Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc (CCO) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings 2024 second-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Eileen McLaughlin, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我將會議交給東道主投資者關係副總裁艾琳·麥克勞克林 (Eileen McLaughlin)。請繼續。

Good morning and thank you for joining our call. On the call today are Scott Wells, our CEO; and David Sailer, our CFO. They will provide an overview of the 2024 second-quarter operating performance of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., and Clear Channel International B.V.

早安，感謝您加入我們的通話。今天參加電話會議的是我們的執行長 Scott Wells；以及我們的財務長大衛‧賽勒 (David Sailer)。他們將概述 Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. 和 Clear Channel International B.V. 2024 年第二季的營運表現。

We recommend you download the 2024 second quarter earnings presentation located in the financial information section of our Investor website and review the presentation during this call. After an introduction and a review of our results, we’ll open the line for questions, and Justin Cochrane, CEO of Clear Channel UK and Europe, will join Scott and Dave during the Q&A portion of the call.

我們建議您下載位於我們投資者網站財務資訊部分的 2024 年第二季度收益演示文稿，並在本次電話會議期間查看該演示文稿。在介紹和審查我們的結果後，我們將開通提問熱線，Clear Channel 英國和歐洲首席執行官賈斯汀·科克倫 (Justin Cochrane) 將與斯科特和戴夫一起參與電話問答部分。

Before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that during this call, we may make forward-looking statements regarding the company, including statements about its future financial performance and its strategic goals. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, or projections will be achieved or that actual results will not differ from expectations. Please review the statements of risk contained in our earnings press release and our filings with the SEC.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，在這次電話會議中，我們可能會做出有關公司的前瞻性陳述，包括有關其未來財務表現和策略目標的陳述。所有前瞻性陳述都涉及風險和不確定性，不能保證管理階層的期望、信念或預測能夠實現，或實際結果不會與預期不同。請查看我們的收益新聞稿和向 SEC 提交的文件中包含的風險聲明。

During today’s call, we will also refer to certain measures that do not conform to generally accepted accounting principles. We provide schedules that reconcile these non-GAAP measures with our reported results on a GAAP basis as part of the earnings presentation.

在今天的電話會議中，我們也將提及某些不符合公認會計原則的措施。作為收益報告的一部分，我們提供了將這些非 GAAP 指標與我們按照 GAAP 報告的結果進行協調的時間表。

Also, please note that the information provided on this call speaks only to management’s views as of today, August 7, 2024, and may no longer be accurate at the time of a replay.

另請注意，本次電話會議中提供的資訊僅代表截至今天（2024 年 8 月 7 日）管理層的觀點，重播時可能不再準確。

Please see slide 4 in the earnings presentation, and I will now turn the call over to Scott.

請參閱收益簡報中的投影片 4，我現在將把電話轉給 Scott。

Good morning, everyone and thank you for taking the time to join us today. We delivered second quarter consolidated revenue of $559 million, an increase of 5.2% or 5.4% excluding movements in foreign exchange rates, with growth in our America, airports, and Europe-North segments.

大家早安，感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們。我們第二季的綜合營收為 5.59 億美元，剔除匯率變動後成長 5.2% 或 5.4%，其中美洲、機場和歐洲北部業務部門成長。

Our performance reflects healthy demand from advertisers across the majority of our markets, with notable strength in our airports and Europe-North segments. We also benefited from solid execution across the range of ongoing initiatives aimed at broadening our revenue base.

我們的業績反映了大多數市場廣告商的健康需求，其中我們在機場和北歐市場的實力顯著。我們也受惠於一系列旨在擴大收入基礎的持續措施的紮實執行。

Following record first-quarter revenue in the America segment, our second-quarter results came in at the low end of our guidance due to softness in the national marketplace, particularly in the medical services and media entertainment verticals.

繼美國市場第一季營收創紀錄之後，由於國內市場（尤其是醫療服務和媒體娛樂垂直市場）的疲軟，我們第二季的業績處於指導值的低端。

In the current quarter, we are seeing improving business trends, including in national, and remain on track to achieve our full-year guidance. We mentioned in our Q1 call that results this year might be lumpy and weighted to the second half and that is how the business is developing.

在本季度，我們看到業務趨勢有所改善，包括全國範圍內的業務趨勢，並有望實現全年指導。我們在第一季的電話會議中提到，今年的業績可能會不穩定，並會影響下半年，這就是業務的發展方式。

We believe advertisers are increasingly recognizing the value of our digital billboard platform, now reaching over 70% of US adults monthly in our served markets, as well as our data and analytics capabilities, which enable us to target particular audiences and effectively measure advertisers' campaigns.

我們相信，廣告商越來越認識到我們的數位廣告看板平台的價值，目前在我們服務的市場中每月覆蓋超過70% 的美國成年人，以及我們的數據和分析能力，這使我們能夠瞄準特定受眾並有效衡量廣告商的活動。

In addition to generating increased revenue from our digital and programmatic initiatives, we are also continuing to attract business through our website and expanded sales team, as well as through our direct outreach.

除了透過我們的數位和程序化計劃增加收入外，我們還繼續透過我們的網站和擴大的銷售團隊以及我們的直接外展來吸引業務。

The direct business has been instrumental in building relationships with brands across all channels. All of these efforts have the impact of effectively scaling our platform and expanding our revenue sources while offsetting some of the industry-wide softness in national.

直接業務有助於與所有管道的品牌建立關係。所有這些努力都有效地擴展了我們的平台並擴大了我們的收入來源，同時抵消了全國範圍內的一些行業疲軟。

Our airports business remains strong. 2024 has been a historic period for travel, marked by 9 of the 10 busiest days in TSA history, with air travel hitting a record in July. The surge in travel is expected to continue through the remainder of the year and into 2025, putting us in a strong position to continue to leverage our premium assets to drive ad dollars.

我們的機場業務依然強勁。 2024 年對於旅行來說是一個歷史性的時期，TSA 歷史上 10 個最繁忙的日子中有 9 個是其中的 9 天，其中 7 月份的航空旅行創下了紀錄。預計旅遊激增將持續到今年剩餘時間直至 2025 年，這使我們處於有利地位，可以繼續利用我們的優質資產來推動廣告收入。

Europe-North delivered another great performance with health growth continuing in the current quarter, led by the strength in Sweden and the UK.

北歐地區在瑞典和英國的強勁帶動下，在本季繼續實現健康成長，再次取得了出色的業績。

Turning to our outlook, Dave will expand on the details later, but I want to highlight that we have modestly increased our full-year consolidated revenue, adjusted EBITDA and AFFO guidance, given the strength in airports and Europe-North.

談到我們的展望，Dave 稍後將詳細闡述細節，但我想強調的是，鑑於機場和歐洲北部地區的實力，我們已經小幅增加了全年綜合收入、調整後的 EBITDA 和 AFFO 指導。

On the M&A front, negotiations for the sale of Europe-North remain ongoing. The team is performing very well, executing the focus strategy we laid out several quarters ago, creating optionality and derisking the business. For instance, their trailing 12-month operating leverage has been outstanding, with segment-adjusted EBITDA growth of 21% on revenue growth of 9% versus the prior period, excluding movements in foreign exchange rates.

在併購方面，出售歐洲北部的談判仍在進行中。該團隊表現非常好，執行了我們幾個季度前製定的重點策略，創造了選擇性並降低了業務風險。例如，他們過去 12 個月的營運槓桿非常出色，與上一時期相比，經部門調整的 EBITDA 成長了 21%，收入成長了 9%（不包括匯率變動）。

We remain committed to exiting Europe at a price that reflects the value being delivered by this business, based on the continuing improvement of these assets. In the meantime, the funds we generate from our European businesses can be used to continue strengthening our cash position and further enhancing our European profit engine.

我們仍然致力於以反映該業務所提供的價值（基於這些資產的持續改善）的價格退出歐洲。同時，我們從歐洲業務中獲得的資金可用於繼續增強我們的現金狀況並進一步增強我們的歐洲利潤引擎。

Separately, in our LATAM sale process, we are making good progress and will provide further updates in due course.

另外，在我們的拉丁美洲銷售流程中，我們正在取得良好進展，並將在適當的時候提供進一步的更新。

Finally, it's important to note that even before we complete these asset sales, we believe we are turning the corner on cash generation. We expect AFFO in the second half of 2024 to outpace our discretionary CapEx for the same period and expect this to improve in 2025. This creates an option to start to organically delever our balance sheet. We believe this is a significant milestone in our journey to enhance shareholder value.

最後，值得注意的是，即使在我們完成這些資產出售之前，我們也相信我們正在扭轉現金產生的困境。我們預計 2024 年下半年的 AFFO 將超過同期我們可自由支配的資本支出，並預計這一情況將在 2025 年有所改善。我們相信，這是我們提升股東價值旅程中的一個重要里程碑。

So overall, we're pleased with the ongoing progress our team is making in executing on multiple initiatives to monetize our technology and broaden our revenue streams. And we're encouraged with the momentum we're seeing in our business.

因此，總的來說，我們對我們的團隊在執行多項措施以實現技術貨幣化和拓寬收入來源方面所取得的持續進展感到滿意。我們對業務中所看到的勢頭感到鼓舞。

With that, let me hand the call over to Dave.

接下來，讓我把電話轉給戴夫。

Thanks, Scott. Please see slide 5 for an overview of our results. As a reminder, Europe's sale is included in discontinued operations. Additionally, during our discussion of GAAP results, I'll also talk about our results excluding movements in foreign exchange rates, a non -GAAP measure. We believe this provides greater comparability when evaluating our performance.

謝謝，斯科特。請參閱投影片 5 以了解我們的結果概述。提醒一下，歐洲的銷售包括在已終止的業務中。此外，在我們討論公認會計準則結果時，我還將討論不包括外匯匯率變動（一項非公認會計準則衡量標準）的結果。我們相信，這在評估我們的績效時提供了更大的可比性。

Direct operating expenses and SG&A expenses include restructuring in other costs that are excluded from adjusted EBITDA and segment adjusted EBITDA. And the amounts I referred to are for the second quarter of 2024. And the percent changes are second quarter 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023, unless otherwise noted.

直接營運費用和 SG&A 費用包括不包括在調整後 EBITDA 和部門調整 EBITDA 中的其他成本重組。我提到的金額是 2024 年第二季的金額。

Now on to the second quarter reported results. Consolidated revenue for the quarter was $559 million, a 5.2% increase. Excluding movements in foreign exchange rates, consolidated revenue was up 5.4%. Loss from continuing operations was $48 million, higher than the prior year due to impairment charges related to the company's Latin America businesses.

現在報告第二季的業績。該季度綜合營收為 5.59 億美元，成長 5.2%。不計匯率變動，綜合收入成長 5.4%。由於與公司拉丁美洲業務相關的減損費用，持續經營業務損失為 4,800 萬美元，高於上年。

Consolidated net loss, which includes the income from discontinued operations, was $39 million. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA excluded movements in foreign exchange rates was $143 million, roughly flat with the prior year. AFFO was $25 million in the second quarter, a 12.2% decline from the prior year. Excluding movements in foreign exchange rates, AFFO was down 12.3%.

合併淨虧損（包括已終止經營業務的收入）為 3,900 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 和排除匯率變動後調整後 EBITDA 為 1.43 億美元，與去年大致持平。第二季 AFFO 為 2,500 萬美元，比去年同期下降 12.2%。不計外匯匯率變動，AFFO 下跌 12.3%。

On to slide 6 for the America segment second quarter results. America revenue was $290 million, up 0.9% reflecting increased revenue in most markets, most notably Miami, driven by increased demand and digital deployments.

投影片 6 為美國分部第二季業績。美洲營收為 2.9 億美元，成長 0.9%，反映出大多數市場（尤其是邁阿密）的收入增加，這是由需求增加和數位部署推動的。

Digital revenue which accounted for 35.3% of America revenue was up 4.1% to $102 million. National sales, which accounted for 35% of America revenue, were down 3.3% on a comparable basis. Local sales accounted for 65% of America revenue and were up 3.4% on a comparable basis.

占美國收入 35.3% 的數位收入成長了 4.1%，達到 1.02 億美元。占美國收入 35% 的全國銷售額年減 3.3%。本地銷售占美國收入的 65%，較去年同期成長 3.4%。

Direct operating and SG&A expenses were up 3.4% to $163 million due to higher compensation costs related to our expanded sales team, pay increases, and higher variable incentive compensation, and higher credit loss expense related to specific reserves for certain customers. Segment-adjusted EBITDA was $127 million, down 2%, with a segment-adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.8% down from the prior year.

直接營運和銷售、一般管理費用成長3.4%，達到1.63 億美元，原因是與我們擴大的銷售團隊、加薪和更高的可變激勵薪酬相關的薪酬成本增加，以及與某些客戶的特定準備金相關的信用損失費用增加。部門調整後 EBITDA 為 1.27 億美元，下降 2%，部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較前一年下降 43.8%。

Please see slide 7 for a review of the second-quarter results for airports. Airports revenue was $86 million, up 21.4% with strong demand across the portfolio, led by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey airports and the San Francisco International Airport, which grew largely attributable to new advertising customers.

請參閱投影片 7，以了解機場第二季業績回顧。機場收入為 8,600 萬美元，成長 21.4%，整個投資組合需求強勁，其中以紐約港務局和新澤西機場以及舊金山國際機場為首，這些機場的成長主要歸功於新的廣告客戶。

Digital revenue, which accounted for 56% of airports revenue, was up 14.6% to $48 million. National sales, which accounted for 57.7% of airports revenue, were up 12% on a comparable basis. Local sales accounted for 42.3% of airports revenue and were up 37% on a comparable basis. Direct operating and SG&A expenses were up 22.7% to $67 million. The increase is primarily due to a 23.4% increase in site lease expense to $53 million driven by higher revenue and lower rent abatements.

數位收入佔機場收入的 56%，成長 14.6%，達到 4,800 萬美元。全國銷售額佔機場收入的 57.7%，年增 12%。本地銷售額佔機場收入的 42.3%，年增 37%。直接營運和 SG&A 費用成長 22.7%，達到 6,700 萬美元。這一增長主要是由於收入增加和租金減免減少導致場地租賃費用增加 23.4% 至 5,300 萬美元。

Segment-adjusted EBITDA was $19 million, up 16.8%, with a segment-adjusted EBITDA margin of 22.1%. The slight decline in segment-adjusted EBITDA margin is driven by the decline in rent abatements.

部門調整後 EBITDA 為 1,900 萬美元，成長 16.8%，部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 22.1%。經部門調整的 EBITDA 利潤率小幅下降是由於租金減免的下降所致。

On to slide 8 for a review of our performance in Europe-North. My commentary on Europe-North is on results that have been adjusted to exclude movements in foreign exchange rates. Europe-North revenue increased 10.1% to $165 million due to higher revenue in most countries, most notably Sweden and the UK, due to increased demand and digital deployments, partially offset by the loss of a transit contract in Norway.

請轉到投影片 8，回顧我們在歐洲北部的表現。我對歐洲北部的評論是針對經過調整以排除外匯匯率變動的結果。北歐地區的收入成長了 10.1%，達到 1.65 億美元，這是由於需求和數位化部署的增加導致大多數國家（尤其是瑞典和英國）的收入增加，但部分被挪威運輸合約的損失所抵消。

Digital accounted for 56.8% of Europe-North's total revenue and was up 17.9% to $94 million. Europe-North direct operating and SG&A expenses were up 6.7% to $132 million due to higher property taxes and rental costs for additional digital displays, higher compensation costs driven by pay increases and variable incentive compensation, and an increase in site lease expense.

數位業務佔 Europe-North 總營收的 56.8%，成長 17.9%，達到 9,400 萬美元。歐洲-北歐直接營運和銷售、一般管理費用增加6.7%，達到1.32 億美元，原因是財產稅和額外數位顯示器的租賃成本增加、加薪和可變激勵補償導致補償成本增加，以及場地租賃費用增加。

Europe-North segment-adjusted EBITDA was up 24.7% to $33 million, and the segment-adjusted EBITDA margin was 19.8% and improvement over the prior year.

歐洲-北歐部門調整後 EBITDA 成長 24.7%，達到 3,300 萬美元，部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 19.8%，較前一年有所改善。

Moving on to CCIBV on slide 9. Clear Channel International BV, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the company and the borrower under the CCIBV term loan facility includes the operations of our Europe-North and Europe-South segments as well as Singapore, which is included in other.

前往投影片 9 上的 CCIBV。 。

Financial results of Singapore have historically been immaterial to the results of CCIBV, and revenue and expenses for the Singapore business were further reduced in the first quarter of 2024 due to the loss of a contract. As the current and former businesses in Europe-South segment are considered discontinued operations, results of these businesses are reported as a separate component of consolidated net income in the CCIBV consolidated statement of income for all periods presented and are excluded from the discussion below.

新加坡的財務業績歷來對 CCIBV 的業績影響不大，由於合約損失，新加坡業務的收入和支出在 2024 年第一季進一步減少。由於歐洲南部部門目前和以前的業務被視為已終止經營，因此這些業務的業績在所有期間的 CCIBV 合併損益表中作為合併淨利潤的單獨組成部分報告，並且不包括在下面的討論中。

CCIBV results from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2024 as compared to the same period of 2023 are as follows.

CCIBV 2024 年第二季持續經營業績與 2023 年同期相比如下。

CCIBV revenue increased 6.4% to $165 million from $155 million, excluding the impact of movements in FX, CCIBV revenue increased 6.6% as higher revenue from our Europe-North segment. As I just mentioned, was partially offset by the loss of a contract in Singapore. CCIBV operating income was $10 million compared to the $3 million in the same period of 2023.

CCIBV 營收成長 6.4%，從 1.55 億美元增至 1.65 億美元，排除外匯波動的影響，CCIBV 收入成長 6.6%，因為我們歐洲北部部門的收入增加。正如我剛才提到的，部分被新加坡合約的損失所抵消。 CCIBV 營業收入為 1,000 萬美元，而 2023 年同期為 300 萬美元。

Now moving to slide 10 and review of our capital expenditures. CapEx totaled $23 million in the second quarter, a decrease of $8 million over the prior year primarily due to the timing of CapEx spend in America.

現在轉到幻燈片 10 並回顧我們的資本支出。第二季資本支出總額為 2,300 萬美元，比前一年減少 800 萬美元，主要是由於美國資本支出的時間安排。

Now on to slide 11. During the second quarter, cash and cash equivalents decreased by $4 million to $189 million. Cash paid for interest during the second quarter decreased $39 million compared to the same period in the prior year due to timing of interest payments in connection with the debt refinancing transactions that occurred in August 2023 and March 2024.

現在轉到投影片 11。由於與 2023 年 8 月和 2024 年 3 月發生的債務再融資交易相關的利息支付時間，第二季支付利息的現金比去年同期減少了 3,900 萬美元。

Our liquidity was $404 million as of June 30, 2024, up $15 million compared to liquidity at the end of the first quarter due to an increase in excess availability under the receivable-based credit facility driven by increased receivables. Our debt was $5.7 billion as of June 30, 2024. Our weighted average cost of debt was 7.4% in line with the first quarter. As of June 30, 2024, our first lien leverage ratio was 5.39 times. The credit agreement covenant threshold is 7.1 times.

截至2024 年6 月30 日，我們的流動資金為4.04 億美元，比第一季末的流動資金增加1,500 萬美元，原因是應收帳款增加推動的基於應收帳款的信貸安排下的超額可用性增加。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日，我們的債務為 57 億美元。 我們的加權平均債務成本為 7.4%，與第一季持平。截至2024年6月30日，我們的第一留置權槓桿率為5.39倍。信貸協議契約門檻為7.1倍。

Now on to slide 12 and our guidance for the third quarter and the full year 2024. All consolidated guidance in Europe-North guidance excludes movements in foreign exchange rates with the exception of capital expenditures and cash interest payments.

現在轉到投影片 12 以及我們對第三季和 2024 年全年的指導。

For the third quarter, we believe our consolidated revenue will be between $542 million and $567 million representing a 3% to 8% increase over the third quarter of 2023. We expect America revenue to be between $287 million and $297 million and airports revenue is expected to be between $79 million and $84 million. Europe-North revenue is expected to be between $157 million and $167 million.

對於第三季度，我們認為我們的合併收入將在5.42 億美元至5.67 億美元之間，比2023 年第三季度增長3% 至8%。間，機場收入預計將在2.87 億美元至2.97 億美元之間介於 7,900 萬美元至 8,400 萬美元之間。歐洲北部收入預計在 1.57 億美元至 1.67 億美元之間。

Moving on to our full-year guidance. As Scott mentioned, we are modestly increasing the full-year guidance we provided in May for consolidated revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and AFFO.

接下來是我們的全年指導。正如史考特所提到的，我們正在適度提高 5 月提供的合併收入、調整後 EBITDA 和 AFFO 的全年指引。

We expect consolidated revenue to be between $2.215 billion and $2.275 billion representing a 4% to 7% increase over 2023. America revenue is expected to be between $1.135 billion and $1.165 billion. Airports revenue is expected to be between $350 million and $365 million. Europe-North revenue is expected to be between $653 million and $668 million.

我們預計綜合收入將在 22.15 億美元至 22.75 億美元之間，比 2023 年增長 4% 至 7%。機場收入預計在 3.5 億至 3.65 億美元之間。歐洲北部收入預計在 6.53 億美元至 6.68 億美元之間。

On a consolidated basis, we expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $560 million and $590 million. AFFO guidance is $90 million to $110 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $130 million and $150 million with a continued focus on investing in our digital footprint in the US. Additionally, we anticipate heavy cash interest payment obligations of $435 million in 2024 and $422 million in 2025. This guidance assumes that we do not refinance or incur additional debt.

在合併基礎上，我們預計調整後 EBITDA 將在 5.6 億美元至 5.9 億美元之間。 AFFO 指引值為 9,000 萬至 1.1 億美元。資本支出預計在 1.3 億至 1.5 億美元之間，並繼續專注於投資我們在美國的數位足跡。此外，我們預計 2024 年和 2025 年的巨額現金利息支付義務分別為 4.35 億美元和 4.22 億美元。

And now, let me turn the call back to Scott.

現在，讓我把電話轉回給史考特。

Thanks, Dave. To recap, business trends remain positive across our portfolio, and our team continues to execute well on our plan, setting us up to increase our guidance and deliver growth for the year.

謝謝，戴夫。回顧一下，我們的投資組合的業務趨勢仍然積極，我們的團隊繼續良好地執行我們的計劃，使我們能夠提高我們的指導並實現今年的成長。

In addition to benefiting from the overall growth of the economy, we are increasingly seeing the benefits from our investments in digital, programmatic, and data analytics, as well as our sales team's direct business and new website. We believe these efforts are enabling us to expand the range of advertisers we can serve, which is increasing utilization of our platform and strengthening our ability to maximize revenue.

除了受益於經濟的整體成長之外，我們越來越多地看到我們在數位化、程序化和數據分析方面的投資以及我們的銷售團隊的直接業務和新網站所帶來的好處。我們相信這些努力使我們能夠擴大我們可以服務的廣告商範圍，從而提高我們平台的利用率並增強我們實現收入最大化的能力。

At the same time, we remain committed to simplifying our organization with a focus on our America and airports segments, as we continue the Europe-North and Latin American sales processes. We believe this will enhance our ability to improve cash generation and reduce debt over the next few years.

同時，我們仍然致力於簡化我們的組織，並專注於我們的美洲和機場部門，同時繼續歐洲-北歐和拉丁美洲的銷售流程。我們相信，這將增強我們在未來幾年改善現金產生和減少債務的能力。

And now let me turn the call over to the operator, and Justin Cochrane will join us on the call.

現在讓我把電話轉給接線員，賈斯汀·科克倫 (Justin Cochrane) 將加入我們的通話。

Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Cameron McVeigh, Morgan Stanley.

卡梅倫‧麥克維，摩根士丹利。

Good morning. Thank you. Maybe if you could just provide any more color on the national versus local ad trends in the US market, maybe any verticals that are driving strength or weakness at either one. And then the trends you've seen there into the third quarter. And then secondly, just how would you suggest we think about AFFO growth beyond 2024? Thanks.

早安.謝謝。如果您能提供更多有關美國市場上的全國性廣告趨勢與本地廣告趨勢的信息，也許可以提供任何推動任一市場優勢或劣勢的垂直行業。然後是您在第三季度看到的趨勢。其次，您建議我們如何考慮 2024 年後的 AFFO 成長？謝謝。

Great. Thanks, Cameron. I'm going to take the first half of the question, and I'll ask Dave to take the second half.

偉大的。謝謝，卡梅倫。我將回答問題的前半部分，我將請戴夫回答後半部分。

It is kind of a tale of two marketplaces, and it's even, as you see in our results, it's different in airports versus roadside in terms of national versus local markets. So I think national, what I would emphasize, is that it is very competitive, and advertisers have a lot of choices. And so it is really, really critical for you to be showing up with the best solution that is addressing whatever it is they're trying to accomplish.

這是兩個市場的故事，甚至，正如您在我們的結果中看到的那樣，就全國市場與本地市場而言，機場與路邊的情況有所不同。所以我認為全國性的，我要強調的是，它的競爭非常激烈，廣告商有很多選擇。因此，對於您來說，提供最佳解決方案來解決他們想要實現的目標，這真的非常重要。

It's one of the reasons why we're emphasizing vertical markets more and bringing in expertise to address vertical markets more because you kind of need that knowledge and understanding of the underlying business to be effective in the emerging national market.

這就是我們更強調垂直市場並引入專業知識來更能解決垂直市場的原因之一，因為您需要對基礎業務的知識和理解才能在新興國家市場中發揮作用。

You can't just count on RFPs flowing through agencies. So I think that the competition is how I'd characterize the national space. And you see, our results in Airports where we have a stronger differentiated offering are stronger than the results that we're achieving on roadside at this point. I don't think that that is a persistent or given in any way, shape or form. I think it is something that we need to do the work to demonstrate and evolve. And so we're focused on that.

您不能僅僅指望透過各機構傳遞 RFP。所以我認為競爭是我對國家空間的描述。您會看到，我們在機場提供的差異化服務比我們目前在路邊取得的結果要好。我不認為這是一種持久的或以任何方式、形狀或形式賦予的。我認為這是我們需要做的工作來展示和發展的。所以我們專注於此。

And local, it's a lot of different things that go on at the local market. And it is very different within the context of individual local markets, how they're playing out. Whether there's competition going on among quick serve restaurants versus casual dining restaurants, or there's competition going on among legal providers in that market, or there's competition among roofers.

在當地，當地市場發生了很多不同的事情。在各個當地市場的背景下，它們的表現也非常不同。無論快餐店與休閒餐廳之間是否存在競爭，或該市場的合法供應商之間是否存在競爭，或屋頂工之間是否存在競爭。

The key in the local market is being abreast of what is important in that local market and making sure that you have an adequate base of salespeople covering the field. Which we have been very focused on, and I think have been doing quite well on.

當地市場的關鍵是了解當地市場的重要內容，並確保您有足夠的銷售人員基礎來涵蓋該領域。我們一直非常關注這一點，而且我認為做得很好。

And I think I'd characterize the spending in both. The money is there. We've got to figure out how to go get it. It's not a question of the ad market not having the money to fess up what we need to get to accomplish our goals. It's a question of us making it happen. So that's where I'll characterize the national and local markets. And I'll hand AFFO to Dave.

我想我會描述兩者的支出。錢就在那裡。我們必須弄清楚如何得到它。這並不是廣告市場沒有錢來承認我們實現目標所需的東西的問題。這是我們能否實現這一目標的問題。這就是我將描述全國和地方市場的特徵。我會把 AFFO 交給 Dave。

Sure. Thanks, Scott.

當然。謝謝，斯科特。

As you notice, we increased our guide from a revenue and from a consolidated EBITDA standpoint. So as we grow EBITDA, that is going to fall through to the bottom line. And what I'm thinking about the second half from an AFFO standpoint, we have mentioned in our script, I think we are turning the corner from like a cash flow, like from a generation standpoint, because when you look at AFFO, and obviously that includes maintain CapEx, but we're going to employ in the second half where we'll be able to cover our growth CapEx if you kind of just take a look at it, if you look at AFFO and you include that growth CapEx.

正如您所注意到的，我們從收入和綜合 EBITDA 的角度增加了我們的指南。因此，當我們的 EBITDA 成長時，這將下降到淨利潤。從AFFO 的角度來看，我對下半年的看法，我們在劇本中已經提到過，我認為我們正在從現金流、從一代人的角度來看，因為當你看AFFO 時，顯然，我們正在扭轉局面。

So I feel very good about kind of where we are and looking forward on the growth of AFFO and it will be positive in the second half. And as we grow the business and as from the topline, that's going to flow right down through to AFFO growth.

因此，我對我們的現狀感到非常滿意，並期待 AFFO 的成長，下半年將是積極的。隨著我們業務的成長，從營收來看，這將直接影響 AFFO 的成長。

Daniel Osley, Wells Fargo.

丹尼爾‧奧斯利，富國銀行。

Thank you. Maybe as a question or maybe as a follow up on the national ads question, as you mentioned, Scott, you've made some really great strides in the airports segment on national and much has come from new advertisers. So have you been able to use airports as a way to pull in new advertisers on your billboard inventory in America?

謝謝。也許作為一個問題，或者作為全國廣告問題的後續問題，正如您所提到的，斯科特，您在全國機場領域取得了一些真正的巨大進步，其中許多來自新廣告商。那麼，您是否能夠利用機場作為在美國廣告看板庫存中吸引新廣告商的一種方式？

So we have done some with that. But from the advertiser perspective, the proposition in an airport is pretty different from roadside. And so we have not had a lot of success cross-selling airports to roadside. We've had more success selling roadside to airports, generally by expanding buys and spreading things out. There have been examples of where we've done that.

所以我們已經做了一些這方面的工作。但從廣告商的角度來看，機場的主張與路邊的主張大不相同。因此，我們在機場和路邊的交叉銷售方面還沒有取得很大的成功。我們在路邊向機場銷售方面取得了更大的成功，通常是透過擴大購買和分散銷售來實現的。我們已經有這樣做的例子。

But a lot of our airport advertisers are very focused on the airport audience. And so it doesn't translate into roadside that well. Whereas with a lot of our roadside audience buyers, they're looking at a broader audience and the airports gives them a somewhat narrower. It's a little bit of an easier cross-sell, if that makes sense.

但我們的許多機場廣告商都非常關注機場受眾。所以它並不能很好地轉化為路邊。然而，對於我們的許多路邊觀眾買家來說，他們關注的是更廣泛的觀眾，而機場給他們的觀眾範圍則稍窄。如果這有意義的話，交叉銷售會比較容易。

That's helpful. And then maybe as a quick follow-up, in the past, you've mentioned commitment cancellations as a leading indicator of an advertising downturn. So have you started to see an uptick here in how have your most recent conversation with advertisers trended?

這很有幫助。然後，也許作為一個快速的後續行動，您過去曾提到承諾取消是廣告低迷的主要指標。那麼，您是否開始看到您最近與廣告商的對話趨勢上升？

Thank you for raising that one, Daniel. It's a really, really important point. We are not seeing a bunch of cancellations. And the sense that we get talking with our partners in agencies, as well as with advertisers, is that we're going to see a pretty decent ad market in the second half this year. We do have this little election thing going on that is likely to crowd out some TV advertisers, which is going to create opportunity for us.

謝謝你養育這個孩子，丹尼爾。這是非常非常重要的一點。我們沒有看到大量取消。我們與代理商合作夥伴以及廣告商交談的感覺是，我們將在今年下半年看到一個相當不錯的廣告市場。我們確實正在進行這樣的選舉小事，這可能會排擠一些電視廣告商，這將為我們創造機會。

And we have been working diligently on getting with the campaigns and getting with the different national committees to try to educate them on what's possible with our digital assets. So stay tuned for how that impacts thing. I'm not saying it's going to be a big number for us, but I think that backdrop is something that is a positive for the ad market in the second half.

我們一直在努力進行這些活動，並與不同的國家委員會合作，試圖讓他們了解我們的數位資產的可能性。因此，請繼續關注這將如何影響事情。我並不是說這對我們來說會是一個很大的數字，但我認為這種背景對下半年的廣告市場來說是正面的。

Avi Steiner, JPMorgan.

阿維‧史坦納，摩根大通。

Thank you, and good morning. I've got a couple here. Scott, good to hear trends are improving in the Americas. I just wanted a quick clarification. Was that a comment specific to national or the segment overall? And then relatedly, you just talked about political and the crowd out benefits, but I'm wondering about political itself if you could talk about what that might mean for your boards in the Americas, and then I've got a couple of follow-ups. Thank you.

謝謝你，早安。我這裡有一對。斯科特，很高興聽到美洲的趨勢正在改善。我只是想快速澄清一下。這是針對全國還是整個細分市場的評論？與此相關的是，你剛剛談到了政治和擠出好處，但我想知道政治本身，如果你能談談這對你在美洲的董事會意味著什麼，然後我有一些後續- UPS。謝謝。

Yeah, so my comment is just for advertising in general, that for out-of-home in general, I think the campaign spending that's going on will be a positive because of the crowd out factor, as well as possibly picking up some local races, and maybe we can even get a little bit of national money.

是的，所以我的評論只是針對一般廣告，對於一般戶外廣告，我認為由於排擠因素以及可能參加一些當地比賽，正在進行的競選支出將是積極的，也許我們還能拿到一點國家的錢。

In terms of forecasting for you what the spend is going to be, I think even if we're successful getting some of that national money, it's not going to be transformative for us. The way that these campaigns work is you have to see somebody get elected because of some ad schema, for that ad schema to become the preferred ad schema. And we haven't had that advertiser, and I don't believe either of the principles this year are likely to be that player. I think we may see quite a war on TikTok, but that's a whole other area of speculation.

在為您預測支出方面，我認為即使我們成功獲得了一些國家資金，這也不會對我們產生改變。這些活動的運作方式是，您必須看到某人因某些廣告架構而當選，才能使該廣告架構成為首選廣告架構。我們還沒有那個廣告商，我不相信今年的任何一個原則都可能是那個玩家。我認為我們可能會看到 TikTok 上發生一場激烈的戰爭，但這完全是另一個猜測領域。

But I do think that we have gotten some traction as we've worked with the political operatives and educating them on what's possible with digital. So I think the way to think about this election cycle for us is that maybe we can get some nice trial, and maybe we can help swing a couple swing states for someone. And in 2028, we'll be having a more optimistic discussion about how much money is going to come flowing in.

但我確實認為，我們已經獲得了一些關注，因為我們與政治人員合作，教育他們數位科技的可能性。因此，我認為對我們來說，思考這個選舉週期的方法是，也許我們可以得到一些不錯的試驗，也許我們可以幫助某人搖擺幾個搖擺州。到 2028 年，我們將對將流入多少資金進行更樂觀的討論。

Okay. I appreciate that. And then, not to get too in the weeds here, but I think you highlighted credit losses, specific reserves for certain customers in the Americas. I'm just wondering if you can find a little color there in terms of how we should think about that at that one time, et cetera.

好的。我很欣賞這一點。然後，不要在這裡太糾結，但我認為你強調了信貸損失，以及美洲某些客戶的特定準備金。我只是想知道你是否能在那裡找到一點顏色，說明我們當時應該如何思考這個問題，等等。

Yeah, I can take that, Avi. Good morning. I mean, from a credit loss, I mean, that's just going to happen as part of the business. If you kind of look at the history, I mean, if you look at Q3 of last year, we actually had, upside from credit loss where the collections came in later.

是的，我可以接受，阿維。早安.我的意思是，由於信用損失，我的意思是，這將作為業務的一部分發生。如果你看看歷史，我的意思是，如果你看看去年第三季度，我們實際上從信貸損失中獲得了好處，因為收款後來才出現。

I mean, overall, as a company, I think we do a really nice job of collecting cash. The team does a good job, but on time, you're going to have credit losses here and there that are going to pop up. And we had one pop up in Q2 of this year, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about or any kind of trends there.

我的意思是，總的來說，作為一家公司，我認為我們在收集現金方面做得非常好。團隊做得很好，但隨著時間的推移，你會到處出現信用損失。我們在今年第二季突然出現了一個，但我認為這沒有什麼值得擔心的，也沒有任何趨勢。

Terrific. And if I can end it on this, and Scott, I'm sure you're not excited for this question. But just on the strategic review for Europe-North, I think you reiterated the negotiations are ongoing. And I'm just curious if the healthy results in that segment is a complicating factor or a factor at all in any way in terms of how that might be progressing. And thank you all for the time.

了不起。如果我能就此結束，史考特，我相信你對這個問題不會感到興奮。但就歐洲北部的戰略審查而言，我認為您重申了談判正在進行中。我只是好奇該領域的健康結果是否是一個複雜的因素，或者是一個影響進展的因素。感謝大家抽出時間。

Thanks, Avi. I'd be lying to you if I didn't expect some questions on Europe-North. So thanks for opening the floodgates on that one, I'm sure. Look, I think that I would much rather sell a business that is performing than a business that is struggling.

謝謝，阿維。如果我沒有預料到會有一些關於歐洲北部的問題，那我就是在騙你。所以我確信，感謝您打開了這一閘門。聽著，我認為我寧願出售一家表現良好的企業，而不是出售一家陷入困境的企業。

So I feel really good about the performance of Europe-North and I don't think that is a factor except to the degree that it will give us conviction that, we need a fair value for the asset. We're not going to be super cute and try to squeeze every last nickel. I think our behavior on our transactions to date have been pretty consistent on that, that we have struck a balance of pragmatism and fair value.

因此，我對歐洲北部的表現感到非常滿意，我認為這不是一個因素，除非它讓我們相信，我們需要資產的公允價值。我們不會表現得超級可愛，並試圖榨乾最後一分錢。我認為迄今為止我們的交易行為在這一點上非常一致，我們已經在實用主義和公允價值之間取得了平衡。

But it just strikes us that, having Europe-North performing as well as it does, I do not think is a complicating factor. I think the fact that the business is a complicated business is why this, it always takes longer than you hope in working your way through things because there's just a lot of moving pieces in a business as big and as complicated as it is.

但令我們震驚的是，歐洲北部的表現如此出色，我認為這並不是一個複雜的因素。我認為這個行業是一個複雜的行業，這就是為什麼它總是比你希望的要花更長的時間來解決問題，因為在一個如此龐大和複雜的企業中，有很多移動的部分。

And so I think that is the answer to your underlying question of, why is this taking so darn long? That's really what the driver of it is. There's a lot of moving parts and a buyer needs to get comfortable with all of those underlying parts.

所以我認為這就是你根本問題的答案：為什麼要花這麼長時間？這確實是它的驅動力。有很多移動部件，買家需要熟悉所有這些底層部件。

Lance Vitanza, TD Cowen.

蘭斯·維坦扎，TD·考恩。

Thanks, guys. On the airport side, I wanted to return to this topic of the new ad customers. I think that's really important. Was that new advertisers that you're seeing at airports in existing verticals or were these new advertisers in new verticals?

謝謝，夥計們。在機場方面，我想回到新廣告客戶這個主題。我認為這非常重要。您在機場看到的新廣告商是現有垂直領域的新廣告商還是新垂直領域的新廣告商？

And then, either way, do you have a sense for how the new advertisers are feeling about the efficacy of their spend? Are they pleased? Have they given you feedback? Are they likely to continue, or at this point, could they potentially be just sort of in and out of the medium? Thanks.

然後，無論哪種方式，您是否了解新廣告商對其支出效果的感受？他們高興嗎？他們給你回饋了嗎？他們是否有可能繼續下去，或者在這一點上，他們是否有可能只是進出媒體？謝謝。

There's a lot going on there, Lance. So, first and foremost, there is always a danger with an advertiser that they're going to be in and out. A lot of the reasons that people advertise are ephemeral. It's a product launch. It's expansion into a new geography. There are -- I think that tells the story of what's gone on with our national business for a bunch of years in terms of, things ebbing and flowing.

那裡發生了很多事情，蘭斯。因此，首先也是最重要的一點是，廣告主始終面臨進進出出的危險。人們做廣告的許多原因都是短暫的。這是一次產品發表會。它正在擴展到新的地理區域。我認為這講述了多年來我們的國家商業在潮起潮落方面所發生的事情。

So the last thing I would want to represent here is that once we get a customer, they're a customer for life. Of course, we'd prefer that to be the case, but that's not what typically, it's not typically how it plays out.

因此，我想在這裡表示的最後一件事是，一旦我們獲得了客戶，他們就是終身客戶。當然，我們希望情況如此，但這不是通常的情況，也不是通常的結果。

I'd say the growth has been a healthy mix of people going deeper within verticals that already were in airports, things like technology or things like education and things related to like universities, things like that, and healthcare facilities. The healthcare is probably even one that straddles a little bit. I think we've done a really good job developing that vertical. They probably did some advertising in airports five years ago, but they're much more commonly in.

我想說的是，這種成長是人們在機場、技術或教育等垂直領域以及與大學等相關領域和醫療機構等相關領域深入研究的健康組合。醫療保健甚至可能是一個有點跨界的領域。我認為我們在垂直領域的開發方面做得非常好。五年前他們可能在機場做過一些廣告，但現在更常見。

So it's been a mix and it's been a conscious effort. The team has been very focused on targeting verticals that they think are good fits, and they've done a nice job of leveraging the environment we're in where travel is so popular that it's been just a really terrific business development story, the teams to be congratulated for that.

所以這是一種混合，也是一種有意識的努力。團隊一直非常專注於他們認為適合的垂直市場，並且他們很好地利用了我們所處的環境，在該環境中，旅行如此受歡迎，這只是一個非常出色的業務發展故事，團隊對此表示祝賀。

And it looks like margin hung in pretty well at 22%. I want to say you've been guiding toward lower margins, below 20%, or at least over time. And could you talk about the drivers and maybe the cadence of any expected ramp down to lower margins at airports that you're thinking about these days?

看起來利潤率穩定在 22%。我想說的是，你們一直在引導利潤率降低，低於 20%，或至少隨著時間的推移。您能否談談驅動因素，以及您最近正在考慮的機場利潤率下降的預期節奏？

Well, I'm going to make one wise crack and then I'm going to handed to Dave. Lance, I think I'm going to invite you to our budget sessions because I've been noticing that the margins have been hanging tough for some time too, but I'll let Dave give a more fact-based answer.

好吧，我要明智地一擊，然後把球交給戴夫。蘭斯，我想我會邀請你參加我們的預算會議，因為我注意到利潤率也已經持續一段時間了，但我會讓戴夫給出一個更基於事實的答案。

I mean look at the end of the day, airports, the businesses perform very, very strong as everyone knows over the last 12 months, 15 months and when you have revenue growth in the first quarter, we are close to 40% and margins were up, and we have obviously the rent abatements has kind of been a tailwind to us. That revenue growth has continued so with revenue growth at 20% and we had less rent abatements.

我的意思是，歸根結底，機場和企業的表現非常非常強勁，眾所周知，在過去 12 個月、15 個月裡，當第一季的收入成長時，我們接近 40%，利潤率顯然，租金減免對我們來說是一種順風。收入持續成長，收入成長了 20%，而且我們的租金減免也較少。

So if you look at our margins last year in Q2 versus this year, they were actually higher last year because there were more abatements. But if that trend continues look from a business standpoint that topline is going to drive the margin so as we move forward, we continue seeing the expansion on the topline that the margins are you're going to hit over 20%.

因此，如果你看一下我們去年第二季與今年的利潤率，你會發現去年的利潤率實際上更高，因為削減了更多。但如果這種趨勢持續下去，從業務角度來看，營收將推動利潤率成長，因此，隨著我們前進，我們將繼續看到營收擴張，利潤率將達到 20% 以上。

I'd say the airports team has done a great job just being as efficient as possible. They have not added a lot of resources as we've grown that topline, so they've done a really good job there. We will put some investment into the business, but no, I think the margins, I think we're getting to a point where we're going to get over that big teens.

我想說，機場團隊做得非常出色，盡可能有效率。隨著我們營收的成長，他們並沒有增加很多資源，所以他們在這方面做得非常好。我們將在業務上投入一些投資，但不，我認為利潤率，我認為我們已經到了能夠克服那個大十幾歲的地步。

And as I look into the second half, I mean, they'll be, you might get a spike if there are still a few rental abatements that are out there. And that would be a tailwind as well, but we'll see if those come in.

當我展望下半年時，我的意思是，如果仍有一些租金減免，你可能會得到飆升。這也將是一個順風車，但我們會看看這些是否會出現。

David Karnovsky, JP Morgan.

大衛卡諾夫斯基，摩根大通。

Hi, thank you. This is Ted for David. I just wanted to ask a follow-up question on national and how we should be thinking about the improvement in Q3 and the second half. You brought up before political and the crowd artifacts, but presumably there should also be easier comps and improvements in media entertainment. So I just wanted to ask about that.

你好，謝謝。這是大衛的泰德。我只是想問一個關於國家隊的後續問題，以及我們應該如何考慮第三季和下半年的改進。你在政治和人群文物之前就提出過，但想必媒體娛樂方面也應該有更容易的比較和改進。所以我只是想問一下。

And then secondly, could you give an update on San Francisco during Q2? I think going back to Q1 earnings, you said that it was improving, but nowhere near full potential. Thank you.

其次，您能否提供第二季舊金山的最新情況？我認為回到第一季的收益，你說它正在改善，但遠未充分發揮潛力。謝謝。

Great. Thanks, Ted. Yes, so you're definitely right on national that our comp in Q3 is much softer than our comp in Q2 was. So that should be a mitigating factor. I'm not sure if media entertainment is going to be helping us too much. We've talked about this before that we tend to get more movie versus like television within the media entertainment piece.

偉大的。謝謝，泰德。是的，所以你在全國賽上的說法絕對正確，我們第三季的比賽比第二季的比賽要軟得多。所以這應該是緩解因素。我不確定媒體娛樂是否會為我們帶來太多幫助。我們之前已經討論過這一點，我們傾向於在媒體娛樂作品中獲得更多的電影而不是電視。

And the release schedule for Q3 is okay, not great. I think the release schedule starts looking better in Q4. So I'm not sure that media entertainment is going to be a big tailwind, but you're absolutely right that the softer comp is a factor.

第三季的發佈時間表還可以，但不是很好。我認為第四季的發佈時間表開始看起來更好。因此，我不確定媒體娛樂是否會成為一大推動因素，但你認為較軟的競爭是一個因素，這是絕對正確的。

On the Bay Area, your question about San Francisco, I think that our characterization would be very consistent with the Q1 characterization, that it is continuing to improve, but there still is a good way to go before we're celebrating that we've gotten all the way there.

關於灣區，你關於舊金山的問題，我認為我們的描述將與第一季的描述非常一致，它正在持續改善，但在我們慶祝我們已經實現這一目標之前，還有很長的路要走。

I think Dave referenced that Airports had a particularly strong really first half in San Francisco which was great to see that you're seeing the travel aspect really rebound very strongly, traffic is certainly back in the Bay Area anybody who's traveled out there recently recognizes just how crowded the roads are and so forth. And the city itself continues to improve. So I think we're in the right trend line on San Francisco, but I'd be remiss if I characterized as we are all the way back.

我認為戴夫提到，舊金山機場上半年的表現特別強勁，很高興看到旅行方面確實強勁反彈，灣區的交通肯定又回來了，任何最近去過那裡的人都知道道路有多擁擠等等。城市本身也在不斷改善。所以我認為我們在舊金山處於正確的趨勢線，但如果我將其描述為我們一路回來，那我就失職了。

Jim Goss, Barrington Research.

吉姆‧戈斯，巴靈頓研究中心。

Hi. Sorry. I was going to ask about recession concerns that seem to pop up here and there. It's been a long time since we've had an actual recession. I was wondering so far so good, but what risks do you think exist in terms of categories and verticals? Anything else that you think we should be thinking about?

你好。對不起。我本來想問一下似乎時不時出現的經濟衰退擔憂。我們已經有很長一段時間沒有經歷過真正的經濟衰退了。我想知道到目前為止一切順利，但您認為在品類和垂直領域中存在哪些風險？您認為我們還應該考慮什麼？

Thanks, Jim. That's a big question. I am certainly not an economist and I've been pretty consistent in my pushback since March of ‘22 that from what we could see commercially we weren't going off a cliff and I continue to feel that way. Again, our canary in the coal mine in this business are cancellations, and we really have not seen any sort of uptick in that degree.

謝謝，吉姆。這是一個大問題。我當然不是經濟學家，自 2022 年 3 月以來我一直堅持反對意見，即從我們在商業上看到的情況來看，我們並沒有陷入懸崖，而且我仍然有這種感覺。再說一次，我們在煤礦中的金絲雀在這項業務中被取消，我們確實沒有看到這種程度的任何上升。

So any speculation beyond that, I'd be going on without the benefit of economic models and all the things that the people who opine on this have. I think just thinking about the broader topic of risk, anytime you've got a political campaign going on anywhere in the world, it's a double-edged sword at some level because you can have advertisers feel like they don't want to get caught up in the noise of it.

因此，除此之外的任何猜測，我都會在沒有經濟模型和對此發表意見的人擁有的所有東西的情況下繼續下去。我認為只要考慮一下更廣泛的風險主題，無論何時在世界任何地方進行政治競選，這在某種程度上都是一把雙刃劍，因為你可以讓廣告商覺得他們不想被抓住在它的喧囂中。

I probably absent the events of the last five weeks, where you've had a change in the tone on one of the sides of the divide, I think my view of risk of that dynamic was worse before the change in candidate that happened. I think the change in candidate that happened has caused some of the chance that we were going to have a bunch of brands say, I don't want to be part of this election to diminish.

我可能缺席了過去五週發生的事件，在這些事件中，分歧一方的基調發生了變化，我認為在候選人發生變化之前，我對這種動態風險的看法更糟。我認為候選人的變化導致了一些品牌表示「我不想參加這次選舉」的機會減少。

But I am really speculating on that one, Jim, but we see elections all over the world. Part of the softness we had in LATAM in Q2 was because of the Mexican election. You had in the run-up to the Mexican election, there were a lot of candidates killed, and you had a lot of advertisers just pull their campaigns for kind of the six weeks before and four weeks after the election cycle.

但我確實在猜測這一點，吉姆，但我們看到世界各地都有選舉。第二季拉丁美洲市場疲軟的部分原因是墨西哥大選。在墨西哥大選前夕，有很多候選人被殺，很多廣告商只是在選舉週期前的六週和選舉週期後的四個星期內停止了他們的競選活動。

I don't think we're going to see anything like that here. But if you're an advertiser, it's something you have to factor in. I think in the world that we live in right now, the risk that comes from escalation in the Middle East or things breaking in a bad direction in Ukraine are certain factors that are out there.

我認為我們不會在這裡看到類似的事情。但如果你是廣告商，這是你必須考慮的因素。

But in my dialogues with advertisers, I tend to think that those sort of things are more imponderables that they're going to react to at the time as opposed to preemptively behave on the sort of vibe of an election is one that they're more likely to hunker down around. And all of this comes back to how are the P&Ls looking at the businesses being advertised.

但在我與廣告商的對話中，我傾向於認為，這些事情是他們當時會做出的反應，而不是先發製人，他們更傾向於在選舉的氛圍中做出反應。所有這一切都回到了損益表如何看待所宣傳的企業。

And I think you see in the behavior of the advertisers, for the most part those P&Ls are doing just fine and so I guess all-in, I'm always nervous about being too much of a Pollyanna. But I think all-in, the fundamentals are pretty sound.

我認為你可以從廣告商的行為中看到，在大多數情況下，這些損益表都做得很好，所以我想總而言之，我總是擔心自己過於盲目樂觀。但我認為總而言之，基本面相當健全。

Okay, and maybe have you noticed any changes of note in any of your business areas in the larger and smaller markets from whatever shifts in to work from home and remote to access may have taken place over the past years. We haven't really fully gone back to the way things were pre- pandemic? Has it affected your business in any way to the good or bad?

好吧，也許您是否注意到過去幾年中無論大小市場中的任何業務領域都發生了從在家工作、遠端工作到訪問工作的任何顯著變化。我們還沒有真正完全回到疫情前的狀態嗎？它對您的業務有好的還是壞的影響嗎？

Jim, it's a great question and it's one that as a leader of business I spend a lot of time thinking about how we deal with our employees on this dimension, and you're right that the world has not gone back to what it was in 2019.

吉姆，這是一個很好的問題，作為一名企業領導者，我花了很多時間思考我們如何在這個維度上與員工打交道，你是對的，世界還沒有回到原來的樣子2019.

I think the things I'd characterize since we are predominantly an airport and roadside business, and that's true really globally. We have a few transit contracts around the world, underground transit that is, but I look at traffic around the world, and traffic around the world is not like diminished from where it was in 2019.

我認為我所描述的事情是因為我們主要是機場和路邊業務，這在全球範圍內都是如此。我們在世界各地簽訂了一些交通合同，即地下交通，但我觀察了世界各地的交通情況，發現世界各地的交通量與 2019 年相比並沒有減少。

On the contrary, I think it's up in almost everywhere, certainly in the vast majority of the markets that we're in. Traffic has increased, the audience has increased, therefore the value of our roadside assets has gone up, and obviously airports have come back with a vengeance, and those assets have proven to be quite valuable.

相反，我認為幾乎所有地方都在上漲，尤其是我們所在的絕大多數市場。 ，事實證明這些資產非常有價值。

So from our perspective, work from home is not crushing our audience because our audience is still out driving around, doing things in their personal lives as well as their commute. They might be on the road at different hours, but they're still on the road a lot, so I think that would be how I'd characterize that, Jim.

因此，從我們的角度來看，在家工作並沒有壓垮我們的觀眾，因為我們的觀眾仍然在外面開車，在個人生活和通勤中做一些事情。他們可能在不同的時間在路上，但他們仍然經常在路上，所以我想這就是我的描述，吉姆。

Okay, and last thing just to pile on a little bit in the Europe-North area, has interest in the Europe-North properties picked up given the good results you've been experiencing and or pricing expectations for those properties?

好的，最後一點是在歐洲北部地區，考慮到您所經歷的良好業績和/或對這些房產的定價預期，對歐洲北部房產的興趣是否增加？

So I'm definitely not going to comment on pricing expectations other than just say that we're committed to getting a fair value. I'd tell you that the interest -- look, our team cast an extremely wide net, so we have had a pretty broad-based set of interest for a fairly long time, with pockets of that interest spiking over that time, as we've gotten into dialogues. It is a business that is complicated.

因此，我絕對不會評論定價預期，只會說我們致力於獲得公平的價值。我想告訴你，我們的團隊撒了一張非常廣泛的網，所以在相當長的一段時間內，我們已經有了相當廣泛的興趣，隨著我們的發展，這種興趣在這段時間內激增。這是一項複雜的業務。

And so as people learn more about it, they ask different questions. And the fact that it's continuing to perform, I think, is all a positive for it. So I wouldn't tell you that we have had ebbing and flowing of particular interest from particular parties, but we've known who the parties were for a long time. I guess that's the way I'd characterize that.

因此，隨著人們了解更多，他們會提出不同的問題。我認為，它的持續表現對它來說是積極的。所以我不會告訴你，我們對特定政黨的興趣有起有落，但我們很久以來都知道這些政黨是誰。我想這就是我的描述方式。

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to hand the floor back over to Scott Wells for any closing comments.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。我想將發言權交還給斯科特威爾斯（Scott Wells）以徵求結束語。

Right. Thank you very much, Paul. And thank you all for joining us today.

正確的。非常感謝你，保羅。感謝大家今天加入我們。

I think in light of the recent stock market volatility, it is worth me putting a pin in what we were just talking about with Jim, which is that we believe the fundamental drivers of demand for our assets are very sound. And that we are very encouraged by the progress that we're making driving our business. So as we head into the second half, it is with an upbeat tempo and a sense that good things are lying ahead.

我認為鑑於最近的股市波動，值得我強調我們剛剛與吉姆談論的內容，那就是我們相信我們資產需求的基本驅動因素非常健全。我們對推動業務的進展感到非常鼓舞。因此，當我們進入下半場時，節奏是樂觀的，並且有一種美好的事情在前方的感覺。

So again, thank you all, and we'll speak soon.

再次感謝大家，我們很快就會再談。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。