好市多 (COST) 2019 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. I would now like to hand the conference over to your respective host, Mr. Richard Galanti, CFO. Sir, you may begin.

女士們、先生們，感謝你們的耐心等待。歡迎參加第四季財報電話會議。（操作說明）謝謝。現在我謹將會議交給各位主持人，財務長理查‧加蘭蒂先生。先生，您可以開始了。

Well, thank you, and good afternoon to everyone. I'll start by saying that these discussions will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 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. 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. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake to update these statements except as required by law.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。首先我要說明的是，這些討論將包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所界定的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際事件、結果和/或業績與此類陳述所指出的內容有重大差異。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，以及公司不時在公開聲明和提交給美國證券交易委員會的報告中確定的其他風險和不確定性。前瞻性聲明僅代表其發布之日的情況，除法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新這些聲明的義務。

In today's press release, we reported operating results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2019, the 16 and 52 weeks ended September 1. Reported net income for the quarter was $1.097 billion or $2.47 a share. That compared to $1.043 billion a year ago or $2.36 a share. This year's fourth quarter was negatively impacted by a $123 million pretax reserve to SG&A or $96 million after tax or $0.22 per share related to a product tax assessment.

在今天的新聞稿中，我們公佈了 2019 年第四季和財年（截至 9 月 1 日的 16 週和 52 週）的經營業績。該季度報告的淨收入為 10.97 億美元，即每股 2.47 美元。相比之下，一年前的收入為 10.43 億美元，即每股 2.36 美元。今年第四季受到與產品稅評估相關的 1.23 億美元稅前準備金（計入銷售、一般及行政費用，稅後提列 9,600 萬美元，即每股 0.22 美元）的負面影響。

In terms of this $123 million pretax reserve or charged to SG&A, last week we received an assessment related to certain product taxes. They covered a 7.5-year period from January of 2009 through July 2016. While we will be filing a protest to this, a reserve for this assessment was recorded in the fourth quarter in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Excluding this reserve, Q4 '19 net income would have been $1.19 billion or $2.69 a share, a 14% increase over last year's fourth quarter.

關於這1.23億美元的稅前儲備金或計入銷售、一般及行政費用，上週我們收到了與某些產品稅相關的評估。涵蓋了從 2009 年 1 月到 2016 年 7 月的 7.5 年時間。雖然我們將對此提出抗議，但根據美國通用會計準則，已在第四季度提列了該項評估的準備金。如果排除這筆儲備金，2019 年第四季淨收入將達到 11.9 億美元，即每股 2.69 美元，比去年第四季成長 14%。

Net sales for the quarter came in at $46.45 billion, a 7% increase over the $43.41 billion last year. And for the entire fiscal year, net sales in fiscal '19 came in at $149.35 billion, a 7.9% increase over last year's $138.43 billion.

本季淨銷售額為 464.5 億美元，比去年同期的 434.1 億美元成長了 7%。整個財年（2019 財年）淨銷售額為 1,493.5 億美元，比上年的 1,384.3 億美元成長了 7.9%。

In terms of comp sales as was reported in the release, for the 16-week fourth quarter, reported U.S. was 6.2%. Excluding gas deflation, FX and revenue recognition, it was 5.2%. Canada reported 2.6%; ex deflation, FX and rev rec, 4.7%. Other International reported 1.9%; ex those items, 5.0%. So total company both for the 16 weeks with and without those items was a 5.1%. E-commerce was a 19.8% reported comp and a 21.9% ex FX and rev rec.

根據新聞稿中報告的同店銷售額，在第四季度（16 週）中，美國報告的同店銷售額為 6.2%。不計天然氣通貨緊縮、外匯和收入確認的影響，實際影響為 5.2%。加拿大報告成長率為 2.6%；剔除通貨緊縮、外匯和收入回收因素後，成長率為 4.7%。其他國際項目佔 1.9%；剔除這些項目後，佔 5.0%。因此，無論是否包含這些項目，16 週內公司的總成長率為 5.1%。電子商務佔報告的同店銷售額的 19.8%，不計外匯和收入確認的同店銷售額佔 21.9%。

In terms of Q4 comp sales metrics, fourth quarter traffic or shopping frequency increased 3.7% worldwide and 3.6% in the U.S. Weakening foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar negatively impacted sales by about 60 basis points. Gas price deflation was a negative 50 basis points, and rev rec benefited comp sales in the quarter by a plus 110. So those 3 things together essentially zeroed out.

就第四季同店銷售指標而言，第四季全球客流量或購物頻率成長了 3.7%，美國成長了 3.6%。外幣兌美元走弱對銷售額產生了約 60 個基點的負面影響。天然氣價格通縮為負 50 個基點，而營收回升使本季同店銷售額成長了 110%。所以這三件事加起來基本上都抵消了。

Our average transaction or ticket during the fiscal quarter was up 1.4%, both with and without the impacts of gas, FX and rev rec.

本財季我們的平均交易額或票據額成長了 1.4%，無論是否計入天然氣、外匯和收入確認的影響。

Next on the income statement, our membership fee income reported in the fourth quarter was $1.050 billion, up $53 million or 5.3% over last year's fourth quarter. Ex the impact of FX, the $53 million increase would have been $58 million or up 5.8%. During the fourth quarter, the 23-month cycle to recognize the incremental P&L benefit of the fee increases that began in June of '17 was completed, and the impact in the Q4 results was almost 0 or less than $1 million benefit to the quarter.

接下來是損益表，我們第四季的會員費收入為 10.5 億美元，比去年第四季增加了 5,300 萬美元，增幅為 5.3%。剔除匯率的影響，5,300萬美元的成長將達到5,800萬美元，即成長5.8%。第四季度，確認自 2017 年 6 月開始的費用成長帶來的損益增量收益的 23 個月週期已完成，對第四季度業績的影響幾乎為零，或不到 100 萬美元的收益。

In terms of renewal rates, at Q4 end, our U.S. and Canada membership renewal rate came in at a 90.9%, up 0.2% from 90.7% as of the end of the last quarter. And worldwide, the renewal rate was 88.4%, up from 88.3% a quarter ago, both of these figures' all-time highs.

就續費率而言，截至第四季末，我們美國和加拿大的會員續費率為 90.9%，比上一季末的 90.7% 成長了 0.2%。全球續約率達 88.4%，高於上一季的 88.3%，這兩個數字都創下歷史新高。

In terms of number of members at Q4 and fiscal year-end, we had 53.9 million member households. That's up from a quarter ago of 53.1 million. And total cardholders at the end of the year, 98.5 million, up from 97.2 million at the end of Q3.

截至第四季末和財政年度末，我們的會員家庭數量為 5,390 萬戶。這比上季的5310萬有所增加。截至年底，持卡人總數為 9,850 萬，高於第三季末的 9,720 萬。

During the quarter, we had 10 net new openings, 8 in the U.S., 1 in the U.K. and our first warehouse opening in China in Shanghai.

本季，我們淨增加 10 個倉庫，其中 8 個在美國，1 個在英國，還有我們在中國的第一個倉庫在上海開業。

At fourth quarter end, paid Executive Memberships totaled 20.8 million, which was an increase during the quarter of 362,000 or 23,000 a week. In terms of going down the gross margin line, our reported gross margin in the fourth quarter was higher year-over-year by a reported 14 basis points and ex gas deflation and rev rec, up by 20 basis points.

截至第四季末，付費高級會員總數為 2,080 萬，比上一季增加了 36.2 萬，即每週增加 2.3 萬。從毛利率來看，我們第四季報告的毛利率年增了 14 個基點，剔除天然氣價格下跌和收入下降的影響後，增加了 20 個基點。

As usual, I'll ask you to jot down a few items for explanation purposes. In the fourth quarter, you'll have 2 columns, both reported and then without gas deflation and rev rec. The line items would be -- the first line item would be merchandise, core merchandise. On a reported basis, the year-over-year was down 8 basis points. Ex gas and rev rec, it was down 3 basis points. Ancillary businesses, up 29 basis points and ex those items, up 31 basis points year-over-year. 2% Reward, minus 3 and minus 4 basis points; other, minus 4 and minus 4. If you add those up, you get the plus 14 basis points as reported and again, ex gas and rev rec, up 20.

照例，為了方便解釋，我會請你記下一些事項。第四季度，您將看到 2 列數據，一列是已報告的，另一列是不包含天然氣通貨緊縮和收入回收的。明細項目如下－第一項是商品，核心商品。據報告顯示，年減了 8 個基點。扣除天然氣和收入回收費用後，下跌了3個基點。輔助業務年增 29 個基點，剔除這些項目後較去年同期成長 31 個基點。2% 獎勵，減 3 和 4 個基點；其他，減 4 和 4。如果把這些加起來，就得到報告的加 14 個基點，再說一遍，不包括汽油和收入回收，加 20 個基點。

Now in terms of the core merchandise component of gross margin, it was lower by 8 or [might] really lower by 3 ex gas and rev rec. Looking at the core merchandise categories in relation to their own sales or what we call core-on-core, margins year-over-year were higher by 4 basis points. Subcategories within that, the year-over-year and the fourth quarter showed increases in fresh and softlines, partially offset by a little down year-over-year in hardlines with food and sundries being relatively flat year-over-year. Ancillary and other business, as mentioned, was higher by 29 basis points and 31 higher ex gas and rev rec. Mostly -- most of that was attributable to strong gasoline margins. Other was minus 4 in both columns.

現在就毛利率的核心商品部分而言，如果扣除汽油和收入回收，可能會下降 8 倍或 3 倍。從核心商品類別本身的銷售額來看，或者我們稱之為核心對核心的銷售額來看，其利潤率比去年同期提高了 4 個基點。在這些細分類別中，與去年同期和第四季度相比，生鮮和軟性商品有所增長，但硬性商品同比略有下降，部分抵消了這些增長，而食品和雜貨同比則相對持平。如前所述，輔助業務和其他業務成長了 29 個基點，剔除天然氣和收入確認後成長了 31 個基點。大部分——這主要歸功於強勁的汽油利潤率。兩列中的「其他」均為 -4。

Moving to SG&A. I'll ask you to jot down the following, again, 2 columns, reported and ex deflation -- gas deflation and rev rec. Operations, plus 3 basis points and minus 2, so minus 2 meaning it's higher by 2; central, minus 5 and minus 5 or higher by 5; stock compensation, plus 2 and plus 2, so lower by 2 basis points year-over-year; and then other, minus 27 and minus 27. And with that, you would get to the -- our reported SG&A percentage year-over-year being higher or worse by 27 basis points coming in at 10.09% of sales, up from 9.82% of sales a year ago. Again, excluding the onetime item discussed earlier, the SG&A would have been flat year-over-year on a reported basis and ex gas and rev rec, higher by 5.

移至銷售、一般及行政管理部門。我請你再記下以下內容，共兩列，分別是報告的通貨緊縮和扣除通貨緊縮——天然氣通貨緊縮和收入報告。營運成本，加 3 個基點，減 2 個基點，即減 2 個基點，意味著比上年同期高 2 個基點；中央成本，減 5 個基點，減 5 個基點，或比上年同期高 5 個基點；股票薪酬，加 2 個基點，加 2 個基點，即比上年，其他 27 個點由此可見，我們報告的銷售、一般及行政費用百分比較去年同期上升或下降了 27 個基點，達到銷售額的 10.09%，高於一年前的 9.82%。再次強調，如果排除前面討論的一次性項目，按報告基準計算，銷售、一般及行政費用將與上年持平；如果排除天然氣和收入確認，則將增加 5%。

Now in terms of the components here, the core operations component, excluding the impacts of gas and rev rec again was 2 basis points higher. This figure included the impact of the 2 wage increases that were taken in June of '18 and March of '19, which essentially hit the year-over-year comparison by an estimated 5 to 6 basis points in the quarter. We estimate that once the first 1 anniversaries now during the quarter, we estimate that the impact in Q1 and Q2 until that 1 anniversaries will be about a 3 to 4 basis point hit.

現在就各個組成部分而言，核心營運部分（不包括天然氣和收入回收的影響）高出 2 個基點。該數字包含了 2018 年 6 月和 2019 年 3 月兩次加薪的影響，這兩次加薪使該季度同比數據下降了約 5 至 6 個基點。我們估計，一旦本季迎來第一個週年紀念日，我們估計，從現在到第一個週年紀念日，第一季和第二季的影響將約為 3 到 4 個基點。

Central was higher year-over-year by 5 basis points, both with and without gas and rev rec. IT was the biggest driver of that increase.

中心利率年增 5 個基點，不論是否計入天然氣和收入回收。資訊科技是推動這一成長的最大動力。

In terms of stock comp, again, that was helped -- that helped SG&A by 2 basis points. And again, lastly as discussed earlier, the hit -- $123 million hit to SG&A [this side only counts] for the 27 basis point.

就股票比較而言，這同樣有所幫助——這使銷售、一般及行政費用提高了 2 個基點。最後，正如前面討論的那樣，27 個基點的調整將給銷售、一般及行政費用帶來 1.23 億美元的損失（僅此一項）。

Next on the income statement, preopening expense. Preopening expense for the fourth quarter came in at $41 million, $10 million higher than the $31 million fourth quarter last year. This year in the fourth quarter, we opened 12 -- we had 12 total openings, 10 net plus 2 relos. Our total preopening was up year-over-year primarily due to the preopening costs related to our chicken plant in Nebraska. It's now open for business, and we'll have an estimated 45-week ramp-up to fill -- to full production from the September 10 go-live date.

接下來是損益表中的開業前費用。第四季開業前支出為 4,100 萬美元，比去年第四季的 3,100 萬美元高出 1,000 萬美元。今年第四季度，我們新開了 12 套房——總共新開了 12 套房，淨增 10 套，外加 2 套轉售房源。由於內布拉斯加州雞肉加工廠的開業前成本，我們的開業前總支出較去年同期增加。現在工廠已經正式投產，預計需要 45 週的時間才能達到滿載生產，從 9 月 10 日正式投產之日起即可全面投產。

All told, reported operating income in Q4 increased 1%, coming in at $1.463 billion this year compared to $1.446 billion last year. And again, excluding the onetime item discussed earlier, operating income was up 9.7%.

總的來說，第四季報告的營業收入成長了 1%，達到 14.63 億美元，而去年同期為 14.46 億美元。再次強調，若不計入前面討論的一次性項目，營業收入成長9.7%。

Below the operating income line, interest expense was $3 million lower or better year-over-year coming in at $45 million, down from $48 million a year earlier. And interest income and other for the quarter was higher or better by $23 million year-over-year. Actual interest income was better by $15 million, a combination of both higher invested cash balances and higher interest rates with the balance of $8 million positive variance, primarily favorable FX-related items year-over-year.

在營業收入方面，利息支出較去年同期減少了 300 萬美元，為 4,500 萬美元，低於上年的 4,800 萬美元。本季利息收入和其他收入比上年同期增加了 2,300 萬美元。實際利息收入比去年同期增加了 1500 萬美元，這得益於更高的投資現金餘額和更高的利率，剩餘的 800 萬美元正向變動主要是有利的外匯相關項目。

So overall, pretax income again reported, including the onetime item, was up 3%, coming in at $1.492 billion this year, up from $1.449 billion last year. And again, excluding the onetime SG&A charge discussed earlier, operating income would have been up about 11.5%.

因此，包括一次性項目在內，今年的稅前收入整體成長了 3%，達到 14.92 億美元，高於去年的 14.49 億美元。再次強調，如果排除前面討論過的一次性銷售、一般及行政費用，營業收入將成長約 11.5%。

In terms of income taxes, our tax rate in the fourth quarter came in at 25.7% compared to 27.4% in the fourth quarter a year ago. This quarter tax rate benefited from a few favorable discrete tax adjustments.

就所得稅而言，我們第四季的稅率為 25.7%，而去年同期為 27.4%。本季度稅率受益於幾項有利的單獨稅收調整。

A few other items of note. Again, in the fourth quarter, as I mentioned, we opened 12 total locations, net of relos, 10 net new locations. For the whole year, we opened 25 total locations, including 5 relocations, so a net increase of 20. About 3/4 of those were in the U.S. and 1/4 of them international. At Q4 end, our square footage stood at 114 million square feet.

還有一些其他值得注意的地方。正如我之前提到的，在第四季度，我們總共開設了 12 家分店（扣除搬遷費用後），淨新增 10 家分店。全年共開設了 25 家分店，其中包括 5 家搬遷分店，淨增 20 家。其中約四分之三在美國，四分之一在國外。截至第四季末，我們的建築面積為 1.14 億平方英尺。

Regarding CapEx, fiscal '19 total spend was right at $3.0 billion. We'd estimate the CapEx for the upcoming year will be that or slightly above that, not that different than the past fiscal year.

關於資本支出，2019 財年的總支出恰好為 30 億美元。我們預計下一年度的資本支出將與此持平或略高於此，與上一財年不會有太大差別。

In terms of stock buybacks in the fourth quarter, we repurchased 52 million shares, 194,000 shares at an average price per share of $268.08. That brought the total year to 247 million shares -- $247 million on 1.097 million shares at an average price of $225.16.

第四季度，我們在股票回購方面，回購了 5,200 萬股，即 19.4 萬股，平均每股價格為 268.08 美元。這使得全年總成交量達到 2.47 億股——109.7 萬股，成交額 2.47 億美元，平均價格為每股 225.16 美元。

Moving on to a couple other items of note. E-commerce, again as mentioned, for the quarter on a -- ex gas and rev rec was up 21.9%. We saw particularly strong growth during the quarter in what we call majors, electronics and appliances and the like. Total online grocery continues to grow at a very healthy clip but recognizing it's still pretty small. And that both includes the 2-day as well as 1-day fresh with the help of Instacart. E-comm for the first time this past quarter carried some new items like KitchenAid appliances, Weber grills and several high-quality beauty brands for the first time. In addition, we rolled out a few examples of what we -- if you've shopped at the warehouse, what we call merchandise roadshows, kind of a treasure hunt for the warehouses. Some of those things are now being put online.

接下來還有幾項值得注意的內容。如前所述，本季電子商務（不包括汽油和收入回收）成長了 21.9%。本季度，我們觀察到主要商品、電子產品和家電等品類的成長尤為強勁。網路雜貨交易總額繼續以非常健康的速度增長，但必須認識到，它仍然很小。其中包括借助 Instacart 提供的 2 天送達和 1 天送達的新鮮商品。上個季度，電子商務首次上架了一些新產品，例如 KitchenAid 家用電器、Weber 燒烤爐以及幾個高品質的美容品牌。此外，我們也推出了一些例子——如果您曾在倉庫購物，您就會知道我們稱之為商品巡迴展的活動，這有點像在倉庫裡尋寶。現在其中一些內容正在被放到網路上。

We sold another large diamond ring during the quarter for $220,000. And we have upcoming e-comm sites planned for 2 new countries, Japan and Australia -- excuse me, Japan and Australia later this fiscal year, sometime mid-fiscal year.

本季我們又賣出了一枚價值 22 萬美元的大鑽戒。我們計劃在本財年晚些時候，也就是本財年中期，為日本和澳洲這兩個新國家推出電子商務網站。

In terms of the Costco app, we've started to add a few things to it, including the new -- it can be used as the new -- as your digital membership card. That was added in July. We now have over 2.5 million activations during the quarter. Currently, the app allows, in addition to digital membership and -- to register as well, view current gas prices. Executive members can view their growth in their annual 2% Executive Member Reward. We have a few things related to the pharmacy in terms of refilling and managing pharmacy prescriptions as well as being able to renew and upgrade and the beginnings of some new shopping lists and current promotional offerings. I do want to tell you additional enhancements are in the works, and we'll continue to roll those out and more tie-ins with Costco both in warehouse and online.

關於 Costco 應用程序，我們已經開始在其中添加一些功能，包括新的功能——它可以用作新的——您的數位會員卡。這是七月新增的。本季我們已完成超過 250 萬次啟動。目前，該應用程式除了允許用戶註冊成為數位會員外，還允許用戶查看當前的汽油價格。高級會員可以透過其年度 2% 高級會員獎勵查看其成長情況。我們有一些與藥局相關的功能，例如處方續約和管理、續約和升級，以及一些新的購物清單和當前的促銷活動。我想告訴大家，我們正在開發更多增強功能，並將繼續推出這些功能，同時與 Costco 在實體店和線上進行更多合作。

I mentioned earlier that, during the quarter, we opened our first unit in China in the city of Minhang, part of Shanghai. That was on August 27, to great interest. Due to the overwhelming crowds, it was actually closed about 4 hours into the opening day. Subsequent backgrounds have been well managed, and sales have remained very strong over the past month. We've had record sign-ups there. I think it's been helped by first one that we've opened there as well as the social media presence. We have over -- we currently have over 200,000 members signed up. Just to put that in perspective, worldwide, the average Costco, ones that have been open for months and months that have been open for 35 years, all told, have approximately 68,000 member households per location. Our next opening is planned for early 2021 and also in Shanghai in the area of Pudong.

我之前提到過，本季我們在上海閔行區開設了在中國的第一家分公司。那是8月27日發生的一件事，引起了廣泛關注。由於人潮擁擠，開幕當天大約4個小時後就被迫關閉了。後續的背景狀況處理得當，過去一個月銷售一直非常強勁。我們那裡的報名人數創下了紀錄。我認為，我們在那裡開設的第一家店以及社交媒體的宣傳都起到了幫助作用。我們目前已有超過 20 萬名會員註冊。為了讓大家對這個數字有個概念，在全球範圍內，平均每家 Costco 門市（包括已經營業數月和 35 年的門市）擁有約 68,000 個會員家庭。我們計劃於 2021 年初在上海浦東地區開設下一家分店。

In terms of tariffs, next item, a quick update. There continues to be a lot of moving parts and changes and a few increases along the way. A few comments. As you're probably aware, the first 3 lists, which total about $250 billion of imports from China, includes things from water pitchers and air purifiers to bicycles to steel shelving to furniture to luggage to shredders to things like that. That's current -- those are currently being tariffed at 25%. With the current plan, we understand to possibly go to 30% effective October 15, but we'll just have to wait and see. List 4A, which is about $110 billion, includes things like kitchenware and cookware and domestics. It includes TVs, although I don't think we source from there on that. That started at 15% tariff on September 1, and we'll see where that goes. And then List 4B, which is an additional $155 billion worth of goods, including electronics, laptops, tablets, toys, small appliances and some apparel and footwear as well, that's currently planned to go to 15% tariff effective December 15. Again, we'll wait and see.

接下來，我們快速更新一下關稅方面的情況。這過程中，各個環節仍然變化多端，而且還有一些成長。幾點說明。您可能已經知道，前三份清單中，從中國進口的商品總額約為 2500 億美元，其中包括水壺、空氣清淨機、自行車、鋼架、家具、行李箱、碎紙機等等。目前的情況是──這些商品目前的關稅為 25%。根據目前的計劃，我們了解到從 10 月 15 日起可能會降至 30%，但我們只能拭目以待。清單 4A 價值約 1100 億美元，包括廚房用具、炊具和家用物品等。其中包括電視機，不過我認為我們不是在那裡採購電視機的。這項政策從9月1日起開始徵收15%的關稅，我們將拭​​目以待。此外，還有價值 1550 億美元的商品清單 4B，其中包括電子產品、筆記型電腦、平板電腦、玩具、小家電以及一些服裝和鞋類，目前計劃從 12 月 15 日起對這類商品徵收 15% 的關稅。我們還是拭目以待吧。

Since the beginning of these tariffs over a year ago, we continue to be active in managing and where possible, mitigating their impact. Where we can, we accelerate shipments before tariff is being put into effect or is being planned for an increase in terms of the tariff percentage level. We are working with suppliers daily. We've gone to pretty much every supplier on every item to see what we can do to both reduce costs and figure out how to do that. In some cases, we've reduced our commitments on certain items and again, based on the impact of what we expect. We looked at alternative country sourcing where possible and feasible, although, again, there's a limited amount of that ability to do that. And we've taken advantage of lower pricing on a certain -- on a few U.S. items that have not been impacted the other way. The exchange rate, by the way, between our 2 countries has helped a little bit. So all those things.

自從一年多前開始徵收這些關稅以來，我們一直積極採取措施，盡可能減輕其影響。在條件允許的情況下，我們會在關稅生效或計劃提高關稅百分比之前加快發貨速度。我們每天都在與供應商合作。我們幾乎對所有產品的供應商都進行了考察，看看如何降低成本，並找出降低成本的方法。在某些情況下，我們減少了對某些項目的承諾，這同樣是基於我們預期的影響。我們盡可能地尋找其他國家的採購管道，儘管如此，這種能力仍然有限。我們利用了某些商品價格下降的優勢——一些美國商品的價格並沒有受到其他因素的影響。順便一提，我們兩國之間的匯率也起了一定的作用。所以所有這些事情。

As you might expect, it's all over the board. Every item and every vendor is a little different. In some cases, we're able to hold off on some. In some, we're able to -- we need to push it forward and to pass it on. And we'll continue to pursue that. Overall, we think we're in a good position relative to retail overall given our size and scale and our ability and relationships with our vendors.

正如你所預料的那樣，情況五花八門。每件商品和每個商家都略有不同。在某些情況下，我們可以暫緩一些事項。在某些方面，我們能夠——我們需要推動它向前發展並傳承下去。我們將繼續努力。總體而言，考慮到我們的規模、實力以及與供應商的關係，我們認為我們相對於整個零售業而言處於有利地位。

The last thing on tariffs, just another area of potential tariffs, it relates to yesterday's WTO announcement that the U.S. can legally impose tariffs of up to $7.5 billion in EU-produced goods annually. Later yesterday, the USTR released a list of products it plans to target with duties planning to take effect October 18. Some of the products included on the lists include 25% duties on certain whiskeys and apparel items for the U.K., various cheeses and olive oils from certain European countries and certain pork products, butter and yogurt from various European countries to name a few.

關於關稅的最後一點，也是另一個潛在的關稅領域，與昨天世貿組織宣布美國每年可以合法地對價值高達 75 億美元的歐盟生產商品徵收關稅有關。昨天晚些時候，美國貿易代表辦公室公佈了一份計劃於 10 月 18 日生效的加徵關稅的產品清單。清單上的一些產品包括對英國某些威士忌和服裝徵收 25% 的關稅，對來自某些歐洲國家的各種奶酪和橄欖油徵收關稅，以及對來自某些歐洲國家的某些豬肉製品、黃油和酸奶徵收關稅等等。

So that's pretty much it in terms of what we have to say. Lastly, in terms of upcoming releases, we will release -- we will announce our September sales results for the 5 weeks ending this coming Sunday, October 6; on Wednesday, October 9 after the market closes.

以上就是我們要說的全部。最後，關於即將發布的消息，我們將公佈截至本週日（10 月 6 日）的 9 月份前 5 週的銷售業績；該業績將於 10 月 9 日星期三市場收盤後公佈。

With that, I'll open it up to questions and answer and turn it back to the operator. Thank you.

接下來，我將開放問答環節，並將問題交還給接線員。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) We have your first question coming from the line of Michael Lasser from UBS.

（操作員說明）我們收到來自瑞銀集團的邁克爾·拉塞爾的第一個問題。

So you've recently run a few promotions to drive membership growth. You've done this in the past periodically. Should we interpret this as any different than that particularly given that you're now anniversary all the benefit from the price increase? I guess you could say, well, you want to increase membership growth and so you -- that's what's driving that decision. How should we think about that?

所以你們最近開展了一些促銷活動來促進會員成長。你過去也曾定期這樣做過。鑑於您現在正享受著價格上漲帶來的所有好處，我們是否應該對此做出不同的解讀？我想你可以說，你想增加會員數量，所以——這就是你做出這個決定的原因。我們該如何看待這個問題？

No. I think as it relates to the one I think we've got currently underway, it's very similar to the 3 or 4 we've done over the last 3 years, 4 years I think. No real -- we try to put some time between them. We don't want to get people waiting for a promotional item, but they do work and they help. And any of the timing is just that. Nothing beyond that. I don't anticipate doing another one for a while as we have in the past.

不。我認為，就我們目前正在進行的這個專案而言，它與我們在過去 3 年、4 年完成的 3 或 4 個專案非常相似。沒有真正的——我們盡量讓他們之間間隔一段時間。我們不想讓人們等待促銷品，但它們確實有效，而且有所幫助。任何時間安排都只是時間安排而已。僅此而已。我預計短期內不會再像以前那樣再做一次了。

Okay. That's very helpful. And then on your growth in China, did it surpass your expectation? And does that influence how many and how quickly you can expand in that country?

好的。那很有幫助。那麼，您在中國的業務成長是否超出了您的預期？這是否會影響你在國家擴張的數量和速度？

Well, it clearly surpassed all of our very high expectations. That being said, we're pretty methodical when we go into a new country wherever it is. And we opened 1 or 2 units to start with over the first year or 2 and go from there. A lot of it has to do with the fact of building the people structure within a country. While we have help from neighboring countries and other areas to start the process, you really want to build your supervisor, your functional managers in the country. So if you'd asked us before we even opened the first one and felt positive, it would be good but how did we do -- how well we would do, yes, how many we have 5 years hence, the answer would probably be the same as it is today. We'll open a couple in the first year or 2 and then open a couple more perhaps and see where we go from there. And we're certainly pleased and excited about what we've seen, but maybe it gets a little bigger but certainly nothing that -- we're going to be pretty methodical about it as we have in other countries.

嗯，它顯然超出了我們所有人的極高預期。話雖如此，無論我們去到哪個新國家，我們都會做事相當有條不紊。在最初的一兩年裡，我們先開設了一兩家分店，然後根據情況逐步擴大。這很大程度上與一個國家的人員結構建設有關。雖然我們可以得到鄰國和其他地區的幫助來啟動這個過程，但你真正想要的是培養你的主管和國內的職能經理。所以，如果你在我們開設第一家店之前就問我們，並且感覺良好，那當然很好，但是我們做得怎麼樣——我們會做得怎麼樣，5 年後我們會有多少家店，答案可能和今天一樣。我們會在前一兩年開幾家店，然後也許會再開幾家，看看情況如何發展。我們當然對目前所看到的感到高興和興奮，但也許規模還會再擴大一些，但肯定不會太大——我們會像在其他國家一樣，採取非常有條不紊的方式。

We have your next question coming from the line of Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙古特曼。

So on gross margin, it looked pretty solid. I want to make sure I heard properly. The core-on-core was up 4, which I'd say looks pretty normal for you, up a little, down a little, which means that the reported, it sounds like the ancillary, the gas was a big piece of that. Can I ask you if the dynamics there, I think over the past couple of years, have improved? In general, are they still getting better? Or this was just pure market dynamics on the gas side?

所以從毛利率來看，情況相當不錯。我想確認一下我是否聽清楚了。核心間比上升了 4，我認為這對你們來說相當正常，略有上升，略有下降，這意味著報告顯示，輔助能源，天然氣在其中佔了很大一部分。請問，近幾年來，那裡的情況是否有改善？整體而言，他們的情況還在好轉嗎？或者這只是天然氣市場本身的市場動態？

I think the last few years not only for us but other big gas retailers, the supermarkets and the Walmarts, generally, the new normal over the last couple of years has been better. And particularly for us, I think as prices historically have come down and some retailers bring them down a little and some a little more, it's still given us the ability to, in our view, to have improved margins and operations and probably showing a greater savings relative to what we had a few years ago. That being said, the quarter was good. There are a couple of quarters, a few quarters back year-over-year that was also good. It does fluctuate, but I'd say the new normal overall is, on average, better than it had been.

我認為過去幾年，不僅對我們，對其他大型加油站零售商、超市和沃爾瑪來說，總體而言，新的常態在過去幾年變得更好了。尤其對我們來說，我認為隨著價格從歷史角度來看有所下降，一些零售商將價格降低了一些，一些零售商則降得更多，這仍然使我們能夠提高利潤率和運營效率，並且與幾年前相比，節省的成本可能會更大。也就是說，本季表現不錯。有幾個季度，幾個季度前的年比數據也相當不錯。雖然情況會有波動，但我認為總體而言，新的常態平均而言比以前要好。

And the core-on-core was pretty normal for you as well?

你們那邊核心對核心的運算速度也相當正常嗎？

The core-on-core, well, yes. I don't think there was any big surprises there. We always tell you that when it's up a little year-over-year, maybe it'll come down a little. When it's down a little, maybe it will come up a little bit. As it relates to the underlying factors of competition, we feel that there -- we haven't seen any giant changes in the competitive landscape out there. There's still a lot of competition, and there's a lot of headlines out there. But at the end of the day, we're still pretty darn competitive ourselves.

核心對核心，嗯，是的。我覺得沒什麼好意外的。我們總是告訴你們，如果同比略有上漲，也許會略有下降。當它稍微下降的時候，也許會稍微回升一點。就競爭的根本因素而言，我們認為──我們還沒有看到競爭格局發生任何巨大變化。競爭依然激烈，各種新聞報導也層出不窮。但歸根究底，我們本身仍然非常具有競爭力。

Okay. And my follow-up is on the EBIT dollar growth. It looked like it came in high single digit, like 9-ish percent this year. And if you take the average over the last several years, it's come in around high single digit that range. As you look out to your next fiscal year, is there anything one way or the other that should impact that? I think the consensus is modeling a lower rate. I know you don't comment on that. But it's been several years of a little bit outsized growth, so I'm just curious if there's any big spending items, margin issues that we should think about as we model the next year.

好的。我的後續問題是息稅前利潤（EBIT）美元成長。今年的降幅似乎在個位數高位，大概在 9% 左右。如果取過去幾年的平均值，這個數字一直徘徊在這個範圍的個位數高點附近。展望下一個財政年度，有哪些因素可能對此產生影響？我認為目前的共識是預測利率會更低。我知道你對此不予置評。但過去幾年成長幅度略微超常，所以我很好奇在預測明年業績時，是否有任何重大支出項目或利潤率問題需要考慮。

There's lots of everything, Simeon. We really don't talk about the future. I mean we certainly feel good about what we're doing merchandising-wise, where all retailers are impacted to with tariffs right now. That's having a little bit of an impact. But beyond that, we feel good about what we got going on in terms of opening up another 20-ish units next year and driving membership. We're certainly -- we're pleased with seeing our renewal rates continue to go in a -- the higher direction and getting new members. So overall, we feel good, but we'll see.

西蒙，這裡什麼都很多。我們很少談論未來。我的意思是，雖然目前所有零售商都受到關稅的影響，但我們對自己在商品銷售方面所做的工作感到非常滿意。這確實產生了一些影響。但除此之外，我們對明年開設另外 20 家左右門市和發展會員的計畫感到滿意。我們當然很高興看到續費率持續走高，並且不斷有新會員加入。總的來說，我們感覺不錯，但結果如何，我們拭目以待。

We have the next question coming from the line of John Heinbockel from Guggenheim.

下一個問題來自古根漢美術館的約翰·海因博克爾。

Richard, 2 questions on gas. One, I don't think you -- no, maybe I'm wrong. You guys think about an interaction between gas margin and core-on-core, right? Meaning if you're getting more margin at the pump, in any given quarter, you can put that back a little bit into core-on-core. Do you think about it that way? And then on gas gallon growth, where is that now versus where it's been over the last year or 2?

理查德，關於天然氣有兩個問題。第一，我不認為你──不，也許我錯了。你們考慮過氣體餘裕和堆芯對堆芯的相互作用，對吧？這意味著，如果在任何一個季度，你在加油站獲得的利潤更高，你可以把這部分利潤稍微投入到核心引擎的研發中。你是這麼想的嗎？那麼，就汽油銷售成長而言，目前的情況與過去一兩年相比如何？

Yes. Well, look, we don't -- in terms of the margin, if we're doing stronger in one, do we -- can we be a little more competitive elsewhere? Well, not completely. I mean, human nature dictates that, sure, when things are going well in one area, you see what else you can do in another area. But I would say there -- we don't manage it that way necessarily.

是的。你看，就利潤率而言，如果我們在某個領域表現更強，那麼我們能否在其他領域也更有競爭力呢？不完全是。我的意思是，人性決定了，當然，當一個領域進展順利時，你會考慮在另一個領域還能做些什麼。但我想說的是──我們未必會那樣處理。

As it relates to gallons, I think our gallons were up in the high singles. You have a theory, yes. So we continue to do, in terms of gallon comps, much stronger than the whole U.S. industry of gallon -- gasoline.

就加侖數而言，我認為我們的加侖數達到了很高的個位數。是的，你有一個理論。因此，就加侖銷售而言，我們繼續比整個美國加侖汽油行業表現得強勁得多。

And then secondly, what's your -- where do you stand now with the opening schedule for the year maybe by geography and cadence? Is it -- I guess, this past year was a little bit back-end loaded, and I guess, it's the same in 2020.

其次，您目前對今年的開幕日程安排有何看法——也許可以按地理位置和節奏來劃分？是嗎？我想，去年有些事情集中在下半年，我想，2020 年也是如此。

Yes, well, probably so. We generally try to get things open before the holidays, so when things are -- if you miss the holiday, whether it's February or April or May, who cares as much? But you try to push them forward a little bit as you approach back to school, Labor Day all the way through Christmas and New Year's. And so I think the last -- the year before was the same way. We opened a disproportionate number of the locations in Q4. So generally speaking, yes. I don't have a schedule in front of me exactly, but...

是的，大概是這樣。我們通常會在假日之前盡量開門營業，所以如果錯過了假日——無論是二月、四月還是五月——誰又會在意呢？但隨著開學季的臨近，從勞動節一直到聖誕節和新年，你要努力讓他們提前一些。所以我覺得去年──也就是前一年──也是一樣。我們在第四季度開設了不成比例的門市數量。總的來說，是的。我手頭上沒有具體的日程安排，但是…

We have your next question coming from the line of Christopher Horvers from JPMorgan.

接下來，我們將收到來自摩根大通的克里斯多福霍弗斯提出的問題。

So one -- ask you a question about average ticket growth ex FX and gas. If you take a look in August, that showed slowdown pretty sharply relative to the prior trend. So one pick at that. Is that a comparison? Is that a change in mix or perhaps lapping against some of the center aisle grocery price increases that the vendors started to put through last year? Is it investment in price? And so just want to get your thoughts on what's driving that? And any thoughts on the outlook there?

所以，第一個問題是關於扣除外匯和汽油費用後的平均客單價成長。如果看一下八月的數據，就會發現與先前的趨勢相比，成長明顯放緩。所以就選了這一把。這是比較嗎？這是商品組合的變化，還是與去年供應商開始實施的中心貨架食品雜貨價格上漲有關？這是價格投資嗎？所以，我想聽聽您對此有何看法？對那裡的前景有什麼看法？

Well, I think the prior -- if I'm not -- if I'm correct, I think the last in Q3, it was like 1.8 or 1.9, and this quarter, it was a 1.4. I don't have a good answer, a specific answer for you on that. It could be mix. It probably is mix, but I don't know off the top of my head.

嗯，我想上一季——如果我沒記錯的話——如果我沒記錯的話，上一季是第三季度，好像是 1.8 或 1.9，而這一季度是 1.4。我沒有好的答案，沒有具體的答案可以給你。可能是混合的。可能是混合的，但我一時想不起來。

Got it. And then on the tariffs, as you think about what's been passed through, how are peers acting? Are you seeing more -- are your peers taking a portfolio approach in terms of trying to keep price items at certain price points and then balancing out versus, say, less elastic items and how you're assessing the landscape on that side?

知道了。然後，關於關稅問題，當你思考已經傳遞出去的東西時，其他國家是如何應對的？您是否看到更多同行採取投資組合策略，試圖將價格較高的商品保持在特定價格水平，然後與價格彈性較小的商品進行平衡？您如何評估這方面的市場格局？

Yes. Well, I can say, to start with, that we don't see any major competitive issues. Certainly, it's -- I personally think it's easier to manage some subset of our 3,800 total items that we sell at a given time and location versus retailers that's selling 50,000 and 100,000, 150,000 items and they're dealing with categories.

是的。首先，我可以肯定地說，我們沒有看到任何重大的競爭問題。當然，我個人認為，管理我們在特定時間和地點銷售的 3800 件商品中的一部分，比管理銷售 5 萬件、10 萬件、15 萬件商品的零售商要容易得多，而且他們還要處理各種類別。

Certainly, on bigger ticket items, it's harder. I mean you -- it's hard -- with smaller-ticket item, it might be easier to eat a little bit of it. With something like furniture or Lawn & Garden, things like that, that's a little harder. But overall, we have -- we generally feel pretty good about it.

當然，對於價格較高的商品來說，難度就更大了。我的意思是，對於價格較低的商品，可能更容易只吃一點點。像家具或園藝用品之類的東西，那就有點難辦了。但總的來說，我們——我們對此感覺相當不錯。

And we're -- by the way, the other thing is we're an item-driven business. I'm sure -- I don't have examples in front of me, but I'm sure there have been examples of items where, if we weren't able to greatly mitigate or mitigate as best we can the -- some of that tariff, in some cases, again, we would try to geographically move the item or source from another supplier. There are limits to what you can do on that. But overall, I think we're able to decide not to sell something and put something else in its place. I think that makes it a little easier for us relative to general merchandisers. But again, it's -- it impacts us all.

順便說一句，我們是一家以商品為導向的企業。我確信——我手頭上沒有例子，但我確信有些商品，如果我們無法大幅減輕或盡可能減輕部分關稅，在某些情況下，我們會嘗試將該商品從地理位置上轉移，或者從其他供應商處採購。在這方面，你能做的也有限。但總的來說，我認為我們有能力決定不出售某些東西，而是用其他東西來取代它。我認為這對我們來說比一般零售商要容易一些。但話說回來，這——它影響著我們所有人。

Got it. And then on the announcement last night, I mean there are some items on there that standout, olive oil and cheese. Can you talk about -- particularly on the olive oil side, I would imagine you might be the largest seller of olive oil in the United States. So can you talk about where you're sourcing there? We think Spain's covered but Italy is not.

知道了。在昨晚的公告中，有一些產品非常突出，例如橄欖油和起司。您能否談談——尤其是在橄欖油方面，我想您可能是美國最大的橄欖油銷售商。那麼，你能談談你們在那裡的貨源嗎？我們認為西班牙在承保範圍內，但義大利不在承保範圍內。

Yes. We source from several countries, including the ones that you just mentioned. But there'll be some impact.

是的。我們的原料來自多個國家，包括您剛才提到的那些國家。但肯定會有一些影響。

Got it. And then I guess the last question is the money question here, is another quarter down and we haven't had any announcement as to what you're going to do with all the cash in the balance sheet that continues to build. So can you talk about what your thought process is there? Has anything changed? Are you trying to keep dry powder for any particular reason?

知道了。那麼，我想最後一個問題就是資金問題了，又一個季度虧損了，而且我們還沒有收到任何關於你們將如何處理資產負債表上不斷增加的現金的公告。那麼，你能談談你當時的思考過程嗎？情況有變化嗎？你是為了什麼特殊原因才想保留乾粉的嗎？

Sure. Well, I don't think there's any dry powder -- M&A-related dry powder. We really haven't or currently plan to do anything. We do have a total of $1.7 billion coming due in December and February, $1.2 billion and then $500 million I believe. And so we'll write -- we'll pay that down. We are always asked about questions about the special dividend, and our comments have been is that we've done 3 of them. They seem to have worked well, viewed positively. So it's still in the -- it's still in our back pocket. But they are special, and so we'll have to wait and see what we decide to do in the future. But there's nothing specific that we have planned.

當然。嗯，我認為併購方面沒有任何可用的資金。我們過去沒有，現在也沒有計劃做任何事。我們總共有 17 億美元將於 12 月和 2 月到期，12 億美元，然後我相信還有 5 億美元。所以我們會寫——我們會償還這筆錢。我們常被問到有關特別股利的問題，我們的回答是，我們已經派發了 3 次特別股利。從正面的角度來看，它們似乎效果不錯。所以它仍然在我們的備選方案裡。但它們很特殊，所以我們還得拭目以待，看看將來該怎麼做。但我們目前還沒有任何具體的計劃。

We have your next question coming from the line of Karen Short from Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的凱倫·肖特。

Just on the operating profit growth. I mean it was -- so the 10%-ish growth, it was up $140 million excluding the product tax assessment. But can you just give a little color on how much stronger year-over-year gas margins might have impacted that growth rate? Because I was kind of backing into about $150 million in incremental dollars from better gas margins. Any color there really...

僅就營業利潤成長而言。我的意思是，大約成長了 10%，不包括產品稅評估，成長了 1.4 億美元。但您能否簡要說明一下，天然氣利潤率年增率對這一成長率產生了多大影響？因為我從更高的天然氣利潤間接獲得了約 1.5 億美元的額外收入。其實任何顏色都可以…

Well, we don't disclose specifics. We don't disclose the specifics, but as I think I mentioned, I think it was Q2 year-over-year that we also had a good gas margin. Certainly, that was a help to that.

我們不會透露具體細節。我們不透露具體細節，但正如我之前提到的，我認為第二季我們的天然氣利潤率也相當不錯。當然，那對那件事很有幫助。

Okay. But is that estimate like somewhere in the range? Or am I -- is it way too high?

好的。但這個估計值是不是在某個範圍內呢？或者──是不是太高了？

I -- we really don't -- Karen, we really don't go into that specific a detail.

我——我們真的不會——凱倫，我們真的不會深入探討那個具體細節。

Okay. And then wondering if you could maybe give a little color in terms of elasticity and anything you could point to on elasticity response with categories where you did raise prices.

好的。然後我想知道您是否可以就價格彈性方面做一些說明，並指出您在提價的類別中，價格彈性響應方面有哪些變化。

Sure. I mean, generally speaking, the bigger the ticket items where you also have a good portion of the tariff is -- impacts the price, raises the price. I mean there was -- this is an anecdotal example, but there was one category of those types of items that typically is up mid-single digits year-over-year and instead was flat to down a couple of percent. And that is -- that included some price increases, so probably, it was down 10% in units. But that's a subset of a subset of a category, and so I don't want to suggest it was everything.

當然。我的意思是，一般來說，價格越高的商品，關稅佔比越大——就會影響價格，導致價格上漲。我的意思是，雖然這只是個軼事例子，但這類商品中有一類通常同比會成長個位數百分比，而今年卻持平甚至下降了幾個百分點。也就是說——其中包含了一些價格上漲，所以銷量可能下降了 10%。但這只是某一類別的子集的子集，所以我並不想說它就是全部。

But -- and I mean given examples from our buyers where there have been items where we've -- essentially most of the tariff is reflected in a price increase and we've sold just as many units as we thought we were going to previous to that. There's been others where we've -- the price increase tariff-related, less than half of the tariff went into a price increase in that, we saw -- you saw some unit reduction results. So it really has been over the board.

但是——我的意思是，根據我們買家提供的例子，有些商品——基本上大部分關稅都反映在了價格上漲中，而我們賣出的數量和之前預想的一樣多。還有一些情況是——價格上漲與關稅有關，其中不到一半的關稅導致了價格上漲，我們看到——你看到了一些單位數量的減少。所以這件事真的太過火了。

But generally speaking, the bigger the item -- when you take an item that retails for $999 and have to get it up -- if we get even about $1,240, then I'm using a 25% example or be 25% of the cost. But nonetheless, first thing you'd try to do is get it to $1,199 and then go from there or $1,099. But we -- it's really over the board. Net-net that though, it's a slight negative impact.

但總的來說，商品越大——比如一件零售價為 999 美元的商品，如果要提高價格——如果我們能達到 1240 美元左右，那麼我舉個例子，價格就是原價的 25%，或者說價格是原價的 25%。但無論如何，你首先要嘗試的是把它降到 1,199 美元，然後再從那裡或 1,099 美元開始。但我們——這真的太過分了。但總的來說，這會產生輕微的負面影響。

Okay. And then I guess along those lines, can you just maybe give a little color on what inflation was at both, I guess, cost and at retail and then if you could parse that out between consumables and nonconsumables?

好的。那麼，能否請您簡單介紹一下通貨膨脹在成本價和零售價方面的情況，並分別分析一下消費品和非消費品的通貨膨脹呢？

It was very little. We've seen very little. You still see -- taking tariffs away for a second on electronics and things, you'll see some deflation. Overall in consumables, it's been pretty much steady as she goes. One question I was asked earlier this week was about what's going on with the freight components, and freight has actually improved a little bit year-over-year. Still higher than it had been a few years ago, but overall, it's all in the soup here.

數量很少。我們看到的非常少。你仍然會看到——即使暫時取消電子產品等商品的關稅，也會出現通貨緊縮。整體而言，她的消耗品支出一直保持穩定。本週稍早有人問我貨運方面的情況，實際上貨運情況比去年同期略有改善。雖然比幾年前高，但總的來說，一切都取決於湯的成分。

We have your next question coming from the line of Chuck Grom from Gordon Haskett.

下一個問題來自戈登·哈斯克特的查克·格羅姆。

Just on the core-on-core between categories, a couple were up. Hardlines was down. Food and sundries, I think, you said was relatively consistent year-over-year. Just can you dive into the hardline compression and then also the change from last quarter on the food and sundries segment?

僅就類別之間的核心內容而言，就有幾個類別有所上升。Hardlines伺服器宕機了。我想，你之前說過食品和雜貨的價格每年都比較穩定。您能否深入分析一下硬性壓縮因素，以及食品和日用品板塊與上一季相比的變化？

Yes. A part of it's mix change. I mentioned earlier online but also in store, electronics and majors, those tend to be a little -- electronics tends to be a little lower-margin business but good growth still. And not -- again, when asked the $64,000 question of, "is it competition," we're not seeing a lot of big changes out there whether -- and there's a lot of headlines of what's going on, particularly on the food side, but we haven't seen any big changes.

是的。其成分的一部分發生了變化。我之前提到過，無論是線上還是線下，電子產品和大型超市的利潤率往往較低，但成長仍然不錯。而且——再次，當被問及「是否存在競爭」這個價值 64,000 美元的問題時，我們並沒有看到很多重大變化——儘管有很多關於正在發生的事情的頭條新聞，尤其是在食品方面，但我們並沒有看到任何重大變化。

Okay. Fair enough. And then can you just remind us how you guys are thinking about the company's long-term club growth potential particularly here in the U.S. and if you're seeing any signs of saturation in any of your key markets, both domestically and internationally?

好的。很公平。那麼，您能否提醒我們一下，您是如何看待公司長期俱樂部成長潛力的，尤其是在美國市場？你們是否在任何主要市場（包括國內和國際市場）看到任何飽和跡象？

Well, by definition, like in the U.S. and Canada and the rate of growth will slow down, but I would have said that 3 years ago with what we've done in the U.S. and Canada. So we keep finding more opportunities, but over time, it'll slow down. We're also, of course, adding the business centers. We have, I think, 18 in the U.S. and 1 in Canada with our second coming shortly in Canada. And so that'll add a little bit to it. When asked recently what do you guesstimate and it's truly guesstimate over the next 10 years on a basis of, what, 540-ish in the U.S., maybe another 12 to 12 plus a year. Right now, it's been 15 a year, so -- but it'll come down a little bit.

嗯，從定義上講，就像美國和加拿大一樣，經濟成長速度將會放緩，但就我們三年前在美國和加拿大所取得的成就而言，我也會這麼說。所以我們不斷發現更多機會，但隨著時間的推移，這種趨勢會放緩。當然，我們也會增設商務中心。我想，我們在美國有 18 家分店，在加拿大有 1 家分店，第二家分店也即將在加拿大開幕。這樣一來，就會增加一點。最近有人問我，你對未來 10 年的估計是多少？這真的是基於美國的 540 左右的估計，也許每年還會再增加 12 到 12 倍。目前是每年 15 起，所以——但還會下降一點。

In Canada, 1 plus a year. We thought we were a saturated at 80 in Canada and now we have 101 or 102. So that will keep increasing. Certainly, there will be more -- what -- I think the thing that we feel most comfortable saying is 5, 3 years from now, the penetration of the percentage of the total openings will certainly by then -- likely by then, nothing is certain, be outside of the U.S. and Canada.

在加拿大，一年超過 1 年。我們原以為加拿大人口達到 80 人就飽和了，現在卻有 101 或 102 人。所以這個數字還會繼續增加。當然，未來還會有更多——我認為我們最有把握說的是，在未來 3 到 5 年內，到那時，全球開放總數的百分比肯定會——到那時，雖然沒有什麼是確定的——在美國和加拿大以外的地區。

Okay. Great. And then just last question, online sales I think are about 5% of the total revenue. When you guys are analyzing shoppers that are using either CostcoGrocery, Instacart, I'm curious if the purchases have replaced an in-store trip. And then I guess if you'd analyzed how that could potentially impact your in-store traffic over the next, say, 2 to 5 years.

好的。偉大的。最後一個問題，我認為線上銷售額約佔總收入的 5%。當你們分析使用 CostcoGrocery 或 Instacart 的購物者時，我很好奇這些購物是否取代了實體店購物。然後我想，如果你分析一下這可能會在未來 2 到 5 年內對你店內客流量產生怎樣的潛在影響。

Look, it's still early. It's the first full year I guess. Generally speaking, you see more shops overall recognizing it's a little less when they're shopping online. And then net of the 2 is still a slight net positive to what we had seen before. But you have to be on the lookout is, does it replace the shop. How many shops does it replace? But what we're seeing is you've got more -- and there's somebody who's infilling, if you will, and they'd be reducing their trips to the location a little bit. So I'd call it neutral to slightly good right now, but that doesn't -- who knows what happens tomorrow?

你看，現在還早。我想這應該是第一個完整的學年吧。總的來說，你會發現越來越多的商店意識到，顧客在網上購物時，實體店的折扣力道會小一些。即便扣除這 2 項因素，最終結果仍然比我們之前看到的略微偏向正值。但你要注意的是，它是否會取代實體店。它取代了多少家店？但我們看到的情況是，現在有更多的人——而且有人在填補空缺，他們會稍微減少去往該地點的次數。所以我覺得現在的情況是中性到略好，但這並不意味著——誰知道明天會發生什麼事？

So far, I mean, we feel good about that by the way and -- but we can't predict. I think -- by the way, I think part of it also is when we talked about -- as what I've talked about in the past is we use -- to communicate to our members, aside from the traditional Costco connection and a lot of the e-mails, and the e-mails are not just for shopping online. E-mails are talking about hot things that are happening in the warehouse, while supplies last in some cases. And we've seen good examples of that, that can help drive frequency into the warehouse or create a trip. And that along with gasoline, not every person that fills up with gas comes in. But I think about half do -- a little over half do. Even if one of them is incremental, that's a positive. We don't check to see what that is. We're not asking them. But we know it's got to -- it can't hurt. It's got to help. So we think that we're -- I think those are the types of things that have helped us continue to drive traffic into the buildings, which we want to do.

就目前而言，我們對此感覺良好，但是——我們無法預測。我認為——順便說一句，我認為部分原因還在於，當我們談到——正如我過去談到的那樣，我們使用——除了傳統的 Costco 聯繫和大量的電子郵件之外，我們還使用其他方式與我們的會員溝通，而這些電子郵件不僅僅是用於在線購物。電子郵件中正在討論倉庫裡發生的一些熱門事件，有些情況下，這些事件的庫存還有剩餘。我們已經看到了很好的例子，這可以幫助提高倉庫的進出頻率或促成一次出貨。而且，除了汽油之外，並不是每個加油的人都會進來。但我認為大約有一半人會這樣做——略多於一半的人會這樣做。即使其中一項只是漸進式的進步，那也是正面的。我們不會去查那是什麼。我們沒有問他們。但我們知道必須這麼做——這樣做不會有什麼壞處。肯定會有幫助的。所以我們認為——我認為正是這些因素幫助我們繼續吸引人流進入建築物，而這正是我們想要做的。

We have your next question coming from the line of Scot Ciccarelli from RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Scot Ciccarelli。

Scot Ciccarelli. Just a quick follow-up on Chuck's kind of store opening question. Do you have a plan for U.S. versus international store openings for the current fiscal year?

斯科特·西卡雷利。我來快速補充一下 Chuck 提出的關於店鋪開業的問題。對於本財年，貴公司是否有美國本土門市與國際門市的開設計畫？

Yes. I think U.S. is still going to be a little more than half. I don't have the sheet in front of me.

是的。我認為美國仍將佔半數以上。我手邊沒有那張紙。

A little more than half. Okay. That's good enough. And then, Richard, when you guys bring popular branding products where there's a lot of price transparency, you mentioned Weber grills on the call on your website. How are you guys trying to target your pricing on those kinds of products where they can be found in lots of different spots? And you guys have always been price competitive of course. But can you provide any color on kind of how you're thinking about kind of price caps when you've got obviously the home improvement guys out there, Amazon, Amazon marketplace, et cetera?

略多於一半。好的。這樣就足夠了。還有，理查德，當你們推出價格透明的熱門品牌產品時，你在電話會議上提到了Weber烤架，並在你們的網站上進行了說明。你們是如何針對這類在許多不同地方都能買到的產品進行定價的？當然，你們的價格一直都很有競爭力。但是，您能否就價格上限問題提供一些看法，特別是考慮到家居裝公司、亞馬遜、亞馬遜市場等等？

Yes. Look, we want to be the lowest priced, and we're going to go as low as we can and feel good about it. In some instances, we bundle so we create a value that includes perhaps accessories with the item or an extra whatever and -- but these are the real value, I mean real items that have a value to it and that just show an even greater savings. And we've done that on all kinds of things, whether it's computers or big appliances.

是的。我們想做到價格最低，我們會盡可能地降低價格，並且對此感到滿意。在某些情況下，我們會將商品捆綁銷售，從而創造價值，其中可能包括商品的配件或其他額外贈品——但這些才是真正的價值，我的意思是真正有價值的商品，它們能帶來更大的優惠。我們已經在各種產品上都這樣做過，無論是電腦還是大型家電。

And by the way, I think that -- a lot of times, competitive pricing tends to be on some of the entry level on what you see advertised if you will. And then consumers generally trade themselves up to the -- with all the extra accessories and what have you. And that's where we continue to show good savings, too. I mean we look at some of those big-ticket items and we -- they're pretty very strong savings to traditional.

順便說一句，我認為——很多時候，有競爭力的價格往往是你在廣告中看到的一些入門級產品的價格。然後消費者通常會升級到——包括所有額外的配件等等。而且，我們在這方面也持續取得了不錯的節省。我的意思是，我們看看那些大宗商品，它們與傳統方式相比可以節省很多錢。

We have your next question coming from the line of Bobby Griffin from Raymond James.

接下來，我們將收到來自 Raymond James 公司的 Bobby Griffin 的提問。

First, I just want to go back to the grocery delivery and some of the initiatives that have been rolled out here in the U.S. Have those been rolled to some of your other international markets that you're operating e-commerce sites in?

首先，我想回到生鮮配送以及在美國推出的一些措施上來。這些措施是否也推廣到你們經營電子商務網站的其他國際市場？

Yes, Canada now. We rolled it out in Canada with some help from others. And we would look to do it in a few other countries, but we haven't said when and where but in short order.

是的，現在是加拿大了。在其他一些機構的幫助下，我們在加拿大推出了這項服務。我們計劃在其他一些國家開展這項業務，但尚未透露具體時間和地點，不過應該很快就會有結果。

Okay. So some time in -- is it safe to assume some time in FY '20?

好的。那麼，在某個時間點——可以假設是在 2020 財年的某個時間點嗎？

FY '20, yes. Starting with the 2 day, which is easier, 2-day dry. But in Canada, we're doing 1-day fresh as well -- we'll be doing 1-day fresh, but we're not doing it yet. We're doing 2-day dry up there already.

2020財年，是的。先從兩天的乾燥期開始，比較容易，兩天乾燥期。但在加拿大，我們也在做一日新鮮——我們將要做一日新鮮，但我們目前還沒有開始做。我們那裡已經連續兩天沒有上岸了。

Okay. I appreciate that. And I guess lastly for me, I just want to touch on, working capital continues to be impressive with payables, as you know, [eclipsing] over 102% of inventory now. How much more room do you think you have in that as we model out forward? And is there any onetime items there that are driving some of the performance that we got to keep in mind?

好的。我很感激。最後，我想提一下，營運資金仍然非常可觀，應付帳款如您所知，目前已超過庫存的 102%。隨著我們不斷拓展模型，您認為還有多少發展空間？是否存在一些一次性因素會影響業績，我們需要注意？

Well, there are seasonal issues. Our Q1 ends a month -- right around Thanksgiving time. And that's generally when it's the highest payables as a percent of inventories. The -- so I think generally, the low point is Q2 mid-February when sales are a little softer on a seasonal basis. Other than that, if anything, we -- as we build out e-comm and have more inventory in our -- in there and want to make sure we're trying to grow it, that actually probably impacted a little negatively, notwithstanding the fact that it's currently a very strong number.

當然，也存在一些季節性問題。我們的第一季在一個月後結束——正好是感恩節前後。通常情況下，這時應付帳款佔庫存的比例最高。所以我覺得，一般來說，第二季的低谷期是二月中旬，因為從季節性因素來看，此時的銷售額會稍微疲軟一些。除此之外，如果有什麼影響的話，那就是隨著我們拓展電子商務，庫存不斷增加，並且我們希望確保它能夠發展壯大，這實際上可能產生了一些負面影響，儘管目前它是一個非常強勁的數字。

We also have some programs where, ideally, sometimes you'll have vendors, usually smaller vendors, that even though we and they have negotiated extended terms in some cases, particularly on seasonal items or stuff that's coming in a few months hence, sometimes, if they need working capital, it's a good rate of return for us to pay early, if you will, what's called anticipation. These are not big numbers, but those impacted a little bit that would reduce it. So overall, I'd probably look at what those percentages were at each of quarter ends for the last few years and assume it's not that different.

我們還有一些項目，理想情況下，有時你會遇到一些供應商，通常是規模較小的供應商，即使我們和他們已經協商延長了付款期限，特別是對於季節性商品或幾個月後才會到貨的商品，但如果他們需要營運資金，提前付款對我們來說是一個不錯的投資回報率，這可以稱之為預付款。這些數字雖然不大，但受到一些影響的人會減少這種情況的發生。所以總的來說，我可能會查看過去幾年每個季度末的這些百分比，並假設它們之間沒有太大差異。

We have your next question coming from the line of Chris Mandeville from Jefferies.

接下來，我們收到來自傑富瑞集團的克里斯·曼德維爾提出的問題。

This is [Jeff] on the line for Chris. Just a quick question. You touched on it just a little bit with the topic of tariffs. Just wanted to know your general temperature check on the consumer. It sounds like they are responding in some ways with big-ticket items, like you said, with price increases. But in general, what's your feeling on how the consumer is reacting, just given both tariff politics and geopolitical concerns and stuff of that nature?

這是傑夫在幫克里斯打電話。問個小問題。你在談到關稅問題時稍微提到了這一點。只是想了解一下您對消費者的整體看法。聽起來他們似乎正在以某種方式應對，就像你說的，就是提高高價商品的價格。但總的來說，考慮到關稅政策、地緣政治等因素，您認為消費者目前的反應如何？

I think our number is -- I speak in a sense that we're still seeing good growth, certainly, very good renewal rates, good results at openings. So we feel pretty good about it. If you ask me how does that relate to consumer, who the heck knows? I think we all turned off the television and stopped listening to everything every day. We'll all knew better. I think we're also -- everybody's a little desensitized to everything.

我認為我們的數字是——我的意思是，從某種意義上說，我們仍然看到良好的成長，續約率非常好，開業業績也很好。所以我們對此感覺相當不錯。如果你問我這跟消費者有什麼關係，誰知道呢？我想我們都關掉了電視，不再每天聽各種節目了。我們都應該更清楚這一點。我覺得我們大家也都有些——對一切都有些麻木了。

We have your next question coming from the line of Oliver Chen from Cowen and Company.

接下來，我們收到來自 Cowen and Company 的 Oliver Chen 的問題。

Congrats on the progress on diamonds as well. Regarding the digital execution, the mobile app development has been really progressive. What are your thoughts on the biggest needle movers there? And as you think across digital, whether that be adding new product or improving checkout and search or your new DC, how would you prioritize the bigger drivers for traffic and growth that large?

恭喜你在鑽石方面也取得了進展。在數位化執行方面，行動應用程式的開發取得了非常顯著的進步。你認為哪些因素對市場格局產生了最大的影響？當你考慮數位轉型時，無論是增加新產品、改進結帳和搜索，還是建立新的配送中心，你會如何優先考慮能夠帶來如此巨大流量和成長的更重要因素？

Well, I think, first of all, as it relates to the app, just getting more people on it. I mentioned there's about 2.5 million since we improved it. There's still a lot of work to be done to add things to it, but that was like since July. I think we have over 10 million members on the app. One of the other things was just getting e-mail addresses for everybody. You guys have done this for a long time. We were a little later to the game than others in terms of collecting e-mail addresses years ago. And we've had a big push in the last couple of years, and we dramatically increased the number of members where we have good e-mail addresses. Now that sounds simple and why did we do that, and I can only tell you we are and it's -- and that's helping. We're getting more people. We're getting more people to open the e-mails and to click on things.

嗯，我認為，首先，就應用程式而言，就是要讓更多的人使用它。我之前提到過，自從我們改進以來，大約有 250 萬用戶。雖然還有很多工作要做，例如添加一些內容，但這大概是從七月開始的。我認為我們的應用程式擁有超過1000萬用戶。其中一項任務就是收集每個人的電子郵件地址。你們做這件事已經很久了。幾年前，我們在收集電子郵件地址方面比其他人晚了一些。在過去的幾年裡，我們大力推廣，並大幅增加了擁有有效電子郵件地址的會員數量。這聽起來很簡單，但我們為什麼要這樣做呢？我只能告訴你，我們正在這樣做，而且這樣做——這很有幫助。我們的人越來越多了。我們正在吸引更多人打開電子郵件並點擊其中的內容。

And so -- and I think one thing that I talked about in the past, we still have these different buckets of money starting with the improved -- the improvement from the credit card transition a couple of years ago, the membership fee increase, tax reform. All these things have helped, and as you know, we take that and make it a better value for the member. And I think that's helped us, whether it's buyers -- Hot Buys, wow items. And I think that's given us a little bit of a leg up over the last couple of years in terms of helping achieve the numbers that we have.

所以——而且我認為我過去談到的一件事是，我們仍然有這些不同的資金來源，從幾年前信用卡過渡帶來的改善、會員費上漲、稅改開始。所有這些都有所幫助，正如您所知，我們會利用這些優勢，為會員創造更大的價值。我認為這對我們有所幫助，無論是對買家而言——熱門商品、令人驚豔的商品。我認為，這在過去幾年裡幫助我們取得了一些優勢，使我們達到了目前的成績。

So I think more connections to the members are going to help. Certainly, there's no slowdown in renewal rates. That's been good to us. Beyond that, it's what we see every 4 weeks in our budget meetings from the buyers, doing exciting stuff, constantly improving existing items. There are a number of examples of whether -- KS items, we continue to improve the item and lower the price point, while an improved item, and therefore, increase the value dramatically. There's looking at exciting items not just for us in the U.S. to ship to these other countries but also to take some exciting items from other countries and bringing them to other parts of Costco.

所以我認為加強與成員之間的聯繫會有所幫助。當然，續約率並沒有放緩的跡象。這對我們來說是件好事。除此之外，我們每 4 週在預算會議上都能看到採購人員在做一些令人興奮的事情，不斷改進現有產品。有很多例子可以說明——KS 商品，我們不斷改進商品並降低價格，而改進後的商品，因此，其價值會大幅提高。我們正在尋找一些令人興奮的商品，不僅供我們美國向其他國家/地區發貨，而且還從其他國家引進一些令人興奮的商品，並將它們帶到 Costco 的其他地區。

So I think on -- when I think about from a merchandising standpoint, we're at the top of our game in a lot of things. On the efficiencies side, we've got a lot of expenses going on. We talked about e-commerce a little bit. There's cost associated to that as we do that. There's IT in general with everything that we've got going on, whether it's e-commerce or fulfillment and depot infrastructure, the new poultry complex. So there's lots of things that are in our numbers in terms of expenses as well, and we've done pretty well. So it won't -- I think we keep doing the kinds of things that we're doing as it relates to global sourcing and in some cases, some vertical integration and -- but ultimately, just driving more value. And I...

所以我覺得——從商品銷售的角度來看，我們在很多方面都處於領先地位。在效率方面，我們有很多開支。我們簡單聊了聊電子商務。這樣做會產生一定的成本。總的來說，我們所有正在進行的專案都離不開 IT，無論是電子商務、物流和倉庫基礎設施，還是新的家禽養殖綜合體。所以，我們的支出數據中也包含了許多項目，而且我們做得相當不錯。所以不會——我認為我們會繼續做我們正在做的事情，例如全球採購，在某些情況下，還會進行一些垂直整合——但最終目的只是為了創造更多價值。而我…

You've done a good job managing the digital margins overall. Do you pursue the right kind of fulfillment options and supply chain and getting the smaller packages to customers with speed? What are your thoughts on those investments and how they align with what customers are looking for with speed of delivery?

你們在整體上很好地管理了數位利潤率。您是否正在尋求合適的物流配送方案和供應鏈，並快速將小包裹送達客戶手中？您如何看待這些投資？它們與客戶對交付速度的需求有何關聯？

Well, we're not going to be -- you're not going to be able to order something and we'll drop it off an hour later anytime soon. For us, first order of improvement was actually, remember, it wasn't that long ago where online, particularly on a big-ticket items, but physical item as well, and say expected delivery time 3 to 5 weeks. And now it's 3 to 5 days. And certain items with certain vendors are now on -- you can actually schedule delivery and installation. So we're -- tires is a great example as well. It used to be -- with those online now, you can actually order them and have them and schedule your appointment at the warehouse where you're shopping at. These are all basic things but things that we haven't done for a long time. So I think you'll see continued improvement in that. And none of it's easy, and it all costs more than you think. But those are our numbers.

嗯，我們近期內不會提供這樣的服務——您下單後，我們不會在一個小時後把東西送到您家。對我們來說，首要的改進措施實際上是，要知道，不久之前，在線購物，尤其是購買高價商品，以及購買實體商品，預計交貨時間為 3 到 5 週。現在是3到5天。現在某些商家提供的某些商品可以預約送貨和安裝。輪胎也是一個很好的例子。以前是這樣——現在有了這些線上商品，你可以訂購，然後預約在你購物的倉庫取貨。這些都是一些基本的事情，但我們已經很久沒有做了。所以我認為你會看到這方面持續改進。而且這一切都不容易，花費也比你想像的還要高。但這些都是我們掌握的數據。

And finally that you've really had good momentum, including with diamonds at Costco and the big-ticket sales of diamonds. What's your strategy with that business? And how has it been going? Any things we should think about?

最後，你們的發展勢頭非常強勁，包括在 Costco 銷售鑽石以及鑽石大宗銷售。你對那項業務有什麼策略？一切都好嗎？有什麼需要考慮的嗎？

Look, I mean it starts with great quality and great value. Those are the -- one of the things I think that has helped us on -- that's -- the jewelry area is a good example with the lockers that we're now rolling out to a number of locations. A lot of people on high-value small-sized items, they can't ship it to their place of work and they don't want to leave it at their front porch. And so we saw an uptick of some of those items and some other items like handbags and a little bit number of electronics. But as it relates to jewelry overall, I know we've got a lot of press because I mentioned a $400,000 diamond a couple of quarters ago. We're selling close to 200,000 karats of diamonds a year. That's a lot of karats. And -- so jewelry business is -- it's one of the things that hits you just past the electronics when you typically walk into a Costco. And it's all about value and trust.

你看，我的意思是，一切都始於優良的品質和超值的價格。我認為，珠寶區就是一個很好的例子，我們現在正在多個地點推廣儲物櫃，這對我們有所幫助。很多人購買高價值的小物品，不能寄到工作地點，也不想放在家門口。因此，我們看到其中一些商品以及一些其他商品（例如手提包和少量電子產品）的銷量有所上升。但就整個珠寶行業而言，我知道我們獲得了很多媒體關注，因為我在幾個季度前提到了一顆價值 40 萬美元的鑽石。我們每年銷售近20萬克拉的鑽石。那可是很多克拉呢。所以——珠寶生意就是這樣——當你走進 Costco 時，它通常是你在電子產品區旁邊就能看到的商品之一。這一切都關乎價值和信任。

Your next question coming -- comes from the line of Robbie Ohmes from Bank of America.

你的下一個問題——來自美國銀行的羅比·奧姆斯。

One question I'm getting is just a lot on the chicken plant. Can you just sort of let us know how that is going so far versus expectations? And also, was it about $10 million of the preopening expense this quarter? And how does it affect preopening going forward? And maybe related to chicken plants, are there any other types of vertical integration, things that you might be looking out to do further?

我常被問到關於養雞場的問題。能否簡單介紹一下目前進展與預期相比如何？另外，這筆費用是不是本季約 1,000 萬美元的開業前支出？那麼這將如何影響未來的開業前準備工作？或許與養雞場相關的，還有其他類型的垂直整合，或者您可能正在考慮進一步的領域嗎？

Well, look, this is a big plant. I think it's the most state-of-the-art plant that I understand in the country. It's going to be very efficient, but it's going to take close to a year to get to full production. And the first several weeks have gone as planned in terms of the first chicken went through and more each day, and -- but you're going to get to 2 million -- processing of 2 million birds a year -- I'm sorry, 2 million birds a week in about 40 more weeks.

你看，這是一株很大的植物。我認為它是我所了解的全國最先進的工廠。它的效率會非常高，但要全面投產還需要將近一年的時間。前幾週一切都按計劃進行，每天都有新的雞被處理，而且——但是你們將達到每年處理 200 萬隻雞——抱歉，大約再過 40 週，每週處理 200 萬隻雞。

The preopening stopped effectively when we opened it on September 10. So there's a little bit in Q1 but not like that big amount. But it's a huge facility, and it's also air chilled. About 95% of U.S. poultry plants are still water chilled. So all the issues in terms of -- it's considered a very high-quality food item, and it allows us to deliver that while doing a lot of things for the environment as well. So there's a lot of good things. It didn't come without a cost. It was a big investment for us and a little bit more in a year, but we're excited about it. Other things, we had -- a year ago, we had a second meat plant. We've had one in Tracy, California for many years. We opened one in Morris, Illinois. We also, as you know, opened a bakery commissary in Canada that will also serve much of the United States in terms of things like cookie dough and croissants ready to bake off premise.

9月10日正式開業時，試營運階段就其實已經結束了。所以第一季有一點點，但數量不多。但它的設施非常龐大，而且採用的是空氣冷卻。美國約95%的家禽加工廠仍採用水冷方式。因此，所有相關的問題——它被認為是一種非常高品質的食品，它使我們能夠在提供這種食品的同時，也為環境做了很多事情。所以有很多好處。但這並非沒有代價。這對我們來說是一筆很大的投資，一年下來投入的資金也更多，但我們對此感到很興奮。除此之外，我們還有一些其他的東西——一年前，我們建造了第二家肉類加工廠。我們在加州特雷西市有一家店已經開了好幾年了。我們在伊利諾州莫里斯市開設了一家分店。如您所知，我們還在加拿大開設了一家烘焙食品中央供應中心，該中心也將為美國大部分地區提供餅乾麵團和羊角麵包等產品，方便顧客在店外烘焙。

We're looking at a variety of greenhouse opportunities. There's a lot of technology and new things going on in the area of agriculture. Would be nice to greatly lower the price of not having to airship things to Hawaii as well as being closer to the market and being better for the environment. So I think given our size and given some of the things that are going on, we're going to hopefully benefit from that. But that's -- other than that, there's nothing else, I don't think, we've got planned in a big way. But I would say beyond the couple of things I mentioned in the last 1.5 years and certainly this new chicken plant, a few things on the greenhouse side but not the type of capital investment required that was done in the poultry complex.

我們正在考察各種溫室建設機會。農業領域湧現許多新技術和新事物。如果能大幅降低運往夏威夷的貨物成本，同時又能更靠近市場，對環境也更有利，那就太好了。所以我覺得，考慮到我們的規模以及目前發生的一些事情，我們有望從中受益。但除此之外，我想我們沒有其他大的計劃了。但我想說，除了過去一年半提到的幾件事，當然還有這家新的養雞場，以及溫室方面的一些事情，但這些都不像家禽綜合體那樣需要大量的資本投資。

We have your next question coming from the line of Michael Montani from Evercore ISI.

接下來，我們將收到來自 Evercore ISI 的 Michael Montani 的問題。

Just wanted to ask for an update on Executive program rollout, if you can just remind us kind of which countries have it now and which ones might be slated to get it next.

我想了解高階主管培訓計畫的推廣情況，您能否提醒我們目前哪些國家已經實施了該計劃，以及哪些國家可能接下來會實施？

Well, we have it in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Korea and Japan. And we've just started -- we just rolled it out this month in Japan. Korea, we rolled out about a year, 1.5 years ago?

嗯，美國、加拿大、墨西哥、英國、韓國和日本都有。我們才剛開始——這個月才在日本推出。韓國市場，我們大概在一年半前推出的？

A year ago.

一年前。

A year ago.

一年前。

Okay. Great. One housekeeping one if I could is around gasoline. Can you give us a sense -- I've been thinking that was around 10%, 11% of sales for the quarter. And also what was the ASP for gasoline this quarter?

好的。偉大的。如果可以的話，我想提一個關於汽油的家務建議。你能大概說說嗎？我一直覺得這大概佔本季銷售額的 10% 到 11%。另外，本季汽油的平均售價是多少？

Hold on. I think it's on the summary sheet. $2.94 versus $3.05 a year ago.

堅持，稍等。我想它在匯總表上。2.94 美元，而一年前為 3.05 美元。

Okay. And the last thing that I had was on Citi/Visa, can you give us an update just on how many members have that now and what you're seeing in terms of third-party spend, just how it's progressing?

好的。我上次諮詢的是關於 Citi/Visa 卡的問題，您能否更新一下目前有多少會員使用這項服務，以及您在第三方消費方面觀察到的情況，進展如何？

I don't have those numbers in front of us. I can tell you we continue to add new members. We continue to -- the average reward per existing credit card holder on the Citi/Visa card continues to increase. The rewards are substantial, and it's really working well. It's probably better than we had originally had hoped, and it's done well for us and hopefully our partners.

我手頭上沒有這些數字。我可以告訴大家，我們一直在增加新成員。我們繼續看到—花旗/維薩卡現有持卡人的平均獎勵持續成長。回報豐厚，而且效果非常好。這可能比我們最初預期的還要好，對我們以及我們的合作夥伴來說都是不錯的結果。

We have your next question coming from the line of Kelly Bania from BMO Capital.

接下來，我們將收到來自 BMO Capital 的 Kelly Bania 的提問。

Just wanted to go back to the store potential question really in the U.S. I think it was a few years ago that you know that you were able to kind of go into some smaller communities than you maybe originally thought. And so just curious, as you think about the next couple of years, what kind of size and demographics of the communities are you looking at and planning for new clubs. And also, when you go back to the saturation question and think about how do you analyze when you think you are at saturation, what are some of the key metrics that you look at? Is it the pace of the ramp in terms of sales, the cannibalization of members? Or just any help on how you guys think about analyzing that?

我只是想回到之前關於在美國開店的可能性這個問題。我想大概幾年前，你才意識到你可以進入一些比你原本想像的還要小的社區。所以我很好奇，在您考慮未來幾年的時候，您正在關注和計劃在哪些規模和人口結構社區建立新的俱樂部。此外，當你回到飽和度問題，思考如何分析何時達到飽和狀態時，你會關注哪些關鍵指標？是銷售額成長速度過快，還是會員流失造成的？或者你們能否就如何分析這個問題提供一些建議？

30 years ago, I think the view was, was you needed about 0.5 million people in a trade area plus a certain number of businesses and all that kind of stuff. Today, that number could be as low as 200,000 sometimes. It depends. Some of the smaller or medium markets we've gone into in the last few years generally are markets where our competition, our direct competitors were, in many cases, for 20 or 30 years and we had just never gone there. We've gotten probably a little more confident that when we go in that there's room for both of us, and we've done relatively well.

30年前，人們的觀點是，一個貿易區需要大約50萬人，再加上一定數量的企業等等。如今，這個數字有時可能低至 20 萬。這取決於。過去幾年我們進入的一些中小型市場，通常是我們的競爭對手，也就是我們的直接競爭對手，在許多情況下已經在那裡經營了 20 或 30 年，而我們卻從未涉足的市場。我們現在可能更有信心了，覺得進去之後我們兩個都有位置，而且我們做得也相對不錯。

I think the other thing is, if you look back over the last few years and my guess is in the upcoming years, there'll be some infill opportunities. I've used the example on calls on the East side of Seattle, in the Bellevue side of Seattle where, historically, we had 3 locations, Issaquah, Kirkland and Woodinville. About 2 years ago, we opened in Redmond. And we only added -- let's say in those 3 locations, had about 190-ish thousand members between them, households, so 60,000, 65,000 each. We only added about 10,000 new members in the next year, but you had a lot of loyal members that started shopping more frequently because we were closer to them.

我認為還有一點，回顧過去幾年，我猜未來幾年也會有一些填補空缺的機會。我以西雅圖東區（貝爾維尤地區）的電話為例，歷史上我們在那裡設有 3 個辦事處：伊薩誇、柯克蘭和伍丁維爾。大約兩年前，我們在雷德蒙開業。我們只增加了——假設在那 3 個地方，總共有大約 19 萬個成員（家庭），也就是每個地方 6 萬到 6.5 萬個。接下來的一年裡，我們只新增了大約 10,000 名會員，但是有很多忠實會員因為我們離他們更近了，所以開始更頻繁地購物。

Part of that comes with you have high volume. And those -- that example, I think as -- before we opened that fourth location on this side of Seattle, we had I think over $800 million aggregate sales, 1 in the low 3s and the other 2 in the mid- to high 2s. And when you get to that level, that gives a little more comfort that you can afford a little cannibalization. In that example, I think the first year, net of cannibalization, we did $120-plus million of business, $120 million, $130 million of business. So it's pretty easy to estimate and guesstimate what you think you can do particularly when you have a loyal membership base.

部分原因是由於你們的業務量很大。而那些——我認為，就像那個例子一樣——在我們於西雅圖這邊開設第四家分店之前，我們的總銷售額超過 8 億美元，其中一家在 3 億美元左右，另外兩家在 2 億美元中後期。當你達到那個水平時，你會覺得可以稍微蠶食一下自己的利益，從而感到更加安心。以那個例子來說，我認為第一年，扣除蠶食效應後，我們的營業額超過了 1.2 億美元，1.2 億美元，1.3 億美元。所以，當你擁有忠實的會員基礎時，估算和估計你能做的事情就相當容易了。

And then there are other markets like if you look at the Greater Los Angeles market, I'm talking greater geographic market, I think we probably have 60-ish, roughly 60 units. The view is we can have another 15, but they're all very specific geographies, which are not quite impossible but very difficult. And we'd be thrilled to get 1 of those 15 open every couple of years, but you don't know if that can happen. So I think it's all over the board in terms of smaller trade areas, markets where our competition has been and we are just entering and then continue the expansion and infills.

還有其他市場，例如大洛杉磯市場，我指的是更大的地理區域市場，我認為我們大概有 60 套左右的房產。有人認為我們還可以再建 15 個，但它們都位於非常特定的地理位置，雖然並非完全不可能，但非常困難。我們非常希望每隔幾年就能有 15 家餐廳中的 1 家開業，但你不知道這是否會發生。所以我認為，在較小的貿易區域、我們的競爭對手曾經存在而我們剛剛進入的市場，以及我們繼續擴張和填充的區域，情況都是如此。

Okay. That's helpful. And maybe just another one on click and collect and how that's going and maybe what you're learning from a logistics and labor perspective as you do that for some of the big ticket items. And then any changes or thoughts with respect to broadening that to some other categories like grocery, which I realize are more maybe complicated and labor intensive?

好的。那很有幫助。或許還可以再談談點擊提貨的運作情況，以及在處理一些高價商品時，從物流和勞動力角度來看，你學到了什麼。那麼，對於將其擴展到其他類別（例如食品雜貨）有什麼改變或想法嗎？我意識到食品雜貨可能更複雜、更費力？

Yes. I don't see us going too deep. I mean we're talking about tires and pharmacy and jewelry, handbags, computers, high-value small-sized items for the time being.

是的。我覺得我們不會深入探討這個問題。我的意思是，目前我們討論的是輪胎、藥品、珠寶、手提包、電腦等高價值的小件物品。

We have your next question coming from the line of Laura Champine from Loop Capital.

接下來，我們將收到來自 Loop Capital 的 Laura Champine 的問題。

It's just a quick one on inventory. Your inventory receipts looks like were -- grew a little less rapidly than they have in prior quarters and also relative to sales growth. So just wanted to get a sense of why you might have cut your ordering and whether that has any -- whether that reflects on your thoughts on our current quarter sales trends.

只是簡單地清點一下庫存。您的庫存收據看起來成長速度比前幾季以及相對於銷售成長速度都要慢一些。所以，我只是想了解您減少訂單的原因，以及這是否反映了您對我們本季銷售趨勢的看法。

My guess is it's a little bit of an anomaly that I don't read a lot into it. It might be that we've really built up, as an example, increased year-over-year online, inventories related to our e-comm and things like that. But that's happened -- maybe less of that happened in this quarter. We've kind of cycled that for a year, I'm guessing. Other than that, I don't -- there's nothing baked to read into that.

我猜這只是個小異常現象，所以我沒想太多。例如，我們可能確實建立了一個規模，與我們的電子商務相關的庫存逐年增長等等。但這種情況已經發生——或許本季這種情況有所減少。我猜我們已經這樣循環了一年了。除此之外，我沒有別的意思──這裡面沒有什麼值得深究的。

Your next question coming from the line of Rupesh Parikh from Oppenheimer.

你的下一個問題來自奧本海默公司的魯佩什·帕里克。

It's actually Erica Eiler on for Rupesh. So I just had one quick question just flipping back to international. So when you look at a market like China, when do you typically see an inflection point and profitability in those clubs?

實際上，代替 Rupesh 上場的是 Erica Eiler。我剛才切換回國際頻道時，還有一個問題想問。那麼，當你觀察像中國這樣的市場時，你通常會在什麼時候看到這些俱樂部的轉折點和獲利能力？

Well, at the club level, it could be the first year or a few years down the road. You've got a big central expense you've geared up. Whether you have 1 location or 10, there's not a big change -- a huge change in the cost of a central -- with the buyers and operations people and accounting department and the like. I mean it'll grow some but not nearly from 1 to 10. And so it depends on the country. Usually, it can be year 4 or 5. I think in Japan, which is now 20-ish years old, our original budget was to open 5 in 5 years and turned a quarter of profitability towards the end of year 5. I think we hit profitability near the end of year 4, and we opened 6. So -- but that's probably a good guesstimate. It's probably going to be slower in a country like France where it took us 10 years to get 1 opened. And while we're just looking for additional sites, it still could be a couple of years out. So you're not going to go from 1 to 5 in 5 years. But that's going to happen. We're going to have a mix of those.

嗯，在俱樂部層面，這可能是第一年，也可能是幾年後。你已經準備好了一筆數額龐大的中心開支。無論你擁有 1 個地點還是 10 個地點，採購人員、營運人員、會計部門等等，中央系統的成本都不會有太大變化。我的意思是它會增長一些，但不會從 1 增長到 10。所以這取決於具體國家。通常情況下，可能是第四年或第五年。我想在日本，也就是現在大約20年前，我們最初的預算是在5年內開設5家分店，在第五年末就實現了四分之一的利潤。我認為我們在接近第四年末的時候就實現了盈利，然後我們又開設了6家分店。所以——但這可能只是一個比較準確的估計。在像法國這樣的國家，速度可能會更慢，我們花了 10 年才開設了第一家。雖然我們目前只是在尋找其他地點，但可能還需要幾年時間。所以你不可能在5年內從1升到5。但這終究會發生。我們將採用這些方法的混合方式。

We have your next question coming from the line of Chuck Cerankosky from Northcoast Research.

接下來，我們將收到來自 Northcoast Research 的 Chuck Cerankosky 的問題。

One housekeeping question. Can you talk about the tax reserve on the product? What drove that? Was it an excise tax kind of thing?

一個家務事方面的問題。您能談談該產品的稅收儲備嗎？是什麼原因導致這種情況？是消費稅之類的東西嗎？

It was essentially a tax that some authority thought we should have been collecting, and we're, again, going to file a protest and see how much. But I can't really talk to -- a lot about it yet. But again, it relates to, I'd say, a 7.5-year period that ended in 2016 that we were just notified before the formal assessment. And again, under GAAP accounting, we've reserved for it.

這實際上是某些當局認為我們應該徵收的一種稅，我們將再次提出抗議，看看應該徵收多少。但我現在還不能談太多。但再說一遍，這涉及到一段長達 7.5 年的時間，這段時間在 2016 年結束，而我們只是在正式評估之前才被告知此事。而且，根據公認會計準則，我們已經為此預留了資金。

Okay. And then looking at the tariff situation, could that maybe an impetus to put -- use private label sourcing on more products as a result to get the price down? And in general, what are you thinking about for new categories, new items for private label in the coming fiscal year?

好的。再看看關稅情況，這是否會促使企業更多地採用自有品牌採購方式來降低產品價格？總的來說，您在即將到來的財政年度中，對自有品牌的新類別、新產品有哪些設想？

Yes, not really for tariffs. First of all, some of our private label items are sourced out of China as well, so it's going to impact everybody. And nothing changes quickly overnight. In terms of KS items, I think that you have seen of late and you'll continue to see a variety of items, I mean recent introductions or things like all kinds of specialty waters, essence waters, extra virgin olive oil that they have some impact on tariffs, chocolate chips. I'm just looking down the list here, several apparel items for men, women and children, more housewares. So I think you're going to continue to see that grow and even -- and raise the quality further of existing items, that continuous improvement cycle. You're going to see that on some frozen food items, diapers. I'm just looking down my list here, soaps, coffee pods.

是的，其實並非針對關稅。首先，我們的一些自有品牌產品也是從中國採購的，所以這會影響到所有人。任何事情都不會在一夜之間發生快速改變。就KS商品而言，我認為您最近已經看到並將繼續看到各種各樣的商品，我的意思是最近推出的商品，或者像各種特色水、精華水、特級初榨橄欖油（它們對關稅有一定的影響）、巧克力片等。我正在瀏覽這個清單，上面有幾件男裝、女裝和童裝，還有一些家居用品。所以我認為你會看到這種趨勢繼續發展，甚至——並且進一步提高現有產品的質量，這是一個持續改進的循環。你會在一些冷凍食品和尿布上看到這種情況。我正在查看我的清單，肥皂，咖啡膠囊。

We've taken the KS coffee pod, which I think, 3 or 4 years ago, we went -- it went to fair trade. Since then, we -- it's now organic and recyclable, and we've lowered the price by over 10% to the customer while improving, if you will, the value and the quality. And it's driving more sales. So we -- again, we -- there's lots of little things as regards to the types of items and what we're doing there.

我們採用了 KS 咖啡膠囊，我想，大概 3 或 4 年前，我們把它變成了公平貿易產品。從那時起，我們——現在它是有機的、可回收的，而且我們在提高價值和品質的同時，將價格降低了 10% 以上。而且它還帶動了銷售成長。所以——再說一遍，我們——關於物品的類型以及我們在那裡所做的事情，有很多小細節。

I think that's it. Well, thank you, everyone, and the group here will be around if there's any additional questions. Have a good day.

我想就是這樣了。好的，謝謝大家，如果還有其他問題，我們小組隨時都在。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you, everyone, for participating. This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect. Have a lovely day.

謝謝大家的參與。今天的會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。祝你今天過得愉快。