Choice Hotels International Inc (CHH) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Choice Hotels International's Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) I will now turn the conference over to Allie Summers, Investor Relations Senior Director for Choice Hotels.

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。歡迎參加精品國際飯店集團 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）我現在將會議轉交給精選酒店投資者關係高級總監艾莉·薩默斯 (Allie Summers)。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, we would like to remind you that during this conference call, certain predictive or forward-looking statements will be used to assist you in understanding the company and its results. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, and you should consult the company's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other SEC filings for information about important risk factors affecting the company that you should consider.

早安，感謝您今天加入我們。在開始之前，我們想提醒您，在本次電話會議中，某些預測性或前瞻性陳述將用於幫助您了解本公司及其業績。實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中所示的結果有重大差異，您應該查閱該公司的 10-Q、10-K 表格和其他 SEC 文件，以了解您應該考慮的影響公司的重要風險因素的資訊。

These forward-looking statements speak as of today's date, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. You can find a reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures referred to in our remarks as part of our fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings press release, which is posted on our website at choicehotels.com under the Investor Relations section.

這些前瞻性聲明截至今天為止，我們沒有義務公開更新它們以反映隨後的事件或情況。您可以在我們的評論中找到我們的非 GAAP 財務指標的調整表，作為我們第四季度和 2023 年全年收益新聞稿的一部分，該新聞稿發佈在我們網站 choicehotels.com 的投資者關係部分。

This morning, Pat Pacious, our President and Chief Executive Officer, will speak to our fourth quarter operating results and full-year highlights; while Scott Oaksmith, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss our financial performance and 2024 outlook. Joining us also today for the Q&A portion of the call is Dom Dragisich, Executive Vice President, Operations and Chief Global Brand Officer.

今天早上，我們的總裁兼執行長 Pat Pacious 將談論我們第四季度的營運業績和全年亮點；財務長 Scott Oaksmith 將討論我們的財務表現和 2024 年展望。今天，營運執行副總裁兼首席全球品牌長 Dom Dragisich 也參加了我們電話會議的問答部分。

Following our prepared remarks, we'll be glad to answer your questions. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Pat.

在我們準備好的發言之後，我們很樂意回答您的問題。然後，我會將電話轉給帕特。

Thank you, Allie, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you taking the time to join us. 2023 was a year of accelerating growth. We delivered record financial performance as we exceeded the top end of our guidance with a 13% year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA to $540.5 million, a 16% year-over-year increase in adjusted EPS to $6.11, and unit growth ahead of our expectations, led by our successful strategy of adding hotels that generate higher royalties per unit.

謝謝你，艾莉，大家早安。我們感謝您抽空加入我們。 2023年是加速成長的一年。我們實現了創紀錄的財務業績，超出了指導上限，調整後 EBITDA 同比增長 13% 至 5.405 億美元，調整後每股收益同比增長 16% 至 6.11 美元，單位數量增長強勁我們成功的策略是增加每單位產生更高特許權使用費的酒店，從而達到了我們的預期。

In 2023, we significantly expanded our rewards program, increased our geographic reach, unlocked new value through our platform capabilities, and created step function growth through the rapid completion of the Radisson Americas integration. This positive momentum, combined with projected unit growth acceleration and supported by our superior hotel conversion capability, gives us confidence in achieving our expected adjusted EBITDA growth of 10% in 2024, which is captured in our current guidance range.

2023 年，我們大幅擴展了獎勵計劃，擴大了地理覆蓋範圍，透過我們的平台功能釋放了新價值，並透過快速完成麗笙美洲酒店整合實現了階梯式功能成長。這種積極的勢頭，加上預計的單位增長加速，以及我們卓越的酒店轉換能力的支持，使我們有信心在 2024 年實現預期的調整後 EBITDA 增長 10%，這在我們當前的指導範圍內。

I will begin today by discussing what drove our impressive fourth quarter and full year 2023 results and then discuss our proposal to acquire Wyndham Hotels & Resorts because it is the growth drivers of our current business that underpin the confidence we have in our ability to unlock the significant value for shareholders, franchisees and guests that we see in the combination with Wyndham. Our distinct growth strategy, supported by our best-in-class franchising business engine, drove adjusted full year 2023 EBITDA 13% higher than the prior year and 45% higher than in 2019. This continues our consistent track record of delivering double-digit profitability growth year after year.

今天，我將首先討論是什麼推動了我們令人印象深刻的第四季度和2023 年全年業績，然後討論我們收購溫德姆酒店及度假村的提議，因為這是我們當前業務的增長動力，支撐著我們對釋放潛力的信心。我們在與溫德姆的合併中看到了為股東、特許經營商和客人帶來的巨大價值。我們獨特的成長策略，在一流的特許經營業務引擎的支持下，推動2023 年全年調整後EBITDA 比上一年高出13%，比2019 年高出45%。這延續了我們實現兩位數獲利能力的一貫記錄年復一年的成長。

We have positioned the company to build on this performance in 2024 and beyond as we continue to grow our franchise business with hotels that generate higher royalties per unit while leveraging the investments we've made in our systems to further improve the franchisees' profitability. In line with our previously communicated outlook, we expect to grow our full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA to $590 million at the midpoint of the guidance range. Choice's strong growth is fueled by the successful execution of our key strategies, which demonstrate the versatility of our business model. We have multiple growth drivers each uniquely contributing to our performance.

我們預計公司將在2024 年及以後繼續發展我們的特許經營業務，與每單位產生更高特許權使用費的酒店一起發展我們的特許經營業務，同時利用我們在系統中進行的投資進一步提高特許經營商的盈利能力。根據我們先前傳達的展望，我們預計將 2024 年全年調整後 EBITDA 成長至 5.9 億美元，處於指導範圍的中點。 Choice 的強勁成長得益於我們關鍵策略的成功執行，證明了我們業務模式的多功能性。我們有多種成長動力，每一種都對我們的業績做出獨特的貢獻。

These include the following: first, driving the growth of our brand portfolio with a focus on hotels that generate higher than brand average royalties per unit; second, increasing the velocity of hotel openings through our best-in-class hotel conversion capability, which is our distinct advantage in today's development environment; third, expanding our geographic growth internationally, where we more than doubled our EBITDA contribution for the year; fourth, further bolstering our platform capabilities through strategic partnerships and other ancillary revenue opportunities; and finally, creating outsized value through the successful integration of new businesses, most recently, Radisson Americas.

其中包括：首先，推動我們品牌組合的成長，重點關注每單位產生高於品牌平均特許權使用費的酒店；第二，透過我們一流的酒店改造能力來提高酒店開業速度，這是我們在當今發展環境下的獨特優勢；第三，擴大我們在國際上的地域成長，今年我們的 EBITDA 貢獻增加了一倍以上；第四，透過策略夥伴關係和其他輔助收入機會進一步增強我們的平台能力；最後，透過成功整合新業務（最近的麗笙美洲酒店）創造了巨大的價值。

Our distinct unit growth strategy continues to deliver results and enhance the attractiveness of our brands. Since we embarked on our strategy of focusing our franchise business on more revenue-intense units 6 years ago, we have increased our hotel mix of higher revenue-generating hotels by 8 percentage points, and they now comprise 82% of our total domestic portfolio. Importantly, we expect this mix shift to continue to grow in the coming years. These new revenue-intense franchises are more accretive to our earnings and are a key driver of our future growth.

我們獨特的單位成長策略持續取得成果並增強我們品牌的吸引力。自 6 年前我們開始實施將特許經營業務集中於收入密集型單位的策略以來，我們已將創收較高的酒店組合增加了 8 個百分點，目前它們占我們國內投資組合總額的 82%。重要的是，我們預計這種混合轉變將在未來幾年繼續成長。這些新的收入密集型特許經營權更能增加我們的收入，是我們未來成長的關鍵驅動力。

This positive trend was evident in 2023 as we exceeded our unit growth guidance. In particular, we grew the number of Choice legacy domestic rooms across these more revenue-intense brands by 2.4% year-over-year. Importantly, the new hotels we added within a brand, on average, generated royalty revenue nearly 20% higher than hotels exiting the brand. At the same time, we executed new hotel openings at an impressive pace. In the fourth quarter, we averaged 8 openings per week, and this contributed to a 13% increase in openings in 2023 year-over-year, with 263 domestic hotel openings.

隨著我們超越了單位成長指導，這種正向趨勢在 2023 年更加明顯。特別是，這些收入密集型品牌的精選傳統國內客房數量同比增長了 2.4%。重要的是，我們在品牌內新增的飯店平均產生的特許權使用費收入比退出該品牌的飯店高出近 20%。同時，我們以驚人的速度開設新酒店。第四季度，我們平均每週開業 8 家，這使得 2023 年國內酒店開業數量年增 13%，達到 263 家。

In the current hotel development environment, our core competency of a best-in-class hotel conversion capability has an even greater impact. Through our superior speed-to-market conversion process and best-in-class franchisee support, we are able to move projects quickly through the pipeline. Of all the domestic franchise agreements we executed for conversion hotels in 2023, we opened 135 in the same year. We also expect this core competency to be a key growth driver in 2024 as developers continue to choose our brands. Specifically, as of the end of the fourth quarter, we grew our global rooms pipeline for conversion hotels by 34% year-over-year and 16% quarter-over-quarter.

在目前的飯店發展環境下，我們的核心競爭力－一流的飯店轉換能力具有更大的影響力。透過我們卓越的上市速度轉換流程和一流的特許經營商支持，我們能夠快速推進專案。在我們於 2023 年為改建飯店簽署的所有國內特許經營協議中，我們於同年開設了 135 家。我們也預計，隨著開發商繼續選擇我們的品牌，這項核心能力將成為 2024 年的關鍵成長動力。具體來說，截至第四季末，我們的全球轉換飯店客房數量年增 34%，較上季成長 16%。

In addition, 72% of the domestic agreements awarded in 2023 were 4 conversion hotels. We are especially pleased with the prospects for our Radisson upscale conversion brand, given that each hotel generates, on average, 6x more royalty revenue than our economy portfolio. Fueling our success is our ongoing commitment to strengthening the value proposition we provide to our franchise owners, supported by significant investments in creating a best-in-class franchisee success system. In fact, over the past decade, we have more than tripled the number of rewards program members and grew the direct online contribution to our franchisees by nearly 50%.

此外，2023 年授予的國內協議中 72% 是 4 家改建飯店。我們對麗笙高檔轉型品牌的前景感到特別滿意，因為平均每家酒店的特許權使用費收入是我們經濟型酒店組合的 6 倍。我們不斷致力於加強為特許經營商提供的價值主張，並透過大力投資創建一流的特許經營商成功系統來推動我們的成功。事實上，在過去十年中，我們的獎勵計劃會員數量增加了兩倍多，並且對特許經營商的直接線上貢獻增加了近 50%。

Thanks to our portfolio being more attractive, in 2023 alone, we organically grew our rewards program by 9% and increased new enrollments by 24% year-over-year. And those growth numbers are exclusive of the Radisson Americas rewards program integration. Additionally, with our broader portfolio of hotels, we are strengthening our existing strategic partnerships. For example, we became the first AAA preferred hotel supplier that has been added in a decade, which widened our distribution network to deliver more business to franchisees. This partnership is particularly attractive, given that AAA's 64 million members account for 31% of paid room nights annually across all hotel chains in North America.

由於我們的產品組合更具吸引力，僅在 2023 年，我們的獎勵計劃就有機增長了 9%，新註冊人數同比增加了 24%。這些成長數字不包括麗笙美洲獎勵計劃整合。此外，憑藉更廣泛的酒店組合，我們正在加強現有的策略合作夥伴關係。例如，我們成為十年來第一家 AAA 級首選飯店供應商，這擴大了我們的分銷網絡，為加盟商帶來更多業務。鑑於 AAA 的 6,400 萬會員每年佔北美所有連鎖飯店付費間夜數的 31%，這種合作關係尤其有吸引力。

Existing owners recognize the increasing value of our brands and choose to remain with Choice as seen in our industry-leading voluntary franchisee retention rate of 98%. Our franchisees also continue to choose to grow their business with Choice Hotels as half of the franchise agreements awarded last year were with existing or returning owners. Furthermore, our brand equity is elevating. 2023 was a year where J.D. Power ranked 2 of our fastest-growing new construction brands, #1 in guest satisfaction: Cambria Hotels in the upscale category and WoodSpring Suites in the economy extended-stay category. Additionally, this past year, we successfully improved our guest satisfaction scores while our franchisees continue to leverage our best-in-class training tools and solutions to deliver exceptional guest experiences.

現有所有者認識到我們品牌的價值不斷增加，並選擇繼續選擇 Choice，我們行業領先的自願加盟商保留率高達 98%。我們的特許經營商也繼續選擇與精品國際酒店集團合作發展業務，因為去年授予的特許經營協議中有一半是與現有或回歸的業主簽訂的。此外，我們的品牌資產正在提升。 2023 年，J.D. Power 將我們發展最快的 2 個新建品牌排名第一，在賓客滿意度方面排名第一：高檔類別的坎布里亞酒店和經濟型長住類別的伍德斯普林套房酒店。此外，在過去的一年裡，我們成功提高了賓客滿意度，而我們的加盟商則繼續利用我們一流的培訓工具和解決方案來提供卓越的賓客體驗。

Turning now to our international business. 2023 was one of Choice's most successful years for international development as the company expanded its global footprint across multiple markets. In the Scandinavian region, Choice extended its master franchise agreement with one of the largest hotel companies for an additional 10-year term. In Spain, we secured a distribution partnership with a leading hotel chain. In France, we signed an agreement that will double Choice's unit footprint in the region. And in Australia, we acquired the franchise rights for a fellow pure-play franchiser. We believe we have a significant opportunity to further gain international market share and realize additional EBITDA growth in the coming years.

現在轉向我們的國際業務。 2023 年是 Choice 國際發展最成功的年份之一，該公司在多個市場擴大了其全球足跡。在斯堪的納維亞地區，Choice 將其與最大的酒店公司之一的主特許經營協議延長了 10 年。在西班牙，我們與一家領先的連鎖飯店建立了分銷合作夥伴關係。在法國，我們簽署了一項協議，將使 Choice 在該地區的單位足跡增加一倍。在澳大利亞，我們獲得了一家純特許經營商的特許經營權。我們相信，未來幾年我們有機會進一步獲得國際市場份額並實現 EBITDA 的額​​外成長。

Moving on to our platform business. We are very encouraged by the traction we're gaining in our efforts to expand that business and our ancillary revenue growth opportunities. One example we're very pleased with is the new co-brand credit cards. This strategic partnership is a long-term tailwind, given that it drives loyalty to our brands as our rewards members with credit cards stay with us, on average, 4x as often as non-rewards members, and it delivers revenues based on cardholder spend. Since its launch, the co-brand program has exceeded expectations on new account sign-ups and card spend.

繼續我們的平台業務。我們為擴大業務和輔助收入成長機會而獲得的動力感到非常鼓舞。我們非常滿意的一個例子是新的聯名信用卡。這種策略夥伴關係是一種長期的推動力，因為它可以提高我們品牌的忠誠度，因為持信用卡的獎勵會員留在我們的頻率平​​均是非獎勵會員的4 倍，並且它根據持卡人的支出提供收入。自推出以來，聯合品牌計劃在新帳戶註冊和卡片消費方面超出了預期。

The higher quality of our portfolio is resonating not only with current guests but also is starting to attract new guests who have not considered our brands in the past. This evolving customer base gives us the ability to continue to draw more travel and blue-chip national brands as partners, such as our recent partnership with Tesla and GrubHub.

我們更高品質的產品組合不僅引起現有客人的共鳴，而且開始吸引過去沒有考慮過我們品牌的新客人。這種不斷發展的客戶群使我們能夠繼續吸引更多旅遊和藍籌國家品牌作為合作夥伴，例如我們最近與特斯拉和 GrubHub 的合作夥伴關係。

We are very pleased with our successful acquisition of the Radisson Americas brand, which outperformed our underwritten expectations. The seamless and faster-than-anticipated integration process is now complete. In 2023, we meaningfully enhanced the performance of the existing Radisson Americas hotels, which is the first step in any successful integration. Specifically, upon integration of the digital channels through year-end, we drove over a 20% increase in domestic bookings for the Radisson Americas brand year-over-year with particularly strong results for the Country Inn & Suites brand, which grew by over 30%. This growth in direct digital business was driven in part by the higher traffic and booking conversion rates, which in turn had the added benefit of lowering customer acquisition costs for our franchisees.

我們對成功收購美洲麗笙品牌感到非常高興，該品牌的表現超出了我們的承保預期。無縫且比預期更快的整合過程現已完成。 2023 年，我們有意義地提高了現有麗笙美洲酒店的業績，這是任何成功整合的第一步。具體來說，在年底整合數位管道後，我們推動了美洲麗笙酒店品牌的國內預訂量同比增長了 20% 以上，其中鄉村旅館及套房酒店品牌的業績尤其強勁，增長了 30 多% %。直接數位業務的成長部分是由於更高的流量和預訂轉換率推動的，這反過來又帶來了降低我們特許經營商的客戶獲取成本的額外好處。

The significant performance lift since digital integration is already attracting new hotel development commitments. In fact, the 19 domestic franchise agreements awarded for the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson brand in 2023 were the most for that brand in 7 years. And the pace of new development is accelerating as over half of those agreements were executed in December alone. The excitement generated by the Radisson Americas business unit is further underlined by its RevPAR performance. For full year 2023, the Radisson upscale brand RevPAR grew 9% year-over-year, outperforming the STR upscale segment by approximately 2 percentage points and achieving RevPAR index share gains versus competitors.

數位整合以來業績的顯著提升已經吸引了新的酒店開發承諾。事實上，2023 年麗笙鄉村酒店品牌獲得的 19 份國內特許經營協議是該品牌 7 年來最多的。新開發的步伐正在加快，僅在 12 月就有超過一半的協議被執行。 Radisson Americas 業務部門的 RevPAR 表現進一步凸顯了其令人興奮的表現。 2023 年全年，麗笙高檔品牌的 RevPAR 年增 9%，比 STR 高檔品牌高出約 2 個百分點，與競爭對手相比，RevPAR 指數份額有所增長。

At the same time, we've also been able to lower distribution costs for legacy Choice and Radisson Americas franchise owners by negotiating improved terms with a key third-party distribution partner. This has helped lower the overall franchisees' operating costs, which is critical in a time of high labor costs and interest rates. Additionally, thanks to our integration expertise and strategic investments in our state-of-the-art proprietary technologies, we have achieved $85 million in annual recurring synergies, exceeding our original target by over 6%.

同時，我們也透過與主要第三方分銷合作夥伴談判改善條款，降低了原有 Choice 和 Radisson Americas 特許經營商的分銷成本。這有助於降低加盟商的整體營運成本，這在勞動成本和利率高的時期至關重要。此外，憑藉我們的整合專業知識和對最先進專有技術的策略性投資，我們實現了 8,500 萬美元的年度經常性協同效應，超出了我們最初的目標 6% 以上。

We are now moving into the second phase of creating value from the acquisition by growing the Radisson Americas portfolio in the Americas region. Now that our unique and compelling franchisee success model is in place, we are starting to see momentum in franchisee interest across the combined portfolio. As we have discussed, the Radisson Americas acquisition has meaningfully enhanced our growth profile as it created a step function change in the size of our business, expanded our rewards program, extended our co-brand credit card opportunity, increased our geographic reach in the Americas region and opened a new incremental earnings streams. This combination benefits all of our guests by giving them more options across the Choice network and providing them with more incentives through our membership program.

我們現在正進入第二階段，即透過擴大美洲地區的麗笙美洲酒店組合來透過收購創造價值。現在，我們獨特且引人注目的特許經營商成功模式已經就位，我們開始看到特許經營商對整個組合投資組合的興趣的勢頭。正如我們所討論的，收購麗笙美洲酒店顯著增強了我們的成長前景，因為它使我們的業務規模發生了階躍功能變化，擴大了我們的獎勵計劃，擴大了我們的聯合品牌信用卡機會，擴大了我們在美洲的地理覆蓋範圍地區並開闢了新的增量收入來源。這種組合使我們所有的客人受益，為他們在 Choice 網路中提供更多選擇，並透過我們的會員計劃為他們提供更多獎勵。

We now have 64 million Choice Privileges members who book directly with our franchisees, drive more revenue and return more often than nonmembers, which translates to lower customer acquisition costs and higher margins for our franchisees. Additionally, as Radisson Americas hotels start to fully leverage Choice's hotel profitability tools, we anticipate enhanced profitability as these target solutions drive savings of up to 20% on the franchisee level.

我們現在擁有 6,400 萬 Choice Privileges 會員，他們直接向我們的特許經營商預訂，比非會員帶來更多收入和更高的回報，這意味著更低的客戶獲取成本和更高的利潤。此外，隨著Radisson Americas 酒店開始充分利用Choice 的酒店盈利工具，我們預計盈利能力將提高，因為這些目標解決方案可為特許經營商帶來高達20% 的節省。

We believe we have proven our ability to unlock incremental value through the combination that neither would have accomplished on its own. We are confident in our ability to replicate this great achievement with the Wyndham combination, given our expertise and capabilities in acquiring and integrating hotel brands, our demonstrated track record of improving the delivery of direct business to franchisees and our successful strategy of growing our portfolio with hotels that generate higher royalties per unit.

我們相信，我們已經證明了我們有能力透過合併來釋放增量價值，而這兩者單獨都無法實現。鑑於我們在收購和整合酒店品牌方面的專業知識和能力、我們在改善向特許經營商交付直接業務方面的良好記錄以及我們通過與每單位產生更高特許權使用費的酒店。

With regard to our proposal to acquire Wyndham, we remain committed to this compelling pro-competitive combination. At its core, our proposed combination with Wyndham is driven by the natural fit of the 2 companies coming together to accelerate value creation for all stakeholders. It offers a compelling value for Wyndham's shareholders today with an opportunity to meaningfully enhance the combined company's value as we realize synergies and drive additional growth. Importantly, we are confident that we can complete the transaction, given our well-positioned low leverage balance sheet and continued progress on the regulatory front.

關於我們收購溫德姆的提議，我們仍然致力於這種引人注目的有利於競爭的合併。從本質上講，我們與溫德姆擬議的合併是由兩家公司的自然契合推動的，兩家公司將攜手加速為所有利益相關者創造價值。它為當今溫德姆的股東提供了令人信服的價值，並在我們實現協同效應並推動額外成長的同時，有機會有意義地提高合併後公司的價值。重要的是，鑑於我們處於有利地位的低槓桿資產負債表以及監管方面的持續進展，我們有信心完成交易。

For Choice shareholders, our proposal provides significant financial and strategic benefits. Wyndham's shareholders would receive a substantial premium and immediate value for their shares without the execution risk associated with Wyndham's stand-alone strategy. Importantly, the proposal represents a multiple that Wyndham has never achieved absent COVID disruptions. In contrast, Choice historically trades at an attractive level, representing compelling consideration for Wyndham's shareholders. The value we consistently generate for our shareholders is due in part to our strong growth profile and prudent balance sheet management.

對於 Choice 股東來說，我們的提案提供了重大的財務和策略利益。溫德姆的股東將獲得可觀的溢價和其股票的直接價值，而不會產生與溫德姆獨立策略相關的執行風險。重要的是，該提案代表了溫德姆在沒有新冠疫情幹擾的情況下從未實現過的倍數。相較之下，Choice 歷史上的交易水準頗具吸引力，這對溫德姆股東來說是一種令人信服的考量。我們持續為股東創造的價值部分歸功於我們強勁的成長態勢和審慎的資產負債表管理。

The combination of Choice's and Wyndham's asset-light businesses is expected to generate significant cash flow available to rapidly reduce leverage while still investing for growth. Both sets of shareholders would have the opportunity to participate in more than $2 billion of incremental value creation expected from the $150 million in annual run rate synergies that we believe a combined company would unlock. This value would be unlocked by bringing Choice's best-in-class franchisee success model to the Wyndham network.

Choice 和 Wyndham 輕資產業務的合併預計將產生大量現金流，可用於快速降低槓桿率，同時仍投資於成長。雙方股東將有機會參與超過 20 億美元的增量價值創造，我們相信合併後的公司將釋放 1.5 億美元的年運行率綜效。透過將 Choice 一流的特許經營商成功模式引入溫德姆網絡，可以釋放這一價值。

Regarding next steps, we are continuing to progress on the regulatory process as expected. We are confident that we are well positioned for regulatory approval and can complete the transaction in a customary time frame. Over the last 6-plus months, it has become clear that Wyndham's Board is deeply entrenched and unwilling to take the actions that are in the best interest of their shareholders. In fact, their behavior is denying Wyndham's shareholders the opportunity to realize significant value creation while receiving customary protections.

關於下一步，我們將繼續如預期地推進監管流程。我們相信，我們已做好充分準備獲得監管部門的批准，並能夠在慣常的時間內完成交易。在過去的六個多月裡，很明顯，溫德姆董事會根深蒂固，不願意採取符合股東最佳利益的行動。事實上，他們的行為剝奪了溫德姆股東在獲得慣例保護的同時實現重大價值創造的機會。

As a result, we recently nominated a highly qualified slate of independent directors for election at Wyndham's 2024 annual meeting. If elected, these nominees are committed to their fiduciary duties and will act in the best interest of Wyndham's shareholders, which we believe is to move with urgency to maximize the value that can be created through a combined company. We're pleased that we've continued to receive positive feedback from both companies' shareholders who see significant upside potential in this transaction and want to see Wyndham's Board engaged in negotiations.

因此，我們最近提名了一批高素質的獨立董事，供溫德姆 2024 年年會選舉。如果當選，這些被提名人將致力於履行其受託責任，並將以溫德姆股東的最佳利益為出發點，我們認為，這將立即採取行動，以最大限度地提高透過合併後的公司創造的價值。我們很高興繼續收到兩家公司股東的正面回饋，他們認為這筆交易具有巨大的上升潛力，並希望看到溫德姆董事會參與談判。

Importantly, since the beginning, we have continued to see support from our franchisees. Wyndham has mischaracterized franchisee sentiment and who actually represents the franchisees. Our franchisees are represented by their own franchisee associations and advisory councils, and they elect the leaders of these groups to represent them.

重要的是，從一開始，我們就持續得到加盟主的支持。溫德姆錯誤地描述了加盟商的情緒以及真正代表加盟商的人。我們的加盟商由他們自己的加盟商協會和諮詢委員會代表，並選出這些團體的領導人來代表他們。

They know our brands, they know our performance and their feedback is vital to us. Our largest franchisee association, the Choice Hotels Owners Council, which represents over 3,000 Choice Hotels and has been working with Choice for more than 50 years to maximize profitability for hotel owners, recently shared with its members that there are multiple benefits for our existing franchisees to Choice continuing to expand its brand portfolio, that Choice has always been thoughtful in its approach to acquisitions, and that they believe Choice will prioritize franchisee benefits in any future acquisition. And I'm pleased to say that we are in the process of aligning with our franchisee associations on our plan of action, which would ensure that franchisees' needs are continuously prioritized as part of the proposed combination.

他們了解我們的品牌，了解我們的表現，他們的回饋對我們至關重要。我們最大的特許經營商協會，精品國際酒店業主委員會，代表了 3,000 多家精品國際酒店，50 多年來一直與精品國際酒店合作，旨在最大限度地提高酒店業主的盈利能力。Choice 繼續擴大其品牌組合，Choice 在收購方式上始終深思熟慮，並且他們相信Choice 將在未來的任何收購中優先考慮特許經營商的利益。我很高興地說，我們正在與特許經營商協會就我們的行動計劃進行協調，這將確保特許經營商的需求作為擬議合併的一部分不斷得到優先考慮。

We believe a combined company would deliver clear benefits to both Choice and Wyndham franchisees. These include lower hotel operating costs, less reliance on third-party distribution channels and access to Choice's award-winning technology.

我們相信，合併後的公司將為精選和溫德姆特許經營商帶來明顯的好處。其中包括降低酒店營運成本、減少對第三方分銷管道的依賴以及使用 Choice 屢獲殊榮的技術。

Regarding the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, AAHOA, we continue to have good conversations with and have been working with the organization's leaders for many years on a variety of topics aligned with its mission, including industry-related policy and legislative matters.

關於亞裔美國酒店業主協會 (AAHOA)，我們多年來一直與該組織的領導人就與其使命相符的各種主題進行良好的對話和合作，包括行業相關的政策和立法事務。

In closing, we're looking forward to all we could accomplish as a combined company, and at the same time, we remain focused and committed to executing on each of Choice's growth drivers that I have discussed. We are a forward-looking company that takes deliberate actions and is adapting to the evolving industry landscape. The results we achieved in 2023 demonstrate the effectiveness of our growth strategy and confirm that our proactive approach in this changing environment is working. I'll now turn the call over to our CFO. Scott?

最後，我們期待作為一家合併後的公司能夠實現的一切，同時，我們仍然專注於並致力於執行我所討論的 Choice 的每一項成長動力。我們是一家具有前瞻性的公司，採取深思熟慮的行動並適應不斷變化的行業格局。我們在 2023 年取得的成果證明了我們成長策略的有效性，並證實我們在不斷變化的環境中採取的積極主動的方法正在發揮作用。我現在將把電話轉給我們的財務長。史考特？

Thanks, Pat, and good morning, everyone. Today, I will discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2023 results, update you on our balance sheet and capital allocation and provide our outlook for 2024. Throughout my remarks today, I would like to note that all figures are inclusive of the Radisson Americas portfolio and exclude certain one-time items, including Radisson Americas' integration costs as well as transaction pursuit costs which impacted our reported results.

謝謝帕特，大家早安。今天，我將討論我們的2023 年第四季和全年業績，向您介紹我們的資產負債表和資本配置的最新情況，並提供我們對2024 年的展望。在我今天的演講中，我想指出，所有數據均包含麗笙美洲酒店的投資組合併排除某些一次性項目，包括麗笙美洲酒店的整合成本以及影響我們報告結果的交易追求成本。

For full year 2023, a combination of higher-than-expected growth of the Choice legacy portfolio across our more revenue-intense brands and markets, strong effective royalty rate growth, successful integration of the Radisson Americas portfolio and the robust performance of our platform, procurement and international businesses drove full year adjusted EBITDA of $540.5 million, which exceeded our full year guidance. Our full year adjusted EBITDA represents a new record, eclipsing the one set last year, increasing 13% compared to 2022 and growing 45% compared to the same period of 2019, which was our pre-pandemic peak. Even excluding the contribution from Radisson Americas, our full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA grew over 8% on a comparable basis year-over-year.

2023 年全年，收入密集型品牌和市場中 Choice 傳統投資組合的增長高於預期、有效特許權使用費率的強勁增長、Radisson Americas 產品組合的成功整合以及我們平台的強勁表現，採購和國際業務推動全年調整後EBITDA 達到5.405 億美元，超出了我們的全年指引。我們的全年調整後 EBITDA 創造了新紀錄，超過了去年創下的紀錄，與 2022 年相比增長了 13%，與 2019 年同期（疫情前的峰值）相比增長了 45%。即使排除麗笙美洲酒店的貢獻，我們 2023 年全年調整後 EBITDA 年成長超過 8%。

Our full year 2023 adjusted EPS also exceeded our previously issued guidance, reaching $6.11 per share, a 16% increase year-over-year. For the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, our adjusted EBITDA grew 11% to $125 million, and our adjusted EPS increased 14% to $1.44 per share.

我們的 2023 年全年調整後每股收益也超過了先前發布的指導，達到每股 6.11 美元，年增 16%。與 2022 年同期相比，2023 年第四季度，我們調整後的 EBITDA 成長 11%，達到 1.25 億美元，調整後每股盈餘成長 14%，達到每股 1.44 美元。

Let me turn to our key revenue levers, which include our unit growth, royalty rate and RevPAR performance. In terms of unit growth, our strategic goal has been to accelerate quality room growth across more revenue-intense brands and markets while simultaneously growing our effective royalty rates, which ultimately results in an outsized increase in royalties. In addition to our mix shift strategy for the broader portfolio, we are driving more revenue intensity at the individual hotel and brand level across the system. In fact, new hotels we added within a brand generated an average of nearly 20% higher royalty revenue than hotels exiting the brand.

讓我談談我們的主要收入槓桿，其中包括我們的單位成長、特許權使用費率和每間客房收入表現。在單位成長方面，我們的策略目標是在更多收入密集型品牌和市場中加速優質房間的成長，同時提高我們的有效特許權使用費率，最終導致特許權使用費大幅成長。除了我們針對更廣泛的產品組合的混合轉變策略外，我們還在整個系統的單一酒店和品牌層面上推動更高的收入強度。事實上，我們在品牌內新增的新飯店產生的特許權使用費收入比退出品牌的飯店平均高出近 20%。

For full year 2023, we reported domestic unit growth of 1.4% year-over-year across our more revenue-intense, upscale, extended-stay and mid-scale portfolio, which exceeded our guidance. Importantly, our domestic system size of the more revenue-intense brands for the Choice legacy portfolio grew by 1.8% for units and 2.4% for rooms year-over-year. At the same time, our international portfolio increased by 2.6% for units and 2% for rooms year-over-year. We are particularly pleased with our outlook for international growth as our international unit pipeline grew by 33% since the last quarter and more than doubling the number of hotels over the prior year.

2023 年全年，我們報告收入密集、高檔、長期住宿和中型投資組合的國內單位年增 1.4%，超出了我們的預期。重要的是，Choice 傳統投資組合中收入密集型品牌的國內系統規模單位年增 1.8%，客房年增 2.4%。同時，我們的國際公寓組合年增 2.6%，客房年增 2%。我們對國際成長前景感到特別滿意，因為自上季以來，我們的國際飯店數量增加了 33%，飯店數量比前一年增加了一倍以上。

During 2023, we also leveraged our best-in-class conversion capability as we expanded our global rooms pipeline for conversion hotels by 16% since the last quarter and 34% over the prior year. I am pleased to report that our overall global rooms pipeline increased 6% quarter-over-quarter, reaching over 1,030 hotels representing over 105,000 rooms at year-end. This pipeline will serve as a strong platform for future growth.

2023 年，我們還利用了一流的轉換能力，將全球轉換酒店的客房數量自上季度以來增加了 16%，比前一年增加了 34%。我很高興地向大家報告，我們的全球客房總數環比增長了 6%，到年底已覆蓋超過 1,030 家酒店，客房數量超過 105,000 間。該管道將成為未來成長的強大平台。

These results demonstrate that the deliberate decisions and strategic investments in our franchisee tools, brand portfolio and platform capabilities are resulting in strong returns across our company. First, we strengthened our upscale franchise business. For full year 2023, we grew our domestic upscale rooms portfolio by 6.3% year-over-year and expanded its domestic unit pipeline by 5% quarter-over-quarter. Second, we accelerated our growth across the extended-stay brands' portfolio. For full year 2023, we grew our domestic extended-stay unit system size by approximately 16% year-over-year, highlighted by over 60 new hotel openings, a record-breaking year.

這些結果表明，對我們的特許經營工具、品牌組合和平台能力的深思熟慮的決策和策略投資正在為我們公司帶來豐厚的回報。首先，我們加強了高端特許經營業務。 2023 年全年，我們的國內高檔客房組合年增 6.3%，國內客房數量較上季成長 5%。其次，我們加速了長住品牌組合的成長。 2023 年全年，我們的國內長住公寓系統規模年增約 16%，其中新開飯店超過 60 家，創歷史新高。

At the same time, our newest brand, Everhome Suites, is gaining meaningful traction across the development community with 69 domestic projects in the pipeline, including 16 under construction. We remain very optimistic about our extended-stay franchise business and expect the number of our extended-stay units to increase at an average annual growth rate of approximately 15% over the next 5 years. Third, we continue to invest in our midscale portfolio. Within this category, we grew our domestic upper midscale rooms pipeline by 9% quarter-over-quarter, and for the fourth quarter, increased the number of domestic franchise agreements awarded by 6% year-over-year. Importantly, our first new Comfort prototype opened in 2023, and our flagship brand continues to attract significant developer demand with over 130 projects in the domestic pipeline.

同時，我們的最新品牌 Everhome Suites 在整個開發社群中獲得了有意義的關注，有 69 個國內專案正在籌備中，其中 16 個在建專案。我們對長期居住特許經營業務仍然非常樂觀，預計未來5年長住單位數量將以年均約15%的速度成長。第三，我們繼續投資中型投資組合。在這一類別中，我們的國內中高檔客房儲備量環比增長了 9%，第四季度授予的國內特許經營協議數量同比增長了 6%。重要的是，我們的第一個新 Comfort 原型機於 2023 年開業，我們的旗艦品牌繼續吸引巨大的開發商需求，國內有 130 多個項目正在籌備中。

Fourth, our economy transient hotels are continuing to benefit from their improved value proposition. As a result, we expanded our domestic economy transient unit pipeline by 9% quarter-over-quarter, and the new hotels we added in 2023 generated higher royalty revenue than the hotels exiting. Our effective royalty rate also continues to be a significant source of revenue growth. Our domestic system effective royalty rate for full year 2023 increased 6 basis points year-over-year, representing nearly $6 million of incremental royalties, including a 5 basis point increase to 5.1% for the Choice legacy brands.

第四，我們的經濟型短程酒店繼續受益於其不斷改進的價值主張。因此，我們的國內經濟臨時單位儲備量較上季擴大了 9%，而且我們在 2023 年新增的飯店所產生的特許權使用費收入高於現有飯店。我們的有效特許權使用費率也仍然是收入成長的重要來源。我們2023 年全年的國內系統有效特許權使用費率同比增長6 個基點，相當於近600 萬美元的增量特許權使用費，其中Choice 傳統品牌的特許權使用費增加了5 個基點，達到5.1%。

The third revenue lever I will discuss is our RevPAR performance. Our full year 2023 domestic RevPAR increased 12.7% versus the same period of 2019 and 10 basis points year-over-year. Our fourth quarter domestic RevPAR increased 13.1% from the same quarter of 2019, including a 15.2% growth from the Choice legacy portfolio. RevPAR was down 3.9% year-over-year in the quarter, reflecting tougher year-over-year comps as we were the first hotel company to return to and significantly exceed pre-pandemic RevPAR levels. While we expect to face tougher domestic comps at the start of this year, we expect RevPAR to increase as the year progresses, given the favorable long-term business and leisure trends and the initiatives we've put in place to capitalize on these tailwinds.

我要討論的第三個營收槓桿是我們的 RevPAR 績效。我們 2023 年全年國內 RevPAR 較 2019 年同期成長 12.7%，較去年同期成長 10 個基點。我們第四季的國內 RevPAR 較 2019 年同季成長了 13.1%，其中 Choice 傳統投資組合成長了 15.2%。本季的 RevPAR 年減 3.9%，反映出年比比較更加嚴峻，因為我們是第一家恢復並大幅超過疫情前 RevPAR 水準的飯店公司。雖然我們預計今年年初將面臨更嚴峻的國內競爭，但考慮到有利的長期商業和休閒趨勢以及我們為利用這些有利因素而採取的舉措，我們預計每間可用客房收入將隨著今年的進展而增加。

We are pleased to report that our full year 2023 international portfolio-wide RevPAR increased 11% year-over-year, with the Americas region excluding the U.S. growing 20% year-over-year. At the same time and as a result of our strong organic growth and the acquisition of Radisson Americas, we more than doubled the EBITDA contribution from our international portfolio in 2023.

我們很高興地報告，2023 年全年國際投資組合的 RevPAR 年增 11%，其中美洲地區（不包括美國）年增 20%。同時，由於我們強勁的有機成長和對美洲麗笙酒店的收購，我們國際投資組合的 EBITDA 貢獻在 2023 年增加了一倍多。

We continue to build on the strong momentum of our platform business. Specifically for full year 2023, we increased our platform and procurement services fees by 18% to $75.1 million year-over-year as we benefited from expanded offerings to our franchisees and guests, additional annual convention revenues from higher attendance, increased transaction volume with our qualified vendors and the broader reach of our initiatives. We believe that we can drive this strong revenue growth in the years ahead as we continue to expand our platform and increase the number of products and services we offer to over 7,500 hotels, millions of guests and other travel partners.

我們持續鞏固平台業務的強勁勢頭。特別是在2023 年全年，我們的平台和採購服務費同比增加了18%，達到7510 萬美元，因為我們受益於向特許經營商和客人提供的產品範圍的擴大、出席人數增加帶來的額外年度會議收入、與我們的交易量的增加合格的供應商和我們的舉措的更廣泛的影響範圍。我們相信，隨著我們繼續擴展我們的平台並增加為超過 7,500 家酒店、數百萬客人和其他旅行合作夥伴提供的產品和服務數量，我們能夠在未來幾年推動收入的強勁增長。

I'd like now to turn to our well-positioned low leverage balance sheet, marked by net debt to EBITDA of 2.9x, which continues to be below the low end of our targeted range of 3 to 4x. In 2023, we generated operating cash flows totaling nearly $300 million. We also further enhanced our balance sheet in the fourth quarter as we closed on a new $500 million term loan, which increased our liquidity to approximately $650 million as of year-end. We utilized our strong cash flows and underlevered balance sheet to continue to invest in the business, generating impressive growth in our profitability as well as acquiring over $110 million of Wyndham common stock.

我現在想談談我們處於有利地位的低槓桿資產負債表，其淨債務與 EBITDA 比率為 2.9 倍，仍然低於我們 3 至 4 倍目標範圍的下限。 2023 年，我們產生的營運現金流總計近 3 億美元。我們也在第四季度進一步改善了我們的資產負債表，我們完成了一筆新的 5 億美元定期貸款，這使我們的流動性截至年底增加到約 6.5 億美元。我們利用強勁的現金流和槓桿率較低的資產負債表繼續投資該業務，使我們的盈利能力實現了令人矚目的增長，並收購了價值超過 1.1 億美元的溫德姆普通股。

In 2023, we were also able to return over $422 million to shareholders, including nearly $57 million in cash dividends and $366 million in share repurchases. We achieved all of this while remaining below our targeted leverage levels. With our strong cash flow and ample debt capacity, we are committed to creating value for our shareholders by accretively investing to further expand our business and also effectively support the acquisition and successful integration of Wyndham.

2023 年，我們也向股東返還了超過 4.22 億美元，其中包括近 5,700 萬美元的現金股利和 3.66 億美元的股票回購。我們實現了這一切，同時保持低於目標槓桿水平。憑藉強大的現金流和充足的償債能力，我們致力於透過增值投資進一步拓展業務，為股東創造價值，並有效支持溫德姆的收購和成功整合。

Our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged, and we are well positioned to continue our long track record of delivering outsized value for our shareholders. Our priority continues to be investing in our business to drive organic growth. We will continue to make targeted investments in our business to drive growth focused on hotels that generate higher royalties per unit and further enhance the franchise owners' value proposition while expanding our international and platform businesses.

我們的資本配置優先事項保持不變，我們有能力繼續為股東提供超額價值的長期記錄。我們的首要任務仍然是投資我們的業務以推動有機成長。我們將繼續對我們的業務進行有針對性的投資，以推動以每單位產生更高特許權使用費的酒店為重點的增長，並進一步提高特許經營權所有者的價值主張，同時擴大我們的國際和平台業務。

Secondly, we remain committed to value-creating M&A, focusing on opportunities like Wyndham, where we can both improve the profitability of the existing franchisees as well as grow the combined portfolio. Historically, our strong cash flow and ample debt capacity have been more than sufficient to allocate capital to both organic and inorganic growth, allowing us to return capital to shareholders through our dividend and share repurchase programs. Clearly, as demonstrated by our continued efforts and the confidence we have in our success, the greatest opportunity to create value for all stakeholders is to realize the over $2 billion of initial shareholder value creation present in a combination with Wyndham. Should this not transpire, our current underlevered balance sheet and attractive growth trajectory, coupled with a significant discount to the intrinsic value of our stock, provide a very attractive return opportunity through the repurchase of shares.

其次，我們仍然致力於創造價值的併購，重點關注像溫德姆這樣的機會，我們既可以提高現有特許經營商的盈利能力，又可以擴大合併後的投資組合。從歷史上看，我們強勁的現金流和充足的債務能力足以將資本分配給有機和無機增長，使我們能夠透過股息和股票回購計劃向股東返還資本。顯然，正如我們持續的努力和對成功的信心所證明的那樣，為所有利益相關者創造價值的最佳機會是與溫德姆合併實現超過 20 億美元的初始股東價值創造。如果這種情況沒有發生，我們當前槓桿率較低的資產負債表和有吸引力的成長軌跡，加上我們股票內在價值的大幅折扣，將透過股票回購提供非常有吸引力的回報機會。

Before opening up for questions, I'd like to turn to our expectations for what lies ahead. As we look into 2024, we expect to generate adjusted EBITDA in the range of $580 million and $600 million. We anticipate this growth to be driven by incremental contributions from Radisson Americas, including the expected additional cost synergies of approximately $2 million as well as organic growth across more revenue-intense hotels and markets, robust effective royalty rate growth, continued growth from our co-branded credit card, strong international business and other factors. This outlook does not account for any additional M&A, repurchase of the company's stock or other capital markets activities.

在開始提問之前，我想先談談我們對未來的期望。展望 2024 年，我們預計調整後 EBITDA 將在 5.8 億至 6 億美元之間。我們預計這一成長將由麗笙美洲酒店的增量貢獻推動，包括預計約200 萬美元的額外成本協同效應，以及收入密集型酒店和市場的有機增長、強勁的有效特許權使用費增長、我們共同的持續成長。品牌信用卡、強大的國際業務等因素。這項展望並未考慮任何額外的併購、公司股票回購或其他資本市場活動。

We expect our full year 2024 adjusted diluted earnings per share to range between $6.30 and $6.60 per share. Underlying our outlook are the following assumptions for full year 2024. We expect the domestic system year-over-year growth of the more revenue-intense portfolio of brands to continue to accelerate and be approximately 2%. We project our domestic RevPAR to range between flat to 2% year-over-year. And finally, we anticipate our full year 2024 effective royalty rate to grow in the mid-single digits year-over-year.

我們預計 2024 年全年調整後稀釋每股盈餘將在每股 6.30 美元至 6.60 美元之間。我們對 2024 年全年的前景做出以下假設。我們預計收入密集型品牌組合的國​​內系統將年增至 2%。我們預計國內 RevPAR 與去年同期相比將持平至 2%。最後，我們預計 2024 年全年有效特許權使用費率將年增中個位數。

Today's results are a testament that our strategy is working, and we intend to keep investing in those areas of our business that will generate the highest return on our capital. At this time, Pat and I would be happy to answer any questions. Operator?

今天的結果證明我們的策略正在發揮作用，我們打算繼續投資於能夠產生最高資本回報的業務領域。此時，帕特和我很樂意回答任何問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Shaun Kelley with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自美國銀行的 Shaun Kelley。

If we could, Pat, Dom, and Scott, if we could start with just a little bit more around the Wyndham offer. I guess, specifically at this point where it seems like the terms that have been set out remain largely stable up until we probably reach more details around the proxy contest, I'm just wondering, could you -- for everybody's viewpoint, could you help us think a little bit more about any chance or opportunity to improve the economics of an offer from here? And how will feedback work during the proxy process?

如果可以的話，帕特、多姆和斯科特，如果我們可以從溫德姆優惠開始做更多的事情。我想，特別是在這一點上，在我們可能獲得有關代理權競賽的更多細節之前，所製定的條款似乎基本上保持穩定，我只是想知道，您能——從每個人的角度來看，您能幫忙嗎？我們多思考一下是否有任何機會或機會可以提高這裡的報價的經濟性？在代理過程中回饋將如何發揮作用？

What I mean by that is if you start receiving feedback at some point that the offer is just not sufficient to get the votes that you might want to achieve, can you adjust that offer during the proxy process or maybe how do the mechanics work around that? Are you free to do that at any point in time?

我的意思是，如果您在某個時候開始收到回饋，表明該報價不足以獲得您可能想要獲得的選票，您可以在代理過程中調整該報價，或者機制如何解決這個問題？您可以隨時這樣做嗎？

Sure. Thanks, Shaun. I appreciate the question. I think when you look at where we stand today, unfortunately, Wyndham's Board really just continues to refuse to engage. So to your first point about willingness to improve the offer, we said this multiple time, the door remains open to Wyndham to engage in a constructive private dialogue with us. And we believe there's opportunity to improve our offer if they'll engage with us. That's the first thing. And the second is allow us to undertake some due diligence. So those have always been the key factors here, I think, that are in play.

當然。謝謝，肖恩。我很欣賞這個問題。我認為，不幸的是，當你看看我們今天的立場時，溫德姆董事會實際上只是繼續拒絕參與。因此，關於您關於改善報價的第一點，我們多次說過，溫德姆與我們進行建設性私下對話的大門仍然敞開。我們相信，如果他們願意與我們合作，就有機會改善我們的報價。這是第一件事。第二是讓我們進行一些盡職調查。因此，我認為這些一直是發揮作用的關鍵因素。

Regarding your question on feedback, I mean, good news about what we did, October 17, we brought our proposal public. And then on December 12 when we launched the exchange offer, it's given us an opportunity to speak directly with Wyndham's shareholders. And we've gotten great feedback from them around what they like about the offer and where they might like to see an additional improvement in the offer. And I think the feedback we've heard from them is around one word. They're frustrated. They're frustrated that Wyndham's Board is not engaging in a conversation that would help answer those questions.

關於你的回饋問題，我的意思是，關於我們所做的事情的好消息，10 月 17 日，我們公開了我們的提案。 12 月 12 日，當我們發起換股要約時，我們有機會直接與溫德姆股東對話。我們從他們那裡得到了關於他們喜歡該優惠的哪些方面以及他們可能希望看到該優惠的額外改進的良好反饋。我認為我們從他們那裡聽到的回饋大約是一個詞。他們很沮喪。他們對溫德姆董事會沒有進行有助於回答這些問題的對話感到沮喪。

I think when you look at the proxy versus the exchange offer, let's not forget about the fact that during the exchange offer, that's been a blueprint for Wyndham's shareholders to provide us with great feedback. They have the opportunity to tender their shares up until the exchange offer expires, which is currently 5:00 New York City time on Friday, March 8. So there's opportunity for the shareholders to continue to express their interest with us around the transaction and also for us to hear feedback from them around how they view the offer that's on the table.

我認為，當您查看代理與交換要約時，我們不要忘記這樣一個事實：在交換要約期間，這是溫德姆股東為我們提供良好反饋的藍圖。他們有機會投標其股份，直到交換要約到期，目前是紐約時間 3 月 8 日星期五 5:00。因此，股東有機會繼續向我們表達他們對交易的興趣，並讓我們聽到他們如何看待現有報價的回饋。

And Shaun, the only thing I'd just add, as you think about the proxy process, what we've done is nominate a slate of directors, an independent slate of directors that we believe that would want to negotiate with us on the deal. So the deal can continue to change with a Board that's willing to negotiate with us. So voting for the slate of directors is really a vote for a Board that's going to engage in a dialogue to see if we can create value in this transaction.

肖恩，我唯一要補充的是，當你考慮代理程序時，我們所做的就是提名一批董事，一群獨立的董事，我們認為他們願意與我們就交易進行談判。因此，只要董事會願意與我們談判，交易就可以繼續改變。因此，對董事名單進行投票實際上是對董事會進行投票，董事會將進行對話，看看我們是否可以在這筆交易中創造價值。

Great. And maybe just one on the business fundamentals, but obviously, there was a lot in here about the acceleration you saw in net unit growth. And it seems like a decent amount of that hinges on some improvements in international. Just wondering if you could talk about the sort of contract economics in some of these international deals and partnerships and what you've been able to add to the pipeline there.

偉大的。也許只是關於業務基本面的一個，但顯然，這裡有很多關於淨單位成長加速的內容。這似乎有相當一部分取決於國際方面的一些改進。只是想知道您是否可以談談其中一些國際交易和合作夥伴關係中的合約經濟學，以及您能夠在其中添加哪些內容。

Are these largely similar to your domestic franchise economics? Are these running -- or are these running through master partnerships and someplace where the economics may be a little bit different or a little bit inferior to what you see in the domestic business?

這些與你們國內的特許經營經濟學大致相似嗎？這些是在運行嗎？還是透過主要合作夥伴關係運行，並且在某些地方的經濟狀況可能與您在國內業務中看到的有所不同或稍遜一籌？

Yes. And it's a healthy mix, Shaun, as you know. We have -- in some markets, we do direct franchising. We do that in markets where the regulatory environment is favorable for franchising where small business people can aggregate capital and make investments. And so that's where -- those are markets where direct franchising works, and we've seen growth starting to pick up in those markets.

是的。正如你所知，肖恩，這是一種健康的組合。我們在一些市場上進行直接特許經營。我們在監管環境有利於特許經營的市場中這樣做，小型企業可以在那裡聚集資本並進行投資。這就是直接特許經營發揮作用的市場，我們已經看到這些市場的成長開始加速。

And then we've also -- when you look at the economics of the master franchise agreements, those are usually a little bit different, to your point. And if you look at what we did with the extension of our agreement with our partner in Scandinavia, Spain, in particular, those are more of a sort of master franchise as opposed to direct franchising businesses. So the economics are a little bit different, but we're really excited about the growth we're seeing, particularly in those direct franchise markets in the Americas and in Australia.

然後我們也——當你審視主特許經營協議的經濟學時，你會發現這些協議通常與你的觀點有些不同。如果你看看我們在延長與西班牙斯堪的納維亞合作夥伴的協議方面所做的事情，特別是，這些更像是一種主特許經營，而不是直接特許經營業務。因此，經濟情況略有不同，但我們對所看到的成長感到非常興奮，特別是在美洲和澳洲的直接特許經營市場。

Yes. I think, Shaun, just to add to that, the ones we mentioned in our scripted remarks, our growth in France and Spain are all direct markets. So more similar economics that we have in the U.S. than a master partner.

是的。我想，肖恩，補充一下，我們在腳本發言中提到的，我們在法國和西班牙的成長都是直接市場。因此，我們在美國的相似經濟狀況比主要合作夥伴還要多。

Your next question comes from Michael Bellisario with Baird.

您的下一個問題來自邁克爾貝利薩裡奧和貝爾德。

You mentioned continued progress on the regulatory front. Can you be more specific there? I mean, what progress has been made? Have you finalized your initial submission yet to the FTC? And if you haven't, what's the estimated timing there?

您提到監管方面的持續進展。能說得更具體一點嗎？我的意思是，取得了什麼進展？您已完成向聯邦貿易委員會提交的初步資料嗎？如果還沒有，預計的時間是什麼時候？

Yes. Thanks, Michael. I think when you look at where we are today, the second request began about 6 weeks ago, so we are well into that process. As we've stated before that a second request is not uncommon, and we're continuing to work very constructively and cooperatively with the FTC on it. We're making a lot of progress on that front. We don't see any surprises. And as we've said before, we remain confident in our ability to complete this process as part of the transaction in that customary time frame.

是的。謝謝，麥可。我想當你看看我們今天的情況時，第二個請求大約在六週前開始，所以我們已經很好地進入了這個過程。正如我們之前所說，第二次請求並不罕見，我們將繼續與 FTC 就此進行非常建設性的合作。我們在這方面取得了很大進展。我們沒有看到任何驚喜。正如我們之前所說，我們仍然相信我們有能力在慣常的時間範圍內完成這一過程，作為交易的一部分。

And then just one follow-up there. Maybe any examples that you could provide of things they've asked for or the types of questions and comments that they're looking for answers on?

然後只有一個後續行動。也許您可以提供有關他們要求的事情或他們正在尋找答案的問題和評論類型的任何示例？

Yes. I mean, they start with what's called sort of a broad request for information. And then as the process moves forward, they'll narrow it down into areas that they want to understand greater. But as we've said before, I think part of what they're learning is very, in my view, supportive of a transaction. The first is that this is a very competitive marketplace. The lodging industry is a makeup of independent hotels, online travel agencies, a lot of large, well-capitalized competitors. So they're looking at that.

是的。我的意思是，他們從所謂的廣泛資訊請求開始。然後，隨著流程的推進，他們會將範圍縮小到他們想要更多了解的領域。但正如我們之前所說，我認為他們正在學習的部分內容在我看來非常支持交易。首先，這是一個競爭非常激烈的市場。住宿業由獨立飯店、線上旅行社以及許多資本雄厚的大型競爭對手組成。所以他們正在考慮這個。

Second, they're looking at pricing. And as we've said before, Wyndham and Choice do not set price. Our franchisees do. And that is a very healthy factor with regard to regulatory issues. They're looking into how the OTAs play in this industry. And as we've said before, one of the compelling reasons for putting our 2 companies together is to drive down the cost of running a hotel and ultimately, reliance on expensive third-party distributors. So they're learning about some of the specifics of the industry, how pricing works for the consumer, and ultimately, the really competitive nature of the spaces where we compete.

其次，他們正在考慮定價。正如我們之前所說，溫德姆酒店和精選酒店不設定價格。我們的特許經營商這樣做。就監管問題而言，這是一個非常健康的因素。他們正在研究 OTA 在這個行業中的運作方式。正如我們之前所說，將我們兩家公司合併在一起的一個令人信服的原因是降低飯店的營運成本，並最終降低對昂貴的第三方經銷商的依賴。因此，他們正在了解該行業的一些具體情況、消費者的定價方式，以及最終我們競爭的領域的真正競爭性質。

And they also not just are looking at status quo, they're looking at a lot of what our competition is doing and how the competitive landscape is evolving. So a lot of the questions they're asking are around new brand launches from really well-capitalized competitors in the segments where we currently compete today. So it's a broad effort at the beginning. And as they move through that discovery process, we would expect those questions will narrow down.

他們不僅關注現狀，還關注我們的競爭對手正在做什麼以及競爭格局如何演變。因此，他們提出的許多問題都圍繞著我們目前競爭的細分市場中資本雄厚的競爭對手推出的新品牌。因此，一開始就需要付出廣泛的努力。當他們經歷這個發現過程時，我們預計這些問題將會縮小。

But we're 6 weeks in. It's probably at the sort of peak of the level of effort. And as we get closer to being substantially compliant with the second request, we would expect that the FTC and Choice and Wyndham would be narrowing the list of issues to be dealt with.

但我們已經六週了。這可能是努力程度的頂峰。隨著我們越來越接近基本遵守第二項要求，我們預計 FTC 以及 Choice 和 Wyndham 將縮小要處理的問題清單。

Got it. And then just one more for me just on the fundamentals, the flat to 2% RevPAR growth outlook. How are you thinking about the quarterly cadence in '24? And when might the year-over-year growth rate flip from negative to positive?

知道了。然後我再講一個關於基本面的問題，即 RevPAR 成長前景持平至 2%。您如何看待 24 年的季度節奏？年比成長率何時可能由負轉正？

Thanks, Michael. In terms of RevPAR, we still think the long-term fundamentals for travel remain strong. So we look at a macro basis, supply growth is still expected to be relatively muted in the industry, growing less than 1%, but GDP, consumer spending, both expected to grow over 2% in 2024, and unemployment still remain at historical lows. So we're feeling confident that Americans are still prioritizing their travel budgets, with 80% of Americans planning to travel this year and most expected to increase the amount they're spending on travel.

謝謝，麥可。就每間可用客房收入而言，我們仍然認為旅遊業的長期基本面依然強勁。所以我們從宏觀來看，預計產業供應成長仍將相對溫和，成長低於1%，但GDP、消費者支出預計2024年均成長2%以上，失業率仍維持在歷史低點。因此，我們相信美國人仍然會優先考慮他們的旅行預算，80% 的美國人計劃今年旅行，大多數人預計會增加旅行支出。

So we think the business has quite a bit of room to grow. We're still below in terms of occupancy, our pre-pandemic levels. So where we believe is the first quarter will be, again, against some tougher comps, but we should start to see positive RevPAR growth in kind of the middle of the second quarter and then growing to that 0 to 2% we guided to.

因此，我們認為該業務有相當大的成長空間。就入住率而言，我們仍低於疫情前的水平。因此，我們認為第一季將再次面臨一些更嚴峻的競爭，但我們應該開始看到第二季中期的 RevPAR 正成長，然後成長到我們指引的 0% 到 2%。

Your next question comes from Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley.

您的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的史蒂芬‧格蘭布林（Stephen Grambling）。

Maybe 2 follow-ups on the FTC questions. How would you think about remedies if it does go down that path? And then what's the willingness or thought process on litigating if the FTC doesn't see things your way?

也許對 FTC 問題有 2 個後續行動。如果事情確實如此，你會如何考慮補救措施？如果聯邦貿易委員會不按照你的方式看待事情，那麼訴訟的意願或思考過程是什麼？

Well, I think, Stephen, it's important to just start off with our view of the regulatory environment, it's based in fact and legal precedent. And so when we look at what the conversations with the FTC might be, I don't want to speculate on where that might go. As we've said publicly, we are willing to make any changes that aren't materially having an impact on the transaction. But what we've stated before and what we're seeing currently, those are not things that we are focused on today.

嗯，我認為，史蒂芬，重要的是從我們對監管環境的看法開始，它是基於事實和法律先例。因此，當我們考慮與聯邦貿易委員會的對話可能會是什麼時，我不想猜測對話可能會走向何方。正如我們公開表示的，我們願意做出任何不會對交易產生實質影響的改變。但我們之前所說的話以及我們目前所看到的，這些都不是我們今天關注的事情。

And then as I said, I'm not going to speculate on where things might go. But we feel really confident, as I said, about how we view the regulatory environment. If you look at the presentation we put out on January 10, I think you'll see there that it's based, as I said, in legal fact and precedent around how the antitrust environment should be viewed in this combination. The facts for every case are different, and we feel really confident in our view of how things will progress on that front.

正如我所說，我不會猜測事情可能會走向何方。但正如我所說，我們對如何看待監管環境非常有信心。如果你看一下我們 1 月 10 日發布的演示文稿，我想你會發現，正如我所說，它是基於法律事實和先例，圍繞著如何在這種組合中看待反壟斷環境。每個案件的事實都是不同的，我們對事情在這方面的進展的看法非常有信心。

Great. And then maybe on fundamentals. Can you just help us tie out the lower EPS growth versus EBITDA growth and perhaps even loop in your expectations for free cash flow conversion and the puts and takes there in 2024 and perhaps longer term?

偉大的。然後也許是基本面。您能否幫助我們將較低的 EPS 成長與 EBITDA 成長聯繫起來，甚至可能將您對 2024 年甚至更長期的自由現金流轉換和看跌期權和拿股的預期納入其中？

Yes, Steve, really, the difference between the EBITDA growth and I assume you're referring to Q4 versus the guidance?

是的，史蒂夫，真的，EBITDA 成長與我認為您指的是第四季度與指導之間的差異？

I remember in your 2024 outlook, if I just look at 10% roughly in the midpoint EBITDA growth but low single-digit EPS growth.

我記得在你們的 2024 年展望中，如果我只看 EBITDA 中位數增長大約 10%，但 EPS 增長較低，個位數。

Yes. Really, the difference there is really interest expense and a slightly higher tax rate. So our debt is up about $300 million year-over-year kind of on average, about half of that. The combination of higher rates that we incurred during 2023 and a slightly higher debt level as we get back to our targeted leverage levels. And then our tax rate is at 24.5%. We had a few discrete items, some reversals of reserves in the fourth quarter that lowered our tax rate in 2023 that we don't expect to incur in 2024.

是的。事實上，差別在於利息支出和略高的稅率。因此，我們的債務平均每年增加約 3 億美元，約為其中的一半。我們在 2023 年發生的利率上升，加上我們回到目標槓桿水準時債務水準略有上升。然後我們的稅率是24.5%。我們有一些離散項目，第四季度的一些準備金逆轉，降低了 2023 年的稅率，但我們預計 2024 年不會發生這種情況。

And then from a free cash flow standpoint, I mean, are there any big puts and takes to think through, whether it's key money that's going to be coming to fruition or I think the results of some affiliate investments, things like that?

然後，從自由現金流的角度來看，我的意思是，是否有任何重大的看跌期權和看跌期權需要考慮，無論是即將實現的關鍵資金，還是我認為一些附屬投資的結果，諸如此類的事情？

Yes, in terms of the way we define free cash flow, we expect free cash flow to be similar to 2023. Our key money should be generally in the same range that we spent in 2023 so a slight increase in key money. But our free cash flow conversion should be consistent between 2023 and 2024.

是的，就我們定義自由現金流的方式而言，我們預計自由現金流將與 2023 年類似。我們的關鍵資金應該與 2023 年支出的範圍大致相同，因此關鍵資金略有增加。但我們的自由現金流轉換在 2023 年至 2024 年之間應該保持一致。

Your next question comes from Robin Farley with UBS.

您的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的羅賓法利。

I wanted to just get a clarification. Your global pipeline, you mentioned, was up 6% sequentially. Can you tell us what that was year-over-year? We just -- the number is not in the '22 press release last year, so just to calculate the year-over-year change in global pipeline.

我只是想得到澄清。您提到，您的全球管道比上一季成長了 6%。您能告訴我們同比情況如何嗎？我們只是——這個數字不在去年 22 月的新聞稿中，所以只是為了計算全球管道的同比變化。

And then also looking at your, what you call the revenue-intense segments, that grouping of upscale and extended-stay and midscale. It looked like sequentially -- or there wasn't really an increase in those sequentially or not a lot of rooms there opening in Q4. Was that just something specific just to that quarter or just something seasonal to keep in mind or maybe just something one-time in Q4?

然後也要看看你所謂的收入密集型細分市場，也就是高檔、長住和中檔的群體。看起來是連續的——或者說這些數量並沒有真正增加，或者第四季度沒有很多房間開放。這只是該季度特有的事情，還是只是需要記住的季節性事情，或者可能只是第四季度的一次性事情？

Sure, Robin. You cut out a little bit on your second part of the question. In your first part -- I'll answer the first part, maybe you could repeat the second part. In terms of the global pipeline, our global pipeline from the end of the year was basically flat, just about 106,000 rooms down to 105,000 rooms. And really, that was a reflection of really the strong openings that we had during the year. And I think we talked about this on the last quarterly call, but we did have a cleanup of some of our pipeline in early Q1 of 2023, where we have taken a look at some contracts where -- because coming out of the pandemic, we didn't think we're going to open in our new construction pipeline, knowing that it was a strong conversion environment where we could fill those markets with existing hotels.

當然，羅賓。你把問題的第二部分刪掉了一點。在你的第一部分中——我將回答第一部分，也許你可以重複第二部分。就全球在建客房而言，我們的全球在建客房從年底開始基本持平，只有約 106,000 間客房，下降至 105,000 間客房。事實上，這確實反映了我們在這一年中所擁有的強勁空缺。我想我們在上一季的電話會議上討論過這一點，但我們確實在 2023 年第一季度初清理了一些管道，我們查看了一些合同，因為從大流行中走出來，我們不認為我們將在新的建築管道中開業，因為我們知道這是一個強大的轉換環境，我們可以用現有的酒店來填補這些市場。

We made the one-time decision to terminate some hotels, knowing that we could sell into those markets and quickly realize those revenue streams. So we've been focused on the sequential quarter-over-quarter growth, which we talked about was up 6% on a global basis. You made a comment about Q4, but unfortunately, the audio cut out a little bit. So could you repeat that question?

我們一次性決定終止一些酒店，因為我們知道我們可以向這些市場出售產品並快速實現這些收入流。因此，我們一直在關注環比成長，我們談到的是全球範圍內成長了 6%。你對第四季度發表了評論，但不幸的是，音頻被切斷了一點。那你能重複一下這個問題嗎？

Sure, yes. Q4 was just the -- your commentary about what you call the revenue-intense segments, the extended-stay and upscale and midscale, it looked like openings in Q4 were sort of were -- that there weren't really openings sequentially in Q4 from Q3 in those groupings. I'm just wondering if that was seasonal or something just specific to Q4 that -- just kind of what's behind that?

當然，是的。第四季只是——你對所謂的收入密集型細分市場、長住酒店、高檔和中檔酒店的評論，看起來第四季度的空缺職位有點是——第四季度並沒有真正的空缺職位Q3在這些分組中。我只是想知道這是季節性的還是第四季特有的——這背後的原因是什麼？

It's actually Q4 is typically our largest openings quarter, quarter-over-quarter. So when you look at our September 30 results into December 31, we actually saw strong growth in all of our revenue-intensive brands, the Comfort brand, WoodSpring brand, all of our extended-stay brands had quarter-over-quarter growth. So happy to take offline what you're looking at but we saw strong opening growth, including a full year growth of 13% in our openings.

實際上，第四季通常是我們季度環比開業最多的季度。因此，當你查看我們9 月30 日至12 月31 日的業績時，我們實際上看到了所有收入密集型品牌的強勁增長，Comfort 品牌、WoodSpring 品牌以及我們所有的長住品牌都有季度環比增長。很高興將您所關注的內容下線，但我們看到了空缺職位的強勁增長，其中全年空缺職位增長了 13%。

Yes, Robin, I see about 104 Q4 openings. That was a 4% increase year-over-year. So that said, we can take it offline.

是的，Robin，我看到第 4 季大約有 104 個職缺。較去年同期成長 4%。也就是說，我們可以將其離線。

Okay. I was just looking at sequential.

好的。我只是在看順序。

Your next question comes from Joe Greff with JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的喬·格雷夫。

Your royalty fees grew just under 9% year-over-year in 2023, actually royalty, licensing and management fees, that $513 million level. If I reverse-engineer your 2024 outlook, I'm getting to something that's an accelerating level of growth in that line item. Is that how you're looking at things based on some of the drivers that you've given and some of the drivers that maybe are underlying that overall assumption for EBITDA growth?

2023 年，您的特許權使用費同比增長略低於 9%，實際上是特許權使用費、許可費和管理費，達到 5.13 億美元的水平。如果我對 2024 年的前景進行逆向工程，我會發現該訂單項目的成長速度正在加速。您是根據您給出的一些驅動因素以及可能構成 EBITDA 成長總體假設的一些驅動因素來看待事物的嗎？

Yes. If you take a look at our drivers this year, so our RevPAR was that increased for full year is 0.1%. Our revenue-intensive unit growth was about 1.8%, and we grew our effective royalty rate in the mid-single digits. So we are expecting a slight acceleration of that with RevPAR increasing 1%, our revenue-intensive net unit growth being at approximately 2%, and the royalty rate should be effectively about flat year-over-year as far as the terms of growth but up mid-single digits again. So there is some acceleration in that.

是的。如果你看看我們今年的司機，我們的 RevPAR 全年成長了 0.1%。我們的收入密集型單位成長率約為 1.8%，我們的有效特許權使用費成長率為中個位數。因此，我們預計這一趨勢會略有加速，每間可用客房收入將增長1%，我們的收入密集型淨單位增長率約為2%，就增長而言，特許權使用費率實際上應與去年同期持平，但又上升到中個位數。所以這方面有一些加速。

We also -- there is a small portion of our corporate credit card that's in there and the licensing fees that will be driving a piece of that number as we continue to realize the benefits from the co-branded credit card with Wells Fargo. And then lastly, strong international growth continued in that number, should make that number grow a little bit faster pace than it did in 2023.

我們還有一小部分公司信用卡存在其中，隨著我們繼續認識到與富國銀行聯合品牌信用卡的好處，許可費將推動其中的一部分。最後，該數字持續強勁的國際成長，應該會使該數字的成長速度比 2023 年略快一些。

Got it. So that 9% growth rate in royalties and other fees should grow at a faster clip for 2024? Just making sure I'm hearing you correctly.

知道了。那麼 2024 年特許權使用費和其他費用 9% 的成長率應該會更快嗎？只是確保我沒聽錯。

The overall percentages may not be there. We have some, little bit, in 2023, that royalty rate -- that royalty number percentage was against the Radisson acquisition that only had a little over Q4 and a little partial Q3. If you look at the fundamentals, it's kind of the year-over-year of our portfolio, the unit growth, the RevPAR and the effective royalty rate all should grow at a faster pace. That 9% is, again, 2023 compared to 2022 when we acquired Radisson in August of 2022. So that number should be -- would have been higher in 2023 than it will be in 2024.

總體百分比可能不存在。到 2023 年，我們有一些特許權使用費率——特許權使用費百分比是相對於麗笙收購而言的，該特許權使用費僅在第四季度和第三季度有所部分。如果你看看基本面，我們的投資組合、單位成長、每間可用客房收入和有效特許權使用費率都應該以更快的速度成長。與 2022 年我們在 2022 年 8 月收購麗笙酒店時相比，這 9% 是 2023 年的情況。所以這個數字在 2023 年應該會比 2024 年更高。

Got it. And just going now a couple of questions on the Wyndham proposal. I think it was Pat earlier in your prepared remarks, you referenced that you think you have confidence in the deal that could close in a customary time frame. Can you put a little bit more flesh on the bone on that comment? And is that thinking different today versus a few months ago after having additional interactions with regulatory?

知道了。現在我想問幾個關於溫德姆提案的問題。我認為帕特早些時候在您準備好的演講中提到，您認為您對可以在慣常時間範圍內完成的交易充滿信心。你能在這個評論中補充一點具體內容嗎？在與監管機構進行更多互動後，今天的想法與幾個月前相比是否有所不同？

Yes. Sure, Joe. In fact, I mean, we're 3 months from all of that, so yes, we're getting actually closer to it. When we say the customary time frame, we have been saying 12 months. But as I said now, we're 6 weeks into the second request on the regulatory front. And that's going to be the long pole in the tent. And that's -- when we look at it from a second request to a final outcome, we've been told to expect anything from 6 to 9 months. So as we're 6 weeks into that 6- to 9-month time frame, that's getting closer.

是的。當然，喬。事實上，我的意思是，我們距離這一切還有 3 個月的時間，所以是的，我們實際上已經越來越接近它了。當我們說慣常的時間範圍時，我們說的是 12 個月。但正如我現在所說的，我們在監管方面提出第二次請求已經過了六週。那將是帳篷裡的長桿。也就是說，當我們從第二次請求到最終結果時，我們被告知預計需要 6 到 9 個月的時間。因此，當我們進入 6 至 9 個月的時間框架後，已經有 6 週了，這個時間已經越來越近了。

And that's actually the thing when we talk to Wyndham's shareholders, they just want to understand, not just around the regulatory environment itself but also the time frame involved in it. It's the reason or one of the reasons we put the exchange offer in place was to get the regulatory process moving, which we did in early December. So here we sit in late February. We're getting closer to having some clarity for shareholders around that regulatory question and more importantly, the timing of it.

事實上，當我們與溫德姆的股東交談時，他們只是想了解，不僅是監管環境本身，還有其中涉及的時間框架。我們提出交換要約的原因或原因之一是為了推動監管流程，我們在 12 月初就這麼做了。所以我們在二月底坐在這裡。我們正越來越接近為股東澄清這個監管問題，更重要的是，澄清這個問題的時機。

So that's what we've been told to sort of expect from just precedent and sort of how long these processes take. But if you're looking at that 6- to 9-month time frame from January 12 when the second request began, we're moving pretty rapidly down that path.

這就是我們被告知要從先例中得到的預期以及這些過程需要多長時間。但是，如果您查看從 1 月 12 日第二次請求開始時起的 6 到 9 個月的時間範圍，我們正在沿著這條道路快速前進。

Great. And then a follow-up on your work on the pursuit of Wyndham. To what extent are -- Pat, are you, management, the Board, your advisers working on finding potential buyers of newly issued equity in a pro forma company that helped fund the deal, let's say, a greater cash consideration than what you have on the table now and also would then lower pro forma debt? Obviously, that kills 2 of 3 concerns i.e., not regulatory, but 2 of 3 concerns get mitigated from Wyndham's perspective.

偉大的。然後是你對溫德姆的追求的後續工作。帕特，您、管理層、董事會、您的顧問是否正在努力尋找一家模擬公司新發行股權的潛在買家，該公司為交易提供了資金，比您現有的現金考慮要多得多？現在的表格和之後的預期債務也會降低嗎？顯然，這消除了三分之二的擔憂，即非監管問題，但從溫德姆的角度來看，三分之二的擔憂得到了緩解。

It's also hard not to recognize that you brought in Goldman kind of later in the process at the -- at some point at the end of last year. To what extent is that a priority? To what extent can you share with us conversations on selling new equity and whether Stuart would be potentially involved in investing more into a pro forma company?

我們也很難不認識到，你在去年年底的某個時候，在這個過程的後期引入了高盛。在多大程度上這是優先事項？您能在多大程度上與我們分享有關出售新股權的對話，以及史都華是否有可能參與對一家備考公司的更多投資？

Yes, Joe, you've got quite a matter. I'm not going to negotiate with you, but we'd be happy to have the conversations you just laid out with the Wyndham Board if they would, in fact, engage with us. I would say from the get-go, we've been looking at really 3 things here, which is what is the price that is the right price to pay. As we said from the beginning, we're offering Wyndham a premium and an earnings multiple, implied earnings multiple that they've never achieved before. So we feel like we're good on that.

是的，喬，你的事情很嚴重。我不會與您談判，但如果溫德姆董事會確實願意與我們接觸，我們很樂意與您進行剛才的對話。我想說，從一開始，我們一直在關註三件事，那就是合適的價格。正如我們從一開始就說過的，我們向溫德姆提供溢價和市盈率，即他們以前從未達到的隱含市盈率。所以我們覺得我們在這方面做得很好。

The mix between equity and cash is something, as we talk to their shareholders, they like the transaction and they like the equity. So providing the equity and the cash mix is something that we feel like we're at a good place today. There's certainly an opportunity to look at that a second time as we get into an engagement with them. And certainly, the leverage that we think both businesses can handle is pretty high, given the high free cash flow-generating characteristics that we see here.

股權和現金之間的結合是很重要的，當我們與他們的股東交談時，他們喜歡交易，也喜歡股權。因此，我們覺得提供股權和現金組合目前處於一個很好的位置。當我們與他們接觸時，當然有機會再次考慮這一點。當然，考慮到我們在這裡看到的高自由現金流產生特徵，我們認為這兩家企業可以處理的槓桿相當高。

So there's opportunity to look at this. So I can tell you, we've looked at a lot of different factors to get to the right mix of those 3 issues. But I think when you look at the offer that we have on the table today, when you look at the feedback we've gotten from the Wyndham shareholders with regard to getting a transaction done, there's a high level of confidence that we're in that range of a good offer that's on the table. And as I said, that offer can be improved if we get 2 things: engagement and due diligence.

所以有機會看看這個。所以我可以告訴你，我們研究了很多不同的因素，以找到這三個問題的正確組合。但我認為，當你看到我們今天提出的報價時，當你看到我們從溫德姆股東那裡得到的關於完成交易的反饋時，你會發現我們對我們的交易充滿信心。擺在桌面上的一系列優惠。正如我所說，如果我們做到兩點：參與度和盡職調查，那麼這個報價就可以得到改善。

Your next question comes from Meredith Jensen with HSBC.

您的下一個問題來自匯豐銀行的 Meredith Jensen。

I was wondering if you could speak a little bit more about the retention rate, maybe by chain scale and domestic and international, just sort of breaking it down a little bit, and maybe a look over time and what maybe some goals are. And then I was looking back at some things from last quarter, you had mentioned a strategic partnership in Mexico. And I was wondering if that is just part of some of the other discussions, or I just wanted to match that up with some of the international growth strategies mentioned today.

我想知道您是否可以更多地談談保留率，也許可以按連鎖店規模、國內和國際來分類，只是稍微分解一下，也許可以看看隨著時間的推移，以及一些目標是什麼。然後我回顧了上個季度的一些事情，您提到了在墨西哥的策略夥伴關係。我想知道這是否只是其他一些討論的一部分，或者我只是想將其與今天提到的一些國際成長策略相匹配。

Sure, Meredith. I think when you look at our retention rate, I mean, we've historically had a very high retention rate, 97%, 98% is what it sits today. Obviously, we are looking to constantly improve our brands, and there are times when the franchisees are either not willing to invest in a brand or are taking their hotel and making it into an alternative use. So those are generally high drivers of where we see franchisee churn.

當然，梅雷迪思。我想當你看看我們的保留率時，我的意思是，我們歷史上的保留率非常高，97%，今天是 98%。顯然，我們希望不斷改進我們的品牌，有時特許經營者要么不願意投資某個品牌，要么將他們的酒店改造成其他用途。因此，這些通常是我們看到加盟商流失的重要驅動因素。

And a lot of that is occurring, particularly the non-hotel use conversion is occurring in that economy transient segment. So that's where you see a higher churn rate than you do in the other segments that we operate in.

其中許多正在發生，特別是非飯店用途的轉換正在經濟瞬態部分發生。因此，與我們經營的其他細分市場相比，您會看到更高的客戶流失率。

Yes. In terms of international, I would say our churn rate is similar to the U.S. Most of our brands overseas are ring brands so don't have the high -- the churn that we have in the economy segment. So if you model out the similar churn rate as our revenue-intensive brands, that would be a good starting point. As Pat mentioned, we are guiding to revenue-intensive unit growth of 2%. And while we will see our economy units decline over -- with the overall industry, we do expect to have positive overall net unit growth for the year in 2024.

是的。在國際方面，我想說我們的客戶流失率與美國相似。我們的海外品牌大多是環品牌，因此沒有經濟領域那樣的高客戶流失率。因此，如果您對我們的收入密集型品牌的流失率進行建模，那將是一個很好的起點。正如 Pat 所提到的，我們的目標是收入密集型單位成長 2%。雖然我們將看到我們的經濟單位隨著整個產業的下滑而下降，但我們確實預計 2024 年整體淨單位將出現正成長。

And I think with regard to your question for the partnership in Mexico, that's an opportunity that I would place it more in the category of a platform opportunity similar to what we do with Bluegreen and what we had with the AMR portfolio several years ago. It's really an opportunity to have their distribution on our platform and have our customers have an earn and burn opportunity through the loyalty program.

我認為，關於您關於墨西哥合作夥伴關係的問題，這是一個機會，我會將其更多地置於平台機會的類別中，類似於我們對Bluegreen 所做的事情以及我們幾年前對AMR 產品組合所做的事情。這確實是一個在我們的平台上進行分銷的機會，並讓我們的客戶透過忠誠度計劃獲得賺取和消耗的機會。

Great. And just on the Bluegreen point, you had mentioned last quarter that you had anticipated that after the sale, the partnership would continue just as it has and it seems like from your comments, that continues to be the case. We should just assume it goes on despite the change?

偉大的。就藍綠觀點而言，您上個季度曾提到，您預計在出售後，合作關係將繼續下去，從您的評論來看，情況似乎仍然如此。我們應該假設儘管發生了變化，它仍然會繼續下去嗎？

That's correct.

這是正確的。

Your next question comes from Brandt Montour with Barclays.

你的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的布蘭特·蒙圖爾。

The first one is just on RevPAR. Your Q4 RevPAR domestically came in a little bit below what we had sort of thought was implied by STR's chain scale results and then your full year guide of flat. Two is also a little bit below STR's forecast, which for midscale, upper midscale closer to 3%. So I guess I'm curious if -- one, in the fourth quarter, if there was any sort of share loss or anything else you want to call out. And then looking forward, do you have a sort of different outlook on the U.S., which is conservative or any -- or how would you describe your particular outlook for RevPAR?

第一個是關於 RevPAR。你們的第四季國內 RevPAR 略低於我們對 STR 連鎖規模結果以及全年公寓指南所暗示的預期。 2 也略低於 STR 的預測，對於中階、中高檔來說接近 3%。所以我想我很好奇，第一，在第四季度，是否有任何形式的股票損失或任何其他你想指出的情況。展望未來，您對美國是否有不同的看法，是保守的還是其他的——或者您如何描述您對 RevPAR 的具體看法？

Yes. In terms of the fourth quarter, I think really, we had really tougher comps. As we said in our scripted remarks that we were the first hotel company to return and exceed the 2019 levels. So when you look at our Q4 results against 2019, we're up 13%, which is the leader in the industry. So I think we didn't see anything different than the industry. I just think our comps were tougher there.

是的。就第四季而言，我認為確實，我們的比賽非常艱難。正如我們在書面發言中所說，我們是第一家恢復並超過 2019 年水準的酒店公司。因此，當您查看我們與 2019 年第四季的業績相比時，我們成長了 13%，處於行業領先地位。所以我認為我們沒有看到任何與行業不同的東西。我只是認為我們在那裡的比賽更加艱難。

In terms of the full year, I would say we're probably a little bit conservative on our guidance compared to STR in 2024. We do see a lot of, I mentioned earlier, the long-term fundamentals, the growth that we expect to see, as I mentioned. We're still 110 basis points down in occupancy against 2019. So it's been a rate driven. We do expect business travel to come back and get back to 2019 levels coming here in 2024 and 2025.

就全年而言，我想說，與 2024 年 STR 相比，我們的指導可能有點保守。我之前提到過，我們確實看到了很多長期基本面，以及我們預期的增長。瞧，正如我提到的。與 2019 年相比，我們的入住率仍下降了 110 個基點。因此，這是由利率驅動的。我們確實預計商務旅行將在 2024 年和 2025 年回升並恢復到 2019 年的水平。

And we're really excited about a new partnership we just -- with AAA, and AAA represents 31% of all room nights. And we just became one of their preferred partner in the mid-scale economy space. So we're excited about what the growth could be for the year, and we feel like we'll be in line with the industry.

我們對與 AAA 的新合作關係感到非常興奮，AAA 佔所有間夜數的 31%。我們剛剛成為他們在中型經濟領域的首選合作夥伴之一。因此，我們對今年的成長感到興奮，我們覺得我們將與行業保持一致。

Yes. And I would just say when we look at STR and we look at some of the other forecasts that we consider when we make our in-house forecasts, they do appear to be, and I think many in the industry have sort of looked at it and said, they appear to be a little more aggressive than maybe most in the industry are considering. So it's just one of the forecasts we do look at when we make our decisions around how we're going to put out our own internal forecast and then ultimately put that into our guidance.

是的。我只想說，當我們查看 STR 以及我們在進行內部預測時考慮的其他一些預測時，它們似乎確實如此，而且我認為業內許多人都已經關注過它並表示，他們似乎比業內大多數人考慮的更激進一些。因此，這只是我們在做出決定時所考慮的預測之一，我們將如何提出我們自己的內部預測，然後最終將其納入我們的指導中。

That makes sense. And then just a second follow-up on, you guys gave us a fair amount of color on churn. But I'm curious on the Radisson brands, those 2 together, those did decline a touch quarter-over-quarter. When does that bottom and start to grow, the 2 brands together? And what have you sort of baked into the full year expectations, the guidance you gave for net unit growth?

這就說得通了。然後，在第二次跟進中，你們給了我們很多關於客戶流失的資訊。但我對麗笙品牌很好奇，這兩個品牌加起來確實比上一季略有下降。兩個品牌什麼時候觸底開始成長？您對全年預期以及對淨單位成長的指導有何考慮？

Yes. I think when you look at Country Inn & Suites, I mean, that's a brand that -- and as we've said all along, let me just start with the fact that when you do these acquisitions, you got to get the performance fixed. And then you do that and that leads to franchisee interest, which leads to development and growth. In the case of Country Inn & Suites and Radisson, the green sign Radisson, we are -- we have fixed the performance issues.

是的。我認為當你看到鄉村旅館及套房酒店時，我的意思是，這是一個品牌——正如我們一直以來所說的那樣，讓我從這樣一個事實開始：當你進行這些收購時，你必須修復業績。然後你這樣做就會引起加盟主的興趣，從而帶來發展和成長。就鄉村套房酒店和麗笙酒店（綠色標誌麗笙酒店）而言，我們已經解決了性能問題。

I think on the Country Inn & Suites side, we're already seeing that momentum as we talked about. We saw 19 agreements last year, 10 of those in December alone. That's the highest that brand had done since 2016. So we feel really confident about the Country Inn & Suites growth coming in 2024. Now a lot of that's new construction so it's still up against the higher interest headwind, but we feel really good about the developer interest.

我認為在鄉村旅館及套房酒店方面，我們已經看到了我們所說的這種勢頭。去年我們達成了 19 項協議，光是 12 月就有 10 項協議。這是該品牌自2016 年以來取得的最高成績。因此，我們對2024 年鄉村旅館及套房酒店(Country Inn & Suites) 的增長非常有信心。現在很多都是新建築，因此仍面臨更高利息的阻力，但我們對開發商興趣。

The Radisson green sign the full-service Radisson is likely going to continue to see some decline in 2024 with the reversal of that and growth coming in 2025. And that's a function primarily of just those are generally more urban hotels, larger boxes and the time frame that they are -- they take when they change flags is much more elongated. So it's really a function of timing rather than anything else, I think, on when Country coming back this year 2024, and then Radisson green sign returning to growth in 2025.

麗笙綠色標誌提供全方位服務的麗笙酒店可能會在2024 年繼續出現一些下滑，但這種情況會在2025 年出現逆轉和增長。這主要是因為這些酒店通常更城市化、面積更大、時間更長。他們改變旗幟時所採取的框架要長得多。因此，我認為，這實際上是一個時間函數，而不是其他任何因素，即 Country 將於 2024 年回歸，然後 Radisson Green 標誌將在 2025 年恢復增長。

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time. Please proceed.

（操作員說明） 目前沒有其他問題。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Thanks again, everyone, for your time this morning. We'll talk to you again in May when we announce our first quarter results. Have a great day.

謝謝你，接線生。再次感謝大家今天早上抽出時間。我們將在五月宣布第一季業績時再次與您交談。祝你有美好的一天。

Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Goodbye.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與，並請您斷開線路。再見。