Arko Corp. (ARKO) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's ARKO Corp. Third Quarter 2024 Earnings. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) Please note this call is being recorded. I will be standing by, should you need any assistance.

大家好，歡迎閱讀今天的 ARKO Corp. 2024 年第三季財報。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。（操作員說明）請注意此通話正在錄音。如果您需要任何幫助，我會隨時待命。

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

現在我很高興將今天的節目交給公司策略、資本市場和投資者關係高級副總裁喬丹·曼 (Jordan Mann)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to ARKO's third quarter 2024 earnings conference call and webcast. On today's call are Arie Kotler, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Rob Giammatteo, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝。下午好，歡迎參加 ARKO 2024 年第三季財報電話會議和網路廣播。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 third quarter of 2024 as filed with the SEC are available on ARKO's website at www.arkocorp.com. During our call today, unless otherwise stated, management will make -- will compare results to the same period in 2023. Before we begin please note that all third quarter 2024 financial information is unaudited.

我們向 SEC 提交的收益新聞稿和 2024 年第三季 10-Q 表格季度報告可在 ARKO 網站 www.arkocorp.com 上取得。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 年第三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 third quarter 2024 earnings release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made during our 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 年第三季收益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我們今天電話會議中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, except as required by law.

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、未來事件還是其他原因，法律要求的除外。

On this call, management will share operating results on both a GAAP basis and on a non-GAAP basis. Descriptions of these non-GAAP financial measures that we use, such as operating income as adjusted, and adjusted EBITDA, and reconciliations of these 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 September 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。我們使用的這些非 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9 月30 日的季度的10-Q 表格中。

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 our subsidiary 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，燃料貢獻按燃料收入減去燃料成本計算，並排除我們子公司 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. In the third quarter, we delivered adjusted EBITDA at the midpoint of our guidance by remaining highly focused on managing our operating expenses, both within retail operations at store level and through advancing our dealerization initiative, which I will cover shortly.

謝謝喬丹，也謝謝大家的加入。在第三季度，我們透過繼續高度專注於管理我們的營運費用，無論是在商店層面的零售業務還是透過推進我們的經銷商計劃（我將很快介紹），調整後的EBITDA 達到了指導的中點。

We, along with other operators in our industry, are seeing persistent pressure on consumers as they grapple with inflation and increased prices for daily necessities with the cost of goods in fundamental categories like fuel and groceries, up more than 20% since 2020.

我們以及業界的其他業者都看到消費者面臨持續的壓力，因為他們需要應對通貨膨脹和日常必需品價格上漲的問題，而燃料和雜貨等基本類別的商品成本自2020 年以來上漲了20% 以上。

During the quarter consumer spending remained restrained and strong summer promotion were unable to accelerate soft merchandising trends from earlier in the year. That said, we continue to believe, we are equipped to navigate this environment and as always, continue to offer everyday value to our customers to help them during these challenging times and believe in the resilience of our industry as we look consumer spending in 2025.

本季消費者支出仍受到限制，而強勁的夏季促銷活動未能加速今年稍早的軟商品銷售趨勢。儘管如此，我們仍然相信，我們有能力應對這種環境，並一如既往地繼續為我們的客戶提供日常價值，幫助他們度過這個充滿挑戰的時期，並在我們展望2025 年消費者支出時相信我們行業的彈性。

Looking at our merchandise efforts, we are seeing a shift in purchasing behavior with a growing number of consumers prioritizing discounts and exploring multiple channels to find the best value. Traffic trends remained challenging throughout the quarter and we continue to focus on ways to deliver value to our customers through promotional bundles and loyalty offers coming online as we move into the fourth quarter.

看看我們的商品銷售工作，我們發現購買行為發生了轉變，越來越多的消費者優先考慮折扣並探索多種管道來尋找最佳價值。整個季度的流量趨勢仍然充滿挑戰，進入第四季度後，我們將繼續關注如何透過線上促銷捆綁包和忠誠度優惠為客戶提供價值。

As we look ahead to the balance of the year, we have value-oriented promotions coming online. Just to name a couple, we are offering our Tyson Chicken Sandwich value meal with a large fountain drink and chips for only $4.99, enabling our customers to have a full meal at a reasonable price.

當我們展望今年剩下的時間時，我們將推出以價值為導向的線上促銷活動。舉幾個例子，我們提供泰森雞肉三明治超值餐，含大杯飲料和薯條，價格僅為 4.99 美元，使我們的顧客能夠以合理的價格享用一頓正餐。

Additionally, we are offering customers the ability to grab a free Nathan Hotdog with the purchase of any large fountain drink for only $1.99. These are just a couple of examples of the many promotions we are launching to provide much needed value to our customers. These promotion supports our strategies around both enhancing our Foodservice offering and our loyalty program.

此外，我們還為客戶提供購買任何大杯飲料只需 1.99 美元即可免費獲得 Nathan 熱狗的功能。這些只是我們為向客戶提供急需的價值而推出的眾多促銷活動的幾個例子。這些促銷活動支持我們圍繞增強餐飲服務產品和忠誠度計劃的策略。

On Foodservice, in the second quarter, we expanded our Foodservice offering with Nathan's famous Hotdog, which are now available hot and ready in more than 500 of our retail stores across the country. We've seen strong customer response with same-store hotdog sales for the third quarter up more than 30%.

在餐飲服務方面，第二季度，我們擴大了我們的餐飲服務範圍，推出了 Nathan's 著名的熱狗，現已在全國 500 多家零售店熱賣。我們看到顧客反應強烈，第三季同店熱狗銷售額成長了 30% 以上。

We also continue to see positive results in the value-oriented pizza offering that we launched in the first quarter. Same-store non-franchise pizza sales in Q3 increased approximately 11.5% and units sold increased 23.1%.

我們也繼續看到我們在第一季推出的以價值為導向的披薩產品取得了積極的成果。第三季同店非特許經營披薩銷售額成長約 11.5%，銷量成長 23.1%。

With respect to loyalty, we continue to grow the base of enrolled members in our loyalty program because of the value associated with being a member. Enrolled loyalty members spend an average of $110 per month or 80% more than non-enrolled customers and visit almost eight times per month, or almost twice as often as non-enrolled customers.

在忠誠度方面，我們持續擴大忠誠度計畫的註冊會員基礎，因為成為會員所擁有的價值。註冊的忠誠度會員平均每月花費 110 美元，比非註冊客戶多 80%，每月訪問近 8 次，幾乎是非註冊客戶的兩倍。

In focusing our efforts to continue enrollment and provide additional value to our customers just before the holidays, we kicked off yesterday the Fas Million Sweepstakes. For the remainder of the year, Fas Rewards members who purchased any of over 700 qualifying items will receive a scratch card at checkout that has prices or coupons for items that can be redeemed at any of our retail stores.

為了集中精力繼續報名並在假期前為我們的客戶提供額外價值，我們昨天啟動了 Fas Million 抽獎活動。在今年剩餘時間內，購買超過700 件符合條件的商品中的任何一件的Fas Rewards 會員將在結帳時收到一張刮刮卡，其中包含可在我們任何零售店兌換的商品的價格或優惠券。

In addition to the instant price portion of the Sweepstakes, enrolled Fas Rewards members will also be entered into a drawing for a grand price scratch card with the chance to win $1 million.

除了抽獎活動的即時價格部分外，註冊的 Fas Rewards 會員還將參加抽獎活動，贏取一張大獎刮刮卡，有機會贏得 100 萬美元。

Pulling back from near-term operations, I want to spend some time talking about more structural changes to our business that are part of the foundation we are building for the future. These such elements of our merchandising assortment, our channel strategy and NPIs.

從近期營運中抽身出來，我想花一些時間討論我們業務的更多結構性變革，這是我們為未來構建的基礎的一部分。我們的商品分類、通路策略和 NPI 的這些要素。

First on our merchandising assortment it has been some time since we discussed with you all our cigarettes and tobacco offering. We are seeing the strength of our OTP assortment, which has been growing longer term and has a contribution margin rate that is approximately 20 percentage points higher than our cigarettes category.

首先是我們的商品分類，自從我們與您討論我們所有的香菸和菸草產品以來已經有一段時間了。我們看到了 OTP 產品類別的優勢，該產品類別一直在長期成長，其邊際貢獻率比我們的捲菸類別高出約 20 個百分點。

Recognizing the demand-driven mix shift across tobacco products, we have started to install new back bar fixtures, allocating space to our OTP assortment. We expect to roll this new back bar installation to 1,000 stores by the end of the first quarter 2025 to support this growing category and expect OTP growth story to be positive.

認識到菸草產品的需求驅動的組合轉變，我們開始安裝新的後吧台固定​​裝置，為我們的 OTP 品種分配空間。我們預計到 2025 年第一季末將這種新的後吧台安裝到 1,000 家商店，以支持這一不斷增長的類別，並預計 OTP 的增長故事將是積極的。

Given that approximately one out of two of our enrolled loyalty members are cigarettes or OTP consumers, we will be increasing our focus in 2025 on these customers and plan to provide them with additional value.

鑑於我們註冊的忠誠會員中大約有二分之一是香菸或 OTP 消費者，我們將在 2025 年更加關注這些客戶，並計劃為他們提供額外價值。

Next, I'd like to share an update on our channel optimization efforts. As part of our transformation plan, we are converting retail stores to dealer sites where we believe that we can realize higher profit from ongoing fuel supply agreements and rental income than from continuing to operate these stores in our retail segment.

接下來，我想分享我們在通路優化工作的最新進展。作為我們轉型計劃的一部分，我們正在將零售商店轉變為經銷商網站，我們相信，與繼續在我們的零售部門運營這些商店相比，我們可以從持續的燃料供應協議和租金收入中獲得更高的利潤。

On our last call, we shared that we expected to convert 40 retail stores to dealer sites by the end of the third quarter and we exceeded this target, converting 51 retail stores to dealer sites. By the end of the fourth quarter, we expect to convert another approximately 100 retail stores.

在上次電話會議上，我們表示預計到第三季末將 40 家零售店轉變為經銷商站點，我們超越了這一目標，將 51 家零售店轉變為經銷商站點。到第四季末，我們預計將另外改造約 100 家零售店。

Taken together, we expect this approximately 150 stores will represent an annualized benefit to combined wholesale segment and retail segment operating income of approximately $8.5 million.

總而言之，我們預計這約 150 家商店將為批發部門和零售部門合併帶來約 850 萬美元的年化收益。

To provide more detail on the magnitude of the channel optimization we are undergoing at scale taking into account future expected conversion of retail stores, we expect this initiative to cumulatively benefit combined wholesale segment and retail segment operating income by approximately $15 million to $20 million.

為了更詳細地說明我們正在進行的大規模通路優化的規模，並考慮到零售店未來的預期轉換，我們預計這一舉措將累計使批發部門和零售部門的合併營業收入受益約1500 萬至2000 萬美元。

We expect this conversion will lead to an economic uplift, while allowing us to increase our focus on the jewels of the retail portfolio and to prioritize our future investments in this location. We believe that this will enable us to maximize the potential of all of our segments. We see tremendous opportunity with the work we are doing, which we expect to compound it with reduction of supporting G&A costs as we refine our retail footprint.

我們預計這一轉變將帶來經濟成長，同時使我們能夠更加關注零售投資組合中的瑰寶，並優先考慮在該地區的未來投資。我們相信，這將使我們能夠最大限度地發揮所有部門的潛力。我們在我們正在做的工作中看到了巨大的機會，我們希望隨著我們完善零售業務，減少支援性的一般管理成本。

Moving on, I wanted to touch on another leg of our organic growth for ARKO, our NTIs. We markedly expanded our NTI pipeline with eight new-to-industry stores. In the third quarter we opened one of this a Handy Mart store in Newport, North Carolina, delivering value and high-quality shopping experience to the Newport community.

接下來，我想談談 ARKO 有機成長的另一條腿，也就是我們的 NTI。我們顯著擴大了 NTI 通路，開設了 8 家新店。第三季度，我們在北卡羅來納州紐波特開設了其中一家 Handy Mart 商店，為紐波特社區提供價值和高品質的購物體驗。

We are pleased with the performance of this store and have seen foodservice sales penetration over 20% at that location for the month it has been opened in Q3. This success further supports the efforts we are putting into developing our foodservice offering. Of the remaining new-to-industry stores in the pipeline, we expect to open three more by the end of the year with the balance over the course of 2025.

我們對這家店的業績感到滿意，並且在第三季開業當月，該店的餐飲服務銷售滲透率超過 20%。這項成功進一步支持了我們為開發餐飲服務所付出的努力。在剩餘的籌建中的新行業商店中，我們預計在今年年底前再開設 3 家，其餘的將在 2025 年開設。

You will note that this pipeline represents a marked increase to our prior cadence of NTIs, which reflects our efforts to support the long-term organic growth of our business.

您會注意到，這條管道代表了我們之前 NTI 節奏的顯著增加，這反映了我們為支持業務長期有機成長所做的努力。

Further, we expect that our NTI program will play an essential role in our transformation plan. And we look forward to discussing all of this in greater detail at our upcoming Investor Day. Concurrent with these efforts to support organic growth, I wanted to give you an update on our new design pilot for our remodel program as part of our transformation plan.

此外，我們預計 NTI 計劃將在我們的轉型計劃中發揮重要作用。我們期待在即將到來的投資者日更詳細地討論所有這些內容。在這些支持有機成長的努力的同時，我想向您介紹我們改造計畫的新設計試點的最新情況，作為我們轉型計畫的一部分。

To-date we have finalized store layout and merchandise assortment, including development of system-wide branding for our enhanced Foodservice offering. We anticipate beginning permitting to implement the new design in our seven pilot stores in the fourth quarter and to begin remodeling activity in early 2025.

迄今為止，我們已經確定了商店佈局和商品分類，包括為我們增強的餐飲服務產品開發全系統品牌。我們預計將於第四季度開始允許在我們的七家試點商店實施新設計，並於 2025 年初開始改造活動。

I will now turn the call over to Rob, to review financial results for the third quarter and touch upon our guidance for the fourth quarter and full year.

我現在將把電話轉給羅布，回顧第三季度的財務業績，並談談我們對第四季度和全年的指導。

Thank you, Arie. Good afternoon, everyone. Before turning to third quarter 2024 results, I want to reiterate that our reported results for adjusted EBITDA include the non-cash portion of rent expense, consistent with the change in methodology we articulated last quarter.

謝謝你，阿里。大家下午好。在討論 2024 年第三季業績之前，我想重申，我們報告的調整後 EBITDA 業績包括租金費用的非現金部分，這與我們上季度闡述的方法變化一致。

On this basis, adjusted EBITDA was $78.8 million for the quarter, compared to $87.3 million from the year-ago period with the decrease caused primarily by lower retail fuel and merchandise contribution.

在此基礎上，本季調整後 EBITDA 為 7,880 萬美元，而去年同期為 8,730 萬美元，下降主要是由於零售燃料和商品貢獻減少。

At the segment level, our Retail segment contributed approximately $71 million in operating income, compared to $81.5 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted operating income for the quarter was $85.1 million, compared to $96.5 million in the year-ago period.

在部門層面，我們的零售部門貢獻了約 7,100 萬美元的營業收入，而去年同期為 8,150 萬美元。本季調整後營業收入為 8,510 萬美元，去年同期為 9,650 萬美元。

Total retail merchandise sales were down approximately 7.3% for the quarter with merchandise contribution down 4.2%, on margin rate expansion of 110 basis points. Total retail fuel contribution was down 3.4% with a 5.9% gallon decline, partially offset by a margin increase of $0.01 per gallon.

本季零售商品總銷售額下降約 7.3%，商品貢獻下降 4.2%，利潤率擴大 110 個基點。零售燃料貢獻總額下降 3.4%，加侖下降 5.9%，但部分被每加侖 0.01 美元的利潤成長所抵消。

Same store merchandise sales excluding cigarettes were down 5.7% versus the year-ago period, while total same store merchandise sales were down 7.7%. Same store transactions were down high-single digits for the quarter, reflecting continued external headwinds.

不包括捲菸的同店商品銷售額較去年同期下降 5.7%，同店商品總銷售額下降 7.7%。本季同店交易額出現高個位數下降，反映出持續的外部阻力。

The decline in transactions was partially offset by a low single-digit increase in average dollar sale. The impact of the sales decline was partially offset by continued same store margin rate expansion which was up 100 basis points, as compared to the year-ago period.

交易量的下降被平均美元銷售額的低個位數成長部分抵消。銷售額下降的影響被同店利潤率持續擴張所部分抵消，同店利潤率較去年同期上升了 100 個基點。

Same store fuel contribution was down approximately 4.3% for the quarter with the decline in gallons partially offset by stronger year-on-year fuel margin per gallon. Same store fuel gallon demand was down 6.6% for the quarter, while fuel margin of $0.414 per gallon was up $0.01 per gallon from the year-ago period. Same store operating expenses were down approximately 1.4% for the quarter.

本季同店燃油貢獻下降約 4.3%，加侖的下降部分被每加侖同比燃油利潤的增強所抵消。本季同店燃油加侖需求下降 6.6%，而燃油利潤為每加侖 0.414 美元，比去年同期每加侖增長 0.01 美元。本季同店營運費用下降約 1.4%。

Moving on to our Wholesale segment; operating income was $8.2 million for the quarter compared to $10 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted operating income was $20.3 million for the quarter versus $22.6 million in the year-ago period caused by a decline in gallons and lower fuel margin per gallon which resulted primarily from reduced prompt pay discounts.

繼續我們的批發業務；本季營業收入為 820 萬美元，而去年同期營業收入為 1,000 萬美元。本季調整後營業收入為 2,030 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,260 萬美元，原因是加侖數量減少以及每加侖燃料利潤率下降，這主要是由於即期工資折扣減少。

Fuel margin was $0.096 per gallon versus $0.105 per gallon in the year-ago period. For our Fleet segment operating income was $10.8 million for the quarter compared to $8.8 million in the year-ago period.

燃油利潤為每加侖 0.096 美元，而去年同期為每加侖 0.105 美元。本季我們車隊部門的營業收入為 1,080 萬美元，而去年同期為 880 萬美元。

Adjusted operating income was $12.6 million for the quarter, versus $10.7 million in the year-ago period with total gallons roughly flat to the prior year. Increased segment operating income was driven by strong fuel margin performance which was $0.435 per gallon for the quarter, versus $0.384 per gallon in the year-ago period.

本季調整後營業收入為 1,260 萬美元，去年同期為 1,070 萬美元，加侖總量與去年基本持平。強勁的燃油利潤率推動了部門營業收入的成長，本季燃油利潤率為每加侖 0.435 美元，而去年同期為每加侖 0.384 美元。

Total company general and administrative expense for the quarter was $38.6 million versus $44.1 million in the year-ago period, with favorability driven by lower stock-based compensation expense and changes in year-on-year timing of incentive compensation accruals.

本季公司一般及管理費用總額為 3,860 萬美元，而去年同期為 4,410 萬美元，這是由於股票薪酬費用較低以及激勵薪酬應計時間同比發生變化而產生的好感。

Net interest and other financial expenses for the quarter were $23.6 million, compared to $14.6 million in the year-ago period with the change caused primarily by fair value adjustments related to our warrants.

本季的淨利息和其他財務費用為 2,360 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,460 萬美元，這項變更主要是由於與我們的認股權證相關的公允價值調整造成的。

Net income for the quarter was $9.7 million, compared to $21.5 million for the year-ago period. Please reference our press release for a detailed reconciliation from total company net income to adjusted EBITDA.

本季淨利為 970 萬美元，去年同期淨利為 2,150 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 third quarter with $885 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.

轉向資產負債表；不包括與租賃相關的融資負債，我們第三季末的長期債務為8.85 億美元，其中包括我們的2029 年優先票據、第一資本貸款的未償餘額以及主要與房地產和設備融資相關的其餘部分。

Our $140 million ABL remains completely undrawn, as we continue to manage working capital needs from operating cash flow. We maintained substantial liquidity of approximately $869 million, including $292 million in cash on hand at quarter end, along with remaining availability on our lines of credit. Total capital expenditures for the quarter were $29.3 million.

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。我們保持著約 8.69 億美元的大量流動性，其中包括季度末手頭現金 2.92 億美元，以及我們信貸額度的剩餘可用性。該季度的總資本支出為 2,930 萬美元。

Turning to our fourth quarter and full year guidance; we expect our fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of $53 million to $63 million. Supporting assumptions include a low to mid-single-digit decline in same-store sales, a mid-single-digit decline in retail gallon demand and a retail fuel margin of $0.38 per gallon on the lower end and $0.42 per gallon on the higher end of our guidance.

轉向我們的第四季度和全年指導；我們預計第四季度調整後 EBITDA 將在 5,300 萬美元至 6,300 萬美元之間。支持假設包括同店銷售額低至中個位數下降、零售加侖需求中個位數下降以及零售燃料利潤率低端為每加侖 0.38 美元，高端為每加侖 0.42 美元我們的指導。

Our overall guide reflects expectations for EBITDA growth in our Wholesale and Fleet segments, driven by the accumulating benefit of our retail wholesale channel optimization work and continued strength in fuel margin in our Fleet channel.

我們的整體指南反映了我們對批發和車隊部門 EBITDA 成長的預期，這是由我們的零售批發通路優化工作的累積效益以及我們的車隊通路燃料利潤率持續走強所推動的。

Our fourth quarter guide translates to a full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA range of $245 million to $255 million. The midpoint of our revised EBITDA outlook is $5 million below our beginning of year guide, reflecting our reduced expectation for fourth quarter same-store merchandise sales.

我們的第四季指南意味著 2024 年全年調整後 EBITDA 範圍為 2.45 億美元至 2.55 億美元。我們修訂後的 EBITDA 前景中位數比年初指引低 500 萬美元，反映出我們對第四季同店商品銷售預期的下調。

And 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. As we wrap-up, I want to reiterate our concentration on adapting to the dynamic market landscape. We remain focused on Foodservice strategic store transformation and value-driven initiatives. I want to thank the company's employees for their continued hard work over the quarter and the quarters to come. Thank you for joining today's call. We appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to announcing shareholder value.

謝謝，羅布。在我們總結時，我想重申我們將專注於適應動態的市場格局。我們仍然專注於餐飲服務策略商店轉型和價值驅動計劃。我要感謝公司員工在本季和未來幾季的持續辛勤工作。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們感謝您持續的支持，並期待宣布股東價值。

With that, we will open it up to questions.

至此，我們將開放提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Bobby Griffin with Raymond James.

鮑比·格里芬和雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for taking my questions. So Arie, I guess first thing I want to talk about, you talked a little bit about the 7-store pilot that you guys are building out. Can you maybe provide a little bit more detail on the go-to-market strategy there? Like what brands are it going to be under? What some of the other things that this pilot might include? And if it's successful like what's some of the timeline to roll out some of the big initiatives to a larger base of the stores?

大家下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。Arie，我想我想談的第一件事是，你們談到了您正在建造的 7 家商店試點項目。您能否提供更多有關進入市場策略的細節？例如它會屬於什麼品牌？該試點計畫還可能包括哪些內容？如果成功的話，向更大範圍的商店推出一些重大舉措的時間表是什麼？

Sure. Yes, no, its not a problem. So just to be -- to basically to explain it very carefully. This is -- this pilot was very, very crucial for us. In order to make everything right over here, we actually hired a third-party consultant to make sure that not only we do it right, we also went and recruited a large group of people to test our food to make sure that this is what the customer is looking for. We got their feedback.

當然。是的，不，這不是問題。所以基本上要非常仔細地解釋它。這個試點對我們來說非常非常重要。為了讓這裡的一切都做好，我們實際上聘請了第三方顧問來確保我們不僅做對了，我們還招募了一大群人來測試我們的食物，以確保這就是我們的食物。我們收到了他們的回饋。

And after we actually finish all of that, we are in a process right now of finalizing the store layout and making sure we have the right merchandise assortment, including the development of system-wide branding for the announced foodservice. We are coming up right now with a brand, a brand name that will be attached to the foodservice. We are not prepared to actually disclose it at this time.

在我們真正完成所有這些工作之後，我們現在正在確定商店佈局並確保我們擁有正確的商品種類，包括為已宣布的餐飲服務開發全系統品牌。我們現在正在想出一個品牌，一個將附屬於餐飲服務的品牌名稱。我們目前不准備實際披露它。

We're actually working on that and we'll disclose it immediately after we finish the layout. But the idea is really to start permits in the next couple -- basically, during the Q4, we're going to actually go through permits and the idea is to start implementing and start construction the beginning of Q1 2025.

我們實際上正在努力解決這個問題，我們會在完成佈局後立即披露。但我們的想法實際上是在接下來的幾個季度開始獲得許可——基本上，在第四季度，我們將真正獲得許可，我們的想法是在 2025 年第一季初開始實施並開始施工。

Assuming those seven stores pilot will actually be successful that's what we believe, we're going to start to basically to add more and more stores in the region that we are actually working on, which is basically the stores around the Richmond market.

假設這七家商店試點實際上會成功，這就是我們所相信的，我們將開始基本上在我們實際工作的地區增加越來越多的商店，這基本上是里士滿市場周圍的商店。

Okay. And then on the details you gave about the OTP and adding more back bar space, have you guys done that in a subset of stores? I'm just trying to get a sense of like what the contribution of that updated back bar could be. Is there anything you can share there or is it still too early to be able to tell that?

好的。然後，關於您提供的有關 OTP 和增加更多後吧空間的詳細信息，您是否在部分商店中做到了這一點？我只是想了解一下更新後的後欄可能會做出什麼貢獻。您有什麼可以分享的嗎？

So yes, we started a test in -- I'll call it, in many stores. The test was very successful. At least we see the results. We see that the minute we're actually investing in the back bar, we're basically seeing the uplift. People are actually moving from cigarettes to OTP -- and that's what actually -- that's the reason why we are moving with the new features and we're rolling them out to a 1,000 stores. And the idea is really to finish the installation, like I said by the end of Q1 2025.

所以，是的，我們在許多商店開始了一項測試——我稱之為測試。測試非常成功。至少我們看到了結果。我們發現，當我們真正投資後欄的那一刻，我們基本上就看到了提升。人們實際上正在從香菸轉向 OTP，這就是我們採用新功能並將其推廣到 1,000 家商店的原因。我們的想法實際上是在 2025 年第一季末之前完成安裝。

We don't have -- we cannot provide at the moment results. It's too early, but there is no question that the cigarette consumers are shifting towards OTP. People are not -- basically have not stopped smoking. They're just moving to other tobacco products. And our goal over here is to make sure that we have everything they're looking for in order to basically convert them from cigarettes to other tobacco products.

我們目前沒有——我們無法提供結果。現在還為時過早，但毫無疑問捲菸消費者正在轉向 OTP。人們基本上還沒有戒菸。他們只是轉向其他菸草產品。我們在這裡的目標是確保我們擁有他們正在尋找的一切，以便基本上將他們從捲菸轉變為其他菸草產品。

The margin is much higher over there and this is where the industry is going. At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we are there. We want to make sure that our customers -- just for your benefit the -- we check that.

那裡的利潤率要高得多，這就是該行業的發展方向。歸根結底，我們要確保我們在那裡。我們希望確保我們的客戶——只是為了您的利益——我們會檢查這一點。

And when you're talking about our enrolled members, one out of two customers are actually a tobacco consumer. So you're talking about more than 50% of our customers, are actually either cigarette smokers or consuming other tobacco products. And we see that as a huge opportunity for us given that between cigarettes and OTP, we're talking about almost 40% of our sales.

當您談論我們的註冊會員時，二分之一的顧客實際上是菸草消費者。所以你說的是我們超過 50% 的客戶實際上要么是吸煙者，要么是消費其他煙草產品。我們認為，考慮到香菸和 OTP 占我們銷售額的近 40%，這對我們來說是一個巨大的機會。

And OTP Bobby represents about 10% total merchandise penetration. So it is, it is significant.

OTP Bobby 約佔總商品滲透率的 10%。事實如此，意義重大。

Okay. That's, helpful. And I guess, I'm focusing just kind of these questions on the merchandise side of things, just given some of the trends we're seeing. Like if you unpack it by -- I know you guys operate a handful or a good bit of different brands, and you're kind of in different regions. You got some rural exposure some urban exposure.

好的。那是，有幫助。我想，考慮到我們所看到的一些趨勢，我只是將這些問題集中在商品方面。就像如果你打開包裝一樣——我知道你們經營著一些或很多不同的品牌，而且你們位於不同的地區。你接觸過一些鄉村，也接觸過一些城市。

Are you seeing anything from a regional difference or brand difference that can maybe point to some of the weakness, or is it pretty unanimous across the chain in terms of like the negative 7.7% comp we look at, that's not a big delta across different areas of the country, that you operate in?

您是否發現區域差異或品牌差異可能表明了某些弱點，或者整個鏈條上的情況是否非常一致，例如我們看到的負 7.7% 的比較，這在不同領域之間並不是一個很大的差異您所在的國家？

I will let Rob answer that. But I just want to make sure that, the brands have nothing to do. Its different regions, but it's not about the brand. But Rob, I'll let you take this.

我會讓羅布回答這個問題。但我只是想確保，這些品牌沒有任何關係。地區不同，但與品牌無關。但是羅布，我會讓你拿著這個。

Bobby, nothing that we've seen specifically, at the regional level. So I mean, there are puts and takes point here point there, but it is pretty broad-based and that's why we think it's more of a macro issue. We don't see any significant pockets by region.

鮑比，我們在區域層面沒有看到任何具體的情況。所以我的意思是，這裡有看跌期權，那裡也有看跌期權，但它的基礎相當廣泛，這就是為什麼我們認為這更多是一個宏觀問題。我們沒有看到任何按地區劃分的重要區域。

Okay. I'll jump. Back. In the queue.

好的。我會跳。後退。在隊列中。

I want to add one more thing Bobby, just for your benefit. I just want to finish with something. So as I mentioned earlier, the pressure that we see on the consumer it's basically -- it's countrywide. It's not just in specific area. It's a countrywide pressure, that we see on the consumer. We see this sentiment across many industry including QSR.

鮑比，我想再補充一件事，只是為了您的利益。我只是想結束一些事情。正如我之前提到的，我們看到消費者面臨的壓力基本上是全國性的。這不僅僅是在特定區域。我們看到消費者面臨全國性的壓力。我們在包括 QSR 在內的許多行業都看到了這種情緒。

That's the reason, we focused on sales, excluding cigarettes. Sales excluding cigarettes were down 5.7%. But at the end of the day, our concentration in this environment, our concentration is to add more and more Foodservice offering. The margin is higher. And even though our sales excluding cigarettes were 5.7% down, our margin was up 110 basis points.

這就是我們專注於銷售的原因，不包括香菸。不包括捲菸的銷售額下降了 5.7%。但歸根結底，我們在這個環境中的注意力，我們的注意力是增加越來越多的餐飲服務產品。利潤率更高。儘管我們不包括捲菸的銷售額下降了 5.7%，但我們的利潤率卻上升了 110 個基點。

And this is really the concentration, how to increase margin, increase profitability, while the trend were basically down during Q3. I can tell you that the current trend at least, it's a little bit more favorable than what we saw during Q3. And I'm very bullish between Q4 all the way to 2025. I believe that. I'm very optimistic about the outcome and moving forward.

這確實是一個重點，如何提高利潤率，提高獲利能力，而第三季的趨勢基本上是下降的。我可以告訴你，至少目前的趨勢比我們在第三季看到的要有利一些。我非常看好第四季到 2025 年。我相信這一點。我對結果非常樂觀並繼續前進。

Okay. Thank you, Arie. Thank you everyone. I’ll jump back in the queue. Best of luck here in the fourth quarter.

好的。謝謝你，阿里。謝謝大家。我會插回隊列。祝第四季好運。

Thank you, Bobby.

謝謝你，鮑比。

Thanks, Bobby.

謝謝，鮑比。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania，BMO 資本市場。

Good evening. Thanks for taking our question. Arie, you kind of just touched on it a little bit, but I was curious about your outlook for same-store sales into the fourth quarter improving to that low to mid-single-digit area. Is that just due to comparisons? It sounds like October, maybe was a little bit better. And then maybe, you could just loop in how kind of the hurricane activity affected the business across the board in the quarter?

晚安.感謝您提出我們的問題。阿里，你剛剛談到了一點，但我很好奇你對第四季度同店銷售前景改善到中低個位數區域的看法。難道只是因為比較嗎？聽起來好像十月，也許好一點。然後，也許您可以循環一下颶風活動對本季的業務有何影響？

Yes, Kelly I'll take that. So, you're spot on October, was markedly better than September. So still in the negative that's why our fourth quarter guide is in that down low to mid-single, but it was markedly better than September and we're cautiously optimistic that Q3 was a bottom.

是的，凱利，我會接受的。所以，十月的情況明顯好於九月。因此，仍然處於負面狀態，這就是為什麼我們的第四季度指南處於低至中單的原因，但它明顯好於 9 月份，我們對第三季度觸底持謹慎樂觀態度。

In terms of the hurricane, it kind of hit us right at the end of the third quarter. So we only had about a couple of days in the third quarter, no material impact on the third quarter. Obviously, tons of human impact but from a financial standpoint, no material impact for Q3. And the bulk of the stores are back on within a week after that. So, we don't see that being hugely material for Q4.

就颶風而言，它在第三季末就襲擊了我們。因此，我們在第三季只有大約幾天的時間，對第三季沒有實質影響。顯然，對人類產生了巨大的影響，但從財務角度來看，第三季沒有實質影響。大部分商店在一週內就恢復營業了。因此，我們認為這對第四季來說並不重要。

Got it. And another question just on the promotional activity. How would you characterize promotional activity across the board, in the third quarter? And how do you feel about what you're getting from the vendors, in terms of supporting that? And what are you doing on your own from an ARKO funding of promotions standpoint?

知道了。還有一個關於促銷活動的問題。您如何描述第三季的全面促銷活動？您對從供應商獲得的支援有何看法？從 ARKO 促銷資金的角度來看，您自己在做什麼？

Sure. So as I mentioned at the beginning of the quarter, most of our promotional activity is being funded by the vendors 100%. We had tons of promotional activities in the third quarter. I mentioned it, I believe on our last call. We have tons of promotional activity. Everybody is suffering I mean, including our vendors. Our vendors want to make sure that they're selling more. They had the same issues during Q3. They're all working with us towards Q4.

當然。正如我在本季初提到的，我們的大部分促銷活動 100% 由供應商資助。第三季我們進行了大量促銷活動。我相信在我們上次通話時我提到過這一點。我們有大量的促銷活動。我的意思是每個人都在受苦，包括我們的供應商。我們的供應商希望確保他們銷售更多。他們在第三季遇到了同樣的問題。他們都在與我們合作，爭取第四季的業績。

As I mentioned earlier, the Fas Million. Fas Million was a very good success for us a few years ago. And given that we are at the fourth quarter just before the holidays, we felt that we need to push really hard with promotional activity to finish the year.

正如我之前提到的，Fas Million。幾年前，Fas Million 為我們帶來了巨大的成功。鑑於我們正處於假期前的第四季度，我們認為我們需要大力推動促銷活動以完成今年的工作。

That's why, we launched yesterday, the Fas Million, with a chance to win $1 million. And as I said, we have 700 items and those 700 items are all being supported -- all of those promotions are being supported by our vendor and they're actually funding at 100%.

這就是為什麼我們昨天推出了 Fas Million，有機會贏得 100 萬美元。正如我所說，我們有 700 種商品，這 700 種商品都得到了支持——所有這些促銷活動都得到了我們供應商的支持，他們實際上提供了 100% 的資金。

I mean that's there is a big launch just for your benefit given I mentioned OTP and given that at least one out of our two customers are either cigarette customers or OTP customers we are launching a big OTP promotion in December to deliver a significant savings to our customers and of course to drive traffic.

我的意思是，鑑於我提到了 OTP，並且考慮到我們的兩個客戶中至少有一個是香菸客戶或 OTP 客戶，我們將在 12 月推出大型 OTP 促銷活動，以便為我們的客戶節省大量費用。客戶，當然還有增加流量。

We are talking about a promotion that it's entirely funded by the supplier. And we're talking about $1.99 price tag, which basically have saving of over $10 on this promotion. I mean this is something very big. And again we are doing it just before the end of the year because we believe that this is the opportunity to push sales as we conclude the fourth quarter.

我們談論的是完全由供應商資助的促銷活動。我們談論的是 1.99 美元的價格標籤，在這次促銷活動中基本上可以節省 10 美元以上。我的意思是這是一件非常大的事情。我們再次在年底前這樣做，因為我們相信這是在第四季度結束時推動銷售的機會。

Thank you. I wanted to just also -- if I can fit one more in. I just wanted to ask about the store optimization. Is the message that we should take that it should be largely complete by the end of the fourth quarter or is this something that will be kind of more of an ongoing initiative as we kind of move through the years? And can you help us understand just how you selected the stores and what made them the right candidates for this strategy?

謝謝。我也想——如果我能再容納一個的話。我只是想問一下關於店鋪優化的問題。我們應該接受的訊息是，它應該在第四季末基本完成，還是隨著我們多年來的發展，這將更像是一項持續的舉措？您能否幫助我們了解您如何選擇商店以及是什麼使它們成為該策略的合適候選人？

Sure. So, the answer is we're going to be completed with 100 -- approximately 150 stores by the end of the fourth quarter. When we're going to actually be done with those 150 stores, we are talking about a benefit of approximately $8.5 million between the segments. That's the benefit.

當然。所以，答案是我們將在第四季末之前完成 100 家——大約 150 家商店的建設。當我們真正完成這 150 家商店時，我們談論的是各個細分市場之間約 850 萬美元的收益。這就是好處。

As I mentioned earlier, we're talking about total benefit of anywhere between $15 million to $20 million prior to G&A savings. We're going to continue with that during basically the first quarter all the way to the second quarter, I believe we're going to finish our -- the majority of them. But the big portion of them, the 150 stores, will be done by the end of the fourth quarter.

正如我之前提到的，我們談論的是 G&A 節省之前的 1500 萬至 2000 萬美元之間的總效益。我們基本上將從第一季持續到第二季​​度，我相信我們將完成其中的大部分。但其中很大一部分，即 150 家商店，將在第四季末完工。

And just the way to think about that we're basically taking retail stores that we don't believe there is much upside investing in those stores. We don't see the return on capital on those stores and we are shifting them towards the wholesale segment, which means that we're going to have a supply agreement with those operators. We're going to collect rent from those operators.

想想看，我們基本上是在零售商店，我們不認為這些商店有太多的上升空間。我們看不到這些商店的資本回報，我們正在將它們轉向批發領域，這意味著我們將與這些營運商簽訂供應協議。我們將從這些業者收取租金。

And at the end of the day, it's just going to increase profitability at the wholesale segment and make more money than what those stores were actually making when they were actually in the retail segment. So, that's the thought process behind that. It's all about return on investment at the end of the day and capital allocation.

最終，它只會提高批發部門的獲利能力，並賺到比這些商店在零售部門實際賺到的錢更多的錢。這就是背後的思考過程。歸根結底，這一切都與投資回報和資本配置有關。

Got it. And just one last one for me. I think you mentioned same-store operating expenses down 1.4%. Can you just talk about how you achieved that? And if that's something that we can where we can see some sustainable declines in terms of operating expenses or was there any factors impacting that for this quarter?

知道了。對我來說只是最後一件。我想你提到同店營運費用下降了 1.4%。您能談談您是如何實現這一目標的嗎？如果這是我們可以看到的營運費用持續下降的情況，或者是否有任何因素影響本季的營運費用？

Yes, I think Kelly some of the same trends that are in place as we have softer sales. Certainly, we're rightsizing the labor in the stores so that we're not overinvesting there. So, again, it's a savings but it's we'd rather have the sales to go with that, but that's just conscious management of labor hours in the stores to flex down.

是的，我認為凱利有一些與我們銷售疲軟時相同的趨勢。當然，我們正在調整商店的勞動力規模，這樣我們就不會在那裡過度投資。所以，再說一遍，這是一種節省，但我們寧願有銷售與之相伴，但這只是有意識地管理商店的勞動時間來減少成本。

You'd also have some benefits from the credit card fees on the lower sales and the lower gallons that's also helping that. So, again, it's diligent labor management in the stores and the combination of the credit card that's primarily driving that down. And for the fourth quarter guide you should kind of expect that type of a trend to continue.

您還可以從較低的銷售額和較低的加侖數中獲得信用卡費用，這也對此有所幫助。因此，商店中勤奮的勞動力管理和信用卡的結合是導致這種情況下降的主要原因。對於第四季度的指南，您應該預期這種趨勢將持續下去。

Thank you.

謝謝。

You're welcome.

不客氣。

Anthony Bonadio, Wells Fargo.

安東尼·博納迪奧，富國銀行。

Yes, hey guys. Thanks for taking our questions. So, I wanted to ask about the NTIs. I know you guys are sort of expanding that pipeline a bit with the eight new boxes. It seems like you're hitting the gas a bit on growth, but I would think it takes some time to sort of build that muscle internally. I guess how quickly do you think that sort of organic unit growth could ramp? How high could that growth go over time?

是的，嘿夥計們。感謝您回答我們的問題。所以，我想問 NTI 的問題。我知道你們正在用八個新盒子稍微擴展一下管道。看起來你在成長方面有點加速，但我認為需要一些時間來建立內部肌肉。我猜您認為這種有機單位成長的速度有多快？隨著時間的推移，這種成長能達到多高？

Yes, Anthony, you're right. We're actually starting with no NTI or very little NTI in the past. We're going all the way to eight NTI in a very short order. Those eight NTI we have one that just opened. We have another three that will open between now and the end of the year and we have another four that we're going to complete during 2025.

是的，安東尼，你是對的。事實上，我們過去沒有 NTI 或很少有 NTI。我們將在很短的時間內達到 8 個 NTI。這八個 NTI 我們剛剛開放了一個。從現在到今年年底，我們還有另外三個項目將開放，另外四個項目將在 2025 年期間完成。

While we are working on those eight NTI, as you can imagine, we already start working on the pipeline. So, if we went from zero to 100 from zero to almost eight in a very short order, the idea will be that in the future, we're going to start to ramp this up.

正如您可以想像的那樣，當我們致力於這 8 個 NTI 時，我們已經開始致力於管道工作。因此，如果我們在很短的時間內從零到 100，從零到幾乎 8，我們的想法是，在未來，我們將開始加強。

I don't know the quantity at the moment. I can't provide you a quantity at the moment, but I can tell you that this is an area that we feel it's an opportunity for us given our liquidity, given our footprint in the marketplace and economy of scale of course we believe we're going to be able to ramp it up at least finishing what we have in the pipeline right now between now and the end of 2025 and then ramp up during 2026.

我現在不知道數量。我目前無法向您提供數量，但我可以告訴您，考慮到我們的流動性、考慮到我們在市場中的足跡和規模經濟，我們認為這對我們來說是一個機會，當然我們相信我們「我們將能夠至少在從現在到2025 年底之間完成我們目前正在準備的工作，然後在2026 年期間逐步完成。

Got it. That's helpful. And then, I guess, just thinking back historically you guys have been pretty acquisitive. How do you think about the return on capital doing it that way and opening organic boxes versus sort of going out and acquiring more like you used to?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後，我想，回想一下歷史，你們都是非常貪婪的。您如何看待以這種方式打開有機盒子與像以前一樣出去購買更多產品的資本回報率？

I think it's just another opportunity, just another way to allocate capital. I mean given our -- given what we have cash on hand and given our balance sheet right now we will actually continue both. I mean we are not stopping with acquisition at the moment. We're just looking on what's the best way to basically to allocate our capital and what's the best return on investment for us in the short-term and in the long-term.

我認為這只是另一個機會，只是另一種分配資本的方式。我的意思是，考慮到我們手頭上的現金和我們目前的資產負債表，我們實際上將繼續兩者。我的意思是，我們目前並沒有停止收購。我們只是在尋找基本上配置我們的資本的最佳方式是什麼，以及短期和長期對我們來說最好的投資回報是什麼。

NTIs, of course, require a lot of capital more than probably what we actually spend in acquisition. But at the end of the day we are investing in areas that we see the opportunity for additional growth from a population standpoint and from the economy.

當然，NTI 需要大量資金，可能比我們在收購中實際花費的資金還要多。但歸根究底，我們投資的領域是從人口和經濟角度來看有進一步成長機會的領域。

Got it. And just to squeeze one more in. I know you guys aren't giving guidance yet on 2025 but just any early thoughts there high-level puts and takes how you're thinking about the backdrop and sort of idiosyncratic drivers in the business as we're starting to model that?

知道了。只是為了再擠一個進去。我知道你們還沒有在 2025 年給予指導，但只是高層的一些早期想法，當我們開始建模時，你們如何考慮業務的背景和特殊驅動因素？

Look I think – Yes, look Anthony, we're not going to share anything exclusively here today. But as you think about when we talk to you in Investor Day we'll have more context over a multiyear period. But some of the larger themes that are in place I mean we've talked to you about the food penetration the initiative on that front. That's an accretive area.

聽著，我想 – 是的，聽著，安東尼，我們今天不會在這裡獨家分享任何內容。但正如您所想，當我們在投資者日與您交談時，我們將獲得更多多年期間的背景資訊。但一些更大的主題已經到位，我的意思是我們已經與您討論了這方面倡議的食品滲透問題。那是一個增值區域。

We've had a track record of multiple years of margin rate accretion on the merchandising side. I think that's likely a trend that would continue over time. Fuel gallons is probably a bit more of a macro that again we're hopeful as we mentioned that Q3 was a bottom. And hopefully next year this industry starts to pick up and we get into that secular growth pattern again.

我們在銷售方面有著多年利潤率成長的記錄。我認為這種趨勢可能會隨著時間的推移而持續下去。燃油加侖可能更像是一個宏觀因素，我們再次對此充滿希望，因為我們提到第三季已經觸底。希望明年這個產業開始復甦，我們再次進入長期成長模式。

But it's -- we've had a pattern there. And again some of the macro factors I think would be a driver on that front. And we'll continue to price on the fuel side to optimize for fuel contribution. I mean that's important to us. It's a trend. And again you should probably expect to see that sort of thing continue. So hopefully a little color there. And again we'll share more in the multiyear view when we're together at Investor Day.

但我們已經有一個模式了。我認為一些宏觀因素將再次成為這方面的驅動因素。我們將繼續對燃料方面進行定價，以優化燃料貢獻。我的意思是這對我們很重要。這是一種趨勢。你可能應該再次期待看到這種事情繼續下去。所以希望那裡有一點顏色。當我們在投資者日聚會時，我們將再次分享更多關於多年的觀點。

Understood.

明白了。

And just to finish Antony, just you can take into account as I mentioned around $8.5 million just from the project the 150 stores that we're talking over here. This is something that we feel very, very comfortable with that. And as I mentioned earlier moving into 2025 we see this all transformation moving stores from retail to wholesale.

最後，安東尼，你可以考慮一下，正如我提到的，我們在這裡討論的 150 家商店項目中僅花費了約 850 萬美元。我們對此感到非常非常舒服。正如我之前提到的，進入 2025 年，我們看到商店從零售轉向批發。

And as I said you can see over there between $15 million to $20 million going into 2025. I think those are really the two things that we feel very, very comfortable because it's really shifting between one segment to another segment. And as I said the volatility over there it's much, much lower than concentrating on same-store sales.

正如我所說，到 2025 年，您可以看到 1500 萬美元到 2000 萬美元之間。我認為這兩件事確實讓我們感到非常非常舒服，因為它確實在一個細分市場之間轉移到另一個細分市場。正如我所說，那裡的波動性比專注於同店銷售的波動性要低得多。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

[Connor Introna], Stifel.

[康納·因特羅納]，斯蒂菲爾。

Hi, guys. Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. First I want to better understand trends in current customer traffic with the declining gas prices are you seeing any more noticeable pickup in foot traffic into stores? Just trying to get a better understanding of the current conversion rate and if there's any particular character – categories, excuse me, like energy drinks. I know you mentioned tobacco, pizza, hotdogs that are driving outperformance?

嗨，大家好。午安.感謝您回答我的問題。首先，我想更了解當前客戶流量隨著汽油價格下降的趨勢，您是否看到商店的人流有更明顯的增加？只是想更好地了解當前的轉換率，以及是否有任何特定的特徵 - 類別，請原諒，例如能量飲料。我知道你曾提到菸草、披薩、熱狗是推動績效優異的因素？

I'll start with from a transaction standpoint. So as we mentioned in the prepared remarks transactions were down high single-digit for the third quarter. October was a couple of points better than that. And again I think again that's why we talked about earlier our same-store sales are positioned where they were versus how we came out of the third quarter so seeing some improvement. Again it's just one month in. We've got two months to go, but we have seen a little bit of a pickup on that front.

我將從交易的角度開始。正如我們在準備好的評論中所提到的，第三季交易量下降了高個位數。十月比這好幾個點。我再次想，這就是為什麼我們之前談到我們的同店銷售額與第三季的情況相比，我們看到了一些改善。再說一次，才一個月。我們還有兩個月的時間，但我們已經看到這方面有所回升。

From an assortment standpoint, I don't think there's any specific call out other than we have had -- OTP was a very strong performer for the quarter. I mean on a high single-digit decline in transactions the OTP was almost flat. And on the other side cigarettes was a bit more challenging down double digits but the rest of the assortment was sort of in a relative range of itself in that mid single-digit decline.

從品種的角度來看，我認為除了我們已經聽到的以外，沒有任何具體的要求——OTP 在本季度表現非常強勁。我的意思是，在交易量大幅下降的情況下，OTP 幾乎持平。另一方面，捲菸的兩位數下降更具挑戰性，但其餘品種的下降幅度在中等個位數下降的相對範圍內。

Got you. Okay. That's helpful. Just a quick follow-up to that. So I noticed that, sort of, dealerization the expectations I guess the total amount of stores expected with a higher amount. Can you kind of outline the longer-term strategic rationale and highlight how this figures into the vision for the business?

明白你了。好的。這很有幫助。只是快速跟進。所以我注意到，經銷商化的期望，我猜商店的總數預計會有更高的數量。您能否概述一下長期策略原理並強調這如何融入企業願景？

I mean you are targeting 150 dealerized locations by the end of the year. You're throwing out all these figures in terms of benefits to the business. But can you just kind of highlight a little bit more of the motivation and how this figures into the sort of long-term vision for Arko?

我的意思是，你們的目標是到今年年底擁有 150 家經銷店。你把所有這些數字都拋在了對企業的好處上。但你能否強調更多的動機以及如何融入 Arko 的長期願景？

Sure. So number one motivation, of course, is to concentrate as I mentioned on the jewel assets to make sure that we are concentrating on areas that we see growth opportunities. We are today in approximately 30 different states between the wholesale and the retail segment. There is some areas that we feel that there is not a lot of opportunities for us to grow.

當然。因此，首要動機當然是像我提到的那樣專注於珠寶資產，以確保我們專注於我們看到成長機會的領域。目前，我們在大約 30 個不同的州開展批發和零售業務。有些領域我們覺得沒有太多發展的機會。

There is not a lot of opportunities for us from a capital standpoint to invest money in some of those stores. We just don't see the return on investment, and because of that we feel that some of those locations will be converted to an wholesale location.

從資本的角度來看，我們沒有太多機會向其中一些商店投資。我們只是看不到投資回報，因此我們認為其中一些地點將轉變為批發地點。

Remember, at the end of the day, we're not selling the location. We're just leasing the location to a third-party to an operator that is much smaller than us that may have some stores in the areas that we do business or in the area that those store are located. And he's going to pick up those stores. He's going to pay us rent and they're going to purchase fuel from us moving forward.

請記住，歸根結底，我們不會出售該位置。我們只是將位置出租給比我們小得多的第三方運營商，該運營商可能在我們開展業務的區域或這些商店所在的區域擁有一些商店。他將收購那些商店。他將支付我們租金，他們將從我們這裡購買前進的燃料。

And with that being said, the transition between retail to wholesale is going to benefit us making more money moving those stores to just a different segment. So, I think that's purely from a profit standpoint. We just modeled that and we just felt that areas that we just don't see the return on investment in the future. We just -- so there's no need for us to invest in those stores. Let's just translate them to wholesale segment and make more money on those stores. That's number one.

話雖如此，從零售轉向批發的轉變將有利於我們賺更多的錢，將這些商店轉移到不同的細分市場。所以，我認為這純粹是從利潤的角度來看。我們只是對此進行了建模，我們只是覺得這些領域我們看不到未來的投資回報。我們只是——所以我們沒有必要投資這些商店。讓我們將它們轉化為批發領域，並在這些商店上賺更多的錢。這是第一名。

Related to the rest of the business, which is over 1,000 plus stores, we just feel that those are the best stores in the best market with the best population. We see a lot of future in those stores at the end of the day, investing in foodservice.

與其餘業務（超過 1,000 多家商店）有關，我們只是覺得這些是最好的市場、最好的人口中最好的商店。最終，我們在這些商店中看到了許多未來，投資於餐飲服務。

As I said, foodservice, it's a huge opportunity for us in the future. And we just figure out we better off concentrate and spend money and invest money in the best stores of the portfolio. And that's what we are doing as simple as that. It's purely -- it's operation 1-0-1, really operation 1-0-1.

正如我所說，餐飲服務對我們來說是未來的巨大機會。我們只是發現我們最好集中精力，花錢並將資金投資於投資組合中最好的商店。這就是我們正在做的事情，就這麼簡單。這純粹是——這是操作 1-0-1，實際上是操作 1-0-1。

You just -- it's not about the quantity of the stores, it's really about the quality. We concentrate on the quality. We concentrate on stores that we believe got tremendous amount of upside and opportunity and that's what we want to lend as simple as that and make more money for our shareholders.

你只是——這與商店的數量無關，而是與品質有關。我們專注於品質。我們專注於我們認為擁有巨大優勢和機會的商店，這就是我們想要藉出的東西，就這麼簡單，並為我們的股東賺更多的錢。

Got you. That's helpful. I mean just one final question. It sounds like that if you change your expectations for return on investment, you would be leaning further into dealerization. Is there really -- I mean, if you consider the performance of some of these better performing stores, if they're going to be underperforming in the future, would you anticipate that the dealerization could be ramped up in future periods?

明白你了。這很有幫助。我的意思是最後一個問題。聽起來，如果你改變對投資報酬率的預期，你會進一步傾向經銷商化。我的意思是，如果您考慮其中一些業績較好的商店的業績，如果它們在未來表現不佳，您是否會預期經銷商在未來一段時間內會增加？

I think we -- this process, it's not something that came up yesterday. I mean, this process, it was a long-term process. We started this process at the beginning of the year. Since January, we brought an outside consulting firm to help us to evaluate those three segments that we have out there, and we landed at the end of the day on what are the criteria that should work for us for the future. Obviously, the benefit of having an wholesale -- we call it wholesale, but it's really -- we are just supplying fuel and making margin in between.

我認為我們──這個過程，不是昨天才出現的。我的意思是，這個過程，這是一個長期的過程。我們在今年年初開始了這個過程。自一月以來，我們聘請了一家外部顧問公司來幫助我們評估現有的這三個細分市場，最終我們確定了適合我們未來的標準是什麼。顯然，批發的好處——我們稱之為批發，但實際上——我們只是提供燃料並賺取利潤。

But the good thing about having those different segments is that at the end of the day, the stores that we just don't see the upside of investing in those stores, we can just convert them to the Wholesale segment and just make more money. That's basically the way to look on that.

但擁有這些不同細分市場的好處是，最終，我們看不到投資這些商店的好處，我們可以將它們轉換為批發細分市場，從而賺更多的錢。這基本上就是看待這個問題的方式。

I don't anticipate converting -- as soon as we finish with this transformation plan over here, moving the stores that we already allocated to basically to the dealer stores and move them to the Wholesale segment, I don't anticipate much more to come. It's always an opportunity if something change.

我不預計會進行轉換——一旦我們完成這裡的轉型計劃，將我們已經分配的商店基本上轉移到經銷商商店並將它們轉移到批發部門，我預計不會有更多的事情發生。如果事情發生變化，這總是一個機會。

But I think the concentration will be basically how do we generate more dollars from the retail stores that we have decided to keep. But as I said, that is -- those decisions were made after months and months and months of basically of evaluation to be clear.

但我認為重點基本上是我們如何從我們決定保留的零售店中賺取更多的錢。但正如我所說，這些決定是在經過數月、數月、基本上明確的評估後做出的。

Got it. Thank you so much. That's very helpful color.

知道了。太感謝了。這是非常有用的顏色。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Hale Holden, Barclays.

黑爾·霍頓，巴克萊銀行。

Hi. Good afternoon. I just had two clarifications, I guess. Arie, the $8.5 million is the 4Q run rate benefit by the end of the quarter from the dealerizations, but there probably isn't a lot of that baked into the 4Q EBITDA number or am I not thinking about this correctly?

你好。午安.我想我只是做了兩點澄清。Arie，850 萬美元是本季末經銷商帶來的第四季度運行率收益，但第四季度 EBITDA 數字中可能沒有太多收益，或者我是否沒有正確考慮這一點？

You are correct. I mean the $8.5 million is in a full -- it's basically on a run rate. It's on a full year run rate. Given that we're talking about -- we just converted 51 locations between Q3 all the way up to the beginning of October. We just completed out of the additional 100 that I mentioned as of today, we just completed an additional 48 stores.

你是對的。我的意思是 850 萬美元是全額的——基本上是按運行率計算的。這是按全年運行率計算的。鑑於我們正在談論 - 我們剛剛從第三季度一直到 10 月初轉換了 51 個地點。截至今天，我們剛剛完成了我提到的另外 100 家商店，其中，我們剛剛完成了另外 48 家商店。

So we have another couple of months to go with another 50 stores. I don't think it's going to be meaningful for Q4. But the way to think about it that on a full year run rate you're talking about an $8.5 million. That's the way to think about that.

因此，我們還有幾個月的時間來開設另外 50 家商店。我認為這對第四季沒有意義。但想想看，以全年運行率計算，您所說的是 850 萬美元。這就是思考這個問題的方式。

Right. And so then I had -- I got lost in one of the ways you answered an earlier question. So that's $8.5 million as the full year run rate or was it annualized at $15 million to $20 million for 2025?

正確的。所以我——我迷失在你回答之前問題的一種方式中。那麼，全年營運費用為 850 萬美元，還是 2025 年的年化費用為 1,500 萬至 2,000 萬美元？

$8.5 million it's only on the 150 basically conversion. We're talking about 150 conversion that will be done by the end of the year. So you need to take into account that starting January 1, 2025, on a full year just from those 150 stores, you have $8.5 million benefit just from them.

850 萬美元只是 150 的基本轉換。我們正在談論將在今年年底完成 150 次轉換。因此，您需要考慮到，從 2025 年 1 月 1 日開始，僅從這 150 家商店全年中，您就可以從它們中獲得 850 萬美元的收益。

In addition to basically to that, we have additional stores that actually will come -- we'll have additional conversion going into Q1 and Q2, 2025. And when we're going to finish those conversion on a full year run rate, it's going to be between $15 million to $20 million.

除此之外，我們實際上還會有更多商店 - 我們將在 2025 年第一季和第二季進行額外的轉換。當我們要以全年運行率完成這些轉換時，費用將在 1500 萬美元到 2000 萬美元之間。

Great. Thank you very much. That was very clear. And the second question I had was, you guys kind of implied that we were at or very close to the trough in fuel volume declines. And I was wondering what was giving you confidence in that?

偉大的。非常感謝。這非常清楚。我的第二個問題是，你們暗示我們正處於或非常接近燃油量下降的低谷。我想知道是什麼給了你信心？

I don't think we were suggesting that. We were pleased with what we saw in October and we were hoping that the Q3 was a trough. I don't think there was a strong statement about the fuel gallon demand. I mean, we're certainly -- we're guiding down mid-single for the fourth quarter right, which is in line with trends. I'll throw that to Arie for larger thinking on that longer term.

我不認為我們有這樣的建議。我們對 10 月所看到的情況感到滿意，我們希望第三季是一個低谷。我認為沒有關於燃油加侖需求的強烈聲明。我的意思是，我們當然 - 我們正在指導第四季度的中單，這符合趨勢。我會把它交給阿里，讓他從長遠來看進行更大的思考。

I just think listen, there is -- we all know at the moment that the economy was suffering in Q3, suffering more than basically Q3, 2023. As I said, we see some relief in Q4. We see some relief in Q4. And like I said I think the whole country is bullish on 2025. And we're just working towards what everybody expects to happen in 2025.

我只是想，聽著，我們都知道目前經濟在第三季遭遇了困難，比 2023 年第三季的情況還要嚴重。正如我所說，我們在第四季度看到了一些緩解。我們在第四季度看到了一些緩解。正如我所說，我認為整個國家都看好 2025 年。我們正在努力實現每個人都期望在 2025 年發生的事情。

As I said I mean, Q3 was a rough quarter across every industry. And given that we see some relief -- this industry it's a very resilient industry. You have -- you are familiar with that. And I really, really think that we are getting to the bottom of it. I think we are at the bottom.

正如我所說，我的意思是，第三季對每個行業來說都是一個艱難的季度。鑑於我們看到了一些緩解——這個行業是一個非常有彈性的行業。你對此很熟悉。我真的、真的認為我們正在追根溯源。我認為我們處於底部。

Maybe there is a little way to go, but I really think that we're touching the bottom right now. And from here with expectation towards a better economy and things will change over here hopefully price of fuel will basically stay at I'll call it with a $2 range versus the $3.

也許還有一段路要走，但我真的認為我們現在已經觸底了。從這裡開始，我們期望經濟會更好，事情會發生變化，希望燃料價格基本上保持在 2 美元與 3 美元之間。

We believe that the minute the price of fuel will stick to the $2 price -- headline price, I believe that people are going to start to drive more. But that's always something that happen. Again, this is of course subject to nothing bad happened over here that all of a sudden price of oil goes to $100 that's of course going to change my expectation over here, but assuming that the economy will basically get a little bit better interest rate already down 50 basis points last month. And I mean today, another 25 basis points. I mean, I'm very, very bullish towards 2025 because of that.

我們相信，一旦燃油價格保持在 2 美元的價格（整體價格），我相信人們就會開始開車更多。但這總是會發生的事情。再說一次，這當然是在沒有發生任何壞事的情況下，即石油價格突然升至 100 美元，這當然會改變我在這裡的預期，但假設經濟基本上已經獲得了更好的利率上月下降50個基點。我的意思是今天又漲了 25 個基點。我的意思是，因此我對 2025 年非常非常樂觀。

Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

偉大的。太感謝了。我很感激。

Thank you so much.

太感謝了。

Thank you. We have no further questions in the queue. I'll turn the program back over to Arie Kotler for any additional or closing remarks.

謝謝。我們隊列中沒有其他問題了。我會將程序轉回阿里·科特勒以供補充或結束語。

Thank you very much Brittany and thank you everybody for joining us this afternoon, almost evening. Have a great evening and have a great holiday season coming.

非常感謝布列塔尼，也感謝大家今天下午（幾乎是晚上）加入我們。祝您有個愉快的夜晚，並祝您有個愉快的假期。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time and have a wonderful day.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連接並度過美好的一天。