Caseys General Stores Inc (CASY) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the First Quarter 2023 Casey's General Stores Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎來到 2023 年第一季度凱西百貨公司收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Brian Johnson. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想把會議交給你今天的演講者布賴恩·約翰遜。請繼續，先生。

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss the results from our first quarter ended July 31, 2022. I'm Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. With me today are Darren Rebelez, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Steve Bramlage, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你。早上好，感謝您加入我們討論截至 2022 年 7 月 31 日的第一季度業績。我是投資者關係和業務發展高級副總裁 Brian Johnson。今天和我在一起的是總裁兼首席執行官 Darren Rebelez；和首席財務官 Steve Bramlage。

Before we begin, I'll remind you that certain statements made by us during this investor call may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include any statements relating to expectations for future periods, possible or assumed future results of operations, financial conditions, liquidity and related sources or needs, the company's supply chain, business and integration strategies, plans and synergies, growth opportunities, performance at our stores and the potential effects of COVID-19.

在我們開始之前，我會提醒您，我們在本次投資者電話會議期間所做的某些陳述可能構成 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述包括與預期相關的任何陳述未來時期、可能或假設的未來運營結果、財務狀況、流動性和相關來源或需求、公司的供應鏈、業務和整合戰略、計劃和協同效應、增長機會、我們商店的業績以及 COVID-19 的潛在影響.

There are a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the integration of the recent acquisitions, our ability to execute on our strategic plan or to realize benefits from the strategic plan, the impact and duration of the conflict in Ukraine and related governmental actions as well as other risks, uncertainties and factors, which are described in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC and made available on our website.

有許多已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素可能導致我們的實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的任何未來結果存在重大差異，包括但不限於近期收購的整合、我們執行戰略計劃或從戰略計劃中獲益的能力、烏克蘭衝突的影響和持續時間以及相關政府行動以及其他風險、不確定性和因素，這些在我們最近的年度報告中有所描述10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格季度報告，提交給 SEC 並在我們的網站上提供。

Any forward-looking statements made during this call reflect our current views as of today with respect to future events, and Casey's disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A reconciliation of non-GAAP and GAAP financial measures referenced on this call as well as the detailed breakdown of the operating expense increase for the quarter can be found on our website at www.caseys.com under the Investor Relations link.

在本次電話會議期間作出的任何前瞻性陳述都反映了我們截至今天對未來事件的當前觀點，並且 Casey's 不承擔任何更新或修改前瞻性陳述的意圖或義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件或其他原因.本次電話會議中引用的非 GAAP 和 GAAP 財務指標的對賬以及本季度運營費用增長的詳細明細可在我們的網站 www.caseys.com 的投資者關係鏈接下找到。

With that said, I would now like to turn the call over to Darren to discuss our first quarter results. Darren?

話雖如此，我現在想把電話轉給達倫來討論我們的第一季度業績。達倫？

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. We're looking forward to sharing our results in a moment, but I'd like to start by thanking our 43,000 team members for their commitment to our guests and our communities throughout the busy summer season. Our team is performing exceptionally well. And we certainly would not have delivered another strong quarter without their unwavering efforts.

謝謝，布賴恩，大家早上好。我們期待稍後分享我們的成果，但首先我要感謝我們的 43,000 名團隊成員在整個繁忙的夏季對我們的客人和社區所做的承諾。我們的團隊表現異常出色。如果沒有他們堅定不移的努力，我們當然不會再創造一個強勁的季度。

Food innovation remains a top priority at Casey's. This summer, we launched our newest specialty pizza, the delicious BBQ Brisket Pizza. Although we have planned to make it a limited time offering, we're now keeping it on the menu because of positive guest feedback and strong demand that far exceeded our expectations.

食品創新仍然是 Casey's 的重中之重。今年夏天，我們推出了我們最新的特色披薩，美味的燒烤牛腩披薩。儘管我們計劃將其作為限時供應，但由於客人的積極反饋和遠遠超出我們預期的強烈需求，我們現在將其保留在菜單上。

This fall, our team is celebrating the 21st birthday of Casey's legendary breakfast pizza by rolling out a new Beer Cheese Breakfast Pizza made with the Midwest staple, Busch Light. The new product will be a lot of fun for our guests. It will be available just in time for tailgating parties this football season.

今年秋天，我們的團隊將推出一款由中西部主食 Busch Light 製成的新啤酒奶酪早餐披薩，以慶祝凱西傳奇早餐披薩的 21 歲生日。新產品將為我們的客人帶來很多樂趣。它將在這個足球賽季的尾隨派對上及時提供。

As our guests shift into their fall routines and head back to work or school, Casey's will be here ready to serve them. Casey's is proud to support the communities we call home, and we aim to have a positive local impact by supporting fundamental needs.

當我們的客人進入他們的秋季常規並返回工作或學校時，Casey's 將在這裡準備好為他們服務。 Casey's 很自豪能夠支持我們稱之為家的社區，我們的目標是通過支持基本需求來產生積極的當地影響。

In August, Casey's Cash for Classrooms giving campaign raised over $700,000, thanks to our generous guests and passionate team members. These funds will support grants to local schools and our footprint. The grant application process opens in October, and we encourage schools, teachers and parent-led organizations to apply.

8 月，Casey 的課堂現金捐贈活動籌集了超過 700,000 美元，這要感謝我們慷慨的客人和熱情的團隊成員。這些資金將支持對當地學校和我們的足蹟的贈款。撥款申請流程將於 10 月開始，我們鼓勵學校、教師和家長主導的組織申請。

In July, we published our second annual environmental, social and governance or ESG report. You'll see our other community-giving initiatives beyond our Cash for Classrooms Program highlighted in this report. We're proud of the progress we've made, not only in supporting our communities through charitable giving, but also through environmental initiatives.

7 月，我們發布了第二份年度環境、社會和治理或 ESG 報告。除了我們在本報告中強調的課堂現金計劃之外，您還會看到我們的其他社區捐贈計劃。我們為我們所取得的進步感到自豪，不僅通過慈善捐贈支持我們的社區，還通過環境倡議。

We are confident that our ESG efforts are the right thing to do for Casey's business as well as for our team members, guests, communities and stakeholders. Please visit our website under the Investor Relations section to read the report.

我們相信，我們的 ESG 努力對於 Casey 的業務以及我們的團隊成員、客人、社區和利益相關者都是正確的。請訪問我們的網站投資者關係部分閱讀報告。

With respect to our Board of Directors, we're pleased to welcome 2 new members to the Casey's Board. Sri Donthi currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Advance Auto Parts, and has deep experience leading teams to advance technology integration and evolution at consumer-focused businesses like Casey's. We're confident that he will bring a valuable perspective to help Casey's continue to accelerate our information technology and digital transformations.

關於我們的董事會，我們很高興歡迎 2 位新成員加入凱西董事會。 Sri Donthi 目前擔任 Advance Auto Parts 的執行副總裁兼首席技術官，在領導團隊以推進 Casey 等以消費者為中心的企業的技術集成和發展方面擁有豐富的經驗。我們相信，他將帶來寶貴的視角來幫助 Casey 繼續加速我們的信息技術和數字化轉型。

Mike Spanos brings significant leadership experience to the Board, most recently serving as the President and CEO of Six Flags Entertainment. Prior to Six Flags, he served approximately 25 years at PepsiCo in a variety of senior executive roles. Mike's expertise in both the entertainment and the consumer packaged goods industries make him a tremendous fit with Casey's. We're excited to welcome both Sri and Mike to the Board.

Mike Spanos 為董事會帶來了豐富的領導經驗，最近擔任六旗娛樂公司總裁兼首席執行官。在加入六旗之前，他在百事可樂公司擔任了大約 25 年的各種高級管理職務。 Mike 在娛樂和消費品行業的專業知識使他非常適合 Casey's。我們很高興歡迎 Sri 和 Mike 加入董事會。

Now let's discuss the results from the quarter. As you've seen in the press release, we had an outstanding first quarter for diluted EPS, finishing at $4.09 a share, a 28% increase from the prior year and a record high for the first quarter. The company generated $153 million in net income and $293 million in EBITDA, an increase of 20% from the prior year.

現在讓我們討論一下本季度的結果。正如您在新聞稿中看到的那樣，我們第一季度的攤薄每股收益表現出色，達到每股 4.09 美元，比去年同期增長 28%，創下第一季度的歷史新高。該公司產生了 1.53 億美元的淨收入和 2.93 億美元的 EBITDA，比上一年增長了 20%。

Inside sales remained strong despite the challenging economic environment, driving inside gross profit up 9% to $504 million. Our differentiated business model allows Casey's to succeed in a variety of economic conditions through strong execution across Grocery and General Merchandise, Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage and fuel the support from store operations.

儘管經濟環境充滿挑戰，但內部銷售依然強勁，推動內部毛利潤增長 9% 至 5.04 億美元。我們差異化的商業模式使 Casey's 能夠通過在雜貨和日用品、預製食品和配給飲料方面的強大執行力在各種經濟條件下取得成功，並為商店運營提供支持。

I would now like to go over our results and share some of the details in each of the categories. Inside same-store sales were up 6.3% for the first quarter or 14.9% on a 2-year stack basis with an average margin of 39.8%, down 70 basis points from the prior year. We saw strong performance in grab-and-go items like pizza slices and breakfast burritos as well as alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.

我現在想回顧一下我們的結果並分享每個類別的一些細節。第一季度內部同店銷售額增長 6.3% 或 14.9%，以 2 年為基礎，平均利潤率為 39.8%，比去年下降 70 個基點。我們看到披薩片和早餐捲餅等外帶食品以及酒精和非酒精飲料的強勁表現。

We were able to offset some inside margin pressure in the Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage category through strategic sourcing initiatives and the private label program within the Grocery and General Merchandise category. Same-store Grocery and General Merchandise sales were up 5.5%, with an average margin of 33.9% compared to 33% for the same period a year ago. This is a great start to the fiscal year as our guests navigated through accelerating inflation and high fuel prices.

通過戰略採購計劃以及雜貨和日用商品類別中的自有品牌計劃，我們能夠抵消預製食品和分配飲料類別的一些內部利潤壓力。同店雜貨和日用品銷售額增長 5.5%，平均利潤率為 33.9%，而去年同期為 33%。這是本財年的一個良好開端，因為我們的客人在通脹加速和燃油價格高企的情況下度過了難關。

Our procurement team and self-distribution network have allowed us to have better product availability than the prior year. We continue to see great results by leveraging our approximately 1,500 stores with a liquor license, which is a unique competitive advantage within the convenience store space.

我們的採購團隊和自我分銷網絡使我們的產品可用性比上一年更好。通過利用我們擁有酒類許可證的約 1,500 家商店，我們繼續看到巨大的成果，這是便利店領域的獨特競爭優勢。

Same-store Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage inside sales were up 8.4% or 20.1% on a 2-year stack basis, with an average margin of 55.6% versus 61% a year ago. Sales were up due to strong performance in pizza slices and cold dispensed beverages. The breakfast relaunch for the fall of 2021 has proven to be a success as we have taken market share in the breakfast daypart within our geography. Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage margins were negatively impacted by higher ingredient costs, especially cheese.

同店預製食品和配給飲料的內部銷售額在 2 年疊加的基礎上增長了 8.4% 或 20.1%，平均利潤率為 55.6%，而一年前為 61%。由於披薩片和冷配飲料的強勁表現，銷售額上升。事實證明，2021 年秋季的早餐重新推出是成功的，因為我們在我們所在地區的早餐時段佔據了市場份額。預製食品和配給飲料的利潤率受到原料成本上漲的負面影響，尤其是奶酪。

For fuel, same-store gallons sold decreased 2.3%, with a fuel margin of $0.447 per gallon. We did see fuel volumes and margins tighten when wholesale costs and retail prices hit record highs, and our margin benefited from the steady fall in wholesale costs in the back half of the quarter. Our fuel team did a great job optimizing fuel margin during this favorable environment. Fuel margin was also positively impacted by the sale of $17.7 million worth of RINs during the quarter.

燃料方面，同店銷售的加侖數下降 2.3%，燃料利潤率為每加侖 0.447 美元。當批發成本和零售價格創下歷史新高時，我們確實看到燃料量和利潤率收緊，我們的利潤率受益於本季度後半段批發成本的穩步下降。在這種有利的環境下，我們的燃料團隊在優化燃料利潤方面做得很好。本季度銷售價值 1770 萬美元的 RIN 也對燃料利潤率產生了積極影響。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve to discuss the financial results from the first quarter. Steve?

我現在想把電話轉給史蒂夫，討論第一季度的財務業績。史蒂夫?

Thank you, Darren, and good morning. Before I jump into the financials, I'd also like to take a minute to acknowledge the team for the incredibly strong performance throughout the entire business. The company executed really well during the quarter from operating the stores, rolling out our new summer items, managing fuel and serving guests, all the while continuing to collaborate with our business partners to manage the inflationary and the supply chain-challenged environment.

謝謝你，達倫，早上好。在我進入財務領域之前，我還想花一點時間感謝團隊在整個業務中的出色表現。該公司在本季度的運營表現非常出色，包括經營商店、推出新的夏季商品、管理燃料和服務客人，同時繼續與我們的業務合作夥伴合作管理通貨膨脹和供應鏈挑戰的環境。

Total revenue for the quarter was $4.5 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion or 40% from the prior year. Total inside sales for the quarter were $1.3 billion, an increase of $123 million or 11% from the prior year. For the quarter, Grocery and General Merchandise sales increased by $88 million to $923 million, an increase of 10.5%; and Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage sales rose by $35 million to $344 million, an increase of 11%.

本季度總收入為 45 億美元，比上年增加 13 億美元或 40%。本季度內部銷售總額為 13 億美元，比上年增加 1.23 億美元或 11%。本季度，雜貨和日用品銷售額增加 8800 萬美元至 9.23 億美元，增長 10.5%；預製食品和配給飲料的銷售額增長了 3500 萬美元，達到 3.44 億美元，增長了 11%。

Reported figures were favorably impacted by operating 3% more stores on a year-over-year basis, primarily due to the acquisitions, which closed over the course of the prior year first quarter. Generally speaking, our in-stock levels improved during the quarter versus prior year, and that also helped reported revenue.

報告的數據受到了同比增長 3% 的商店的有利影響，這主要是由於在去年第一季度完成的收購。一般來說，我們的庫存水平在本季度與去年相比有所改善，這也有助於報告收入。

Retail fuel sales were up $1.1 billion in the first quarter due to a 3.3% increase in total gallons sold to $689 million as well as a 52% increase in the average retail price per gallon. The average retail price of fuel during this period was $4.49 a gallon, and it peaked on June 15 at $4.94 per gallon compared to $2.95 a year ago.

第一季度零售燃料銷售額增長了 11 億美元，原因是總加侖銷售量增長 3.3% 至 6.89 億美元，以及每加侖平均零售價增長 52%。在此期間，燃料的平均零售價為每加侖 4.49 美元，並在 6 月 15 日達到每加侖 4.94 美元的峰值，而一年前為 2.95 美元。

We define gross profit as revenue less cost of goods sold, but excluding depreciation and amortization. Casey's had gross profit of $836 million in the first quarter. That's an increase of $112 million or 16% from the prior year. This marked a record high quarter in gross profit for the company. This was driven by higher inside gross profit of $40.7 million or nearly 9% as well as an increase of $73.7 million or 31% in fuel gross profit. Inside gross profit margin was 39.8%, down 70 basis points from a year ago.

我們將毛利潤定義為收入減去銷售成本，但不包括折舊和攤銷。凱西第一季度的毛利潤為 8.36 億美元。這比上一年增加了 1.12 億美元或 16%。這標誌著該公司的毛利潤創歷史新高。這是由於內部毛利潤增加 4,070 萬美元或近 9%，以及燃料毛利潤增加 7,370 萬美元或 31%。內部毛利率為 39.8%，比一年前下降 70 個基點。

The Grocery and General Merchandise margin was up 90 basis points to 33.9% from a year ago, which is an impressive feat given the inflationary environment, and it's a testament to the merchandising team, their ability to manage margin through procurement, product mix and retail adjustments. Our growing private label program also offers our guests a lower retail price option that is margin accretive to the company, and it's especially attractive to guests in the current economic environment.

雜貨和日用品利潤率比一年前上升 90 個基點至 33.9%，考慮到通脹環境，這是一個令人印象深刻的壯舉，這也證明了採購團隊通過採購、產品組合和零售管理利潤率的能力調整。我們不斷發展的自有品牌計劃還為我們的客人提供了較低的零售價格選擇，這對公司來說是增加利潤的，並且在當前的經濟環境中對客人特別有吸引力。

Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage margin was 55.6%, that's down 540 basis points from prior year. The decrease in margin was negatively impacted by commodity costs, specifically cheese, which were $2.49 per pound for the quarter compared to $1.90 per pound last year. This negatively impacted the PF&DB margin by approximately 190 basis points.

預製食品和配給飲料的利潤率為 55.6%，比去年下降 540 個基點。利潤率下降受到商品成本的負面影響，特別是奶酪，該季度的價格為每磅 2.49 美元，而去年為每磅 1.90 美元。這對 PF&DB 利潤率產生了大約 190 個基點的負面影響。

The category was also impacted by a LIFO charge, which had an adverse impact of approximately 80 basis points. Finally, similar to the fourth quarter of the prior year, the company did incur an uptick in sales as our operations team made a concerted effort to keep the food warmers full of product to take advantage of the trends of higher grab-and-go sales.

該類別還受到 LIFO 收費的影響，產生了大約 80 個基點的不利影響。最後，與去年第四季度類似，由於我們的運營團隊齊心協力，保持食品保溫箱裝滿產品，以利用隨取隨用的銷售趨勢，公司的銷售額確實有所上升.

Fuel margin for the quarter was $0.447 per gallon. That's up $0.096 per gallon from the prior year. RINs were not a significant incremental impact versus the prior year.

本季度的燃油利潤率為每加侖 0.447 美元。這比上一年每加侖增加了 0.096 美元。與上一年相比，RIN 沒有顯著的增量影響。

Other gross profit was down $2.1 million, primarily due to a reduction in lottery and carwash sales, while other revenue was up from the prior year due to the higher price of fuel delivered into the dealer network. Margins from that business are fairly static, regardless of the price of fuel or the direction wholesale fuel prices are going. For the year, we expect other gross profit to finish flat to slightly positive.

其他毛利潤下降了 210 萬美元，主要是由於彩票和洗車銷售額的減少，而其他收入則比上年有所增加，原因是交付給經銷商網絡的燃料價格上漲。無論燃料價格或批發燃料價格走向如何，該業務的利潤都相當穩定。今年，我們預計其他毛利潤將持平或略為正數。

Total operating expenses were up 13.4% or $64 million, which is consistent with our expectations. Total operating expenses, excluding credit card fees, were up 10.8% to $475 million in the first quarter. Approximately 4% of the operating expense increase is due to unit growth as we operated 74 more stores than the prior year.

總運營費用增長 13.4% 或 6400 萬美元，符合我們的預期。第一季度不計信用卡費用的總運營費用增長 10.8% 至 4.75 億美元。營業費用增長的大約 4% 是由於單位增長，因為我們比上一年多經營了 74 家門店。

Same-store credit card fees rose due to the higher retail fuel prices I mentioned earlier, accounting for 3% of the operating expense increase in the quarter. 2% of the increase is due to higher performance-based incentive compensation expense due to strong financial performance. Increases in same-store employee expenses have been partially offset by a reduction in store labor hours.

由於我之前提到的零售燃料價格上漲，同店信用卡費用上漲，佔本季度營業費用增長的 3%。增長的 2% 是由於強勁的財務業績導致基於績效的激勵補償費用增加。同店員工費用的增加部分被店內工時的減少所抵消。

Our store operations team has done a great job rising to the challenge to operate our stores more efficiently without negatively impacting the guest experience, resulting in 2.6% growth in same-store operating expense, excluding credit card fees. Again, in the face of inflationary pressure, this is a remarkable accomplishment by the team.

我們的門店運營團隊在應對挑戰方面做得非常出色，在不影響顧客體驗的情況下更高效地運營門店，導致同店運營費用增長 2.6%，不包括信用卡費用。同樣，面對通脹壓力，這是團隊的一項了不起的成就。

As a reminder, same-store operating expenses do not include the new units that were acquired in the Buchanan Energy or Circle K transactions because those acquisitions closed during the first quarter of fiscal '22. These will be included in the second quarter same-store results.

提醒一下，同店營業費用不包括在 Buchanan Energy 或 Circle K 交易中收購的新單位，因為這些收購在 22 財年第一季度結束。這些將包含在第二季度的同店業績中。

Depreciation in the quarter was up modestly as we're now lapping the new distribution center placed in service in fiscal '21. Net interest expense was $13.8 million in the quarter compared to $13.7 million in the prior year. Please recall that only 16% of our debt is floating rate.

本季度的折舊略有上升，因為我們現在正在研究 21 財年投入使用的新配送中心。本季度的淨利息支出為 1380 萬美元，而去年同期為 1370 萬美元。請記住，我們只有 16% 的債務是浮動利率的。

The effective tax rate for the quarter was 24.6% compared to 23.3% in the prior year, and that's up a bit due to the non-repeat of some state tax rate benefits we recognized in the prior year. Net income was up versus the prior year to $152.9 million, which is an increase of 28%. EBITDA for the quarter was $293 million compared to $245 million a year ago, an increase of 20%.

本季度的有效稅率為 24.6%，而上一年為 23.3%，由於我們在上一年確認的一些州稅率優惠不再重複，這一數字略有上升。淨收入較上年增長至 1.529 億美元，增長 28%。本季度的 EBITDA 為 2.93 億美元，比一年前的 2.45 億美元增長 20%。

Our balance sheet remains strong. At July 31, cash and cash equivalents were $312 million. And we have a remaining capacity of $469 million in lines of credit, giving us ample available liquidity of $781 million. Furthermore, we have no significant maturities coming due until fiscal '26.

我們的資產負債表依然強勁。截至 7 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物為 3.12 億美元。我們的剩餘信貸額度為 4.69 億美元，為我們提供了 7.81 億美元的充足流動資金。此外，在 26 財年之前，我們沒有到期的重大到期。

Our leverage ratio is now 2x, down 0.4 turns from the prior year and in line with our preferred long-term target. And our balance sheet has plenty of capacity to make sound strategic investments as they present themselves.

我們的槓桿率現在是 2 倍，比去年下降 0.4 倍，符合我們首選的長期目標。我們的資產負債表有足夠的能力進行合理的戰略投資。

For the quarter, net cash generated by operating activities of $276 million, less purchases of property and equipment of $82 million, resulted in the company generating $194 million in free cash flow. This compares to generating $197 million in the prior year.

本季度，經營活動產生的淨現金為 2.76 億美元，減去購買的財產和設備 8200 萬美元，使公司產生了 1.94 億美元的自由現金流。相比之下，去年產生了 1.97 億美元。

At the August meeting, the Board of Directors voted to maintain a dividend of $0.38 per share per quarter. We will continue to remain balanced in our capital allocation going forward, leading into the many EBITDA and ROIC-accretive investment opportunities in front of us. And we remain opportunistic related to our $400 million share repurchase authorization, but we did not purchase any shares this quarter.

在 8 月的會議上，董事會投票決定維持每季度每股 0.38 美元的股息。未來，我們將繼續保持資本配置的平衡，為我們帶來許多 EBITDA 和 ROIC 增值投資機會。我們仍然對我們 4 億美元的股票回購授權持機會主義態度，但我們本季度沒有購買任何股票。

As for our second quarter experience to date and expectations, we expect same -- we expect second quarter same-store inside volumes to be within our annual guidance of 4% to 6%. Inside margins should improve modestly from the first quarter as cheese is currently less of a headwind than it was previously. Same-store fuel gallons currently are trending between our first quarter experience and the low end of our annual guidance.

至於我們迄今為止的第二季度經驗和預期，我們預計相同——我們預計第二季度同店內部銷量將在我們 4% 至 6% 的年度指導範圍內。與第一季度相比，內部利潤率應該會有所改善，因為奶酪目前的阻力比以前小。同店燃料加侖目前的趨勢是在我們的第一季度經驗和我們年度指導的低端之間。

Quarter-to-date, CPG is in the mid-40s, but it's declining as it benefited from higher margins in the first 2 weeks of August. More recently, we've experienced CPGs back in the mid-30s. Finally, total operating expense should improve sequentially versus the first quarter, as expected, and will likely be up approximately 10% versus the prior year.

迄今為止，CPG 處於 40 年代中期，但由於受益於 8 月前 2 週的較高利潤率，它正在下降。最近，我們在 30 年代中期經歷了 CPG。最後，正如預期的那樣，總運營費用應該會比第一季度環比增長，並且可能會比上年增長約 10%。

I'd now like to turn the call back over to Darren.

我現在想把電話轉回給達倫。

All right. Thanks, Steve. I'd like to again say thank you and congratulations to the entire Casey's team for delivering an outstanding quarter. Our 3-pronged business model gives us the unique ability to navigate the current inflationary environment affecting both food and labor while also managing fuel volatility, allowing us to thrive in various economic climates.

好的。謝謝，史蒂夫。我想再次感謝並祝賀整個 Casey 的團隊提供了一個出色的季度。我們三管齊下的商業模式使我們能夠駕馭當前影響食品和勞動力的通貨膨脹環境，同時管理燃料波動，使我們能夠在各種經濟環境中茁壯成長。

We're committed to executing the strategic plan we laid out in January of 2020. As a reminder, the 3 pillars of our strategic plan are: to reinvent the guest experience; create capacities through efficiencies; and be where the guest is via disciplined store growth. All 3 pillars are supported by investing in and growing our talented team and supported by technology.

我們致力於執行我們在 2020 年 1 月制定的戰略計劃。提醒一下，我們戰略計劃的三大支柱是：重塑客戶體驗；通過效率創造能力；並通過嚴格的商店增長成為客人所在的地方。所有 3 個支柱都得到了對我們才華橫溢的團隊的投資和發展以及技術的支持。

Inside the store, we've made great strides in joint business planning with our vendor partners, allowing us to manage product mix and strategically adjust retail prices while maintaining a relative value position in the marketplace. This is reflected in the Grocery and General Merchandise results with mid-single-digit same-store sales and expanded margins. Our private label program has great momentum, exceeding 5% of the Grocery and General Merchandise penetration by the end of the first quarter, providing our guests a high-quality and cost-effective product.

在商店內部，我們在與供應商合作夥伴的聯合業務規劃方面取得了長足的進步，使我們能夠管理產品組合併戰略性地調整零售價格，同時保持在市場上的相對價值地位。這反映在雜貨和日用品的業績中，同店銷售額為中個位數，利潤率擴大。我們的自有品牌計劃發展勢頭強勁，截至第一季度末，雜貨和日用品滲透率超過 5%，為我們的客人提供高品質和高性價比的產品。

Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage continues to be an excellent value proposition alternative to QSRs. Each of our dayparts have items for our guests to get a great meal at a reasonable price, especially important in these inflationary times. Specifically, in the breakfast daypart, we've rolled out a $4 breakfast value offering. Additionally, our whole pies and line pricing represent a great value for families versus other dining-out alternatives.

預製食品和配給飲料仍然是 QSR 的絕佳價值主張替代品。我們的每個時段都有供客人以合理價格享用美食的物品，這在通貨膨脹時期尤為重要。具體來說，在早餐時段，我們推出了價值 4 美元的早餐服務。此外，與其他外出就餐選擇相比，我們的整體派和線定價對於家庭來說代表著巨大的價值。

On the digital side, our mobile app now represents 65% of all digital revenue which is primarily driven by whole pies. We've added more Grocery and General Merchandise items to the app as well. We have also made great strides in delivery for beer and hard seltzers, which are a great complement to our pizza orders. Our Summer of Freedom campaign wrapped up around Casey's Rewards was successful at engaging our members in driving new guests to join, adding approximately 125,000 more members than the same period last year, and we sit at over 5.5 million members today.

在數字方面，我們的移動應用程序現在佔所有數字收入的 65%，主要由整體驅動。我們還向應用程序添加了更多雜貨和日用品。我們在交付啤酒和硬蘇打水方面也取得了長足的進步，這對我們的比薩訂單來說是一個很好的補充。我們圍繞 Casey's Rewards 結束的“自由之夏”活動成功地吸引了我們的會員吸引新客人加入，比去年同期增加了大約 125,000 名會員，今天我們的會員人數超過 550 萬。

The field team did a great job this quarter managing a volatile environment. Rising fuel prices in May put pressure on margin. And in July, the opposite took place. Our centralized fuel team has allowed us to be able to react to market conditions quickly and effectively. We do note, however, that fuel margins north of $0.40 per gallon are not likely to continue. We expect margins to normalize in the second quarter.

現場團隊在本季度管理動蕩的環境方面做得很好。 5 月燃油價格上漲對利潤率造成壓力。而在 7 月，情況正好相反。我們集中的燃料團隊使我們能夠快速有效地對市場狀況做出反應。然而，我們確實注意到，每加侖 0.40 美元以上的燃料利潤不太可能繼續下去。我們預計第二季度利潤率將正常化。

We will remain prudent with operating expenses. Our continuous improvement initiative is top of mind for operations, as evidenced by the reduction in same-store hours. We've also taken a cautious approach to hiring outside of the stores to stay nimble with the economic environment. Labor availability at the store level is improving, and wage rate increases are becoming more manageable.

我們將在運營費用方面保持謹慎。我們的持續改進計劃是運營的首要考慮因素，同店營業時間的減少就是明證。我們還採取了謹慎的方式在店外招聘，以靈活應對經濟環境。商店層面的勞動力可用性正在提高，工資率的增長也變得更加可控。

As we look ahead to the remainder of fiscal '23 and beyond, I remain confident in Casey's business model in the face of uncertain times. In a difficult economic environment, we provide our guests with basic needs conveniently at a competitive price point. With our centralized fuel and procurement teams, we're able to adapt and thrive in any economic environment. And with our digital rewards, we're able to understand the needs of our guests better than ever before. I can assure you, our entire team is excited to finish our 3-year strategic plan on a high note and deliver on our commitments.

當我們展望 23 財年及以後的剩餘時間時，面對不確定的時期，我對凱西的商業模式仍然充滿信心。在困難的經濟環境中，我們以具有競爭力的價格方便地為客人提供基本需求。憑藉我們集中的燃料和採購團隊，我們能夠在任何經濟環境中適應和發展。借助我們的數字獎勵，我們能夠比以往任何時候都更好地了解客人的需求。我可以向您保證，我們整個團隊都非常高興能夠高調完成我們的 3 年戰略計劃並兌現我們的承諾。

We will now take your questions.

我們現在將回答您的問題。

And our first question comes from the line of Bonnie Herzog with Goldman Sachs.

我們的第一個問題來自高盛集團的 Bonnie Herzog。

All right. I just had a couple of questions on Prepared Foods. First, I think it's great to hear how the pricing you've implemented has been holding up. And could you give us a sense of how much -- or the rate of pricing you've implemented so far this year?

好的。我剛剛有幾個關於預製食品的問題。首先，我認為很高興聽到您實施的定價一直保持不變。您能否告訴我們您今年迄今為止實施的定價或定價率？

And then second, you mentioned that cheese costs have moderated a bit. So Prepared Food margins may be -- won't be as pressured going forward. But curious what your thoughts are about taking further price increases maybe to mitigate the margin pressures going forward?

其次，您提到奶酪成本有所下降。因此，Prepared Food 的利潤率可能會 - 不會受到未來的壓力。但好奇您對進一步提價以減輕未來的利潤率壓力有何想法？

Bonnie, this is Darren. I'll go ahead and start. With respect to the price increases, really, over the last year, we've had 3 different rounds of price increases in Prepared Foods in an attempt to kind of keep up with inflation.

邦妮，這是達倫。我會繼續開始。關於價格上漲，實際上，在過去的一年裡，我們已經對預製食品進行了 3 輪不同的價格上漲，以試圖跟上通貨膨脹的步伐。

The reality of it is, right now, we're facing about 14% ingredient cost inflation in that category, and that's a difficult one to keep up with. And we're not inclined to chase cheese costs because that's a commodity that has its ebbs and flows. And what we don't want to do is get out of bed versus the marketplace. So we really try to manage that point.

現實情況是，目前，我們在該類別中面臨約 14% 的原料成本膨脹，而這很難跟上。而且我們不傾向於追逐奶酪成本，因為這是一種有起有落的商品。我們不想做的就是起床對抗市場。所以我們真的試圖管理這一點。

But we have taken pricing. We're going to continue to monitor the situation. But obviously, as you've seen in the results, we've got good velocity as well. So our units are hanging in there, flat to slightly up, and the pricing has been incremental.

但我們採取了定價。我們將繼續監測情況。但顯然，正如您在結果中看到的那樣，我們也有很好的速度。所以我們的單位掛在那裡，持平到略微上漲，而且定價一直在遞增。

So it has put a little bit of pressure on the margin in the short term, but we are growing the business. We are taking share in important dayparts like the breakfast daypart. So we feel good about where we sit right now. And then we'll continue to monitor the situation for additional opportunities to take price, if we need to.

所以它在短期內給利潤率帶來了一點壓力，但我們正在發展業務。我們正在分享重要的時段，例如早餐時段。所以我們對我們現在坐的位置感覺很好。然後，如果需要，我們將繼續監控情況以尋找更多的機會來獲取價格。

And Steve, do you want to comment on the cheese itself?

史蒂夫，你想評論一下奶酪本身嗎？

Yes. I think, Bonnie, on cheese, specifically, cheese was about a 30% headwind for us in the first quarter based on current trends right now. I think it will be kind of -- it's low double digits -- percent increase. So it's a significantly less of a headwind than it was in the first quarter. We've also been able to lock in about 1/3 of our cheese purchases for the rest of this fiscal year rates that are at least comparable to prior years. So I do think we'll have a little bit less of a headwind.

是的。我認為，邦妮，關於奶酪，特別是，根據目前的趨勢，第一季度奶酪對我們來說大約是 30% 的逆風。我認為這將是一種 - 它是低兩位數 - 百分比增長。因此，與第一季度相比，逆風要小得多。在本財年餘下的時間裡，我們還能夠鎖定大約 1/3 的奶酪採購量，這至少與往年相當。所以我確實認為我們的逆風會少一點。

And to Darren's point, on the pricing, we've taken -- we're low double-digit percentage terms in most of the Prepared Food line items from a pricing standpoint, which will continue to flow through. And the last point I would make around the margin is just -- and we have made some tweaks to our production schedules in the stores as we have a better sense of some of the new menu items. And so I think we'll rightsize a little bit some of the stale levels that we've been absorbing in the past couple of quarters.

對於 Darren 的觀點，在定價方面，我們已經採取了 - 從定價的角度來看，我們在大多數預製食品行項目中都是低兩位數的百分比，這將繼續通過。我要圍繞利潤提出的最後一點是——我們對商店的生產計劃進行了一些調整，因為我們對一些新菜單項目有了更好的了解。因此，我認為我們將調整過去幾個季度我們一直在吸收的一些陳舊水平。

Okay. And just maybe a quick follow-up because that was helpful. So if I think about your comp growth in Prepared Food and low double-digit pricing, should we assume -- has there been some pull back in terms of volume? In terms of the business, how much is the pricing sticking? Just wondering how the consumer has been responding to the 3 price increases.

好的。也許只是快速跟進，因為這很有幫助。因此，如果我考慮到你們在預製食品方面的複合增長和兩位數的低定價，我們是否應該假設——在數量方面是否有一些回落？就業務而言，定價堅持多少？只是想知道消費者對這 3 次價格上漲有何反應。

Bonnie, it's been a little bit category by category. We've seen still strong unit movement in our breakfast daypart. That's gone really well. Pizza slices have been a great performer. Cold dispensed beverages have performed well. And actually donuts have come back quite a bit, and that was more supply chain-related than anything else versus the prior year. So we are seeing good movement.

邦妮，它是按類別分類的。我們在早餐時段看到仍然強勁的單位運動。這真的很好。比薩片表現出色。冷飲表現良好。實際上甜甜圈已經回來了很多，與前一年相比，這與供應鏈的關係比其他任何事情都多。所以我們看到了良好的運動。

Our whole pies, from a unit standpoint, have been a little bit soft, a little closer to flat, but the pricing has stuck. And so we think we're in a good spot there, and again, we'll continue to monitor this. But it is absolutely a big priority of ours to continue to grow the Prepared Foods business in an accelerated rate, and we're seeing that happen right now.

從單位的角度來看，我們的整個餡餅有點軟，有點接近平坦，但定價已經停滯不前。所以我們認為我們在那里處於一個很好的位置，我們將再次對此進行監控。但是，繼續加速發展預製食品業務絕對是我們的重中之重，我們現在就看到了這種情況。

And our next question comes from the line of Ben Bienvenu with Stephens.

我們的下一個問題來自 Ben Bienvenu 和 Stephens 的觀點。

So I want to ask about the -- your guidance for full year same-store fuel gallons maintaining flat to up 2%. Obviously, prices ran up a lot to start the year. They've since fallen off. The outlay by quarter or year-to-date, how would you describe what has happened relative to your initial expectations?

所以我想問一下——你對全年同店燃料加侖保持持平至 2% 的指導。顯然，年初價格上漲了很多。他們從此墮落了。按季度或年初至今的支出，您如何描述相對於您最初的預期發生的情況？

And when we think about kind of what's remaining to get to that guidance, is it that, as gasoline prices have fallen, you've seen volumes recover so you continue to feel comfortable on the flat to up 2%? If you could just talk about those dynamics, that would be helpful.

當我們考慮獲得該指導的剩餘時間時，是不是隨著汽油價格下跌，您已經看到銷量回升，因此您繼續對持平至上漲 2% 感到滿意？如果你能談談這些動態，那會很有幫助。

Yes, sure, Ben. In terms of what we experienced in the first quarter, clearly, in the first half of the quarter, wholesale costs ran up, retail prices ran up. And as we looked at our business, if we segment those price ranges by quartile, we certainly saw the largest volume erosion occur at the highest quartile of pricing. And then at the lowest quartile, we actually saw some gallon growth.

是的，當然，本。就我們在第一季度的經歷而言，很明顯，在上半季度，批發成本上漲，零售價格上漲。當我們審視我們的業務時，如果我們按四分位數對這些價格範圍進行細分，我們肯定會看到最大的銷量侵蝕發生在定價的最高四分位數。然後在最低的四分之一，我們實際上看到了一些加侖的增長。

And when we compare ourselves versus the OPIS data, we see that we're outperforming the industry in our geography from a volume standpoint. So now that prices have come down to a little closer to normal, although they're still much higher than they were prior year, we're starting to see some of that volume recovery.

當我們將自己與 OPIS 數據進行比較時，我們發現從數量的角度來看，我們在地理上的表現優於行業。因此，現在價格已經下降到更接近正常水平，儘管它們仍然比去年高得多，但我們開始看到一些銷量回升。

And so we think it's a little too early to call the ball on guidance for the full year when we're only a quarter of it -- a quarter into the game. And as we saw in this first quarter, a lot can happen in the quarter. We can hit record highs, and we can come all the way back down in the span of a quarter. So we think we're just maintaining guidance for now, and then we'll update that after the second quarter when we have a little bit more visibility.

因此，我們認為現在就全年的指導做出決定還為時過早，因為我們只有四分之一 - 比賽進入四分之一。正如我們在第一季度看到的那樣，本季度可能會發生很多事情。我們可以創歷史新高，我們可以在一個季度內一路回落。所以我們認為我們現在只是維持指導，然後我們將在第二季度之後更新它，當我們有更多的可見性時。

Okay. That makes sense. Shifting gears a little bit to operating expenses. The quarter didn't really capture much of the fuel price decline that we've seen. But for the balance of the year, that's a tailwind for you guys with respect to that guidance line item. What is the -- at what price level -- fuel price level, does the guidance reflect for the balance of the year? And just how should we be thinking about credit card fees as we move through the year?

好的。那講得通。稍微調整一下運營費用。該季度並沒有真正反映我們所看到的大部分燃料價格下跌。但是對於今年的剩餘時間，這對你們來說是一個順風，就該指導項目而言。什麼是 - 在什麼價格水平 - 燃料價格水平，指導是否反映了今年的餘額？在這一年中，我們應該如何考慮信用卡費用？

Yes, Ben, this is Steve. I'll answer that. Guidance reflects current pricing levels. So we're obviously off of where we were in the first quarter, for sure, quite a bit. And so we're making a static assumption on what happens with retail prices. We don't try to follow that bouncing ball, but it implicitly -- if retail stay where they are, we would have less incremental credit card expense headwind, obviously, than we had in the first quarter.

是的，本，這是史蒂夫。我會回答的。指導反映了當前的定價水平。所以我們顯然偏離了第一季度的水平，當然，相當多。因此，我們正在對零售價格的變化做出靜態假設。我們不會試圖追隨那個彈跳球，但它含蓄地——如果零售業保持原狀，我們的信用卡支出逆風增量顯然會比第一季度要少。

Okay. So if I could follow up on that, Steve, given that when you initially offered guidance for the year, fuel prices were quite a bit higher, and they've come off quite a bit. Are you seeing underlying inflation around wages still in your business in excess of what you originally thought? You noted taking some of the hours down. Could you just talk about kind of the underlying core OpEx growth, absent fuel prices, relative to how they looked at the start of the year?

好的。所以如果我能跟進，史蒂夫，考慮到當你最初提供今年的指導時，燃料價格要高一些，而且已經下降了很多。您是否看到您的業務中圍繞工資的潛在通脹仍然超出您最初的預期？你注意到減少了一些時間。你能否談談基本的核心運營支出增長，沒有燃料價格，相對於他們在年初的看法？

Yes. It's not -- I think it's generally consistent from kind of a rate pressure perspective. I think it's consistent with what we thought. It's still hard to find people, attract people and retain people, and we're working very hard to do that. It's a little bit less acute than it was maybe 6 months ago, but we definitely are still continuing to need to pay people more this year than we were paying them last year. I think our average hourly rate, if you exclude our store manager population, is almost $14 an hour now across our footprint, which is up a couple percent from what it was last year.

是的。不是——我認為從利率壓力的角度來看，這通常是一致的。我認為這與我們的想法一致。仍然很難找到人、吸引人和留住人，我們正在努力做到這一點。與 6 個月前相比，情況有所緩和，但我們今年肯定仍然需要支付比去年更多的薪水。我認為，如果您不包括我們的商店經理人數，我們的平均小時費率現在在我們的足跡中幾乎是每小時 14 美元，比去年增加了幾個百分點。

The thing that is helping us in that comparison is, last year, as we're kind of reopening from COVID, we had a lot of special retention-related initiatives in place on hiring and referral and summertime bonuses, et cetera. We have not had to keep those or reinstitute those. And so the absence of the prior-year specials is [flattening] a little bit the amount of rate inflation that we're actually experiencing now.

在這種比較中幫助我們的是，去年，隨著我們從 COVID 重新開放，我們在招聘和推薦以及夏季獎金等方面採取了許多與保留相關的特殊舉措。我們不必保留這些或重新建立這些。因此，沒有上一年的特價商品使我們現在實際經歷的利率通脹量[趨於平緩]。

But it's still a couple of hundred basis points year-over-year of incremental rate inflation, which is consistent with what we thought it would be when we gave the guidance.

但這仍然是與去年同期相比增加了幾百個基點的通脹率，這與我們在給出指導時所認為的一致。

And our next question comes from the line of Anthony Bonadio with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Anthony Bonadio。

Congrats on the beat. So I just want to ask about the Grocery and General Merch gross margin. Pretty impressive performance there, and it looks like that 33.9% is the highest we've seen, at least going back to 2015. Can you just talk about the sustainability of that level? Is that the right way to think about modeling that segment going forward?

祝賀節拍。所以我只想問一下Grocery 和General Merch 的毛利率。那裡的表現相當令人印象深刻，看起來 33.9% 是我們見過的最高水平，至少可以追溯到 2015 年。你能談談這個水平的可持續性嗎？這是思考未來對該細分市場進行建模的正確方法嗎？

Yes, Anthony, this is Darren. Yes, there's a couple of things going on there. The first thing I do is give a lot of credit to our merchandising team, along with our supplier partners. They really engaged in joint business planning last year and came up with some great plans to execute this year. And I think, to a certain extent, you're seeing the benefit of that planning and the actions taken in those margin results. And so that would be point number one.

是的，安東尼，這是達倫。是的，那裡發生了幾件事。我做的第一件事就是對我們的銷售團隊以及我們的供應商合作夥伴給予高度評價。去年他們確實進行了聯合業務規劃，並提出了一些今年執行的偉大計劃。而且我認為，在一定程度上，您會看到該計劃的好處以及在這些利潤結果中採取的行動。這將是第一點。

Point number 2 is our private label performance has really been outstanding. And as you saw during the quarter, that mix shifted from about 5% at the end of the fourth quarter last year to about 5.4%, as we sit here today, in this quarter. And so -- but what I'd point out in there is, while that's the sales penetration number on private label, if you look at units, our unit share is up over 9%, and our gross profit dollar contribution from private label is up over 9% as well.

第 2 點是我們的自有品牌表現非常出色。正如您在本季度看到的那樣，這一比例從去年第四季度末的約 5% 轉變為本季度我們今天坐在這裡的約 5.4%。所以——但我要指出的是，雖然這是自有品牌的銷售滲透率，但如果你看一下單位，我們的單位份額上升了 9% 以上，自有品牌對毛利潤的貢獻是也上漲了 9% 以上。

And so the private label, as national brands get more expensive, more people shift over to those private brand products, and those are all margin-accretive for us. So we're seeing both of those things happen. So from a sustainability standpoint, I would say, we should still be in good shape to be able to maintain those kind of margins. And the team has also done a really nice job of balancing, taking retail price where we've had cost increases, but also keeping a relative gap to competition, so we're able to take share at the same time.

所以自有品牌，隨著民族品牌變得越來越貴，越來越多的人轉向那些自有品牌產品，而這些對我們來說都是利潤增長。所以我們看到這兩件事都發生了。因此，從可持續性的角度來看，我想說，我們應該仍然處於良好狀態，能夠保持這種利潤率。並且團隊在平衡方面也做得非常好，在成本增加的情況下採用零售價格，但也與競爭對手保持相對差距，因此我們能夠同時獲得份額。

Got it. That's super helpful. And then just a follow-up on labor hours, I just wanted to ask about the decision to reduce. Darren, can you just walk us through what drove that? To what extent that was driven by efficiency gains in your operations? And just how we should think about the sustainability there, too?

知道了。這非常有幫助。然後只是對勞動時間的跟進，我只是想問一下減少的決定。達倫，你能告訴我們是什麼驅動了它嗎？這在多大程度上是由您的運營中的效率提升推動的？我們也應該如何考慮那裡的可持續性？

Yes, Anthony, with respect to the labor hours, our operations team has really done a fantastic job, just being more effective at managing labor. And while we're talking about that, I just mentioned that we have stood up a continuous improvement team who is clearly focused on driving efficiencies in our store operations and removing nonvalue-added work from the operations team.

是的，安東尼，在勞動時間方面，我們的運營團隊確實做得非常出色，只是在管理勞動力方面更加有效。當我們談論這個時，我剛剛提到我們已經建立了一個持續改進團隊，他們顯然專注於提高我們商店運營的效率並從運營團隊中移除非增值工作。

So I think it was a two-pronged benefit. One was simply greater focus on managing the labor and being effective with it, reducing over time, reducing nonproductive hours. And then the continuous improvement team identifying things that we don't need to do in stores and can be done more efficiently elsewhere or just eliminate it altogether, and that's reduced hours in the stores.

所以我認為這是一個兩方面的好處。一是更專注於管理勞動力並提高效率，隨著時間的推移減少工作時間，減少非生產時間。然後持續改進團隊確定我們不需要在商店中做的事情，並且可以在其他地方更有效地完成或完全消除它，這減少了商店的工作時間。

And so the combination of those 2 have really led to some efficiencies. And frankly, we're in the early stages of that. So we fully expect to find further opportunities to be more efficient in our stores.

所以這兩者的結合確實帶來了一些效率。坦率地說，我們正處於早期階段。因此，我們完全期望在我們的商店中找到更多提高效率的機會。

And our next question comes from the line of Irene Nattel with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Irene Nattel。

Can you talk through a little bit around what you're seeing from a consumer behavior standpoint: traffic, basket. Last quarter, we were talking about trading down in package sizes. We're hearing a lot about trading down from premium to more value products. Any sort of detail you could provide would be great.

您能否從消費者行為的角度談談您所看到的內容：流量，購物籃。上個季度，我們談論的是縮小包裝尺寸。我們聽到很多關於從優質產品到更有價值產品的交易。你能提供的任何細節都會很棒。

Yes, Irene. Well, first, let me start off by telling you a little bit about our consumer overall and some of the demographics around our consumers because I think this is important to understand. The first thing I'd say is our geography is -- works to our advantage in this respect. In the 16 states we operate in, we -- our states are in the lower end of cost of living, if you rank all 50 states.

是的，艾琳。好吧，首先，讓我先向您介紹一下我們的整體消費者以及我們消費者周圍的一些人口統計數據，因為我認為理解這一點很重要。我要說的第一件事是我們的地理位置在這方面對我們有利。在我們開展業務的 16 個州中，如果您對所有 50 個州進行排名，我們的州處於生活成本的低端。

So the most expensive state we operate in is ranked 22nd from a cost of living perspective. And 7 of our states are in the bottom 10 of cost of living. So we live in a very affordable geography, operating in a very affordable geography to begin with.

因此，從生活成本的角度來看，我們經營的最昂貴的州排在第 22 位。我們有 7 個州的生活成本排在倒數前 10 位。因此，我們生活在一個非常實惠的地理位置，從一開始就在一個非常實惠的地理位置運營。

Then if you look at our guest income, 72% of our guests make over $50,000 a year. So the combination of our guests making over $50,000 a year and living in a very affordable geography really works to our benefit. And so as that as a backdrop, from a consumer behavior standpoint, certainly, record-high fuel prices impacted consumer behavior.

然後，如果您查看我們的客人收入，我們 72% 的客人年收入超過 50,000 美元。因此，我們的客人每年收入超過 50,000 美元，而且生活在一個非常實惠的地理位置，這對我們來說確實是有益的。因此，在此背景下，從消費者行為的角度來看，創紀錄的燃油價格無疑會影響消費者的行為。

So on the fuel side of the business, what we saw was a reduction in average gallons purchased per fill-up. There's about 8% reduction in the average fill-up, but the average number of transactions went up about 8%. So people were just buying less fuel, but coming more frequently to do that, which, in a lot of ways, works to our benefit because it gives us more opportunities to convert that guest to an inside guest as well.

因此，在業務的燃料方面，我們看到的是每次加油平均購買加侖數的減少。平均填充量減少了約 8%，但平均交易數量增加了約 8%。所以人們只是購買更少的燃料，但更頻繁地這樣做，這在很多方面對我們有利，因為它也給了我們更多的機會將這位客人轉變為內部客人。

We also saw some shifting around among the fuel slate itself. So you saw people shifting down from premium and mid-grade into regular unleaded or into higher ethanol blends. And our higher ethanol blends, E15 and E85, were up high 20s, low 30% versus prior year. So you definitely saw that behavior.

我們還看到燃料結構本身發生了一些變化。所以你看到人們從高檔和中檔轉向普通的無鉛或更高的乙醇混合物。我們的更高乙醇混合物 E15 和 E85 與去年相比上升了 20 多歲，下降了 30%。所以你肯定看到了這種行為。

On the inside of the store, like I was just talking about, we saw that shift from some of the more expensive national brands into our private brand product, which, again, is margin-accretive for us. We've also seen some trade-down in pack sizes, from larger pack sizes to smaller, particularly in the beer category, where people aren't switching out of super premium and imports into cheaper types of beer. They're just trading down from larger pack sizes into smaller pack sizes within the beer category, which is also margin-accretive for us. So, so far, things have been working out pretty well from a consumer behavior standpoint.

在商店內部，就像我剛才所說的那樣，我們看到了從一些更昂貴的民族品牌到我們的自有品牌產品的轉變，這再次為我們增加了利潤。我們還看到了包裝尺寸的一些折衷，從較大的包裝尺寸到較小的包裝尺寸，特別是在啤酒類別中，人們不會從超優質啤酒轉向進口更便宜的啤酒。他們只是在啤酒類別中從較大的包裝尺寸降為較小的包裝尺寸，這對我們來說也可以增加利潤。因此，到目前為止，從消費者行為的角度來看，事情進展順利。

That's great. And just would like your updated thoughts on sort of sustainable or sustainable levels of gas margins because, of course, we've been having a lot of OpEx conversations. But those 2 elements work in tandem, and it's a really big input into what the outlook is for earnings. So can you share your thoughts with us, please?

那太棒了。並且只是希望您對天然氣利潤率的可持續或可持續水平的最新想法，因為當然，我們一直在進行很多運營支出對話。但這兩個要素是協同工作的，這對收益前景非常重要。那麼你能和我們分享你的想法嗎？

Yes, sure. As you know, predicting fuel margin is a little bit of a crystal ball-type exercise. But consistent with what we said in our prepared remarks, we don't expect fuel margins to remain in the $0.40 range. That was a unique situation. Costs ran up to an all-time high and then costs fell back down a little closer to normal.

是的，當然。如您所知，預測燃料餘量有點像水晶球式的練習。但與我們在準備好的評論中所說的一致，我們預計燃料利潤不會保持在 0.40 美元的範圍內。那是一個獨特的情況。成本達到歷史最高水平，然後成本回落至接近正常水平。

And when you get through a cycle like that, and you have a long way to fall, margins typically widen out on the backside of that cost curve. And so we certainly experienced that. Our fuel team did a great job managing through that volatility, and it worked to our benefit.

當你經歷了這樣一個週期，而且你還有很長的路要走時，利潤率通常會在成本曲線的背面擴大。所以我們當然經歷過。我們的燃料團隊在應對這種波動方面做得很好，這對我們有利。

Our -- from a planning standpoint, for us, we're looking at margins more normalizing over the balance of the year, and we'll have to see how that goes. There's a lot of things going on in the world right now that could cause those costs to run up again. But consistent with what we've seen throughout history, when they run up like that, they eventually hit a peak and then they have to come back down again, and we'll manage it similar to the way we did this past time.

我們 - 從計劃的角度來看，對我們來說，我們正在考慮在今年餘下時間裡更加正常化的利潤率，我們將不得不看看情況如何。現在世界上發生了很多事情，可能會導致這些成本再次上漲。但與我們在整個歷史上看到的情況一致，當他們像那樣跑起來時，他們最終會達到頂峰，然後他們必須再次回落，我們將像過去那樣處理它。

And our next question comes from the line of Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自凱利·巴尼亞（Kelly Bania）與 BMO 資本市場的觀點。

I wanted to follow up on the OpEx and just clarify, is there something that is coming in or has the potential to come in higher than your original expectations? Because it just seems like with where the gas prices are now and the math that you gave last quarter, it seems like it should translate into about $40 million in lower credit card fees on an annual basis. So maybe it's just within -- still within the range, but can you just clarify that for us?

我想跟進運營支出並澄清一下，是否有一些東西正在進入或有可能高於你最初的預期？因為它看起來就像現在的汽油價格和你上個季度給出的數學一樣，它似乎應該轉化為每年減少約 4000 萬美元的信用卡費用。所以也許它只是在 - 仍然在範圍內，但你能為我們澄清一下嗎？

Sure, Kelly. This is Steve. I'll give that a shot. As Darren said, foremost -- first and foremost, we're trying to wait until the end of the second quarter to -- we will reassess all of the guidance here by the time we get to the second quarter because we'll have 7 months of experience by the time we have that call. I think that's probably overarching thought on not changing anything.

當然，凱利。這是史蒂夫。我會試一試。正如達倫所說，最重要的是——首先，我們正試圖等到第二季度末——我們將在第二季度重新評估這裡的所有指導，因為我們將有 7 個到我們接到電話時，已經有幾個月的經驗了。我認為這可能是關於不改變任何東西的總體想法。

But we certainly incurred more credit card fees, to your point, in the first quarter than we had thought. Credit card fees will still be quite a bit higher than the prior year based on current pricing for sure. The other piece is we've definitely incurred higher incentive compensation expense on the long-term components of the comp program, those multiyear kind of performance share pieces, and we will continue to have higher expense associated with those for the next couple of quarters. That would be higher than we had expected at the time.

但是，就您的觀點而言，我們在第一季度的信用卡費用肯定比我們想像的要多。根據目前的定價，信用卡費用肯定會比上一年高很多。另一部分是我們肯定在補償計劃的長期組成部分產生了更高的激勵補償費用，這些多年的績效分享部分，我們將在接下來的幾個季度繼續承擔與這些相關的更高費用。這將高於我們當時的預期。

And so I still feel like the annual guide is reasonable based on everything that we know right now. We were right -- we're kind of right where we thought we would be, albeit with a different combination of things to get us there. And so we'll reassess here at the end of the second quarter.

因此，根據我們現在所知道的一切，我仍然覺得年度指南是合理的。我們是對的——我們在我們認為的地方是對的，儘管有不同的組合讓我們到達那裡。因此，我們將在第二季度末重新評估。

Okay. That makes sense. And just wanted to follow up. You made a couple of comments on just the value that your inside Prepared Food options bring relative to QSR and maybe other options in the market. And just maybe if you could just give us an update on what are the ranges in terms of price gaps, how those have trended, what you're targeting? And what has been happening as gas prices have moderated in recent weeks here between traffic and ticket and these dynamics?

好的。那講得通。只是想跟進。您就您的內部預製食品選項相對於 QSR 以及市場上的其他選項帶來的價值發表了一些評論。如果您可以向我們提供有關價格差距範圍的最新信息，這些趨勢如何，您的目標是什麼？最近幾週汽油價格在交通和門票與這些動態之間有所緩和，發生了什麼？

Yes. With respect to the Prepared Foods pricing and value proposition, when we look at what's going on in the marketplace, there's been a lot of inflation that's happened in the QSR and restaurant industry. And if you think about most restaurants in the U.S. are either independent operators or franchise operated. And so they're really small businesses even if they fly a big flag.

是的。關於預製食品的定價和價值主張，當我們查看市場上發生的事情時，QSR 和餐飲業發生了很多通貨膨脹。如果你想想美國的大多數餐館要么是獨立經營者，要么是特許經營的。因此，即使他們掛著一面大旗，他們也確實是小企業。

And so they're taking price at a pretty aggressive rate. And when we look at our pricing, if you think about our whole pie business as an example, it's $15.99 is the most expensive specialty large pizza that we sell. And that, with an order of breadsticks for $5, could feed a family of 4. It's pretty tough to feed a family of 4 in any QSR and certainly any casual dining environment for under $25. So that value proposition is really strong.

所以他們以相當激進的速度定價。當我們查看我們的定價時，如果您以我們的整個餡餅業務為例，15.99 美元是我們銷售的最昂貴的特色大披薩。而且，以 5 美元的價格訂購麵包棒，可以養活一個 4 口之家。在任何 QSR 和任何休閒用餐環境中，以低於 25 美元的價格養活一個 4 口之家是相當困難的。所以這個價值主張真的很強大。

Then on the single-serve side, we just rolled out our breakfast value offer at $4. That's a tough proposition. Most QSRs are at $5 now for any sort of breakfast value offering. So we think we've got a really good value proposition for consumers. And like I said, when we look at the share data, it looks like we're taking share. So I think that's resonating with the guests.

然後在單份服務方面，我們剛剛推出了 4 美元的早餐超值優惠。這是一個艱難的提議。大多數 QSR 現在只要 5 美元就可以買到任何類型的早餐。所以我們認為我們為消費者提供了一個非常好的價值主張。就像我說的，當我們查看共享數據時，看起來我們正在分享。所以我認為這引起了客人的共鳴。

From a traffic standpoint, traffic has certainly gotten better as fuel prices have dropped. We didn't -- in the first quarter, our traffic was only down about 0.5%. So we were almost flat even with record-high fuel prices. So we started to see a little bit of recovery there, and we think that only continues to get better as time goes on.

從交通的角度來看，隨著燃料價格的下降，交通肯定會變得更好。我們沒有——在第一季度，我們的流量僅下降了約 0.5%。因此，即使燃油價格創歷史新高，我們也幾乎持平。所以我們開始看到那裡有一點點恢復，我們認為隨著時間的推移，情況只會繼續好轉。

And our next question comes from the line of Chuck Cerankosky with Northcoast Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Chuck Cerankosky。

Great quarter. Could you talk about, please, store openings the rest of the year? You got off to, looks like, a slow start in getting the stores open. Are you seeing permitting problems still and certain difficulty in the builders getting components, especially for refrigeration?

很棒的季度。請您談談今年剩餘時間的商店開業情況嗎？你下車了，看起來，讓商店開張的開始很慢。您是否仍然看到許可問題以及製造商在獲取組件方面存在一定的困難，尤其是在製冷方面？

Yes, Chuck. We did have a little bit of a slow start. But historically, that's not all that unusual for us to have a slower start in the first quarter. And if you think about it, it kind of makes sense, given our geography in the Midwest typically don't start construction projects in January and February because of weather. And so if you're going to open in May, June time frame, you got to start that project in kind of January, February to make that happen.

是的，查克。我們的起步確實有點慢。但從歷史上看，對於我們來說，第一季度開局較慢並不是什麼不尋常的事。如果你仔細想想，這是有道理的，因為我們在中西部的地理位置通常不會因為天氣原因在 1 月和 2 月開始建設項目。因此，如果您打算在 5 月、6 月的時間範圍內開業，那麼您必須在 1 月、2 月開始該項目以實現這一目標。

And so first quarter tends to be a slower quarter for us anyway. That's never gotten in the way of us getting our full year number. And we've got over 20 stores under construction as we speak. We got another 30 that will start construction between now and the end of the calendar year. And then our acquisition pipeline is looking really strong right now. So we have full confidence we're going to get our full year number. It's just a little bit of a timing issue.

因此，無論如何，第一季度對我們來說往往是一個較慢的季度。這從來沒有妨礙我們獲得全年數字。在我們發言時，我們有 20 多家商店正在建設中。從現在到日曆年年底，我們還有另外 30 個將開始建設。然後我們的收購渠道現在看起來非常強大。因此，我們完全有信心獲得全年數據。這只是一個時間問題。

Regarding acquisitions, could you talk about the environment for acquisitions versus last year where you got quite a few closed, please?

關於收購，你能談談收購環境與去年相比，你有很多關閉，好嗎？

Yes. Last year was a great year for acquisitions and, really, both on -- we had some of those larger acquisitions that got a lot of headlines, but we did a lot of smaller deals as well. And we're seeing that same dynamic play out right now. We have a really robust pipeline of smaller deals that you'll never hear about, other than on a call like this. But that's looking really good.

是的。去年是收購的豐收年，實際上，兩者都是——我們進行了一些規模較大的收購，這些收購成為了很多頭條新聞，但我們也進行了很多較小的交易。我們現在也看到了同樣的動態。我們有一個非常強大的小交易渠道，除了像這樣的電話之外，您永遠不會聽說過。但這看起來真的很好。

And then we've had some more larger deals that have come our way, and we're actively engaged in those processes. And as you know, those are competitive. So we have to see how that all shakes out. But we like what we're seeing right now from a deal flow perspective, and we think that's just a reflection of the more complex and difficult operating environment that the old industry is in right now and smaller players are looking to get out of the industry.

然後我們已經完成了一些更大的交易，我們正在積極參與這些過程。如你所知，這些都是有競爭力的。所以我們必須看看這一切是如何發生的。但我們喜歡我們現在從交易流的角度看到的情況，我們認為這只是舊行業目前所處的更複雜和困難的運營環境的反映，而較小的參與者正在尋求退出該行業.

And our next question comes from the line of Greg Badishkanian with Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Greg Badishkanian 與 Wolfe Research 的觀點。

This is Spencer Hanus on for Greg. So have you guys seen any acceleration in trade-down quarter-to-date? And then as private label penetration picks up, are you seeing national brands start to take a less aggressive stance on raising prices as their units could be impacted?

這是格雷格的斯賓塞漢努斯。那麼，你們是否看到本季度迄今為止的降價交易有任何加速？然後隨著自有品牌滲透率的提高，您是否看到民族品牌開始在提價方面採取不那麼激進的立場，因為它們的單位可能會受到影響？

No, Spencer, we haven't really seen any acceleration in trade-down. We -- like I said before, with the private label, we've seen that shifting over to private label. A lot of that velocity in private label is coming from the national brands as people shift over to more affordable and high-quality options.

不，Spencer，我們還沒有真正看到降價的任何加速。我們 - 就像我之前所說的那樣，使用自有品牌，我們已經看到轉向自有品牌。隨著人們轉向更實惠和高質量的選擇，自有品牌的很多速度都來自民族品牌。

We have not seen the national brands look at that data and make different decisions regarding their cost posture. And so we still see national brands passing on cost increases, and we continue to flow most of that through to the consumer. And that just -- that's a bigger gap between the national brands and the private brands, which works to our benefit. So we continue to do that.

我們還沒有看到民族品牌查看這些數據並就其成本狀況做出不同的決定。因此，我們仍然看到民族品牌將成本增加轉嫁給消費者，而我們繼續將大部分成本轉移給消費者。這只是 - 這是民族品牌和自有品牌之間的更大差距，這對我們有利。所以我們繼續這樣做。

Got it. That's helpful. And then just taking a step back, can you walk us through how your overall unit sales trended in 1Q versus 4Q? And then I don't know if you mentioned this, but have you talked about what the product inflation was during the first quarter?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後退後一步，您能告訴我們您的整體單位銷售在 1Q 和 4Q 的趨勢如何？然後我不知道你有沒有提到這一點，但你有沒有談到第一季度的產品通脹是多少？

Yes. Unit velocity, overall, was really about flat. And it's very different category-to-category, but let's call it flat overall. In terms of inflation, we saw about 6.5% inflation in the Grocery and General Merch category and like I said before about 14% in Prepared Foods.

是的。總體而言，單位速度實際上幾乎是平穩的。而且它是非常不同的類別，但我們稱它為平的。在通貨膨脹方面，我們看到雜貨和日用品類別的通貨膨脹率約為 6.5%，就像我之前所說的，預製食品的通貨膨脹率約為 14%。

And our next question comes from the line of Bobby Griffin with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Bobby Griffin 和 Raymond James。

Congrats on the beat. First is just a quick clarification question. Steve, on the gross margin headwind in Prepared Foods, I believe you referenced 190 bps was from cheese and then there was like 80 bps from LIFO. Is the remaining 270 all the higher waste from grab-and-go? Or were there other parts of that 270 basis points to get to the 540?

祝賀節拍。首先是一個快速澄清的問題。史蒂夫，關於預製食品的毛利率逆風，我相信你提到 190 個基點來自奶酪，然後有 80 個基點來自 LIFO。剩下的 270 個都是隨手拿走的更高浪費嗎？還是那 270 個基點中的其他部分可以達到 540？

Yes. No, it's more than just -- it's more than just waste. Waste is the single biggest remaining item in that delta, but we continue to have inflation pressure across other parts of that category. We got a lot of coffee inflation on a year-over-year basis, quite a bit of donut input cost inflation on a year-over-year basis. So broad-based, it's inflation across everything, except cheese, plus higher waste levels would account for the difference.

是的。不，這不僅僅是——不僅僅是浪費。廢物是該三角洲中最大的剩餘項目，但我們繼續在該類別的其他部分面臨通脹壓力。我們的咖啡價格同比上漲很多，甜甜圈投入成本同比上漲很多。基礎如此廣泛，除了奶酪外，所有東西都在通貨膨脹，加上更高的廢物水平會造成差異。

Okay. That's helpful. I just want to clarify that. And then, I guess, lastly, more higher level. Good comments about the uptick in market share around the breakfast category. So can you maybe put in context where Casey's market share is today in that category versus historical levels? Is it at an all-time high? Or is there opportunities to get back to maybe where it was, I don't know, a few years ago or something like that?

好的。這很有幫助。我只是想澄清一下。然後，我想，最後，更高的層次。關於早餐類別市場份額上升的好評。那麼，您能否將凱西今天在該類別中的市場份額與歷史水平相比較的背景？是否處於歷史最高水平？還是有機會回到幾年前或類似的地方，我不知道？

Yes. We've actually grown market share about 200 basis points from our most recent analysis. And as best we can identify, that's coming largely from QSR in our geography. And so I don't have a good historical reference point, Bobby, to know whether our breakfast market share is at an all-time high or not, but it has certainly grown over the last year. And I think, because we see that coming from QSR, we feel really good about the proposition that we're offering to our guests right now.

是的。根據我們最近的分析，我們實際上已經將市場份額增加了大約 200 個基點。正如我們所能確定的那樣，這主要來自我們所在地區的 QSR。因此，鮑比，我沒有一個好的歷史參考點來了解我們的早餐市場份額是否處於歷史最高水平，但它在過去一年中肯定有所增長。我認為，因為我們看到來自 QSR 的這一點，我們對我們現在向客人提供的提議感覺非常好。

Okay. That's helpful. I appreciate the details.

好的。這很有幫助。我很欣賞這些細節。

And our next question comes from the line of Krisztina Katai with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Krisztina Katai。

Congrats on a great quarter. I wanted to talk about customer acquisition and your loyalty program. I believe you referenced that it now consists of 5.5 million members. What do you see from repeat behavior from these customers? And what are some of the ways -- maybe you could give us examples of what you're working on to make sure that there's going to be continued stickiness at even higher repeat levels? So maybe just update us on where you are in your personalization efforts.

祝賀一個偉大的季度。我想談談客戶獲取和您的忠誠度計劃。我相信你提到它現在由 550 萬成員組成。您從這些客戶的重複行為中看到了什麼？有哪些方法——也許你可以給我們舉例說明你正在做的事情，以確保在更高的重複水平上繼續保持粘性？因此，也許只需向我們介紹您在個性化方面的進展情況。

Yes, Krisztina. With respect to our Rewards members, we see that they visit our stores about 15% more frequently on an annual basis than our non-Rewards members, and they spend about $12 -- or 12% more per transaction. So they're a far more profitable guest than our non-Rewards members. And they're far more active as well.

是的，克里斯蒂娜。對於我們的 Rewards 會員，我們發現他們每年光顧我們商店的頻率比我們的非 Rewards 會員高出約 15%，他們每筆交易花費約 12 美元或 12%。所以他們是比我們的非獎勵會員更有利可圖的客人。他們也更加活躍。

When we measure this, we measure activity from a Rewards member on a 30-day basis, where most of the industry does that on a 90-day basis. And we see about 52% active participation on a monthly basis, on 30 days. And so that's really high, about 64% on a 90-day basis. And you can compare that to just about any rewards program in the QSR space, and that is far in excess of what you would see there. So we have very active members.

當我們對此進行衡量時，我們以 30 天為單位衡量獎勵會員的活動，而大多數行業都是以 90 天為單位進行衡量的。我們看到大約 52% 的每月積極參與，在 30 天內。所以這真的很高，在 90 天的基礎上約為 64%。您可以將其與 QSR 領域中的任何獎勵計劃進行比較，這遠遠超出了您在那裡看到的內容。所以我們有非常活躍的成員。

One of the things we do to try to engage them more frequently as we are shifting our emphasis to more individualized activation, so we have -- we started off with what we call curation, which was the majority of our messaging to Rewards guests was kind of a message to everybody on the platform or most of the people on the platform. Then we've migrated over to segmentation, where we look at cohorts of guests, and we -- with like behavior. And then we send the message specifically to them and then individualize where we send this specific message to an individual guest.

隨著我們將重點轉移到更個性化的激活上，我們嘗試更頻繁地吸引他們的其中一件事是——我們從我們所謂的策展開始，這是我們向獎勵客人傳達的大部分信息都是善意的向平台上的每個人或平台上的大多數人發送消息。然後我們已經遷移到細分，我們查看客人的群組，並且我們 - 具有相似的行為。然後我們專門向他們發送消息，然後個性化我們將此特定消息發送給單個客人的位置。

Right now, between the segmented and the individualized guest, we're about 80% of our messaging is going to those 2 groups. So we're seeing much higher response rates from those groups as we target those messages more towards their individual behavior.

現在，在細分客人和個性化客人之間，我們大約 80% 的消息傳遞給這兩個群體。因此，當我們將這些信息更多地針對他們的個人行為時，我們看到這些群體的響應率要高得多。

That's great. Thank you for that color. And maybe if I could just follow up on the fuel trends and the traffic that you're seeing, especially following the end of the first quarter. What are you seeing from a consumer behavior perspective? How has that been changing, if at all, since the first quarter? Because I think you said your fill rate was down 8%, but it was offset by increased trips. So I'm just curious what is happening with trips and fill-up rate as we sit here sort of the middle of September.

那太棒了。謝謝你的顏色。也許如果我能跟進燃料趨勢和您所看到的流量，尤其是在第一季度末之後。您從消費者行為的角度看到了什麼？自第一季度以來，這種情況發生了怎樣的變化（如果有的話）？因為我認為你說你的填充率下降了 8%，但它被增加的旅行所抵消。所以我只是好奇我們在 9 月中旬坐在這裡時，旅行和客滿率會發生什麼。

Yes. Just to be clear, the 8% was a reduction in the average fill-up per guest. That wasn't a number for overall volume going down. Because remember, on the flip side of that equation, you had an 8% increase in fuel trips. So that was really kind of offsetting it.

是的。需要明確的是，這 8% 是每位客人的平均客座率減少。這不是整體成交量下降的數字。因為請記住，在該等式的另一面，您的燃油行程增加了 8%。所以這真的有點抵消它。

So what we're seeing is, overall, volumes are getting better. And they've gotten consistently better as we hit those peak retail prices, and we've come down. And we've seen pretty consistently, once we get down into the upper $3, low $4 range, in fuel pricing -- price points, the volume starts to recover and actually become a little bit positive. And so it's just a matter of where we are on that evolution, back down to more normalized retail pricing that drives that volume activity.

所以我們看到的是，總體而言，銷量正在變得更好。當我們達到零售價的峰值時，它們一直在變得更好，而且我們已經下降了。而且我們已經看到相當一致的情況，一旦我們在燃料定價中進入 3 美元的上限、4 美元的下限 - 價格點，銷量開始恢復並且實際上變得有點積極。因此，這只是我們在進化中所處的位置的問題，回到更規範化的零售定價來推動銷量活動。

And our next question comes from the line of John Lawrence with the Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自基準公司的約翰勞倫斯。

Good quarter, congrats. Could you comment just a little bit, have you seen any comment on performance in some of the newer markets, say Knoxville? Any difference in those markets? And secondly, remind us on the remodel schedule. And when will we see some of those units getting remodeled and getting in fully with the kitchens, et cetera?

好季度，恭喜。您能否發表一點評論，您是否看到過有關諾克斯維爾等一些較新市場的表現的評論？這些市場有什麼不同嗎？其次，提醒我們改造時間表。我們什麼時候會看到其中一些單元進行改造並完全融入廚房等等？

Yes, John. So far, things are working according to plan. As you can imagine, it takes a while to permit for remodels, particularly where we're putting kitchens in stores. And so in Knoxville, in particular, we've only got 2 stores that have been remodeled at this point. But we've got a full plan to get those done and, most likely by the end of the fiscal year, to get a lot of those remodels done.

是的，約翰。到目前為止，事情正在按計劃進行。正如您可以想像的那樣，允許進行改造需要一段時間，尤其是在我們將廚房放在商店中的地方。因此，特別是在諾克斯維爾，我們目前只有 2 家商店進行了改造。但是我們有一個完整的計劃來完成這些，並且很可能在本財政年度結束時完成很多這些改造。

So early results are really only a reflection of us sort of doing some basic remerchandising and cleaning up the stores and changing some signage. But really, the real benefit will come when we get the full remodels in the kitchens in.

所以早期的結果實際上只是反映了我們在做一些基本的重新銷售、清理商店和改變一些標牌。但實際上，當我們在廚房裡進行全面改造時，真正的好處就會到來。

Oklahoma City, we're kind of in the middle of that process right now. We've got about half of the stores we intended to remodel done, and we're starting to see the benefits of those remodels in those stores. The other half are in varying stages of either under construction or being started. So quite a bit of noise in those numbers overall when we have stores shut down for remodels.

俄克拉荷馬城，我們現在正處於這個過程的中間。我們已經完成了大約一半我們打算改造的商店，我們開始看到這些商店改造的好處。另一半處於建設中或開工的不同階段。因此，當我們關閉商店進行改造時，這些數字總體上會產生相當多的噪音。

So I would say that we're pleased with what we're seeing so far when we come out post remodel. The Prepared Food is accelerating as we expected. And so we're confident that, that trend will continue in those other markets. We just have to let the process play out and get through those remodels.

所以我想說，當我們推出改造後的產品時，我們對迄今為止所看到的情況感到滿意。正如我們預期的那樣，預製食品正在加速。因此，我們有信心，這種趨勢將在其他市場繼續下去。我們只需要讓這個過程發揮作用並完成這些改造。

Thank you. And I'm showing no further questions. And I would like to turn the conference back over to Darren Rebelez for any further remarks.

謝謝你。我沒有再提出任何問題。我想將會議轉回給 Darren Rebelez 以發表任何進一步的評論。

All right. Well, thanks for taking the time today and joining us on the call. And again, we're off to a strong start this year. And I'd also like to thank our team members, once again, for all their hard work and contributions. And everybody, have a great day.

好的。好吧，感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們的電話會議。再說一次，我們今年的開局很好。我還要再次感謝我們的團隊成員，感謝他們的辛勤工作和貢獻。和大家，有一個美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。