對這種近期的逆風，因為我們仍然相信公司的長期機會。

Turning to our retail segment performance for the quarter, merchandise same-store sales decreased compared to strong prior year period, relatively flat on a two-year stock excluding cigarettes, reflecting a challenging consumer backdrop.

談到本季的零售部門表現，商品同店銷售額與去年同期相比有所下降，不包括捲菸的兩年庫存相對持平，反映出充滿挑戰的消費者背景。

Despite this quarter decrease, we saw significant merchandise margin expansion, which helped partially offset the sales decline as we continue to make progress with our key merchandising initiatives and deliver value for our customers.

儘管本季度有所下降，但我們看到商品利潤率大幅增長，這有助於部分抵消銷售額的下降，因為我們繼續在關鍵的銷售計劃方面取得進展並為客戶創造價值。

For example, we have seen great results in the value-oriented pizza offering that we launched in Q1 of this year. Relative to our old pizza program, same-store pizza sales this quarter increased approximately 19% and unit sold increased 36%.

例如，我們在今年第一季推出的以價值為導向的披薩產品中取得了巨大的成果。與我們舊的披薩計劃相比，本季同店披薩銷售額增長了約 19%，銷量增長了 36%。

In addition to the pizza program, we have expanded food service offering with Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, which are available hot and ready in more than 460 of our retail stores across the country.

除了披薩計劃外，我們還擴大了 Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs 的餐飲服務範圍，這些熱狗在我們遍布全國的 460 多家零售店提供熱食和現成食品。

While this program only started in the middle of the quarter, we have seen strong customer response with same-store hot dog sales up approximately 16% over the prior year quarter. All-in same-store food and dispensed beverage contribution dollars were up over 9% and over 400 basis points in margin rate as compared to the prior year period.

雖然該計劃在本季度中期才開始，但我們看到客戶反應強烈，同店熱狗銷量比去年同期增長了約 16%。與去年同期相比，同店食品和飲料的總貢獻金額增加了 9% 以上，保證金率增加了 400 個基點以上。

We plan to continue leaning into food service through offering value and bundles to further help our customers in this challenging microenvironment. As I mentioned previously, food and dispensed beverages are key components of our strategic plan, and I'm pleased with the progress that the team has made.

我們計劃透過提供價值和捆綁服務繼續向餐飲服務傾斜，以在這個充滿挑戰的微環境中進一步幫助我們的客戶。正如我之前提到的，食品和分發飲料是我們策略計畫的關鍵組成部分，我對團隊的進展感到高興。

Given the ongoing consumer pressure, we announced the return of our $10 sign-on incentive for newly enrolled members in our Fast Rewards loyalty program.

鑑於持續的消費者壓力，我們宣布向新加入快速獎勵忠誠度計劃的會員返還 10 美元的註冊獎勵。

For context, we added more than 365,000 enrolled loyalty program members during the third quarter of 2023, when we ran our promotion last year, and we expect the return of this promotion to continue to improve loyalty enrollment and accelerate traffic and spending across our stores as reflected by same-store loyalty sales, which were roughly flat year-over-year, but also deliver incremental merchandise contribution dollars.

就背景而言，我們在2023 年第三季（去年進行促銷活動時）增加了超過365,000 名註冊忠誠度計畫會員，我們預計此次促銷活動的回報將繼續提高忠誠度註冊人數，並加速我們商店的客流量和支出：同店忠誠度銷售額反映了這一點，與去年同期相比大致持平，但也帶來了增量的商品貢獻。

Turning to retail fuel, we deliver modest increase in fuel contribution dollars driven by gallons growth from our recent acquisitions and a fuel margin increase of roughly $0.02 per gallon, which more than offset continued decline in gallon demand.

談到零售燃料，由於我們最近收購的加侖數增長以及每加侖燃料利潤率增加約 0.02 美元，我們的燃料貢獻美元略有增加，這足以抵消加侖需求的持續下降。

While we are working to improve same-store retail gallons going forward, our retail fuel trends are consistent with the industry and reflect broader economic pressure. As we have shared before, our fuel team prices to optimize fuel contribution dollars, factoring into competitive dynamics at the site level, and we believe rising cost pressure that continues to impact smaller operators will continue to support the strong retail fuel margin that we experienced in the second quarter.

雖然我們正在努力改善未來的同店零售加侖數，但我們的零售燃料趨勢與行業一致，並反映了更廣泛的經濟壓力。正如我們之前所分享的，我們的燃料團隊定價是為了優化燃料貢獻美元，考慮到站點層面的競爭動態，我們相信持續影響小型運營商的不斷上升的成本壓力將繼續支持我們在第二季度。

On our last call, I emphasized the importance of developing the right plans and platforms for organic growth within a retail store footprint in the context of a multi-year transformation plan.

在我們上次的電話會議上，我強調了在多年轉型計劃的背景下，制定正確的計劃和平台以促進零售店足跡內有機增長的重要性。

We are developing the details of this organic growth plan, which is expected to include significant capital allocation towards our retail stores, the conversion of meaningful number of retail stores currently in our retail segment to dealer sites within our wholesale segment and increased focus on pricing and procurement strategies across our retail stores.

我們正在製定這項有機成長計畫的細節，預計將包括對我們的零售店進行大量資本配置，將目前零售部門中有意義數量的零售店轉變為批發部門中的經銷商站點，並更加註重定價和我們零售店的採購策略。

As part of this, we are advancing our new store design pilot. We have completed consumer research to guide development of our prepared food assortment and store layout, and have selected seven stores within one of our regions to execute the pilot.

作為其中的一部分，我們正在推進新店設計試點。我們已經完成了消費者研究，以指導我們的預製食品品種和商店佈局的開發，並在我們的一個地區選擇了七家商店來執行試點。

After validating the results, we have a goal of a region-wide rollout before extending across our retail footprint. This initiative aims to enhance our customer value proposition and improve store operations with a significant focus on food service. We expect to begin implementing the new design in our pilot stores in the fourth quarter of this year.

驗證結果後，我們的目標是在擴大我們的零售業務之前在整個地區進行推廣。該舉措旨在增強我們的客戶價值主張並改善商店運營，並專注於餐飲服務。我們預計將於今年第四季開始在我們的試點商店實施新設計。

I would also like to update you on another element of the transformation plan, the conversion of retail stores to dealer sites within our wholesale segment.

我也想向您介紹轉型計畫的另一個要素，將批發部門內的零售店轉變為經銷商網站。

Last quarter, we shared that our portfolio review identified a meaningful number of retail locations that we believe will deliver more profitability as dealer sites within our wholesale channels, rather than continuing to operate them as retail stores.

上個季度，我們表示，我們的投資組合審查確定了相當數量的零售地點，我們相信這些零售地點將作為我們批發渠道內的經銷商地點提供更多的盈利能力，而不是繼續將它們作為零售店營運.

Conversion of identified stores benefits both our dealers and Arko. Dealers are able to leverage their own scale by taking additional sites, while we can realize higher profits from ongoing fuel supply agreements and rental income than from continuing to operate these stores in our retail segment.

已確定商店的轉換對我們的經銷商和 Arko 都有好處。經銷商能夠透過佔用更多場地來利用自己的規模，而我們可以從持續的燃料供應協議和租金收入中獲得比繼續在我們的零售部門經營這些商店更高的利潤。

This conversion also will allow us to focus and better prioritize future investment in our remaining retail stores. Our team has been working with multiple potential dealers over the last several months to advance this part of the transformation plan.

這一轉變也將使我們能夠集中精力並更好地優先考慮對剩餘零售店的未來投資。在過去的幾個月裡，我們的團隊一直在與多個潛在經銷商合作，以推進這部分轉型計畫。

To give you a sense of this in action, we already have approximately 40 retail stores that we expect to have completed by the end of the third quarter. Several of these have already been converted.

為了讓您實際感受到這一點，我們已經擁有大約 40 家零售店，預計將在第三季末完工。其中一些已經被轉換。

We are still working through our multiyear transformation plan, and the details shared today are only intended to reflect high-level teams and preliminary efforts ahead of our upcoming Investor Day we plan to hold in the fourth quarter. Additional details for the date and location will be shared in the weeks ahead.

我們仍在製定多年轉型計劃，今天分享的細節僅旨在反映我們計劃在第四季度舉行的投資者日之前的高層團隊和初步努力。有關日期和地點的更多詳細資訊將在未來幾週內分享。

Lastly, as we continue to see opportunity for expansion, we have three new-to-industry stores that are in different stages of construction, with one scheduled to open in the third quarter.

最後，隨著我們繼續看到擴張的機會，我們有三個處於不同建設階段的新行業商店，其中一個計劃在第三季開業。

I will now turn the call over to Rob to review financial results for the second quarter and touch upon our expectation for the third quarter and full-year 2024.

我現在將電話轉給 Rob，回顧第二季的財務業績，並談談我們對第三季和 2024 年全年的預期。

Thank you, Arie. Good afternoon, everyone.

謝謝你，阿里。大家下午好。

Before touching on our second quarter results, I would like to share a change we are making to how we report our non-GAAP financial measures.

在談到我們第二季的業績之前，我想先分享我們對報告非公認會計原則財務指標的方式所做的改變。

Starting with this 10-Q, we will now be including the non-cash portion of rent expense in our calculation of adjusted EBITDA. We estimate this adjustment will have the effect of reducing adjusted EBITDA by approximately $15 million for fiscal year 2024, at roughly $3.5 million per quarter.

從本 10 季開始，我們現在將在計算調整後 EBITDA 時納入租金費用的非現金部分。我們估計，這項調整將使 2024 財年調整後 EBITDA 減少約 1,500 萬美元，每季約 350 萬美元。

For this quarter, you will see both our historical methodology and our new methodology reported in our earnings release for adjusted EBITDA. We are providing both calculations this quarter to allow for an orderly transition to our revised approach.

對於本季度，您將在我們的調整後 EBITDA 收益發布中看到我們的歷史方法和新方法。我們將在本季度提供這兩項計算，以便有序過渡到我們修訂後的方法。

To minimize confusion, my remarks on the second quarter will use our historical methodology of excluding non-cash rent expense from adjusted EBITDA, which was the basis of our second quarter guidance. We want to make clear that this change does not reflect any change in our accounting practices or our results reported in accordance with GAAP.

為了盡量減少混亂，我對第二季的評論將使用我們的歷史方法，即從調整後的 EBITDA 中排除非現金租金費用，這是我們第二季指導的基礎。我們想明確表示，這項變更並不反映我們的會計實務或根據 GAAP 報告的結果的任何變更。

Turning to second quarter 2024 results, adjusted EBITDA was $83.8 million for the quarter compared to adjusted EBITDA of $86.2 million from the year ago period. Results were supported by retail fuel margin of $41.6 per gallon, which was considerably above the $38.5 per gallon midpoint of our guidance range.

談到 2024 年第二季的業績，該季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 8,380 萬美元，而去年同期調整後的 EBITDA 為 8,620 萬美元。零售燃油利潤為每加侖 41.6 美元，遠高於我們指導範圍每加侖 38.5 美元的中點，為業績提供了支撐。

At the segment level, our retail segment contributed at approximately $73.8 million in operating income compared to $77.9 million in the year ago period. Adjusted operating income for the quarter was $87.9 million compared to $92.6 million in the year ago period.

在部門層面，我們的零售部門貢獻了約 7,380 萬美元的營業收入，而去年同期為 7,790 萬美元。本季調整後營業收入為 8,790 萬美元，去年同期為 9,260 萬美元。

Total retail merchandise sales were down just over 2% for the quarter, while merchandise contribution was up 0.7%, a margin rate expansion of 90 basis points. Retail segment fuel gallons were down 3.4% to the year ago period, while fuel contribution was up modestly due to recent acquisitions and higher cents per gallon, which more than offset continued declines in gallon demand.

本季零售商品總銷售額下降略高於 2%，而商品貢獻成長 0.7%，利潤率擴大 90 個基點。零售部門的燃油加侖數比去年同期下降了 3.4%，而由於最近的收購和每加侖美分的上漲，燃油貢獻略有增加，這足以抵消加侖需求的持續下降。

Same store merchandise sales, excluding cigarettes, were down 4% versus the year ago period, while total same store merchandise sales were down just over 5%. Same store transactions were down close to 8% for the quarter, reflecting the challenging external environment. The decline in transactions was partially offset by an increase in average dollar sale.

同店商品銷售額（不含香菸）較去年同期下降 4%，而同店商品總銷售額下降略高於 5%。本季同店交易量下降近 8%，反映出充滿挑戰的外部環境。交易量的下降被平均銷售額的增加部分抵消。

The impact of the sales decline was partially offset by continued margin rate expansion, which was up roughly 80 basis points to the year ago period. Same store fuel contribution was down approximately [3.3 million] for the quarter, with the decline in gallons partially offset by stronger year-over-year fuel margin per gallon.

銷售額下降的影響被持續的利潤率擴張所部分抵消，利潤率比去年同期上升了約 80 個基點。本季同店燃油貢獻下降約 330 萬加侖，每加侖年比燃油利潤的增加部分抵消了加侖數的下降。

Same store fuel gallon demand was down 6.6% for the quarter, while fuel margin of $41.1 per gallon was up $1.5 per gallon from the year ago period. Same store operating expenses were down 0.5% for the quarter.

本季同店燃油加侖需求下降 6.6%，而燃油利潤為每加侖 41.1 美元，比去年同期每加侖增長 1.5 美元。本季同店營運費用下降 0.5%。

Moving on to our wholesale segment, operating income was $9.1 million for the quarter, compared to $6.8 million in the prior year period. Adjusted operating income was $21.3 million for the quarter, versus $19.7 million in the year ago period, with a 5.7% decline in gallons, offset by the impact of higher fuel margin, which was $9.9 per gallon, versus $9.2 per gallon in the year ago period.

轉向我們的批發部門，本季營業收入為 910 萬美元，而去年同期為 680 萬美元。本季調整後營業收入為2,130 萬美元，去年同期為1,970 萬美元，加侖數下降5.7%，但被燃油利潤率提高的影響所抵消，燃油利潤率為每加侖9.9 美元，去年同期為每加侖9.2美元時期。

For our fleet segment, operating income was $11.8 million for the quarter, compared to $9.3 million in the year ago period. Adjusted operating income was $13.7 million for the quarter, versus $11 million in the year ago period, with total gallons up 13%, driven by the WTG acquisition, which closed in June 2023.

對於我們的機隊部門，本季營業收入為 1,180 萬美元，而去年同期為 930 萬美元。本季調整後營業收入為 1,370 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,100 萬美元，加侖總數成長 13%，這得益於 2023 年 6 月完成的 WTG 收購。

Gallon growth was amplified by increased fuel margin, which was $45.9 per gallon for the quarter, versus $41.7 per gallon in the year ago period. Total company general and administrative expense for the quarter was $42.4 million, versus $42.7 million in the year ago period.

燃料利潤的增加放大了加侖的成長，本季燃料利潤為每加侖 45.9 美元，而去年同期為每加侖 41.7 美元。本季公司總務及管理費用為 4,240 萬美元，去年同期為 4,270 萬美元。

Debt interest and other financial expenses for the quarter were $21.4 million, compared to $20.2 million in the year ago period. Net income for the quarter was $14.1 million, compared to $14.5 million for the year ago period. Please reference our press release for a detailed reconciliation from total company net income to adjusted EBITDA.

本季債務利息和其他財務費用為 2,140 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,020 萬美元。本季淨利為 1,410 萬美元，去年同期淨利為 1,450 萬美元。請參閱我們的新聞稿，以了解公司總淨利潤與調整後 EBITDA 的詳細對帳資訊。

Turning to the balance sheet, excluding lease-related financing liabilities, we ended the second quarter with $890 million in long-term debt, comprised of our 2029 senior notes, the outstanding balance on our Capital One line, and the remainder primarily related to real estate and equipment financing. Our $140 million ABL remains completely undrawn as we continue to manage working capital needs from operating cash flow.

轉向資產負債表，不包括與租賃相關的融資負債，第二季末我們的長期債務為8.9 億美元，其中包括我們的2029 年優先票據、第一資本線的未償餘額，以及主要與實際資產相關的其餘部分。我們的 1.4 億美元 ABL 仍然完全未動用，因為我們繼續透過營運現金流來管理營運資金需求。

We maintain substantial liquidity of approximately $806 million, including $232 million in cash on hand at quarter end, along with remaining availability on our lines of credit. Of this total liquidity, approximately $420 million is attached to our Capital One line, which is reserved for M&A activity.

我們保持著約 8.06 億美元的大量流動性，包括季度末手頭上的 2.32 億美元現金，以及我們的信貸額度的剩餘可用性。在總流動資金中，約 4.2 億美元屬於我們的第一個資本額度，專門用於併購活動。

We remain comfortable that our balance sheet has more than adequate flexibility to support both ongoing organic growth initiatives and M&A. Total capital expenditures for the quarter were $19.3 million.

我們仍然感到滿意的是，我們的資產負債表具有足夠的靈活性來支持正在進行的有機成長計劃和併購。該季度的總資本支出為 1,930 萬美元。

Turning to our third quarter guidance, which, as a reminder, now includes the non-cash portion of rent expense in our adjusted EBITDA calculation, we expect adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of $70 million to $86 million. Our third quarter earnings outlook corresponds to an average retail fuel margin of $0.38 per gallon on the lower end and $0.44 per gallon on the higher end of our guidance.

談到我們的第三季指導，提醒一下，我們調整後的 EBITDA 計算中現在包括了租金費用的非現金部分，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將在 7000 萬美元至 8600 萬美元之間。我們第三季獲利預期對應的平均零售燃油利潤為每加侖 0.38 美元（下限）和 0.44 美元/加侖（上限）。

And for full-year 2024, we are maintaining our adjusted EBITDA guidance. Inclusive of approximately $15 million in non-cash rent expense, full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA is expected in a range of $235 million to $275 million.

對於 2024 年全年，我們維持調整後的 EBITDA 指引。包括約 1,500 萬美元的非現金租金支出，2024 年全年調整後 EBITDA 預計在 2.35 億美元至 2.75 億美元之間。

This range represents the guidance of $250 million to $290 million we shared at the beginning of the year under our historical methodology, less the approximately $15 million in non-cash rent expense now included in our new methodology.

這個範圍代表了我們在年初根據歷史方法得出的 2.5 億至 2.9 億美元的指導值，減去我們新方法中現在包含的約 1500 萬美元的非現金租金費用。

For the back-half of the year, our guidance corresponds to an average retail fuel margin of $0.37 per gallon on the lower end and $0.45 per gallon on the higher end.

今年下半年，我們的指導對應的平均零售燃油利潤為低端每加侖 0.37 美元，高端為每加侖 0.45 美元。

With that, I'll hand it back to Arie for closing remarks.

至此，我將把它交還給 Arie 進行結束語。

Thanks, Rob. Before I wrap up, I would like to take a moment to talk about our full-year 2024 guidance and in particular, the range around our midpoint. We are operating in an unprecedented geopolitical environment and have seen significant swings in fuel margin over the past month.

謝謝，羅布。在結束之前，我想花點時間談談我們的 2024 年全年指引，特別是中點附近的範圍。我們在前所未有的地緣政治環境中運營，過去一個月燃料利潤率出現了大幅波動。

For the second quarter, fuel margin was below $0.38 in April and jumped above $0.43 for May and June. July just finished in the $0.42 to $0.43 range. So we are broadening our CPG assumptions going forward, given the potential for continued volatility.

第二季度，4 月份燃油利潤率低於 0.38 美元，5 月和 6 月則躍升至 0.43 美元以上。7 月收在 0.42 美元至 0.43 美元之間。因此，考慮到持續波動的可能性，我們正在擴大我們對未來消費品的假設。

I would like to close by reiterating our commitment to continue strong execution through this challenging microeconomic environment, as we strive to enhance shareholder value. Thank you for your ongoing support and confidence in our vision for Arko.

最後，我想重申，我們致力於在充滿挑戰的微觀經濟環境中持續保持強大的執行力，並努力提高股東價值。感謝您一直以來對我們 Arko 願景的支持與信任。

We appreciate your time today. With that, we will open it up to questions.

我們非常感謝您今天抽出時間。至此，我們將開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Bobby Griffin, Raymond James.

（操作員說明）鮑比·格里芬、雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions.

大家下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。

Hey. The first thing I wanted to hit on is just maybe on a high level, just curious where the business is today in procurement across kind of all the stores and the business segments.

嘿。我想談的第一件事可能只是在一個高層次上，只是好奇今天所有商店和業務部門的採購業務處於什麼位置。

Any context you can put around that and maybe what some of the opportunities could be or kind of what you're working on over the near and medium term on the procurement side and really on fuel or merchandise. Just curious where that is from your point of view?

您可以圍繞這一點提出任何背景，也許一些機會可能是什麼，或者您在近期和中期在採購方面以及實際上在燃料或商品方面正在進行的工作。只是好奇從你的角度來看那是哪裡？

When you say it from basically from a segment standpoint, I mean, everything is operating under one system right now. So maybe you can elaborate a little bit more about your question.

當你基本上從細分市場的角度來看時，我的意思是，現在一切都在一個系統下運作。所以也許你可以詳細說明你的問題。

Yeah, just more of like, just a lot of acquisitions over the course of the last couple of years. Just so just curious, are we leveraging those across like retail? Are we getting the full procurement benefit across those acquisitions? And then I'm just also, are we seeing the leverage across the different business segments that Arko has developed over the last couple of years as well?

是的，更像是過去幾年進行的大量收購。只是很好奇，我們是否像零售業一樣利用這些？我們是否從這些收購中獲得了全部採購利益？然後我也想，我們是否也看到了 Arko 在過去幾年中開發的不同業務領域的槓桿作用？

Sure. So just for the benefit of everybody else everything is basically centralized in our back office. Just to be clear and we have three different segments. Everything is centralized to our back office.

當然。因此，為了其他人的利益，一切基本上都集中在我們的後台。需要明確的是，我們分成三個不同的部分。一切都集中在我們的後台。

Across the retail chain, all of the marketing and merchandising initiative, purchasing power, everything is being handled, again, to our centralized back office. The same thing goes to the fuel, everything is consolidated under one group, the retail segment, the wholesale segment, and of course, the fleet segment.

在整個零售鏈中，所有行銷和銷售計劃、購買力等一切都再次由我們的集中後台處理。同樣的事情也適用於燃料，一切都整合到一個集團下，零售部門、批發部門，當然還有車隊部門。

So I think, from an opportunity standpoint, there is always opportunity that you continue to grow. But I think, we are set up very well right now from opportunistic standpoint. And again, I think that's part of the transformation plan will be to continue to actually to get more and more of those opportunities

所以我認為，從機會的角度來看，總是有機會讓你繼續成長。但我認為，從機會主義的角度來看，我們現在的情況非常好。再說一遍，我認為轉型計畫的一部分將是繼續實際獲得越來越多的機會

Yeah, Bobby, I confirm what Arie is saying. I mean, everything is on a common procurement platform. But I think as we've mentioned before, the transformation program will have components of both on the direct side and the indirect side.

是的，鮑比，我證實了阿里所說的。我的意思是，一切都在一個共同的採購平台上。但我認為正如我們之前提到的，轉型計劃將包含直接方面和間接方面的組成部分。

So again, we have everything on a common platform, but certainly opportunities exist. And I think more on the indirect side. But again, it is part of both the direct and the indirect plan going forward.

再說一次，我們在一個共同的平台上擁有一切，但機會肯定是存在的。我更思考間接的方面。但同樣，它是未來直接和間接計劃的一部分。

Thank you, Robert. That's helpful. That's exactly what I was kind of looking for.

謝謝你，羅伯特。這很有幫助。這正是我想要的。

And then, Arie, I appreciate the details about the potential opportunity on the retail network, dropping some of those into dealers and in the savings.

然後，阿里，我很欣賞有關零售網路上潛在機會的細節，將其中一些投入經銷商和儲蓄中。

I'm just curious, when you look at the fleet card business, as well as your wholesale business on a standalone basis today, are there opportunities to grow those sites, not including your own network?

我只是很好奇，當您今天審視車隊卡業務以及獨立的批發業務時，是否有機會發展這些網站（不包括您自己的網路）？

So is there opportunities to actually go out, grow wholesale sites that wouldn't be part of your own network to kind of further leverage the fixed cost of that infrastructure in the same way in the fleet card segment as well?

那麼，是否有機會真正走出去，發展不屬於您自己網絡一部分的批發網站，以在車隊卡領域以同樣的方式進一步利用該基礎設施的固定成本？

Sure. So adding additional sites, which is something that is happening as an ongoing basis, it's always an opportunity, always an opportunity. This is something that is happening as we speak. The same thing with the fleet business, I mean, if we have opportunities to increase the fleet business, we are looking into this, of course.

當然。因此，添加其他站點是持續發生的事情，它始終是一個機會，始終是一個機會。這就是我們說話時正在發生的事情。車隊業務也是如此，我的意思是，如果我們有機會增加車隊業務，我們當然會對此進行研究。

And we're going to add more sites. Recently, we did it last year with WTG. If you remember, when we bought the Quarles acquisition, we were at 183 sites under our belt. And last June, when we acquired WTG, we added another close to 120 locations. So today, we basically have 294 locations today, starting with 183.

我們將新增更多站點。最近，我們去年用 WTG 做到了這一點。如果你還記得，當我們收購誇爾斯時，我們擁有 183 個站點。去年 6 月，當我們收購 WTG 時，我們又增加了近 120 個地點。所以今天我們基本上有 294 個地點，從 183 個開始。

Yeah. And that was through M&A. Is there an organic opportunity just where you can add sites? Or does it have to come with a big, large scale M&A? I'm just trying to get a sense of what (multiple speakers)

是的。那是透過併購實現的。是否有可以添加網站的有機機會？還是必須伴隨著大規模的併購？我只是想了解一下（多個發言者）

No. There is always opportunity. There is organic opportunity. As a matter of fact, we are looking on some areas that we can expand. But again, I think the large organic growth will come from acquisitions. That's always.

不。機會總是有的。有有機的機會。事實上，我們正​​在尋找一些可以擴展的領域。但我再次認為，巨大的有機成長將來自收購。總是這樣。

But again, this is no different than new to industry in a retail segment. When we actually add new to industry locations, you see what we're doing this time. We are actually adding three locations as we speak. So those opportunities always become -- when they become available, we, of course, are going to tackle them.

但同樣，這與零售領域的產業新事物沒有什麼不同。當我們實際為行業地點添加新內容時，您會看到我們這次在做什麼。正如我們所說，我們實際上正在添加三個位置。因此，當這些機會出現時，我們當然會抓住它們。

Okay. And then, I guess, lastly for me and Rob, I don't know if you'll be able to answer this yet. I know more is likely coming on the Investor Day. But when you look through kind of the retail network, is there any way you can size out or parse.

好的。然後，我想，最後對我和羅布來說，我不知道你是否能夠回答這個問題。我知道投資者日可能會出現更多情況。但是，當您瀏覽某種零售網絡時，是否有任何方法可以確定或解析。

Like, how big is the performance gap on maybe merchandise or fuel comps from some of the lower quartile stores? And the reason I'm asking is, is there a better way to kind of get a sense of how maybe the Arko core stores you all's good performing stores, are performing versus the industry versus some of the lower kind of lower quartile stores that could eventually end up dropping out of this retail network into more of a dealer base are performing?

例如，一些排名較低的四分位數商店的商品或燃料補償的績效差距有多大？我問的原因是，是否有更好的方法來了解 Arko 核心商店，你們這些表現良好的商店，與行業相比，與一些較低類型的下四分位數商店相比，它們的表現如何？最終最終會退出這個零售網絡，進入更多正在執行的經銷商基礎嗎？

Yeah. Bobby, I think you're spot on. That'll be something we'll share more at Investor Day. But to your point, we have a lower quintile, as does everyone else. And as you might imagine, those are likely some of those stores that are targeted for the dealerization where we can be more profitable with them as dealer run.

是的。鮑比，我認為你說得對。我們將在投資者日分享更多內容。但就你而言，我們的五分位數較低，其他人也是如此。正如您可能想像的那樣，這些可能是一些針對經銷商的商店，我們可以在經銷商經營時透過它們獲得更多利潤。

And we can focus our capital allocation toward the fleet that we want to drive. So yes, we'll provide much more detail at that level. Yes, we've looked at it. But we're going to hold that one for Investor Day for detail.

我們可以將資本配置集中在我們想要駕駛的車隊上。所以，是的，我們將在該級別提供更多詳細資訊。是的，我們已經看過了。但我們將在投資者日舉行這項活動以了解詳細資訊。

Okay, understood.

好的，明白了。

But let me jump in. -- Maybe I'll jump in and give you maybe a little bit of a color on that. Just we mentioned the 40 stores that we are in basically in the middle of conversion. Some of them were converted already and the rest will be converted at the end of the quarter.

但讓我插話一下。剛才我們提到了我們所在的 40 家商店基本上正處於轉型過程中。其中一些已經轉換，其餘的將在本季末轉換。

We're talking about roughly $2 million on those stores that will do better in profitability versus what they're doing right now. So I just want to be very, very clear over here.

我們談論的是大約 200 萬美元的資金，用於那些盈利能力比現在更好的商店。所以我只想在這裡說得非常非常清楚。

The goal is [A] to convert them to dealer location, but not because they're not great. It's just because we see opportunities in some other areas where to actually allocate capital, where to prioritize our time and where we see more upside.

目標是 [A] 將它們轉變為經銷商位置，但並不是因為它們不夠好。這只是因為我們在其他一些領域看到了機會，可以在這些領域實際分配資本，在哪些領域優先考慮我們的時間，以及在哪些領域看到更多的好處。

So in some of those stores, the idea is actually to convert them to do more and not the other way around. I want to be clear. It's actually making more money on one end. On the other end, keeping the gallons, remember, everything is under our control. We're going to keep the gallons. We're going to collect trends.

因此，在其中一些商店中，我們的想法實際上是讓他們做更多的事情，而不是相反。我想澄清一下。實際上，一方面可以賺更多的錢。另一方面，保持加侖，記住，一切都在我們的控制之下。我們要保留加侖。我們將收集趨勢。

So from a synergy standpoint and from a basically buying car standpoint, we don't lose anything. As a matter of fact, we gain. And now, not only are we going to make more money, we're also going to be able to basically to cut some G&A in some of those areas, because as you can imagine to operate 40 stores, it's more expensive than basically to run them as dealer location.

因此，從協同的角度和從基本購買汽車的角度來看，我們不會損失任何東西。事實上，我們有所收穫。現在，我們不僅能賺更多的錢，而且還能基本上削減某些領域的一般管理費用，因為正如你可以想像的那樣，經營 40 家商店比基本經營要貴他們作為經銷商所在地。

But just the better profitability on those 40 stores is going to be -- the benefit is going to be approximately $2 million better than what they're doing right now.

但這 40 家商店的盈利能力將比他們現在的水平提高約 200 萬美元。

Thank you. I appreciate the additional details. I appreciate you guys answering my questions and best of luck here the remainder of the year.

謝謝。我很欣賞額外的細節。我感謝你們回答我的問題，並祝你們在今年剩下的時間裡一切順利。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital.

凱利·巴尼亞 (Kelly Bania)，BMO 資本。

Hi, good evening. It's Kelly Bania here from BMO. I was wondering just if you could clarify some assumptions here on your outlook for 2024, seems like some of the key changes to the underlying outlook here assume maybe a higher fuel margin.

嗨，晚上好。我是 BMO 的凱利·巴尼亞 (Kelly Bania)。我想知道您是否可以澄清對 2024 年前景的一些假設，似乎基本前景的一些關鍵變化假設燃料利潤率可能更高。

You talked about some of the factors there in recent months, but is that offset by a lower same-store sales outlook or are there any other major kind of puts and takes?

您談到了近幾個月的一些因素，但這是否被同店銷售前景下降所抵消，或者是否有其他主要的看跌期權？

And I guess within that was surprised to see the acquisition of CBQ in here, so I was just curious what the annualized EBITDA contribution of that is and what that added to your full-year outlook?

我猜想，看到 CBQ 在這裡被收購，我感到很驚訝，所以我只是好奇它的年化 EBITDA 貢獻是多少，以及這對您的全年前景有何貢獻？

Yeah. So Kelly, you're spot on with the key full-year assumptions. So again, we are seeing structurally higher cents per gallon. We've seen it May, June, and July now, and so therefore we're taking our midpoint of our guide up to kind of that $0.41 range in the middle of what we shared for the Q3 guide, so that is the increase there.

是的。凱利，您對全年的關鍵假設是完全正確的。因此，我們再次看到每加侖的價格結構性上漲。我們現在已經在 5 月、6 月和 7 月看到了這一情況，因此我們將指南的中點提高到我們為第三季度指南分享的中間值 0.41 美元的範圍，這就是那裡的增長。

And then on the other side, we are seeing some pressure in the merge sales. We've kind of taken that down for the year to be more consistent with trends, so kind of down low to mid-single for the year, so those are the major changes there.

另一方面，我們看到合併銷售方面存在一些壓力。我們今年已經把它降低了，以便與趨勢更加一致，所以今年的低到中單曲，所以這些是那裡的主要變化。

On CBQ, look, it's 21 stores on over 1,500. It's not a big number. It was factored into our high-level view at the beginning of the year, so again, not a major impact there to the business. It's a nice tuck-in. We're going to drive synergies there, but again, this is not a larger deal that's going to significantly move our guidance number.

在 CBQ 上，你看，超過 1,500 家商店中有 21 家。這不是一個大數字。今年年初，我們的高層觀點中就考慮到了這一點，因此，這不會對業務產生重大影響。這是一個很好的塞進去。我們將在這方面推動協同效應，但同樣，這並不是一項較大的交易，不會顯著改變我們的指導數字。

If I may jump in, Kelly, if you don't mind, I just want to add a couple more things to the context over here.

如果我可以插話，凱利，如果你不介意的話，我只想在此處添加更多內容。

I just want to remind everybody that 70% of the industry, this is a very resilient industry. We are talking about 150,000 convenience or gas stations in the US 70% of it is mom-and-pop. One of the reasons that we believe we're going to see some elevation in CPG, as we saw over the past three months.

我只是想提醒大家，70%的產業，這是一個非常有韌性的產業。我們談論的是美國 15 萬個便利站或加油站，其中 70% 是夫妻店。正如我們在過去三個月所看到的那樣，我們相信消費品價格將會上升的原因之一。

And again, as I said, I mentioned, July just finished between 42% to 43%, is everybody's facing the same microeconomic pressure. It's just something that we see across the industry, across almost every industry right now. And we believe, no different than what we saw during COVID and no different than what we saw in the past.

再次，正如我所說，我提到過，7 月剛結束，在 42% 到 43% 之間，每個人都面臨著同樣的微觀經濟壓力。這是我們現在在整個產業、幾乎每個產業都看到的情況。我們相信，這與我們在新冠疫情期間看到的情況沒有什麼不同，也與我們過去看到的情況沒有什麼不同。

When there is pressure, the only place that you can actually push margin very, very quickly and make changes very, very quickly is only outside. And when we see decline of inside sales, traffic, and gallons, the only way to basically to make it back somewhere else is only outside the pump.

當有壓力時，唯一能真正非常非常快地提高利潤並非常非常快地做出改變的地方就是外部。當我們看到內部銷售、流量和加侖數下降時，基本上將其帶回其他地方的唯一方法就是在泵外。

So finishing July, August with $0.42, $0.43, we believe that we're going to continue to see operators just elevating their margin outside the box until things will actually come back to normal.

因此，截至 7 月、8 月分別為 0.42 美元、0.43 美元，我們相信營運商將繼續提高其利潤率，直到情況真正恢復正常。

Okay. That's helpful. And just on the dealer conversion process. So 40, I think you said, converting by the end of the third quarter.

好的。這很有幫助。就經銷商轉換過程而言。所以 40，我想你說過，在第三季末轉換。

I guess two questions. What are the key characteristics? What are the key things that you're looking for? Is it really just kind of culling this bottom quartile, or maybe can you give us more color on what this might look on a multi-year basis in terms of what the mix of the business could be between retail-operated stores and the dealer network?

我猜有兩個問題。主要特點是什麼？您正在尋找的關鍵內容是什麼？這真的只是剔除這個底部四分之一嗎？

So this is something that is still ongoing, as I mentioned. We started to explore that a few months ago. This is something that is still ongoing. I think the one thing that we're looking, when we actually make decisions, of course, the number one thing, of course, is profitability.

正如我所提到的，這件事仍在繼續。幾個月前我們就開始對此進行探索。這是仍在進行中的事情。我認為，當我們實際做出決策時，我們正在考慮的一件事當然是獲利能力。

But at the same time, we want to make sure that some of those stores, do we really have the opportunity and upside if some of those stores. And if we feel that the capital that we are going to allocate towards those stores or the investment that we are going to allocate, it's not going to fit the criteria or the return that we are looking to achieve over here.

但同時，我們希望確保其中一些商店，我們是否真的有機會和上行空間。如果我們認為我們要分配給這些商店的資本或我們要分配的投資，它將不符合我們希望在這裡實現的標準或回報。

We feel that we'd rather just move them to our wholesale segment. The wholesale segment is a very great segment for us. As you can see the results, it's technically flat year-over-year.

我們覺得我們寧願將它們轉移到我們的批發部門。批發領域對我們來說是一個非常重要的領域。正如您所看到的結果，技術上與去年同期相比持平。

And as long as we, as I said, as long as we keep control on those sides and we can figure out the way out to convert them to something a little bit more profitable, this is basically the plan. We don't have a number right now.

正如我所說，只要我們保持對這些方面的控制，並且我們能夠找到將它們轉變為更有利可圖的東西的方法，這基本上就是計劃。我們現在沒有號碼。

We don't have a particular brand, geography or transaction on the table right now. But as I said, as we continue to evaluate them with the big transformation plan that we have that we're actually developing and develop, we're going to continue basically to share more information with you guys.

我們目前沒有特定的品牌、地理位置或交易。但正如我所說，當我們繼續使用我們實際上正在製定和開發的大型轉型計劃來評估它們時，我們基本上將繼續與你們分享更多資訊。

And we felt the first time we brought it up was last quarter. As I said, this quarter we already have 40 that we identified that we're in the process of converting. Some of them are already converted. And we're going to continue to update you guys on an ongoing basis, on a quarterly basis.

我們覺得我們第一次提出這個問題是在上個季度。正如我所說，本季我們已經確定了 40 個正在轉換的項目。其中一些已經轉換。我們將繼續每季持續向大家通報最新情況。

Thank you. It appears that we have no further questions at this time. I will now turn the program back to Arie Kotler for any additional or closing remarks.

謝謝。目前看來我們沒有其他問題了。我現在將把節目轉回給阿里·科特勒，請其補充或結束語。

Thank you, Madison. We would like to thank everyone for the great call. Thank you for joining us today, and have a great evening.

謝謝你，麥迪遜。我們要感謝大家的精彩通話。感謝您今天加入我們，祝您有個愉快的夜晚。

Thank you. This does conclude today's Arko Corporation's second quarter 2024 earnings. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

謝謝。今天 Arko Corporation 的 2024 年第二季財報就到此結束了。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連線。