卡地納健康 (CAH) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to the Second Quarter FY 2023 Cardinal Health Earnings Conference Call. Please note, this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加 2023 財年第二季度 Cardinal Health 收益電話會議。請注意，此通話正在錄音中。 （操作員說明）

I will now hand over to your host, Mr. Kevin Moran, VP of Investor Relations, to begin today's conference.

我現在將請主持人投資者關係副總裁凱文莫蘭先生開始今天的會議。

Good morning, and welcome. Today, we will discuss Cardinal Health's second quarter fiscal 2023 results, along with updates to our full-year outlook. You can find today's press release and earnings presentation on the IR section of our website at ir.cardinalhealth.com.

早上好，歡迎。今天，我們將討論 Cardinal Health 的 2023 財年第二季度業績，以及我們全年展望的更新。您可以在我們網站 ir.cardinalhealth.com 的 IR 部分找到今天的新聞稿和收益報告。

Joining me today are Jason Hollar, our Chief Executive Officer; Trish English, our Interim Chief Financial Officer; and Aaron Alt, who will take over as our Chief Financial Officer beginning February 10.

今天加入我的是我們的首席執行官 Jason Hollar；我們的臨時首席財務官 Trish English；和 Aaron Alt，他將從 2 月 10 日開始接任我們的首席財務官。

During the call, we'll be making forward-looking statements. The matters addressed in the statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied. Please refer to our SEC filings and the forward-looking statement slide at the beginning of our presentation for a description of these risks and uncertainties. Please note that during our discussion today, our comments will be on a non-GAAP basis unless they are specifically called out GAAP. GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations for all relevant periods can be found in the schedules attached to our press release.

在電話會議期間，我們將發表前瞻性陳述。聲明中提及的事項受風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與預測或暗示的結果存在重大差異。請參閱我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件和我們演示文稿開頭的前瞻性聲明幻燈片，了解對這些風險和不確定性的描述。請注意，在我們今天的討論中，我們的評論將基於非 GAAP 基礎，除非它們被特別稱為 GAAP。所有相關期間的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 對賬可在我們新聞稿所附的時間表中找到。

During the Q&A portion of today's call, we please ask to limit yourself to one question so that we can try and give everyone in the queue an opportunity. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jason.

在今天電話會議的問答部分，我們請您將自己限制在一個問題上，這樣我們就可以嘗試給隊列中的每個人一個機會。有了這個，我會把電話轉給傑森。

Thanks, Kevin, and good morning, everyone. Before we dive in, I'd like to take a moment to welcome Aaron Alt to Cardinal Health as our incoming Chief Financial Officer. We're excited to have Aaron on board. He brings a breadth of financial and operational experience to our organization, including a background in distribution and he's already hit the ground running in his first few weeks.

謝謝，凱文，大家早上好。在我們深入探討之前，我想花點時間歡迎 Aaron Alt 加入 Cardinal Health，擔任我們的新任首席財務官。我們很高興亞倫加入。他為我們的組織帶來了廣泛的財務和運營經驗，包括分銷背景，並且他在頭幾週就已經開始運作。

I'm confident he will be a valuable addition as the leader of our finance organization, contributor to our executive committee and a seamless fit with our company culture.

我相信他將作為我們財務組織的領導者、我們執行委員會的貢獻者以及與我們公司文化的無縫契合而成為有價值的補充。

Thank you, Jason. Good morning. I am excited to be part of the team here at Cardinal, particularly at such an important time not only for our company but for the entire health care industry. What attracted me to Cardinal Health was the broad portfolio, the overall culture and the leadership team that is motivated to win. While still early days for me, I can already tell that while there's work to do, Jason and the team have a plan and there are significant opportunities for value creation in front of us.

謝謝你，傑森。早上好。我很高興能成為 Cardinal 團隊的一員，尤其是在這樣一個重要時刻，不僅對我們公司如此，對整個醫療保健行業也是如此。吸引我加入 Cardinal Health 的是廣泛的產品組合、整體文化和積極取勝的領導團隊。雖然對我來說還處於早期階段，但我已經可以說，雖然還有工作要做，但 Jason 和團隊有一個計劃，而且我們面前有很多創造價值的機會。

I look forward to interacting with all of you further in the weeks and months to come as I continue to ramp up.

我期待著在接下來的幾周和幾個月內與大家進一步互動，因為我會繼續提升。

Thanks, Aaron. Now let's begin with some high-level perspectives on the second quarter. Overall, our Q2 results demonstrated continued momentum against our plans. In Pharma, we've seen ongoing stability in the macro trends and underlying fundamentals of the business. In the quarter, we saw particular strength in overall pharmaceutical demand, and strong performance from our Generics program. We've seen an increase in contributions from Specialty products, which is a key strategic area of focus. And we continue to effectively manage through the inflationary headwinds affecting industry supply chains.

謝謝，亞倫。現在讓我們從對第二季度的一些高層觀點開始。總的來說，我們第二季度的業績顯示了我們計劃的持續增長勢頭。在製藥行業，我們看到了宏觀趨勢和業務基本面的持續穩定。在本季度，我們看到整體醫藥需求特別強勁，我們的仿製藥項目表現強勁。我們已經看到特種產品的貢獻有所增加，這是一個關鍵的戰略重點領域。我們繼續有效地應對影響行業供應鏈的通脹逆風。

In short, Q2 was another data point that Pharma is a resilient and growing business. In Medical, we remain highly focused on our medical improvement plan initiatives. Overall, despite some puts and takes, Medical's Q2 results were consistent with our prior commentary, and we were pleased to see a return to profitability in the quarter. We continue to take actions to drive more predictable financial performance, in line with this business' underlying potential. At an enterprise level, we continue to see benefits below the operating line from our capital deployment actions and favorable capital structure. With the first half of fiscal '23 behind us, we are pleased to raise our full year EPS guidance and outlook for the Pharmaceutical segment.

簡而言之，第二季度是另一個數據點，表明製藥業是一家富有彈性且不斷發展的企業。在醫療方面，我們仍然高度關注我們的醫療改進計劃舉措。總體而言，儘管有一些看跌期權，但 Medical 的第二季度業績與我們之前的評論一致，我們很高興看到該季度恢復盈利。我們將繼續採取行動，根據該業務的潛在潛力，推動更可預測的財務業績。在企業層面，我們繼續從我們的資本部署行動和有利的資本結構中看到運營線以下的收益。隨著 23 財年上半年的過去，我們很高興提高我們對製藥部門的全年 EPS 指導和展望。

Our team remains focused on executing our 3 key strategic priorities of executing on the medical improvement plan, building on the growth and resiliency of the Pharmaceutical segment and maintaining a relentless focus on maximizing shareholder value. I will update you on these priorities in a few moments. Before I turn it over to Trish to review our results from the quarter and revised outlook, I'd like to thank her for stepping in as interim CFO over the past 6 months. Trish has brought leadership and continuity to the organization and will be instrumental in ensuring a seamless transition with Aaron. Thanks, Trish.

我們的團隊仍然專注於執行我們的 3 個關鍵戰略優先事項，即執行醫療改進計劃、建立製藥部門的增長和彈性以及不懈地關注股東價值最大化。稍後我會向您介紹這些優先事項。在我將其交給 Trish 審查我們的季度業績和修訂後的展望之前，我要感謝她在過去 6 個月中擔任臨時首席財務官。 Trish 為組織帶來了領導力和連續性，並將有助於確保與 Aaron 的無縫過渡。謝謝，崔西。

Thank you, Jason, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin today with our consolidated second quarter results. Total company revenue increased 13% and gross margin increased 3%, both driven by the Pharma segment. Consolidated SG&A increased 4%, primarily reflecting inflationary supply chain costs. Benefits from our enterprise-wide cost savings initiatives offset some of this increase. Operating earnings of $467 million were in line with the second quarter of last year. This reflects growth in Pharma segment profit, offset by the decline in Medical segment profit, which was anticipated. Moving below the line, Interest and Others decreased nearly 30% to $18 million, driven primarily by increased interest income from cash and equivalents. As a reminder, our debt is largely fixed rate, resulting in a net benefit from rising interest rates.

謝謝你，傑森，大家早上好。我將從今天開始介紹我們的第二季度綜合業績。公司總收入增長 13%，毛利率增長 3%，均由製藥部門推動。綜合 SG&A 增長 4%，主要反映通貨膨脹的供應鏈成本。我們在企業範圍內實施的成本節約舉措帶來的收益抵消了部分增長。營業收入為 4.67 億美元，與去年第二季度持平。這反映了製藥部門利潤的增長，被預期的醫療部門利潤下降所抵消。低於該線，利息和其他減少近 30% 至 1,800 萬美元，這主要是由於現金和等價物的利息收入增加所致。提醒一下，我們的債務基本上是固定利率的，因此利率上升會帶來淨收益。

Our second quarter effective tax rate finished at 23%, approximately 3.5 percentage points higher than prior year, primarily due to net positive discrete items in the prior year period. Diluted weighted average shares were $263 million, 6% lower than a year ago due to share repurchases. In the second quarter, we completed our $1 billion accelerated share repurchase program and initiated a new $250 million program, resulting in a total of $1.25 billion deployed year-to-date. We continue to expect $1.5 billion to $2 billion in share repurchases in fiscal '23, which reflects our continued focus on maximizing shareholder value.

我們第二季度的有效稅率為 23%，比去年同期高出約 3.5 個百分點，這主要是由於去年同期的淨正離散項目。由於股票回購，稀釋加權平均股為 2.63 億美元，比一年前下降 6%。第二季度，我們完成了 10 億美元的加速股票回購計劃，並啟動了一項新的 2.5 億美元計劃，年初至今總計部署了 12.5 億美元。我們繼續預計 23 財年將進行 15 億至 20 億美元的股票回購，這反映出我們將繼續關注股東價值最大化。

The net result for the quarter was earnings per share growth of 4% to $1.32. Now turning to the balance sheet. We generated second quarter adjusted free cash flow of $439 million, bringing year-to-date adjusted free cash flow to $781 million. We ended the period with a cash position of $3.7 billion with no outstanding borrowings on our credit facility. As a reminder, we continue to expect to pay down the $550 million of March 2023 notes at maturity with cash on hand. Now I will cover our segment performance, beginning with Pharma on Slide 5.

本季度的淨結果是每股收益增長 4% 至 1.32 美元。現在轉向資產負債表。我們在第二季度產生了 4.39 億美元的調整後自由現金流，使年初至今調整後的自由現金流達到 7.81 億美元。我們以 37 億美元的現金頭寸結束了這一時期，我們的信貸額度上沒有未償還的借款。提醒一下，我們繼續期望用手頭現金支付 2023 年 3 月到期的 5.5 億美元票據。現在我將介紹我們的細分市場表現，從幻燈片 5 上的 Pharma 開始。

Second quarter revenue increased 15% to $48 billion, driven by brand and Specialty Pharmaceutical sales growth from existing and net new customers. Pharma segment profit increased 9% to $464 million. This was driven by a higher contribution from Branded Specialty Products and Generics program performance, partially offset by inflationary supply chain costs. During the quarter, we saw strong overall pharmaceutical demand, including from our largest customers, reflecting their strength in the market. To a lesser extent, we also saw year-over-year contributions from the net new customers that we've previously mentioned and a more robust seasonality with cough, cold and flu products as others have noted.

第二季度收入增長 15% 至 480 億美元，這主要得益於現有客戶和淨新客戶的品牌和專業藥品銷售增長。製藥部門利潤增長 9% 至 4.64 億美元。這是由品牌特色產品和仿製藥計劃績效的更高貢獻推動的，部分被通貨膨脹的供應鏈成本所抵消。在本季度，我們看到強勁的整體醫藥需求，包括來自我們最大客戶的需求，反映了他們在市場上的實力。在較小程度上，我們還看到了我們之前提到的淨新客戶的同比貢獻，以及咳嗽、感冒和流感產品的更強勁的季節性，正如其他人所指出的那樣。

Regarding our Generics program, we are pleased with the solid execution and consistent market dynamics we continue to see. This includes strong performance from Red Oak Sourcing, not only controlling costs, but also in maximizing service delivery for our customers. Within our supply chain, we continue to effectively manage through the industry-wide inflationary costs being in the areas of transportation and labor. In the second quarter, these inflationary impacts were generally consistent with our expectations. Similar to last quarter, this headwind was offset by year-over-year tailwinds from our complete ERP technology enhancements and lower opioid-related legal costs.

關於我們的仿製藥計劃，我們對我們繼續看到的可靠執行和一致的市場動態感到滿意。這包括 Red Oak Sourcing 的出色表現，不僅控製成本，而且最大限度地為我們的客戶提供服務。在我們的供應鏈中，我們繼續通過運輸和勞動力領域的全行業通貨膨脹成本進行有效管理。在第二季度，這些通脹影響總體上符合我們的預期。與上一季度類似，這一逆風被我們完整的 ERP 技術增強和阿片類藥物相關法律成本降低的同比順風所抵消。

Okay. Turning to Medical on Slide 6. Second quarter decreased 7% to $3.8 billion, driven by lower products and distribution sales, including PPE pricing and volumes. Continued strong growth in our at-Home Solutions business partially offset this decline. Medical segment profit finished in line with our prior commentary, decreasing 66% to $17 million. This was primarily due to lower products and distribution volumes and net inflationary impact, partially offset by an improvement in PPE margin. During the quarter, the net impact from inflation was in line with our expectations, and we achieved inflation mitigation of over 30%.

好的。轉向幻燈片 6 中的醫療。第二季度下降 7% 至 38 億美元，這是由於產品和分銷銷售額下降，包括 PPE 定價和銷量。我們在家解決方案業務的持續強勁增長部分抵消了這一下滑。醫療部門利潤與我們之前的評論一致，下降 66% 至 1700 萬美元。這主要是由於較低的產品和分銷量以及淨通脹影響，部分被 PPE 利潤率的改善所抵消。本季度，通脹的淨影響符合我們的預期，我們實現了 30% 以上的通脹緩解。

This sequential improvement from the first quarter was driven by the continued acceleration of our mitigant efforts, including the implementation of additional product pricing actions in the quarter. On our last 2 earnings calls, we have discussed overall volume softness in our products and distribution business. In the second quarter, we saw generally consistent overall volume on a sequential basis, including our Cardinal Health brand products. With respect to PPE, we did see some slight improvement in volumes on a sequential basis. Additionally, we made significant progress in selling through our higher cost inventory on our balance sheet, leading to normalized PPE margins in the quarter.

與第一季度相比，這一連續改善是由我們持續加速的緩解措施推動的，包括在本季度實施額外的產品定價行動。在我們最近的 2 次財報電話會議上，我們討論了產品和分銷業務的整體銷量疲軟。在第二季度，我們看到總體銷量連續一致，包括我們的 Cardinal Health 品牌產品。在 PPE 方面，我們確實看到銷量環比略有改善。此外，我們通過資產負債表上成本較高的庫存在銷售方面取得了重大進展，導致本季度 PPE 利潤率正常化。

Now for our updated fiscal '23 outlook beginning on Slide 8. We are raising our EPS guidance by $0.15 at the lower end and $0.10 at the higher end to a new range of $5.20 to $5.50, which represents 6% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. This update reflects improved outlook for the Pharmaceutical segment and for Interest and Other. We now expect Interest and Other in the range of $115 million to $130 million, with the improvement primarily driven by the increased interest income on cash and equivalents. Our expectations for the remaining items listed on Slide 8 remain unchanged. Turning to Slide 9 in the Pharmaceutical segment. We are raising our outlook for revenue to a new range of 13% to 15% growth and for segment profit to a new range of 4% to 6.5% growth, both of which primarily reflect our strong first half performance.

現在，從幻燈片 8 開始更新我們的 23 財年展望。我們將 EPS 指導下限提高 0.15 美元，提高 0.10 美元，達到 5.20 美元至 5.50 美元的新範圍，這意味著同比增長 6%在中點。此更新反映了製藥部門以及利息和其他部門的前景有所改善。我們現在預計利息和其他費用在 1.15 億美元至 1.3 億美元之間，這一增長主要是由現金和等價物利息收入的增加推動的。我們對幻燈片 8 中列出的其餘項目的預期保持不變。轉到製藥部門的幻燈片 9。我們將收入增長預期上調至 13% 至 15% 的新範圍，並將分部利潤增長上調至 4% 至 6.5% 的新增長范圍，這兩者都主要反映了我們上半年的強勁表現。

As we look to the second half in Pharma, we anticipate the year-over-year profit growth to be fairly balanced between the third and fourth quarter. Turning to Medical, we continue to expect a revenue decline of 3% to 6% and segment profit ranging from flat to a decline of 20%. With respect to inflation and our mitigation actions, we continue to expect a net impact of approximately $300 million in fiscal '23 or minimal year-over-year impact. On the cost side, while still at elevated levels, we've seen a general stabilization across most areas, along with improvement in international freight. As a reminder, the product costs are capitalized into inventory and in the current environment of elongated supply chain reflected in our P&L results on an approximate 2-quarter delay. Importantly, we continue to expect to exit the year with a run rate of at least 50% inflation mitigation.

展望下半年的製藥業，我們預計第三季度和第四季度的同比利潤增長將相當平衡。談到醫療，我們繼續預計收入將下降 3% 至 6%，分部利潤將持平至下降 20%。關於通貨膨脹和我們的緩解措施，我們繼續預計 23 財年的淨影響約為 3 億美元，或同比影響最小。在成本方面，雖然仍處於較高水平，但我們已經看到大部分地區普遍穩定，同時國際貨運有所改善。提醒一下，產品成本被資本化為庫存，在當前供應鏈延長的環境下，我們的損益結果反映了大約 2 個季度的延遲。重要的是，我們繼續期望以至少 50% 的通脹緩解率結束今年。

And finally, no changes to the expected cadence of Medical segment profit. We continue to expect segment profit to improve sequentially and be particularly weighted towards the fourth quarter. This sequencing primarily reflects our assumptions around the net impact of inflation and to a lesser extent, a gradual improvement in overall volumes and the continued implementation of our cost savings measures.

最後，醫療部門利潤的預期節奏沒有變化。我們繼續預計分部利潤將環比改善，尤其是在第四季度。這種排序主要反映了我們對通貨膨脹淨影響的假設，並在較小程度上反映了總體銷量的逐步改善和我們成本節約措施的持續實施。

For the enterprise, a key factor continues to be the overall utilization and demand environment. In Pharma, we expect continued strength in overall pharmaceutical demand in the second half, albeit at a more moderate rate than we've seen to date. In medical, we expect a gradual improvement in overall volumes, including with Cardinal Health brand. Therefore, if the trends from the first half of the year continue, we would anticipate segment profit more towards the upper end of our range in the Pharma segment and more towards the lower end of our range in the Medical segment.

對於企業而言，一個關鍵因素仍然是整體利用和需求環境。在製藥行業，我們預計下半年整體醫藥需求將持續走強，儘管增速比我們迄今看到的要溫和。在醫療領域，我們預計整體銷量將逐步改善，包括 Cardinal Health 品牌。因此，如果今年上半年的趨勢繼續下去，我們預計分部利潤將更多地接近我們在製藥領域範圍的上限，而更多地接近我們在醫療領域範圍的下限。

With that, I'll now turn it over to Jason.

有了這個，我現在把它交給傑森。

Thanks, Trish. Let me now provide a few updates on our 3 key strategic priorities for fiscal '23. First, executing our medical improvement plan Initiatives. Importantly, we remain on track with our mitigation actions for inflation and global supply chain constraints, the #1 key to returning the business to a more normalized level of profitability. I am pleased with the incremental progress achieved in the second quarter, as we mitigated over 30% of the growth impact to our business in Q2.

謝謝，崔西。現在讓我提供一些關於我們 23 財年的 3 個關鍵戰略重點的最新情況。首先，執行我們的醫療改善計劃舉措。重要的是，我們在緩解通貨膨脹和全球供應鏈限制方面採取的行動仍在軌道上，這是使企業恢復到更正常的盈利水平的第一大關鍵。我對第二季度取得的漸進式進展感到滿意，因為我們在第二季度減輕了 30% 以上對我們業務的增長影響。

Taking a step back, over the past 9 months, we have made a series of widespread temporary price increases across nearly all of our Cardinal Health brand product categories. We've also executed supplier distribution fee increases to offset higher transportation, labor and fuel costs and continue to explore other opportunities for further offset with urgency. We will continue to monitor cost trends and work with our industry partners to make pricing adjustments that are reflective of current market conditions. As we have taken a transparent approach working collaboratively with our partners, we continue to make progress on this front by successfully adjusting product contracts as they renew.

退一步說，在過去的 9 個月裡，我們對幾乎所有 Cardinal Health 品牌產品類別進行了一系列廣泛的臨時價格上漲。我們還增加了供應商分銷費用，以抵消更高的運輸、勞動力和燃料成本，並繼續探索其他機會以進一步緊迫抵消。我們將繼續監控成本趨勢，並與我們的行業合作夥伴合作，做出反映當前市場狀況的定價調整。由於我們採取了一種透明的方式與我們的合作夥伴合作，我們通過在續籤時成功調整產品合同，繼續在這方面取得進展。

We are also including language that allows for greater flexibility to respond to future macroeconomic dynamics. We continue to expect to exit the year with a run rate of at least 50% inflation mitigation and to fully mitigate inflation by the end of fiscal '24. Outside our mitigation actions, we are focused on optimizing and growing our Cardinal Health brand portfolio. As Trish indicated, the market demand environment in Medical has been relatively stagnant over the last couple of quarters. Additionally, some of our higher-margin Cardinal Health brand categories remain underpenetrated, which we are addressing through targeted investments to increase product availability, new product innovation and a continual focus on commercial excellence.

我們還包括允許更靈活地響應未來宏觀經濟動態的語言。我們繼續期望以至少 50% 的通貨膨脹緩解率結束今年，並在 24 財年末完全緩解通貨膨脹。除了我們的緩解措施外，我們還專注於優化和發展我們的 Cardinal Health 品牌組合。正如 Trish 所指出的，醫療市場需求環境在過去幾個季度一直相對停滯不前。此外，我們的一些利潤率較高的 Cardinal Health 品牌類別仍然滲透不足，我們正在通過有針對性的投資來解決這個問題，以提高產品可用性、新產品創新和持續關注商業卓越。

For example, we recently expanded our sustainable technologies manufacturing facility in Riverview, Florida, doubling the size to roughly 100,000 square feet. This facility will enable us to better meet increasing demand for single-use device collections, reprocessing and recycling services, supporting future growth while also delivering supply resiliency, sustainable solutions and cost savings for customers. We are also investing to accelerate our growth businesses, primarily at-Home Solutions, where we've seen strong growth fueled by the secular trend of care shifting into the home.

例如，我們最近擴建了位於佛羅里達州 Riverview 的可持續技術製造工廠，規模翻了一番，達到大約 100,000 平方英尺。該設施將使我們能夠更好地滿足對一次性設備收集、再加工和回收服務日益增長的需求，支持未來增長，同時為客戶提供供應彈性、可持續解決方案和成本節約。我們還在投資以加速我們的增長業務，主要是家庭解決方案，我們已經看到護理轉移到家庭的長期趨勢推動了強勁的增長。

Our new Central Ohio distribution center equipped with robotics and automation technology will be fully operational soon as we continue to expand our footprint to match the sustained growth of home health care we are seeing in the industry and our business. And in our higher-margin medical services business, OptiFreight Logistics, recently expanded its offerings with total view tracking, a new capability offering health care providers real-time shipment tracking to enhance supply chain visibility and resiliency.

我們配備機器人和自動化技術的新俄亥俄州中部配送中心將很快全面投入運營，因為我們將繼續擴大我們的足跡，以適應我們在行業和業務中看到的家庭保健的持續增長。在我們利潤率較高的醫療服務業務中，OptiFreight Logistics 最近通過全面視圖跟踪擴展了其產品，這是一種新功能，可為醫療保健提供商提供實時貨運跟踪，以提高供應鏈的可見性和彈性。

Second, moving to the Pharma segment, where we're building upon the growth and the resiliency of business, we're focused on executing in the core and accelerating our growth areas, primarily specialty. In the first couple of months, we've already seen efficiency and effectiveness gains from our recently combined pharmaceutical and specialty distribution organization. We've seen strong growth across specialty distribution, including within acute health systems and alternate care. Additionally, our recent acquisition of the Bendcare GPO and investment in their managed services organization has been positively received by customers. Part of the recent segment organizational changes, we also created a new sourcing and manufacturer services organization, enabling a more holistic approach to enhance our strong pharmaceutical manufacturer partnerships.

其次，轉向製藥領域，我們正在建立業務的增長和彈性，我們專注於核心執行並加速我們的增長領域，主要是專業領域。在最初的幾個月裡，我們已經看到我們最近合併的製藥和專業分銷組織的效率和效益有所提高。我們已經看到專業分銷領域的強勁增長，包括急性醫療系統和替代護理。此外，我們最近對 Bendcare GPO 的收購以及對其託管服務組織的投資得到了客戶的積極評價。作為最近部門組織變革的一部分，我們還創建了一個新的採購和製造商服務組織，從而能夠採用更全面的方法來加強我們強大的製藥商合作夥伴關係。

This includes strategic sourcing along with the high demand area of manufacturer services. In Q2, we saw double-digit growth from manufacturer services, where we continue to invest to build upon our capabilities, such as our leading specialty 3PL and Sonexus, our access and patient support portal. And in the area of cell and gene therapy, we are excited about the work we are doing in this emerging space across all of our service offerings expanding our capabilities and the opportunities we see in the future. We are investing in automation and enhancing technology across our supply chain today in order to drive operational productivity for the future.

這包括戰略採購以及製造商服務的高需求領域。在第二季度，我們看到製造商服務實現了兩位數的增長，我們繼續投資以增強我們的能力，例如我們領先的專業 3PL 和 Sonexus，我們的訪問和患者支持門戶。在細胞和基因治療領域，我們對我們在這個新興領域所做的工作感到興奮，涉及我們所有的服務產品，擴展了我們的能力和我們在未來看到的機會。今天，我們正在整個供應鏈中投資於自動化和增強技術，以推動未來的運營生產力。

We're striving to deliver a flawless end-to-end customer experience, supporting our strong and diverse customer base. For example, our recently announced collaboration with Palantir will offer customers a solution that connects diagnostic and clinical data with real-time purchasing and consumption data. By leveraging AI and machine learning, our customers will be empowered to make better purchasing and inventory management decisions for their businesses and patients. We are privileged to serve and partner with leaders across the various classes of trade, such as retail pharmacy chains, mail order and grocery as well as retail independence, long-term care and health systems, all of whom provide essential health care access for their respective communities.

我們正在努力提供完美的端到端客戶體驗，支持我們強大而多樣化的客戶群。例如，我們最近宣布與 Palantir 的合作將為客戶提供一種解決方案，將診斷和臨床數據與實時購買和消費數據聯繫起來。通過利用人工智能和機器學習，我們的客戶將能夠為其企業和患者做出更好的採購和庫存管理決策。我們有幸為零售藥店連鎖店、郵購和雜貨店以及獨立零售、長期護理和衛生系統等不同行業的領導者提供服務並與之合作，所有這些行業都為他們提供基本的醫療保健服務各自的社區。

And lastly, a brief update regarding our relentless focus on shareholder value creation. In addition to the shareholder value creation initiatives, we've already announced, such as our governance enhancements and simplification actions, we continue to place a strong emphasis on responsible capital deployment, including the return of capital to shareholders through share repurchases. Our business review committee continues to work through a comprehensive review of our company's strategy, portfolio, capital allocation framework and operations. We plan to hold an Investor Day on June 8 in New York City, where among other topics, we will provide an update on our company's long-term financial outlook, detail our growth strategies and share any relevant conclusions from the ongoing review.

最後，簡要介紹一下我們對股東價值創造的不懈關注。除了我們已經宣布的股東價值創造計劃，例如我們的治理增強和簡化行動，我們繼續強調負責任的資本配置，包括通過股票回購向股東返還資本。我們的業務審查委員會繼續通過全面審查我們公司的戰略、投資組合、資本配置框架和運營來開展工作。我們計劃於 6 月 8 日在紐約市舉辦投資者日活動，除其他主題外，我們將提供有關我們公司長期財務前景的最新信息，詳細說明我們的增長戰略，並分享正在進行的審查中的任何相關結論。

Before I wrap up, I want to touch on our new ESG report, which was released just last week. This expanded report outlines the steps we are taking to operate in a more sustainable and equitable world through our established ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. We continue to make progress against our long-term targets and are committed to regularly updating our stakeholders. We believe that we can simultaneously drive ESG improvements in support of our ongoing business transformation.

在結束之前，我想談談我們上周剛剛發布的新 ESG 報告。這份擴展報告概述了我們正在採取的步驟，通過我們既定的 ESG 和多樣性、公平性和包容性舉措，在一個更加可持續和公平的世界中開展業務。我們繼續在實現長期目標方面取得進展，並致力於定期更新我們的利益相關者。我們相信，我們可以同時推動 ESG 改進，以支持我們正在進行的業務轉型。

In closing, while there remains work to do, I'm encouraged by our team's progress to date and excited about the opportunities ahead. I want to thank our dedicated Cardinal Health employees who are driving the execution of these critical priorities and who keep our customers and their patients at the center of everything they do. With that, we will take your questions.

最後，雖然仍有工作要做，但我對我們團隊迄今為止取得的進展感到鼓舞，並對未來的機會感到興奮。我要感謝我們敬業的 Cardinal Health 員工，他們正在推動這些關鍵優先事項的執行，並讓我們的客戶和他們的患者成為他們所做的一切的中心。這樣，我們將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of Lisa Gill calling from JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Lisa Gill 電話。

Just on the medical side, one of the things that stuck out to me is you talked about the improvement and you talked about needing improvement in volumes. So as we think about that, can you maybe talk about your expectations around surgical procedures as we move into calendar 2023, the back half of your year? And secondly, has part of the issue on the hospital side been staffing issues and as they start to resolve that, will things get better for Cardinal as well?

就醫療方面而言，讓我印象深刻的一件事是你談到了改進，你談到了需要改進數量。因此，當我們考慮這一點時，您能否談談您對外科手術的期望，因為我們進入了 2023 年，也就是今年的下半年？其次，醫院方面的部分問題是否是人員配備問題，當他們開始解決這個問題時，Cardinal 的情況也會好轉嗎？

Yes. Lisa, I think you're connecting all the right points there. That's what we hear from our customers and broadly from our peers in the industry is that there continue to be some constraints as to getting to the free level demand there. And we do think that's a component of what's impacting the lack of growth that we're seeing within Medical. It's impossible to tell definitively, but that's the anecdotal feedback that we are hearing to help provide a little bit of color around the impact, that's why we -- Trish's making comments within her commentary there, highlighting that we do anticipate that gradual improvement over the course of the year, so not significant, but getting back to closer to a more normalized level of growth.

是的。麗莎，我認為你把所有正確的點都連接起來了。這就是我們從客戶和業內同行那裡聽到的，在達到那裡的免費水平需求方面仍然存在一些限制。我們確實認為這是影響我們在醫療領域看到的增長乏力的一個組成部分。不可能確定地說，但這是我們聽到的軼事反饋，有助於為影響提供一些色彩，這就是為什麼我們 - Trish 在她的評論中發表評論，強調我們確實預計會逐步改善這一年的過程，所以並不顯著，但越來越接近更正常的增長水平。

As a reminder, when we provided our medical improvement plan, we highlighted a 3% CAGR total volume growth over the 3-year period. And we anticipated that about half of that would be market growth, about half that would be our own innovation and capacity expansion plans for our products. So you're talking about a couple of percent type of growth there that would be more normalized and that's kind of differentiator between our -- more of a midpoint of our guidance to what would be more on the lower end, and that's why Trish provided that to the clarity.

提醒一下，當我們提供我們的醫療改進計劃時，我們強調了 3 年期間 3% 的複合年增長率。我們預計其中大約一半是市場增長，大約一半是我們自己的產品創新和產能擴張計劃。所以你說的是那裡的幾個百分比的增長會更加正常化，這是我們之間的區別——更多的是我們指導的中點到低端的更多，這就是 Trish 提供的原因那要清楚。

So is the right way to think about that, that kind of half of it, Jason, you feel like you have some level of control because it's new products that you're bringing to the market and the other half is you're going to have to wait to see if those volumes come back? Or do you feel like you really truly have visibility around the whole 3% that you're talking about?

思考這個問題的正確方法是，傑森，你覺得你有一定程度的控制權，因為這是你要推向市場的新產品，而另一半是你要必須等著看那些卷是否回來了？或者你覺得你真的對你所說的整個 3% 有可見性嗎？

Yes. No, I think you've it generally right. Now remember that a lot of the parts that we have control over is new product innovation and capacity expansions. And that's always an element of the 3-year plan. I would expect to be weighted a little bit more towards the later end because it takes time to pull up those investments and getting those products into the market. So we didn't ever indicate it was a linear type of plan. In volumes, you have to be careful, too, that we've had a period here in the last 2 to 3 years. It's been incredibly choppy in terms of volumes. Obviously, down during the beginning of the pandemic and has come back for the most part.

是的。不，我認為你大體上是正確的。現在請記住，我們控制的很多部分是新產品創新和產能擴張。這始終是 3 年計劃的一個要素。我預計在後期會更加重視一些，因為需要時間來拉動這些投資並將這些產品推向市場。所以我們從來沒有指出這是一種線性計劃。在數量上，你也必須小心，我們在過去的 2 到 3 年裡有過一段時期。就數量而言，它一直非常不穩定。顯然，在大流行開始時有所下降，並且大部分已經恢復。

The last couple of quarters have been very predictable, very consistent types of volumes, but that's -- even that's a bit of an anomaly from what we've had over the last few years. So presuming that, that maintains, then that's the range that we should be thinking about. But if we get back to an increased level of volatility, which at this time, we don't foresee, but that's certainly a possibility as well...

過去幾個季度的交易量是非常可預測的，非常一致的類型，但那是——即使這與我們過去幾年的情況相比也有點反常。因此，假設保持不變，那就是我們應該考慮的範圍。但是，如果我們回到更高的波動水平，我們目前還沒有預見到，但這當然也是一種可能性……

That next question comes from the line of Elizabeth Anderson calling from Evercore.

下一個問題來自 Evercore 的 Elizabeth Anderson。

I was wondering if you could talk about the -- a little bit more about the Pharma improvement in the back half of the year. Specifically, like as you've had time to sort of think through the Pharma reorganization, is there a continued cost-cutting benefit? Is that just improving the operating profit growth? Are you starting to get pricing in certain places where you had before. If you could help us kind of understand that mix. And then secondly, on the interest expense guide looks like the back half guide has a big sort of step-up versus what you did in the first quarter -- the first 2 quarters of the year in terms of interest expense. So is that just sort of changes in cash balance in terms of the net interest contribution? Or is there -- are there other factors going on there?

我想知道你是否可以談談 - 關於今年下半年製藥業的改進。具體來說，就像你有時間思考製藥重組一樣，是否有持續的成本削減優勢？這只是提高了營業利潤增長嗎？您是否開始在以前的某些地方定價。如果你能幫助我們理解這種混合。其次，在利息支出指南上，後半部分指南與第一季度相比有很大的提升——就利息支出而言，今年前兩個季度。那麼，就淨利息貢獻而言，這只是現金餘額的某種變化嗎？或者是否有 - 那裡還有其他因素嗎？

Yes. I'll start with your second question because you nailed it. It's really about cash balances. We don't anticipate there being significant differences in the interest side. Let me just kind of step back. We have a very fixed interest expense for our debt. So our interest expense side is quite predictable and now It's really the interest income is the part that we've seen favorability in year-to-date, and our cash balances were higher than anticipated over the first half of the year. We do have the $550 million note coming due here in March that we anticipate to pay down. And there's just a seasonal aspect of our cash flow as well. So we would not anticipate the same lower levels or I'll say, improved interest income that reduces our interest expense in the second half like what we saw in the first half.

是的。我將從你的第二個問題開始，因為你已經解決了。這實際上與現金餘額有關。我們預計利益方面不會存在重大差異。讓我退後一步。我們的債務利息支出非常固定。因此，我們的利息支出方面是可以預測的，現在利息收入實際上是我們今年迄今為止看到的部分，我們的現金餘額高於今年上半年的預期。我們確實有 5.5 億美元的票據將於 3 月在這裡到期，我們預計會償還。我們的現金流量也有季節性方面的影響。因此，我們不會預期相同的較低水平，或者我會說，提高利息收入會減少我們在下半年的利息支出，就像我們在上半年看到的那樣。

But you should take away that we continue to have a very advantaged balance sheet, especially as it relates to the fixed variable mix of our debt. As it relates to Pharma, it's really more about volume than anything else. We're not seeing a lot of other key variables, underlying the dynamics within the generics business continues to be very consistent. We continue to see very broad-based volume strength. Q2 was certainly a very strong quarter, as it relates to volume. And we saw that broad-based, I referenced in my comments between Trish and I, brand, specialty as well as Generics. It is a lot of volume drivers within that. And as we think about the growth in the second half of the year, it's very consistent with what we had indicated at the beginning of the year.

但是你應該知道我們繼續擁有非常有利的資產負債表，特別是因為它與我們債務的固定變量組合有關。由於它與製藥相關，它實際上更多地是關於數量而不是其他任何東西。我們沒有看到很多其他關鍵變量，仿製藥業務的潛在動態仍然非常一致。我們繼續看到非常廣泛的成交量強度。第二季度肯定是一個非常強勁的季度，因為它與數量有關。我們看到了廣泛的基礎，我在我和 Trish 之間的評論中提到了品牌、專業和仿製藥。其中有很多音量驅動程序。當我們考慮下半年的增長時，它與我們在年初所表示的非常一致。

So our second half expectations remain consistent with what we had indicated before, a little bit less growth than what we've seen in the first half. And that's just a reflection of, again, Trish's comments that we anticipate it being closer to a more normalized level of growth in the second half. But if we maintain the same level of strength that we've seen in the last couple of quarters, and there's opportunity in the high end of that. And then just one other comment there about the Q2 why was so strong. If you're thinking about it from a year-over-year perspective, we also just have the added points that we did introduce a new customer in the third quarter of last year, and that has been a nice tailwind for us the last 4 quarters, but this will be the last quarter until we start to lap that.

因此，我們下半年的預期與我們之前的預期保持一致，增長比我們在上半年看到的要低一些。這再次反映了 Trish 的評論，即我們預計下半年將接近更正常的增長水平。但如果我們保持與過去幾個季度相同的實力水平，那麼高端就有機會。然後還有一條關於第二季度為何如此強勁的評論。如果你從同比的角度考慮它，我們還有一些額外的要點，我們在去年第三季度確實引入了一個新客戶，這對我們過去 4 年來說是一個很好的順風季度，但這將是最後一個季度，直到我們開始超越它。

So that's part of the driver from a year-over-year perspective. And then not significant, but there is an element of cost cough, cold and flu. That's a nice little tailwind for the quarter. But at this point, we don't anticipate that being a driver for the full year. In fact, this could be a little bit of a headwind as it relates to Q3 specifically because it looks like the season is ending earlier than normal. So those are all the key moving pieces.

因此，從同比來看，這是驅動因素的一部分。然後並不顯著，但有成本咳嗽、感冒和流感的因素。這對本季度來說是一個不錯的小順風。但在這一點上，我們預計不會成為全年的驅動力。事實上，這可能有點不利，因為它與第三季度特別相關，因為看起來本賽季比正常情況更早結束。所以這些都是關鍵的移動部分。

The next question comes from the line of Michael Cherny, calling from Bank of America.

下一個問題來自 Michael Cherny 的電話，來自美國銀行。

So just to parse through your numbers a little bit. I just want to get a sense, you've had strong outperformance year-to-date based on typical timing annualization and what you're calling for relative to growth rates. It seems like there's more opportunity for upside on your EPS. I know you talked about medical based what you see now coming at the low end of the range. But can you give us some of the other potential concerns or headwinds that are built into this number? Just mathematically, you could argue that your EPS baseline should be higher in annualizing it, you'd get there, too. So I want to make sure I understand all of the, I guess, takes against the positive puts that you updated your guidance.

所以只是稍微分析一下你的數字。我只是想了解一下，根據典型的時間年化和你所要求的相對於增長率，你今年迄今的表現非常出色。您的 EPS 似乎有更多上漲機會。我知道你談到了基於你現在看到的處於範圍低端的醫學。但是你能給我們一些其他潛在的擔憂或內置於這個數字中的逆風嗎？就數學而言，您可能會爭辯說您的 EPS 基線在年化時應該更高，您也會達到目標。所以我想確保我理解所有的，我想，反對你更新你的指導的積極觀點。

Yes. Thanks, Michael. First of all, overall, I think it's a balanced outlook that we have. I think a couple of the key drivers of the first half, second half, I just went through on Elizabeth's question. Interest expense is going to be higher. We expect it to be higher in the second half. So if that's one of the components you're thinking about from an EPS driver. And then Pharma is a key driver as well. Still solid growth in the middle of that range that we had at the beginning of the year, not at the same pace of growth that we had in the first half, but still growth. And also just to kind of step back a little bit, we had a similar level of growth, about 5% growth in the prior fiscal year. So now we're on 18 to 24 months, a pretty consistent, stable, much more predictable type of growth that we've seen in that business as we step farther and farther away from the pandemic.

是的。謝謝，邁克爾。首先，總的來說，我認為這是一個平衡的前景。我認為上半場和下半場的幾個關鍵驅動因素，我剛剛回答了伊麗莎白的問題。利息支出會更高。我們預計下半年會更高。因此，如果這是您從 EPS 驅動程序中考慮的組件之一。然後 Pharma 也是一個關鍵驅動因素。今年年初我們在該範圍的中間仍然穩健增長，與上半年的增長速度不同，但仍然增長。而且稍微退後一步，我們有類似的增長水平，上一財年增長約 5%。所以現在我們有 18 到 24 個月的時間，隨著我們越來越遠離大流行病，我們在該業務中看到了一種相當一致、穩定、更可預測的增長類型。

And we think overall, that's balanced. Of course, in the second half of the year, there's a meaningful step-up in the Medical segment performance. And that's, of course, being driven more than anything by the pricing on inflation and the first instance we would expect of costs stepping down as it relates to the international freight. But all the other drivers, I think, are fairly consistent with what we outlined.

我們認為總體而言，這是平衡的。當然，在今年下半年，醫療板塊的業績會有一個有意義的提升。當然，這是由通貨膨脹定價驅動的，而且我們預計與國際運費相關的成本會下降。但我認為，所有其他驅動因素都與我們概述的內容相當一致。

The next question comes from the line of Erin Wright calling from Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Erin Wright 電話。

So you haven't really participated much in COVID treatment or vaccines, obviously, with the contracts that are out there. But as those open up to the private market, could that provide an opportunity for you as we're looking into next year? And maybe thinking about some of those other anomalies kind of into next year, what are some things that you're thinking about in terms of opportunity across that core Pharma segment as well in terms of drivers? Or is it a continuation of the same in terms of specialty drivers in other ways?

所以你並沒有真正參與 COVID 治療或疫苗，很明顯，合同在那裡。但是隨著那些向私人市場開放的人，這是否會在我們展望明年時為您提供機會？也許考慮到明年的其他一些異常情況，您在整個核心製藥領域的機會以及驅動因素方面正在考慮哪些事情？或者它是專業驅動程序在其他方面的延續？

Sure. Thanks, Erin. Overall, first of all, as I think about fiscal '23, it's a fairly normalized level of performance that we have in our current outlook. Again, growth for the reasons I highlighted is a little bit stronger in the first half than what is in our longer-term targets. And we've seen that very broad strength that I would not expect to continue long term at that pace, especially when we consider that incremental new customer. But longer term, I think what this year reinforces is that we're on track for those long-term growth targets. Specifically to your question around COVID therapies and vaccines, you have that -- your inclination is correct, we've participated very little on any of that. Over the pandemic, frankly, we've had more of a headwind than a tailwind because the volume impacts on our underlying utilization.

當然。謝謝，艾琳。總體而言，首先，正如我對 23 財年的看法，這是我們當前展望中相當正常的表現水平。同樣，由於我強調的原因，上半年的增長比我們的長期目標要強一些。而且我們已經看到了我不希望以這種速度長期持續下去的非常廣泛的力量，特別是當我們考慮增加新客戶時。但從長遠來看，我認為今年強化的是我們正在實現這些長期增長目標。具體到你關於 COVID 療法和疫苗的問題，你有這個 - 你的傾向是正確的，我們很少參與任何這些。坦率地說，在大流行期間，我們遇到的逆風多於順風，因為數量會影響我們的基本利用率。

Of course, we're all the way through that at this point in time and have been so for about a year. So we're at a very normalized level at this stage. As it relates to commercialization, I think all data points point to that beginning in the summer time, of course, after our fiscal year, so certainly no impact for '23. There would be some opportunities for '24 and beyond. However, I'd highlight the types of products and vaccines we're talking about, historically, outside of the pandemic have not been significant drivers of profitability. So it's something that should be a tailwind, but I would not jump to the conclusion that it will be as significant as what we've seen in the marketplace for others, given how the government had isolated that and procured for that.

當然，我們在這個時間點一路走過來，並且已經這樣過了大約一年。所以我們在這個階段處於一個非常正常的水平。由於涉及商業化，我認為所有數據點都指向夏季開始，當然，在我們的財政年度之後，所以肯定不會對 23 年產生影響。 '24 及以後會有一些機會。但是，我要強調我們正在談論的產品和疫苗類型，從歷史上看，在大流行病之外並不是盈利能力的重要驅動力。所以這應該是一個順風，但我不會倉促得出結論，它會像我們在市場上看到的其他人一樣重要，因為政府是如何隔離它並為此採購的。

So something we'll keep an eye on and clearly something we'll be providing some context for further. As we understand it better and as we get closer to that point in time. And then one final point on that is even though the commercialization is scheduled for the summer, there is certainly a lot of dialogue and uncertainty as to exactly how much is stockpiled within the government and how long will it take for that to work through. So while it may go commercial, it could take us some time to actually see a pull in terms of nongovernmental sources.

所以我們會密切關註一些事情，很明顯我們會為進一步提供一些背景信息。隨著我們對它的理解越來越好，並且我們越來越接近那個時間點。最後一點是，儘管商業化計劃在夏季進行，但對於政府內部究竟儲備了多少以及需要多長時間才能完成，肯定存在很多對話和不確定性。因此，雖然它可能會商業化，但我們可能需要一些時間才能真正看到非政府來源的吸引力。

Next question, please?

請問下一個問題？

The next question comes from the line of George Hill calling from Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行喬治希爾的電話。

And I guess, Jason, my question is probably a derivative of Mike's question, which is kind of given the guidance for the year and the expectations in the back half, it would seem that the Street is probably too high. So I guess maybe could you talk about the big moving pieces just as it relates to the back half of the year? And should we think about the current guidance is probably a little bit on the conservative side? Or are there real areas of weakness, particularly in medical that we should be worried about in the back half of the year, as it relates to where the company plans to deliver results kind of versus registered?

我猜，Jason，我的問題可能是 Mike 問題的派生詞，這是考慮到今年的指導和下半年的預期，看起來華爾街可能太高了。所以我想也許你能談談與今年下半年相關的重大變化嗎？我們是否應該考慮當前的指導可能有點保守？或者是否存在真正的弱點，特別是在今年下半年我們應該擔心的醫療領域，因為它與公司計劃交付結果的地方有關？

Sure. I'll try, George, but I'm afraid it's going to sound very similar like I said to Michael. Again, I feel good about the balance that we have here. I feel very good about the progress to date. We had growth -- implied growth in the middle of the range for Pharma in the second half of the year. So if volumes continue at a more recent pace, then we've some opportunity. On Medical, a lot has to be here for us to execute upon our plan. It's very consistent with the plan. We have good step-up, expected to continue sequential improvements. This guidance drives us sequential improvement for each and every quarter throughout the year.

當然。我會試試的，喬治，但我擔心這聽起來會像我對邁克爾說的那樣。再一次，我對我們在這裡的平衡感到滿意。我對迄今為止的進展感到非常滿意。我們有增長 - 暗示增長在今年下半年製藥業的中間範圍內。因此，如果交易量繼續以最近的速度增長，那麼我們就有機會了。在醫療方面，我們必須執行我們的計劃。這與計劃非常一致。我們有很好的升級，預計會繼續連續改進。該指南推動我們在全年的每個季度進行連續改進。

We would anticipate the next quarter -- next 2 quarters to have sequential improvements as it relates to the ongoing pricing for inflation, the ongoing cost reductions, a gradual improvement in volumes, but importantly, the big step-up will be in the fourth quarter as we see international freight, which is a very high confidence element now given that we're now less than 6 months by the end of the year. These lower costs are almost certainly going to start to flow through our P&L here in the fourth quarter, still at levels well below the pricing we're getting. But nonetheless, that's a pretty well-known part of that equation.

我們預計下一季度——接下來的兩個季度將出現連續改善，因為這與持續的通貨膨脹定價、持續的成本削減、銷量的逐步改善有關，但重要的是，第四季度將出現大幅提升正如我們所看到的國際貨運，這是一個非常高的信心因素，因為到今年年底我們現在還不到 6 個月。這些較低的成本幾乎肯定會在第四季度開始影響我們的損益表，但仍遠低於我們的定價水平。但是，儘管如此，這是該方程式中眾所周知的部分。

So a lot of actions still in front of us, but the plan remains entirely intact. And so when you talk about the first half -- second half, you're implying there is some difference somewhere. And I think the primary difference is related to the growth within Pharma, still growing. And maybe one other point that remember, Q4 of last year for Pharma was a very strong quarter -- we had very strong growth. It was a good quarter, and that's one that we still anticipate there being growth on top of that this year as well and that low to mid-single-digit range. So we feel good about where we're at. There's opportunity in Pharma. There's some things we got to watch out on Medical, and we continue to execute all the below line items very consistent to our expectations.

所以很多行動仍然擺在我們面前，但計劃仍然完好無損。因此，當你談論上半場 - 下半場時，你是在暗示某處存在一些差異。我認為主要的區別與製藥業的增長有關，而且仍在增長。也許還有一點要記住，去年第四季度對製藥業來說是一個非常強勁的季度——我們的增長非常強勁。這是一個很好的季度，我們仍然預計今年還會有增長，而且是中低個位數範圍。所以我們對我們所處的位置感覺良好。製藥業有機會。在 Medical 上我們需要注意一些事情，我們將繼續執行與我們的預期非常一致的所有以下項目。

Next question, please.

請下一個問題。

The next question comes from the line of Andrea Alfonso calling from UBS.

下一個問題來自來自瑞銀的安德里亞阿方索電話。

So just on the med-surg side, again, you've discussed the different tranches of price increases on the med-surg side that you're going to be taking with customers. I guess we just sort of love to get a qualitative update on GPO and customer receptivity in general. And should we expect, as we think about the cadence for the second half that, that would -- those were more fully manifest in the numbers in 4Q? And again, sort of just as a corollary to that, you've highlighted some investments around private label. With the current constraints in the purchasing environment for hospitals, have you observed changes in just the general appetite here for private label?

因此，再次在醫療外科方面，您已經討論了您將與客戶進行的醫療外科方面的不同價格上漲。我想我們只是有點喜歡獲得有關 GPO 和客戶接受度的定性更新。我們是否應該期望，當我們考慮下半年的節奏時，那將 - 這些在第四季度的數字中得到更充分的體現？再一次，作為一個必然結果，你強調了一些圍繞自有品牌的投資。由於目前醫院採購環境的限制，您是否觀察到這裡對自有品牌的總體胃口發生了變化？

Terrific. Happy to hear so. So on pricing, I would think about pricing as being a fairly stair step process beginning back with our first temporary price increase in March '22, so what we have -- and when we first shared was the 20% mitigation of inflation soon after in the fourth quarter of last year, then that went to 25% in the first quarter of this year. And then now we're saying it's over 30%.

了不起。很高興聽到這樣的話。因此，在定價方面，我認為定價是一個相當階梯式的過程，從我們在 22 年 3 月的第一次臨時價格上漲開始，所以我們所擁有的——當我們第一次分享時，很快就將通貨膨脹率降低了 20%去年第四季度，今年第一季度達到 25%。然後現在我們說它超過了 30%。

So you can see that, that's a fairly consistent stair step. And that's how I think about the pricing side, less on the temporary price increases going forward and more on the rotation to more renewals as they come up, and that's just a national function of where we're at in this process as we get farther away from the initiation of those temporary price adjustments. So a continuation of more of the same. How you get to a widening of that 30% to 50% by the end of the fiscal year is the costs starting to come down.

所以你可以看到，這是一個相當一致的階梯。這就是我對定價方面的看法，更少地關注未來的臨時價格上漲，更多地關注輪換到更多的續約，這只是我們在這個過程中所處的國家職能，因為我們走得更遠遠離那些臨時價格調整的啟動。所以更多相同的延續。到本財政年度結束時，如何將 30% 擴大到 50% 是成本開始下降的原因。

So -- and again, that's largely focused on the international freight. So pricing, I would expect to just continue blocking and tackling all the way through to the end of fiscal '24 is where most of the prices will adjust. And that's why we indicate that we won't get to full mitigation until about that point in time. As it relates to private label, I think it's an interesting related question to pricing. Because yes, we want to work with our customers. All of our customers are dealing with challenges beyond the inflation in this category. They have actually much bigger challenges in other categories.

所以 - 再一次，這主要集中在國際貨運上。因此，定價，我希望繼續阻止和解決，一直到 24 財年末，大部分價格將進行調整。這就是為什麼我們表示直到大約那個時間點我們才會完全緩解。由於它涉及自有品牌，我認為這是一個與定價相關的有趣問題。因為是的，我們希望與我們的客戶合作。我們所有的客戶都在應對這一類別中通貨膨脹之外的挑戰。他們實際上在其他類別中面臨更大的挑戰。

And the desire on our part is to work with them if there's a possible win-win to find value in other ways, whether that is into more private label. It's -- of course, we're doing everything we can to offset the increase -- the increases to start with to mitigate the inflation through other nonpricing means. And of course, part of this is also working with the supply base. And we indicated that we're working on the distribution fees as well so that the supply base does their part. We do our part and our customers are going to have to absorb this as well. So it's the whole industry has to address this, and that's the collaborative approach that we're taking with it.

我們的願望是與他們合作，如果有可能以其他方式找到價值的雙贏，無論是進入更多的自有品牌。這是——當然，我們正在盡一切努力來抵消增長——首先是通過其他非定價手段來減輕通貨膨脹。當然，其中一部分也與供應基地合作。我們表示我們也在研究分銷費用，以便供應基地發揮他們的作用。我們儘自己的一份力量，我們的客戶也將不得不吸收這一點。所以整個行業都必須解決這個問題，這就是我們正在採取的協作方法。

The next question comes from the line of Charles Rhyee calling from Cowen.

下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Charles Rhyee。

Just 2 real quick ones maybe on the model. First, Trish, I think you talked about Pharma distribution. We should think about the -- it sounds like you're kind of saying the contribution should be kind of even through the back half of the fiscal year here. It's a little different than I think when you look back at normal seasonality, anything specific that you'd call out to why that might be this year?

模型上可能只有 2 個真正快速的。首先，Trish，我想你談到了醫藥分銷。我們應該考慮——這聽起來像是你在說，即使在本財政年度的後半段，捐款也應該是這樣的。當你回顧正常的季節性時，這與我想的有點不同，你會提出什麼具體的原因來解釋為什麼今年會這樣？

Yes, let me take that. So that comment was the growth rates were going to be even year-over-year. So you're exactly right, Charles, that there will continue to be the expectation of a normal seasonality. That largely comes from the brand inflation, albeit much lower than what it has been historically. We're still talking less than 5% contribution, but that is all in the third quarter. So sequentially, we would still expect the third quarter to have that element associated with it. Trish's comments were specifically related to the year-over-year growth rates being relatively equal between the 2 quarters.

是的，讓我接受。因此，該評論是增長率將與去年同期持平。所以你是完全正確的，查爾斯，人們將繼續期望正常的季節性。這主要來自品牌通脹，儘管遠低於歷史水平。我們仍在談論不到 5% 的貢獻，但這都是在第三季度。因此，我們仍然預計第三季度會有與之相關的元素。 Trish 的評論具體與兩個季度之間相對相等的同比增長率有關。

I see. Okay. I might have misheard. And then maybe if I can just follow up on. You keep talking about the at home -- I'm sorry, you keep talking about at-home solutions and how that's a good growth driver. In the past, you've kind of given a little bit of a breakout of the size of the business. Is there any kind of additional color you can give us here in terms of sizing of this business? How much it's grown relative to the rest of the segment?

我懂了。好的。我可能聽錯了。然後也許我可以跟進。你一直在談論在家——對不起，你一直在談論在家解決方案，以及這是一個很好的增長動力。過去，您對業務規模進行了一些突破。就此業務的規模而言，您可以在這裡給我們任何其他顏色嗎？它相對於該細分市場的其他部分增長了多少？

Sure. Yes. You can also go to our segments. But note, this is one of the two businesses we, every quarter, provide incremental revenue information on. And that business, I think, last year was $2.4 billion of revenue. And I believe, for both the first and second quarter, we grew it by around 9%. But again, you can look at the segment footnote to get the precise numbers each and every quarter.

當然。是的。您也可以前往我們的細分市場。但請注意，這是我們每個季度提供增量收入信息的兩項業務之一。我認為，該業務去年的收入為 24 億美元。我相信，在第一季度和第二季度，我們的增長率都在 9% 左右。但同樣，您可以查看細分腳註以獲取每個季度的精確數字。

Next question comes from the line of Steven Valiquette calling from Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Steven Valiquette 電話。

Great. So on Page 5 in the slide deck, you talked about "just generics program" as one of the positive key variables. So I just wanted to get a little bit of color just to confirm kind of what you're referring to as the biggest component within that. When thinking about -- are you just referring to just better generic volume and generate compliance rates with customers? Or is it just better buying through Red Oak. And also it's been really a much stronger new first-time generic launch calendar as well. But just curious, what's the biggest piece within your comment about just the generics program?

偉大的。因此，在幻燈片的第 5 頁上，您談到了“僅仿製藥計劃”作為積極的關鍵變量之一。所以我只是想得到一點顏色來確認你所說的其中最大的組成部分。在考慮時 - 您是否只是指更好的通用量並產生與客戶的合規率？還是通過 Red Oak 購買更好。而且它確實是一個更強大的新的首次通用發布日曆。但很好奇，您對仿製藥計劃的評論中最重要的部分是什麼？

Sure. Yes, overall, the biggest component for this particular quarter and most quarters that we've seen more recently has been volume. I continue to use the statement consistent market dynamics that's referencing essentially the margin per unit. Yes, there's ongoing deflation, but the buy-side, sell-side continues to be relatively in balance. And so when we see a year-over-year driver, it's driven often by volume and/or mix.

當然。是的，總的來說，這個特定季度和我們最近看到的大多數季度的最大組成部分是數量。我繼續使用聲明一致的市場動態，它主要參考每單位利潤率。是的，通貨緊縮仍在持續，但買方和賣方繼續保持相對平衡。因此，當我們看到同比增長的驅動因素時，它通常是由數量和/或組合驅動的。

And we continue to see very broad strength across all the products, whether it be generics, brands, specialty -- and so this particular quarter, we saw that as well. Again, not the biggest driver. But when I talk about cough, cold and flu, a lot of those products have gone generic. They're more mature products, so they do tend to carry with it a little bit lower margin price points, things of that nature. But that would be a component as well. But again, I'm only highlighting that, given how many questions we get on the topic, not that as a significant driver. But overall, the short answer is volume and mix.

我們繼續看到所有產品的廣泛實力，無論是仿製藥、品牌、專業——所以在這個特定的季度，我們也看到了這一點。同樣，這不是最大的驅動因素。但當我談到咳嗽、感冒和流感時，其中很多產品都變成了仿製藥。它們是更成熟的產品，因此它們確實傾向於帶有較低的利潤率價格點，這種性質的東西。但這也是一個組成部分。但同樣，我只是強調這一點，考慮到我們對這個話題提出了多少問題，而不是作為一個重要的驅動因素。但總的來說，簡短的答案是數量和混合。

The next question comes from the line of Eric Percher calling from Nephron Research.

下一個問題來自 Nephron Research 的 Eric Percher 電話。

A question on nuclear theranostics. Can you remind us where your investments are targeted in '23? And where and when do we see ROI on those investments? And then given the developments around (inaudible) treatments, what are you looking for relative to approval or policy change on testing that could lead to more significant step-up in demand in that business?

關於核治療學的問題。你能提醒我們你在 23 年的投資目標是什麼嗎？我們何時何地可以看到這些投資的投資回報率？然後考慮到圍繞（聽不清）治療的發展，相對於可能導致該業務需求更顯著增加的測試批准或政策變化，你在尋找什麼？

Sure. So the theranostics business launched sometime last 6, 9 months, we're starting to see now more of that contribution over the last couple of quarters. So it's in the ramp-up phase. So we are seeing positive returns already on those investments. This is a business -- a business case. The name of the nuclear business that is both wonderful and also at times a little bit frustrating is that the business is a long-term business. It means that we have good visibility long term, but also means that we have to wait until we can get that benefit. Theranostics has been something we've been working on since well before I arrived here in the organization 3 years ago, and it's one that we're now seeing the fruits of all those investments and efforts from that team.

當然。因此，治療診斷業務在過去 6、9 個月的某個時間推出，我們現在開始看到過去幾個季度的更多貢獻。所以它處於加速階段。因此，我們已經看到這些投資的正回報。這是一個商業——一個商業案例。核業務的名字既精彩又時而令人沮喪，因為它是一項長期業務。這意味著我們長期擁有良好的知名度，但也意味著我們必須等到我們能夠獲得這種好處。早在 3 年前我來到這個組織之前，Theranostics 就一直是我們的工作，現在我們看到了該團隊所有這些投資和努力的成果。

As it relates to the second part of your question, Eric, I get lots of questions around trying to link our business, our nuclear business to specific approval, specific other drugs and therapies and how we can attach that. I would say that the beauty of this business and the success of this business is that it's not directly linked to a very specific particular outcome. We have broad expertise, capabilities. We're not dependent on any one particular area. And is that diversification and of which we're seeing with the theranostics expansion being even more accentuated because we get to work with so many more manufacturers and partners that it just creates a broad opportunity for us to grow across the spectrum.

關於你問題的第二部分，埃里克，我收到了很多關於試圖將我們的業務、我們的核業務與特定批准、特定的其他藥物和療法聯繫起來的問題，以及我們如何附加這些。我想說這項業務的美妙之處和這項業務的成功在於它與非常具體的特定結果沒有直接聯繫。我們擁有廣泛的專業知識和能力。我們不依賴於任何一個特定領域。並且是多樣化，我們看到隨著治療學的擴張更加突出，因為我們與更多的製造商和合作夥伴合作，這為我們創造了一個廣泛的機會來實現跨領域的發展。

So our business case for continued growth, our goal of achieving a doubling of the profit in this business from fiscal '21 to '26 is predicated on a lot of singles and doubles, not triples and home runs by attaching to a blockbuster type of drug. So beyond that, we don't talk about individual drugs, individual manufacturers or products. And so I would -- but like I said, I just don't think that, that's the real draw for this business is the breadth that we have and the broad capabilities.

因此，我們持續增長的業務案例，我們實現該業務的利潤從 21 財年到 26 財年翻番的目標是基於大量的單打和雙打，而不是通過附加到重磅炸彈類型的藥物來實現三重和本壘打.因此，除此之外，我們不談論個別藥物、個別製造商或產品。所以我會 - 但就像我說的那樣，我只是不認為，這項業務的真正吸引力在於我們擁有的廣度和廣泛的能力。

The next question comes from the line of Brian Tanquilut calling from Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Brian Tanquilut 電話。

You have (inaudible) on for Brian. So you mentioned expecting stabilization of supply chain headwinds, particularly in freight transportation. Can you just discuss any sense you might have around the cadence of that improvement moving forward?

你有（聽不清）布萊恩。所以你提到期望供應鏈逆風穩定下來，特別是在貨運方面。你能談談你對這種改進前進的節奏有什麼感覺嗎？

I wish I had more clarity. I would say that it's a lot more stable than it has been over the last few years. And we have to break apart freight into the components. So within international freight, that I believe was an anomaly that is unlikely to occur anytime soon as ever. Again, we need to be prepared for it. We have diversified our supply chain further as a result of living through that. But where those costs are -- they're still elevated in certain areas, right? The main China to North America channels are much, much lower, but there is now a lot of sourcing for other parts of Asia that are higher than historical levels, but nowhere near the peak.

我希望我更清楚。我會說它比過去幾年穩定得多。我們必須將運費分解成各個組成部分。因此，在國際貨運中，我認為這是一種不太可能很快發生的異常現象。同樣，我們需要為此做好準備。由於經歷了這一過程，我們進一步多元化了我們的供應鏈。但是這些成本在哪裡——它們在某些領域仍然很高，對吧？中國到北美的主要渠道要低得多，但現在有很多亞洲其他地區的採購量高於歷史水平，但離峰值還差得很遠。

So we're clearly seeing at least an 80% reduction of what those were at the peak and certainly much closer to pre-pandemic levels. So as it relates to international freight, it's not my big worry at this point, and it's one that we have to continue to keep an eye on and manage. The more elevated remains the domestic transportation. It's also down from its peak, especially as it relates to -- anything related to diesel fuel. So that's also office peak, and we're seeing certain pockets of improvement, but it's still very elevated compared to pre-pandemic.

因此，我們清楚地看到峰值至少減少了 80%，而且肯定更接近大流行前的水平。因此，就國際貨運而言，目前這不是我的大擔心，這是我們必須繼續關注和管理的問題。較高的仍然是國內交通。它也從峰值下降，尤其是與柴油相關的任何東西。所以這也是辦公高峰期，我們看到了某些方面的改善，但與大流行前相比仍然非常高。

And there, I have less confidence that it's going to materially reduce from here. There's a lot of inputs that go into transportation other than just diesel fuel. You have the equipment and the drivers, all of which are higher costs, and they're not expected to come down any time soon. So I expect domestic transportation to be higher longer perhaps forever. And it's why we need to have a permanent pricing is because of that component. But on the international freight side, that is why we are not pushing for faster price increases right now is because we believe that will be coming down on our P&L this next quarter. And as we get through fiscal '24, those 2 lines, the price line and the cost line will finally intersect, and we can see that, that will be fully mitigated.

在那裡，我不太相信它會從這里大幅減少。除了柴油燃料，還有很多投入用於運輸。你有設備和司機，所有這些都是更高的成本，而且預計它們不會很快下降。因此，我預計國內運輸可能會持續更長的時間。這就是為什麼我們需要永久定價的原因是因為該組件。但在國際貨運方面，這就是為什麼我們現在不推動更快的價格上漲，因為我們相信下個季度我們的損益表將會下降。當我們度過 24 財年時，這兩條線，價格線和成本線最終將相交，我們可以看到，這將得到充分緩解。

Now final question comes from the line of AJ Rice calling from Credit Suisse.

現在最後一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 AJ Rice 電話。

Yes. Thanks a lot. I know growing specialty has been a priority for the company and this management team is set out. And you've mentioned that again today that you're having progress there. I guess, can you just maybe tell us where you're seeing success in the specialty area? And is the plan progressing about as expected as it was talked about over the last year or so? Or is that an area of outperformance for you? Or how would you describe that?

是的。多謝。我知道發展專業一直是公司的首要任務，這個管理團隊已經成立。你今天再次提到你在那裡取得了進展。我想，您能否告訴我們您在專業領域的哪些方面取得了成功？該計劃的進展是否如過去一年左右所討論的那樣？還是那是您表現出色的領域？或者你會如何描述？

Sure. Yes. It's absolutely meeting our expectations. It was a call out in terms of the broad volume that we had this last quarter. So we had strength across a number of -- many different categories and customers. We also called out double-digit growth within our manufacture -- sourcing and manufacturer services group, which is a key component of the upstream elements of specialty. So the business is strong. It's large, it's growing nicely. We have -- just I think like the rest of the industry on biosimilars is a nice tailwind that we're seeing not large enough to call out as an individual driver, our 3PL business, especially with the regulatory approvals being a little bit more normalized, is well positioned, and we're continuing to invest in areas that will be growth opportunities in the future, whether that be cell and gene or just where value-based care is going, where we have our Navista TS platform.

當然。是的。這絕對符合我們的期望。就我們上個季度的廣泛數量而言，這是一個呼籲。所以我們在許多不同的類別和客戶中都有實力。我們還呼籲我們的製造 - 採購和製造商服務集團實現兩位數的增長，這是專業上游要素的關鍵組成部分。所以生意很強。它很大，長得很好。我們 - 我認為就像生物仿製藥行業的其他人一樣，這是一個很好的順風，我們認為它不夠大，不足以作為一個單獨的驅動程序，我們的 3PL 業務，特別是在監管批准更加規範化的情況下，定位良好，我們將繼續投資於未來將成為增長機會的領域，無論是細胞和基因，還是基於價值的護理的發展方向，我們擁有 Navista TS 平台。

So we're investing organically. And of course, within our inorganic, we've had a nice success with our Bendcare GPO and the investment in the MSO that I think has given us some additional opportunities to think about in the future as well. So not any one item to highlight, but there is strong breadth across many different pillars of the specialty business that we feel good, is a very strong foundation and platform for future growth.

所以我們正在有機地投資。當然，在我們的無機物中，我們的 Bendcare GPO 和對 MSO 的投資取得了巨大的成功，我認為這也為我們提供了一些額外的機會來考慮未來。因此，沒有任何一項需要強調，但我們感覺良好的專業業務的許多不同支柱都有很強的廣度，是未來增長的非常強大的基礎和平台。

I believe that was our last question. Yes. Thank you. And I'll...

我相信這是我們的最後一個問題。是的。謝謝。而我會...

Yes, there are no further questions. So I will hand it back to host to conclude today's conference.

是的，沒有其他問題了。因此，我將把它交還給主持人，以結束今天的會議。

Yes. Thanks. I appreciate that. Just to summarize real quick. I'm pleased with the continued stability in Pharma, as we just discussed here today. As well as the progress that we're making in the medical business. We are committed to executing on our key priorities, including maintaining a relentless focus on shareholder value creation. So with that, thank you and have a great day.

是的。謝謝。我很感激。只是為了快速總結。正如我們今天剛剛在這裡討論的那樣，我對製藥業的持續穩定感到滿意。以及我們在醫療業務方面取得的進展。我們致力於執行我們的關鍵優先事項，包括堅持不懈地關注股東價值創造。所以，謝謝你，祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you for joining today's call. You may now disconnect. Hosts, please stay connected on the line.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。樓主，請保持在線。