好市多 (COST) 2012 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning.

早安.

My name is Tabitha, and I will be your conference operator today.

我叫塔比莎，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the fourth-quarter and fiscal year-end operating results for 2012 conference call.

此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加 2012 年第四季和財政年度結束經營業績電話會議。

All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise.

所有線路均已靜音，以防止任何背景噪音。

After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session.

演講者發言後，將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions).

（操作員說明）。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Mr. Galanti, you may begin your conference.

加蘭蒂先生，您可以開始會議了。

Thank you, Tabitha.

謝謝你，塔比莎。

Good morning to everyone.

各位早安。

This morning's report relates to our 17-week fourth quarter and 53-week fiscal year 2012 operating results, both which ended September 2. For comparison purposes, the fiscal quarter and year are compared to last year's 16-week and 52-week periods for the prior fiscal year 2011.

今天早上的報告涉及我們截至 9 月 2 日的 2012 財年第四季 17 週和 53 週營運業績。出於比較目的，本財季和年度與去年的 16 週和 52 週期間進行了比較上一財年2011 年。

As with every conference call, I will start by stating that these discussions we are having will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and that these statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results and/or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements.

就像每次電話會議一樣，我首先要聲明，我們正在進行的這些討論將包括1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述，並且這些陳述涉及可能導致實際事件的風險和不確定性，結果和/或績效與此類聲明所顯示的結果和/或績效有重大差異。

The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in today's call, as well as other risks identified from time to time in the Company's public statements and reports filed with the SEC.

風險和不確定性包括但不限於今天電話會議中概述的風險和不確定性，以及公司向 SEC 提交的公開聲明和報告中不時發現的其他風險。

For the fourth quarter, to begin with our 17-week fourth-quarter fiscal 2012 operating results, we reported earnings per share, of course, this morning of $1.39, up 29% from last year's reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.08.

對於第四季度，首先是我們為期 17 週的 2012 財年第四季度經營業績，今天上午我們公佈了每股收益 1.39 美元，比去年公佈的第四季度收益 1.08 美元增長了 29%。

Sales for the quarter were up 14%, which, of course, included the extra week in Q4 this year -- again, it's 17 weeks this year versus 16 weeks last year.

該季度的銷售額增長了 14%，當然，其中包括今年第四季度額外增加的一周——同樣，今年是 17 週，而去年是 16 週。

Now, comparable sales, which we do compare like 17-week periods both years, were up 5% on a reported basis and up 6% excluding gas and FX.

現在，可比較銷售額（我們確實將這兩年的 17 週期間進行比較）在報告基礎上成長了 5%，不包括天然氣和外匯則增加了 6%。

Last year's fourth quarter results included a $32 million pretax LIFO charge that impacted last year's earnings per share by $0.04.

去年第四季的業績包括 3,200 萬美元的稅前 LIFO 費用，該費用對去年的每股盈餘產生了 0.04 美元的影響。

This year's fourth-quarter results included an $11.5 million pretax LIFO charge, impacting this year's fourth-quarter earnings by $0.02 a share.

今年第四季的業績包括 1,150 萬美元的稅前 LIFO 費用，對今年第四季的每股盈餘產生了 0.02 美元的影響。

Several other items impacting the year-over-year fourth-quarter comparisons of earnings include the following.

影響第四季收益與去年同期相比的其他幾個項目包括以下內容。

First, the US and Canada membership fee increase that took effect earlier this fiscal year.

首先，美國和加拿大的會員費上調於本財年稍早生效。

This added approximately $26 million pretax or $0.04 a share in this year's fourth quarter.

今年第四季稅前收入增加約 2,600 萬美元，即每股 0.04 美元。

Second, FX headwinds.

其次，外匯逆風。

Earnings from our foreign operations are converted into US dollars when we consolidate and report our results.

當我們合併和報告業績時，我們的海外業務收入將轉換為美元。

Year-over-year in the fourth quarter, on average, the foreign currencies where we operate weakened versus the US dollar.

平均而言，第四季我們經營的外幣兌美元匯率走弱。

This resulted in roughly a $20 million pretax or $0.03 a share after-tax hit or impact to this year's fourth quarter.

這導致今年第四季稅前或每股稅後損失約 2,000 萬美元或 0.03 美元。

That is assuming, FX exchange-rate were flat year-over-year, our foreign country operating results in the fourth quarter when reported in US dollars would have been higher by that amount.

假設外匯匯率同比持平，那麼以美元報告的我們第四季的外國營運業績將會更高。

Third, our $900 million paydown of 5.3% fixed-rate debt this past March.

第三，今年 3 月我們償還了 9 億美元的 5.3% 固定利率債務。

This reduced our interest expense comparison year-over-year for Q4 by approximately $15 million pretax or $0.02 a share.

這使我們第四季度的利息支出比去年同期減少了約 1500 萬美元（稅前）或每股 0.02 美元。

Fourth, as reported earlier on July 9, we completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% ownership interest in our Costco Mexico operations.

第四，正如 7 月 9 日早些時候報導的那樣，我們完成了對 Costco 墨西哥業務剩餘 50% 所有權的收購。

The impact to our fourth-quarter 2012 P&L was twofold.

這對我們 2012 年第四季損益表的影響是雙重的。

First, about a $0.02 per share benefit to fourth quarter 2012 for the extra earnings we now own, if you will; and second, a one-time charge of $8.3 million or $0.02 a share to our income tax line.

首先，如果您願意的話，我們現在擁有的額外收益將在 2012 年第四季帶來每股約 0.02 美元的收益；第二，一次性向我們的所得稅額度收取 830 萬美元或每股 0.02 美元。

This related to the dividend payment from Costco Mexico to Costco US.

這與墨西哥 Costco 向美國 Costco 支付的股息有關。

For the purposes of the year-over-year comparison to fourth quarter, these two items relating to the Costco Mexico purchase were essentially a wash to earnings.

就與第四季度的同比比較而言，與 Costco 墨西哥收購相關的這兩個項目基本上對收益造成了影響。

The earnings accretion from our Costco Mexico acquisition will continue through the first anniversary of the transaction, or next July.

收購 Costco Mexico 帶來的收益成長將持續到交易一週年或明年 7 月。

And finally, a fifth item of comparison.

最後，第五項比較。

We had an extra week of course this year in the fourth quarter, 17 weeks versus last year's 16 weeks.

當然，今年第四季我們多了一周，17 週，而去年是 16 週。

Simply dividing our fourth-quarter earnings of $1.39 by 17 weeks, the positive impact to Q4 we estimate to be about $0.08 a share.

只需將我們第四季度 1.39 美元的收益除以 17 週，我們估計對第四季度的正面影響約為每股 0.08 美元。

For the fiscal year, net income came in at $1.709 billion or $3.89 a share.

本財年，淨利為 17.09 億美元，即每股 3.89 美元。

This compared to $1.46 billion or $3.30 a share in last year fiscal 2011.

相比之下，2011 財年的營收為 14.6 億美元，即每股 3.30 美元。

Net earnings were up 17% in dollars and up 18% on an earnings per share basis.

以美元計算的淨利潤增長了 17%，以每股收益計算則增長了 18%。

For the entire 2012 fiscal year, our LIFO charge was $20.5 million pretax, or about a $0.03 hit to earnings.

在整個 2012 財年，我們的稅前後進先出費用為 2,050 萬美元，即對收益造成約 0.03 美元的影響。

This compares to all of fiscal 2011, when it was an $87 million charge, or a $0.12 hit to last year's earnings.

與 2011 財年全年相比，該費用為 8,700 萬美元，比去年的收益減少了 0.12 美元。

Lastly, on the FX front, the total negative impact to this year's sales was just under $600 million, and the earnings hit, if you will, assuming flat year-over-year FX rates, would have been $31 million pretax or $0.04 a share.

最後，在外匯方面，今年銷售受到的整體負面影響略低於 6 億美元，如果您願意的話，假設同比匯率持平，則收益損失將為稅前 3,100 萬美元或每股 0.04 美元。

Sales for the fourth quarter; again, our 17-week quarter as like weeks was up 5%, and this included a US number of up 6% and international up 2%.

第四季銷售額；同樣，我們的 17 週季度年增 5%，其中美國成長 6%，國際成長 2%。

Excluding gas deflation -- there was ever so slight deflation -- and a negative impact of FX, and the sales increase -- comp sales increase would be 6% for the total Company as compared to the 5% reported.

排除天然氣通貨緊縮——有如此輕微的通貨緊縮——以及外匯的負面影響，以及銷售額的增長——公司總銷售額的增幅將為 6%，而報告的增幅為 5%。

The US would remain unchanged at 6%; again, very little impact, although it was minor gas deflation.

美國將維持6%不變；再次，影響很小，儘管是輕微的氣體通貨緊縮。

And international, given the weakness in foreign currencies, international and local currencies, the reported 2% number would instead have been plus 7%.

而國際方面，考慮到外幣、國際貨幣和本國貨幣的疲軟，報告中的 2% 數字本來應該是+ 7%。

September sales results were reported last week on October 4. Briefly, for the five-week September reporting period, US comp sales came in at 6%, International at 7%, and total Company at 6%.

9 月銷售結果於上週10 月4 日公佈。簡而言之，在為期五週的9 月報告期間內，美國公司銷售額佔6%，國際銷售額佔7%，公司總銷售額佔6 %。

And again, excluding the positive impact from gas and FX, US comp sales on a normal basis, if you will, were up 5%, International up 6% and total Company up 5%.

同樣，排除天然氣和外匯的正面影響，如果您願意的話，美國公司正常銷售額成長 5%，國際成長 6%，公司總銷售額成長 5%。

For September, the average ticket increased a little over 2%, while frequency or traffic increased by about 4%.

9 月份，平均票價上漲了 2% 多一點，而頻率或流量則增加了約 4%。

Other topics of interest, our opening activities and plans.

其他有興趣的話題，我們的開幕活動和計劃。

We opened a total of 16 new warehouses during fiscal 2012, and again, that quarter ended on -- that fiscal year ended on September 2. Of those 16, 10 were new in the US, four in Japan and one each in Korea and Taiwan.

我們在2012 財年期間總共開設了16 個新倉庫，該季度結束於該財年的9 月2 日。這16 個倉庫中，10 個是在美國新建的，4 個在日本，韓國和台灣各有1 個。

In addition, we relocated one location during all of last fiscal year in Ontario, Canada.

此外，我們在上一財年中搬遷了加拿大安大略省的一個地點。

For fiscal 2013, our expansion activities include a plan for approximately 27 to 30 new locations, with just under half of those in the United States and the remaining in international markets.

2013 財年，我們的擴張活動包括計劃開設約 27 至 30 個新地點，其中近一半位於美國，其餘位於國際市場。

During the first four months of fiscal 2013, basically September through calendar year end here, we plan to open 14 new locations, almost the same number of new locations we opened in all of last year.

在 2013 財年的前四個月，基本上是從 9 月到日曆年末，我們計劃開設 14 家新店，幾乎與去年全年開設的新店數量相同。

Nine of these 14 will be in the US, three will be in Canada and one will be in each of England and Korea.

這 14 個項目中，有 9 個在美國，3 個在加拿大，英國和韓國各有 1 個。

I think most recently, I had mentioned that we estimated 15 locations.

我想最近我曾經提到我們估計有 15 個地點。

One in Wheaton, Maryland has been delayed due to construction issues, and we estimate it now to open in March or April.

位於馬裡蘭州惠頓的一處因施工問題而被推遲，我們估計現在將在三月或四月開放。

Also this morning, I will go over our Costco Online results and some recent activities, our membership trends, additional discussion about our operating results for the quarter and our stock repurchase activities.

同樣在今天早上，我將回顧我們的好市多線上業績和最近的一些活動、我們的會員趨勢、有關我們本季度經營業績和股票回購活動的其他討論。

On to the discussion for quarterly results.

繼續討論季度業績。

Very briefly, sales for the fourth quarter, again up 14%; total sales at $31.5 billion this year in the fourth quarter versus $27.6 billion last year.

簡而言之，第四季銷售額再次成長 14%；今年第四季的總銷售額為 315 億美元，而去年為 276 億美元。

For the quarter, our 5% reported comps were a result of a combination of an average frequency or traffic increase of 4.5% and a flat average transaction year-over-year.

本季度，我們報告的 5% 的比較是平均頻率或流量成長 4.5% 以及平均交易量同比持平的綜合結果。

I mentioned earlier that we all of a sudden have started to see quite a bit of weakness in foreign currencies.

我之前提到過，我們突然開始看到外幣大幅疲軟。

That flat average transaction includes that impact -- negative impact of about 1.5% from FX.

平均交易量持平包括這種影響——外匯帶來的約 1.5% 的負面影響。

So up a little assuming flat year-over-year FX rates.

假設外匯匯率較去年同期持平，則略有上漲。

Overall, for all of fiscal 2012, our average sales per warehouse for the 608 warehouses we have in operation on an annualized basis was $154 million, up 7% from the $146 million figure in fiscal 2011.

整體而言，在 2012 財年全年，我們營運的 608 個倉庫的平均年銷售額為 1.54 億美元，比 2011 財年的 1.46 億美元成長了 7%。

Moving on to sales by geography, for the fourth quarter, the strongest comp results in the US were in the Northwest and the Midwest.

繼續按地區劃分銷售，第四季度，美國最強勁的業績表現在西北和中西部。

All regions were fairly good.

所有地區都相當不錯。

The range between the low and the high among regions was in the 4% to 8% range.

各地區的低值和高值範圍在 4% 至 8% 之間。

Internationally in local currencies, Canada, Korea and Mexico were the strongest and the Japan being the weakest, Japan mostly due to cannibalization resulting from the four new locations opened this past year in Japan.

在國際上，以當地貨幣計算，加拿大、韓國和墨西哥表現最強，日本表現最弱，其中日本主要是因為去年在日本開設的四家新店造成的蠶食。

In terms of eCommerce, Costco.com and Costco.ca, sales were up 14% for the quarter and up [9%] for the entire year.

在電子商務方面，Costco.com 和 Costco.ca 的銷售額本季成長 14%，全年成長 [9%]。

During the fourth quarter, as I think I mentioned we were planning to, as of the last quarterly report -- during the fourth quarter, we launched Costco.com apps for both the Android and the Apple devices.

在第四季度，正如我所提到的，截至上一季度報告，我們計劃在第四季度推出適用於 Android 和 Apple 設備的 Costco.com 應用程式。

And three weeks ago, on September 16, we transitioned Costco.com and Costco.ca sites to its new platform.

三週前，即 9 月 16 日，我們將 Costco.com 和 Costco.ca 網站遷移到了新平台。

The new platform certainly improves the visibility of the sites when using search engines, and also we believe made several improvements to the sites from the end-user perspective.

新平台無疑提高了使用搜尋引擎時網站的可見性，而且我們相信從最終用戶的角度對網站進行了一些改進。

And lastly, next week, we will open our new eCommerce site for the UK, Costco.co.uk.

最後，下週，我們將在英國開設新的電子商務網站 Costco.co.uk。

We go live next Monday, October 15.

我們將於 10 月 15 日下週一上線。

In terms of merchandise categories for the quarter, softlines was a standout for the quarter, in the high single digits.

就本季的商品類別而言，紡織品在本季表現突出，達到了較高的個位數。

Within food and sundries, comps were in the positive mid-single digits.

在食品和雜貨領域，競爭處於正中個位數。

Hardlines produced positive comps in the mid-single-digit range, as well.

強硬路線也產生了中等個位數範圍內的積極競爭。

The strongest subcategories within the hardlines were hardware and lawn and garden, which were in the very high single digits.

強硬派中最強的子類別是硬體、草坪和花園，其數量處於非常高的個位數。

Consumer electronics produced positive comps in the mid-single digits.

消費性電子產品產生了中個位數的正值。

Within the softlines, the strongest numbers were in small electrics and domestics.

在軟裝產品中，數量最多的是小型電動車和家用車。

Lastly, all fresh foods comparable sales were up in the mid to high single digit range, with the strongest results in deli and produce.

最後，所有新鮮食品的可比銷售額均在中高個位數範圍內成長，其中將熟食店和農產品的業績最為強勁。

And on the inflation front, food and sundries along with fresh foods continue to experience inflation in the low single digit range.

在通貨膨脹方面，食品和雜貨以及新鮮食品繼續經歷低個位數的通貨膨脹。

Moving down the line items of the income statement, I will start with membership fees.

我將從損益表的各行項目開始，從會員費開始。

In the fourth quarter, membership fee income was $694 million or 2.21%.

第四季會員費收入為6.94億美元，年增2.21%。

This is up 18% in dollars and up 7 basis points, representing an increase of $104 million year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

以美元計算，成長了 18%，上升了 7 個基點，即第四季年增 1.04 億美元。

In terms of membership, we continue to benefit from strong renewal rates, rounding up to 90% in the US and Canada, and worldwide, 86%.

就會員資格而言，我們繼續受益於強勁的續訂率，在美國和加拿大高達 90%，在全球範圍內為 86%。

We continue to experience increasing penetration of the executive membership.

我們持續經歷高階主管會員的滲透率不斷提高。

Incremental membership from the fee increase effective last November in the US and Canada benefited the quarter by an estimated $26 million.

美國和加拿大去年 11 月生效的會員費增加使本季受益約 2,600 萬美元。

The benefit from this will continue to show year-over-year increases throughout the four fiscal quarters of fiscal 2013 and into the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

由此產生的效益將在 2013 財年的四個財季和 2014 財年第一季繼續呈現同比增長。

That, of course, is based on the fact that we use deferred accounting to book those increases.

當然，這是基於我們使用遞延會計來記錄這些增加的事實。

Our new membership sign-ups in the fourth quarter were up 2% year-over-year.

第四季我們的新會員註冊量年增 2%。

Last year in the fourth quarter, we opened 12 new locations, including four in Asia and two in Australia.

去年第四季度，我們新開了 12 家門市，其中 4 家在亞洲，2 家在澳洲。

Those tend to have outsized new member sign-ups through opening day.

這些往往在開幕當天就有大量新會員註冊。

And that compares to six new openings this year in the fourth quarter, which included two in Asia.

相比之下，今年第四季有六家新店開業，其中亞洲有兩家。

In terms of the number of members at fourth quarter-end, in terms of Gold Star, 26.7 million, up from 26.4 million at the end of the third quarter.

從第四季末的會員數來看，以金星會員計算，為2,670萬，高於第三季末的2,640萬。

Primary Business, 6.4 million, both at the end of the third quarter and fiscal year-end.

截至第三季末及財年末，主要業務均為 640 萬美元。

Add-on business, 3.8 million at year-end.

年末附加業務380萬。

That is up a little bit from 3.6 million at third quarter end.

這比第三季末的 360 萬略有增加。

So total households, 36.9 million at year-end, up from 36.4 million 17 weeks earlier.

截至年底，家庭總數為 3,690 萬，高於 17 週前的 3,640 萬。

And with spouse cards, 67.4 million cardholders out there, from 66.5 million a quarter ago.

配偶卡持卡人數量從第一季前的 6,650 萬增至 6,740 萬。

At the end of the fourth quarter, we had 12.6 million executive members, which is an increase of about 245,000 or 2% since third quarter end, and that is about 14,000 new executive members per week.

截至第四季末，我們擁有 1,260 萬名執行會員，較第三季末增加了約 245,000 名或 2%，即每週新增約 14,000 名執行會員。

Executive members, as I've mentioned, represent a little over one third of our member base and a little over two thirds of our sales.

正如我所提到的，執行會員占我們會員群的三分之一多一點，占我們銷售額的三分之二多一點。

In terms of renewal rates, as I mentioned earlier, they continue to be strong.

就續訂率而言，正如我之前提到的，它們仍然保持強勁。

Business membership renewal rates ended the year at 93.7%.

截至年底，企業會員續約率為 93.7%。

That is up a tick from 93.6% at the third quarter end.

這比第三季末的 93.6% 有所上升。

Gold Star, 88.7% at year-end, up a tick from 88.6% at the end of the third quarter.

金星年末利用率為 88.7%，較第三季末的 88.6% 上升。

So total US and Canada, 89.7%, up a tick from 89.6%.

美國和加拿大的總數為 89.7%，比 89.6% 上升。

And again, as I mentioned, worldwide, 86.4%, up from 86.2% at the end of the third quarter.

正如我所提到的，全球範圍內的比例為 86.4%，高於第三季末的 86.2%。

Based on our increasing US and Canada renewal rates, we believe that last November's membership fee increase had little or no impact on our renewal rates, which continue to move higher.

根據我們不斷上升的美國和加拿大續訂率，我們認為去年 11 月的會員費上漲對我們的續約率影響很小或沒有影響，我們的續訂率將繼續走高。

In terms of gross margin, our reported gross margin in the fourth quarter was lower year-over-year by three basis points, coming in at 10.51% of sales this year in the fourth quarter, down from 10.54% a year earlier.

毛利率方面，我們報告的第四季毛利率年減了三個基點，佔今年第四季銷售額的10.51%，低於去年同期的10.54%。

I'll ask you to jot down a few numbers.

我會請你記下一些數字。

I will have six columns, basically looking at the fourth quarter and the prior two quarters.

我將有六個專欄，主要關注第四季和前兩個季度。

And each of those quarters will have two columns, both reported and without gas impact, being inflation in Q's 2 and 3 and a minor amount of deflation in Q4.

每個季度都有兩列，均報告且沒有天然氣影響，即第二季度和第三季度的通貨膨脹以及第四季度的少量通貨緊縮。

Line items would be core merchandising, ancillary businesses, 2% reward, LIFO and total.

項目包括核心銷售、輔助業務、2% 獎勵、後進先出和總計。

So going across, core merchandise in Q2 reported minus 25 basis points year-over-year, and without gas inflation, minus 16 basis points.

因此，第二季的核心商品年減了-25個基點，如果不考慮天然氣通膨，則為-16個基點。

Q3, minus 21 basis points reported and minus 14 basis points.

第三季度，報告負 21 個基點，負 14 個基點。

And Q4, minus 10 basis points and minus 10 basis points.

而第四季，負10個基點，負10個基點。

And basically the Q4 columns will be the same in both columns, because again, while there was minor deflation, it was very minor and didn't even change the basis point variances.

基本上，第四季的兩列都是相同的，因為同樣，雖然有輕微的通貨緊縮，但非常輕微，甚至沒有改變基點方差。

Ancillary, minus 2 reported and plus 2 without gas -- I'm sorry -- let me correct that one.

輔助，報告為負 2，加上 2 沒有氣體 - 對不起 - 讓我糾正這一點。

For the second quarter, ancillary was minus 5 basis points and minus 4 basis points without gas.

第二季度，輔助利率為負 5 個基點，不含天然氣則為負 4 個基點。

For the third quarter, ancillary was plus 7 basis points and plus 8 basis points.

第三季度，輔助利率分別上升 7 個基點和 8 個基點。

And for the fourth quarter, plus 1 basis points and plus 1 basis points.

而第四季則加1個基點，加1個基點。

2% reward, minus 2 basis points and minus 3 basis points in the second quarter.

2%獎勵，負2個基點，第二季負3個基點。

Minus 2 basis points and minus 3 basis points again in the third quarter.

第三季又負2個基點，又負3個基點。

And minus 2 basis points and minus 2 basis points in the fourth quarter.

第四季負2個基點和負2個基點。

LIFO, plus 2 basis points and plus 2 basis points in the second quarter.

LIFO，加2個基點，第二季加2個基點。

Plus 21 basis points and plus 21 basis points in the third quarter.

加21個基點，第三季加21個基點。

Recall that last year in the third quarter, we had the first sizable amount of LIFO.

回想一下，去年第三季度，我們首次採用了相當大的後進先出法。

And in the fourth quarter, plus 8 basis points and plus 8 basis points.

而第四季又加8個基點，加8個基點。

And then total; in the second quarter of 2012, we reported gross margins down year-over-year of 30 basis points.

然後總計； 2012 年第二季度，我們的毛利率年減了 30 個基點。

But without gas inflation, it would have been minus 21 basis points.

但如果沒有天然氣通膨，通膨率將是負 21 個基點。

In the third quarter, we reported up 5 basis points total margin; without gas inflation, it would have been up 12 basis points.

第三季度，我們的總利潤率上升了 5 個基點；如果沒有天然氣通膨，這一數字將會上漲 12 個基點。

And in the fourth quarter, both reported and without that minor amount of gas deflation, minus 3 basis points.

第四季度，兩者均報告了負 3 個基點的天然氣通貨緊縮，但沒有小額天然氣通貨緊縮。

Now I'll focus my attention on the without gas column.

現在我將把注意力集中在沒有氣柱上。

Note again that in Q4, gas really didn't have an effect anyway.

再次注意，在第四季度，天然氣確實沒有產生任何影響。

As you can see from these overall numbers, the core merchandising gross margin in fourth quarter was 10 basis points lower year-over-year.

從這些總體數據中可以看出，第四季核心商品毛利率年減了 10 個基點。

Actually, a small relative improvement from the minus 14 basis points in Q3 and the minus 16 basis points in Q2 on a year-over-year comparison.

實際上，與去年同期相比，較第三季的負 14 個基點和第二季的負 16 個基點略有相對改善。

Ancillary business gross margins contributed a small amount, up 1 basis point.

輔助業務毛利率貢獻較小，上升1個基點。

Unlike prior quarters, where our gas business -- and again, as inflationary price trends impacted the gross margin matrix, it didn't really do a whole lot here, the fourth quarter.

與前幾季不同的是，我們的天然氣業務——而且，由於通膨價格趨勢影響了毛利率矩陣，第四季度它並沒有真正發揮多大作用。

The core merchandising categories, food and sundries along with fresh foods were slightly higher, while nonfoods categories, hardlines and softlines margins, were a bit lower.

核心商品類別、食品和雜貨以及新鮮食品的利潤率略高，而非食品類別、硬品和軟品的利潤率略低。

The 2% reward feature of our executive membership was incrementally higher, or negatively impacted gross margin by 2 basis points, as I mentioned.

正如我所提到的，我們行政會員的 2% 獎勵功能逐漸提高，或者說對毛利率產生了 2 個基點的負面影響。

And again, LIFO, while we did have a charge of $11.5 million this year, that compared to a $32 million charge in the fourth quarter last year.

再說一次，後進先出法，雖然我們今年確實有 1150 萬美元的費用，但去年第四季的費用為 3,200 萬美元。

So that represented an 8 basis point improvement to our reported margin year-over-year.

因此，我們報告的利潤率比去年同期提高了 8 個基點。

And we believe our margins are fine.

我們相信我們的利潤率很好。

Our inventories are clean.

我們的庫存是乾淨的。

We had a great fiscal year-end fiscal inventory results.

我們的財年末財務庫存表現非常出色。

In all, as you heard from us in the past, we remain committed to driving top-line sales as we enter the Christmas holiday season and into calendar 2013.

總而言之，正如您過去從我們那裡聽到的那樣，隨著聖誕假期的到來和 2013 年的到來，我們仍然致力於推動營收成長。

Moving on to SG&A, our SG&A percentage in the fourth quarter year-over-year were lower or better by 18 basis points, coming in at 9.66% of sales in Q4 compared to 9.84% in last year's Q4.

說到 SG&A，我們第四季的 SG&A 百分比年減或上升了 18 個基點，佔第四季銷售額的 9.66%，而去年第四季為 9.84%。

Again, if you would jot down just a few numbers.

再說一遍，如果你只記下幾個數字。

The same six columns -- first, second, third and fourth quarters, operations, core operations, central, equity, RSUs, and total.

同樣的六列——第一、第二、第三和第四季、營運、核心營運、中央、股本、受限單位和總計。

So again, going across, for core operations, in the second quarter, we reported an improvement or plus 25 basis points.

因此，再次回顧第二季度的核心業務，我們報告改善或增加了 25 個基點。

Plus means lower SG&A.

Plus 意味著較低的 SG&A。

Without gas inflation, it was plus 18 basis points.

如果沒有天然氣通膨，則上漲 18 個基點。

In the third quarter, plus 10 basis points and plus 4 basis points.

第三季加10個基點，加4個基點。

And in the fourth quarter, plus 12 basis points and plus 13 basis points.

而第四季度，又加12個基點，又加13個基點。

Central, in the second quarter, plus 5 basis points and plus 4 basis points.

季比，第二季加5個基點，加4個基點。

In the third quarter, minus 8 basis points and minus 9 basis points.

第三季負8個基點和負9個基點。

And in the fourth quarter, plus 6 basis points and plus 6 basis points.

而第四季又加6個基點，加6個基點。

RSUs, minus 1 basis points and minus 1 basis points in the second quarter; zero and zero in both the third quarter and zero and zero in the fourth quarter.

RSU，負1個基點，第二季負1個基點；第三季為零和零，第四季為零和零。

And then total.

然後總計。

For the second quarter year-over-year, we reported SG&A lower or plus 29 basis points; without gas, plus 21 basis points.

我們報告第二季的 SG&A 年減或增加 29 個基點；不含天然氣，加 21 個基點。

In the third quarter, plus 2 basis points and minus 5 basis points.

第三季度，正2個基點，負5個基點。

And in the fourth quarter, plus 18 basis points, and there is a bit of rounding to plus 19 basis points.

第四季增加了 18 個基點，並進行了一些四捨五入，增加了 19 個基點。

So again, that is the matrix that I will talk about.

這就是我要討論的矩陣。

In terms of a little editorial here, again, operations were lower or better by 12 basis points year-over-year as reported; excluding the negative impact of very slightly deflationary gasoline, the core was actually better by 13 basis points.

再次，就社論而言，據報道，運營情況同比下降或好轉 12 個基點；排除汽油輕微通貨緊縮的負面影響，核心指數實際上提高了 13 個基點。

Within core operations, our payroll as a percent of sales improved year-over-year in the fourth quarter by 6 basis points, with a 2 basis point offset to the healthcare cost lines.

在核心業務中，第四季度我們的薪資佔銷售額的百分比年增了 6 個基點，其中醫療保健成本線抵銷了 2 個基點。

Our central expenses were better year-over-year or lower by 6 basis points.

我們的中心費用較去年同期好轉或下降了 6 個基點。

This is notwithstanding higher year-over-year IT costs related to our IT modernization efforts of our systems that we have embarked on.

儘管我們已經開始對系統進行 IT 現代化工作，但 IT 成本卻逐年上升。

So overall, a continued focus, I think, on expense reduction or expense improvement, and we think that was evident in the fourth quarter.

因此，總的來說，我認為，持續關注費用減少或費用改善，我們認為這在第四季度很明顯。

I will make one other comment.

我將發表另一項評論。

On the income statement, in terms of formatting, you may note -- or you probably haven't noted yet -- that we have combined our former income statement line item provision for repaired assets and closing costs within SG&A because of its immaterial amount.

在損益表中，就格式而言，您可能會注意到（或者您可能還沒有註意到），我們​​已將先前的損益表行項目準備金中的修復資產和銷售管理費用(SG&A) 結帳成本合併在一起，因為其金額並不重要。

I will mention that in the fourth quarter of 2011, we had a charge of $2 million in the quarter on that line, so that is added to SG&A.

我要提到的是，在 2011 年第四季度，我們在該季度的該行費用為 200 萬美元，因此已添加到 SG&A 中。

In Q4 2012, we had a minor charge of a few hundred thousand dollars.

2012 年第四季度，我們收取了幾十萬美元的小額費用。

So both minor and historically very minor, and we will reclassify accordingly.

因此，無論是輕微的還是歷史上非常輕微的，我們都會相應地重新分類。

In terms of factors that will impact SG&A in 2013, the main items will continue to be sales trends, health care costs and gasoline sales and deflation in terms of looking at percentages.

就影響 2013 年 SG&A 的因素而言，主要項目仍將是銷售趨勢、醫療保健成本和汽油銷售以及按百分比計算的通貨緊縮。

And the increasing penetration of certain of our international operations, which generally have lower overall SG&A percentages.

我們某些國際業務的滲透率不斷提高，而這些業務的整體銷售、管理和行政費用 (SG&A) 百分比通常較低。

In terms of the next line item, preopening expenses, preopening expenses were $22 million last year in the quarter as compared to $15 million this year; so $7 million lower or three basis points better.

就下一項而言，開業前費用，去年本季開業前費用為 2,200 萬美元，而今年為 1,500 萬美元；因此，減少 700 萬美元，或增加 3 個基點。

Note as I mentioned earlier, last year we had 12 openings in the quarter compared to six this year.

請注意，正如我之前提到的，去年本季我們有 12 個職缺，而今年只有 6 個。

All told, operating income in the fourth quarter was up just under 25% year-over-year, from $762 million last year in the quarter to $949 million this year, or a decrease of increase of $187 million.

總而言之，第四季營業收入年增近 25%，從去年該季度的 7.62 億美元增至今年的 9.49 億美元，增幅減少了 1.87 億美元。

Again, this includes the benefit of the extra week and the other items mentioned earlier.

同樣，這包括額外一周的好處和前面提到的其他項目。

In terms of interest and other, below the operating income line, reported interest expense was lower year-over-year by $14 million, with Q4 2012 coming in at $22 million versus $36 million in last year's fourth quarter.

在利息和其他方面，在營業收入線以下，報告的利息支出年減了 1,400 萬美元，2012 年第四季為 2,200 萬美元，而去年第四季為 3,600 萬美元。

These amounts, again, mainly reflect the interest expense on the previously $2 billion offering in February of 2007.

這些金額同樣主要反映了 2007 年 2 月 20 億美元發行的利息支出。

$900 million of that, of course, on March -- this past March 15 was paid off.

當然，其中 9 億美元是在 3 月（即剛剛過去的 3 月 15 日）還清的。

And again, the anticipated pretax interest savings, given that we're essentially paying off 5% plus debt and foregoing interest income on a cash that is earning sub 50 basis points, that is around $46 million pretax a year.

再說一遍，考慮到我們基本上還清了 5% 以上的債務，並以賺取低於 50 個基點的現金支付利息收入，預計稅前利息節省每年約為 4,600 萬美元。

For the fourth quarter, this represented a reduction in interest expense of $15 million.

第四季利息支出減少了 1500 萬美元。

And again, on an annual basis, about $46 million.

同樣，每年約 4600 萬美元。

In terms of interest income and other, it was lower year-over-year by $8 million, coming in at $38 million this year in the quarter versus $46 million last year.

在利息收入和其他方面，本季年減 800 萬美元，為 3,800 萬美元，而去年為 4,600 萬美元。

It was lower year-over-year largely due to income last year in the fourth quarter related to gains on nonfunctional currencies held by certain of our foreign operations.

年比下降主要是由於去年第四季的收入與我們某些海外業務持有的非功能性貨幣收益有關。

Primarily, this represented the US dollars that were being held in Costco Mexico, which of course in Mexico they are nonfunctional currency.

主要代表墨西哥好市多持有的美元，當然在墨西哥它們是非功能性貨幣。

Historically, we had always -- we and our partner had always kept a portion of our cash expressed in dollars.

從歷史上看，我們和我們的合作夥伴總是保留一部分以美元表示的現金。

And again, we benefited on that, given the weakening peso during this period of time.

鑑於這段時間比索的疲軟，我們再次從中受益。

Overall, reported pretax income was up 25%, from $772 million last year to $965 million this year.

總體而言，報告的稅前收入成長了 25%，從去年的 7.72 億美元增加到今年的 9.65 億美元。

Tax rate.

稅率。

Our Company's reported tax rate in this quarter came in at 35.6%.

本季我們公司的報告稅率為35.6%。

This is about 30 basis points higher than last year's fourth-quarter rate of 35.3%.

這比去年第四季的35.3%高出約30個基點。

The income tax recorded due to the Costco Mexico dividend, the $8.3 million amount, accounted for about 85 basis points of our fourth-quarter 2012 tax rate.

Costco 墨西哥分紅記錄的所得稅金額為 830 萬美元，占我們 2012 年第四季稅率的約 85 個基點。

And this was offset by year-over-year -- this was offset year-over-year by increasing earnings attributed to our foreign operations, again, which generally have had a little lower rate.

這被同比所抵消——這又被我們海外業務的收入增加所抵消，而海外業務的利潤率通常略低。

Now for a quick rundown of a few other items.

現在快速概述其他一些項目。

The balance sheet was included in the press release this morning.

資產負債表已包含在今天上午的新聞稿中。

Some of you have asked me for the depreciation and amortization in the fourth quarter.

你們有些人問我第四季的折舊和攤提。

For the quarter, it was $292 million, which then for the year was $908 million.

該季度為 2.92 億美元，當年為 9.08 億美元。

We always look at our Accounts Payable ratios.

我們始終關注應付帳款比率。

On the balance sheet, it shows an improvement from 99% AP as a percent of inventories last year to 103%.

在資產負債表上，AP佔存貨的比例從去年的99%提高到103%。

A big chunk of that difference there would be the payables on non-merchandising payables, given all the construction activities we have going on.

考慮到我們正在進行的所有建設活動，其中很大一部分差異將是非商品應付帳款。

So if we take out that and look at just merchandising payables and merchandising inventories, it was about the same year-over-year, 91% last year and 90% this year at quarter end.

因此，如果我們去掉這一點，只看銷售應付帳款和銷售庫存，季度末的同比情況大致相同，去年為 91%，今年為 90%。

Average inventory per warehouse was up $458,000 or about 4%.

每個倉庫的平均庫存增加了 458,000 美元，約 4%。

Last year in the quarter -- at fourth quarter end, our average inventory per warehouse was $11.2 million, and this year $11.67 million.

去年第四季末，我們每個倉庫的平均庫存為 1,120 萬美元，今年為 1,167 萬美元。

Electronics was about half of that, a little over half of that, $240,000, as we've been experiencing improving sales trends in that department.

電子產品約佔其中的一半，略多於一半，即 24 萬美元，因為我們一直在該部門看到銷售趨勢的改善。

And as you know, we continue to focus on the bigger-ticket items, selling lots of things like 60-inch and 80-inch TVs.

如您所知，我們繼續專注於高價商品，銷售大量產品，例如 60 吋和 80 吋電視。

The remaining balance of the variance is spread among many departments.

剩餘的差異餘額分攤到許多部門。

Again, good inventory showing, we believe, and good fiscal year-end inventory results.

我們相信，庫存顯示良好，財年末庫存結果也良好。

In terms of CapEx, in the fourth quarter, we spent $580 million.

就資本支出而言，第四季我們花了 5.8 億美元。

And for all of 2012, just a shade under $1.5 billion.

2012 年全年，這一數字略低於 15 億美元。

In fiscal 2013, our CapEx is actually climbing quite a bit, given the increased level of new openings, as well as investment in operations and infrastructure, such as depots in both Japan and Taiwan, along with increased investment in IT relating to our systems modernization projects that I had mentioned earlier.

2013 財年，我們的資本支出實際上大幅攀升，原因是新開業數量的增加，以及對營運和基礎設施（例如日本和台灣的倉庫）的投資的增加，以及與我們系統現代化相關的IT 投資的增加我之前提到的項目。

Our current estimate for CapEx in fiscal 2013 as compared to the $1.5 billion last year is somewhere in the range of $1.8 billion to $2 billion.

我們目前對 2013 財年資本支出的估計為 18 億至 20 億美元，而去年為 15 億美元。

In terms of our dividend, earlier in May, we increased our quarterly dividend 14.5%, from $0.24 a share or $0.96 a share on an annual basis, to $0.275 a share per quarter, or $1.10 a share annualized.

就股息而言，5 月初，我們將季度股息提高了 14.5%，從每股 0.24 美元或年化每股 0.96 美元增至每季每股 0.275 美元，或年化每股 1.10 美元。

This annualized dividend amount represents a total cost to the Company of just about $480 million.

這一年化股息金額代表該公司的總成本約為 4.8 億美元。

In terms of expansion, quarterly, we expect to open nine warehouses in the first quarter, which ends in late November.

在季度擴張方面，我們預計在 11 月底結束的第一季開設 9 個倉庫。

An additional six in the second quarter, most of which, again, is before -- all but one of which I believe is before calendar year end.

第二季度還有另外六個，其中大部分是在日曆年結束之前——除了一個之外，我認為所有這些都是在日曆年結束之前。

In the third quarter, which stretches roughly mid-February to roughly mid-May, seven.

第三季度，大約從二月中旬到五月中旬，七。

And in fourth quarter, the 16 weeks from roughly mid-May to the end of August, eight.

第四季度，從 5 月中旬到 8 月底的 16 週，共 8 週。

That would bring us to 30 for the year.

這將使我們今年的數量達到 30 個。

Now, that is the budget.

現在，這就是預算。

As I mentioned earlier, we are talking about 27 to 30, and inevitably, there's always a few that fall out.

正如我之前提到的，我們談論的是 27 到 30 個，不可避免地，總是會有一些失敗。

But happy to report that we've got a lot going on between now and calendar year-end.

但很高興地告訴大家，從現在到年底我們有很多事情要做。

Assuming we added 30 on a base of 608, that would be about a 5% square footage growth, which was certainly be our largest square footage expansion in years.

假設我們在 608 棟的基礎上增加 30 棟，面積將增加約 5%，這無疑是我們多年來最大的面積擴張。

Also, as of fiscal year-end, our total square footage was 86,937,000 square feet.

此外，截至財年末，我們的總面積為 86,937,000 平方英尺。

In terms of stock repurchase, for the year, we purchased 7.3 million shares at an average price of $84.75, bringing total expenditures over the entire fiscal year to $617 million, which I believe is about the same as -- roughly the same, within $10 million or $20 million, of the amount we spent in 2011.

在股票回購方面，這一年我們以84.75美元的平均價格購買了730萬股股票，使整個財年的總支出達到6.17億美元，我認為這個數字大約在10美元以內。2011 年我們花費的金額為100 萬或2000 萬美元。

With that, as always, we will have a supplemental information packet, and that will be posted on the Costco Investor Relations site later this morning.

像往常一樣，我們將收到一個補充資訊包，並將於今天上午晚些時候發佈在 Costco 投資者關係網站上。

And with that, I will turn it back over to Tabitha for Q&A.

接下來，我會將其轉回給塔比莎進行問答。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) John Heinbockel, Guggenheim Securities.

（操作員指令）John Heinbockel，古根漢證券公司。

Hey, Richard.

嘿，理查德。

It's actually Steve Forbes on for John today.

今天實際上是史蒂夫·福布斯為約翰代言。

Regarding inflation, when do you expect to see vendor price increase, and what magnitude are the Company's buyers talking about?

關於通貨膨脹，您預期供應商價格何時會上漲，公司買家談論的幅度是多少？

Well, this is very general.

嗯，這很一般。

Probably the standout area are things like protein, pork, beef and poultry.

突出的領域可能是蛋白質、豬肉、牛肉和家禽等。

And the anticipation is over the next several months, given some of the issues with wheat and corn, that that will continue to go up.

考慮到小麥和玉米的一些問題，預計未來幾個月價格將繼續上升。

Some of the bakery raw materials for the same reason will go up.

有些烘焙原料也會因為同樣的原因而上漲。

And they are still talking in the mid-single-digit or a little higher range.

他們的談話仍處於中個位數或稍高的範圍內。

But that is a guess at this point.

但這只是目前的猜測。

Don't hear a lot on the other areas.

其他方面的消息不多。

In fact, in just the first month, if you will, of this fiscal year, in September, we saw essentially Companywide, as reflected through the LIFO calculation, of almost exactly flat.

事實上，就在本財年的第一個月（如果你願意的話），即 9 月份，我們看到，正如透過後進先出法計算所反映的那樣，整個公司的業績幾乎完全持平。

I mean, one basis point of inflation.

我的意思是，通貨膨脹的一個基點。

And there was a little bit -- again less -- well less than half a percentage point in the food and sundries categories, and a little bit of deflation in things like apparel and electronics.

食品和雜貨品類出現了一點——同樣更少——遠不到半個百分點，服裝和電子產品等品類也出現了一點通貨緊縮。

And again, the apparel has more to do, I think, with -- some of those prices are down from a year ago, when they were quite high, and still higher than a few years ago.

我認為，服裝的價格與一年前相比有所下降，當時的價格相當高，但仍然高於幾年前。

So if you add it all up, modest inflation is the expectation, with it being geared more toward some of the fresh food items and raw material food ingredients.

因此，如果你把所有這些加起來，溫和的通膨是預期的，它更多地針對一些新鮮食品和原料食品成分。

Right, and I guess about handling the pass-through, do you guys expect to pass everything through, or --?

是的，我想關於處理傳遞，你們希望傳遞所有內容，還是──？

Because I think you said the margin on food and sundries was up for the quarter, right?

因為我認為您說過本季食品和雜貨的利潤上升，對嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Generally -- sometimes we do and sometimes we don't.

一般來說——有時我們會這樣做，有時我們不會這樣做。

Generally speaking, things like refrigerated fresh foods, meat and things like that, those prices change daily and weekly.

一般來說，像是冷藏新鮮食品、肉類之類的東西，這些價格每天和每週都會變化。

And certainly the input costs change daily and weekly in some cases, and the sales prices.

當然，在某些情況下，投入成本每天和每週都會發生變化，銷售價格也會改變。

We, like everyone in the fresh foods business, are price checking our competition and adjusting accordingly.

與生鮮食品行業的每個人一樣，我們正在檢查我們的競爭對手的價格並進行相應的調整。

Now as you know from history, there have been times when we are not going to change the cost of a 16-pack of muffins or the cost of the slice of pizza when cheese went up.

正如您從歷史中知道的那樣，有時當起司上漲時，我們不會改變 16 包鬆餅的價格或披薩片的價格。

But generally speaking, there is not those outsize areas.

但整體來說，不存在那些過大的區域。

Now that being said also, things like fresh meat are uber-competitive, and we are out there.

話雖這麼說，像新鮮肉類這樣的東西具有超級競爭力，我們就在那裡。

Where we can gain a little strength in that area is the higher-end cuts of beef and some of the organic aspects of beef, where we can show a greater savings and make a little better margin.

我們可以在該領域獲得一點優勢的是高端牛肉切塊和牛肉的一些有機方面，我們可以在這些方面顯示出更大的節省並獲得更好的利潤。

But those are still small percentages of the total sales.

但這些仍然只佔總銷售額的一小部分。

Okay.

好的。

And then just looking at expansion longer-term.

然後只考慮長期擴張。

Obviously 27 to 30, as you said, is the largest you guys have done.

顯然27到30，正如你所說，是你們做過的最大的。

But what would you say is the principal bottleneck when it comes to club expansion when you get to that high upper 20s range?

但是，當你達到 20 多歲的高水準時，你認為俱樂部擴張的主要瓶頸是什麼？

And then what would you say is your maximum amount of clubs to add within a year that you can execute at a high level?

那麼您認為一年內您可以高水準執行的最大俱樂部數量是多少？

Well, we've always, as you know, been hands-on.

嗯，正如你所知，我們一直都是親力親為。

And I think -- I'm guessing operationally the collective view is we can easily handle 30.

我認為——我猜從操作上來說，集體觀點是我們可以輕鬆處理 30 個。

The challenge is -- operationally.

挑戰在於——操作上。

The bottleneck really has been ourselves in terms of, one, is it takes a little longer to find and develop sites in some of these foreign countries, like Asia, and subject to other appeal processes.

瓶頸確實在於我們自己，第一，在亞洲等一些外國國家/地區尋找和開發站點需要更長的時間，並且需要遵守其他上訴程序。

There are some countries where the competitors can appeal you just to appeal you and slow you down, which isn't very nice.

在某些國家/地區，競爭對手可以吸引您，只是為了吸引您並減慢您的速度，這不是很好。

But at the end of the day, I think we've got a lot more in the pipeline finally.

但歸根結底，我認為我們終於有了更多的成果。

We have more people devoted to real estate.

我們有更多的人致力於房地產。

We have people on the ground physically in I believe every country over the last couple of years.

我相信在過去的幾年裡，我們在每個國家都派駐了人員。

So again, the pipeline is more filled, and I think that is evidenced in the amount that we are doing in some of these countries where it does take longer, like some of the Asian countries, Australia and the like.

再說一遍，管道已經填滿了，我認為這從我們在一些國家所做的工作中得到了證明，這些國家確實需要更長的時間，例如一些亞洲國家、澳洲等。

So I think the bigger bottleneck was us, and it's finally picking up a little bit.

所以我認為更大的瓶頸是我們，現在終於有所好轉了。

All right.

好的。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Charles Grom, Deutsche Bank.

查爾斯‧格羅姆，德意志銀行。

Charles, your line is open.

查爾斯，您的線路已開通。

If you have placed your line on mute, please un-mute.

如果您已將線路靜音，請取消靜音。

If your line is open, please go ahead.

如果您的線路空閒，請繼續。

Okay, their question has been withdrawn.

好的，他們的問題已被撤回。

Your next question comes from the line of Chuck Cerankosky, Northcoast Research.

您的下一個問題來自北海岸研究中心的 Chuck Cerankosky。

Good morning, Richard.

早上好，理查德。

Want to go through a couple of things with you, start with on the fuel.

想和你一起經歷一些事情，從燃料開始。

Could you talk about how profitable fuel was in the quarter and what the comp gallons were?

您能否談談該季度燃料的獲利情況以及補償加侖數是多少？

Well, I think first, the profitability, we never talk about how profitable it is.

嗯，我認為首先是盈利能力，我們從不談論它的盈利能力如何。

We talk about how it is year-over-year when there is outsized changes to it, because it can fluctuate quite a bit.

我們談論的是每年發生巨大變化時的情況，因為它可能會波動很大。

Actually on a quarter-over-quarter basis, year-over-year, it was pretty -- less than a penny, I think, of difference, so really nothing to speak of there.

實際上，從季度環比、同比來看，情況相當不錯——我認為差異不到一分錢，所以真的沒什麼好說的。

As you know, when prices are going down, profits are up, and there was some of that both this fiscal quarter as well as the fourth quarter of last year.

如您所知，當價格下降時，利潤就會上升，本財季和去年第四季都有一些利潤上升。

So both quarters had some pretty good profits year-over-year.

因此，兩季的利潤比去年同期都相當不錯。

And in terms of, Chuck, the other question was --?

就查克而言，另一個問題是──？

Fuel, comparable gallons.

燃料，可比加侖。

Our comp gallons in the fourth quarter are 6%, and that compares to 8% in Q3.

我們第四季的補償加侖數為 6%，而第三季為 8%。

Quite a bit more in September, for whatever reason; I guess because prices were going back up.

無論出於何種原因，九月的數量都多得多；我猜是因為價格回升了。

Yes, that's it.

對，就是那樣。

All right.

好的。

Now what is finished -- or excuse me -- at the end of the fiscal year, what was your square footage?

現在，請原諒，在本財年結束時，你們的建築面積是多少？

Let's see here.

讓我們看看這裡。

It was 86.937 million, 86 million.

是8693.7萬，8600萬。

When you are looking at the nice performance you had, Richard, in the fourth quarter, what elements of the gross profit margin and the SG&A -- especially the SG&A -- improvement do you think are sustainable into the new year?

理查德，當您審視第四季度的良好業績時，您認為毛利率和銷售及一般費用（特別是銷售及一般費用）的哪些要素可以持續到新的一年？

I think the easiest sustainable things for the next few quarters are those things that we've done like the debt paydown, the Mexico acquisition and the membership fee increase and how that impacts deferred accounting.

我認為未來幾季最容易可持續的事情是我們所做的事情，例如償還債務、墨西哥收購和會員費增加以及這對遞延會計的影響。

So all those things are -- they are permanent for a year, they continue for a year, and then it is part of the base.

所以所有這些東西都是——它們是永久性的一年，它們持續一年，然後它就成為基地的一部分。

Beyond that, I think that -- the sales drive, you always heard from us we are top-line company.

除此之外，我認為——銷售驅動，你總是聽到我們說我們是頂級公司。

Certainly, our sales strength -- relative sales strength has helped us here.

當然，我們的銷售實力－相對銷售實力在這方面對我們有幫助。

I think the focus on little things -- I've thrown out some examples over the last months and quarters about in the past year one of the focus items is overtime hours.

我認為重點放在小事上——我在過去的幾個月和幾個季度中列舉了一些例子，關於過去一年的重點項目之一是加班時間。

And I think we showed for the first 40 or so weeks of the fiscal year in one of our budget meetings that while aggregate hours were up 3.5% or so for the year, overtime hours were down 25%.

我認為我們在一次預算會議上表明，在本財年的前 40 週左右，雖然全年總工時增加了 3.5% 左右，但加班時間卻減少了 25%。

Not a lot of money, maybe $10 million, $15 million a year, but it's real, and maybe it goes over -- maybe you don't even get it all in the first year.

錢不是很多，也許一年1000萬、1500萬美元，但它是真實的，也許它會過去——也許你甚至在第一年都沒有得到全部。

You get it over a couple years.

幾年後你就會得到它。

But those are the kinds of things that we see out there.

但這些就是我們在外面看到的東西。

Is that sustainable?

這是可持續的嗎？

What is sustainable is our efforts to do it.

可持續的是我們的努力。

I think on the margin side, as I've said in the past, it is more us than them, whoever them is, when we are competing with them.

我認為在邊緣方面，正如我過去所說，當我們與他們競爭時，無論他們是誰，我們比他們更多。

We tend to be proactive in it.

我們傾向於積極主動。

We've been asked about the question -- now that some of the, quote, investing in price is starting to anniversary from when it was being discussed a year ago, does that mean it is over or there is more of it?

我們被問到這樣一個問題——現在一些報價投資價格從一年前討論開始已經週年了，這是否意味著它已經結束了還是還有更多？

Again, we don't talk about that.

再說一次，我們不談論這個。

I can assure you that when things are good, we are going to continue to do things to drive the business.

我可以向您保證，當情況良好時，我們將繼續採取措施來推動業務發展。

All right, thanks.

好的，謝謝。

And a couple more things, Richard.

還有一些事情，理查德。

Do you have a full-year fuel sales figure that you can give us at this time?

現在您可以向我們提供全年燃油銷售數據嗎？

And can you comment on what the spike in retail gasoline prices in California on the fuel prices there, what is that doing to traffic and gasoline sales?

您能否評論一下加州零售汽油價格的飆升對當地燃油價格的影響，這對交通和汽油銷售有何影響？

I don't have anything specific on the total dollars.

我沒有關於總金額的具體資訊。

I think for the year, it was like 12% or so of sales.

我認為這一年的銷售額大約佔 12% 左右。

The craziness in California had to do with all the moons lined up bad, and there was several days there of incredible supply shortage.

加州的瘋狂現象與所有衛星排列不良有關，並且有幾天出現了令人難以置信的供應短缺。

As you would expect, we are a major consumer, I think, in the greater LA market.

正如您所料，我認為我們是洛杉磯大市場的主要消費者。

We have close to 40 locations.

我們有近 40 個地點。

And at the peak -- or at the trough, I guess, we had 16 or so of those stations closed for one or two days.

在高峰期——或者在低谷期，我猜，我們有 16 個左右的車站關閉了一兩天。

Happily, that ended, I believe, Sunday, this [past] Sunday and we are back to normal generally.

令人高興的是，我相信這一切在周日、上週日就結束了，我們總體上恢復正常了。

The impact to us was, again, it did get people -- my sense was -- what I heard was that it was a little bit of the concern that there is gas shortage everywhere and people were topping off their tanks, which created more volume.

對我們的影響是，它確實讓人們——我的感覺是——我聽到的是，人們有點擔心各地都存在天然氣短缺，人們正在加滿他們的油箱，這創造了更多的容量。

We saw a little bump in sales at those locations in-store.

我們看到店內這些地點的銷售額略有上升。

But we were also in some cases losing money at the gas pump.

但在某些情況下，我們在加油站上也會賠錢。

So my guess is it wasn't a big impact to us on the bottom line.

所以我的猜測是，這對我們的利潤沒有太大影響。

We lost money, no doubt, in gas, and made money with a few extra cars in the parking lot coming to get gas.

毫無疑問，我們在汽油方面賠了錢，而透過在停車場多開幾輛車來加油來賺錢。

It is really a blip for a few days in California, Southern California.

這幾天在南加州的加州確實是曇花一現。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Deborah Weinswig, Citi.

黛博拉‧溫斯維格，花旗銀行。

Hi, Richard.

嗨，理查德。

This is Nathan Rich filling in for Deb today.

我是內森·里奇 (Nathan Rich)，今天接替黛布 (Deb)。

I wanted to go back to the decision that you guys made to accelerate club growth.

我想回顧一下你們為加速俱樂部發展所做的決定。

I was just wondering if you could provide a little bit more detail on where the international expansion is going to come, in terms of what markets you are focused on.

我只是想知道您是否可以提供更多關於國際擴張將在哪裡以及您關注的市場方面的詳細資訊。

And also, are there any new markets internationally?

另外，國際上有沒有新的市場？

Well, the markets -- in Canada, we open a couple or three a year, maybe sometimes one, maybe three, but probably two to three on average.

嗯，在加拿大，我們每年開設一到三個市場，有時可能是一個，也許三個，但平均可能是兩到三個。

In Mexico, we will probably speed it up a little.

在墨西哥，我們可能會加快一點速度。

Over the last five years, I think we've opened two locations, so 0.4 locations a year historically over the last five years.

在過去五年中，我認為我們開設了兩家分店，因此過去五年中每年開設 0.4 家分店。

It is going to take a little time here, but I would expect that to grow at least two or three a year starting after this year.

這需要一點時間，但我預計從今年開始，每年至少會成長兩到三個。

We've got one or two in the UK this year, after a few years of no growth.

經過幾年沒有成長，今年我們在英國有了一兩個。

But the big expansion for us continues to be the three Asian countries where we are at, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, and Australia.

但對我們來說，最大的擴張仍然是我們所在的三個亞洲國家：韓國、台灣、日本以及澳洲。

Now all those countries take a little longer because of the complexity.

現在，由於複雜性，所有這些國家都需要更長的時間。

These are building up, not out, and multi-floors and it takes a little longer.

這些是在建設中，而不是在外面，並且是多層的，並且需要更長的時間。

But again, we've got the pipeline better -- full.

但我們再次強調，我們的管道已經滿了。

The only other things we talked about is Europe, and I can't -- we are pursuing in a couple of Western European countries.

我們唯一談論的其他事情是歐洲，但我不能——我們正在幾個西歐國家進行追求。

And if all goes well, maybe five years from now, we'll have a few locations open in each.

如果一切順利，也許五年後，我們將在每個地區開設一些分店。

But it's hard -- I cannot tell you whether it is going to be 12 months or 30 months before we have our first opening in any country over there.

但這很難——我無法告訴你是需要 12 個月還是 30 個月，我們才能在任何國家開設第一家店。

It just (inaudible).

只是（聽不清楚）。

Okay, great.

好的，太好了。

And then also, if I could ask a question.

然後，我是否可以問一個問題。

It seems like you saw some improvement in food margins, both food and sundries and fresh foods.

看來您看到食品利潤率有所改善，包括食品、雜貨和新鮮食品。

Those have been trending flat to down over the past several quarters.

在過去幾個季度中，這些數字一直呈現持平或下降的趨勢。

I was just wondering what caused the change in trend this quarter.

我只是想知道是什麼導致了本季趨勢的變化。

Without looking deep into it, my guess is some of it has to do with the fact that it was a year ago when we were explaining that there were some anecdotal comments I made, probably about the fact that we maintain pricing on some highly inflationary cost items, like the food court with cheese pizza, like the bakery.

在不深入研究的情況下，我的猜測是，其中一些與一年前的事實有關，當時我們解釋說，我發表了一些軼事評論，可能是關於我們維持對某些高通膨成本的定價這一事實項目，例如提供起司披薩的美食廣場，例如麵包店。

And so part of that is I think just the cycling of perhaps some unusual things the other way.

因此，我認為其中一部分可能是一些不尋常的事情以另一種方式循環。

But I think a little of it -- not a lot of it, but a little bit of it, has to do with increasing penetration in some fresh food items with the KS, the Kirkland Signature name.

但我認為其中有一點——不是很多，但有一點，與一些帶有 KS（柯克蘭簽名名稱）的新鮮食品的滲透率不斷提高有關。

Some of it has to do with a comment I mentioned earlier about organic.

其中一些與我之前提到的有關有機的評論有關。

These are small things, but there is more and more of them.

這些都是小事，但是越來越多。

If we can take $20 million to $30 million out of a few hundred million dollars a year of ground beef sales from a highly competitive basic ground beef item and put it into organic, that is good for us because we can sell it because we have that kind of member.

如果我們能從競爭激烈的基本碎牛肉產品中每年幾億美元的碎牛肉銷售額中取出2000 萬至3000 萬美元，並將其投入有機產品中，這對我們有好處，因為我們可以出售它，因為我們有一種會員。

It is good for us because that member sees -- it is a higher price point item, but a member sees an even greater relative value, because those are the items that are competitive out there.

這對我們有好處，因為該會員會看到——這是一個更高價位的商品，但會員會看到更大的相對價值，因為這些商品在市場上具有競爭力。

So we can provide the customer more and do more.

所以我們可以為客戶提供更多，做更多。

So all those things, I think, add up.

所以我認為所有這些事情加起來。

Okay, great.

好的，太好了。

And then just lastly, if I could, interested to hear what you are seeing in terms of early selling for fall and holiday.

最後，如果可以的話，我有興趣聽聽您對秋季和假期提前銷售的看法。

And if you could comment on TVs in particular, which I think have been pretty good for you recently.

如果你能特別評論一下電視，我認為最近這對你來說非常好。

On the latter, the TVs have been strong the last couple of months that we reported, in large part, I think, because we focus on the higher end or the bigger ticket size.

就後者而言，我們報道的過去幾個月電視表現強勁，我認為這在很大程度上是因為我們專注於高端或更大的票價。

And we are doing a lot of -- we've got a lot of TV strength, if you will, in the 60- to 80-inch TVs.

我們正在做很多——如果你願意的話，我們在 60 到 80 吋電視方面擁有很多電視優勢。

So the bigger we do, we do a little better in those.

因此，我們做得越大，在這些方面做得越好。

On seasonal, again, it is still early.

再說一次，就季節性而言，現在還早。

So far, so good.

到目前為止，一切都很好。

I don't think there has been anything outlandish plus or minus in hearing from the buyers in the last month of budget meetings.

我不認為在上個月的預算會議上聽到買家的意見有什麼奇怪的好處或壞處。

We will have a little more color at the end of October, which is really the more meaningful month.

10月底我們會有更多的色彩，這確實是更有意義的一個月。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks so much, and best of luck.

非常感謝，祝你好運。

Michael Montani, ISI Group.

邁克爾·蒙塔尼，ISI 集團。

Hi, Richard.

嗨，理查德。

I was just going to ask you on the inflation side, you mentioned sort of a low-single-digit increase this quarter for food and sundry.

我只是想問您關於通貨膨脹的問題，您提到本季食品和雜貨的成長率為低個位數。

If you looked across the box, can you just give us a feel for that?

如果你看看盒子的另一面，你能給我們感受一下嗎？

Are we talking 1% to 2% range across the store right now?

我們現在談論的是整個商店 1% 到 2% 的範圍嗎？

No.

不。

Low 10th of a single-digit.

個位數的低 10 位。

It is closer to 1. So not a whole lot.

它更接近 1。所以不是很多。

Okay, and that's across the store (multiple speakers)?

好的，那是在商店對面（多個揚聲器）？

It is all over the board.

一切都在棋盤上。

I was looking just at some items -- I mean, these are -- again, these are anecdotal items.

我只是在看一些項目——我的意思是，這些是——再說一次，這些都是軼事。

But year over year, eggs are up 22%.

但與去年同期相比，雞蛋價格上漲了 22%。

I'm looking down the list here.

我正在查看這裡的清單。

Blueberries, up 37% year-over-year.

藍莓年增37%。

Conversely, you've got items -- always you're going to have some electronics items.

相反，你有一些物品——你總是會有一些電子產品。

But beyond electronics items -- I can't tell you why -- bacon down 17%.

但除了電子產品之外——我無法告訴你原因——培根下降了 17%。

Gasoline down a couple of percent.

汽油價格下降了幾個百分點。

So it is all over the board.

所以一切都是如此。

But overall, when you take the whole basket of things, up very little for the month on an annual basis.

但總體而言，當你考慮整個一籃子事情時，這個月的同比漲幅很小。

And then just thinking about moving forward, if you could see mid-single-digit type inflation on the food side again, does that translate across the store to something, again, that's maybe a couple hundred bps less than that, just given the other categories?

然後想想繼續前進，如果你能再次看到食品方面的中個位數通膨，這是否會在整個商店中轉化為某種東西，再次考慮到另一個因素，這可能比這個少幾百個基點類別？

Not necessarily.

不必要。

First of all, there is no -- when we talk about mid-single-digit inflation, I was really talking about things like the expectations that our buyers have for things like meat and poultry and pork, which again, are more of the extreme inflation categories in terms of talking amongst the buyers.

首先，當我們談論中等個位數的通貨膨脹時，我實際上是在談論諸如我們的買家對肉類、家禽和豬肉等商品的期望，而這些期望又是更加極端的。買家之間談論的通膨類別。

Again, food overall is by no means that level.

再說一次，食物總體上絕不是那個水平。

And then of course as I mentioned, there are a few things that are ever so slightly deflationary right now, like apparel and electronics.

當然，正如我所提到的，目前有一些東西的通貨緊縮程度非常輕微，例如服裝和電子產品。

So really there is -- my guess is inflation is going to be very, very low single digits this year, as we know of today.

所以確實存在——我的猜測是，正如我們今天所知，今年的通貨膨脹率將非常非常低。

Life could change tomorrow.

明天生活可能會改變。

And then just maybe for a minute on the competitive set, are you seeing anything that is noteworthy versus this time last year in terms of how your club competitors are pricing and/or traditional grocers out there?

然後，在競爭環境中，您是否看到與去年同期相比，在俱樂部競爭對手的定價和/或傳統雜貨店的定價方面有什麼值得注意的地方？

Not really.

並不真地。

Okay.

好的。

Just one housekeeping thing was on the FX impact for membership income.

只有一件事是關於外匯對會員收入的影響。

I was getting to around a $7 million impact roughly.

我的影響力大約是 700 萬美元。

Does that make sense to you?

這對你來說有意義嗎？

I think -- hold on a second.

我想——等一下。

I think that's close.

我認為這已經很接近了。

Bear with me a second.

請耐心等待。

$8 million.

800萬美元。

$8 million, okay, great.

800萬美元，好吧，太棒了。

And then just lastly, with the new store openings accelerating and trying to go a bit more international in terms of the mix there, is it possible, Richard, to give us just an understanding a little bit of the preopening expense for international versus a US store generically?

最後，隨著新店開幕的加速，並試圖在組合方面更加國際化，理查德，是否有可能讓我們稍微了解一下國際店與美國店的開業前費用存儲一般？

And also on the CapEx side, given the step-up, is there a way to bucketize that in terms of X amount goes towards IT versus new stores?

另外，在資本支出方面，考慮到支出的增加，是否有辦法將 IT 與新商店的 X 金額分類？

It has more to do -- the international generally is more.

它有更多的事情要做——國際通常有更多的事情要做。

It could be -- these are -- if you just took the number of openings, there is other things to the preopening, too, like when we add a gas station or we open a depot or we open -- all those kinds of things.

可能是——這些是——如果你只計算空缺的數量，那麼預開張還有其他事情，例如當我們添加加油站或我們開設倉庫或我們開放時——所有這些事情。

So generally speaking, this goes back several years, but it used to be like a US warehouse was $1 million, plus or minus a little, and an international -- I say international -- outside of North America -- might have been as much as $1.5 million or $1.75 million.

所以一般來說，這可以追溯到幾年前，但過去就像一個美國倉庫是 100 萬美元，加減一點，而一個國際倉庫——我說的是北美以外的國際倉庫——可能也有同樣多為150 萬美元或175 萬美元。

But those are guesses.

但這些都是猜測。

Yes, it is more in some of those countries.

是的，其中一些國家的情況更多。

But a big chunk of preopening is not just the -- you can't just take the preopening and divide it by number of warehouses and say that's the average for a warehouse, because you've got a lot of other preopenings.

但預先開倉的一大部分不僅僅是——你不能只將預開倉除以倉庫數量，然後說這是倉庫的平均值，因為你還有很多其他預開倉。

Every time we add a gas station, that is going to -- it is a new operation.

每次我們增加一個加油站，這都會是一個新的營運。

And we've done it consistently from day one, but there's a lot of other things in there, as well.

我們從第一天起就一直這樣做，但其中還有很多其他事情。

And just on the CapEx side, as well, Richard.

理查德，在資本支出方面也是如此。

What's that?

那是什麼？

On the CapEx side, as well, in terms of the cost for a warehouse, domestic versus international generically?

在資本支出方面，就倉庫成本而言，一般是國內還是國際？

It is probably 20% to 30% more on average.

平均可能多出 20% 到 30%。

There would be some wide ranges.

會有一些寬範圍。

I think we said in the US and Canada generally that land building and site, when we own, is somewhere in the low to mid 30s.

我想我們在美國和加拿大說過，當我們擁有土地時，土地建設和場地通常在 30 多歲左右。

My guess is overseas it could be in the low 40s on average.

我的猜測是在海外平均可能在 40 多歲左右。

But it could range from mid-30s to high 50s.

但其範圍可能從 30 多歲到 50 多歲。

I mean, all over the board.

我的意思是，全面。

But as you know, some of those higher numbers, we could get a better return on investment.

但如您所知，其中一些數字較高，我們可以獲得更好的投資回報。

Maybe just the last thing, if I could ask it, is on Affordable Care Act and what you all are hearing right now and doing to prepare for that.

如果我可以問的話，也許最後一件事就是《平價醫療法案》以及你們現在所聽到的話以及為此所做的準備。

Is there anything you can share in terms of the percentage of your employees that would be covered today or the percentage of the coverage that you all provide or anything; that would be helpful.

關於今天將承保的員工百分比或您所有人提供的承保百分比或任何其他內容，您有什麼可以分享的嗎？那會有幫助的。

I think we provide as much, if not more, than anybody else I know in our space -- in general big retail.

我認為我們提供的服務與我所認識的業內其他任何人一樣多（如果不是更多的話）——在一般的大型零售業中。

All of our employees, both part-time and full-time, are covered.

我們所有的員工，無論是兼職還是全職，都受到保護。

It takes three to six months currently, depending on if you are part-time or full-time.

目前需要三到六個月的時間，具體取決於您是兼職還是全職。

Each year for the last two or three years and certainly this year and next year, under different parts of the new health care requirements, there has been some additional input numbers into our expense.

過去兩三年，每年，當然還有今年和明年，根據新的醫療保健要求的不同部分，我們的支出中都有一些額外的投入數字。

One year it's covering people up to 26 years old.

其中一年涵蓋 26 歲以下的人。

One year, it is mental-health parity.

一年，這是心理健康平等。

One year, it is -- I forget the other ones off the top of my head.

一年了，我把其他的都忘了。

But at the end of the day, each of these things seem to have added an incremental 1% or 1.5% to our already outsized number.

但歸根結底，這些事情似乎都讓我們已經龐大的數字增加了 1% 或 1.5%。

So we don't think it is going to have a big impact to us like it may to others.

因此，我們認為這不會像對其他人一樣對我們產生重大影響。

But others may do some things that it may be less of an impact to them.

但其他人可能會做一些對他們影響較小的事情。

I don't know.

我不知道。

But it is fair to say from our perspective, it's kind of been built into our numbers and we've been able to handle it.

但可以公平地說，從我們的角度來看，它已經融入我們的數據中，我們已經能夠處理它。

Great.

偉大的。

That's very helpful.

這非常有幫助。

Thank you, and good luck.

謝謝你，祝你好運。

Peter Benedict, Robert Baird.

彼得·本尼迪克特，羅伯特·貝爾德。

Hi, Richard.

嗨，理查德。

It is actually Justin Kleber on for Pete.

實際上是賈斯汀·克萊伯（Justin Kleber）替補皮特（Pete）。

Just a question on the membership fee income.

只是關於會員費收入的問題。

Can you help us understand how much that line item benefited from the extra week?

您能否幫助我們了解該訂單項目從額外一周中獲得了多少收益？

I think the simplest way to do it -- and this is not exact -- but I'd first take this number this year and subtract the 26 from it.

我認為最簡單的方法是——這並不準確——但我會先採用今年的這個數字並從中減去 26。

Because we know the 26 is the deferred accounting for the fee increases.

因為我們知道 26 是費用增加的遞延會計。

And from that number, I'd say, okay, this is a 17-week number, so I divide it by 17 and I subtract that amount from that number, and then I compare the two.

從這個數字中，我會說，好吧，這是一個 17 週的數字，所以我將其除以 17，然後從該數字中減去該金額，然後將兩者進行比較。

The adjusted number, and I think what you will get is something in the 6% or 7% increase range in dollars.

調整後的數字，我認為你會得到 6% 或 7% 的美元增幅。

Okay.

好的。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

Thanks.

謝謝。

And then the $26 million of incremental MFI from the fee increase that you cited here in the fourth quarter, does that absolute dollar number -- should we expect that to build over the next few quarters?

然後，您在第四季度提到的費用增加帶來的 2600 萬美元的 MFI 增量，是絕對美元數字嗎？我們是否應該期望在接下來的幾個季度中增加這一數字？

Yes, and it will build -- well, it will build a little bit in Q1.

是的，它會增加——嗯，它會在第一季增加一點。

Recognize that Q1 is a 12-week quarter versus a 17-week quarter, but in absolute dollars, it will build a little.

認識到第一季是一個 12 週的季度，而不是一個 17 週的季度，但以絕對美元計算，它會增加。

It will build quite a little bit more in Q2.

第二季將會增加很多。

It will build -- then it will start going the other way, but still pretty sizable numbers in each of these four fiscal quarters.

它將增加——然後它將開始朝相反的方向發展，但在這四個財政季度的每個季度中仍然有相當大的數字。

It is $0.03 to $0.05 a quarter in each of these four quarters.

這四個季度每季為 0.03 美元到 0.05 美元。

Okay, thanks.

好的謝謝。

Just any color as it relates to traffic conversion rates, average ticket size, from the replatforming of the online business, or is it just simply too early to tell with that?

與流量轉換率、平均門票金額、線上業務平台重組相關的任何顏色，或只是現在判斷還為時過早？

It is very simply too early.

現在還太早了。

It has been a week or so.

已經過去一周左右了。

And the thing I'm most happy about is there weren't any big glitches, that we got it converted in about an eight-hour period, closing the old site and opening the new one.

我最高興的是沒有任何大故障，我們在大約八小時內完成了轉換，關閉了舊網站並打開了新網站。

And so we will see over time.

隨著時間的推移，我們將會看到這一點。

All right.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

Just lastly, a housekeeping question here.

最後，這裡有一個家政問題。

Within that interest income and other line item, do you have what the interest component of that was?

在該利息收入和其他項目中，您是否知道其中的利息成分是什麼？

Sure.

當然。

Hold on.

堅持，稍等。

Actual interest income was 14 -- almost $15 million last year and $16.3 million this year, so up $1.3 million.

實際利息收入為 14——去年接近 1500 萬美元，今年為 1630 萬美元，增加了 130 萬美元。

All right.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Good luck over the holidays.

祝你假期好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Charles Grom, Deutsche Bank.

（操作員指令）Charles Grom，德意志銀行。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Good morning, Richard.

早上好，理查德。

Just on the new store growth going up to 25 to 30 clubs, should we expect that pace to continue to grow over the next few years?

僅就新店數量增長至 25 至 30 傢俱樂部而言，我們是否應該期望這一速度在未來幾年內繼續增長？

It's been a while since I've heard you guys talk about a longer-term club target, but with growth in Europe, Australia, more growth in Korea, Japan and Taiwan, can you maybe refresh us on kind of where your thoughts are?

我已經有一段時間沒有聽到你們談論長期俱樂部目標了，但是隨著歐洲、澳洲的成長，韓國、日本和台灣的成長，您能否向我們介紹一下您的想法？

Look, given our history over the last several years of under-opening locations, I think we feel very good about this coming year in the high -- very high 20s.

聽著，考慮到過去幾年我們的門市開張不足的歷史，我認為我們對來年的高——非常高的 20 歲感到非常好。

And we are looking at numbers.

我們正在關注數字。

We had a slide recently that showed over five years somewhere in the 125 to 150 locations, which would imply 25 to 30 a year.

我們最近有一張幻燈片，顯示五年內有 125 到 150 個地點，這意味著每年有 25 到 30 個地點。

Europe, again, if all goes well, maybe we'll have five years from now five or six in Europe or eight on the outside, but more likely five or six.

歐洲，如果一切順利的話，也許五年後我們將在歐洲有五到六年的時間，或者在歐洲以外的八個國家，但更有可能是五到六年。

That is if it continues to progress.

也就是說，如果它繼續進步。

We -- there are still a few hurdles to get over there in terms of timing.

我們——在時間方面仍然存在一些障礙。

We will be there, is my sense, but it will take some time.

我的感覺是，我們會到達那裡，但這需要一些時間。

So I think I, again, part of the -- as I mentioned earlier, part of the -- perhaps the reduced level of confidence that we've got, we've got a lot more irons in the fire, and particularly in those countries where the lead time to get openings done, you got to work on more projects to get more open, even though it takes a little longer.

所以我想，我再次認為，正如我之前提到的，我們的信心水平可能有所下降，我們還有更多的工作要做，特別是在那些領域。在那些需要時間才能完成空缺的國家，你必須開展更多專案才能獲得更多空缺，即使需要更長的時間。

Again, for the last year or two, we've had people on the ground in some of these countries where historically we didn't.

同樣，在過去的一兩年裡，我們在一些歷史上沒有派駐過的國家派駐了人員。

Okay.

好的。

Fair enough.

很公平。

When you look at the complexion of your margin structure here in the fourth quarter, gross profit margins were down a little bit, but SG&A levered.

當你觀察第四季利潤結構的情況時，你會發現毛利率略有下降，但銷售、管理及行政費用槓桿化了。

You produced some pretty nice operating margin expansion of about 19 basis points.

你們實現了約 19 個基點的相當不錯的營業利潤率擴張。

When you take a step back and look at your kind of long-term earnings algorithm, is that sort of a good recipe for success for you guys?

當你退一步看看你的長期收益演算法時，這對你們來說是成功的秘訣嗎？

Is that the kind of structure you kind of want to build out?

這是您想要建造的那種結構嗎？

In the ideal world, as I think Jim said 25 years ago, that we'd sell things -- we'd sell -- the membership fee would be a lot higher, we'd keep lowering expense percentages and we'd keep lowering prices.

在理想的世界裡，正如我認為吉姆在 25 年前所說的那樣，我們會賣東西——我們會賣——會員費會高得多，我們會不斷降低費用百分比，我們會不斷降低價格。

But ideally, yes, we want to keep doing that, because it makes us more competitive and keeps driving the business and puts a bigger wedge between us and others.

但理想情況下，是的，我們希望繼續這樣做，因為這使我們更具競爭力，並不斷推動業務發展，並在我們和其他人之間建立更大的隔閡。

But we are also realistic.

但我們也是現實的。

But yes, mission-wise, that is fair.

但是，是的，就使命而言，這是公平的。

And then my last question is just -- I think I ask this every call -- but you guys really do continue to build up cash on the balance sheet.

然後我的最後一個問題是——我想我每次打電話都會問這個——但你們確實在繼續在資產負債表上累積現金。

And we get a lot of questions from investors about what you're going to do with it.

我們從投資者那裡收到了很多關於你將如何處理它的問題。

And I realize buybacks are a steady pace for you guys.

我意識到回購對你們來說是一個穩定的步伐。

But is there any thoughts from the Board to really step up the dividend?

但董事會是否有任何想法真正提高股利？

It's a lot lower than some of your peers, despite having a much stronger cash and overall balance sheet position.

儘管現金和整體資產負債表狀況要強勁​​得多，但它比一些同行要低得多。

Yieldwise, it is.

從產量來看，確實如此。

We continue to grow it at, whatever, 13% or 14% a year.

我們繼續以每年 13% 或 14% 的速度成長。

We always discuss it informally about what should we do, but there is not a great sense of pressure to change our MO at this point.

我們總是非正式地討論我們應該做什麼，但此時並沒有很大的壓力感來改變我們的 MO。

Probably the biggest pressure point is to spend more money on CapEx.

最大的壓力點可能是在資本支出上花費更多的錢。

I am glad to see the fact that it is a number that went from in the range of 1.4-ish the last few years to approaching 2 this year.

我很高興看到這個數字從過去幾年的 1.4 左右上升到了今年的接近 2。

I think in '14, if we continue to expand like we are, maybe it is about the same as this current year's budget.

我認為14年，如果我們繼續像現在這樣擴張，也許和今年的預算差不多。

If it is a little less, it is only because of some of the unusual things that we are doing this year, like a couple of extra depots in some of these new countries.

如果少一點，那隻是因為我們今年做了一些不尋常的事情，例如在一些新國家增加了幾個倉庫。

But overall, getting that number up $400 million or $500 million from where it has been, that helps.

但總的來說，讓這個數字比原來的水準增加 4 億或 5 億美元是有幫助的。

Got you.

明白你了。

And I'm sorry -- I did hop on a couple minutes late.

我很抱歉——我確實晚了幾分鐘。

But could you just remind me what the core-on-core gross profit margin number was this quarter?

但您能否提醒我本季核心毛利率是多少？

And then if you could walk through some of the categories within that, outside of gas, I'd appreciate it.

如果您能瀏覽其中除天然氣之外的一些類別，我將不勝感激。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Sure.

當然。

In terms of margins, for the quarter, the core was down 10 basis points year-over-year.

就利潤率而言，本季核心年減 10 個基點。

And with or without gas is the same.

而且有氣或無氣都是一樣的。

There was minor gas deflation, but not enough to affect the basis points.

有輕微的天然氣通貨緊縮，但不足以影響基點。

So core was down 10, ancillary was up 1. 2% was down 2, implying about a 1% increase in the sales penetration of those numbers.

因此，核心業務下降了 10，輔助業務上升了 1。2% 下降了 2，這意味著這些數字的銷售滲透率增加了約 1%。

LIFO was up 8 because of the lower charge this year versus last year.

由於今年費用比去年低，後進先出法上漲了 8。

You add it all up, and that's our reported and as-adjusted with gas minus 3.

將其全部加起來，這就是我們報告的和調整後的天然氣減去 3 的結果。

Within that core of the 10, any major differences between the other four major subcategories?

在這 10 個核心子類別中，其他四個主要子類別之間有什麼重大差異嗎？

Yes, food, sundries and fresh foods were up a little.

是的，食品、雜貨和生鮮食品都有小幅上漲。

Hardlines and softlines were down a little -- a bit more than a little, but not a lot.

硬裝和軟裝的銷量都有所下降——降幅不止一點點，但幅度也不是很大。

Okay, great.

好的，太好了。

Thanks very much.

非常感謝。

At this time, there are no questions.

此時，沒有任何疑問。

Well, thank you, everyone, and thank you, Tabitha.

好吧，謝謝大家，也謝謝塔比莎。

Have a good day.

祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you.

謝謝。

That does conclude today's conference call.

今天的電話會議到此結束。

You may now disconnect.

您現在可以斷開連線。