Birkenstock Holding PLC (BIRK) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the BIRKENSTOCK Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) And the call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) The company has allocated 60 minutes in total to this conference call.

早安，歡迎參加 BIRKENSTOCK 第四季和 2023 財年財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）且通話正在錄音。 （操作員說明）公司為本次電話會議分配了總共 60 分鐘的時間。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Alexander Hoff, Vice President of Global Finance. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給全球金融副總裁亞歷山大·霍夫（Alexander Hoff）。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for BIRKENSTOCK's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Call, which is our first earnings call to the public company. Earlier this morning, we announced our latest fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 results. As a reminder, our fiscal year ends in September. You may find a supplemental presentation connected to today's discussion on our IR website, birkenstock-holding.com.

大家早安，感謝您今天參加 BIRKENSTOCK 的第四季度和 2023 財年財報電話會議，這是我們對上市公司的第一次財報電話會議。今天早些時候，我們公佈了最新的第四季和 2023 財年業績。提醒一下，我們的財政年度在九月結束。您可以在我們的投資者關係網站 birkenstock-holding.com 上找到與今天的討論相關的補充簡報。

Before we begin, we would like to remind you that some of the information provided during this call is forward-looking and accordingly is subject to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions which could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions are detailed in the morning's press release as well as our SEC filings, which can be found on our website at birkenstock-holding.com. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.

在開始之前，我們想提醒您，本次電話會議中提供的一些資訊是前瞻性的，因此受到聯邦證券法安全港條款的約束。這些陳述受到各種風險、不確定性和假設的影響，可能導致實際結果與這些陳述有重大差異。這些風險、不確定性和假設在上午的新聞稿以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中有詳細說明，這些文件可以在我們的網站 birkenstock-holding.com 上找到。除法律要求外，我們不承擔修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述或資訊的義務。

During our call today, all revenue growth rates will be cited on a constant currency basis unless otherwise stated. We will also reference certain non-IFRS financial information. We use non-IFRS measures that we believe that represent the operational performance and underlying development of the business more accurately. The presentation of this non-IFRS financial information is not intended to be considered by itself or as a substitute for financial information with peers and presented in accordance with IFRS. Reconciliations of IFRS to non-IFRS measures can be found in the morning's press release and in our SEC comments.

在我們今天的電話會議中，除非另有說明，所有收入成長率都將以固定匯率計算。我們也會參考某些非 IFRS 財務資訊。我們使用非國際財務報告準則來衡量標準，我們認為這些衡量標準能夠更準確地代表業務的營運績效和基本發展。本非國際財務報告準則財務資訊的列報無意自行考慮或作為同儕財務資訊的替代品並依照國際財務報告準則列報。 IFRS 與非 IFRS 措施的調節可以在上午的新聞稿和我們的 SEC 評論中找到。

Joining us on the call today are: Oliver Reichert, Chief Executive Officer; Erik Massmann, Chief Financial Officer; David Kahan, President, Americas; Nico Bouyakhf, President, Europe; and Klaus Baumann, Chief Sales Officer. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the call to (inaudible).

今天加入我們電話會議的有：執行長 Oliver Reichert；艾瑞克‧馬斯曼，財務長；大衛‧卡漢 (David Kahan)，美洲區總裁； Nico Bouyakhf，歐洲區總裁；和首席銷售長 Klaus Baumann。在我們準備好的發言之後，我們將開始電話會議（聽不清楚）。

With that, I'm very happy to hand over the call to Oliver.

至此，我很高興將電話轉給奧利佛。

I would like to welcome everyone to the call today. And I'm happy to discuss fiscal '23 and fourth quarter results. On today's call, I will share a quick recap of the BIRKENSTOCK equity story we presented during the IPO and some highlights regarding our fiscal '23 performance. Next, David, Nico and Klaus will give you an overview about their respective regions. Then you will hear from Erik and Alexander with a review of the financials and our initial outlook for fiscal '24.

我歡迎大家今天來電。我很高興討論 23 財年和第四季的業績。在今天的電話會議上，我將快速回顧我們在 IPO 期間介紹的 BIRKENSTOCK 股票故事，以及有關我們 23 財年業績的一些亮點。接下來，David、Nico 和 Klaus 將為您介紹各自地區的概況。然後，您將聽到 Erik 和 Alexander 對財務狀況的回顧以及我們對 24 財年的初步展望。

So let me begin with a brief overview of our equity story. We are aware that it's not easy to compare BIRKENSTOCK to any other listed company. Our business model is unique in many ways. We are the inventor of the footbed. We are in the footbed business, offering a functional benefit to consumers that never goes out of style.

首先，讓我簡單概述一下我們的股票故事。我們知道，將 BIRKENSTOCK 與任何其他上市公司進行比較並不容易。我們的商業模式在許多方面都是獨一無二的。我們是鞋床的發明者。我們從事鞋墊業務，為消費者提供永不過時的功能性優勢。

We are guided by a simple yet fundamental insight. Human beings are intended to walk their foot on natural yielding ground, a concept we refer to as Naturgewolltes Gehen. Our purpose is to empower all people to walk as intended by nature. We are a brand backed by a family tradition of 1/4 of a millennium with a resilience, timeless relevance and credibility of a multi-generational business which supports a strong heritage and drives the premium feeling of the brand.

我們以簡單而基本的見解為指導。人類的目的是在自然屈服的地面上行走，我們將這個概念稱為 Naturgewolltes Gehen。我們的目標是讓所有人都能以自然的方式行走。我們是一個以 1/4 千年的家族傳統為後盾的品牌，具有韌性、永恆的相關性和多代企業的信譽，支持了強大的傳統並推動了品牌的優質感。

For us, 2024 is a very special year in which we celebrate our 250th tradition anniversary. We are a universal brand, catering to all people, regardless of age, gender and geography. We have a growing global following, exhibiting high engagement and brand loyalty. For instance, U.S. consumers own 3.6 pairs on average today and 90% of our buyers come to us through unpaid channels.

對我們來說，2024 年是非常特別的一年，我們慶祝我們的傳統 250 週年。我們是一個通用品牌，適合所有人，不論年齡、性別和地理位置。我們在全球擁有越來越多的追隨者，表現出高度的參與度和品牌忠誠度。例如，如今美國消費者平均擁有 3.6 雙鞋，並且 90% 的買家透過免費管道找到我們。

Our total addressable market is the global population. Our products cover a broad range of price points. We have a significant addressable white space across geography, category extension and user occasion. Additionally, we also have white space with our own store openings and expansion of our DTC penetration.

我們的總目標市場是全球人口。我們的產品涵蓋廣泛的價位。我們在地理、類別擴展和用戶場合方面擁有大量可尋址的空白區域。此外，我們還擁有開設自己的商店和擴大 DTC 滲透率的空白。

We are made in Germany. Over 95% of our products and 100% of our footbeds are produced in 1 of our 6 own factories in Germany. 100% of our footwear is produced in the EU, one of the safest and most regulated markets in the world. Most raw materials are sourced from Europe, which ensures supply chain reliability and the materials also adhere to strict quality and social and environmental standards. We are committed to uncompromising premium quality. Our products are made to last.

我們是德國製造。我們超過 95% 的產品和 100% 的鞋床是在我們位於德國的 6 家自有工廠中的 1 家生產的。我們的鞋類 100% 在歐盟生產，歐盟是世界上最安全、監管最嚴格的市場之一。大多數原材料均來自歐洲，這確保了供應鏈的可靠性，並且材料也遵守嚴格的品質以及社會和環境標準。我們致力於毫不妥協的優質品質。我們的產品經久耐用。

We are a unique business. We are neither luxury nor fashion nor footwear, but our business model has elements that are typical of the luxury industry, that is a premium quality product, market scarcity and a high desirability of the brand, which altogether translates into a premium margin. Other than the luxury industry, which is primarily built on price and social status, BIRKENSTOCK is a true purpose and zeitgeist brand. As such, we are beyond fashion.

我們是一家獨特的企業。我們既不是奢侈品，也不是時尚，也不是鞋類，但我們的商業模式具有奢侈品行業的典型元素，即優質產品、市場稀缺性和對品牌的高度渴望，這一切都轉化為溢價利潤。與主要建立在價格和社會地位之上的奢侈品行業不同，BIRKENSTOCK 是一個真正具有目標和時代精神的品牌。因此，我們超越了時尚。

Our disciplined engineered distribution model drive consistent and predictable revenue growth by strategically allocating products across channels and segments to maximize profitability and to balance demand and supply to create scarcity in the market. We delivered a strong financial profile, 20% revenue CAGR over a decade, 60%-plus gross profit margin, 30%-plus adjusted EBITDA margin. And our fiscal '23 figures underscore this once again. Erik and Alexander will review our financial performance in more detail shortly. But here are a bit few highlights from fiscal '23.

我們嚴格的設計分銷模式透過跨通路和細分市場策略性地分配產品來推動一致和可預測的收入成長，以最大限度地提高利潤並平衡供需，從而創造市場稀缺性。我們的財務狀況強勁，十年來營收複合年增長率為 20%，毛利率超過 60%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率超過 30%。我們的 23 財年數據再次強調了這一點。埃里克和亞歷山大很快就會更詳細地審查我們的財務表現。但以下是 23 財年的一些亮點。

We are very pleased to announce that we delivered extraordinary revenue growth of 20% in fiscal '23, marking the best year in BIRKENSTOCK's history with revenues of EUR 1.49 billion. Our fourth quarter contributed to that development with 22% growth. These numbers tie in with our great performance in the last decade with a revenue CAGR of 20% and demonstrates the sustainability of our growth. We are delivering all that in uncertain times and macroeconomic backdrop, which reflects our optimism in the future growth trajectory of the business.

我們非常高興地宣布，我們在 23 財年實現了 20% 的非凡收入成長，創下 BIRKENSTOCK 歷史上最好的一年，收入達 14.9 億歐元。我們在第四季度實現了 22% 的成長，為這一發展做出了貢獻。這些數字與我們過去十年的出色業績（收入複合年增長率為 20%）相吻合，並證明了我們成長的可持續性。我們是在不確定的時期和宏觀經濟背景下實現這一切的，這反映了我們對業務未來成長軌跡的樂觀態度。

Our revenue development in fiscal '23 is driven by both unit growth of 6% and ASP increase of 14%. Compared to fiscal '22, our unit growth doubled from 3% to 6%. Our ASP growth was primarily driven by steering consumers to premium products with higher price points. This effect accounts for 50% of the ASP growth. The ASP is further driven by a favorable channel mix towards DTC and [RSP] increase. Both effects accounted for 25% of the ASP growth. We achieved strong full price realization, which demonstrates our unique outlier position and brand strength.

我們 23 財年的營收成長是由 6% 的銷售成長和 14% 的平均售價成長所推動的。與 22 財年相比，我們的單位成長率翻了一番，從 3% 增加到 6%。我們的平均售價成長主要是透過引導消費者購買價格更高的優質產品來推動的。這種效應佔 ASP 成長的 50%。平均售價進一步受到 DTC 和 [RSP] 成長的有利通路組合的推動。這兩種效應對 ASP 成長貢獻了 25%。我們實現了強勁的全價變現，證明了我們獨特的異常地位和品牌實力。

Within each of our geographies, we saw a high consumer demand for BIRKENSTOCK, resulting in a double-digit revenue growth in all three segments in fiscal '23. Our two channels, B2B and DTC, grew double digits with DTC especially outperforming and achieving a penetration of 14%. This demonstrates how growth-based our revenue growth is. The same applies to the product perspective, where most of our categories grew double digits. Fiscal '23 marked another year with industry-leading margins. We achieved a gross profit margin of 62.1% and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 32.4%.

在我們的每個地區，我們都看到消費者對 BIRKENSTOCK 的高需求，導致 23 財年所有三個細分市場的收入都實現了兩位數的成長。我們的 B2B 和 DTC 兩個管道實現了兩位數成長，其中 DTC 表現尤其出色，滲透率達到 14%。這表明我們的收入成長是如何基於成長的。從產品角度來看也是如此，我們的大多數類別都實現了兩位數的成長。 23 財年又是利潤率領先業界的一年。我們實現了 62.1% 的毛利率和 32.4% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。

At this time, I will hand the call over to David and his team for reviewing the Americas' performance.

此時，我會將電話轉交給 David 和他的團隊，以審查美洲的表現。

Thank you. In the Americas, we achieved a revenue growth of 20% in fiscal '23, making the region the largest contributor to overall revenue growth in 2023.

謝謝。在美洲，我們在 23 財年實現了 20% 的收入成長，使該地區成為 2023 年整體收入成長的最大貢獻者。

Due to our brand strength, BIRKENSTOCK outperformed a generally flat market with retail partners who have seen overall challenges in both traffic and conversion. We know retailers are seeking to shift investments to the highest-performing brands. This is an opportunity for us to increase our share and drive top line as we are one of the true must-have brands. And while we will take this opportunity to grow with partners, we will do so without compromising on our profit-led product allocation strategy.

憑藉我們的品牌優勢，BIRKENSTOCK 的表現優於零售合作夥伴普遍持平的市場，這些零售合作夥伴在流量和轉換方面都面臨整體挑戰。我們知道零售商正在尋求將投資轉向表現最好的品牌。這是我們增加份額並提高收入的機會，因為我們是真正的必備品牌之一。雖然我們將藉此機會與合作夥伴一起成長，但我們將在不損害以利潤為導向的產品分配策略的情況下做到這一點。

We chose to remain very disciplined in B2B channels so that we leave a significant unrequited demand and ensure scarcity across all retail partners with healthy inventories at retail. This approach led to B2B revenue growth of 16% in fiscal '23. Using our engineered distribution strategy, we have steered greater inventory to capture more of this consumer demand in our own DTC channels, where the profit per pair sold is the highest. DTC revenues grew in fiscal '23 by 26%, on a level far above B2B, which leads to a further expansion of DTC penetration.

我們選擇在 B2B 通路中保持嚴格的紀律，以便留下大量無回報的需求，並確保所有零售合作夥伴的稀缺性，並擁有健康的零售庫存。這種方法使 23 財年的 B2B 收入成長了 16%。利用我們精心設計的分銷策略，我們引導更多庫存，以在我們自己的 DTC 管道中捕獲更多消費者需求，在該管道中，每雙鞋的銷售利潤最高。 23 財年 DTC 營收成長了 26%，遠高於 B2B 水平，這導致 DTC 滲透率進一步擴大。

During fiscal '23, we have also gained significant penetration in our closed-toe shoe silhouettes, which supported the ASP increase. Closed-toe performance is approximately 3x higher in our own channels compared to B2B, which shines a light on the growth potential not only in DTC but also in B2B. In our fourth quarter, revenues increased by 40%, primarily driven by a strong B2B quarter with 73% growth. We experienced strong consumer demand in spring and summer, which even gained further momentum in the back-to-school retail season.

在 23 財年，我們的閉趾鞋也獲得了顯著的滲透，這支持了平均售價的成長。與 B2B 相比，我們自己的渠道的閉趾性能大約高出 3 倍，這不僅揭示了 DTC 的成長潛力，也揭示了 B2B 的成長潛力。第四季的營收成長了 40%，這主要得益於 B2B 季度強勁的 73% 成長。我們在春季和夏季經歷了強勁的消費需求，甚至在返校零售季獲得了進一步的動力。

In Q4, we took advantage of the macroeconomic situation to execute what we term land grabs in white spaces, particularly shoes, based on our heightened leverage in sandals and clogs, maintaining strong sell-through and healthy inventory at retail. In addition, we made significant inroads in expanding our distribution so that the benefits of our footbed make it front and center in running specialty shops.

在第四季度，我們利用宏觀經濟形勢，在涼鞋和木底鞋領域加大槓桿力度，在空白領域（尤其是鞋類領域）進行了所謂的「搶地」行動，維持了強勁的銷售量和健康的零售庫存。此外，我們在擴大分銷方面取得了重大進展，使我們的鞋墊的優勢使其成為經營專賣店的前沿和中心。

This is a new initiative and brings the benefits of our footbed directly where the most discerning consumers purchase their performance sports products and whereby this consumer can benefit from BIRKENSTOCK as a recovery item as part of their athletic lifestyle. The mantra we use is run, BIRKENSTOCK, repeat. And this helps us ensure the benefit of our footbed leads a growing revenue base to complement purchases made by some who may buy for fashion-led reasons.

這是一項新舉措，直接為最​​挑剔的消費者購買其高性能運動產品帶來了我們鞋床的優勢，並且該消費者可以從BIRKENSTOCK 中受益，將其作為恢復項目，作為其運動生活方式的一部分。我們使用的口號是「奔跑、BIRKENSTOCK、重複」。這有助於我們確保鞋床的優勢帶來不斷增長的收入基礎，以補充那些可能出於時尚主導原因購買的人的購買行為。

Please note that, by and large, we do not expand distribution other than in some specific doors, where we believe an end user may be underserved. Here, run specialty, sports recovery is a good example.

請注意，總的來說，除了某些特定的門外，我們不會擴大分銷範圍，因為我們認為這些門的最終用戶可能無法得到充分的服務。這裡，跑步專業、運動恢復就是一個很好的例子。

Let me now hand over the call to Nico to discuss Europe's performance.

現在讓我把電話轉給尼科，討論歐洲的表現。

In our Europe segment, we have cemented our strong position in a challenging market environment, which is driven by consumer caution and increasing sales promotions due to material inventory levels. This strength is built on our disciplined engineered distribution model to manage scarcity, resulting in strong overall sell-throughs and superior full price realization.

在歐洲業務中，我們在充滿挑戰的市場環境中鞏固了自己的強勢地位，這是由於消費者的謹慎態度以及材料庫存水平導致的促銷力度加大所推動的。這種優勢建立在我們嚴格的設計分銷模式之上，以管理稀缺性，從而實現強勁的整體銷售和卓越的全價實現。

Full year of fiscal '23 was a successful year in terms of business transformation with a significant volume shift from lower quality distribution into higher ASPs and higher profitability. We increased revenues by 18% with revenues significantly outgrowing units.

23 財年全年在業務轉型方面是成功的一年，銷量顯著從較低品質的分銷轉向較高的平均售價和較高的盈利能力。我們的收入成長了 18%，收入的成長明顯超過了單位的成長。

Our B2B transformation in Europe is now completed. We have significantly increased our distribution control by converting further distributor markets of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg to own distribution and by further rationalizing our wholesale partner portfolio with a stronger focus on strategic partners and new distributions in the premium sneaker segment, both supporting our premium brand positioning.

我們在歐洲的B2B轉型現已完成。我們透過將比利時、荷蘭和盧森堡的更多經銷商市場轉變為自有分銷，並進一步合理化我們的批發合作夥伴組合，更加註重戰略合作夥伴和優質運動鞋領域的新分銷，從而顯著增強了我們的分銷控制，兩者都支援我們的優質品牌定位。

Our recently taken-back markets, France and Scandinavia, both operating as own distribution markets since fiscal '22, are well set up, both delivering overproportionate growth. These transformational efforts resulted in 15% revenue growth for B2B. Simultaneously, we saw great progress in our DTC transformation towards higher quality and stronger member-centricity.

我們最近收回的法國和斯堪的納維亞市場自 22 財年以來都作為自己的分銷市場運營，已經建立良好，都實現了超比例的增長。這些轉型努力使 B2B 收入成長了 15%。同時，我們的DTC轉型朝向更高品質、更強會員中心方向邁進。

In fiscal '23, we closed a substantial part of our legacy retail stores and took strategic investments in our membership and analytics capabilities. We experienced consistently strong consumer demand in our own channels with record-breaking sales in both retail and online throughout the summer. Fiscal '23 DTC revenues increased by 24%, significantly outperforming B2B and thus resulting in further DTC penetration.

在 23 財年，我們關閉了大部分傳統零售店，並對我們的會員資格和分析能力進行了戰略投資。我們在自己的通路中經歷了持續強勁的消費者需求，整個夏季零售和線上銷售均創紀錄。 23 財年 DTC 營收成長了 24%，明顯優於 B2B，導致 DTC 進一步滲透。

Fourth quarter revenues in Europe were up 5%. The single-digit increase was impacted by shipment timing effects and B2B partner termination effects following our wholesale cleanup. In fiscal '22, we experienced shipment delays in the first half of the year, leading to an exceptional revenue level in the second half. This elevated sales level in Q4 of fiscal '22 has been the base for Q4 of fiscal '23. Furthermore, we phased out the biggest terminated wholesale partners in fiscal '23, which impacted Q4 '23 results.

歐洲第四季營收成長 5%。個位數的成長受到了我們批發清理後的出貨時間效應和 B2B 合作夥伴終止效應的影響。在 22 財年，我們在上半年經歷了出貨延遲，導致下半年的營收水準異常出色。 22 財年第四季的銷售水準上升是 23 財年第四季的基礎。此外，我們在 23 財年逐步淘汰了最大的終止批發合作夥伴，這影響了 23 年第四季的業績。

By taking out these timing effects, revenues would have grown double digit in Q4 of fiscal '23. DTC revenue growth in Q4 was 20%, slightly impacted by store closures in Europe following our transformation. And our closed-toe shoe penetration in Q4 decreased significantly.

透過消除這些時間效應，23 財年第四季的營收將實現兩位數成長。第四季 DTC 營收成長 20%，受到轉型後歐洲門市關閉的輕微影響。第四季我們的閉趾鞋滲透率顯著下降。

I'm going to hand it over to Klaus for APMA discussion.

我將把它交給 Klaus 進行 APMA 討論。

Our APMA segment showed the highest growth rate of all segments in the fiscal year '23 with 27%. APMA entered into the acceleration mode after a successful distribution cleanup. All over the region, we are with teams on ground to drive future revenues.

我們的 APMA 部門在 23 財年的所有部門中成長率最高，達到 27%。成功進行分佈清理後，APMA 進入加速模式。在整個地區，我們的團隊都致力於推動未來的收入成長。

Within the channels, DTC is the growth backbone in APMA. We managed to double the DTC revenues in fiscal year '23 by capitalizing the growing demand, adding web shops in different countries and opening own retail stores in India and Japan. We managed to implement premium distribution through partner stores all over the region. We grew in underpenetrated countries like Greater China marketplaces more than 60%, India digital grew more than 70% and Japan digital, more than 50%. So let me remind you at this stage that our DTC expansion is not at the expense of B2B growth. It is all incremental.

在通路內，DTC是APMA的成長支柱。透過利用不斷增長的需求、在不同國家/地區增加線上商店以及在印度和日本開設自己的零售店，我們成功地將 DTC 收入在 23 財年翻了一番。我們設法透過整個地區的合作夥伴商店實施優質分銷。我們在滲透率較低的國家成長了 60% 以上，印度數位市場成長了 70% 以上，日本數位市場成長了 50% 以上。因此，我在此階段提醒您，我們的 DTC 擴張不會以犧牲 B2B 成長為代價。這都是增量的。

Despite distribution cleanup, B2B grew double digits at 12%. We focused on mono-branded partner store openings and upscaled customers to more premium products by following our global segmentation strategy of placing the right products in the right places or adding exclusive products to our own channel.

儘管進行了分銷清理，B2B 仍實現了 12% 的兩位數成長。我們專注於單一品牌合作夥伴商店的開設，並透過遵循我們的全球細分策略，將正確的產品放置在正確的位置或在我們自己的管道中添加獨家產品，向客戶提供更優質的產品。

In Greater China, we recently appointed Tiffany Wu as the Managing Director to drive brand equity and sales in the region. With this new appointment, we aim to further strengthen our expanding footprint in the most dynamic APMA region and the growth region with the largest untapped white space potential for the company alongside with India and Japan.

在大中華區，我們最近任命 Tiffany Wu 為董事總經理，以推動該地區的品牌資產和銷售。透過這項新任命，我們的目標是進一步加強我們在最具活力的 APMA 地區以及印度和日本等具有最大未開發空白潛力的成長地區的擴張足跡。

So having said that, let me hand over to Erik, who will review the financial figures in detail.

話雖如此，讓我將任務交給艾瑞克，他將詳細審查財務數據。

As outlined earlier, we achieved remarkable revenue growth of 20% in fiscal 2023. Our fourth quarter tied in with this performance and came in with growth of 22%. Gross profit margin for fiscal '23 was 62.1%, up 180 basis points compared to fiscal '22.

如前所述，我們在 2023 財年實現了 20% 的顯著收入成長。我們的第四季度與這一業績相匹配，實現了 22% 的成長。 23 財年的毛利率為 62.1%，比 22 財年上升 180 個基點。

Let me remind you that last year's number was unfavorably impacted by EUR 24.4 million of expense reflecting the effect of applying the acquisition method of accounting for the transaction in '21 to inventory valuation with subsequent impact on cost of sales. When adjusting this fiscal '22 effect, gross profit margin slightly decreased 20 basis points from 62.3% to 62.1%.

讓我提醒您，去年的數字受到 2440 萬歐元費用的不利影響，這反映了將 21 年交易會計的收購方法應用於庫存評估的影響以及隨後對銷售成本的影響。調整 22 財年效應後，毛利率略為下降 20 個基點，從 62.3% 降至 62.1%。

The decrease was driven by inflationary costs for raw materials and labor. In fiscal year '22, we took an early sales price increase ahead of the anticipated cost inflation while cost of sales inflation mainly hit us in fiscal '23. However, the unfavorable cost of sales inflation effects in gross margin was largely offset by favorable effects from an increased DTC penetration and further sales price increases.

下降的原因是原材料和勞動成本上漲。在 22 財年，我們在預期的成本通膨之前提前提高了銷售價格，而銷售成本通膨主要在 23 財年對我們造成打擊。然而，銷售成本通膨對毛利率的不利影響在很大程度上被 DTC 滲透率提高和銷售價格進一步上漲的有利影響所抵消。

Gross profit margin in the fourth quarter increased by 140 basis points from 64% to 65.4% due to strong ASP increase following improved product mix and a slightly higher DTC penetration. Adjusted selling and distribution expenses represented 29.8% of revenues in fiscal '23, up 190 basis points compared to prior year. The increase was primarily driven by higher costs in relation to the above-average growth of DTC revenues and cost inflation.

由於產品組合改善以及 DTC 滲透率略高，平均售價強勁成長，第四季毛利率從 64% 成長了 140 個基點至 65.4%。調整後的銷售和分銷費用佔 23 財年收入的 29.8%，比上年增長 190 個基點。這一增長主要是由於 DTC 收入增長高於平均水平和成本通膨導致成本上升。

Adjusted general and administrative change expenses represented 5.4% of revenues in fiscal '23, down 70 basis points compared to prior year, providing operational leverage. Our fiscal '23 adjusted EBITDA of EUR 483 million was up 11% compared to fiscal '22.

調整後的一般和行政變革費用佔 23 財年收入的 5.4%，比上年下降 70 個基點，提供了營運槓桿。我們的 23 財年調整後 EBITDA 為 4.83 億歐元，與 22 財年相比成長了 11%。

With 32.4%, we again achieved top-tier EBITDA margins. The margin decline of 260 basis points compared to prior year was driven by inflationary headwinds, which impacted us in fiscal '23, while the increased sales prices primarily in fiscal '22. Thus, last year's margin was elevated by this favorable pricing effect.

我們的 EBITDA 利潤率為 32.4%，再次達到頂級水準。與前一年相比，利潤率下降了 260 個基點，這是由通貨膨脹逆風推動的，這在 23 財年影響了我們，而銷售價格的上漲主要是在 22 財年。因此，去年的利潤率因這種有利的定價效應而提高。

Our fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was EUR 96 million, slightly down by 6%. The moderate decline was primarily driven by cost inflation and negative FX effects from currency translation due to the weaker U.S. dollar compared to fourth quarter of fiscal '22.

我們第四季調整後的 EBITDA 為 9,600 萬歐元，小幅下降 6%。溫和下降的主要原因是成本通膨以及因美元較 22 財年第四季疲軟而導致的貨幣換算帶來的負面外匯影響。

Our effective tax rate for fiscal '23 was 51.2% compared to 25.3% for the prior year. This increase mainly relates to one-time noncash share-based compensation expenses that are treated as nondeductible. The increase also includes one-time IPO costs, resulting in tax losses for which no deferred taxes are recognized.

我們 23 財年的有效稅率為 51.2%，而前一年為 25.3%。這一增長主要與被視為不可扣除的一次性非現金股份補償費用有關。這一增加還包括一次性首次公開發行成本，導致稅務損失，但不確認遞延稅款。

Adjusting for the tax rate impacts of the just mentioned extraordinary expenses of EUR 65 million resulting from noncash share-based compensation and EUR 34 million resulting from IPO costs would lead to a normalized effective tax rate of 27.9%.

調整剛才提到的非現金股權激勵產生的 6,500 萬歐元的非常費用和 IPO 成本產生的 3,400 萬歐元的稅率影響，將導致正常化有效稅率為 27.9%。

This results in cumulative and pro forma fully diluted adjusted earnings per share of EUR 1.10 in fiscal '23 compared to EUR 0.93 in prior year, representing growth of 19%. Fourth quarter pro forma fully diluted adjusted earnings per share were EUR 0.13. These earnings per share metrics are calculated based on a total number of outstanding shares of 187.8 million, representing the post-IPO number.

這導致 23 財年的累積和預計完全稀釋調整後每股收益為 1.10 歐元，而上一年為 0.93 歐元，成長了 19%。第四季預計完全稀釋調整後每股收益為 0.13 歐元。這些每股盈餘指標是根據已發行股票總數 1.878 億股計算的，即 IPO 後的數量。

With that, I will hand over to Alexander.

這樣，我就把任務交給亞歷山大了。

BIRKENSTOCK is a cash flow-generating business, which provides us optionality to unlock capital allocation. In fiscal '23, we achieved cash flow from operating activities of EUR 359 million, up 53% compared to prior year. The increase is primarily driven by a strong operational performance as well as a lower inventory increase compared to fiscal '22. Inventory increased 11%, which is approximately half of the revenue growth rate, providing us with an improved inventory through revenue per share.

BIRKENSTOCK 是一家產生現金流的企業，它為我們提供了釋放資本配置的選擇權。 23 財年，我們實現了經營活動現金流 3.59 億歐元，比上年增長 53%。這一成長主要是由於強勁的營運表現以及與 22 財年相比較低的庫存成長所推動的。庫存成長了 11%，大約是收入成長率的一半，透過每股收入為我們提供了改善的庫存。

We are extremely focused on inventory health, especially as we grow. Let me remind you at this stage that we hold approximately EUR 100 million of raw materials and sitting finished goods as we have the production in-house. Within finished goods, the largest part relates to core and nonseasonal products, which we sell for many years or decades. The majority of finished goods was already contracted or allocated against customers. Accordingly, risks for allowances are low while the inventory gives us flexibility to react fast to an increase in demand and to generate additional sales and gain market share.

我們非常關注庫存健康狀況，尤其是隨著我們的發展。我在此提醒您，我們擁有約 1 億歐元的原料和成品，因為我們擁有內部生產。在製成品中，最大的一部分涉及核心和非季節性產品，我們銷售這些產品多年或數十年。大部分成品已針對客戶簽訂合約或分配。因此，配額的風險較低，而庫存使我們能夠靈活地對需求的成長做出快速反應，並產生額外的銷售額並獲得市場份額。

Net cash flow used in investing activities was EUR 101 million, primarily driven by the production capacity expansion. Our strong cash flow generation allowed us to completely pay for that capital expenditure out of our operating cash flow In addition, we repaid loans and borrowings of EUR 53 million in fiscal while increasing our cash position.

用於投資活動的淨現金流量為1.01億歐元，主要由產能擴張推動。我們強大的現金流產生使我們能夠從經營現金流中完全支付資本支出。此外，我們還償還了 5,300 萬歐元的財政貸款和借款，同時增加了我們的現金狀況。

As announced in early November 2023, we continued our deleveraging process post IPO and utilized the net proceeds together with cash on-hand to repay existing debt. We already repaid USD 450 million of the Term Loan B and EUR 100 million of the vendor loan in the first quarter of fiscal '24, which reduced leverage to below 2.5 post IPO.

正如 2023 年 11 月初所宣布的，我們在 IPO 後繼續進行去槓桿化進程，並利用所得淨收益和手頭現金償還現有債務。我們已在 24 財年第一季償還了 4.5 億美元的定期貸款 B 和 1 億歐元的供應商貸款，這將 IPO 後的槓桿率降至 2.5 以下。

Now turning to the future. We will provide guidance on a full year basis rather than quarterly, reflecting the way we steer all this towards long-term success. For fiscal '24, we expect revenue to be in the range of EUR 1.74 billion and EUR 1.76 billion on a constant currency basis. This range represents growth of 17% to 18% relative to fiscal '23 with all segments and channels contributing to that growth.

現在轉向未來。我們將提供全年而不是季度的指導，反映我們引導這一切走向長期成功的方式。對於 24 財年，我們預計以固定匯率計算收入將在 17.4 億歐元至 17.6 億歐元之間。與 23 財年相比，這一範圍成長了 17% 至 18%，所有細分市場和通路都對此成長做出了貢獻。

We continue to see strong consumer demand for global store brands above presentable range, which is better than internal expectations at the time of the IPO. We expect adjusted EBITDA margin to be approximately 30% in fiscal '24, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA between EUR 520 million and EUR 530 million on a constant currency basis based on the earlier mentioned revenue guidance.

我們持續看到消費者對全球商店品牌的強勁需求高於可觀的範圍，這比 IPO 時的內部預期好。我們預計 24 財年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率約為 30%，根據前面提到的營收指引，以固定匯率計算，調整後的 EBITDA 將在 5.2 億歐元至 5.3 億歐元之間。

With the production start of our new factory in Pasewalk, September 23, we are very happy in taking an important step of our capacity expansion. We are on track with the project and built the factory on budget and in time. The added capacity will help us to fulfill future demand. And we are on schedule to realize the benefits of this capacity expansion later in fiscal '24 and the upcoming years.

隨著我們位於帕塞瓦爾克的新工廠於​​ 9 月 23 日開始生產，我們很高興在產能擴張方面邁出了重要的一步。我們的專案進展順利，並按預算按時建造了工廠。增加的產能將有助於我們滿足未來的需求。我們計劃在 24 財年晚些時候和未來幾年實現產能擴張的好處。

In the current year, we expect modest headwinds to adjusted EBITDA margins compared to fiscal '23 due to planned ramp-up costs and an initial under-absorption. This impact is consistent with what we communicated in the IPO (inaudible). Long term, we expect an adjusted EBITDA margin in the low 30s with slight variations based on our investments.

今年，由於計劃增加成本和初始吸收不足，我們預計與 23 財年相比，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將面臨適度的阻力。這種影響與我們在 IPO 中傳達的內容一致（聽不清楚）。從長遠來看，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將在 30 左右，根據我們的投資略有變化。

Our capital allocation priorities are: first, to invest in the business; and second, to balance deleveraging. We expect to invest approximately EUR 150 million of capital expenditure in fiscal '24, primarily relating to our ongoing production capacity expansion, mainly in Goerlitz and Portugal and our global retail store expansion. In addition, BIRKENSTOCK plans to continue its direction forward and aims to achieve a leverage ratio below 2 within the next 18 months.

我們的資金配置重點是：第一，投資業務；二是平衡去槓桿。我們預計在 24 財年投資約 1.5 億歐元的資本支出，主要用於我們持續的產能擴張（主要在格爾利茲和葡萄牙）以及我們的全球零售店擴張。此外，BIRKENSTOCK 計劃繼續前進，目標是在未來 18 個月內實現槓桿率低於 2。

With that, operator, can you please begin Q&A?

那麼，接線生，可以開始問答了嗎？

(Operator Instructions) The first question today is coming from Edward Yruma from Piper Sandler.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 的 Edward Yruma。

I guess, curious on how you feel about inventory on a SKU basis. It seems like you've had a lot of very popular SKUs like the Boston, particularly in the U.S. So kind of curious how you feel about some of your hotter SKUs right now and kind of inventory levels in the channel.

我想，很好奇您對基於 SKU 的庫存有何看法。看來你們有很多非常受歡迎的 SKU，比如波士頓，特別是在美國。所以有點好奇你們現在對一些更熱門的 SKU 以及渠道中的庫存水平有何看法。

Thanks for your question. Yes, a topic we have been discussing before. Inventory compared to revenue came down in '23 from 36% to 30%. So you see we are constantly working on optimizing this. Still, as you know, more than 75% are already allocated to customers and more than 75% is timeless and carryover products (inaudible), so nothing I'm worried about. And I'm very positive with the inventory level we have. You know as a company that's producing our own goods, we always want to be in the position to deliver DTC, which we will grow. So we need inventory, we will increase inventory, but still we optimize it constantly.

謝謝你的提問。是的，這是我們之前討論過的話題。與收入相比，庫存在 23 年從 36% 下降到 30%。所以你看我們一直在努力優化這一點。不過，如您所知，超過 75% 的產品已經分配給客戶，超過 75% 的產品是永恆的和遺留產品（聽不清楚），所以我沒什麼擔心。我對我們的庫存水準非常樂觀。您知道，作為一家生產自己產品的公司，我們始終希望能夠提供 DTC，並且我們將持續發展 DTC。所以我們需要庫存，我們會增加庫存，但我們仍然不斷優化它。

The next question is coming from Matthew Boss from JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的馬修·博斯。

Congrats on a nice quarter. So Oliver, could you speak to maybe the broad-based strength in demand that you continue to see across geographies? Have you seen any change in top line momentum through holiday or your December end first quarter relative to the more than 20% constant currency growth that you delivered in the fourth quarter? And just how would you rank white space category opportunities in 2024?

恭喜您度過了一個美好的季度。那麼奧利弗，您能否談談您在各個地區繼續看到的廣泛的需求力量？相對於您在第四季實現的超過 20% 的恆定匯率成長，您在假期期間或 12 月底的第一季的營收動能是否有任何變化？您如何評估 2024 年的空白類別機會？

I would say you've seen the growth rate in Q4, which is 22%. So we can't see any kind of downside here for Q1 and the full year. So as you know what, we are price-conservative. We try to be very realistic here. You may have heard about the inflation increases again in Germany. And so we are very careful in this segment to be on the right side and not to, let's say, optimistic. But the demand for purpose-driven brands are unbroken. It's a bit of different to the desire-driven luxury brands. I think they're much heavier under pressure, we are not. We see growth everywhere.

我想說你已經看到了第四季的成長率，也就是 22%。因此，我們看不到第一季和全年的任何負面影響。如您所知，我們在價格上很保守。我們在這裡嘗試非常現實。您可能聽說過德國通貨膨脹率再次上升。因此，我們在這一領域非常謹慎，以站在正確的一邊，而不是樂觀。但對目標驅動品牌的需求從未中斷。這與慾望驅動的奢侈品牌有點不同。我認為他們在壓力下承受的壓力要大得多，而我們則不然。我們到處都看到成長。

Your question about the upcoming territories like APMA, the white space, as we said before on the roadshows and in the testing-the-water sessions, we don't see any significant impact on our business in '24 because we are just about to start this. And the investment in retail and in the right partners and develop these regions carefully is the leading guidance here for us at the moment. They will kick in later, you will see. And then they will generate much more growth. And they will carry much more EBIT as they do today.

您關於即將到來的領域（例如 APMA）的問題，正如我們之前在路演和試水會議中所說的那樣，我們認為 24 年的業務不會受到任何重大影響，因為我們即將開始這個。對零售業和合適合作夥伴的投資以及仔細開發這些地區是我們目前的主要指導。他們稍後會介入，你會看到的。然後它們將產生更多的增長。他們的息稅前利潤將像今天一樣多得多。

The next question is coming from Louise Singlehurst from Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的路易絲·辛格赫斯特。

If I could just ask about the factory and in terms of how that's gone, I think it opened in September. It's obviously very important for the volume increase for the year ahead. And it would be interesting to know just how -- where you are in terms of expectations and any learnings since September.

如果我可以問一下工廠的情況以及工廠的進展情況，我想它是在 9 月開業的。這顯然對於未來一年的銷售成長非常重要。了解自 9 月以來您的期望和學習情況如何，將會很有趣。

As you know, the new factory in Pasewalk and the refitting in Goerlitz and some refitting in our factory in Portugal in Arouca will give us, in the next years, the opportunity to double the capacity. So that's really a big moment for us to really grow the capacity. And of course, as we said it before, you see some negative impact on our margin within the '24 numbers because of this Pasewalk one-off effect. And to be super honest, we see also some pressure from inflation coming in '24.

如您所知，帕塞瓦爾克的新工廠、格爾利茨的改裝以及葡萄牙阿魯卡工廠的一些改裝將使我們在未來幾年有機會將產能翻倍。因此，這對我們來說確實是一個真正提高產能的重要時刻。當然，正如我們之前所說，由於帕塞沃克的一次性效應，您會看到 24 年數據對我們的利潤率產生了一些負面影響。說實話，我們也看到了 24 年通膨帶來的一些壓力。

As you know, we are very sensitive, but our customers are very loose with our pricing power. So we have enough leg space to further increase pricing and helping digesting the one-off costs through these factory improvements and the further investment in our capacity. So we are on track here. And this will give us a completely different situation from '25 onwards. So we expect that this growth preparation will be heavily digested within '24 and then you will see a quick recovery of margins and efficiency and hopefully less inflation as well.

如您所知，我們非常敏感，但我們的客戶對我們的定價能力非常寬鬆。因此，我們有足夠的空間來進一步提高定價，並透過這些工廠改進和對產能的進一步投資來幫助消化一次性成本。所以我們已經步入正軌了。從25年開始，這將為我們帶來完全不同的情況。因此，我們預計這種成長準備將在 24 年內充分消化，然後您將看到利潤率和效率的快速恢復，並有望減少通貨膨脹。

The next question is coming from Michael Binetti from Evercore ISI.

下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Michael Binetti。

Congrats on your first quarter out of the gate here. I just wanted to clarify one comment from before on fiscal '24. Did you say -- as we think about the cadence of the year a little bit, I know you're guiding on an annual basis. But did you say to look at the 22% constant currency growth rate in fourth quarter as a good way to think about how the revenues grow early in the year in the December quarter and if that was right?

恭喜你第一季的表現。我只是想澄清之前關於 24 財年的一項評論。你是不是說——當我們稍微考慮一下今年的節奏時，我知道你每年都會進行指導。但您是否說過將第四季 22% 的恆定匯率成長率作為思考年初 12 季營收成長的好方法，這是否正確？

And then to the question about the new factory coming online, could you speak to what you think we should -- how we should think about the pace of unit volume growth building as we move through the year into the comment you made about later in the year, you'll start to see some of the effects of the new factory ramping? And then David, if you wouldn't mind for a second telling us about -- maybe a little bit about what you referred to as the land grabs in Americas, please?

然後，關於新工廠上線的問題，您能否談談您認為我們應該做什麼——當我們進入今年您稍後發表的評論時，我們應該如何考慮單位產量增長的步伐今年，您會開始看到新工廠擴建的一些影響嗎？然後大衛，如果你不介意告訴我們一些關於你所說的美洲土地掠奪的事情，可以嗎？

Absolutely, it's a lot of questions, Michael. I will start at the beginning. We do see a unit growth, of course, within '24. This will give us some movement to improve our engineered distribution model. Coming back to your Q4 numbers and the outlook in Q1, I mean, it's really -- you know what, we are conservative, but we're not disconnected to the reality. I mean, our growth rate in Q4 is 22%, okay? So why should this drop so dramatically? I mean, the full year guidance is between 17% and 18%. But the truth is we are kicking in on a level of 22% in Q4.

當然，有很多問題，邁克爾。我將從頭開始。當然，我們確實看到了 24 年銷量的成長。這將為我們改進我們的工程分銷模式提供一些動力。回到第四季的數據和第一季的前景，我的意思是，我們確實很保守，但我們並沒有脫離現實。我的意思是，我們第四季的成長率是 22%，好嗎？那麼為什麼這個數字會大幅下降呢？我的意思是，全年指導值在 17% 到 18% 之間。但事實是，第四季我們的成長率達到了 22%。

And yes, this is not dramatically declining, and we are very positive about our Q1 already. But we're talking about a full year guidance. So as you know, on the conservative side, being rookies in this segment of IPO presentations and communications, we want to make sure that we are on the right side. And that's why we're sticking with our guidance for the full year guidance of 17% to 18%, okay? And I hand over to David to give you a bit of a color of the U.S. market, and yes.

是的，這一數字並沒有大幅下降，而且我們已經對第一季非常樂觀。但我們談論的是全年指導。如您所知，從保守的角度來看，作為 IPO 演示和溝通領域的新手，我們希望確保我們站在正確的一邊。這就是為什麼我們堅持全年指導 17% 至 18%，好嗎？我請大衛向您介紹美國市場的情況，是的。

Thanks, Oliver. Thanks, Michael, for the question. Land grab is a term we use where we really aggressively take some share. I mean, what we're seeing in the U.S. right now is it's almost a little counterintuitive. But the more challenged the consumer spending power has been, really the better it's been for the brands that are really in high demand.

謝謝，奧利佛。謝謝邁克爾提出這個問題。土地掠奪是我們真正積極地獲取一些份額時使用的術語。我的意思是，我們現在在美國看到的情況幾乎有點違反直覺。但消費者的消費能力面臨的挑戰越大，對於那些真正需求量大的品牌來說，情況就越好。

And like Oliver said, what we're seeing is this incredible shift right now in shopping patterns from general shopping to real intentional purchasing, where people are searching out those products, brands, experiences they really want. And obviously, BIRKENSTOCK is one of those few that's benefiting. And when we had an opportunity in the recent months to take some share and to provide especially our retail partners with a brand that is selling through at near-record levels of full price realization, we took that opportunity to fill some more shelf space.

正如奧利佛所說，我們現在看到的是購物模式從一般購物到真正的有意購買的令人難以置信的轉變，人們正在尋找他們真正想要的產品、品牌和體驗。顯然，BIRKENSTOCK 是少數受益者之一。最近幾個月，當我們有機會獲得一些份額，並特別為我們的零售合作夥伴提供一個以接近創紀錄的全價實現水平銷售的品牌時，我們利用這個機會填補了更多的貨架空間。

(Operator Instructions) Next question is coming from Dana Telsey from Telsey Group.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自 Telsey Group 的 Dana Telsey。

As you think about ASP and units sold and even by region, how are you thinking about new categories and new products on the ASP side versus core in terms of do you take price increase, given the inflation? Do you not take price increase? Does it differ by channel and region? And with the new introductions of new items this year, what's the pace like compared to last year? Does it differ in terms of timing as to what we should see by quarter?

當您考慮平均售價和銷售量，甚至按地區劃分時，您如何考慮平均售價方面與核心方面的新類別和新產品，考慮到通貨膨脹，您是否會接受價格上漲？你們不接受漲價嗎？不同通路和地區有不同嗎？今年新推出的新品，與去年相比，節奏如何？我們每季應該看到的情況在時間上是否有所不同？

Thanks for the question, Dana. We have taken price increases over the past few years on an ongoing basis on our core products. And what we're seeing is the consumer response to leather, to more higher-priced products has been far beyond our expectations. It's exactly what I spoke about, there's incredible intentional purchases, where consumers, our brand fans, are searching out products. And it just so happens to be that some of those products, especially the closed-toe ones are obviously at higher average selling prices.

謝謝你的提問，達納。過去幾年，我們的核心產品持續漲價。我們所看到的是，消費者對皮革、對價格更高的產品的反應遠遠超出了我們的預期。這正是我所說的，存在令人難以置信的有意購買，消費者，我們的品牌粉絲，正在尋找產品。碰巧的是，其中一些產品，尤其是閉趾產品的平均售價顯然更高。

So the consumer who's come to our brand by way of our core products, as you know, we average 3.6 pairs per consumer, they might come to us from a core purchase and then their next purchase and their next purchase and their next 3.6 purchases may be closed-toe or clog products that just happen to be higher average tickets. So we're seeing no price compression whatsoever. And we're actually seeing a growing demand for our higher-priced products, which are just resonating with the consumers.

因此，透過我們的核心產品來到我們品牌的消費者，如您所知，我們平均每個消費者購買3.6 雙，他們可能會透過核心購買來到我們這裡，然後他們的下一次購買、下一次購買以及他們的下一次購買3.6 雙可能是閉趾鞋或​​木底鞋，恰好是平均價格較高的產品。所以我們沒有看到任何價格壓縮。事實上，我們看到對我們高價產品的需求不斷增長，這引起了消費者的共鳴。

Dana, this is Nico. Maybe I can also add a bit color from the European perspective. So in Europe, over the course of the last 2 years, we have increased pricing, weighted average around 25%, which is really significant. And for us, pricing just generally across the group is a seasonal exercise. So every season, we look at the entire portfolio, the entire collection and look at input cost, look at the COGS and then also look at what equity we have for each individual product and what can we charge for that product.

達納，這是尼科。也許我還可以從歐洲的角度添加一點色彩。因此，在歐洲，在過去 2 年裡，我們提高了定價，加權平均約為 25%，這確實很重要。對我們來說，整個集團的定價通常是季節性的。因此，每個季節，我們都會審視整個產品組合、整個系列，審視投入成本、銷貨成本，然後審視我們對每種產品擁有的權益以及我們可以為該產品收取多少費用。

So we are currently selling in autumn/winter '24. We sold in spring/summer '24 for Europe, again a significant price increase in that season. And that's going to continue. The price increases that we have done so far did not result in any negative impact from the consumer perspective. So the demand remains unchanged -- remains unbroken. And that's quite special for us as a brand across the globe.

所以我們目前正在 24 年秋冬銷售。我們在 24 年春夏向歐洲銷售，該季節價格再次大幅上漲。這種情況還會持續下去。從消費者的角度來看，我們迄今為止所做的漲價並未造成任何負面影響。所以需求保持不變——保持不間斷。這對我們作為一個全球品牌來說非常特別。

The next question is coming from Paul Lejuez from Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Paul Lejuez。

Curious what surprised you, if anything, on a regional basis, both positive and negative? And maybe how does that shape how you're thinking about growth by region in F '24? Maybe if you can talk about which regions will come on the higher end of that 17% to 18% growth rate that you guided to versus the lower end or below (inaudible) by region.

好奇是什麼讓您感到驚訝（如果有的話），從區域角度來看，無論是積極的還是消極的？也許這會如何影響您對 F '24 各地區成長的看法？也許您可以談談哪些地區將達到您指導的 17% 至 18% 增長率的較高端，而不是按地區劃分的較低端或更低（聽不清楚）。

Thanks for your question. As you know that speaking to geographies, Europe and Americas are more or less growing on the same speed, which is very encouraging because it shows that even in the traditional markets, we are growing very, very strong. You have to keep in mind that our capacity is still very limited. That's why we didn't have enough product to further -- on the unit side, further push more into the APMA region.

謝謝你的提問。如您所知，就地域而言，歐洲和美洲或多或少以相同的速度成長，這是非常令人鼓舞的，因為它表明即使在傳統市場，我們的成長也非常非常強勁。您必須記住，我們的能力仍然非常有限。這就是為什麼我們沒有足夠的產品來進一步 - 在單位方面，進一步將更多產品推向 APMA 地區。

So that's why APMA as a region is only growing by 27%. But in the near future, once we have Pasewalk up and running and the improvements in the other factories in Goerlitz and in Arouca in Portugal, then we will be able to fulfill much better the very, very strong demand in China and the APMA region as a whole. Klaus can give you some color on this after my explanation.

這就是為什麼 APMA 作為一個地區僅成長了 27%。但在不久的將來，一旦我們啟動並運行 Pasewalk，並對位於葡萄牙格爾利茨和阿魯卡的其他工廠進行改進，我們將能夠更好地滿足中國和 APMA 地區非常非常強勁的需求。在我解釋之後，克勞斯可以給你一些解釋。

One thing, and you asked for downside, to be super, super honest, we underestimated the inflation effects. So if you try to understand the bridge from '22 numbers with a 35% margin, going to our outlook, which is conservative, please have this in mind, our conservative outlook for '24, and we come to 30%. So the bridge from the 35% to the 30% is we didn't manage enough price increases in '22. They were fully in our books in '22. That's why we had this outstanding margins.

一件事，當你問負面影響時，說實話，我們低估了通貨膨脹的影響。因此，如果您嘗試從 22 年利潤率 35% 的數字中了解橋樑，請考慮我們保守的前景，請記住這一點，我們對 24 年的保守前景，我們達到 30%。因此，從 35% 到 30% 的橋樑是我們在 22 年沒有實現足夠的價格上漲。它們在 22 年就完全出現在我們的書中了。這就是我們擁有如此出色的利潤率的原因。

Then the inflation on '23 kicked in. And we lost more or less like 2.5% due to this inflation impact. And we cannot adjust the pricing between the years. So we need at least like 10, 12 months in advance to prepare ourselves for price increases. That's what we're doing this year again. So the inflation will be -- and that's really like the question mark here for the '24 numbers.

然後 23 年通貨膨脹開始了。由於通貨膨脹的影響，我們或多或少損失了 2.5%。我們無法調整年份之間的定價。所以我們至少需要提前10、12個月為漲價做好準備。這就是我們今年再次要做的事情。因此，通貨膨脹將是——這真的就像 24 年數字中的問號一樣。

How big will the inflation come back again in '24? We know that Pasewalk will digest some of this margin. So just roughly, from '22 to '23, we lost 2.5% due to inflation -- margin points or 250 basis points. And the inflation will further cost us, our calculation at the moment, 120 basis points in '24 and 120 basis points, the idle cost of Pasewalk or the whole factory rearrangement setup, right? So Klaus, the follow-up is on Chinese next.

24年通貨膨脹會再次出現多大？我們知道 Pasewalk 將消化部分利潤。因此，粗略地說，從 22 年到 23 年，我們因通貨膨脹而損失了 2.5%——保證金點或 250 個基點。通貨膨脹將進一步讓我們付出代價，我們目前的計算是，24年120個基點和120個基點，Pasewalk的閒置成本或整個工廠的重新安排設置，對吧？克勞斯，接下來是中文。

Paul, Klaus here. Just for your question about positive and surprising effects, the expansion in Greater China or in APMA gives us also a big thrust because we're taking over the DTC and we are having more own stores running, which are very overperforming and driving not only the business, also the ASP. And obviously, the rollout will continue. All the campaigns we are running into Greater China are doing very, very well. With the growing capacities we have, I mean, we can constantly supporting that demand and delivering into the countries and it's very positive.

保羅，克勞斯在這裡。就你關於積極和令人驚訝的影響的問題而言，大中華區或APMA 的擴張也給我們帶來了很大的推動力，因為我們正在接管DTC，並且我們正在運營更多自己的商店，這些商店表現非常出色，不僅推動了業務，還有ASP。顯然，推出將會持續下去。我們在大中華區開展的所有活動都做得非常非常好。我的意思是，隨著我們能力的不斷增強，我們可以不斷支持這項需求並向各國提供服務，這是非常積極的。

The next question is coming from Randy Konik from Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的蘭迪·科尼克 (Randy Konik)。

I guess, question back to David. You talked about a flat market in '23. Just want to get some perspective on your thought process on the market overall for '24. It sounds like you're thinking a little bit more challenging. So maybe just give us a more -- a little more specific there of how you're thinking about it.

我想，問題回到大衛。您在 23 年談到了市場平坦。只是想了解一下您對 24 年整個市場的思考過程。聽起來你的想法更具挑戰性。所以也許請給我們更多一些具體一點的信息，告訴我們你是如何看待這個問題的。

And then as you think about just the opportunity from a wholesale perspective, what's the opportunity you're thinking through from a door count expansion potential, if at all? And then how are you thinking about what's going on with order patterns? Are the accounts on the wholesale side kind of taking on more SKUs, more units, volume of existing SKUs? Just give us a little bit more flavor of how you're seeing the overall market in the Americas this coming year as well as the different opportunities for door count and order growth.

然後，當您從批發角度考慮機會時，您從門數擴張潛力角度考慮的機會是什麼（如果有的話）？那麼您如何看待訂單模式發生了什麼事？批發方面的帳戶是否會接受更多的 SKU、更多的單位、現有 SKU 的數量？請讓我們進一步了解您對明年美洲整體市場的看法，以及門數和訂單成長的不同機會。

Sure. And just to start, just a reminder, it's not demand driven from the wholesale side. Everything we do is completely allocated from our side. So it really becomes more of a self-fulfilling processing. What I would say is the U.S. consumer, I've said before, is somewhat fragile but is resilient. And it is a bit counterintuitive. Because the more of the buying power of the consumers has been constrained, the more it's been focused on those products that they most covet and demand.

當然。首先，提醒一下，這不是批發方面的需求驅動。我們所做的一切完全是我們這邊分配的。所以它實際上更像是一種自我實現的過程。我想說的是，我之前說過，美國消費者有些脆弱，但很有彈性。這有點違反直覺。因為消費者的購買力受到的限制越多，就越會關注他們最渴望和需求的產品。

And we are one of the few real key intentional purchases that people are searching for. And I think they're searching with even more vigor than ever before for those few brands that are really important to them. So we can really manage and dictate a lot more of what you see at wholesale than you've ever seen before.

我們是人們正在尋找的少數真正關鍵的有意購買產品之一。我認為他們比以往任何時候都更積極地尋找對他們來說真正重要的少數品牌。因此，我們確實可以管理和規定您在批發中看到的比您以前見過的更多的內容。

Having said that, we're not going to compromise our discipline in any way. There's no real significant door count expansion, except where we think we may have some underserved markets or underserved end users. But suffice to say, everything we do will still be done with the highest level of maintaining relative scarcity and a bit of, what I would say, unrequited demand, which becomes quite frankly a demand flywheel. I mean, the more that we do put into the market, the higher the demand keeps expanding.

話雖如此，我們不會以任何方式妥協我們的紀律。門數並沒有真正顯著的擴張，除非我們認為我們可能有一些服務不足的市場或服務不足的最終用戶。但可以說，我們所做的一切仍將在保持相對稀缺性和一點點（我想說的是）單相思需求的最高水平下完成，坦白說，這成為需求飛輪。我的意思是，我們投入市場的東西越多，需求就會不斷擴大。

So I'd say we're expanding but with extreme discipline. And we're also, based on the incredible momentum we've had in direct-to-consumer, we're fluid. Even in the middle of a quarter, in the middle of a month, we're able to steer available product wherever we think that the highest return and the most benefit will be. If you look at some of the numbers from the past few quarters, that reflects real-time movement of inventory to capture demand where we think we can best manifest it.

所以我想說，我們正在擴張，但有嚴格的紀律。而且，基於我們在直接面向消費者方面所擁有的令人難以置信的勢頭，我們是流動的。即使在一個季度的中旬、一個月的中旬，我們也能夠將可用產品引導到我們認為回報最高、效益最大的地方。如果你看過去幾季的一些數字，你會發現，這反映了庫存的即時變動，以捕捉我們認為最能體現需求的需求。

The next question will come from Simeon Siegel from BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題將由 BMO 資本市場的 Simeon Siegel 提出。

So congrats on a really strong gross margin this quarter. Can you speak to maybe the drivers there a little bit more on how to think about that across the year ahead embedded within the guide? And then just if you can remind us within B2B, what percent of sales now are driven by distributor versus more traditional wholesale and any way to think about the distributor model going forward?

因此，恭喜本季毛利率非常強勁。您能否與那裡的司機多談談如何思考指南中嵌入的未來一年的問題？然後，如果您能提醒我們，在 B2B 領域，與更傳統的批發相比，現在的銷售百分比是由經銷商推動的，以及如何考慮未來的經銷商模式？

Thanks for the question, Simeon. This is Alexander. And I will take that over, so our Q4 this year is up a little bit and is influenced by positive as well as negative effects. We saw a really strong A&P. The colleagues from sales had already touched on that. We see great performance in our higher price point products. DTC penetration is a little up. We took some pricing. We had some American share, which was overproportional, especially in DTC. And all that drives gross margin.

謝謝你的提問，西蒙。這是亞歷山大.我將接管這項工作，因此我們今年第四季的業績有所上升，並受到正面和負面影響的影響。我們看到了一個非常強大的 A&P。銷售的同事已經談到這一點。我們看到我們的高價位產品具有出色的性能。 DTC 滲透率略有上升。我們採取了一些定價。我們有一些美國份額，比例過高，尤其是在 DTC 領域。所有這些都推動了毛利率。

Then we had some negative effects on the FX side. Because last year, there was roughly parity, U.S. dollar versus the euro, that gave some headwind. But overall, an increase in gross margin. This 65% is clearly also coming from strong DTC penetration in this specific quarter. So this is nothing, what we guide for the future. I think we also touched on that 24% number, where we see some kicking-in effects from the capacity expansion. So clearly, we will see that in combination with the inflation, which will bring some slight headwinds to gross margins.

然後我們對外匯方面產生了一些負面影響。因為去年美元兌歐元大致平價，這帶來了一些阻力。但總體而言，毛利率有所上升。這 65% 顯然也來自於該特定季度 DTC 的強勁滲透率。所以這沒什麼，我們對未來的指導。我想我們也談到了 24% 的數字，我們看到了產能擴張帶來的一些初步影響。很明顯，我們將看到，與通貨膨脹相結合，這將為毛利率帶來一些輕微的阻力。

On the distributor piece, this is Nico. So for Europe, as you know, traditionally, we're a pretty distributor-heavy market. Along our transformation plan, we exited many distributors. In fact, we've come down from 10 distributors to 5 over the course of the last 2 years. The remaining distributors, big distributors are Italy, Turkey and some smaller distributors around Greece. They will remain as we look forward into the next 2, 3 years.

在發行人部分，這是尼科。因此，正如您所知，對於歐洲來說，傳統上我們是一個經銷商相當多的市場。在我們的轉型計劃中，我們退出了許多經銷商。事實上，在過去 2 年裡，我們的經銷商數量已從 10 個減少到 5 個。剩下的經銷商，大經銷商是義大利、土耳其和希臘各地的一些較小經銷商。當我們展望未來 2、3 年時，它們將繼續存在。

In Italy, it's worth mentioning that we do own our own DTC. So the DTC channel is owned by us and the distributor is serving the wholesale part, simply because we believe Italy is quite complex in regards of distribution. And we are very careful with entering a market. The recently transformed distributor markets for Europe are Benelux. We just opened our office in Amsterdam and are set up there. The recently taken-back markets generally are overproportionately performing well, delivering overproportionate growth in regards of top line.

在義大利，值得一提的是我們擁有自己的 DTC。因此，DTC 通路歸我們所有，分銷商負責批發部分，因為我們認為義大利在分銷方面相當複雜。我們在進入市場時非常謹慎。最近轉型的歐洲經銷商市場是比荷盧經濟聯盟。我們剛在阿姆斯特丹開設了辦事處並設立在那裡。最近收回的市場總體上表現良好，在營收方面實現了過度成長。

Speaking for APMA, the remaining distributors we work with is Australia and Taiwan. Obviously, with Australia, we have a long relationship with a very good distributor and -- but overall, the distributor share is also coming down.

就 APMA 而言，我們合作的其餘經銷商是澳洲和台灣。顯然，我們與澳洲的一家非常好的分銷商有著長期的合作關係，但總體而言，分銷商的份額也在下降。

And the next question is coming from Sam Poser from Williams Trading.

下一個問題來自威廉斯貿易公司的 Sam Poser。

So I just want to clarify two things and then I have three things. One, David, have you seen any -- what kind of change have you seen in the underlying U.S. demand for your product? And then how are you managing that?

所以我只想澄清兩件事，然後我要澄清三件事。第一，大衛，你看到美國對你的產品的潛在需求發生了什麼樣的變化嗎？那你是如何管理的呢？

Sam, thanks. I use the term the demand flywheel. And it really makes a lot of sense. The more product we continually put into the market, as long as we do it in a disciplined manner, leads to more demand. So demand is not a finite measure. Demand keeps going up. The higher we increase our top line revenue, the more demand keeps outstripping it.

山姆，謝謝。我使用術語“需求飛輪”。這確實很有意義。我們不斷向市場投放的產品越多，只要我們以嚴格的方式進行，就會帶來更多的需求。因此，需求不是一個有限的衡量標準。需求持續上升。我們的收入成長得越高，需求就超過它。

So we're learning more and more about how infinite that demand really is, especially as we start to connect with different end user groups. And that's why that example of like the same shoe just used in a recovery environment opens up a whole new end use for us. That's the perfect example we gave of how exponential the demand really is.

因此，我們越來越了解這種需求到底有多無限，特別是當我們開始與不同的最終用戶群體建立聯繫時。這就是為什麼剛剛在恢復環境中使用的同一隻鞋子的例子為我們開闢了全新的最終用途。這是我們給出的完美例子，說明需求實際上是指數級的成長。

Thank you. That does conclude today's Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Oliver Reichert for closing remarks.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。現在，我將把電話轉回給奧利佛‧賴克特 (Oliver Reichert)，讓其致閉幕詞。

Okay. Thank you for joining us on this call. Overall, we are very pleased with our fiscal '23 results. Thanks to the team. It has never been better positioned for the both near- and long-term financial performance. We believe that once we develop our capacity that we will continue our path. Also, on the margin side, this will definitely be the case. So you shouldn't worry about this. Our outlook overall is very positive. And hopefully, you will join us in our Q1 call and then you will understand what I'm talking about. So enjoy the day. Have a nice day. And thanks to the team on both sides. Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

好的。感謝您參加本次電話會議。整體而言，我們對 23 財年的業績感到非常滿意。感謝團隊。無論是近期還是長期的財務業績，它都處於前所未有的有利地位。我們相信，一旦我們發展了我們的能力，我們將繼續我們的道路。另外，在邊際方面，情況肯定會如此。所以你不應該擔心這個。我們的整體前景非常樂觀。希望您能加入我們的第一季電話會議，然後您就會明白我在說什麼。所以享受這一天吧。祝你今天過得愉快。並感謝雙方團隊。非常感謝。再見。

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

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可能會斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。感謝您的參與。