Atlanticus Holdings Corp (ATLC) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Atlanticus second quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions). I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today. Dan Mauch.

大家好，感謝您稍候。歡迎參加 Atlanticus 2026 年第二季財報電話會議。此時所有與會者皆為僅收聽模式。請注意，今日會議將被錄音。在講者簡報結束後，將進行問答環節。（接線員指示）。現在我想將會議交給今天的講者。Dan Mauch。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Atlanticus release results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, this afternoon after market close. If you did not receive a copy of our earnings press release, you may obtain it from the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.atlanticus.com. We have also posted an updated investor presentation.

謝謝您，接線員，各位下午好。Atlanticus 已於今日收盤後公布截至 2026 年 6 月 30 日止第二季的業績。若您尚未收到我們的財報新聞稿，可至 investors.atlanticus.com 網站的投資人關係專區取得。我們也已上傳更新版的投資人簡報。

With me on today's call are Jeff Howard, President and Chief Executive Officer and Bill McCamey, Chief Financial Officer. This call is being webcast and will be archived on the Investor Relations section of our website.

今天與我一同出席電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Jeff Howard，以及財務長 Bill McCamey。本次電話會議將以網路直播，並會在我們網站的投資人關係專區存檔。

Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to, among other things, earnings growth, returns on equity, portfolio performance, the sufficiency of available capital. Delinquency and charge-off rates, and future financial and operating results. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Please review our earnings release and the risk factors discussed in our SEC filings. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and accept to the extent required by federal securities laws. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

今天的討論可能包含前瞻性陳述，反映公司目前對於（其中包括）獲利成長、股東權益報酬率、投資組合表現、可用資本是否充足、逾期與沖銷率，以及未來財務與營運結果的看法。這些陳述受若干風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述所述內容有重大差異。請查閱我們的財報新聞稿以及在 SEC 申報文件中討論的風險因素。前瞻性陳述僅截至其作成之日有效，並僅在聯邦證券法要求的範圍內適用。公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述之義務。

In addition, during this call we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

此外，在本次電話會議中，我們可能會提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。關於此類指標的重要揭露（包括與最可比 GAAP 財務衡量指標之調節），請參閱我們的財報新聞稿。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff.

接下來，我把電話交給 Jeff。

Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Let me open by saying this month marks Atlanticus' 30th anniversary.

謝謝，Dan。各位下午好，感謝各位加入我們。首先我要說的是，本月是 Atlanticus 成立 30 週年。

Over that history, we have funded over $53 billion in receivables, raised over $20 billion in capital, and we have weathered numerous economic cycles, regulatory changes, and competitive pressures. Most importantly, we have served over 23 million consumers and played a vital role in meeting their families' daily financial needs, often at times when others would not.

在這段歷史中，我們已提供超過 530 億美元的應收帳款資金、募集超過 200 億美元資本，並且歷經多次經濟循環、監管變化與競爭壓力。最重要的是，我們已服務超過 2,300 萬名消費者，在許多他人不願意的時刻，對滿足其家庭日常金融需求扮演了關鍵角色。

What gives us the greatest sense of accomplishment, however, is the culture we have built and the many colleagues with whom we have had the privilege of working over the course of our careers. Together, through both our successes and the challenges from which we have learned, we have created a culture grounded in shared achievement and an uncompromising commitment to our purpose, empowering better financial outcomes for everyday Americans. It is our team and its collective experiences built over those 30 years that makes Atlanticus an industry leader. To all of our current and former team members, thank you and happy 30th anniversary.

然而，最令我們感到成就感的，是我們所建立的文化，以及在職涯中有幸與之共事的眾多同仁。我們一起走過成功與從挑戰中汲取的經驗，建立了以共同成就為基礎、並對使命毫不妥協的文化，致力於為日常美國人帶來更好的財務結果。正是這支團隊及其在 30 年間累積的集體經驗，使 Atlanticus 成為業界領導者。致所有現任與前任團隊成員，謝謝你們，30 週年快樂。

I'll now turn to our second quarter specifics.

接下來我將談談第二季的重點。

During the quarter, we continued to drive growth in the legacy platform, advance the Mercury integration, and maintain favourable credit performance. We delivered record profits for the quarter, demonstrating the strength of One Atlanticus and the benefits of the scale we have added over the past year.

本季我們持續推動既有平台成長、推進 Mercury 整合，並維持良好的信用表現。我們本季創下創紀錄的獲利，展現 One Atlanticus 的實力，以及過去一年擴大規模所帶來的效益。

The record profits were driven by record revenue, record new customers served, and record total number of customers served, all while exceeding our 20% return on equity target. On the operations front, our Mercury acquisition continues to perform better than modelled. Our portfolio management activities, portfolio performance, new originations, synergy realization, and operational and technical integration are all on or ahead of plan.

創紀錄的獲利來自創紀錄的營收、創紀錄的新服務客戶數，以及創紀錄的總服務客戶數，同時股東權益報酬率也超越我們 20% 的目標。在營運方面，我們對 Mercury 的收購持續優於模型預期。我們的投資組合管理活動、投資組合表現、新增放款、協同效益實現，以及營運與技術整合，皆符合或超前計畫。

Growth outside of Mercury remained a major driver as well. Excluding Mercury, managed receivables increased 26% from the prior year period. We continue to add customers across both legacy, general purpose, and private label programs, and the number of active accounts increased by more than 1 million year-over-year, excluding Mercury. Credit metrics show year-over-year improvement, largely driven by the Mercury acquisition and continued consumer stability. Within our portfolios, we see credit performance in line with our models.

Mercury 以外的成長同樣是主要動能。若排除 Mercury，管理中的應收帳款較去年同期成長 26%。我們持續在既有、通用型與聯名（private label）方案中增加客戶；若排除 Mercury，活躍帳戶數年增超過 100 萬。信用指標呈現年對年改善，主要受 Mercury 收購與消費者持續穩定所帶動。在我們的投資組合中，信用表現與模型預期一致。

Next quarter will be the first where we have year-over-year comparisons that include the Mercury acquisition, and we expect to see slightly higher delinquency and charge-off rates due to having only a partial quarter of Mercury performance in 2025 as well as intentional mix shifts as our legacy portfolios continue to be faster growing. Across our observable metrics, we continue to see prudent spending and stable credit behaviours from the consumers we serve.

下一季將是首次納入 Mercury 收購後的年對年比較；我們預期逾期與沖銷率將略為上升，原因在於 2025 年僅納入 Mercury 部分季度的表現，以及隨著既有投資組合持續更快成長而進行的刻意組合調整。從我們可觀察的各項指標來看，我們持續看到所服務的消費者支出審慎、信用行為穩定。

While we are mindful of above-target inflation and once again volatile gas prices, we also note that the unemployment rate remains relatively unchanged and well below historical averages. Jobless claims were recently at 50-year lows, real wages continue to grow, and real wage growth for lower-income consumers since 2019 has outpaced all other segments. Additionally, household debt service ratios, credit card debt to household income and credit card debt to GDP all remain below pre-COVID levels. As we've said before, we will continue to let the actual data guide our decision-making and leverage our now 30 years of data aggregation to identify real changes in consumer behaviour and then act accordingly.

雖然我們留意到高於目標的通膨以及再度波動的汽油價格，但我們也注意到失業率仍相對持平，且遠低於歷史平均。近期初領失業救濟金人數處於 50 年低點，實質薪資持續成長，而自 2019 年以來低收入消費者的實質薪資成長更是領先所有其他族群。此外，家庭債務償付比率、信用卡債務占家庭所得比，以及信用卡債務占 GDP 比重，皆仍低於 COVID 之前的水準。如同我們先前所說，我們將持續以實際數據引導決策，並運用我們累積至今 30 年的資料彙整能力，辨識消費者行為的真實變化，並據此採取行動。

As we mentioned last quarter, the competitive environment for general purpose credit cards remains robust, and high solicitation volumes continue to impact response rates. At the same time, our expanded product set, proprietary analytics, multiple origination channels, and greater scale are enabling us to deploy capital and attractive risk-adjusted returns. As a result, we were able to add a record 790,000 new customers served in the quarter.

如同上季所提，一般用途信用卡的競爭環境仍然激烈，高量的招攬投放持續影響回應率。同時，我們擴充的產品組合、專有分析能力、多元的放款來源渠道，以及更大的規模，使我們能夠部署資本並取得具吸引力的風險調整後報酬。因此，我們本季新增服務客戶數創下 79 萬人的新高。

We will, however, continue to prioritize unit economics over volume and adjust our marketing and underwriting as conditions warrant. For the quarter, net income attributable to common shareholders was $47.4 million, a 67% increase over prior year or $2.50 per diluted share. Return on average equity was 28.1%, reflecting the continued strength and earnings power of our business.

不過，我們仍將優先考量單位經濟效益而非規模，並視情況調整行銷與授信審核。本季歸屬於普通股股東的淨利為 4,740 萬美元，較去年同期成長 67%，或稀釋後每股 2.50 美元。平均股東權益報酬率為 28.1%，反映我們業務持續的強勁表現與獲利能力。

In conclusion, our priorities are clear. Continue to integrate and optimize the Mercury portfolio, support profitable growth across our portfolios, maintain disciplined credit management, and preserve the funding flexibility needed to capitalize on attractive opportunities. Based on the performance of the business and the opportunities in front of us, we continue to expect earnings growth and returns on equity at or above our long-term targets of 20%. And as we celebrate our 30 years in business, I believe Atlanticus has never been better positioned for the future.

總結而言，我們的優先事項很明確：持續整合並優化 Mercury 投資組合、支持各投資組合的獲利性成長、維持嚴謹的信用管理，並保有資金調度彈性，以把握具吸引力的機會。基於業務表現與眼前的機會，我們仍預期獲利成長與股東權益報酬率可達到或高於我們長期 20% 的目標。在我們慶祝成立 30 週年之際，我相信 Atlanticus 從未像現在這樣更具備迎向未來的有利定位。

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

那麼，我把電話會議交給 Bill。

Brilliant. Thanks, Jeff.

太棒了。謝謝你，Jeff。

I'll begin with the income statement. Total operating revenue and other income was $744 million for the second quarter, an increase of 89% from the prior year period.

我先從損益表開始。第二季總營運收入及其他收入為 7.44 億美元，較去年同期成長 89%。

The increase reflects the contribution from Mercury, continued expansion of our legacy general purpose and private label receivables, and growth in the number of customers served.

這項成長反映了 Mercury 的貢獻、我們既有的一般用途與自有品牌應收帳款的持續擴張，以及服務客戶數的增加。

Net margin increased 83% year-over-year to $224 million. The larger receivable base and corresponding revenue growth more than offset the higher funding costs and the increased charge-offs and fair value impacts associated with the expanded portfolio.

淨利差年增 83% 至 2.24 億美元。更大的應收帳款基礎及相應的收入成長，足以抵銷較高的資金成本，以及與擴大後投資組合相關的較高沖銷與公允價值影響。

Changes in fair value were negative $396 million compared to negative $217 million in the prior year quarter. The increase primarily reflects $433 million in principal and finance charge-offs versus $212 million in associated items last year as managed receivables grew to $6.9 billion from $3 billion.

公允價值變動為負 3.96 億美元，去年同期為負 2.17 億美元。增加主要反映本金與融資費用沖銷 4.33 億美元，相較去年相關項目為 2.12 億美元，因管理中應收帳款由 30 億美元增至 69 億美元。

These charge-offs were partially offset by other fair value items, including normal portfolio accretion, acquisition-related fair value impacts. Favourable updates to valuation assumptions, and a $5.5 million favourable adjustment to related contingent consideration and other purchase price adjustments. Portfolio trends remain favourable. Total managed receivables ended the quarter at $6.9 billion, up approximately 126% year-over-year and approximately 2.5% sequentially. Excluding mercury, managed receivables were approximately $3.8 billion. And an increase of roughly 26% from the prior year period. Delinquency rates improved sequentially during the quarter, reflecting stable consumer payment behaviour and normal seasonal payment patterns.

這些沖銷部分被其他公允價值項目所抵銷，包括投資組合正常增值（accretion）、併購相關的公允價值影響。估值假設的有利更新，以及與相關或有對價及其他購買價格調整相關的 550 萬美元有利調整。投資組合趨勢仍然有利。本季末管理中應收帳款總額為 69 億美元，年增約 126%，季增約 2.5%。若排除 Mercury，管理中應收帳款約為 38 億美元。較去年同期增加約 26%。本季逾期率較前一季改善，反映消費者付款行為穩定及正常的季節性付款模式。

The combined principal net charge-off rate was 17.7%. The modest sequential increase from the first quarter primarily reflects normal portfolio seasoning and the timing and mix of receivable growth. Year-over-year, delinquency and loss rates improved, reflecting better underlying portfolio performance and the addition of the lower-loss Mercury portfolio. Looking ahead, delinquency rates may increase modestly as new receivables season, and the portfolio mix evolves. We evaluate delinquency in the context of each vintage's overall unit economics. Our focus remains on vintage-level profitability by portfolio and disciplined risk-adjusted returns, not growth for growth's sake.

合併後本金淨沖銷率為 17.7%。相較第一季的小幅季增，主要反映投資組合正常熟成（seasoning），以及應收帳款成長的時點與組合。年對年而言，逾期與損失率改善，反映更佳的基礎投資組合表現，以及納入損失率較低的 Mercury 投資組合。展望未來，隨著新增應收帳款熟成及投資組合組合演變，逾期率可能小幅上升。我們會在各期別（vintage）整體單位經濟效益的脈絡下評估逾期情況。我們的重點仍是以投資組合為單位的期別獲利能力與嚴謹的風險調整後報酬，而非為了成長而成長。

Interest expense was $123 million compared with $54 million in the prior year quarter. The increase reflects the debt assumed with Mercury and additional financing used to support growth. We continue to see strong demand from funding partners, and over the quarter I have issued term ABS at tighter spreads and on more favourable terms. We are pleased to have achieved our first AAA ABS bond ratings. Total operating expenses were $158 million compared with $82 million a year ago. The increase reflects the combined company's larger employee base, higher marketing activity, greater servicing volumes, and other costs associated with operating a substantially larger platform.

利息費用為 1.23 億美元，去年同期為 5,400 萬美元。增加反映承接 Mercury 的負債，以及用以支持成長的額外融資。我們持續看到資金合作夥伴的強勁需求，本季我以更緊的利差與更有利的條件發行了期限型 ABS。我們很高興首次取得 AAA 等級的 ABS 債券評等。總營運費用為 1.58 億美元，去年同期為 8,200 萬美元。增加反映合併後公司更大的員工規模、更高的行銷活動、更大的服務量，以及營運顯著更大平台所伴隨的其他成本。

Although reported expenses increased meaningfully, a significant portion of the increase is variable and directly connected to growth. We continue to see operating efficiencies in the fixed cost portions of the platform as receivables and accounts scale. Turning to the balance sheet, we entered the quarter with total assets of $7.5 billion and total equity of almost $700 million. Cash and restricted cash totalled $645 million. This capital, together with cash generated by the portfolio, availability on our financing facilities and access to the capital markets provides substantial capacity to support continued growth and address upcoming maturities.

雖然報告費用顯著增加，但其中相當大一部分為變動成本，且與成長直接相關。隨著應收帳款與帳戶規模擴大，我們持續在平台固定成本部分看到營運效率提升。接著看資產負債表，我們以總資產 75 億美元、總權益接近 7 億美元進入本季。現金及受限制現金合計 6.45 億美元。這些資本，加上投資組合產生的現金、我們融資額度的可用性以及資本市場的進入能力，提供了充足的能力以支持持續成長並因應即將到期的債務。

In summary, the second quarter delivered strong year-over-year earnings growth, continued organic receivables expansion, sequential improvement in key delinquency measures, and further progress on the Mercury integration. We remain focused on allocating capital to opportunities that meet or exceed our return thresholds while maintaining disciplined credit and liquidity management.

總結而言，第二季帶來強勁的年對年獲利成長、持續的有機應收帳款擴張、關鍵逾期指標的季對季改善，以及 Mercury 整合的進一步進展。我們仍專注於將資本配置到符合或超過我們報酬門檻的機會，同時維持嚴謹的信用與流動性管理。

With that, I'll turn the call back to the operator for questions.

那麼，我把電話會議交回給接線員進行提問。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions).

謝謝。(接線員指示)。

Vincent Caintic, BTIG LLC.

Vincent Caintic，BTIG LLC。

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions and great to see the consistency of the great results over the past couple of quarters.

嗨，午安。謝謝讓我提問，也很高興看到過去幾季優異成果的延續性。

First question, wanted to go. Over the fundamentals or the organic part, it was great to see the year-over-year growth, even if you slew the Mercury acquisition. I was wondering if you could talk about the industry opportunity set, like what is the opportunity to win more merchant partners? Are there a lot of potential partners out there that you could win? And then if there are a lot of competition, that's also pursuing that pipeline of potential partners.

第一個問題想談一下。就基本面或有機成長部分而言，即使把 Mercury 併購因素剔除，仍可看到年對年成長，這很棒。我想請你談談產業的機會集合，例如贏得更多商戶合作夥伴的機會有多大？市場上是否有很多潛在夥伴是你們可以爭取的？另外，如果競爭者也很多，也在追逐那條潛在夥伴的管線。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, thanks, Vincent. Yeah, look, we still see a lot of long-term opportunity on a retail credit platform. The merchant landscape is still, I would say, underserved or underpenetrated. Some of the largest merchants in the world still don't have second-look programs.

是的，謝謝你，Vincent。我們仍然看到零售信貸平台存在大量的長期機會。我會說商戶版圖仍屬於服務不足或滲透率偏低。全球一些最大的商戶至今仍沒有 second-look 計畫。

That being said, right, the pipeline and the process by which that pipeline develops into new receivables growth, as we've talked about, takes a long time, isn't within our control. And is a bit unpredictable. So we see good long-term opportunity. It's hard to really say how much of that's going to manifest itself in the next four quarters, but feel like given our platform positioning, the brand that we've created in the market over the course of our now 15 years being in the retail credit space, that we're going to get all those phone calls, we're going to get all of the swing opportunities, and we're going to win our fair share of those opportunities long-term.

話雖如此，正如我們談過的，那條管線以及管線如何轉化為新增應收帳款成長的流程，需要很長時間，不在我們控制之內。而且有些不可預測。因此我們看到良好的長期機會。很難確切說其中多少會在未來四個季度具體實現，但我們覺得，憑藉我們的平台定位、以及我們在零售信貸領域深耕至今 15 年在市場上建立的品牌，我們會接到所有那些來電、會獲得所有的重大機會，並在長期中贏得我們應得的那一份。

Okay, great. And like on the competitive side, is there, I guess, what's your view of the kind of competitive landscape for that pipeline?

好的，很棒。那在競爭面上，我想問你對那條管線的競爭格局有何看法？

Look, I would say there's probably only one what I would consider direct competitor for us to go kind of head-to-head in the space that we compete in. That being said, we have seen the primes who sit ahead of us in most of our partnerships expand and go deeper. We've seen some pressure from tertiaries or what I would consider some more structured lenders beneath us moving upmarket. And so, we're getting competitive pressure from above and below more so than we are from our direct competitors. But again, we still feel like given our technology, our risk orientation, our ability to create custom solutions for our merchants that we're well positioned, but it is certainly a competitive landscape.

我認為在我們所競爭的領域裡，真正能與我們正面交鋒、我會視為直接競爭對手的大概只有一家。話雖如此，我們也看到在多數合作關係中位於我們之上的 prime（優質）機構正在擴張並更深入。我們也看到來自 tertiaries（第三層級）或我認為是一些更結構化、位於我們之下的放款人正在往上移動、切入更高端市場，帶來一些壓力。因此，相較於直接競爭對手，我們更多是受到來自上方與下方的競爭壓力。但同樣地，我們仍認為憑藉我們的技術、風險導向，以及為商戶打造客製化解決方案的能力，我們具備良好定位；不過這確實是一個競爭激烈的市場。

That's very helpful.

這非常有幫助。

So next question on the Mercury integration, if you could talk about where we are in the process, it sounds like you're ahead of where you thought you'd be. When we look at earnings this quarter, what areas of the P&L and balance sheet are already showing kind of the run rate synergies from the Mercury acquisition and where should we be still seeing additional energy synergy upside to numbers in the future?

那麼下一個關於 Mercury 整合的問題，能否談談我們目前在流程中的進度？聽起來你們的進展比原先預期更超前。當我們看本季的盈餘時，損益表與資產負債表上哪些項目已經開始反映出因收購 Mercury 而帶來的常態化協同效益（run-rate synergies）？未來還有哪些領域應該仍可望看到額外的能源協同效益上行，進一步反映在數字上？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, great question. Thank you. It's sort of sprinkled throughout and shows in different ways, right? And some of it you won't see in synergy because it is portfolio management optimization and opportunities that we've set forth post-acquisition where we're seeing the biggest return on our time and investment. We've undertaken now the third part of our portfolio repricing.

是的，問得很好。謝謝。這些效益其實分散在各處，並以不同方式呈現，對吧？其中有一部分你不會把它視為「協同效益」而看到，因為那是收購後我們推動的投資組合管理最佳化與機會布局，我們在那裡看到時間與投資回報最大。我們現在已經進行到投資組合重新定價的第三階段。

The performance of the repricing has been better than we modelled in our acquisition forecast, both in terms of realization of yield, but importantly, consumer adoption as well as any anticipated increase in delinquency have come in well below those expectations, so we've outperformed that as a primary metric.

重新定價的表現比我們在收購預測模型中所估計的更好，無論是在收益率實現（yield realization）方面，尤其重要的是，消費者採用度，以及任何預期的逾期率上升，都遠低於那些預期，因此作為主要衡量指標，我們的表現優於預期。

We're also in the process of realizing overhead synergies, you wouldn't have seen that because you didn't see what Mercury looked like pre-acquisition. And then on the sort of marginal operating expenses, right, we're already driving down the aggregate operating expense with more to come as our technology integration continues to run its course, all of which we expect to have completed probably mid-Quarter One of next year.

我們也正在實現管理費用（overhead）方面的協同效益；你們之所以看不到，是因為你們沒有看到收購前 Mercury 的樣貌。另外在邊際營運費用方面，我們已經在降低整體營運費用，且隨著技術整合持續推進，後續還會有更多下降空間；我們預期這些整合大概會在明年第一季中期完成。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John Hecht, Jefferies LLC.

Jefferies LLC 的 John Hecht。

Afternoon, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess another question on the Mercury acquisition. I know you were repricing some portion of the portfolio, Capital One. Calls it was going through a brownout with just sort of identifying customers in the Discover portfolio and maybe trying to reorient them because they didn't meet the return hurdles. And so, just thinking about that, have you kind of gone through where are you in that process and what opportunities are you seeing there?

各位下午好。謝謝回答我的問題。我想再問一個關於 Mercury 收購的問題。我知道你們正在對投資組合的某些部分重新定價；Capital One 把它稱為在 Discover 投資組合中進行某種「棕色停擺（brownout）」——也就是辨識客戶，並可能重新調整方向，因為他們未達到報酬門檻。因此從這個角度來看，你們目前在這個流程中進展到哪裡？你們在那裡看到了哪些機會？

Yeah, thanks, John. Sort of referencing back to this being our 30th year in business. During a lot of that 30-year period, we were very active buyers of other portfolios. I think we bought probably eight other, what I would consider materially sized portfolios that gave us a good bit of practice and muscle building opportunity around portfolio management, repricing, how to manage these portfolios. And that experience has really led us to sort of segment the portfolio into kind of three broader buckets. Typically, one is, there's not really a price that we like these assets. We view the risk differently than whoever we bought the asset from. We want to run those off as quickly as we can and recognize the discount that we purchased the asset on as quickly as possible. There's another part of the portfolio that at the right yield, we would love to maintain that relationship and continue to stimulate borrowings on that account.

是的，謝謝你，John。回到我們今年是營運第 30 年這件事。在這 30 年的大部分期間，我們一直是其他投資組合非常積極的買家。我想我們大概買過八個我認為規模相當可觀的投資組合，這讓我們在投資組合管理、重新定價以及如何管理這些投資組合方面，累積了不少實戰經驗與能力建構的機會。而這些經驗也讓我們把投資組合大致分成三個較大的類別。通常第一類是：基本上沒有一個我們喜歡的價格可以持有這些資產。我們對風險的看法與賣方不同。我們希望盡快讓這些資產自然到期／退出（run off），並盡快確認我們以折價買入所帶來的折價收益。投資組合的另一部分是：在合適的收益率下，我們很願意維持這段關係，並持續促進該帳戶的借款使用。

We are probably 90% of the way through that exercise. And then the other part of the portfolio or portfolio that we'll continue to be active in engaging with, and that's the assets that we think are appropriately priced. We want to stimulate long-term.

我們大概已完成這項作業的 90%。而投資組合的另一部分——也是我們會持續積極互動經營的部分——是我們認為定價適當的資產。我們希望長期促進其成長。

Value out of by continuing to have consumers use the card and repay the card responsibly. And we're undertaking more and more of those activities, which include things like credit line increases, stimulating balances, promo balance transfer opportunities, things you would do to manage a portfolio for long-time value creation, which will both create good positive spread assets but help minimize the runoff of that portfolio as we increase the origination tempo and turn the Mercury asset itself from a liquidating asset into a growing receivable base at ROAs that we really like.

透過讓消費者持續使用卡片並負責任地還款，來創造價值。我們正在進行越來越多這類活動，包括提高信用額度、刺激餘額、促銷性餘額轉移（balance transfer）機會等；這些都是為了長期價值創造而管理投資組合會做的事。這不僅能創造良好的正利差資產，也有助於在我們提高放款／承作節奏（origination tempo）時，降低該投資組合的流失（runoff），並把 Mercury 資產本身從一個正在清算的資產，轉變為在我們非常滿意的資產報酬率（ROA）水準下、持續成長的應收帳款基礎。

Okay, great. And then I know that the core, the Atlanticus portfolio is showing very strong growth on its own, but maybe can you update us on the private label business, some of the other new partnerships, the healthcare segment, the auto segment, anything just that is worthy of updating us on those businesses?

好的，很棒。另外我知道核心的 Atlanticus 投資組合本身就呈現非常強勁的成長，但能否也更新一下自有品牌（private label）業務、其他新的合作夥伴、醫療保健領域、汽車領域等？任何值得向我們更新的進展都可以。

Yeah, I'll start with the retail credit portfolio. We obviously saw, as we said in our release, good growth in that line of business as well. I think it was sort of 27%, if I recall correctly, of receivables growth on retail credit, largely due to continued growth with our top five or six merchants. We have seen good year-over-year growth across the board with those merchant relationships. The purchase volume is actually down year-over-year. With those relationships in total, but the AR growth continues at a pretty good clip. So our expectation is over the course of the next years, as we forecast out that business, even at flat year-over-year purchase activity, that AR will continue to grow. So the pipeline will develop. As it develops, as we've talked about in the past, we don't actively forecast asset growth or profit growth from new relationships just because of the unpredictability of that business. But with the relationships that we have and the purchase activity that we see today, we're going to continue to have good year-over-year AR growth.

好的，我先從零售信貸投資組合談起。如同我們在新聞稿中所說，這條業務線也有不錯的成長。我記得零售信貸的應收帳款（receivables）成長大約是 27%，主要來自我們前五到六家商戶的持續成長。我們在這些商戶關係上，整體都看到良好的年增成長。不過，這些關係合計的購買量（purchase volume）其實較去年同期下降，但應收帳款（AR）仍以相當不錯的速度成長。因此我們的預期是，在未來幾年我們對這項業務做預測時，即使購買活動年對年持平，AR 仍會持續成長。所以管線會逐步建立。隨著管線發展，如同我們過去談過的，我們不會主動把新合作關係帶來的資產成長或獲利成長納入預測，因為這門生意的不可預測性較高。但就我們目前既有的合作關係與今天看到的購買活動而言，我們將持續有良好的年對年 AR 成長。

On the healthcare line of business, again, that's still -- I'll call it a startup kind of mode business for us. We continue to expand our product offerings and engage with more and more enterprise-level healthcare networks and healthcare providers. And that's starting to accelerate. Adding products and features and new tools for our healthcare providers to engage with us on has proven to be a winning recipe in the market for us. We're excited about the activity that represents, but it's still a very small part of our overall portfolio and contribution to the bottom line. And you asked about the auto segment, and I would say that segment of our business remains a small piece of the overall business. As we've said before, it consistently generates a bit of cash flow that we use to reinvest in our other high-growth business, and I would categorize it as a stable asset and category for us.

至於醫療保健這條業務線，這仍然——我會稱之為——對我們而言仍處於新創／起步階段的模式。我們持續擴充產品供給，並與越來越多企業級的醫療網路與醫療服務提供者合作。而這正開始加速。為醫療服務提供者加入更多產品、功能與新工具，讓他們能與我們互動合作，已被證明是我們在市場上的致勝配方。我們對這些活動所代表的動能感到興奮，但它仍只占我們整體投資組合與對最終獲利貢獻的一小部分。你也問到汽車領域，我會說那一塊在我們整體業務中仍是很小的一部分。如同我們之前所說，它一貫能產生一些現金流，我們用來再投資於其他高成長業務；我會把它歸類為對我們而言穩定的資產與類別。

I appreciate the color, thanks.

感謝補充說明，謝謝。

(Operator Instructions).

（接線員指示）。

David Sharp, Citizens Capital Markets.

Citizens Capital Markets 的 David Sharp。

Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions today.

各位下午好。謝謝今天回答我的問題。

Jeff, I'm wondering if you can provide maybe just a little more color on the general-purpose competitive landscape. You noted competition remains robust in your words and solicitation rates are challenging. At the same time, you're obviously still seeing tremendous organic growth in the portfolio and credit is outperforming your expectations. Based on the unit economics you're seeing and also just based on the ROE that's trending so far above your sort of 20% long-term target, do you see any room for more aggressive marketing or do you think that at this point there's no need to pursue any growth for growth's sake?

Jeff，我想請你就一般用途（general-purpose）市場的競爭態勢再多補充一些細節。你提到競爭依然激烈，用你的話說，招攬／徵求（solicitation）比率也很具挑戰。同時，你們顯然仍看到投資組合非常可觀的有機成長，而且信用表現也優於你們的預期。基於你們看到的單位經濟效益（unit economics），以及股東權益報酬率（ROE）目前的走勢遠高於你們約 20% 的長期目標，你們是否認為有空間採取更積極的行銷？還是你們覺得在這個時間點，沒有必要為了成長而成長？

Thanks, David.

謝謝，David。

Well, as we are never of the mindset of pursuing growth for growth's sake. When we do see the opportunities, we're going to lean in pretty heavily, and I think our performance is indicative of that. It's an interesting dynamic that we're seeing in the general-purpose space, particularly around direct mail. The increase in direct mail solicitations, at least based on the third-party day that we've aggregated, are up 50%-plus year over year. Which is an extraordinary amount of mail volume. And obviously, our response rates are impacted by that. Therefore, our cost to acquire an account in that channel has been impacted by that. We're still able to grow and have year-over-year growth, but in that channel, we are behind where we thought we would be heading into the second half of this year.

嗯，我們從來不是為了成長而成長的心態。當我們確實看到機會時，我們會相當積極地投入，我認為我們的表現也反映了這一點。我們在一般用途（general-purpose）領域看到一個有趣的動態，特別是在直郵方面。至少根據我們彙整的第三方數據，直郵招攬量年增超過50%。這是非常驚人的郵件量。而且很明顯地，我們的回應率也因此受到影響。因此，我們在該通路取得帳戶的獲客成本也受到影響。我們仍然能夠成長並維持年增成長，但在那個通路上，我們落後於我們在今年下半年開始時原先預期的進度。

That being said, we are ahead of where we thought we'd be on digital originations. And that's really a byproduct of us, as we said in the past, being late to the game on the digital channel. And our learnings aggregating over time and us building the skill set around how to compete in that channel, how to build models specific to that channel, how to underwrite, create offers specific to that channel. And I think we've made a lot of progress there. And it's indicative of underlying growth you see in the general-purpose business being driven by rapid rate of growth on the digital channel relative to direct mail. So, does that give you the color you're looking for?

話雖如此，我們在數位核貸（digital originations）方面的表現超出原先預期。這其實是因為我們過去也提過，我們在數位通路起步較晚。隨著時間累積的學習，以及我們建立起在該通路競爭的能力，包括如何建立該通路專屬模型、如何承作核貸、如何設計該通路專屬的優惠方案。我認為我們在這方面已經取得很大進展。這也反映在你所看到的一般用途業務的內生成長，主要是由數位通路相對於直郵更快速的成長所帶動。所以，這樣的說明有符合你想了解的重點嗎？

Yeah, no, that's helpful. And just to be clear, is it accurate to say that, notwithstanding this tremendous increase in industry-wide solicitations, you'd still characterize the competitive landscape as being very rational?

是的，這很有幫助。再確認一下，儘管全產業招攬量大幅增加，你仍會將競爭環境形容為相當理性，這樣說準確嗎？

Yes, thank you. That's a great clarification.

是的，謝謝。這個澄清非常好。

Five or six years ago, the offers that we would see in the mail, we wouldn't characterize as rational. And as the market has matured and some of the newer entrants have either gotten smarter about the space or exited the space, we're really left with five or six what I would consider legacy competitors and a couple of newer entrants who are a lot smarter today than they were 10 years ago. So, we don't see as much in the terms of irrational pricing. And so, you've got legacy competitors who've been in the space a long time who are just leaning into what I think we all collectively see as a pretty good consumer environment. We're all looking at data. In a very rigorous way and seeing a consumer that is stable, receptive to new offers of credit, but using credit responsibly. And I think that's led to the tempo of marketing that we're seeing as increasing competition.

五、六年前，我們在郵件中看到的那些方案，我們不會稱之為理性。隨著市場成熟，以及一些新進者要嘛對這個領域更了解、要嘛退出市場，我們現在基本上只剩下五、六家我認為屬於傳統（legacy）的競爭對手，以及少數幾家新進者，而他們今天比10年前聰明得多。因此，我們看到的非理性定價少了很多。所以，這些在市場深耕已久的傳統競爭對手，正加大投入於我們大家共同認為相當不錯的消費者環境。我們都在看數據。以非常嚴謹的方式來看，看到消費者狀況穩定、願意接受新的信貸方案，但也在負責任地使用信用。我認為這也導致我們看到的行銷節奏加快，呈現出競爭加劇的樣貌。

Got it. Understood. And maybe just one last follow-up. Not sure if this is a loaded question, but, your ROE is running materially above your long-term targets, and I guess it's maybe a two-part question. One is there anything in just the recent quarter, couple quarters that you would call out as maybe a unique one-off unsustainable and that we should expect a reversion to sort of the 20% level soon, or alternatively, if it remains in the high 20s, does that have any implications for capital actions?

了解。明白。也許最後再追問一個問題。不確定這是不是個有陷阱的問題，但你們的ROE明顯高於長期目標，我想這可能是兩個部分的問題。第一，最近一季或近幾季是否有任何你會特別指出的、一次性且不可持續的因素，使得我們應該預期很快會回落到大約20%的水準？或者，若ROE維持在接近30%的高20%區間，這對資本動作是否有任何影響？

I would say if it remained in the high 20s, we would probably do some more expanding and maybe take some of the capital actions that you referenced. The reality of where we are today is we are earning above our return thresholds. We will more likely not be delivering a bit over the course of the forecasted period that we look ahead to and are running our business on sort of an adjusted basis.

我會說，如果它維持在高20%區間，我們可能會再多做一些擴張，並且可能採取你提到的一些資本動作。就我們目前的現況而言，我們的獲利高於我們的報酬門檻。在我們向前看的預測期間內，我們更可能不會一直維持這麼高的水準；我們是以某種調整後（adjusted）的基礎來經營與衡量我們的業務。

As we look at that sort of future state of what our capital stack will look like, so that number will revert toward the 20% target, but we're certainly pleased to be exceeding that number and we'll do so whenever we can. I think there was a reference to a release in some of the liability for the earn out. That would be paid as part of the Mercury acquisition. So that did contribute to, if you want to call it, over-earning in the quarter a little bit. But for the most part, it was core operating performance that led to that exceeding our return for equity return capital.

當我們看未來資本結構（capital stack）會是什麼樣子時，這個數字會朝20%的目標回歸，但我們當然很高興能超過該水準，而且只要有機會我們就會努力做到。我想有人提到，與或有對價（earn-out）相關的部分負債有一筆回轉（release）。那筆款項是Mercury收購案的一部分支付內容。所以，如果你要這麼說的話，這確實對本季的「超額獲利」有一些貢獻。但大致上，主要還是核心營運表現，帶動我們的股東權益報酬／資本報酬超出目標。

Got it. Great. Thank you very much.

了解。很好。非常感謝。

Thank you. I would now like to turn the call back over to Jeff Howard for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在把電話交回給Jeff Howard，請他做結語。

Thank you. Look, I'll just go by saying thank you all for our interest. We're obviously very pleased with the results for this quarter. We feel like we're very well positioned to achieve our stated goals for the remainder of this fiscal year and for continued long-term success. We've got 30 years of operating history to leverage and looking forward to continued success over the next 30 years as well. So, thank you again, and we look forward to our next report.

謝謝。我最後想說，感謝各位的關注。我們顯然對本季的結果非常滿意。我們覺得自己處於非常有利的位置，能夠達成我們在本會計年度剩餘期間所提出的目標，並持續取得長期成功。我們有30年的營運歷史可以運用，也期待未來30年同樣能持續成功。再次感謝，我們期待下一次的報告。

Thank you. This concludes the conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。本次電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。