Avis Budget Group Inc (CAR) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Avis Budget Group's fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 conference call.

大家好，歡迎參加 Avis Budget Group 2024 年第四季和全年電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce David Calabria, Treasurer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance.

現在我很高興介紹財務主管兼公司財務高級副總裁 David Calabria。

Thank you, David.

謝謝你，大衛。

You may now begin.

現在您就可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

大家早安，感謝大家的收看。

On the call with me are Joe Ferraro, our Chief Executive Officer; Izzy Martins, our Chief Financial Officer; and Brian Choi, our Chief Transformation Officer.

與我一起通話的還有我們的執行長喬·費拉羅 (Joe Ferraro)；我們的財務長 Izzy Martins；以及我們的首席轉型長 Brian Choi。

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that we will be discussing forward-looking information, including potential future financial performance, which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements and information.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，我們將討論前瞻性訊息，包括潛在的未來財務業績，這些資訊受風險、不確定性和假設的影響，可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述和資訊有重大差異。

Such risks and assumptions, uncertainties, and other factors are identified in our earnings release and our periodic filings with the SEC, as well as the Investor Relations section of our website.

此類風險和假設、不確定性和其他因素均在我們的收益報告和向美國證券交易委員會提交的定期文件中以及我們網站的投資者關係部分中列出。

Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results, and any or all of our forward-looking statements may prove to be inaccurate, and we can make no guarantees about our future performance.

因此，前瞻性陳述不應被視為對實際結果的預測，我們的任何或所有前瞻性陳述都可能被證明是不準確的，我們無法對我們未來的表現做出任何保證。

We undertake no obligation to update or revise our forward-looking statements.

我們不承擔更新或修改前瞻性陳述的義務。

On this call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。

Please refer to our earnings press release, which is available on our website, for how we define these measures and reconciliations to the closest comparable GAAP measures.

請參閱我們網站上的收益新聞稿，了解我們如何定義這些指標以及與最接近的可比較 GAAP 指標的調整。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Joe.

說完這些，我想把電話轉給喬。

Thank you, David.

謝謝你，大衛。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

大家早安，感謝大家今天的參與。

Yesterday, we reported our fourth-quarter and full-year results.

昨天，我們報告了第四季度和全年業績。

For the quarter, we delivered revenue of $2.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA loss of $101 million.

本季度，我們的營收為 27 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 1.01 億美元。

And for the full year, we achieved $11.8 billion of revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $628 million.

全年我們實現了 118 億美元的收入，調整後 EBITDA 為 6.28 億美元。

Let me start by providing additional color around the $2.5 billion non-cash asset impairment and other related charges we disclosed in our earnings release.

首先，我想對我們在收益報告中揭露的 25 億美元非現金資產減損和其他相關費用提供更多詳細資訊。

Izzy will go into the accounting implications surrounding the charge, but I want to explain the business rationale for recently accelerating our fleet rotation strategy, which resulted in this impairment.

Izzy 將深入探討這項費用的會計含義，但我想解釋我們最近加快船隊輪換策略的商業理由，這導致了這項損失。

As you are aware, the auto industry has seen significant movement in price on both new and used vehicles over the post-COVID period in the past few years.

眾所周知，在過去幾年的後疫情時期，汽車業的新車和二手車價格都出現了顯著波動。

The strong retail market for model years '23 and '24 forced us to purchase these vehicles at higher prices than historic norms.

23 年和 24 年車型的強勁零售市場迫使我們以高於歷史標準的價格購買這些車輛。

Our strategy to address this challenge was to hold these vehicles for a longer period of time.

我們應對這項挑戰的策略是將這些車輛保留更長時間。

This would have allowed us to depreciate vehicles across a flatter portion of the residual value curve and manage our fleet purchase to an appropriate return on invested capital.

這將使我們能夠在殘值曲線的較平坦部分折舊車輛，並管理我們的車隊購買以獲得適當的投資回報。

However, when we saw prices for model year '25 vehicles return to normalized levels, we had a new decision to make.

然而，當我們看到 25 款車型的價格恢復到正常水平時，我們必須做出新的決定。

One option was to hold the course with a fleet largely comprised of model year '23 and '24 vehicles.

其中一個選擇是使用主要由 23 年和 24 年車輛組成的車隊來完成比賽。

This would have kept depreciation levels closer to our original assumptions, but we would not be taking the opportunity to continue to acquire new vehicles at lower cost base.

這會使折舊水準更接近我們最初的假設，但我們不會藉此機會繼續以較低的成本基礎購買新車。

The other option was to pivot strategies and refresh our Americas fleet by exiting model year '23 and '24 vehicles aggressively and replacing them with new cars purchased at sustainably better prices.

另一個選擇是調整策略，積極淘汰 23 年和 24 年款車輛，並用以可持續更優惠價格購買的新車取而代之，從而更新我們的美洲車隊。

We believe accelerating our fleet rotation is the right strategy for our company, creating greater certainty on our fleet costs back to normalized levels and positioning us to increase utilization and reduce maintenance and repair costs, provide enhanced customer experience while sustainably growing adjusted EBITDA in 2025 and beyond.

我們相信加速車隊輪換是我們公司的正確策略，這樣可以更有把握地將車隊成本恢復到正常水平，並使我們能夠提高利用率、降低維護和維修成本，提供增強的客戶體驗，同時在 2025 年及以後實現調整後 EBITDA 的可持續增長。

Now, none of us took this situation lightly and for those of you who have followed Avis for some time and are familiar with our company's culture, you can probably surmise that there was only one acceptable option for us.

現在，我們誰也沒有輕視這種情況，對於那些已經關注 Avis 一段時間並且熟悉我們公司文化的人來說，您可能會推測，對我們來說只有一個可接受的選擇。

We are not happy taking this impairment, but accelerating our fleet rotation now allows us to position ourselves to better manage our fleet costs and maximize our earnings this year and the years to come.

我們不願意承受這種損失，但是加快我們的船隊輪換現在使我們能夠更好地管理我們的船隊成本，並在今年和未來幾年實現收益最大化。

Now, let's move to our segment results, beginning with the Americas segment.

現在，讓我們來看看分部業績，從美洲分部開始。

The Americas generated more than $2.1 billion of revenue in the fourth quarter with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $63 million, or an adjusted EBITDA of $156 million if you exclude the year-over-year increase in fleet costs.

美洲地區第四季營收超過 21 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 虧損 6,300 萬美元，若不包括車隊成本的年成長，調整後 EBITDA 則為 1.56 億美元。

Rental days in the Americas were consistent with the fourth quarter of 2023.

美洲地區的租賃天數與 2023 年第四季一致。

We did see some volume impacts during the week surrounding the hurricanes and the national election.

在颶風和全國大選前後的一周，我們確實看到了一些交易量影響。

However, our strategy for the quarter was to maximize revenue over the peak leisure periods of the holiday season.

然而，我們本季的策略是在假期季節的休閒高峰期實現收入最大化。

The Thanksgiving and December holidays were strong, with Christmas in the US being a record for our company.

感恩節和十二月假期的業績十分亮眼，而美國的聖誕節更是創下了我們公司的業績紀錄。

Pricing was down 2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, but improved sequentially throughout the quarter, with December finishing flat the prior year period, showing improving exit trends.

與 2023 年第四季相比，價格下降了 2%，但整個季度價格較上季改善，12 月與去年同期持平，顯示出退出趨勢改善。

In January, we saw a continuation of strong leisure demand associated with the longer holiday season, as well as a robust MLK weekend.

一月份，隨著假期延長以及馬丁路德金紀念週末的到來，我們看到休閒需求持續強勁。

As we look further into the first quarter, there are year-over-year comparisons to take into account with the loss of a day due to leap year and Easter falling in April.

隨著我們進一步研究第一季度，需要將同比數據進行比較，因為閏年和復活節在四月，所以損失了一天。

However, we view a later Easter season as an overall positive because Easter is traditionally much stronger in April due to warmer weather that opens up more destinations for our rental customers to travel than you would have in March.

不過，我們認為復活節假期推遲總體上是件好事，因為傳統上四月份的復活節氣氛更濃厚，因為四月份的天氣更溫暖，為我們的租車客戶提供了比三月份更多的旅行目的地。

As always, we strive to keep our fleet inside of demand, which allows for the most optimal price outcome.

像往常一樣，我們努力保持我們的船隊滿足需求，以實現最優的價格結果。

This strategy has resulted in ongoing improvements in our vehicle utilization.

這項策略使我們的車輛利用率不斷提高。

For the quarter, our utilization in the Americas was over 67%, which is more than 2 points higher than the fourth quarter of 2023, with December finishing at the high end of our historic norms.

本季度，我們在美洲地區的利用率超過 67%，比 2023 年第四季高出 2 個百分點以上，12 月的利用率達到了歷史最高水準。

For the Christmas holiday period, vehicle utilization averaged 4 percentage points higher than last year in our US rental business.

聖誕假期期間，我們美國租賃業務的車輛使用率平均比去年高出 4 個百分點。

Transactions for Christmas far exceeded last year's Christmas peak, which I had mentioned was a record in the US.

聖誕節的交易量遠遠超過了去年聖誕節的高峰，我之前提到過，這是美國的紀錄。

We believe we can continue to improve our vehicle utilization as we implement further transformational enhancements to better understand vehicle dispositions and actions to support more available fleet to optimize supply and demand opportunities.

我們相信，隨著我們實施進一步的轉型改進，以更好地了解車輛配置和行動，以支援更多可用車隊並優化供需機會，我們可以繼續提高車輛利用率。

We expect the first quarter of 2025 to continue to show strong vehicle utilization as we started the year with substantially fewer cars than we started in 2024, and we will continue to aggressively exit vehicles while rotating in newer, more cost-effective units.

我們預計 2025 年第一季的汽車利用率將繼續保持強勁，因為今年年初我們的汽車數量將大大少於 2024 年年初，而且我們將繼續積極退出汽車市場，同時輪換使用更新、更具成本效益的汽車。

Earlier, I discussed the recent change in our fleet strategy, but I want to take this time to discuss our model year '25 buy in greater detail.

之前，我討論了我們車隊策略的最新變化，但我想藉此機會更詳細地討論一下我們的 25 年車型購買情況。

The 2025 buy is virtually complete, although we believe we could still take advantage of some attractive spot buys throughout the year, which will also help us cycle in new cars faster.

2025 年的購買已基本完成，但我們相信我們仍然可以在全年利用一些有吸引力的現貨購買，這也有助於我們更快地購買新車。

The use of data analytics and enhanced residual value modeling have benefited us in our fleet negotiations.

數據分析和增強的剩餘價值模型的使用使我們在船隊談判中受益匪淺。

The new '25 model year vehicles are more affordable than in recent years, allowing us to reach more normalized vehicle costs as they rotate into our fleet throughout the year.

新的 25 款車型比近幾年更加實惠，隨著這些車輛全年輪換到我們的車隊，我們能夠達到更正常化的車輛成本。

As we discussed, we will aggressively accelerate our disposal plans on our 2023 and 2024 higher-cost vehicles to make room for the new model year 2025 vehicles in our rental fleet, and by year-end, we expect the average age and miles of our Americas fleet to be back to pre-pandemic levels.

正如我們所討論的，我們將積極加快 2023 年和 2024 年高成本車輛的處置計劃，為我們租賃車隊中的新 2025 款車輛騰出空間，到年底，我們預計美洲車隊的平均年齡和行駛里程將恢復到疫情前的水平。

So to recap, the travel environment demand is robust, the leisure holiday of Thanksgiving and Christmas was strong, and we saw this continue into January with the MLK holiday weekend.

總而言之，旅遊環境需求強勁，感恩節和聖誕節的休閒假期很強勁，我們看到這種勢頭持續到 1 月的馬丁路德金假日週末。

The extra day last year and the calendar switch of Easter will impact the quarter, but we believe will be more than made up next quarter with Easter falling in April.

去年的額外一天和復活節的日曆轉換將對本季度產生影響，但我們相信，下個季度的復活節將在四月到來，這一影響將得到彌補。

And while the results of this quarter were negatively impacted by the non-cash charges we recorded in connection with the recent change in our fleet strategy, we believe these actions create more certainty surrounding future fleet costs and position us for sustainable growth going forward.

雖然本季的業績受到我們最近改變機隊策略而記錄的非現金費用的負面影響，但我們相信，這些舉措為未來的機隊成本創造了更多的確定性，並為我們未來的可持續增長奠定了基礎。

Our model year 2025 fleet buy is well positioned with lower holding costs and will continue to accelerate our fleet rotations as we transition through the first quarter and beyond.

我們的 2025 年車隊購買定位準確，持有成本較低，並將在第一季及以後的過渡期內繼續加速我們的車隊輪換。

As always, our goal is to be disciplined in aligning our fleet size with demand driving higher utilizations in the first quarter and throughout the year.

與往常一樣，我們的目標是嚴格控制機隊規模與需求，從而提高第一季及全年的利用率。

The Americas is well positioned to take advantage of what we believe to be a strong travel environment and an enhanced summer peak.

我們認為，美洲完全有能力利用強勁的旅遊環境和增強的夏季旅遊高峰。

Let's shift gears to International.

讓我們轉向國際化。

International generated over $590 million of revenue and a loss of $11 million for adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter, largely due to non-recurring higher vehicle-related operating costs as we accelerated rotating out of fleet in the region.

第四季度，國際業務實現了超過 5.9 億美元的收入，調整後 EBITDA 虧損 1,100 萬美元，這主要是由於我們加快了該地區車隊的輪換，導致非經常性車輛相關營運成本增加。

As a result, vehicle utilization was over 68%, up nearly 3 points compared to prior year.

車輛利用率超過68%，較上年提高近3個百分點。

This allowed us to start 2025 with fewer cars than we did in 2024.

這使得我們在 2025 年擁有的汽車數量將比 2024 年少。

Revenue was down 1% compared to prior year, driven by a 1% decrease in rental days.

由於租賃天數減少 1%，收入較前一年下降 1%。

Price was flat in the fourth quarter as compared to the same period last year, which is an improvement from the negative 4% year over year in the third quarter of '24.

第四季價格與去年同期相比持平，較 24 年第三季年減 4% 有所改善。

We continued our strategy that we discussed on previous calls to build on the robust international inbound and inter-European cross-border leisure travel, as it generates higher margin business while exiting lower price volume.

我們延續了先前電話會議上討論的策略，以強勁的國際入境和歐洲間跨境休閒旅遊為基礎，因為它可以在較低的價格下產生更高利潤的業務。

This drove a year-over-year increase in our leisure business, which helped propel our overall revenue per day.

這推動了我們的休閒業務同比增長，從而幫助提高了我們每日的整體收入。

As noted on our previous call, our proprietary demand fleet pricing system is fully operation in our European business, which allows for improved contribution margin by generating increased vehicle utilization and improved revenue per day.

正如我們上次電話會議中提到的，我們專有的需求車隊定價系統已在我們的歐洲業務中全面運行，這可以透過提高車輛利用率和增加每日收入來提高貢獻利潤率。

We're in the process of implementing this system in our Pacific region and expect to see similar benefits there as well.

我們正在太平洋地區實施該系統，並希望在那裡也能看到類似的好處。

Our international regions continue to be a popular destination for cross-border travel, and I believe we are well positioned here to capture this demand.

我們的國際地區仍然是跨境旅行的熱門目的地，我相信我們有能力滿足這項需求。

Moving on to technology and marketing.

轉向技術和行銷。

As I mentioned on our last call, we launched a new customer app in October.

正如我在上次電話會議中提到的，我們在十月推出了新的客戶應用程式。

This new app offers a more dynamic user experience, providing our customers with a new rental dashboard, as well as quick and easy access to their trip details on their travel journey.

這款新應用程式提供了更動態的用戶體驗，為我們的客戶提供了新的租賃儀表板，以及在旅行過程中快速輕鬆地存取其行程詳情。

We're getting a lot of great customer feedback so far and are planning further app enhancements in the first half of 2025, which will integrate with our touchless rental and ancillary product offerings.

到目前為止，我們收到了許多積極的客戶回饋，並計劃在 2025 年上半年進一步增強應用程序，並將其與我們的非接觸式租賃和輔助產品相結合。

We're confident this new app makes our customers' car rental experience smoother and more enjoyable and will continue to differentiate our company in the market by delivering exceptional customer service.

我們相信這款新應用程式會讓我們的客戶的租車體驗更加順暢、更愉快，並將繼續透過提供卓越的客戶服務使我們的公司在市場上脫穎而出。

With that, I'm also proud to mention we finished the full year with record Net Promoter Scores.

同時，我也很自豪地說，我們以創紀錄的淨推薦值結束了全年業績。

In addition, following Xander Schauffele's successful 2024 season, where he won two major PGA championships as an Avis ambassador, we're expanding our partnership with the launch of Xander Embedded, an exclusive content series presented by Avis.

此外，繼 Xander Schauffele 作為 Avis 大使在 2024 賽季取得成功並贏得兩項 PGA 大滿貫賽事之後，我們將透過推出由 Avis 推出的獨家內容系列 Xander Embedded 來擴大我們的合作夥伴關係。

This monthly series premiered in December 2024 and will air throughout the 2025 PGA season, offering a behind-the-scenes look at Xander's life and the planning and preparation that fuels his success, aligning with our Avis Plan on Us brand campaign.

該月度系列節目於 2024 年 12 月首播，並將在 2025 年 PGA 賽季期間播出，展示 Xander 生活的幕後花絮以及推動他成功的計劃和準備，與我們的 Avis Plan on Us 品牌活動保持一致。

We've also continued the development of proprietary in-life fleet technologies, which will drive operational efficiencies.

我們也持續開發專有的在役車隊技術，這將提高營運效率。

As I've discussed before, we've been piloting digital tools in key cities throughout the US that we believe will drive better vehicle utilization.

正如我之前所討論的，我們一直在美國各地的主要城市試行數位工具，我們相信這將提高車輛利用率。

These pilots have gone well, and we are operationalizing these tools with the intent to continue to scale across the US.

這些試點進展順利，我們正在實施這些工具，並計劃繼續在全美推廣。

These tools will allow for a better understanding of vehicle dispositions, drive more timely repairs, and improve vehicle movements, all designed to create more available fleet.

這些工具將有助於更好地了解車輛配置，促進更及時的維修，改善車輛運行，所有這些都是為了創造更多可用的車隊。

So to conclude, we took the necessary actions to create more certainty around future fleet-related expenses and best position us for sustainable growth going forward.

總而言之，我們採取了必要的行動，為未來與車隊相關的費用創造更多確定性，並為我們未來的永續成長做好最佳準備。

Our 2025 model year buy came in much closer to pre-pandemic levels.

我們的 2025 年車型的購買量更接近疫情前的水平。

Leisure peak period travel was especially strong around the holidays with the US record at Christmas, and we saw this strength continue over the MLK holiday weekend.

假期期間，休閒旺季旅遊尤為強勁，美國的聖誕節旅遊創下了紀錄，而我們看到這種強勁勢頭在馬丁路德金假日週末持續下去。

Overall, travel is strong, and we expect this to continue into the summer peak, and our brands are well positioned to take advantage of this.

總體而言，旅遊業發展勢頭強勁，我們預計這一勢頭將持續到夏季高峰，而我們的品牌已準備好利用這一優勢。

Year-over-year pricing in the fourth quarter sequentially improved for the Americas, allowing us to exit December flat the prior year.

美洲地區第四季的年比定價連續改善，使得 12 月的定價與去年同期持平。

We will continue to aggressively rotate our fleet by adding lower-priced new model year vehicles while exiting older, more expensive fleet.

我們將繼續積極輪換我們的車隊，增加價格較低的新車型，同時退出價格較貴的舊車隊。

We expect utilization to be well over prior year in the first quarter, and we expect to continue to see improved utilization throughout the remainder of the year.

我們預計第一季的利用率將遠高於去年同期，我們預計今年剩餘時間內利用率將持續提高。

Izzy will address more about our future outlook, but I want to affirm that based on our strategy and current line of sight, we expect to generate no less than $1 billion of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.

Izzy 將更多地談論我們未來的前景，但我想確認的是，基於我們的策略和目前的視線，我們預計 2025 年的調整後 EBITDA 將不少於 10 億美元。

Now, before I turn it over to Izzy, I want to comment on a succession plan announcement of last evening.

現在，在把麥克風交給 Izzy 之前，我想對昨晚宣布的繼任計劃發表一下評論。

I've had the privilege to work at this company for the past 45 years and the honor of being the CEO for the last five.

我很榮幸能夠在過去的 45 年裡在這家公司工作，並很榮幸在過去的五年裡擔任執行長。

After careful consideration and conversations with our Board, I will be transitioning out of my current role on June 30 and stay on as an advisor to the Board.

經過仔細考慮並與董事會溝通後，我將於 6 月 30 日辭去現任職務，並繼續擔任董事會顧問。

Brian Choi, the company's Chief Transformation Officer and previous CFO, who I've worked with for many years now, will take over as CEO effective July 1.

我與公司首席轉型長兼前財務長 Brian Choi 合作多年，他將於 7 月 1 日起接任執行長一職。

Jagdeep Pahwa, who served as Board member since 2018 and Chairman since 2024, will become the Executive Chairman.

自 2018 年起擔任董事會成員、自 2024 年起擔任主席的 Jagdeep Pahwa 將成為執行主席。

I will continue to run the company as CEO through June and will ensure an orderly transition to Brian as he takes over, effective July 1.

我將繼續以執行長的身份管理公司直至六月，並確保在布萊恩於 7 月 1 日接任後有序過渡。

These succession planning actions will position us well, drive performance throughout 2025 and beyond.

這些繼任計畫行動將使我們處於有利地位，推動 2025 年及以後的表現。

I'll now turn it over to Brian for a few words.

現在我將把發言權交給布萊恩。

Thank you, Joe. Everyone at Avis owes you a debt of gratitude for the contributions you've made to the company throughout your 45-year career here.

謝謝你，喬。您在 45 年的職業生涯中為公司做出了巨大貢獻，Avis 的每一位員工都對您心懷感激。

You've always led from the front and personified our motto of trying harder.

您總是身先士卒，體現了我們「更努力」的座右銘。

It's a legacy I hope to continue.

我希望能夠延續這項傳統。

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to serve as Avis' next CEO and fully appreciate the responsibility that comes with stewarding the global brands we've built over decades.

我非常感謝有機會擔任 Avis 的下一任首席執行官，並充分認識到管理我們幾十年來打造的全球品牌所帶來的責任。

The next leg of our journey holds tremendous potential, and I'm certain that Avis' role in the evolving mobility ecosystem will translate to significant value creation for all of our stakeholders.

我們的下一站旅程具有巨大的潛力，我相信 Avis 在不斷發展的行動生態系統中的作用將為我們所有的利害關係人創造巨大的價值。

Thank you, Brian.

謝謝你，布萊恩。

With that, I'll turn it over to Izzy to discuss our earnings, liquidity, and outlook.

接下來，我將與 Izzy 討論我們的收益、流動性和前景。

Thank you, Joe, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝你，喬，大家早安。

My comments today will focus on our adjusted results, which are reconciled from our GAAP numbers in our press release.

我今天的評論將集中於我們的調整後結果，該結果與我們新聞稿中的 GAAP 數據相一致。

As Joe mentioned, the results in the fourth quarter were impacted by a non-cash impairment and other related charges of $2.5 billion.

正如喬所提到的，第四季的業績受到 25 億美元非現金減損和其他相關費用的影響。

The impairment charge was due to a recent operational change in strategy implemented in the fourth quarter to significantly accelerate our fleet rotation in the Americas.

減損費用是由於第四季度實施的戰略營運變化，大大加快了我們在美洲的機隊輪換速度。

This affected the vast majority of our Americas fleet, and the size of the impairment reflects that.

這影響到了我們絕大多數的美洲機隊，損失的規模也反映了這一點。

Let me provide a bit more color on how we came to this decision.

讓我更詳細地解釋一下我們是如何做出這個決定的。

If you recall, coming out of COVID, there was a shortage of fleet supply and the vehicles we obtained over the past few model years were purchased at elevated prices.

如果你還記得的話，在疫情爆發後，車隊供應出現短缺，過去幾年我們獲得的車輛都是以高價購買的。

In order to achieve an appropriate return on invested capital on these higher-cost vehicles, we intended to elongate the holding period to capture a flatter part of the depreciation curve.

為了在這些高成本工具上獲得適當的投資回報，我們打算延長持有期，以捕捉折舊曲線較平坦的部分。

However, as the competitive landscape shifted and new vehicle incentives returned closer to pre-pandemic levels, we came to the conclusion that aggressively rotating out of these higher-priced vehicles was the optimal long-term economic decision for our company.

然而，隨著競爭格局的變化以及新車激勵措施恢復到接近疫情前的水平，我們得出結論，積極淘汰這些高價位車輛是我們公司最佳的長期經濟決策。

This ultimately required us to reassess the valuation of our fleet from an accounting perspective.

這最終要求我們從會計角度重新評估我們船隊的估值。

Since we are depreciating the vehicles over a shorter period of time, the straight-line depreciation curve is steeper than we initially modeled.

由於我們在較短的時間內對車輛進行折舊，因此直線折舊曲線比我們最初建模的要陡峭。

We adjusted our fleet valuation to their current fair market value to reflect this recent change.

我們將車隊估值調整為當前公平市場價值，以反映最近的變化。

The impact consisted of a $2.5 billion impairment for our rental fleet and other related charges recorded in the fourth quarter.

其影響包括我們租賃車隊的 25 億美元減損以及第四季度記錄的其他相關費用。

We expect an additional non-cash charge in the first quarter related to the disposition of vehicles as part of our accelerated rotation strategy.

作為加速輪調策略的一部分，我們預計第一季將產生與車輛處置相關的額外非現金費用。

To avoid any confusion, let me be clear, we expect no further fleet charges beyond the first quarter of 2025.

為了避免任何混淆，請讓我明確一點，我們預計 2025 年第一季之後不會再收取任何車隊費用。

While this non-cash impairment and related charges fully reflect current market prices, our go-forward depreciation will be impacted by this shortened holding period until these higher-priced vehicles are disposed of.

雖然這種非現金減損和相關費用完全反映了當前的市場價格，但我們未來的折舊將受到縮短的持有期的影響，直到這些高價車輛被處置為止。

This created noise in our fourth-quarter results, and we expect some residual impacts in our first quarter, where we will also see elevated monthly depreciation levels in the first quarter.

這對我們的第四季度業績產生了影響，我們預計第一季還會產生一些殘餘影響，第一季的月度折舊水準還將上升。

Once we are past the peak vehicle selling season in April, we should see depreciation levels normalizing beginning in the second quarter of 2025.

一旦我們度過 4 月的汽車銷售旺季，我們應該會看到折舊水準從 2025 年第二季開始恢復正常。

The decision to accelerate our fleet rotation was not taken lightly.

加速我們艦隊輪替的決定並不是輕率做出的。

Even though this resulted in an impairment, we are confident that this strategy puts us in the best position for adjusted EBITDA growth in 2025 and beyond.

儘管這導致了減值，但我們相信，這項策略將使我們在 2025 年及以後的調整後 EBITDA 成長方面處於最佳位置。

We will provide more guidance around this in our outlook section.

我們將在展望部分提供更多相關指導。

Overall, our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a loss of $101 million, or adjusted EBITDA of $118 million excluding the fleet cost variance, as compared to $311 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.

整體而言，本季我們的調整後 EBITDA 虧損 1.01 億美元，或不包括車隊成本差異的調整後 EBITDA 為 1.18 億美元，而 2023 年第四季為 3.11 億美元。

It is challenging to compare these results to last year due to one-time impacts and uncharacteristic expenses associated with the impairment.

由於一次性影響和與減損相關的異常費用，很難將這些結果與去年的結果進行比較。

Our full-year reported adjusted EBITDA was $628 million.

我們全年報告的調整後 EBITDA 為 6.28 億美元。

However, if you exclude our losses on sale and additional incremental depreciation associated with our change in fleet strategy, our adjusted EBITDA would have been approximately $850 million.

然而，如果不包括我們的銷售損失和與機隊策略變化相關的額外增量折舊，我們的調整後 EBITDA 將約為 8.5 億美元。

We feel confident that with the actions we have taken and the impacts that occurred this quarter that we are set up for a much stronger 2025.

我們相信，憑藉我們已採取的行動和本季產生的影響，我們將迎來更強勁的 2025 年。

Let's move on to capital allocation.

讓我們繼續討論資本配置。

We made the decision to repurchase approximately 450,000 shares of common stock for $37 million in the fourth quarter.

我們決定在第四季以 3,700 萬美元回購約 450,000 股普通股。

As always, we will continue to balance our capital allocation between reinvesting in the company and returning capital to our shareholders.

像往常一樣，我們將繼續在對公司再投資和向股東返還資本之間平衡我們的資本配置。

As we mentioned on the last call, we issued $700 million of senior notes in the third quarter and used the proceeds in the fourth quarter to repay outstanding borrowings under our secured Term Loan C. This allowed us to reduce our secured borrowings and provide us more flexibility in our ability to refinance in the future.

正如我們在上次電話會議上提到的，我們在第三季度發行了 7 億美元的優先票據，並在第四季度利用所得款項償還了我們有擔保的定期貸款 C 項下的未償還借款。

In February, we issued $500 million of a secured term loan A and used the proceeds to pay down fleet indebtedness.

2 月份，我們發放了 5 億美元的有擔保定期貸款 A，並用所得款項償還船隊債務。

We view this as a temporary issuance and as such structured a maturity for this Term Loan A to be repaid no later than December 2025.

我們認為這是一次臨時發行，因此將該定期貸款 A 的到期日設定為不遲於 2025 年 12 月償還。

We wanted this Term Loan A to ensure we were in a position to opportunistically evaluate model year '25 spot buys in the first half of the year, giving us the flexibility to further accelerate our fleet rotation.

我們希望這筆定期貸款 A 能確保我們能夠在上半年抓住機會評估 25 年款的現貨購買情況，讓我們能夠靈活地進一步加快車隊輪換。

As of December 31, we had available liquidity of over $1.1 billion, including committed and uncommitted facilities with additional borrowing capacity of approximately $2.8 billion in our ABS facilities.

截至 12 月 31 日，我們擁有超過 11 億美元的可用流動資金，包括已承諾和未承諾的貸款，以及 ABS 貸款中約 28 億美元的額外借貸能力。

Our net corporate leverage ratio was 7.8 times.

我們的企業淨槓桿率為7.8倍。

This is temporarily elevated given the effects of the impairment discussed earlier.

考慮到前面討論過的損害的影響，這一數字暫時上升了。

By the end of 2025, we expect our net corporate leverage ratio to be back closer to normalized levels.

到 2025 年底，我們預期企業淨槓桿率將恢復到接近正常水準。

When you look at our total net debt leverage, the ratio remains relatively unchanged at under 5 times as our corporate debt issuances were used to pay down fleet debt.

當您查看我們的總淨債務槓桿時，該比率保持相對不變，低於 5 倍，因為我們發行的公司債務用於償還船隊債務。

Additionally, we are in compliance with all of our financing facilities.

此外，我們遵守所有融資規定。

We will continue to evaluate the best use of our capital and we anticipate being more balanced capital allocators going forward as we look to repay debt and return capital to our shareholders.

我們將繼續評估資本的最佳用途，並期望在償還債務和向股東返還資本的同時，成為更平衡的資本配置者。

Let's move on to outlook.

讓我們繼續討論展望。

As we mentioned earlier, we did not take the change to our fleet rotation strategy lightly, but the biggest benefit going forward is more certain outcomes for our fleet costs.

正如我們之前提到的，我們並沒有輕易改變我們的船隊輪換策略，但未來最大的好處是我們的船隊成本能得到更確定的結果。

That, along with infleeting more cost-effective model year '25 fleet during the year, gives us confidence that the fleet cost per unit per month will significantly reduce throughout the year.

再加上年內引進更具成本效益的 25 年款車隊，我們相信全年每單位每月的車隊成本將大幅降低。

Due to the fleet rotation we previously spoke about, the first quarter will still show lingering effects on our fleet costs.

由於我們之前談到的船隊輪換，第一季仍將對我們的船隊成本產生持續影響。

In the first quarter of 2025, we expect all-in fleet costs per unit per month to be approximately $400 for the total company.

2025 年第一季度，我們預計整個公司每輛車每月的全車隊成本約為 400 美元。

However, as we stated, we expect this to significantly drop and our second quarter all-in fleet costs per unit per month will be under $350.

然而，正如我們所說，我們預計這一數字將大幅下降，並且我們第二季度每月全車隊成本將低於 350 美元。

This will continue to optimize throughout the year as we rotate our fleet and anticipate our fleet costs as we exit the year to be around $300 per vehicle per month.

隨著我們輪換車隊，這筆成本將在全年持續優化，預計年底的車隊成本將達到每輛車每月約 300 美元。

In the first month of 2025, as Joe stated, we saw a continuation of leisure holiday travel, as well as strength in the MLK holiday weekend.

正如喬所說，在 2025 年的第一個月，我們看到休閒假期旅行的延續，以及馬丁路德金假期週末的強勁增長。

We expect this strength to continue, but it will be offset by one less day in the quarter and Easter shifting into mid-April.

我們預計這種強勁勢頭將持續下去，但將被本季減少一天和復活節推遲到四月中旬所抵消。

As we mentioned, we anticipate that having Easter in April will more than offset the loss of Easter in March as the warmer weather allows for more robust travel.

正如我們所提到的，我們預計四月的復活節將遠遠彌補三月復活節的損失，因為溫暖的天氣將為人們提供更充足的旅行機會。

Although we expect revenue per day in the first quarter to be down slightly year over year, we anticipate pricing trends to improve compared to prior years as we move into April.

儘管我們預計第一季的每日收入將同比略有下降，但我們預計，進入四月份，定價趨勢將比前幾年有所改善。

For the first quarter, we expect an adjusted EBITDA to be approximately a loss of $100 million, largely due to the elevated fleet costs and the calendar shifts previously discussed.

對於第一季度，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 將損失約 1 億美元，這主要是由於先前討論過的車隊成本增加和日曆變化。

However, we expect the healthy demand we are seeing around travel, combined with fleet actions and improved operational efficiencies, will more than make up for the slow start to the year and gives us confidence that we will generate no less than $1 billion in adjusted EBITDA in 2025 and beyond.

然而，我們預計，我們看到的健康的旅行需求，加上機隊的行動和運營效率的提高，將彌補今年開局緩慢的局面，並使我們有信心在 2025 年及以後實現不低於 10 億美元的調整後 EBITDA。

With that, let's open it up for any questions.

現在，我們可以開始回答任何問題了。

(Operator Instructions) John Babcock, Bank of America.

（操作員指示）美國銀行的約翰·巴布科克。

Good morning.

早安.

And first, congratulations to Brian on his new role, and for Joe, best of luck in your next endeavors.

首先，恭喜布萊恩獲得新的職位，並祝喬在接下來的工作中好運。

Then in terms of my first question here, I guess what I wanted to talk about, I guess, is cash flow.

那麼就我的第一個問題而言，我想我想談論的是現金流。

You did share some guidance on DPU and EBITDA, but I wanted to get a sense for how we should think about cash flow from quarter to quarter as we go through the year.

您確實分享了一些有關 DPU 和 EBITDA 的指導，但我想了解我們應該如何考慮全年各季度的現金流。

Hi, John.

你好，約翰。

Thank you for the question.

感謝您的提問。

I think the first point in cash flow is really starting with what our earnings are expected to be.

我認為現金流的第一個要點實際上是從我們的預期利潤開始的。

As I said, we're confident in being able to generate no less than $1 billion.

正如我所說，我們有信心創造不少於 10 億美元的收入。

So when you keep that in mind, really the only things taken away from cash flow will be our interest expense, our investments in capital, and obviously our tax payments.

所以當你記住這一點時，實際上從現金流中拿走的唯一東西將是我們的利息支出，我們的資本投資，當然還有我們的稅金。

And actually, this year, we expect our working capital to be positive.

實際上，我們預計今年我們的營運資本將為正。

So I would expect our free cash flow to be really, really solid in 2025.

因此我預計我們的自由現金流在 2025 年將會非常非常穩健。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

And then I guess just my follow-on question here.

然後我想我的後續問題就在這裡。

With the fleet rotation, have you had any change in mix?

隨著艦隊的輪換，你們的艦隊組合有什麼改變嗎？

And then also, if you have, will this have any notable impact on our RPD earnings, or will this be more on the margin?

而且，如果有的話，這會對我們的 RPD 收益產生顯著影響嗎，或者這是否會更多地影響利潤？

Yeah.

是的。

Hi, this is Joe. No, we've had no change in mix.

你好，我是喬。不，我們的混合沒有任何變化。

So the fleet rotation is going to be purely taking out the higher-priced vehicles, and as said earlier, very aggressively as we change our hold periods and our rotation strategy.

因此，車隊輪換將純粹是淘汰價格較高的車輛，正如前面所說，隨著我們改變持有期和輪換策略，車隊輪換將非常積極。

So there will be no change.

所以不會有任何改變。

So it's not like we're buying smaller cars because they're less expensive.

所以，我們買小型車並不是因為它們比較便宜。

Our fleet size has always looked at what our demand is, what our customer demand is, what the reservations are like.

我們的機隊規模始終取決於我們的需求、客戶的需求以及預訂情況。

And over the years, we've managed to increase the size of our vehicles because they bring us a better price even with a maybe lower utilization.

多年來，我們已成功擴大車輛規模，因為即使利用率可能較低，也能為我們帶來更優惠的價格。

So no, there's no change in how we look at our fleet size.

所以，我們對機隊規模的看法並沒有改變。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Appreciate it.

非常感謝。

Chris Stathoulopoulos, Susquehanna International.

薩斯奎哈納國際公司的克里斯‧斯塔圖洛普洛斯 (Chris Stathoulopoulos)。

Good morning, everyone.

大家早安。

Izzy, I want to understand here -- so the firm guide for 1Q with, I guess, some residual or smaller impairments, the timing of Easter, so $100 million loss.

伊茲，我想在這裡了解一下——所以對於第一季度的堅定指導，我猜，會有一些殘餘或較小的減值，復活節的時間，所以損失 1 億美元。

We have a soft guide for the full year of no less than $1 billion.

我們有一個全年不少於 10 億美元的軟指導。

So I want to understand how you're thinking about the quarterly cadence of adjusted EBITDA.

所以我想了解您如何看待調整後 EBITDA 的季度節奏。

It would seem that the guide is perhaps more second-half weighted and want to better understand that versus what I've understood to be typically a shorter booking window for rentals normally 30 to 40 days.

看起來該指南可能更側重於後半部分，並且想要更好地理解這一點，而據我了解，租賃的預訂窗口通常較短，通常為 30 到 40 天。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Hi, Chris.

你好，克里斯。

Thank you for the question.

感謝您的提問。

I'll take the first half of your question.

我來回答你問題的前半部。

So talking about DPU and our expectations for the first quarter, I think the way to think of it is based on our change in our strategy to accelerate the fleet rotation, you should think of the depreciation costs in the first quarter actually very similarly to our exit trends.

因此，談到 DPU 和我們對第一季的預期，我認為思考的方式是基於我們加速船隊輪換的戰略變化，您應該認為第一季的折舊成本實際上與我們的退出趨勢非常相似。

So where we landed in the fourth, which was very close to the $400 million mark, that's how I would think about it in the first quarter.

因此，我們在第四季的業績非常接近 4 億美元大關，我對第一季的業績就是這麼認為的。

As for charges, as we said in our press release, we have a one-time impairment charge.

至於費用，正如我們在新聞稿中所說，我們有一次性減損費用。

We had other related charges, and we expect another related charge in the first quarter, once again, to do with the fact that we are accelerating this fleet rotation.

我們還有其他相關費用，我們預計第一季還會有另一項相關費用，這再次與我們正在加速機隊輪換有關。

But past the first quarter, there will be no further charges related to this strategy.

但第一季之後，將不再有與該策略相關的費用。

I think it's also important to think about, even though we'll have a little bit of a slower start, but compared to prior year, that slow start, and when we normalize the fleet costs going out, there's absolutely no challenge in achieving the $1 billion.

我認為同樣重要的是要考慮，儘管我們的起步會稍微慢一些，但與前一年相比，當我們將船隊成本正常化時，實現 10 億美元的目標絕對沒有挑戰。

Yeah.

是的。

I'll jump in here if you want to just talk about the business case going forward.

如果您只想談論未來的商業案例，我會加入。

The first quarter is traditionally not our biggest quarter.

傳統上，第一季不是我們業績最大的季度。

It's the winter season.

現在是冬季。

Only certain states play in that, and that we continue to see.

只有某些國家才會參與其中，而這種情況我們會一直看到。

But like I said earlier, I was really pleased with the leisure demand over the holiday periods.

但就像我之前說的，我對假期期間的休閒需求感到非常滿意。

It was very robust.

它非常堅固。

As a matter of fact, our December Christmas was a record in the US, and we saw positive rental days, really over TSA volume, quite frankly, and we saw good price, positive price over the holiday, which we then see transition into MLK.

事實上，我們 12 月的聖誕節在美國創下了紀錄，我們的租賃天數為正，坦率地說，實際上超過了 TSA 的交易量，而且假期期間我們看到了良好的價格，積極的價格，然後我們看到了向 MLK 的轉變。

Now, we have a problem in the first quarter because we've got one day less, and Easter is migrating into April, which will make the second quarter certainly better than maybe we had thought of earlier in the year.

現在，我們在第一季遇到了一個問題，因為假期少了一天，而且復活節要推遲到四月，這肯定會使第二季的情況比我們今年早些時候想像的要好。

And then we're really bold about our summer season.

我們對夏季的計劃十分大膽。

Every year, the summer is the peak season.

每年夏季是旺季。

We feel we operate on a very high level during that period of time.

我們感覺那段時間我們的運作水準非常高。

So our operating performance will be biggest in the summer as it traditionally is through seasonality, and then we transition out into the fourth quarter.

因此，我們的營運業績將在夏季達到最高，因為這是傳統季節性的表現，然後我們過渡到第四季。

This past year, those hurricanes were a challenge for us in Florida because Florida's busiest month is October, and it came back a little later than we thought.

去年，這些颶風對我們佛羅裡達州來說是一個挑戰，因為佛羅裡達州最繁忙的月份是十月，而颶風來得比我們想像的要晚一些。

But yeah, I think to answer your question, you'll see this kind of a seasonality approach as we go through.

但是的，當我認為回答你的問題時，你會看到這種季節性的方法。

Big summer, better quarter in the second because of the holiday flip, and then finish strong at the end.

盛夏時節，由於假期的轉折，第二季度表現更好，並在年底強勢收官。

So if I put that all together, as I think about volumes, pricing, and DPU relief after we exit, 1Q, it would seem that it's more on the cost side and the pricing now is your better size in spite of demand.

因此，如果我將所有這些放在一起，當我考慮我們退出後的第一季的銷售、定價和 DPU 減免時，似乎更多的是在成本方面，而儘管需求存在，但現在的定價是更好的規模。

Are you baking in any sort of seasonal plus on volumes or the base case sort of seasonally in line as we work through the year?

您是否考慮了任何季節性因素，例如銷量增加，或者在我們全年工作時將基本情況與季節性因素結合起來？

Yeah.

是的。

As I would say, what we're seeing, and you're right about reservation demand kind of close in on our industry, but basically, what we're seeing is we're seeing reservation demand.

正如我所說，我們看到的，您說的對，預訂需求與我們的行業接近，但基本上，我們看到的是預訂需求。

We've got President's Week coming up next week, seemingly is pretty good, and like I said, the Easter holiday, but the summer we believe will be strong.

下週就是總統週了，看起來似乎還不錯，而且就像我說的，還有復活節假期，但我們相信夏天會很強勁。

And yeah, that's where the majority of our volume and our rate differential will be and our EBITDA.

是的，這就是我們的交易量、價格差異和 EBITDA 的主要來源。

And that's been the case for as far back as I can recall.

從我記事起，情況一直都是這樣的。

But yeah, I see us transitioning, and we're going to have RPD kind of a little down in this quarter, but transitioning up as we get to the peak periods.

但是的，我看到我們正在轉型，本季我們的 RPD 將會略有下降，但隨著我們進入高峰期，我們的 RPD 將會上升。

And the thing about our fleet and what we've done, even with this accelerated fleet rotation, is keeping it well inside of demand.

關於我們的機隊以及我們所做的一切，即使在機隊輪換加速的情況下，仍然能夠滿足需求。

So we think that offers us the best price opportunity, and you'll see that as we go forward as well because we're saying that our utilizations are going to be strong going out.

因此，我們認為這為我們提供了最佳的價格機會，而且隨著我們的前進，您也會看到這一點，因為我們說我們的利用率將會很高。

Okay.

好的。

Joe, if I could get one more in.

喬，如果我可以再加一個的話。

How are you thinking about the tariff's potential impact?

您如何看待關稅的潛在影響？

So there was a comment, I believe, from Ford or one of the OEMs yesterday that the tariffs are wreaking havoc on the industry.

因此，我相信，昨天福特或某個原始設備製造商評論說，關稅正在對該行業造成嚴重破壞。

It would seem at first blush that higher new vehicle prices would stir demand or spur demand for used car markets, and typically that would be good as we think about residual values in DPU.

乍一看，新車價格上漲似乎會刺激需求或刺激二手車市場的需求，當我們考慮 DPU 中的剩餘價值時，這通常將是一件好事。

I realize it's still early, but initially, how are you thinking about pluses and minuses around the tariffs should these move forward?

我知道現在還為時過早，但首先，您如何看待這些關稅的利弊？

Thanks.

謝謝。

Yeah, that's a good question.

是的，這是個好問題。

We've been thinking about that quite a bit lately because it certainly has been a very fluid situation and ever-changing.

我們最近一直在思考這個問題，因為這確實是一個非常不穩定且不斷變化的情況。

And I think our job is to understand what could potentially happen, and then as we do, be flexible enough to react.

我認為我們的工作是了解可能發生的事情，然後靈活地做出反應。

We have cars that are being produced in those places that are talked about as tariffs, but they're all coming in imminently, and I don't see that as a big problem for us in the near term about if something happens, having elevated prices where all the deals are done with the OEMs.

我們的汽車是在那些被提及徵收關稅的地方生產的，但這些關稅都即將徵收，而且我認為，如果發生什麼事情，這在短期內不會給我們帶來什麼大問題，因為所有交易都是與原始設備製造商達成的，所以價格會上漲。

It's -- going forward, what could potentially happen?

未來還有什麼可能呢？

I mean, I think there's a go-forward, and then there's like maybe a longer term.

我的意思是，我認為這是向前邁進的，然後也許還有一個更長遠的目標。

I think what you said is right.

我認為你說的對。

Used car prices -- if new car prices get elevated, used car prices should benefit from that.

二手車價格－如果新車價格上漲，二手車價格也會從中受益。

And that's normally what happens in an environment like this.

在這樣的環境中，通常會發生這樣的情況。

And secondly, what's going to happen with new car production as a guess.

其次，我們猜測新車產量將如何發展。

Will OEMs continue to produce at the levels they're producing?

原始設備製造商是否會繼續維持目前的生產水準？

If they can't pass on those costs to consumers, will they produce less?

如果他們不能將這些成本轉嫁給消費者，他們會減少產量嗎？

I think both those last two points have a near-term positive effect for us.

我認為最後兩點對我們短期內都有正面影響。

And then as we go out, we'll have to see.

然後，當我們出去的時候，我們必須看看。

We have -- the beauty of how we manage our fleet, obviously, you see it today.

我們管理車隊的方式非常出色，這一點顯然今天您就能看到。

We are extremely flexible, and what we've learned throughout the years, even during the COVID years, is that we can respond very quickly to changes in macroeconomics.

我們非常靈活，多年來，即使在疫情期間，我們也學到的是，我們可以對宏觀經濟的變化做出非常迅速的反應。

And I'm pretty confident we'll do just that.

我非常有信心我們能做到這一點。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

傑富瑞的史蒂芬妮摩爾 (Stephanie Moore)。

Hello.

你好。

This is Harold Antor on for Stephanie Moore.

這是哈羅德·安托 (Harold Antor) 為 Stephanie Moore 主持的節目。

So I guess on DOE, I know you took on some charges in the quarter, but I guess could you provide us a sense in 2025 how we should expect that to improve?

所以我想就 DOE 而言，我知道您在本季承擔了一些費用，但我想您能否為我們提供 2025 年我們應該預期這種情況會如何改善？

And is there anything that you could provide that would give us confidence that you could see material improvement in DOE in 2025?

您能否提供一些資訊讓我們相信 2025 年 DOE 會取得實質進展？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Good morning, Harold.

早安，哈羅德。

Thank you for the question.

感謝您的提問。

As you could see, in the fourth quarter, the operating expense did increase a bit.

你可以看到，第四季的營業費用確實有所增加。

I think what we didn't mention was the fact that although we had a lot of changes in our fleet costs, given our strategy that we implemented in the fourth quarter, that also had lingering effects in our operating expense line.

我認為我們沒有提到的事實是，儘管我們的機隊成本發生了很大變化，但考慮到我們在第四季度實施的策略，這也對我們的營運費用產生了揮之不去的影響。

It had actually lingering effects in both regions, both in the Americas and international.

它實際上對美洲和國際兩個地區都產生了持久的影響。

Even if we only took a charge in the Americas, we did have an acceleration of fleet, or call it the rotation, worldwide.

即使我們只在美洲地區佔據主導地位，但我們在世界範圍內的艦隊速度確實在加快，或者說在世界範圍內的輪換也在加快。

So those, call it, impacts relating to getting the cars up to snuff to sell them, dealing with some salvages here and there, that's really what caused the, call it, inflection point in the operating expense.

因此，這些所謂的影響與使汽車達到標準以便出售、處理一些報廢車輛有關，這才是導致營業費用出現轉折點的真正原因。

Now, going forward, you heard many of the things that Joe mentioned as what we're working on.

現在，展望未來，您會聽到喬提到的許多我們正在做的事情。

So not only have we seen the benefits of our operational efficiencies, we expect that to be at a greater magnitude in 2025.

因此，我們不僅看到了營運效率提高帶來的好處，而且我們預計到 2025 年這項好處將更加顯著。

So we expect our operating expense to be back to normalized levels and really the fourth quarter being about non-recurring items.

因此，我們預計我們的營運費用將恢復到正常水平，並且第四季度實際上是非經常性項目。

I hope that was helpful.

我希望這有幫助。

Yes, thank you for the color there.

是的，感謝那裡的色彩。

And I guess, can you comment -- because the whole industry is going through this fleet refresh.

我想，您能否發表評論——因為整個行業都在經歷這次機隊更新。

So I wonder if you're seeing anything that you think is worth calling out from the competitive landscape in the industry.

所以我想知道您是否從行業競爭格局中看到了任何值得關注的事情。

And I guess the last thing is, congrats on the transition, Brian.

我想最後要說的是，恭喜布萊恩的轉變。

What will be your focus or agenda as the new CEO starting later this year?

作為今年稍後上任的新首席執行官，您的工作重點或議程是什麼？

Okay.

好的。

Yeah, I'll take that.

是的，我接受。

I can only comment on what we're trying to do as far as our fleet rotation.

我只能就我們在艦隊輪換方面所做的努力發表評論。

None of us took that impairment lightly, and we thought long and hard about it.

我們都沒有輕視這種損害，我們對此進行了長期而深刻的思考。

But the 2025 model year by came in better than we thought.

但 2025 年車型的表現比我們想像的要好。

If you can recall my comments, over the last couple of months, basically said it was more affordable, then I said it was better than '24 and '25.

如果你還記得我過去幾個月的評論，基本上是說它更實惠，然後我說它比'24和'25更好。

When we finally finished the fleet negotiations, we're saying it's back to pre-pandemic levels.

當我們最終完成船隊談判時，我們說它已經恢復到疫情前的水平。

And I think based on that, it required us to accelerate our fleet rotation in a greater way.

我認為基於此，我們需要更大程度地加快我們的艦隊輪換。

Because I think it not only has fleet cost benefits for us, but it has downstream effects on variable vehicle costs and the cost of parts and things of that nature because the cars are certainly less aged.

因為我認為它不僅為我們帶來了車隊成本效益，而且由於汽車的老化程度較低，對車輛變動成本以及零件等成本也有下游影響。

So we believe it has benefits in utilization and the customer experience, as well as the EBITDA benefit.

因此，我們相信它在利用率和客戶體驗以及 EBITDA 收益方面都有好處。

If you think back in time, we're a bigger company than we were back in 2019, and we potentially have a cost of fleet that's the same back then.

如果回顧過去，我們現在的公司規模比 2019 年更大，但當時我們的車隊成本可能與現在相同。

So that's why we think there's a benefit.

所以我們認為這是有好處的。

And our actions over the next certainly few months and majority of the year is to rotate these cars in quickly.

我們在接下來的幾個月以及一年中的大部分時間裡的行動是快速輪換這些車輛。

What other people do, up to them.

其他人做什麼，由他們自己決定。

But I do believe that us doing this gives us a competitive advantage, in my opinion.

但我確實相信，這樣做會為我們帶來競爭優勢。

As far as -- I'll comment on the CEO transition.

就——我將對執行長的過渡發表評論。

I think when you look at our company over the years, we develop our own.

我想，當你回顧我們公司多年來的發展時，你會發現我們正在發展我們自己的公司。

Now granted, we hire from outside as well, but we develop our own, which is a uniqueness which creates stability in our organization.

當然，我們也從外部聘請人才，但我們發展自己的人才，這是一種獨特性，可以為我們的組織帶來穩定性。

I was here 45 years.

我在這裡已經45年了。

Brian worked for me for five years.

布萊恩為我工作了五年。

The common goals, we'll look at things similarly.

共同的目標，我們會以類似的眼光看待事物。

Will the actions be different?

行動會有所不同嗎？

Of course.

當然。

But I think what you have here in our company is a sustainable transition that benefits not only the people that we work with, the customer base that we serve, but more importantly the shareholders we provide equity to.

但我認為，我們公司所面臨的是一個可持續的轉型，這不僅有利於與我們合作的人、我們服務的客戶群，更重要的是有利於我們提供股權的股東。

Thank you for the color.

謝謝你的顏色。

Ryan Brinkman, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的瑞安·布林克曼。

Hi.

你好。

Good morning.

早安.

This is Jash Patwa on for Ryan Brinkman.

這是 Ryan Brinkman 的 Jash Patwa。

Thanks for taking our questions.

感謝您回答我們的問題。

I just wanted to start with a question on your disposition mix and how that has changed over the past few years.

我首先想問您的性格組合以及它在過去幾年中發生了怎樣的變化。

As you accelerate fleet creation initiatives, is there potential to incrementally lean into direct-to-retail or direct-to-dealer channels?

隨著您加速車隊創建計劃，是否有可能逐步傾向於直接面向零售或直接面向經銷商的管道？

It would also be great if you could remind us on the difference in remarketing outcomes between the direct-to-retail and direct-to-dealer channels as opposed to the auction channels.

如果您能提醒我們直接面向零售和直接面向經銷商的通路與拍賣通路之間的再行銷結果之間的差異，那就太好了。

Thanks, and I have a follow-up.

謝謝，我有一個後續問題。

Sure.

當然。

Over the past number of years, we've always talked about alternate channel as a differentiating factor for us because of the cost base it entails.

過去幾年來，我們一直在談論替代管道作為我們的差異化因素，因為它涉及成本基礎。

I think 70% of our cars, give or take, go through non-auction-related channels, some of which are retail.

我認為，我們的汽車大約有 70% 是透過非拍賣相關管道銷售的，其中一些是零售通路。

It's arguably a smaller portion.

可以說這只是一小部分。

We announced that we have this online brand called RubyCar, which we're starting to generate some activity for us.

我們宣布我們有一個名為RubyCar的線上品牌，我們正在開始為我們進行一些活動。

But the majority of our sales are done through non-auction-related activity.

但我們的大部分銷售都是透過非拍賣相關活動完成的。

The auction provides you a way to get out of course quicker, but we look at how we do and compare to MMR very seriously, and that's always a KPI that we manage closely.

拍賣當然為您提供了更快退出的方式，但我們會非常認真地看待我們的表現並與 MMR 進行比較，這始終是我們密切管理的 KPI。

Understood.

明白了。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

And I think you alluded to this in your response to the prior question, but I would imagine that the certainty around fleet costs also yield incremental benefits with regards to revenue optimization, especially in terms of pricing management and volume optimization.

我認為您在回答上一個問題時提到了這一點，但我認為，船隊成本的確定性也會在收入優化方面帶來增量效益，特別是在定價管理和數量優化方面。

Curious if you could speak to how this increased certainty around fleet costs could potentially drive efficiencies across the different operational aspects within your business model.

我很好奇，您是否可以談談車隊成本的確定性增強如何能夠提高您商業模式中各個營運方面的效率。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sure.

當然。

I think first thing, when you change your rotation and you get new cars in, you have an immediate impact on utilization.

我認為首先，當你改變輪換並引入新車時，會立即對利用率產生影響。

More available cars, they -- the frequency of repair isn't quite as neat as necessary.

儘管可用的汽車更多，但維修頻率卻不如必要的那麼整齊。

So I think that adds to the revenue lines.

所以我認為這會增加收入。

More available fleet, we have our demand fleet pricing system, which allows us to understand supply and demand.

更多可用的車隊，我們有需求車隊定價系統，這使我們能夠了解供需情況。

And it really focuses on contribution.

它真正注重的是貢獻。

One of those contributions is utilization.

其中一個貢獻就是利用率。

And this allows for a high propensity of car use.

這使得人們使用汽車的傾向很高。

As far as some of the downstream effects, which I talked about earlier, there is going to be a lot because, again, newer cars, less parts, less maintenance, less turnover.

至於我之前談到的一些下游效應，它會產生很大的影響，因為汽車更新，零件更少，維護更少，營業額更少。

And I think that position us well from a variable vehicle point of view, in that you have cars that are not in need of oil changes and repairs quite as frequently, as the cars that we had in our fleet.

我認為，從可變車輛的角度來看，我們處於有利地位，因為您的汽車不需要像我們車隊中的汽車那樣頻繁地更換機油和維修。

I think it leads to productivity improvements overall for operationally because, again, the less downtime.

我認為這會從整體上提高營運效率，因為停機時間減少了。

And as far as revenue goes, having more available cars at the point of sale to take reservations will certainly allow us to benefit in the revenue streams.

就收入而言，在銷售點擁有更多可供預訂的汽車無疑會讓我們的收益來源增加。

Very helpful.

非常有幫助。

Thank you so much, and good luck.

非常感謝，祝你好運。

Dan Levy, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的丹‧利維 (Dan Levy)。

Hi.

你好。

Good morning.

早安.

Thank you for taking questions.

感謝您回答問題。

And congratulations to both Joe and Brian.

並向喬和布萊恩表示祝賀。

I wanted to first just follow up on the fleet rotation, and really, what I want to try to get to is the rationale because I think I'm hearing two things.

我首先想跟進艦隊輪換的情況，實際上，我想了解的是其基本原理，因為我認為我聽到了兩件事。

You're talking about the opportunity to normalize your DPU and DOE.

您正在談論使 DPU 和 DOE 正常化的機會。

But you're also giving some comments about sort of ancillary benefits to RPD.

但您也對 RPD 的附帶福利發表了一些評論。

So I'm trying to understand, is more of the rationale on this to normalize those expenses?

所以我想了解，這是否更多的是為了讓這些費用正常化？

Or was this really more a reaction to the competitive environment that we saw her refreshing their fleet and potentially enterprise going out there and refreshing fleet, or this is just what's required given the competitive environment to have a much fresher fleet?

或者這實際上是對競爭環境的一種反應，我們看到她正在更新他們的機隊，並且潛在的企業也在更新機隊，或者這只是在競爭環境下擁有更新機隊所需要的？

I think our goal here is to have the best possible fleet that our company could have.

我認為我們的目標是擁有公司最好的車隊。

And because of the cost basis of what we saw, the '25s coming in, it made this decision for us one that we wanted to do and do very quickly.

而且考慮到我們所見的成本基礎，即 25 年代的到來，我們做出了這個決定，並且希望盡快做出。

Because when you think about it, we're going to change the course of our trajectory.

因為當你考慮到這一點時，我們就會改變我們的軌跡。

I told you we're going to be no less than $1 billion company early on in my commentary, actually in my quote.

我在早期的評論中，實際上在我的引言中告訴你，我們將成為一家價值不低於 10 億美元的公司。

And I believe that wholeheartedly because of two things.

我全心全意地相信這一點，因為兩件事。

One is we see the cost of this fleet going down.

一是我們看到這支艦隊的成本正在下降。

And we don't have to deal with the fact that these higher age vehicles are going to -- higher-price vehicles are going to impact us going forward.

我們不必面對這些年齡較大的車輛——價格較高的車輛將對我們未來產生影響的事實。

So that's a big benefit for our company.

這對我們公司來說是一個很大的優點。

The second is there's going to be a good deal of benefits on an operational standpoint because the cars are newer.

第二，由於車輛更新，從營運角度來看將帶來許多好處。

And I talked a little bit about the holding cost of vehicles.

我稍微談了一下車輛的持有成本。

You see that.

你看到了。

We're going to benefit from that.

我們將從中受益。

Our utilization is going to be a lot better.

我們的利用率將會提高很多。

There will be less downtime, so we'll have more improved productivity.

停機時間將會減少，因此我們的生產效率將會進一步提高。

And we're going to be able to provide a better customer experience.

我們將能夠提供更好的客戶體驗。

Those elements breed well for our success.

這些因素對我們的成功大有裨益。

And we wanted to do it.

我們想這麼做。

So we saw those in 2025 and not stretch it out to '26 and beyond.

因此我們在 2025 年就看到了這些，而不是延伸到 2026 年及以後。

So we believe we see median impact in the current year and then use that as a springboard to future years.

因此，我們相信我們將看到當前年度的平均影響，然後將其作為未來幾年的跳板。

As far as competitive, we pride ourselves on providing the best possible mobility alternatives to our customers.

就競爭力而言，我們自豪於能夠為客戶提供最佳的行動替代方案。

And that's one of the forefronts of how we manage our business.

這是我們管理業務的首要原則之一。

So I think it's -- yeah, we had to take this impairment.

所以我認為——是的，我們必須承受這種損害。

No one liked it.

沒有人喜歡它。

But on a go-forward, there's a lot of benefits.

但從長遠來看，還是有很多好處的。

Great.

偉大的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

As a follow-up, I wanted to double-click on one of the earlier questions that was asked on cash flow.

作為後續問題，我想雙擊先前提出的有關現金流的問題。

And maybe, Izzy, if you could just talk about the vehicle programs line in the cash flow bridge.

也許，Izzy，您可以談談現金流橋中的車輛計劃線。

In the last few years, it's been anywhere from $500 million to $800 million drag.

在過去的幾年中，其損失已達 5 億美元至 8 億美元。

Pre-COVID, it was actually more sort of neutral.

在疫情之前，它實際上更加中性。

So as you are doing this fleet transition, what should we expect on that piece of the cash flow bridge in '25, and at what point does it normalize to being more of a neutral?

那麼，在進行機隊轉型時，我們應該對 25 年的現金流橋有何期待，以及在什麼時候它會恢復正常並趨於中性？

I think the first thing that I would mention is, on that line, the vehicle programs and related that you see that we report on Table 4, remember, that is all discretionary.

我認為我要提到的第一件事是，關於這一點，您在表 4 中看到的車輛計劃和相關內容，請記住，這些都是可自由支配的。

That's not required.

那不是必需的。

So as we continue to determine how to allocate our cash, we will make the decision as to how to best utilize it.

因此，當我們繼續確定如何分配現金時，我們將決定如何最好地利用它。

And so for your modeling purposes, I think for now, you could just assume what we've traditionally done to continue.

因此，出於建模目的，我認為現在，您可以假設我們傳統上會繼續做什麼。

But once again, I think the most important point is the fact that it's discretionary.

但我再次認為，最重要的一點是它是自由裁量的。

Okay.

好的。

But the transition of the fleet -- sorry, go ahead.

但是艦隊的過渡——抱歉，請繼續。

No, I was just going to say earlier there was a free cash flow question.

不，我剛才想說的是，有一個自由現金流問題。

I think I want to make it clear as well that we're expecting our free cash flow to be, by year-end, no less than $500 million.

我想我也想明確表示，我們預計到年底我們的自由現金流將不少於 5 億美元。

Okay.

好的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

Chris Woronka, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的克里斯‧沃倫卡 (Chris Woronka)。

Hey.

嘿。

Good morning, guys.

大家早安。

And Joe, congratulations on the heck of a run at Avis, and congratulations also to Brian.

喬，恭喜你在 Avis 取得了巨大的成功，也恭喜布萊恩。

We're happy to have you taking over mid-year.

我們很高興您能在年中接任。

So I guess first question -- the gist of the question is going to be, what's the normalized hold period going forward?

所以我想第一個問題——問題的要點是，未來的標準化持有期是多久？

But if I can lengthen it out a little bit, if you get the fleet refresh mostly done by April, we know you fleet up into summer.

但如果我可以稍微延長一下，如果你在四月之前完成大部分艦隊更新，我們就知道你的艦隊將在夏季恢復。

We think we know where you're buying cars.

我們認為我們知道您在哪裡買車。

Your exit rate DPU, I think you said, would be around 300.

我想您說過，您的退出率 DPU 將在 300 左右。

So if the hold period is at least 18 months still, is there any reason what would cause fleet costs to be above DPU to be above 300 next year, just at a high level?

因此，如果持有期仍然至少為 18 個月，有什麼原因會導致車隊成本明年高於 DPU 300 以上，並且處於高水準？

I mean, it just seems like that run rate would have to be in that range or lower.

我的意思是，看起來運行率必須在這個範圍內或更低。

Is that a good way to think about it?

這樣思考問題好嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

Hi, Chris.

你好，克里斯。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, you're spot on.

是的，你說得對。

It's about that hold period, as you articulated, is pretty much kind of where we've been historically.

正如您所闡述的，這個持有期與我們歷史上一直處於的持有期基本上相同。

And I think that's where we will tend to be.

我想這就是我們的傾向吧。

We're going to get our age and mileage back to those levels.

我們要讓我們的年齡和里程恢復到那些水平。

And yeah, I think that hold period and the DPU that you talked about is a good proxy to say what life will be going forward.

是的，我認為您談到的持有期和 DPU 可以很好地表明未來的生活將會怎樣。

Okay.

好的。

Thanks, Joe. And then follow-up, this might be a little bit for Brian.

謝謝，喬。然後繼續，這對 Brian 來說可能有點困難。

Maybe, is the CTO role, is that something that's going to be refilled after Brian takes over as CEO?

或許，在 Brian 接任 CEO 之後，CTO 的職位會被重新填補嗎？

And then along those lines, Brian, I know you've worked on a lot of stuff in the role.

那麼順著這個思路，布萊恩，我知道你在這個角色上做了很多工作。

Is there any high-level thoughts going forward?

有沒有什麼高層的進一步想法？

Any targets you guys are looking at on DOE, whether it's an index to inflation or just an absolute number you'd like to get below per transaction basis, or anything like that that we can think about?

你們在關注 DOE 的任何目標嗎，無論是通貨膨脹指數，還是只是您希望低於每筆交易的絕對數字，或者我們可以考慮的任何類似的東西？

Hey, Chris.

嘿，克里斯。

Thanks for the good wishes.

謝謝您的祝福。

In terms of the transformation role, I don't think that that's something that we see immediately filling right now because our whole company is in a transformation mode right now.

就轉型角色而言，我不認為我們現在能立即填補這個角色，因為我們整個公司現在正處於轉型模式。

I think there are a lot of initiatives that we've put in place that we'll be executing on throughout the year.

我認為我們已經實施了很多措施並將在全年予以執行。

And I totally appreciate where you're coming from with your question, but I don't think it's time to dive into that yet.

我完全理解你提出這個問題的初衷，但我認為現在還不是深入探討這個問題的時候。

Joe is the CEO through June.

喬將擔任執行長至六月。

We have a thoughtful transition laid out, and I think it will be more appropriate to address priorities and initiatives when we report our second-quarter earnings.

我們已經制定了周到的過渡計劃，我認為在報告第二季度收益時解決優先事項和舉措將更為合適。

Okay.

好的。

Thanks, Brian.

謝謝，布萊恩。

Thank you.

謝謝。

At this time, we've reached the end of our question-and-answer session, and I'll hand the floor back to Mr. Ferraro for closing remarks.

至此，我們的問答環節已經結束，我將把發言權交還給費拉羅先生，請他作結束語。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

So to recap, the travel environment demand is robust.

總而言之，旅遊環境需求是強勁的。

We finished 2024 with record December holidays, and we saw continued strength in January with the MLK holiday weekend.

我們以創紀錄的 12 月假期結束了 2024 年，隨著 1 月份馬丁路德金假期週末的到來，我們看到了持續的強勁勢頭。

We took the necessary actions to create more certainty around our future fleet-related expenses and to best position us for sustainable growth going forward.

我們採取了必要的措施，為未來與車隊相關的費用創造更多確定性，並為我們未來的永續成長做好最佳準備。

The new '25 model year by is more affordable, allowing us to reach more normalized vehicle costs, and we'll continue to accelerate our fleet rotations as we transition through the first quarter and beyond.

新的 '25 車型年款價格更加實惠，使我們能夠達到更正常化的車輛成本，並且我們將在第一季及以後的過渡期內繼續加快車隊輪換速度。

Our ongoing goal is to be disciplined in aligning our fleet size with demand, driving higher utilizations, allowing for the most positive price outcome.

我們持續的目標是嚴格控制船隊規模與需求，提高利用率，從而實現最積極的價格結果。

And I want to thank all our employees for their continued dedication to our organization.

我要感謝所有員工對我們組織的持續奉獻。

We are positioned well for a very successful 2025.

我們已經做好準備，迎接 2025 年的成功。

And as always, thank you for your time and interest in our company.

一如既往，感謝您對我們公司的時間和關注。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This does conclude today's teleconference.

今天的電話會議到此結束。

We thank you for your participation.

我們感謝您的參與。

You may now disconnect your lines at this time.

現在您可以斷開您的線路了。