Ceragon Networks Ltd (CRNT) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to Ceragon Networks' fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

歡迎參加 Ceragon Networks 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，此通話正在被錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce you your host, Rob Fink, of FNK IR.

現在我很高興向您介紹您的主持人，FNK IR 的 Rob Fink。

Thank you, operator, and good morning everyone. Hosting today's call is Doron Arazi, Ceragon's Chief Executive Officer; and Ronen Stein, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。今天的電話會議主持人是 Ceragon 的執行長 Doron Arazi；以及財務長 Ronen Stein。

Before we start, I would like to note that certain statements made on this call, including projected financial information and other results and the company's future initiatives, future events, business outlook, development efforts, and their potential outcomes, anticipated progress and plans, results, and timelines and other financial accounting related matters constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, and the Safe Harbor provisions and the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在我們開始之前，我想指出，本次電話會議中做出的某些聲明，包括預計的財務資訊和其他結果以及公司的未來計劃、未來事件、業務展望、發展努力及其潛在結果、預期進展和計劃、結果和時間表以及其他財務會計相關事項，構成《1933 年證券法》及其修訂版和《1934 年證券交易法及其修訂版、安全性改革法》及其修訂版的《證券交易法》及其修訂版證券交易法所定義的《證券交易法》及其修訂版的《證券交易法》及其修訂。

Ceragon intends forward-looking terminology such as believes, expects, may, will, should anticipates, plans, or similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect only current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions of Ceragon's management. The actual results, performance, or achievements of Ceragon may differ materially as they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements.

Ceragon 打算使用前瞻性術語（例如相信、預期、可能、將、應該預期、計劃或類似表達）來識別前瞻性陳述。這些聲明僅反映 Ceragon 管理層當前的信念、期望和假設。Ceragon 的實際結果、績效或成就可能存在重大差異，因為它們受制於某些風險和不確定性，這可能導致實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述中的預測有重大差異。

Such risks and uncertainties are described in Ceragon's most recent annual report on Form 20-F and as may be supplemented from time to time in Ceragon's other filings with the SEC, including today's earlier filing of the earnings press release. All of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

此類風險和不確定性在 Ceragon 最新的 20-F 表年度報告中有所描述，並且可能會在 Ceragon 向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中不時補充，包括今天早些時候提交的收益新聞稿。所有這些都透過引用明確地併入本文中。

Forward-looking statements relate to be initially made do not purport to be predictions of future results and there can be no assurances that they will prove accurate. And Ceragon takes no obligation to update them.

最初做出的前瞻性陳述並非旨在預測未來的結果，也不能保證其準確性。並且 Ceragon 不承擔更新它們的義務。

Ceragon's public filings are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at SEC.gov, and they may also be obtained from Ceragon's website at ceragon.com.

Ceragon 的公開文件可在美國證券交易委員會網站 SEC.gov 查閱，也可從 Ceragon 的網站 ceragon.com 取得。

Also today's call will include non-GAAP financial measures. For a reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results, please see the table attached to the press release that was issued earlier this morning, which is also posted on the Investor Relations section of Ceragon's website.

今天的電話會議還將包括非公認會計準則財務指標。有關 GAAP 和非 GAAP 結果之間的對照表，請參閱今天早上發布的新聞稿所附的表格，該表格也發佈在 Ceragon 網站的投資者關係部分。

With all that said, I can now turn the call over to Doron. Doron, the call is yours.

說了這麼多，現在我可以把電話轉給多倫了。多倫，你來決定。

Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone. This was a significant quarter in the evolution of Ceragon. We closed a strategic acquisition that we believe will accelerate our growth, especially in key markets. We exceeded our guidance for revenue and delivered record full-year non-GAAP operating income, giving us great momentum and confidence as evidenced by our guidance for significant growth and margin expansion in 2024.

謝謝你，羅布，大家早安。這是 Ceragon 發展歷程中重要的一個季度。我們完成了一項策略性收購，相信這將加速我們的成長，尤其是在關鍵市場。我們的收入超出預期，並實現了創紀錄的全年非公認會計準則營業收入，這給了我們巨大的動力和信心，這一點從我們對 2024 年顯著增長和利潤率擴大的預期中可以看出。

Major parts of our strategy are steadily coming together while we increase our footprint in North America and grow our business with private networks around the world. This might be the right moment to discuss some of the KPIs that are giving us confidence that we are making progress in the execution of our strategy.

隨著我們擴大在北美的業務範圍並透過世界各地的私人網路拓展業務，我們策略的主要部分正在穩步整合。現在可能是討論一些 KPI 的最佳時機，這些 KPI 讓我們相信我們在執行策略方面正在取得進展。

For example, our bookings from private networks this year were nearly $40 million. This is a very substantial number for us. But even more importantly, while this consists of slightly above 10% of our total booking, the total booking from new private network customers was about 30% of the company's total new bookings from new customers, three times higher.

例如，我們今年從私人網路獲得的預訂量接近 4000 萬美元。對我們來說這是一個非常可觀的數字。但更重要的是，雖然這只占我們總預訂量的 10% 多一點，但來自新私人網路客戶的總預訂量約占公司來自新客戶的總新預訂量的 30%，是其三倍。

In terms of the number of new customers, the progress is even more impressive. Approximately 50% of our total new customers this year were private networks customers. As part of our plans, we aspire to double the amount of private network booking in 2024. In parallel, we continue to increase our business in Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers. This has been our bread and butter for many years to keep in existing as well as new customers, such as the most recently noted new customer in India.

從新客戶數量來看，進展更加令人矚目。我們今年新增客戶總數中約有50%是私人網路客戶。作為我們計劃的一部分，我們希望在 2024 年將私人網路預訂量翻倍。同時，我們繼續擴大一級和二級客戶的業務。多年來，這一直是我們維持現有客戶和新客戶（例如最近注意到的印度新客戶）的主要收入來源。

With a few of our long-standing customers, we are in advanced discussion of selling software-led managed services, and we hope for more business with them in 2024. According to analyst reports, the millimeter wave market segment had the highest growth rate within wireless transport market with a compound annual growth rate of 35% for the last four quarters ended September 30, 2023.

我們正在與一些長期客戶就銷售軟體主導的託管服務進行深入討論，我們希望在 2024 年與他們開展更多業務。根據分析師報告，毫米波市場領域在無線傳輸市場中成長率最高，截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的過去四個季度的複合年增長率為 35%。

This particular market segment is expected to continue outpacing the total wireless transport market growth in the coming years. I believe that some of the actions we took in 2023 are positioning Ceragon to monetize on this expected continued high growth. We continue deploying our IP-50E in different regions.

預計未來幾年這一特定細分市場的成長速度將繼續超過整個無線傳輸市場的成長速度。我相信我們在 2023 年採取的一些行動將使 Ceragon 能夠利用預期的持續高成長來實現盈利。我們將繼續在不同地區部署我們的IP-50E。

We developed our optimized total cost of ownership driven IP50-EX that is expected to be launched in the coming weeks. And we have started the design of the next-generation millimeter wave product that will be based on our new system-on-a-chip, enabling us up to 100 gigabit per second wireless transport link.

我們開發了以優化總擁有成本為導向的 IP50-EX，預計將在未來幾週內推出。我們已經開始設計下一代毫米波產品，該產品將基於我們的新系統單晶片，使我們能夠實現高達每秒 100 千兆位元的無線傳輸鏈路。

Last but not least, we acquired Siklu, further expanding our millimeter wave offering to additional market segments and enhancing our end-to-end solution. With all these actions taken, we believe we will maintain the broadest and strongest millimeter wave products in our market with the richest price performance range.

最後但同樣重要的一點是，我們收購了 Siklu，進一步將我們的毫米波產品擴展到其他細分市場並增強了我們的端到端解決方案。透過所有這些行動，我們相信我們將在市場上保持最廣泛、最強大的毫米波產品和最豐富的性價比範圍。

In early December, we completed the acquisition of Siklu; the integration is well underway. Siklu contributed only a modest amount of revenue in the nearly one month they were part of Ceragon and the majority of our growth was organic. However, after closing the acquisition, we received a significant purchase order from one of Siklu's largest customer, an important vote of confidence for us. The financial key indicators of the acquisition have come in as expected.

12月初，完成對Siklu的收購；整合工作正在順利進行中。Siklu 在加入 Ceragon 的近一個月內僅貢獻了少量收入，大部分成長都是有機的。然而，在完成收購後，我們收到了 Siklu 最大客戶之一的重要採購訂單，這對我們來說是一次重要的信任投票。此次收購的各項關鍵財務指標均符合預期。

During 2023, Ceragon generated more than $30 million in cash from operations on a full-year basis, and $10 million in free cash flow for the full year, even including the cash impact related to the acquisition of Siklu.

2023年，Ceragon 全年經營活動產生的現金超過 3,000 萬美元，全年自由現金流為 1,000 萬美元，甚至包括收購 Siklu 所產生的現金影響。

In the fourth quarter, Ceragon grew revenue nearly 20% to $90.4 million, our highest quarterly revenue level of the year. Again, since the acquisition of Siklu closed only in early December, Siklu's contribution to this revenue was essentially insignificant. We delivered non-GAAP operating income of $7.8 million, the third consecutive quarter above $7 million.

第四季度，Ceragon 的營收成長近 20%，達到 9,040 萬美元，這是我們今年最高的季度營收水準。再次，由於對 Siklu 的收購在 12 月初才完成，Siklu 對這項收入的貢獻基本上微不足道。我們實現的非公認會計準則營業收入為 780 萬美元，這是連續第三季超過 700 萬美元。

On a GAAP basis, our operating income was $4.2 million. Our non GAAP net income was $3.7 million, the fourth consecutive quarter of non-GAAP net income exceeding $3 million. This strong end to the year enabled us to grow revenue more than 18% for the full year to $347 million, exceeding our full-year guidance of $333 million -- sorry, $338 million to $346 million.

根據 GAAP 標準，我們的營業收入為 420 萬美元。我們的非公認會計準則淨收入為 370 萬美元，這是非公認會計準則淨收入連續第四個季度超過 300 萬美元。這個強勁的年終收官讓我們全年營收成長超過 18%，達到 3.47 億美元，超過了我們全年預期的 3.33 億美元——抱歉，是 3.38 億美元至 3.46 億美元。

Even excluding the nearly one month of Siklu, we would have achieved our full-year revenue guidance with revenue at the high end of the provided range. For the full year, we delivered operating income of $29 million on a non-GAAP basis, an all-time record for Ceragon. On a GAAP basis, operating income was $21.2 million. Net income on a non-GAAP basis was $16.7 million and $6.2 million on a GAAP basis.

即使不計近一個月的 Siklu 收入，我們也已經實現了全年收入預期，且收入將達到所提供範圍的高端。全年，我們以非 GAAP 基礎實現的營業收入為 2,900 萬美元，創下了 Ceragon 的歷史新高。根據 GAAP 標準，營業收入為 2,120 萬美元。非 GAAP 淨收入為 1,670 萬美元，GAAP 淨收入為 620 萬美元。

Clearly, Ceragon has successfully navigated macroeconomic challenges impacting our industry. Continued strong demand for our solutions, especially in North America and India, has enabled us to continue robust growth as we take market share and deliver consistent profitability. In fact, we grew revenue in North America by 43% in 2023 compared to 2022.

顯然，Ceragon 成功應對了影響我們行業的宏觀經濟挑戰。我們的解決方案需求持續強勁，尤其是在北美和印度，這使我們能夠繼續保持強勁成長，佔據市場份額並實現持續獲利。事實上，與 2022 年相比，2023 年我們在北美的營收成長了 43%。

We continue to believe that our growth strategy expanding our addressable market beyond Tier 1 and Tier 2 customers is coming into clear focus. The acquisition of Siklu is expected to accelerate this initiative. Our performance in 2023, combined with improving visibility and the expected synergies from Siklu, has given us the confidence to guide to continue double-digit revenue growth.

我們始終相信，我們的成長策略正在逐漸清晰，即將我們的潛在市場拓展到一級和二級客戶之外。預計收購 Siklu 將加速這項舉措。我們在 2023 年的業績，加上知名度的提高和 Siklu 預期的協同效應，使我們有信心繼續實現兩位數的收入成長。

We are also targeting significant margin expansion in 2024. Ronen will speak to our guidance in more details during his comments.

我們也計劃在 2024 年大幅提高利潤率。Ronen 將在他的評論中更詳細地談論我們的指導。

In the next two few weeks, two new products are expected to be introduced, providing our customers with a lower total cost of ownership and excellent performance attributes. We believe these new additional products will help us further expand our market presence and offer tangible benefits to our customers. In addition, they are expected to also help us with our long-term goal of improving gross margins. We continue with the testing of our new system-on-a-chip named NEPTUNE and expecting to launch the first product using this chip by the end of 2024.

在接下來的兩週內，預計將推出兩款新產品，為我們的客戶提供更低的整體擁有成本和卓越的性能特性。我們相信這些新的附加產品將幫助我們進一步擴大市場份額並為我們的客戶帶來實際的利益。此外，預計他們還能幫助我們實現提高毛利率的長期目標。我們繼續測試名為 NEPTUNE 的新系統單晶片，並預計在 2024 年底推出使用該晶片的第一款產品。

As we already announced, it is our intention to demonstrate some of the NEPTUNE capabilities at Mobile World Congress exhibition in Barcelona next week. In particular, we will have a live demonstration of our upcoming NEPTUNE-based millimeter wave technology, which we believe far surpasses competitors' capabilities.

正如我們已經宣布的那樣，我們計劃在下週巴塞隆納的世界行動通訊大會上展示 NEPTUNE 的一些功能。特別是，我們將現場展示即將推出的基於 NEPTUNE 的毫米波技術，我們相信該技術遠遠超越了競爭對手的能力。

We will also display our IP-50CX microwave radio and IP-50EX millimeter wave radios. Both radios demonstrate a dedication to delivering high performance in complex packages for an optimized total cost of ownership. As we've said, this system-on-a-chip platform represents a meaningful competitive advantage, which should help us further take market share in the future.

我們也將展示我們的IP-50CX微波無線電和IP-50EX毫米波無線電。這兩款無線電設備均致力於在複雜的封裝中提供高性能，以優化整體擁有成本。正如我們所說，這個片上系統平台代表著有意義的競爭優勢，這將有助於我們在未來進一步佔領市場份額。

I'd now like to provide an overview of our Q4 highlights by region, noting that on today's call, we will focus primarily on activities in North America and India. The two regions that have and we expect will continue to have the greatest impact on our results in the near term.

現在，我想按地區概述我們第四季度的亮點，並指出，在今天的電話會議上，我們將主要關注北美和印度的活動。我們預計，這兩個地區在短期內將繼續對我們的業績產生最大影響。

In North America, we have continued to expand our business in the private network market. We pursue additional opportunities in the enterprise domain, large campuses, including universities as well as municipalities. Importantly, these contracts typically have a greater component of services and specifically managed services, which is expected to improve the visibility of our backlog and reduce the lumpiness of our business.

在北美，我們持續擴大專網市場業務。我們在企業領域、大型校園（包括大學）以及市政當局尋求更多機會。重要的是，這些合約通常包含更多的服務內容和專門的管理服務，這有望提高我們積壓訂單的可見性並減少業務的不穩定性。

North America revenue was $24.5 million. Our solutions are in demand even as service providers, more cautiously in the capital expenditures. Bookings in North America were in line with expectations in this quarter, adding to our backlog and reflecting several private network wins and strong demand from our largest service provider customer. Siklu North America benefited from a strong finish to the year, reflecting solid demand for Siklu millimeter wave solutions.

北美收入為2450萬美元。即使作為服務提供者，我們的解決方案仍然受到需求，並且在資本支出方面更加謹慎。本季北美的訂單符合預期，增加了我們的積壓訂單，並反映了幾個私人網路的成功和來自我們最大的服務供應商客戶的強勁需求。Siklu North America 今年表現強勁，反映出對 Siklu 毫米波解決方案的強勁需求。

In India, we have continued to see strong demand for our solutions, even as others report softness. Revenue from India was $30.5 million and bookings were strong, increasing our backlog. We signed a deal in India valued at approximately $150 million with the potential for additional revenue over time. Ceragon collaborated with a large global integrator on this project, which will support a network modernization project for a Tier 1 operator in India.

在印度，儘管其他市場報告需求疲軟，但我們仍然看到對我們解決方案的強勁需求。來自印度的收入為 3050 萬美元，訂單強勁，增加了我們的積壓訂單。我們在印度簽署了一項價值約 1.5 億美元的協議，並且有可能隨著時間的推移帶來額外的收入。Ceragon 與一家大型全球整合商合作進行此項目，該專案將支援印度一級營運商的網路現代化專案。

This is a brand-new customer for Ceragon, and this customer will be the first to deploy our new solutions. The agreement involves planning, product delivery, and deployment services as well as a multiyear contract for Ceragon managed services that covers day-to-day monitoring, management, and maintenance oversight of the microwave and millimeter wave network.

這是Ceragon的一個全新客戶，該客戶將率先部署我們的新解決方案。該協議涉及規劃、產品交付和部署服務，以及一份為期多年的 Ceragon 管理服務合同，涵蓋微波和毫米波網路的日常監控、管理和維護監督。

We expect to begin the delivery and deployment of the new sites in the second quarter and deployment is expected to complete within approximately two years. Approximately 75% of the project value expected to be recognized during this timeframe; the remaining approximately 25% of the contract value is for managed services and maintenance and is expected to start being recognized over the time of agreement beginning a year post deployment.

我們預計將在第二季開始交付和部署新站點，預計部署將在大約兩年內完成。預計在此時間範圍內確認約 75% 的項目價值；合約價值剩餘約25%用於託管服務和維護，預計將在部署後一年的協議期間開始確認。

This project will certainly benefit our presence in India. And while this win includes margins typical to India, we do not expect this win to be a drag on plans to continue improving our consolidated gross margins. Clearly, we continue to be successful in India and North America, and we anticipate this trend to continue in 2024.

該項目肯定會有利於我們在印度的業務。儘管這場勝利包含了印度典型的利潤率，但我們預計這場勝利不會拖累我們繼續提高綜合毛利率的計畫。顯然，我們在印度和北美繼續取得成功，我們預計這一趨勢將持續到 2024 年。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Ronen Stein, our CFO, to discuss the results in more details. Ronen, over to you.

接下來，我將把電話轉給我們的財務長 Ronen Stein，更詳細地討論結果。Ronen，交給你了。

Thank you, Doron, and good morning, everyone. As Doron outlined, the fourth quarter represented a solid end to a strong year for Ceragon. For the year, we grew revenue by 18% to $347.2 million, expanded our gross and operating profit margins, and delivered positive GAAP and non-GAAP net income, along with positive free cash flow.

謝謝你，多倫，大家早安。正如多倫 (Doron) 所概述的，第四季度代表著 Ceragon 強勁的一年圓滿結束。今年，我們的收入成長了 18%，達到 3.472 億美元，擴大了毛利率和營業利潤率，並實現了正的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 淨收入以及正的自由現金流。

This demonstrates the progress we have made in unlocking the earnings power of Ceragon. 2023 was a very strong year for Ceragon and we entered 2024 with accelerating momentum. We remain a project-driven business with inherent variability in results from quarter to quarter, but we delivered four strong quarters, each with revenue over $80 million and each with a non-GAAP net income of above $3 million.

這表明我們在釋放 Ceragon 的盈利能力方面取得了進展。 2023 年對 Ceragon 來說是非常強勁的一年，我們以加速的發展勢頭進入 2024 年。我們仍然是一個專案驅動型的企業，每個季度的業績都會有所不同，但我們取得了四個強勁的季度業績，每個季度的收入都超過 8,000 萬美元，非 GAAP 淨收入均超過 300 萬美元。

On an annual basis, we were profitable on a GAAP basis for 2023, the first time since 2018. To help you understand the results, I will be referring primarily to non-GAAP financials. For more information regarding our use of non-GAAP financial measures, including reconciliations of these measures, we'll refer you to today's press release.

從年度來看，我們在 2023 年以 GAAP 基礎獲利，這是自 2018 年以來首次獲利。為了幫助您理解結果，我將主要參考非 GAAP 財務數據。有關我們使用非公認會計準則財務指標的更多信息，包括這些指標的對賬，請參閱今天的新聞稿。

Let me now review the actual results. Revenues were $90.4 million, up 20% from $75.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Sequentially, revenue increased approximately 3.6% from $87.3 million in the third quarter of 2023. Our strongest regions in terms of revenues for the quarter were India and North America with $30.5 million and $24.5 million respectively, in line with the continuous strong demand we see in these regions.

現在讓我回顧一下實際結果。營收為 9,040 萬美元，較 2022 年第四季的 7,550 萬美元成長 20%。與 2023 年第三季相比，營收季增約 3.6%。就本季營收而言，我們最強勁的地區是印度和北美，分別為 3,050 萬美元和 2,450 萬美元，這與我們看到的這些地區持續強勁的需求一致。

Our third strongest region in terms of revenues was Latin America with $11.8 million. We had two customers in the fourth quarter that contributed more than 10% of our revenues. Gross profit for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis was $31.8 million, an increase of 27.1% compared to $25 million in Q4 2022, and up 4.4% compared to $30.4 million in Q4 2023.

就收入而言，我們的第三大地區是拉丁美洲，收入達 1,180 萬美元。第四季我們有兩位客戶貢獻了我們超過10%的營收。第四季非公認會計準則下的毛利為 3,180 萬美元，較 2022 年第四季的 2,500 萬美元增長 27.1%，較 2023 年第四季的 3,040 萬美元增長 4.4%。

Our non-GAAP gross margin was 35.1% compared to a gross margin of 33.1% in Q4 2022 and 34.9% in Q3 2023. We continue to achieve high gross margins, mainly as revenues from North America continue to maintain its high level and product mix continued to be favorable while we keep costs under control. Our gross margins continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to changes in product and regional mix as well as other operational factors. However, we continue to see a positive trajectory.

我們的非 GAAP 毛利率為 35.1%，而 2022 年第四季的毛利率為 33.1%，2023 年第三季的毛利率為 34.9%。我們繼續實現高毛利率，主要因為北美收入持續保持高水準、產品結構持續良好，同時我們控制了成本。由於產品和區域結構的變化以及其他營運因素，我們的毛利率每季都會持續波動。然而，我們繼續看到積極的軌跡。

As for our operating expenses, research and development expenses for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis were $7.7 million, down from $7.9 million in Q4 2022 and up from $7.3 million in Q3 2023. As a percentage of revenue, our R&D expenses were 8.5% in the fourth quarter compared to 10.4% in the fourth quarter last year.

至於我們的營運費用，以非 GAAP 計算，第四季的研發費用為 770 萬美元，低於 2022 年第四季的 790 萬美元，高於 2023 年第三季的 730 萬美元。作為營收的百分比，我們第四季的研發費用為 8.5%，而去年第四季為 10.4%。

Sales and marketing expenses for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis were $10.2 million, up from $8.6 million in Q4 2022 and from $9.7 million in Q3 2023. As a percent of revenue, sales and marketing expenses were 11.3% in the fourth quarter compared to 11.4% in fourth quarter last year.

以非 GAAP 計算，第四季的銷售和行銷費用為 1,020 萬美元，高於 2022 年第四季的 860 萬美元和 2023 年第三季的 970 萬美元。以收入百分比計算，第四季銷售和行銷費用為 11.3%，去年同期為 11.4%。

General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis were $6.1 million down from $17.6 million in Q4 2022, which included a $12.3 million credit loss provision for specific customer and up from $5.5 million in Q3 2023. As a percentage of revenues, G&A expenses were 6.7% in the fourth quarter compared to 23.4% in the fourth quarter last year.

以非 GAAP 計算，第四季的一般及行政費用為 610 萬美元，低於 2022 年第四季的 1,760 萬美元，其中包括針對特定客戶的 1,230 萬美元信用損失準備金，高於 2023 年第三季的 550 萬美元。作為收入的百分比，第四季的一般及行政費用為 6.7%，而去年第四季為 23.4%。

Our non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to increase in 2024 due to the full consolidation of Siklu. However, as we have already said, with our growth plan and the added business from Siklu, we are targeting operating margin expansion. We will continue to be disciplined in regard to our operating expenses to drive increased operating leverage.

由於 Siklu 的全面合併，我們預計 2024 年的非 GAAP 營運費用將增加。然而，正如我們已經說過的，透過我們的成長計劃和 Siklu 帶來的新增業務，我們的目標是擴大營業利潤率。我們將繼續嚴格控制營運費用，以提高營運槓桿。

Our goal is to achieve at least 10% non-GAAP operating margin for 2024 at the midpoint of our revenue guidance. We expect to utilize our strong cash flow to invest in our strategic initiatives to expand our addressable market and target private network customers. We continue to believe that such investments can better position us to see further growth in these segments in 2024.

我們的目標是在 2024 年實現至少 10% 的非 GAAP 營業利潤率，達到我們收入預期的中位數。我們希望利用強勁的現金流投資於我們的策略計劃，以擴大我們的潛在市場並瞄準私人網路客戶。我們仍然相信，這樣的投資可以讓我們在 2024 年更能看到這些領域的進一步成長。

Operating profit for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis was $7.8 million compared with operating loss of $9.1 million for Q4 2022 and a profit of $8 million for Q3 2023.

以非公認會計準則計算，第四季營業利潤為 780 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季營業虧損為 910 萬美元，2023 年第三季獲利為 800 萬美元。

Financial and other expenses for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis were $2.5 million, slightly higher than we expected due to currency losses from our operations in Africa. Our tax expenses for the fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis increased to $1.5 million, mainly due to an update in our FIN 48 provisions following tax assessments in one of the territories in which we operate.

根據非公認會計準則，第四季度的財務和其他費用為 250 萬美元，略高於我們的預期，因為我們在非洲的業務產生了貨幣損失。我們第四季的非 GAAP 稅費增加至 150 萬美元，主要是因為我們所在的某個地區進行稅務評估後更新了 FIN 48 規定。

Net income on a non-GAAP basis for the quarter was $3.7 million, or $0.04 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $12.5 million or $0.15 per diluted share for Q4 2022. A net income of $5 million or $0.06 per diluted share for Q3 2023. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter was $1.2 million, negatively impacted mainly by $1.6 million of charges related with the acquisition of Siklu, and a $1.2 million one-time charge related to a termination of long-term agreement with a third party for a joint development of 5G technologies.

本季非 GAAP 淨收入為 370 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.04 美元，而 2022 年第四季淨虧損為 1,250 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.15 美元。2023 年第三季淨收入為 500 萬美元，或每股攤薄收入 0.06 美元。第四季 GAAP 淨虧損為 120 萬美元，主要受到收購 Siklu 相關費用 160 萬美元，以及終止與第三方聯合開發 5G 技術的長期協議相關的 120 萬美元一次性費用的負面影響。

In accordance with the terms of this termination, we remain the sole owner of the developed technologies in return for waiving $1.2 million future payments by the third party. This agreement termination also had a significant balance sheet effect on our noncurrent assets and deferred revenues. It is important noting that it does not have any impact on our future revenue projections.

根據終止條款，我們仍然是所開發技術的唯一所有者，作為回報，我們免除第三方未來 120 萬美元的付款。該協議終止也對我們的非流動資產和遞延收入產生了重大的資產負債表影響。值得注意的是，它不會對我們未來的收入預測產生任何影響。

Turning to the full-year results, revenues were $347.2 million, up 17.6% from $295.2 million in 2022. The growth is mainly attributable to a substantial growth in North America and India. Gross profit on a non-GAAP basis was $120.9 million, up $27 million from $93.9 million in 2022, giving us a gross margin of 34.8% compared with a gross margin of 31.8% in 2022.

回顧全年業績，營收為 3.472 億美元，較 2022 年的 2.952 億美元成長 17.6%。成長主要歸功於北美和印度的大幅成長。非 GAAP 基礎的毛利為 1.209 億美元，較 2022 年的 9,390 萬美元增加 2,700 萬美元，毛利率為 34.8%，而 2022 年的毛利率為 31.8%。

This substantial improvement in gross profits as compared with 2022 is mainly attributable to the substantial increase in revenues while maintaining same or higher margins in most regions, keeping general operational costs under tight control, improved supply chain costs, partially offset by higher inventory write-offs.

與 2022 年相比，毛利的大幅提高主要歸因於收入的大幅增加，同時大多數地區的利潤率保持不變或更高，一般營運成本得到嚴格控制，供應鏈成本得到改善，但庫存註銷增加部分抵消了這一影響。

Operating income on a non-GAAP basis was an all-time record at $29 million compared with operating loss of $3 million for 2022. Once again, this demonstrates the progress we have made in unlocking the earnings power of Ceragon and our ability to increase operating leverage. Net income on a non-GAAP basis was $16.7 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $12.7 million of $0.15 per diluted share for 2022.

非公認會計準則下的營業收入創下 2,900 萬美元的歷史新高，而 2022 年的營業虧損為 300 萬美元。這再次證明了我們在釋放 Ceragon 獲利能力和提高經營槓桿的能力方面所取得的進展。非 GAAP 淨收入為 1,670 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.20 美元，而 2022 年淨虧損為 1,270 萬美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.15 美元。

As for our balance sheet, our cash position at the end of the fourth quarter was $28.2 million compared to $22.9 million at the end of 2022. Short-term loans were $32.6 million compared to $37.5 million as of December 31, 2022. We believe we have cash and facilities that are sufficient for our operations and working capital needs.

至於我們的資產負債表，我們第四季末的現金狀況為 2,820 萬美元，而 2022 年底的現金狀況為 2,290 萬美元。短期貸款為 3,260 萬美元，而截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日為 3,750 萬美元。我們相信我們擁有的現金和設施足以滿足我們的營運和營運資金需求。

Our inventory at the end of Q4 2023 was $68.8 million down from $72 million at the end of December 2022. We continue to monitor inventory levels, taking into consideration the improvements in availability of components and expected changes in demand. Our trade receivables are at $104.3 million as compared to $100 million at the end of December 2022.

我們 2023 年第四季末的庫存為 6,880 萬美元，比 2022 年 12 月底的 7,200 萬美元下降。我們將繼續監控庫存水平，同時考慮零部件可用性的改善和預期的需求變化。我們的貿易應收帳款為 1.043 億美元，而 2022 年 12 月底為 1 億美元。

Our DSO now stands at 110 days. The main impacts of consolidating Siklu into our balance sheet include: the increase of intangible assets and goodwill, the increase of other long-term payables, the impact on our cash position, and additional inventory.

我們的 DSO 目前為 110 天。將 Siklu 合併到我們的資產負債表的主要影響包括：無形資產和商譽的增加、其他長期應付款項的增加、對我們現金狀況的影響以及額外的庫存。

As for cash flow, net cash flow generated by operations and investing activities, excluding the $8 million impact of Siklu business combination, net of cash acquired in Q4 2023 was $7.8 million. We generated nearly $11 million in cash from operations in the fourth quarter and nearly $31 million for the full year.

至於現金流，經營和投資活動產生的淨現金流，不包括 Siklu 業務合併的 800 萬美元的影響，扣除 2023 年第四季獲得的現金後為 780 萬美元。我們第四季的營運活動產生了近 1,100 萬美元的現金，全年經營活動產生了近 3,100 萬美元的現金。

As Doron indicated at the top of this call, we believe that the demand in our business will continue to be strong. For 2024, with the caveat of lumpiness between quarters, we expect revenue of $385 million to $405 million, representing growth of 11% to 17% compared to 2023.

正如多倫在本次電話會議開頭所指出的，我們相信我們業務的需求將持續強勁。對於 2024 年，儘管季度之間會出現差異，但我們預計收入將達到 3.85 億美元至 4.05 億美元，與 2023 年相比增長 11% 至 17%。

This guidance includes the contribution from Siklu. Non-GAAP operating margins are targeted to be at least 10% at the midpoint of the revenue guidance. As a result, we expect increased non-GAAP profit and positive cash flow for the full year of 2024.

本指南包括 Siklu 的貢獻。非公認會計準則營業利益率的目標是至少達到收入預期中位數的 10%。因此，我們預計 2024 年全年非 GAAP 利潤將增加且現金流將為正值。

With that, I now open the call for your questions. Operator?

現在我開始回答大家的提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Alex.

（操作員指令）亞歷克斯。

Great, can you hear me?

太好了，你聽得到我的聲音嗎？

Yeah, if you can speak a little louder, Alex, it will be even better.

是的，如果你能說大聲一點，亞歷克斯，那就更好了。

Good morning, Alex.

早安，亞歷克斯。

I could certainly do that. So start with congratulations on a great year and great quarter. Really good job this year. And it looks like the Siklu acquisition was quite strong so good news all around.

我當然能做到。首先恭喜您度過了一個美好的一年和一個美好的一個季度。今年確實做得很好。看起來 Siklu 的收購非常強勁，對所有人來說都是好消息。

So a couple of quick questions. What would be the organic growth rate excluding Siklu? And if you could you give us any update on your estimation of the Siklu revenues for the full year.

我有幾個簡單的問題。除去 Siklu 的話，有機成長率是多少？如果您能告訴我們您對 Siklu 全年收入的估計的最新情況，我們是否可以提供一些資訊？

So first of all, we were talking about this when we announced the deal, we're talking about an amount of $25 million to $29 million of revenue that we believe we'll be able to generate in 2024. I think for the sake of the assessment of the organic growth, this is still a good number if we carve it out from the revenue range that we projected.

首先，我們在宣布這筆交易時就談到了這一點，我們談論的是我們相信到 2024 年能夠創造 2500 萬至 2900 萬美元的收入。我認為，為了評估有機成長，如果我們將其從預計的收入範圍中分離出來，這仍然是一個不錯的數字。

In general, it's not in our intention to start splitting the numbers every quarter because the idea is to really have a very, I would say, tight integration where we go to the market with both their product lines, offering solutions, and I think it will be a bit of misleading if we separate that for the future.

總的來說，我們無意每季都分割數字，因為我們的想法是真正實現非常緊密的整合，我們會將他們的產品線推向市場，提供解決方案，如果我們在未來將其分開，我認為會產生一些誤導。

But the outset, as I said, you should deduct this revenue range and this should be the relevant gross or model growth we expect organically.

但一開始，正如我所說，你應該扣除這個收入範圍，這應該是我們有機預期的相關總額或模型增長。

Yeah. So no changes the Siklu revenue guide, great. Second question, if I could, you've obviously got a bias to higher margins. Can you give us any sense of what kind of margin range we're looking at in terms of gross margins at '24? I assume that's probably, what, 35% to 36%, something like that. Could you give some guidance there?

是的。所以 Siklu 收入指南沒有變化，很好。第二個問題，如果可以的話，你顯然傾向於更高的利潤率。您能否告訴我們，就 24 年的毛利率而言，我們所關注的利潤範圍是什麼樣的？我估計這個數字大概是 35% 到 36% 左右。您能提供一些指導嗎？

I think that we will be around 36%. Some quarters will be shy below; some quarters we may be shy above. Of course, there could be lumpiness between quarters.

我認為這個比例會在 36% 左右。有些季度將會低於預期；有些方面我們可能比較害羞。當然，各個季度之間可能會存在一些不一致的情況。

So this is in general. But in a specific quarter, it could jump or be a little bit lower. But this is more or less around 36%, which is the -- what we see as the annual one.

整體來說，這是這樣的。但在特定季度，它可能會上漲或略有下降。但這大約是在 36% 左右，也就是我們所看到的年度數字。

And then can you give us some sense of what the growth rate is between R&D and sales marketing, G&A? I assume it's double digit in both sales and marketing and R&D, but probably low single digits in G&A with more expense upfront and then trimming it as you bring that Siklu integration costs down? Is that a fair assessment?

那麼您能否告訴我們研發與銷售行銷、一般及行政開支之間的成長率是多少？我估計銷售、行銷和研發方面的費用都是兩位數，但一般行政管理方面的費用可能是個位數以下，前期費用較多，隨著 Siklu 整合成本的降低，這部分費用會減少？這是一個公平的評價嗎？

So I would say the following in general, we target, as we said, the total operating profit to be on the midpoint above 10%. And the split between the R&D and sales and marketing, I think we will see a bit higher sales and marketing -- shift to higher sales and marketing mainly due to the fact that our strategy shift into the lower tiers requires more sales and marketing. While in the R&D, there will be some increase, but it's modest -- relatively modest. And we keep R&D at more or less in the same level, trying not to exceed the R&D levels.

因此，總的來說，我們的目標是，總營業利潤達到 10% 以上的中間值。至於研發和銷售與行銷之間的差距，我認為我們將看到銷售和行銷略有提高——轉向更高的銷售和行銷，主要是因為我們的策略轉向更低的層級需要更多的銷售和行銷。而在研發方面，會有一些成長，但幅度比較小──相對小。我們將研發保持在同一水平，盡量不超過研發水平。

Back on the balance sheet. Obviously, there's an opportunity here to bring some inventory down as the supply chain normalizes and your ARRs still look pretty rich. So can you talk about what your expectations are for those two lines as we go through the year?

回到資產負債表。顯然，隨著供應鏈恢復正常並且您的 ARR 看起來仍然相當高，這裡有機會降低一些庫存。那麼，您能談談您對今年這兩條生產線的期望嗎？

So regarding inventory, we continue to try to achieve a reduction in inventory. For sure, inventory as a percentage of revenues will decrease even if we have only slight reduction in inventory because at the end we expect to increase the revenues. On the ARR, we expect to see more or less the same level, trying to reduce a bit.

因此關於庫存，我們繼續努力減少庫存。當然，即使庫存僅略有減少，庫存佔收入的百分比也會下降，因為我們最終預期收入會增加。對於 ARR，我們期望看到大致相同的水平，並嘗試略微減少。

It will be a bit challenging while India big projects are coming and it might be a little bit challenging on that. But we still expect to be around the same numbers (multiple speakers) last year, of the same DSO, to keep the same DSO.

當印度大型專案到來時，這可能會帶來一些挑戰，這可能會帶來一些挑戰。但我們仍預計，人數（多位發言者）與去年大致相同，DSO 也相同，以保持相同的 DSO。

Last question, and then I'll see the floor. Can you give us any guidance on the tax line and on the interest line? What are we expecting for the full year on those two items?

最後一個問題，然後我將發言。您能就稅收線和利息線給我們任何指導嗎？我們對這兩款產品的全年預期是什麼？

Well, on one hand, we had the $8 million, which we did not increase the -- so much the -- only half of it went into our loans and which we could take the loans down, which we obviously will benefit us on the interest rates. Also, we see some interest rate relief. So it's a little bit going down.

嗯，一方面，我們有 800 萬美元，我們沒有增加太多，只有一半用於償還貸款，我們可以減少貸款，這顯然會使我們在利率上受益。此外，我們也看到一些利率下調。因此，情況有所下降。

So we expect the interest expenses to go down. It's very difficult, as you know, to expect the exchange rate differences as a global company and the effects on certain operations, but we don't see them as a big numbers. This is for the financial expenses.

因此我們預期利息支出將會下降。如您所知，作為一家全球性公司，很難預料匯率差異及其對某些業務的影響，但我們認為這些影響不會很大。這是財務費用。

With respect to the tax expenses, I think that this year was a bit higher than the regular and we are working to align our tax structure as much as possible and hopefully we will even reduce the tax expenses from this year.

至於稅收費用，我認為今年的稅收費用比往年要高一些，我們正在盡可能地調整我們的稅收結構，希望從今年開始稅收費用能夠降低。

So just to round that out, so tax line about the same or down here and then interest line, what, $2 million a quarter kind of thing?

因此，為了使這一點更加完善，那麼稅線大致相同或下降到這裡，然後利息線，什麼，每季度 200 萬美元之類的？

Something like that would be reasonable.

這樣的事情是合理的。

Perfect. Thank you. I'll see the floor.

完美的。謝謝。我要看看地板。

Thank you so much, Alex.

非常感謝，亞歷克斯。

Rommel Dionisio.

隆美爾·迪奧尼西奧。

Good morning. I wonder, if you could just discuss a little more detail of the integration plans for Siklu just in terms of combining marketing forces, management, and some of the infrastructure that they're bringing in. And I realize there's significant cross-selling opportunities, obviously, with your existing sales force. I wonder if you could just give us a little more granularity on that, please. Thank you.

早安.我想知道您是否可以更詳細地討論 Siklu 的整合計劃，包括結合行銷力量、管理和他們引入的一些基礎設施。我意識到，顯然，您現有的銷售隊伍中存在著巨大的交叉銷售機會。我想知道您是否可以就此問題向我們提供更詳細的資訊。謝謝。

Yeah, hi Rommel. So the plans, as I said, are basically or the execution of our plans is underway. What we see that being, at the outset is that there is strong demand for Siklu products from the original markets they were at. You may understand from the deal structure that they were in some, I would say, financial distress before we bought them, and that actually inhibited their ability to supply the demand.

是的，你好，隆美爾。所以正如我所說，我們的計劃基本上正在執行中。我們首先看到的是，Siklu 產品的原始市場對其產品有著強勁的需求。您可以從交易結構中了解到，在我們收購他們之前，他們就陷入了財務困境，這實際上抑制了他們滿足需求的能力。

So first of all, at a high level, we expect to see the, so to speak, standalone Siklu business ramping up because obviously we will release all the ropes of financial difficulties and so on and so forth. And this is primarily driven by the sales team of Siklu that is part of our region nowadays.

因此首先，從高層來看，我們期望看到獨立的 Siklu 業務能夠蓬勃發展，因為顯然我們將擺脫所有財務困難等等。這主要歸功於目前我們地區的 Siklu 銷售團隊。

In parallel, we are seeing opportunities for quick wins, especially in customers that are seeking for both: microwave and millimeter wave solution. Up until recently, when Siklu was a standalone company, they were not able to offer microwave solutions from their portfolio. And now we see this as an opportunity for us to also boost our microwave businesses in existing customers of Siklu.

同時，我們也看到了快速取勝的機會，特別是那些同時尋求微波和毫米波解決方案的客戶。直到最近，當 Siklu 成為獨立公司時，他們無法從其產品組合中提供微波解決方案。現在，我們認為這是一個機會，讓我們能夠向 Siklu 的現有客戶推廣微波爐業務。

The other side of it is actually introducing Siklu solutions and products to some of our customers. So far, the initial feedback from the market is very positive, especially looking into the point to multipoint telegraph solutions that can be used for fixed wireless access. And all in all, we see a lot of interest in Mobile World Congress. We intend to dedicate a big portion of our booth to explain and to show what these products and solutions can do and how they can help.

另一方面實際上是向我們的一些客戶介紹Siklu解決方案和產品。到目前為止，市場初步回饋非常積極，尤其是研究可用於固定無線存取的點對多點電報解決方案。總而言之，我們看到人們對世界行動通訊大會非常感興趣。我們打算在展位上留出很大一部分空間來解釋和展示這些產品和解決方案的功能以及它們能夠提供哪些幫助。

So all in all, we are very optimistic. Our sales team is also learning, and we have done a lot of training activities so that we boost also the sales of Siklu products within our sales team. And by that, having a multiple -- or multiplying the sales force that is out there to sell a Siklu product. This is for the short run. For the long run, there's much more strategic thoughts that I don't think it's the right time to start discussing them.

總的來說，我們非常樂觀。我們的銷售團隊也在學習，我們做了很多培訓活動，以便在銷售團隊中提高 Siklu 產品的銷售量。這樣，就可以增加銷售 Siklu 產品的銷售團隊。這是短期的。從長遠來看，還有更多的戰略思想，我認為現在不是開始討論它們的合適時機。

The only thing I would say is that I'm sure that with Siklu's acquisition on the Ceragon side, our ease of use in terms of our product is going to improve very significantly because these guys did an amazing job in terms of GUI design, in terms of alignment when you're doing installation. So this is the part of the integration that we intend to adopt also on Ceragon product, which means faster deployment by far and also better configuration or easier configuration of our products as well. I think I will stop here.

我唯一想說的是，我確信隨著 Siklu 對 Ceragon 的收購，我們產品的易用性將會顯著提高，因為他們在 GUI 設計和安裝時的對齊方面做得非常出色。因此，這是我們打算在 Ceragon 產品上採用的整合部分，這意味著可以實現更快的部署速度，並且可以更好地配置或更輕鬆地配置我們的產品。我想我就到此為止了。

Great. That's very helpful. Thanks so much, Doron.

偉大的。這非常有幫助。非常感謝，多倫。

You have no further question. Doron, please proceed.

您沒有其他問題了。多倫，請繼續。

Thank you. So this was an encouraging year for Ceragon. We're increasing our footprint in multiple domains and expect to continue delivering significant revenue growth. The overall wireless transport market continues to grow based on projections from independent industry analysts and the expectation is that growth will continue in coming years.

謝謝。因此，對於 Ceragon 來說，這是令人鼓舞的一年。我們正在多個領域擴大業務範圍，並期望繼續實現顯著的收入成長。根據獨立產業分析師的預測，整體無線傳輸市場將繼續成長，並且預計未來幾年仍將持續成長。

We believe we can grow much faster than the market growth, by focusing on the parts of the market that are expected to grow faster and expanding into new domains. Beyond delivering strong radio products to this market and primarily focusing on millimeter wave that is expected to outpace the market growth, we are expanding our business in other focus domains, which are private networks as well as the software-led managed services.

我們相信，透過專注於預計成長更快的市場部分並擴展到新的領域，我們可以實現比市場成長更快的成長。除了向該市場提供強大的無線電產品並主要關注預計將超過市場成長的毫米波之外，我們還在其他重點領域擴展業務，即私人網路以及軟體主導的託管服務。

This growth profile serves as the basis for our expectations for double-digit growth going forward. We are solidly profitable and expect to further expand our margins in 2024. We believe that we are well positioned to continue to achieve self-sustaining cash flows as we execute our growth strategy. I look forward to updating you further on our next quarterly call. Have a good day, everyone.

這一成長概況為我們未來兩位數成長的預期奠定了基礎。我們的獲利狀況穩健，預計 2024 年利潤率將進一步擴大。我們相信，在實施成長策略的過程中，我們完全有能力繼續實現自我維持的現金流。我期待在下次季度電話會議上向您提供進一步的最新消息。祝大家有美好的一天。