Citi Trends Inc (CTRN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Citi Trends fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.

您好，歡迎參加花旗趨勢 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）謹此提醒，本次會議將於 2024 年 3 月 19 日星期二錄製。

I would now like to turn the conference over to the Senior Associate, Ms. Nitza McKee. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議轉交給資深助理 Nitza McKee 女士。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Citi Trend's fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2023 earnings call. On our call today is Chief Executive Officer, David Makuen; and Chief Financial Officer, Heather Plutino.

謝謝大家，大家早安。感謝您參加花旗趨勢第四季和 2023 財年財報電話會議。今天接受我們採訪的是執行長 David Makuen；財務長希瑟‧普魯蒂諾 (Heather Plutino)。

Our earnings release was sent out this morning at 6:45 AM Eastern Time. If you have not received a copy of the release, it's available on the company's website under the Investor Relations section at www.cititrends.com.

我們的財報於東部時間今天早上 6:45 發出。如果您還沒有收到新聞稿的副本，可以在公司網站 www.cititrends.com 的投資者關係部分找到該版本。

You should be aware that prepared remarks today made during this call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. These statements do not guarantee future performance. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these statements.

您應該知道，今天在本次電話會議中所做的準備發言可能包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。管理階層可能會做出額外的前瞻性陳述來回答您的問題。這些陳述不保證未來的表現。因此，您不應過度依賴這些陳述。

We refer you to the company's most recent report on Form 10-K and other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

我們建議您參閱該公司最新的 10-K 表格報告以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他後續文件，以更詳細地討論可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明中描述的結果存在重大差異的因素。

I will now turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, David Makuen. David?

我現在將把電話轉給我們的執行長 David Makuen。大衛？

Thank you, Nitza. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today on our fourth-quarter and full year fiscal 2023 earnings call.

謝謝你，尼札。大家早安，感謝您今天參加我們的 2023 財年第四季和全年財報電話會議。

I will begin our call with highlights of our financial and operational performance for both the quarter and the year, update you on our progress across our strategic initiatives, and establish our 2024 outlook. Heather Plutino, our Chief Financial Officer, will then elaborate on financial details for both 2023 and our outlook for fiscal 2024. Then we'll open up the call to your questions.

我將在電話會議開始時重點介紹本季和本年度的財務和營運業績，向您介紹我們策略舉措的最新進展，並確定 2024 年的展望。然後，我們的財務長 Heather Plutino 將詳細闡述 2023 年的財務細節以及我們對 2024 財年的展望。然後我們將打開電話詢問您的問題。

I am pleased to report that our fourth-quarter and annual results were in line with our guidance. We delivered a solid holiday season as our Ready. Set. Gift! campaign resonated with existing and new customers. Our strong execution of the business across our strategic priorities fueled our performance throughout the quarter. In particular, our focus on rebuilding inventories in targeted product categories drove improved comps. The team's hard work resulted in fourth-quarter total sales growth of nearly 3%, EBITDA of $10 million, and a strong gross margin of 39.1%.

我很高興地報告，我們的第四季和年度業績符合我們的指導。我們為我們的準備工作提供了一個堅實的假期。放。禮物！活動引起了現有和新客戶的共鳴。我們在策略重點方面的強勁業務執行力推動了我們整個季度的業績。特別是，我們專注於重建目標產品類別的庫存，並推動了績效的改善。該團隊的辛勤工作導致第四季度總銷售額增長近 3%，EBITDA 達到 1000 萬美元，毛利率高達 39.1%。

Throughout the fourth quarter, our team operated with great flexibility and agility. I am incredibly grateful to our entire organization for their continued execution of our priorities while keeping our customers and neighborhoods at the core of everything we do.

在整個第四季度，我們的團隊運作非常靈活和敏捷。我非常感謝我們整個組織繼續執行我們的優先事項，同時將我們的客戶和社區置於我們所做的一切的核心。

While our customer base, consisting mostly of families earning $45,000 per year and less, continues to tightly manage discretionary spending in the face of lingering inflationary pressures, despite this, customers young and old responded well to our edited and trend-right mix of head to toe outfits, specially designed pieces only found in Citi Trends, and the full complement of gifts and stocking stuffers beginning with a strong Black Wednesday, followed by peak days leading up to Christmas and, lastly, a nice finish for New Year's, our 10-week holiday selling period comp was nearly flat to last year.

雖然我們的客戶群主要由年收入45,000 美元及以下的家庭組成，但面對揮之不去的通膨壓力，他們繼續嚴格管理可自由支配的支出，儘管如此，年輕和年長的客戶對我們編輯的、符合趨勢的頭部到頭部的組合反應良好。腳趾服裝、專門設計的單品僅在花旗趨勢中找到，以及全套禮品和聖誕禮物，從強勁的黑色星期三開始，然後是聖誕節前的高峰日，最後是新年的美好結束，我們的10-週假日銷售期間的比較幾乎與去年持平。

Q4 closed with a softer January due to snow, ice, and cold weather in Southern markets, which is where a high portion of our fleet is located. This explains most of the slowdown in our fourth-quarter trend, resulting in a softer negative 1.5% comp for the quarter, which was still a significant sequential improvement compared to our third-quarter results. During the quarter, particularly strong categories were home, toys, big men's apparel, outerwear, kids apparel and accessories, ladies footwear, and beauty and accessory giftables.

由於南方市場的雪、冰和寒冷天氣（我們大部分機隊都位於南方市場），第四季的一月份表現較為疲軟。這解釋了我們第四季度趨勢放緩的大部分原因，導致該季度的複合增長率為 1.5%，與我們第三季度的業績相比仍然是一個顯著的環比改善。本季度，特別強勁的類別包括家居、玩具、大型男士服裝、外套、兒童服裝和配件、女士鞋類以及美容和配件禮品。

Before I move to our 2024 outlook, I want to acknowledge the progress we made in 2023 regarding the completion of many initiatives in support of our previously stated strategic areas of focus. Completing these or making significant progress will help fuel momentum in 2024 and beyond.

在展望 2024 年之前，我想確認我們在 2023 年在完成許多支持我們之前提出的策略重點領域的舉措方面取得的進展。完成這些或取得重大進展將有助於推動 2024 年及以後的發展動能。

First, as I've shared with you before, in support of driving comp stores productivity, we have made considerable progress, conducting tests and/or rollouts of initiatives that unlock both traffic and customer basket building opportunities and drove top-line sales in the fourth quarter. Second, in support of managing inventory and maximizing margins, we've doubled down on fresh training of our buy team to maximize our markets, made selective and wise inventory investments, and successfully launched our new ERP system.

首先，正如我之前與您分享的那樣，為了支持提高競爭商店的生產力，我們已經取得了相當大的進展，進行了測試和/或推出了一些舉措，這些舉措釋放了流量和客戶購物籃建設機會，並推動了銷售額的成長。第四季。其次，為了支持庫存管理和利潤最大化，我們加倍加強對採購團隊的新培訓，以最大化我們的市場，進行選擇性和明智的庫存投資，並成功啟動我們的新 ERP 系統。

Third, in support of controlling SG&A expenses and leveraging our balance sheet, we maniacally kept expenses in check and ensured we invested in the right areas during a challenging year. I want to remind you that our model is highly fixed, and we run it lean and mean, which means as the top line improves, which it did in the fourth quarter, we realized terrific flow-through to the bottom line. Lastly, and number four in our list of 23 areas of strategic focus, executing technology enhancements. The aforementioned ERP launch, coupled with improved analytics emanating from our new data platform, brought early benefits to the table that helped us deliver a strong fourth quarter.

第三，為了支持控制SG&A費用並利用我們的資產負債表，我們瘋狂地控制費用，並確保我們在充滿挑戰的一年中投資於正確的領域。我想提醒您，我們的模型是高度固定的，我們以精益和平均的方式運行它，這意味著隨著收入的提高（第四季度的情況），我們實現了向底線的巨大流動。最後，在我們列出的 23 個策略重點領域中排名第四的是執行技術增強。上述 ERP 的推出，加上我們新數據平台改進的分析，帶來了早期的好處，幫助我們實現了強勁的第四季業績。

Turning our focus to 2024, today, we established our full-year outlook for the coming year. We expect mid-single-digit comp growth, coupled with an EBITDA range of $4 million to $10 million, both representing significant improvement compared to last year. To achieve our outlook, it should come as no surprise that we believe that the strategic areas of focus that I just reviewed remain key themes in 2024.

今天，我們將目光轉向 2024 年，並制定了來年的全年展望。我們預計公司將實現中等個位數的成長，加上 EBITDA 範圍為 400 萬至 1,000 萬美元，與去年相比，兩者均顯著改善。為了實現我們的願景，我們相信我剛剛回顧的策略重點領域仍然是 2024 年的關鍵主題，這一點也就不足為奇了。

However, we have done some refinement to better reflect our starting point in the new fiscal year. Rest assured, we began working on these well before the end of 2023, naming team members to cap in the details and see them through to execution as the year unfolds.

不過，我們做了一些細化，以便更好地反映我們在新財年的起點。請放心，我們早在 2023 年底之前就開始了這些工作，任命團隊成員來限制細節，並隨著時間的推移將它們貫穿到執行中。

Let me take a few minutes to provide a summary of our four strategic areas of focus in 2024. Number one, and by far the most important area of focus, driving comp sales and margin, this encompasses capturing greater share of wallet from African-American and Latinx families through assortment optimization; second, optimizing inventory levels and in-stocks to expand margins; third, leveraging freight expenses on higher sales; fourth, ramping up marketing reach; and fifth, upgrading the store experience via remodels. So you can tell, as I mentioned, driving comp sales and margin being the most important area of focus, you can tell that that bucket is full of some really great things to drive our top line.

讓我花幾分鐘時間總結我們 2024 年的四個策略重點領域。第一，也是迄今為止最重要的關注領域，即推動產品銷售和利潤，其中包括透過品類優化從非裔美國人和拉丁裔家庭中奪取更大的錢包份額；其次，優化庫存水準和庫存以擴大利潤；第三，利用運費來提高銷售額；第四，擴大行銷範圍；第五，透過改造升級門市體驗。因此，正如我所提到的，您可以看出，推動競爭銷售和利潤率是最重要的關注領域，您可以看出，這個桶中充滿了一些真正偉大的東西，可以推動我們的營收。

Number two in our 2024 areas of strategic focus, activating tech and analytics, this encompasses over time through the year, maximizing the capabilities of our new systems; and two, rolling out data tools to drive company-wide fact-based decision-making. Our third area of focus in 2024 is maximizing supply chain. This encompasses improving distribution center productivity and implementing initial steps to improve speed of deliveries to stores. And lastly, number four, for the year, enhancing support capabilities, this encompasses investing in training and development programs for our great teams and providing improved tools to field leaders to increase operational productivity in our stores.

我們 2024 年策略重點領域的第二個領域是激活技術和分析，這包括在一年中最大限度地發揮新系統的功能；第二，推出數據工具來推動全公司基於事實的決策。我們 2024 年的第三個重點領域是最大化供應鏈。這包括提高配送中心的生產力和實施初步措施以提高商店的送貨速度。最後，今年的第四點是增強支援能力，這包括投資於我們優秀團隊的培訓和發展計劃，並為現場領導者提供改進的工具，以提高我們商店的營運生產力。

With that said, let me provide a quick glimpse of how the first quarter of 2024 is shaping up. While only halfway through the first quarter, we are encouraged by our quarter-to-date positive comp that is consistent with our full-year outlook and represents sequential improvement versus prior quarters, driven by both traffic growth and strong conversion growth.

話雖如此，讓我快速了解一下 2024 年第一季的情況。雖然第一季剛剛過半，但我們對本季度迄今為止的積極業績感到鼓舞，這與我們的全年前景一致，並且在流量增長和強勁轉化增長的推動下，與前幾季度相比出現了環比改善。

Additionally, during the first quarter of 2024, we have several initiatives in flight that are delivering strong sales risks, including store remodels, store-specific category comebacks, and digital and radio marketing. All in all, we will have impacted nearly 30% of our stores in the quarter with incremental efforts to drive top-line sales. Most of these initiatives have the potential to roll out to many more stores in Q2 and beyond.

此外，在 2024 年第一季度，我們有幾項正在實施的舉措，這些舉措帶來了巨大的銷售風險，包括商店改造、商店特定類別的捲土重來以及數位和廣播行銷。總而言之，本季我們將透過持續努力推動營收成長，對近 30% 的商店產生影響。這些舉措中的大多數都有可能在第二季及以後推廣到更多商店。

A few recent examples of our efforts include: we continue to transform comp stores to our CTX remodeled format. We completed 27 remodels since November. We continue to see mid- to high-single-digit lifts and now complete these remodels for half the cost versus prior. We completed 20 of the 27 in early fiscal 2024 and will pump out at least 20 more during the year. Since August of 2023, we have completed multiple marketing tests, and we like what we are seeing. We plan on including additional marketing spend across digital and radio during key seasonal moments for the remainder of 2024.

我們最近所做的一些例子包括：我們繼續將比較商店轉變為我們的 CTX 改造格式。自 11 月以來，我們完成了 27 次改造。我們繼續看到中高個位數的提升，現在完成這些改造的成本是以前的一半。我們在 2024 財年初完成了 27 項中的 20 項，並將在年內至少再推出 20 項。自 2023 年 8 月以來，我們已經完成了多項行銷測試，我們對所看到的結果感到滿意。我們計劃在 2024 年剩餘時間內在關鍵季節性時刻增加數位和廣播方面的行銷支出。

I can't say enough about our store-specific category comebacks, which are a total team effort. To make these works our buy, move, and sell teams have worked synergistically to get dozens of select stores in better shape to win back and win new African-American and Latinx customers. Bolstered by analytics, our teams are improving assortment planning and product allocation, combined with significant staffing upgrades, allowing us to present the right product in the right stores at the right time with the right staff.

對於我們特定商店類別的回歸，我無法說太多，這是團隊的共同努力。為了實現這些目標，我們的採購、搬遷和銷售團隊協同工作，使數十家精選商店處於更好的狀態，以贏回並贏得新的非裔美國人和拉丁裔客戶。在分析的支援下，我們的團隊正在改進品類規劃和產品分配，再加上人員配置的重大升級，使我們能夠在正確的時間和正確的員工在正確的商店展示正確的產品。

Lastly, since Q4, we have been aggressively testing evolved in-store presentations of some really important categories. We are in the middle of testing expansions of our juniors and plus assortments for her and an expanded version of our successful Q line for all in select stores. Both tests are yielding better-than-expected sales lifts.

最後，自第四季以來，我們一直在積極測試一些真正重要類別的改進店內展示。我們正在為她測試我們的 Juniors 和 Plus 品種的擴展，以及我們成功的 Q 系列的擴展版本，以供選定商店中的所有人使用。這兩項測試的銷售成長均優於預期。

I want to quickly comment on this year's tax refund season. Although it has unfolded differently from a timing perspective, the refund amount per family is slightly higher than last year, and the aggregate amount of refunds is catching up nicely to last year's level. What's exciting is that the initiatives I just mentioned have set us up well to capture demand during our elongated tax refund season.

我想快速評價一下今年的退稅季。儘管從時間上來看有所不同，但每個家庭的退款金額略高於去年，退款總額也很好地追上了去年的水平。令人興奮的是，我剛才提到的舉措使我們能夠在漫長的退稅季期間很好地抓住需求。

Lastly, our buy team has done an excellent job getting the style rolling in 2024 by creating an assortment with compelling brands made for Citi Trend styles and a steady stream of quick ship market goods at record margin levels and, of course, at prices that don't break the bank. Strength through the quarter to date is broad-based.

最後，我們的採購團隊出色地推動了2024 年的流行趨勢，創造了一系列針對花旗趨勢風格的引人注目的品牌，並以創紀錄的利潤水平穩定地提供快速發貨市場商品，當然，價格也低於不要傾家蕩產。本季度迄今為止的強勁勢頭是廣泛的。

Our ability to secure appealing trends, fashion, and basics across apparel, accessories, footwear and home is deep and broad. Our buy team is traveling coast to coast, finding the most compelling content for our customer base that likes to consume our fashion and trend offering so they can show up and show out in life.

我們在服裝、配件、鞋類和家居領域確保有吸引力的趨勢、時尚和基本款的能力是深入而廣泛的。我們的採購團隊正在全國各地旅行，為喜歡消費我們的時尚和潮流產品的客戶群尋找最引人注目的內容，以便他們能夠在生活中出現和展示。

As you can hear, we are definitely not standing still. And as always, we're controlling and impacting the areas that are within our control, taking actions that we firmly believe will accelerate top-line growth and expand margin, which, in turn, will produce incremental EBITDA.

正如你所聽到的，我們絕對不會坐以待斃。一如既往，我們正在控制和影響我們控制範圍內的領域，採取我們堅信將加速收入成長並擴大利潤率的行動，這反過來又會產生增量 EBITDA。

Before I turn the call over to Heather, it's important to call out the families we serve continue to face lingering economic pressures that we are monitoring closely. I've been to dozens of stores since the beginning of the year, and I have experienced firsthand the pressures our customers and associates, often one and the same, are dealing with.

在我把電話轉給希瑟之前，重要的是要指出我們所服務的家庭仍然面臨著我們正在密切監測的揮之不去的經濟壓力。自今年年初以來，我去過數十家商店，親身體驗了我們的顧客和同事（通常是同一個人）所面臨的壓力。

Food prices remain elevated. Rents and evictions remain high, real wage growth is minimal. It's still tough out there. We understand our customers' financial dynamic better than most, and we are acutely aware that our role in the neighborhood is to provide easy and pleasant access, access to an assortment that helps you show up for whatever comes your way, empowering you, the customer to bring opportunities to life. No matter your age, the financial situation or skin color, our store teams welcome you like a friend and find ways to give you specialty store like attention and respect that you can leave with as many items as you want in your bag that make you happy.

食品價格仍居高不下。租金和驅逐仍然很高，實際工資增長微乎其微。那裡仍然很艱難。我們比大多數人更了解客戶的財務動態，我們敏銳地意識到，我們在社區中的作用是提供輕鬆愉快的通道，獲得各種產品，幫助您應對任何情況，為您（客戶）提供幫助為生活帶來機會。無論您的年齡、經濟狀況或膚色如何，我們的商店團隊都會像朋友一樣歡迎您，並想方設法給予您像專賣店一樣的關注和尊重，您可以在包裡裝上盡可能多的物品，讓您感到高興。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Heather. She'll discuss our fourth-quarter and full-year results in detail as well as our outlook. Heather?

這樣，我會將電話轉給希瑟。她將詳細討論我們第四季和全年的業績以及我們的前景。希瑟？

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝大衛，大家早安。

As David mentioned, we are pleased to have delivered fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results in line with the guidance we provided. The hard work of our dedicated and scrappy teams is paying off with a stabilizing business driven by our strategic inventory rebuilds, remodels, in-store experience upgrades, and the marketing tests David described earlier. Our disciplined management of the middle of the P&L plus the positive comp sales trends we are seeing first quarter to date give us confidence in the 2024 outlook, which I will detail shortly.

正如 David 所提到的，我們很高興按照我們提供的指導交付第四季度和 2023 年全年業績。我們敬業而鬥志旺盛的團隊的辛勤工作正在得到回報，在我們的戰略庫存重建、改造、店內體驗升級以及大衛之前描述的營銷測試的推動下，業務穩定了。我們對損益表中間的嚴格管理，加上迄今為止第一季看到的積極的可比銷售趨勢，讓我們對 2024 年的前景充滿信心，我將很快詳細介紹這一點。

I am also pleased to report that our balance sheet remained healthy, ending fiscal 2023 with no debt, no drawings on our $75 million revolver, and $80 million in cash. This strong financial position gives us the flexibility to fund our growth initiatives, all in support of our 2024 outlook.

我還很高興地報告，我們的資產負債表保持健康，到 2023 財年結束時沒有債務，沒有動用 7500 萬美元的左輪手槍，還有 8000 萬美元的現金。這種強大的財務狀況使我們能夠靈活地為我們的成長計畫提供資金，所有這些都支持我們的 2024 年前景。

Now, let's turn to the specifics of our fourth-quarter financial results. As a reminder, Q4 2023 included an additional week compared to last year's fourth quarter. Total sales for the quarter were $215.2 million, including $11.2 million from the extra week. Total sales increased 2.7% versus Q4 2022, in line with our guidance. Comparable store sales calculated on a 13-week to 13-week basis, decreased 1.5% compared to last year, a significant improvement to Q3's negative 6.2% comp.

現在，讓我們來看看第四季財務業績的具體情況。提醒一下，與去年第四季相比，2023 年第四季增加了一周。該季度的總銷售額為 2.152 億美元，其中包括額外一週的 1,120 萬美元。總銷售額較 2022 年第四季成長 2.7%，符合我們的指引。以 13 週至 13 週計算的可比商店銷售額與去年同期相比下降 1.5%，較第三季 6.2% 的負成長有了顯著改善。

Q4 gross margin was 39.1% versus 39.5% in Q4 2022. The 40-basis-point decline from last year was due to slightly higher markdowns as we successfully cleared through year-end seasonal products that were somewhat impacted by winter weather. In addition, as we discussed during the Q3 call, we saw slightly higher shrink versus last year. We continue our cross-functional focus on this headwind, and I am confident that we are moving in the right direction.

第四季毛利率為 39.1%，而 2022 年第四季為 39.5%。較去年下降 40 個基點的原因是我們成功清理了受冬季天氣影響的年終季節性產品，降價幅度略有上升。此外，正如我們在第三季電話會議中討論的那樣，我們看到與去年相比略有上升的萎縮。我們繼續跨職能關注這一逆風，我相信我們正在朝著正確的方向前進。

Freight as a rate of sales moderated in Q4, just as we outlined during our third quarter call and was slightly lower than last year for the quarter. We are making strides to further leverage the freight line in 2024 through new vendor partnerships and data insights.

正如我們在第三季電話會議中概述的那樣，第四季度運費佔銷售額的比例有所放緩，並且略低於去年該季度的水平。我們正在透過新的供應商合作夥伴關係和數據洞察，在 2024 年進一步利用貨運線路取得長足進步。

Adjusted Q4 SG&A expense dollars increased 5.3% and represented 34.5% of sales compared to 33.6% in Q4 2022. Lower sales in the extra week of operations drove the rate deleverage in the quarter. Adjusted operating income for the fourth quarter was $5.1 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $10 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.53.

調整後的第四季 SG&A 費用成長了 5.3%，佔銷售額的 34.5%，而 2022 年第四季為 33.6%。額外營運一週的銷售額下降推動了本季的利率去槓桿化。第四季調整後營業收入為 510 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1,000 萬美元，調整後每股收益為 0.53 美元。

Turning to the full year. Fiscal 2023 was challenging, both for Citi Trends and for the customers we serve. We are not satisfied with our financial results for the year, and we do not believe that they represent the full earnings potential of our brand. That said, throughout the year, we never stopped playing offense, controlling what we can control and continuing to improve the foundation of the business.

轉至全年。2023 財年對花旗趨勢和我們服務的客戶來說都是充滿挑戰的。我們對今年的財務表現並不滿意，我們不認為它們代表了我們品牌的全部獲利潛力。儘管如此，這一年來，我們始終沒有停止進攻，控制我們能控制的事情，並持續改善業務基礎。

The details of our full year results are as follows: Total fiscal 2023 sales were $748 million, a decrease of 5.9% versus 2022. Comparable core sales calculated on a 52-week to 52-week basis decreased 6.8%. Adjusted gross margin was 38.2% for the year and adjusted EBITDA was $1.5 million. Adjusted loss per share was $1.28 for the year.

我們全年業績的詳細資訊如下： 2023 財年總銷售額為 7.48 億美元，比 2022 年下降 5.9%。以 52 週至 52 週計算的可比核心銷售額下降了 6.8%。本年度調整後毛利率為 38.2%，調整後 EBITDA 為 150 萬美元。本年度調整後每股虧損為 1.28 美元。

During the year, we opened five new stores and closed 14 as part of our ongoing fleet optimization efforts, ending the year with 602 locations. We also remodeled 15 stores, which continue to register mid- to high single-digit sales lift.

年內，我們開設了 5 家新店，並關閉了 14 家店，作為我們持續進行的店群優化工作的一部分，到年底門市數量達到 602 家。我們還改造了 15 家商店，這些商店繼續實現中高個位數的銷售成長。

Now turning to the year-end balance sheet. As I mentioned earlier, we ended the year with $80 million in cash and no debt. We exited Q4 with total inventory dollars up 23% versus last year, which puts us in a strong position to fuel the two important moments for our customers in the first half of the year, tax refund season and Easter.

現在轉向年終資產負債表。正如我之前提到的，我們在年底擁有 8000 萬美元現金，沒有債務。在第四季結束時，我們的總庫存金額比去年增長了 23%，這使我們處於有利地位，可以為我們的客戶在上半年的兩個重要時刻（退稅季和復活節）提供動力。

While planning for this increase, we considered a number of factors. As we shared in previous conversations, we entered February of last year too late. In reaction, we have been strategically executing our targeted inventory rebuilds in advance of these important Q1 moments.

在規劃這一成長時，我們考慮了許多因素。正如我們在之前的談話中所分享的，我們進入去年二月的時間太晚了。作為回應，我們一直在第一季這些重要時刻之前策略性地執行目標庫存重建。

Secondly, as we've mentioned before, we had been launching our seasons too late to capture the full demand potential, and therefore, we set our fresh spring assortment earlier than ever. Third, Easter falls earlier this year, driving earlier product flow. All of these factors are in support of delivering a strong top line increase in Q1. We're excited about the quality, breadth and depth of the value offering our buy team has curated for the first quarter. Importantly, exiting Q1 2024, we expect our inventory balance to be up low single digits versus prior year.

其次，正如我們之前提到的，我們推出季節的時間太晚，無法充分發揮需求潛力，因此，我們比以往更早推出了新鮮的春季品種。第三，今年復活節提前，導致產品流動較早。所有這些因素都支持第一季營收的強勁成長。我們對我們的採購團隊在第一季策劃的價值提供的品質、廣度和深度感到興奮。重要的是，到 2024 年第一季度，我們預計我們的庫存餘額將比去年低個位數成長。

Now, turning to our 2024 outlook, as David mentioned in his remarks, we entered fiscal 2024 with several tailwinds, including rebuild inventory levels, improved planning and allocation capabilities and upgraded in-store experience and new supply chain vendor partnerships. We continue to refresh our fleet through our remodel program and began marketing tests, which are informing our 2024 advertising plans. And supporting each of these initiatives, our teams are relying on upgraded tools to use more easily accessible facts to make informed business driving decisions.

現在，轉向我們的2024 年展望，正如David 在演講中提到的那樣，我們進入2024 財年時遇到了一些有利因素，包括重建庫存水平、改進規劃和分配能力、升級店內體驗以及新的供應鏈供應商合作夥伴關係。我們繼續透過改造計畫更新我們的機隊並開始行銷測試，這些測試為我們 2024 年的廣告計畫提供了資訊。為了支持每項舉措，我們的團隊依靠升級的工具來使用更容易取得的事實來做出明智的業務驅動決策。

The foundation of our business has been strengthened through these efforts, and the top line momentum we experienced in Q4 and Q1 to date tells us that our efforts are beginning to pay off. As we focus on the four strategic areas David laid out earlier, we are excited about the sales and profit growth we expect to drive in fiscal 2024.

透過這些努力，我們的業務基礎得到了加強，第四季度和第一季迄今的營收勢頭告訴我們，我們的努力正在開始得到回報。當我們專注於 David 之前提出的四個策略領域時，我們對預計在 2024 財年推動的銷售和利潤成長感到興奮。

The details of our 2024 outlook are as follows: full-year comp store sales are expected to grow by mid-single digits compared to fiscal 2023. We expect full-year gross margin to expand by approximately 75 to 100 basis points, driven by ERP system benefits and freight expense leverage, as I mentioned earlier, from new vendor partnerships and data insights. We are planning an SG&A dollar increase for the year of approximately 2.5% to 3%. The primary driver of the increase is incentive compensation with merit increases for the first time in two years, promotions that had been delayed in a reset bonus pool. In addition, we are planning a modest increase in marketing and technology.

我們對 2024 年展望的詳細資訊如下：與 2023 財年相比，全年比較店銷售額預計將成長中個位數。我們預計全年毛利率將成長約 75 至 100 個基點，這得益於 ERP 系統優勢和運費槓桿（正如我之前提到的，來自新的供應商合作夥伴關係和數據洞察）。我們計劃今年的銷售及管理費用增加約 2.5% 至 3%。成長的主要驅動力是激勵性薪酬，兩年來首次增加績效，以及在重置獎金池中被推遲的晉升。此外，我們也計劃適度增加行銷和科技方面的投入。

Resulting full-year EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $4 million to $10 million. We plan to open up to five new stores, remodel approximately 40 locations, and close 10 to 15 underperforming stores, ending fiscal 2024 with approximately 595 stores.

最終全年 EBITDA 預計將在 400 萬至 1000 萬美元之間。我們計劃開設最多 5 家新店，改造約 40 家門市，並關閉 10 至 15 家表現不佳的門市，到 2024 財年結束時，門市數量約為 595 家。

Finally, we expect full-year capital expenditures to be approximately $20 million.

最後，我們預計全年資本支出約為 2000 萬美元。

Before I turn the call back to David, let me reiterate how pleased we are to have driven a significant top line trend improvement in the fourth quarter and to have delivered results in line with guidance. I am optimistic about fiscal 2024 and remain confident that our amazing teams will deliver on our strategic initiatives with conviction, driving further top line momentum and profitability improvements, all while remaining keenly focused on the customers and neighborhoods we serve.

在我把電話轉回給大衛之前，讓我重申一下，我們對第四季度營收趨勢的顯著改善以及交付符合指導的結果感到非常高興。我對 2024 財年持樂觀態度，並堅信我們出色的團隊將堅定地實施我們的策略舉措，進一步推動營收成長和獲利能力的提高，同時繼續密切關注我們所服務的客戶和社區。

With that, I'll turn the call back to David for closing comments. David?

至此，我會將電話轉回給 David 進行總結評論。大衛？

Thanks, Heather. Well, today, you heard how over the course of the 12 months, we have devoted considerable effort towards improving foundational aspects of our business. We also shared some scalable steps we can take, such as store remodels and targeted category inventory rebuilds to improve top-line sales.

謝謝，希瑟。好吧，今天，您聽說了在 12 個月的時間裡，我們為改善業務的基礎付出了巨大的努力。我們也分享了一些可以採取的可擴展步驟，例如商店改造和有針對性的品類庫存重建，以提高營收。

You also heard some positives coming from our testing of new initiatives that we are very optimistic about driving top-line sales throughout the rest of the year. Looking forward, we remain extremely proud of our connection with the neighborhoods we serve, offering compelling trend right merchandise for the entire family and incredible values.

您也聽到了我們對新措施的測試帶來的一些正面消息，我們對推動今年剩餘時間的營收成長非常樂觀。展望未來，我們仍然對與我們所服務的社區的聯繫感到非常自豪，為整個家庭提供引人注目的潮流商品和令人難以置信的價值。

Our differentiated position in markets where others aren't continue to drive our customers' loyalty and continued engagement, even when their economic reality is difficult. We are running the new fiscal year with optimism excited to drive long-term profitable growth and shareholder value while unlocking the full potential of this important brand.

我們在市場上的差異化地位是其他公司無法繼續提高客戶忠誠度和持續參與度的，即使他們的經濟現實很困難。我們正以樂觀的態度迎接新的財政年度，推動長期獲利成長和股東價值，同時釋放這個重要品牌的全部潛力。

Before I turn the call over to the operator, I want to say one more time thank you to the entire Citi Trends team for your hard work, resiliency and unwavering focus in serving families across so many great neighborhoods in 33 states. It is because of this team that we ended the year stronger than we started, and it is because of you, that I'm confident that fiscal 2024 will be even better.

在將電話轉接給接線員之前，我想再次感謝整個花旗趨勢團隊的辛勤工作、堅韌和堅定不移的專注，為 33 個州眾多優質社區的家庭提供服務。正是因為這個團隊，我們在這一年結束時比年初更加強大，也因為你們，我相信 2024 財年會更好。

With that, we're ready to take the questions. Over to you, Frank.

這樣，我們就準備好回答問題了。交給你了，法蘭克。

(Operator Instructions) Mike Baker, D.A. Davidson.

（操作員說明）Mike Baker，D.A.戴維森。

Okay, thank you. So the improvement in sales trends, impressive and sort of goes without saying that that's a good step. What I'm wondering about though is the part about the leverage and the flow through. You don't really see it in your guidance because of the SG&A increase. So I guess could you just give us a little more color? I guess you said it's mostly on incentive comp, but what would the SG&A -- would it be more flat without the incentive comp increases and is that what we should expect as we think as we go into the future, that kind of leverage?

好的謝謝。因此，銷售趨勢的改善令人印象深刻，毫無疑問，這是一個很好的一步。但我想知道的是關於槓桿和流量的部分。由於 SG&A 的增加，您在指導中並沒有真正看到它。所以我想你可以給我們多一點顏色嗎？我猜你說的主要是激勵補償，但是SG&A會怎樣——如果沒有激勵補償的增加，它會更加平坦嗎？當我們進入未來時，我們應該期待這種槓桿嗎？

And as part of that, just a subtlety, the 2.5% to 3% increase, is that on a 52 versus 52 week basis or 52 versus 53? Meaning if it's 52 versus 53, it's sort of even more incremental growth.

作為其中的一部分，有一個微妙之處，即 2.5% 至 3% 的增長，是在 52 週與 52 週的基礎上還是在 52 週與 53 週的基礎上？這意味著如果是 52 比 53，那就是增量成長。

Hey, Mike. Good morning. It's Heather. Lots to unpack there. So let me tackle the expense piece. First, it's on a 52 versus 53, okay, because we were going off of reported SG&A. And as far as the increase goes, the majority of it is incentive costs that we had to bake back in.

嘿，麥克。早安.是希瑟。那裡有很多東西可以打開。那麼讓我來解決費用部分。首先，這是 52 比 53，好吧，因為我們沒有報告 SG&A。就成長而言，其中大部分是我們必須重新考慮的激勵成本。

We had been -- as I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we had not done merit increases for years. We had held off on promotions, all in that maniacal focus on the center of the P&L, right, and controlling our expenses. And then of course the bonus pool being reset on an annual basis, that happens every year and impacts our SG&A loads. But we believe it's the right thing to do for our people, making sure that we keep them retained and interested and focused on all of the amazing initiatives that we have going on.

正如我在準備好的演講中提到的，我們已經很多年沒有增加績效了。我們推遲了促銷活動，所有這些都瘋狂地關注損益表的中心（右）並控制我們的開支。當然，獎金池每年都會重置，這種情況每年都會發生，並會影響我們的 SG&A 負荷。但我們相信，這對我們的員工來說是正確的事情，確保我們留住他們、保持他們的興趣，並專注於我們正在進行的所有令人驚嘆的舉措。

So is it fair to -- to follow up, is it fair to say that it's sort of a little bit of a one-time step up in terms of the catch-up on merit increases and promotions, and so we shouldn't see that same kind of year-over-year increase in SG&A dollars as we look beyond 2024?

那麼，公平地說，在追趕績效成長和晉升方面，這有點一次性的進步，所以我們不應該看到展望 2024 年之後，SG&A 美元是否會出現同樣的同比增長？

Yeah, (technical difficulty) year over year. It becomes a new base, Mike, right? And then next year, our hope is that we pay merit increase again, right, and that we keep refilling the bonus pool and earning and paying out the bonus pool. So this is -- I would consider this a new base.

是的，（技術難度）年復一年。它成為一個新的基地，麥克，對嗎？然後明年，我們的希望是我們再次增加績效，對吧，我們繼續補充獎金池並賺取和支付獎金池。所以這是——我認為這是一個新的基地。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆，戈登·哈斯克特。

This is Eric on for Chuck. I was just curious if you can talk about the comp outlook for mid-single digit. You said that you're kind of trying that for Q1, but Q1 also has by far the easiest compare and compares to get tough over the course of the year and you also have an election in the shorter haul period in the back half. Just curious sort of how the building blocks to get to the comp work and sort of how you see it trending sequentially throughout the year.

這是埃里克為查克發言。我只是好奇你是否能談談中個位數的公司前景。你說你在第一季嘗試這樣做，但第一季也有迄今為止最簡單的比較，並且在一年中變得艱難，而且你還在後半段的較短時期內進行了選舉。只是好奇，獲得補償的構建模組是如何工作的，以及你如何看待它全年的連續趨勢。

It's David. Thanks for joining, and good question. I think the way I look at it is we -- as we highlighted, we have a number of initiatives that we're just getting going on and they're contributing some really positive lifts in this quarter and yet they're pretty young, if you will, in terms of their age as an initiative, and they're in limited stores. As you heard me state, we're going to touch roughly about 30% of our chain by the end of the first quarter, but we have a lot more to go. So when I talked about scaling and rolling out some of these tests and initiatives, that's going to fuel the rest of the year.

是大衛。感謝您的加入，問題問得好。我認為我看待它的方式是我們 - 正如我們所強調的，我們有許多舉措正在實施，它們在本季度做出了一些真正積極的提升，但它們還很年輕，如果你願意的話，就他們的年齡而言，作為一項倡議，他們的商店數量有限。正如我所說，到第一季末，我們將觸及大約 30% 的鏈條，但我們還有很多工作要做。因此，當我談到擴展和推出其中一些測試和計劃時，這將推動今年剩餘時間的發展。

So we're not as sort of worried about the lap, we're frankly more focused on building up the base. And we believe that we can continue the momentum through Q2, Q3, and Q4. We have these key moments that our customers rely on us on, for example, Father's Day, Mother's Day, July 4 in the first half, and then obviously back-to-school and holiday. And we've got really great plans supporting all of those where we believe we can do quite a bit better than LY with our initiatives fueling the growth.

所以我們並不擔心單圈，坦白說，我們更專注於建立基礎。我們相信我們可以在第二季、第三季和第四季繼續保持這一勢頭。我們有客戶依賴我們的關鍵時刻，例如父親節、母親節、上半年的 7 月 4 日，然後顯然是返校和假期。我們已經制定了非常好的計劃來支持所有那些我們相信我們可以透過我們的舉措推動成長而比 LY 做得更好的項目。

Eric, you also asked about the election impact, if I could. We went back and studied prior presidential election years, and then I can tell you that traditionally, the impact is minimal to nonexistent. So we don't see that as being a headwind or a tailwind.

艾瑞克（Eric），如果可以的話，你也問過選舉的影響。我們回顧了之前的總統選舉年份，然後我可以告訴你，傳統上，影響很小甚至不存在。因此，我們不認為這是逆風或順風。

That's great. I guess one of the -- you talked about the marketing initiative. Just curious what kind of lift you're seeing there? What you're doing different and how that sort of the test shapes for what you're doing this year? And what is the customer going to see and the messaging from you that's different in their eyes.

那太棒了。我想其中之一——你談到了行銷計劃。只是好奇你在那裡看到什麼樣的電梯？你正在做哪些不同的事情？這種測驗對你今年所做的事情有何影響？客戶將看到什麼以及您發出的信息在他們眼中是不同的。

Great question again, Eric. I'll keep that relatively high level. There's a bunch in there. But I think most importantly, we are sending a message that really hits on our trend assortment. We're really coming out strong with, hey, we're your destination in the neighborhood for amazing trends. And we're being very targeted about it.

又是一個很好的問題，艾瑞克。我會保持相對較高的水平。裡面有一堆。但我認為最重要的是，我們正在傳遞一條真正符合我們的趨勢分類的訊息。我們確實表現得很強勢，嘿，我們是您在附近尋找驚人趨勢的目的地。我們對此非常有針對性。

You may recall and the audience may recall, we draw a lot of our customers within a 5-mile radius of our stores, pretty tight it in the neighborhood. We go out as far as 10 miles. And so depending on the store location, we're going in, in a pretty targeted fashion at the zip code level through digital, social media advertising in that case. And then we're also blanketing entire markets. In that case, we'll bring in radio and as well as traditional streaming radio.

您可能還記得，觀眾可能還記得，我們​​在商店方圓 5 英里的範圍內吸引了許多顧客，而且在附近非常緊張。我們最遠可以出去 10 英里。因此，根據商店的位置，我們將透過數位社交媒體廣告以非常有針對性的方式在郵遞區號層級進入。然後我們也覆蓋整個市場。在這種情況下，我們將引入廣播和傳統的串流廣播。

So we're kind of doing almost a different mix depending on the task at hand. But what's exciting is we're rebuilding market share thus far in our test from that local community. So we're waking up some lapsed customers and they're coming back, and we're enticing new customers to come back in. And through our testing so far, remember, we started in August of '23 and have done many up and through literally yesterday, and we've started a new run today in five more markets.

因此，我們根據手頭上的任務進行幾乎不同的組合。但令人興奮的是，到目前為止，我們在當地社區的測試中正在重建市場份額。因此，我們正在喚醒一些流失的客戶，他們會回來，我們正在吸引新客戶回來。請記住，透過迄今為止的測試，我們從 23 年 8 月開始，昨天已經完成了許多工作，今天我們在另外五個市場開始了新的測試。

We're seeing really healthy lifts. I would tell you akin to sort of our remodel list that we've quoted in that kind of mid to high single digits. So we're excited about the potential of it. We will be very choosy and very targeted. I want to be clear; we want to advertise the entire chain. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking much more about targeted efforts in markets where we believe we can capture more wallet share and so far, so good.

我們看到了真正健康的電梯。我會告訴你類似我們以中高個位數引用的改造清單。所以我們對它的潛力感到興奮。我們會非常挑剔、非常有針對性。我想說清楚；我們想為整個鏈條做廣告。這不是我們要討論的。我們更多地談論了在市場上的有針對性的努力，我們相信我們可以在這些市場中獲得更多的錢包份額，到目前為止，一切都很好。

Jeremy Hamblin, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

傑里米·漢布林 (Jeremy Hamblin)，克雷格·哈勒姆資本集團。

Thanks for taking the question. So I want to come back to the quarter-to-date trends. There's quite a bit of noise here in Q1 for the reasons you mentioned. We've got leap year. We've got the lapping of the reductions in SNAP benefits in March. And I was hoping to get maybe a little bit more granular on just understanding the impact of -- again, as you noted, tax refund season started a week later this year, which probably puts you behind a little bit at the beginning of February.

感謝您提出問題。所以我想回到本季至今的趨勢。由於您提到的原因，第一季存在相當多的噪音。我們迎來了閏年。我們已經收到了 3 月 SNAP 福利削減的消息。我希望能夠更詳細地了解 - 再次，正如您所指出的，退稅季節在今年晚些時候開始，這可能會讓您在二月初落後一點。

But just in terms of what you're seeing here as we've gotten into March, you've seen that normalization, as you noted, tax refunds up a little bit. Have you started to see a bit more improvement? In other words, are we building a little bit of momentum here on comp trends?

但就你在三月所看到的情況而言，正如你所指出的，你已經看到了正常化，退稅有所增加。您是否開始看到更多的進步？換句話說，我們是否在比較趨勢上建立了一點動力？

Jeremy, thanks for the question. I'll say it really simply, you're spot on. The six-day delay and the delay in amount of refunds dispersed has been a little wonky, but it has caught up. There's still some catching up to do, as you know. But our trend from a kind of a [cadence] perspective through the quarter to date has definitely improved in March versus Feb.

傑里米，謝謝你的提問。我就簡單地說，你說得對。六天的延遲和退款金額分散的延遲有點不穩定，但它已經趕上了。如您所知，還有一些工作要做。但從某種[節奏]的角度來看，本季迄今的趨勢在 3 月與 2 月相比肯定有所改善。

And I want to re-highlight that being ready for that, even though we didn't predict it is really paying off and setting up our inventory levels in a healthy manner at the end of January, early Feb really has positioned us well as it turns out to capture sort of a more elongated tax refund selling season. So you're spot on. Earlier Easter, we believe, will only help March and then we roll into April, really well positioned, thanks to the early setup to deliver the quarter. So we're liking what we're seeing based on your observations for sure.

我想再次強調，為此做好了準備，儘管我們並沒有預測到它會真正得到回報，並在一月底以健康的方式建立我們的庫存水平，但二月初確實讓我們處於有利的位置。事實證明，這是一個更長的退稅銷售季節。所以你是對的。我們相信，提前復活節只會對 3 月有所幫助，然後我們進入 4 月，由於為交付該季度而進行的早期準備，我們處於非常有利的位置。因此，我們肯定喜歡根據您的觀察所看到的內容。

Great. And then I wanted to come around to a gross margin guide here, which I think the implied is about 38.9% to 39.1% for the year. Just in terms of what was the overall drag in 2023 from shrink, which I think you said is still a bit elevated. And then Heather, what is implied on the guidance for the year regarding shrink? Is it -- are we expecting that to be flat? Are we expecting some improvement? Maybe a little bit more color around the gross margin guide would be helpful.

偉大的。然後我想在這裡討論毛利率指南，我認為今年的毛利率約為 38.9% 至 39.1%。就 2023 年收縮帶來的整體拖累而言，我認為您所說的拖累仍然有點高。然後希瑟，今年關於收縮的指導意味著什麼？我們是否期望這一數字持平？我們期待一些改進嗎？也許毛利率指南周圍多一點顏色會有所幫助。

Yes. Jeremy, thanks for the question. So a couple of things to remind you about with shrink. First, this is not a new story for Citi Trends. Shrink is something that we have been dealing with for decades. It just happened to have rear just ugly head in Q3. And remember that conversation, it was a handful of stores based on their physical inventory counts causing our accrual, which we test on a regular basis throughout the year. We are not a onetime per year count scenario. Those results came back worse than we had expected, right? So we'll continue to see some of that.

是的。傑里米，謝謝你的提問。因此，有幾件事需要提醒您有關心理諮商的注意事項。首先，這對花旗趨勢來說並不是什麼新鮮事。收縮是我們幾十年來一直在處理的問題。它只是碰巧在第三季有一個醜陋的後頭。請記住那次談話，是少數商店根據其實際庫存數量計算了我們的應計費用，我們全年定期對此進行測試。我們不是每年一次的計數場景。這些結果比我們預期的還要糟糕，對吧？所以我們將繼續看到其中的一些。

I can tell you, Jeremy, that all of our stores are just fine, thank you. We continue to see some of it. But we're focused on it. We're swarmed on it and pulling every lever as we always do, to make sure that we're controlling the impact.

我可以告訴你，傑里米，我們所有的商店都很好，謝謝。我們繼續看到其中的一些。但我們專注於此。我們像往常一樣蜂擁而至，拉動每一個槓桿，以確保我們控制影響。

On a full year basis, well, one more thing, sorry, before I get into full year. Shrink as part of our gross margin calculation is a small component. It's a frustrating component, don't get me wrong, but it is a small component, okay? So it's not -- we're not talking meaningful amounts here. We saw an increase in the '23 versus '22 to the tune of, call it, 25 to 30 basis points.

在全年的基礎上，抱歉，在我進入全年之前，還有一件事。收縮作為我們毛利率計算的一部分是一個很小的組成部分。這是一個令人沮喪的組件，不要誤會我的意思，但它是一個小組件，好嗎？所以這不是——我們在這裡談論的不是有意義的金額。我們看到「23」與「22」相比增加了 25 至 30 個基點。

As we turn the quarter into 2024 , the guide implies that some of that headwind continues, but it's really minor because remember, the back half of the year was impacted by those unfavorable results. So we'll see some headwind in the first half of the year and then kind of flat in the second half of the year. So in total, it's really pretty immaterial for the full year.

當我們將這個季度轉向 2024 年時，該指南暗示一些逆風仍在繼續，但它確實很小，因為請記住，今年下半年受到了這些不利結果的影響。因此，我們將在上半年看到一些逆風，然後在下半年趨於平緩。所以總的來說，這對全年來說真的非常不重要。

John Lawrence, Benchmark.

約翰‧勞倫斯，《基準》。

Very good morning. Thanks, guys. Heather, can you -- have you been able to quantify, obviously, the last half of January, I mean we're sitting in the weather zone, where I'm sure you will close better part of a week. And obviously, that flow-through was a slow period of time. I assume stores will close for multiple days. Any chance you can quantify what do you think that might have cost you?

早安.多謝你們。希瑟，你能——顯然，你能夠量化一月的下半月嗎？我的意思是我們正處於天氣區域，我確信你將在一周的大部分時間裡關閉。顯然，流動是一段緩慢的時期。我假設商店將關閉多天。您是否有機會量化您認為這可能會讓您付出什麼代價？

Lawrence, good to hear from you. I appreciate the question. So yes, you are right in the heart of it, right, with the ice and cold weather in parts of the country that are just not prepared for that. We definitely saw a holdback in traffic. And we've studied it, we stared at it.

勞倫斯，很高興收到你的來信。我很欣賞這個問題。所以，是的，你正處於它的中心，對吧，這個國家的部分地區的冰雪和寒冷的天氣只是沒有做好準備。我們確實看到了交通的阻礙。我們研究了它，我們盯著它。

We think that based on our calculations, which is never an exact science, that the sales were impacted to the degree that we would have trended similarly to the levels exiting New Year as whether or not that -- whether the holdback not occurred. So recall, our holiday sales release, the 10 weeks of holiday included in that release, our comps were negative 0.3% darn near flat.

我們認為，根據我們的計算（這從來都不是精確的科學），銷售受到的影響程度與我們的趨勢與新年結束時的水平類似，無論是否發生——無論是否發生了阻礙。所以回想一下，我們的假期銷售發布，該發布中包含的 10 週假期銷售，我們的比較結果為負 0.3%，幾乎持平。

Yeah, excuse me. Yeah, David, when you look at all the things that occurred during the fourth quarter, all the progress, what would you say was as far as the system is concerned, I know you were getting at the third quarter, we talked about some of that at ICR. What would you say as you continue through that period up to now? What is the system telling you market? And what are you gleaning and learning from at this point in time?

是的，對不起。是的，大衛，當你看到第四季度發生的所有事情時，所有的進展，你會說就係統而言，我知道你正在第三季度，我們討論了一些那是在ICR。當你從那段時期到現在，你會說什麼？系統告訴你什麼是市場？此時此刻您正在收集和學習什麼？

And if I clarify what do you mean by system. I want to make sure I understand.

如果我澄清你所說的系統是什麼意思。我想確保我理解。

I'm sorry, the ERP, the ERP that case.

對不起，ERP，就是那個案例的 ERP。

Okay. Yes. Let me give you a quick update on where we are similar to probably what I mentioned in the call, the launch went successfully end of August, which we reported in the November call. And like with any new system, we've gotten to know it more and more users have become more accustomed to how to apply it to our business as the weeks and months have progressed. And we're kind of sitting right at the six-month mark in a really good place.

好的。是的。讓我向您快速介紹我們與我在電話會議中提到的相似之處，我們在 11 月的電話會議中報告了 8 月底的成功發布。與任何新系統一樣，隨著時間的推移，我們已經了解了越來越多的用戶，也越來越習慣如何將其應用到我們的業務中。六個月後，我們正處於一個非常好的位置。

We used it to our benefit, as I mentioned in the main call today to fuel some really good insights and actions that impacted Q4. And most importantly, some actions that impacted our Q1 2024 setup. So we're more or less exactly on track with what we knew would be the case in terms of learning curve and getting to know and use the system.

正如我在今天的主要電話會議中提到的那樣，我們利用它來推動一些影響第四季度的真正好的見解和行動。最重要的是，一些影響我們 2024 年第一季設定的行動。因此，在學習曲線以及了解和使用該系統方面，我們或多或少正處於我們所知道的情況的正軌上。

I think the most exciting thing coming out of it is quite simply insights. I mentioned in the call this idea of a new data platform that's included typically in a good ERP system, and we're leveraging that data platform literally down to the store SKU week level, if necessary, to drive different decisions around allocations, replenishment and that idea of sort of is it in the right store?

我認為其中最令人興奮的事情就是見解。我在電話會議中提到了新數據平台的想法，該平台通常包含在良好的ERP 系統中，並且我們正在利用該數據平台，具體到商店SKU 週級別（如有必要），以推動有關分配、補貨物和銷售的不同決策。這個想法在正確的商店嗎？

Is it in the right place at the right time, et cetera. So we are, as you can tell by my energy, really pumped about it. And we think it's over time, like we have stated many times, over time, it will be a really nice benefit to the top line and bottom line of our business. And we're cooking with gas.

是否在正確的時間出現在正確的地點等等。所以，正如你從我的精力中可以看出的那樣，我們真的對此充滿熱情。我們認為隨著時間的推移，就像我們多次說過的那樣，隨著時間的推移，這將對我們業務的營收和利潤帶來非常好的好處。我們用瓦斯煮飯。

Mr. Makuen, there are no further questions at this time.

Makuen 先生，目前沒有其他問題。

Thanks, Frank. Thanks, everybody, for joining us today. A happy upcoming Easter and pass over. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.

謝謝，弗蘭克。謝謝大家今天加入我們。即將到來的復活節快樂並過去。我們下次再見。再見。

That does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day, everyone.

今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與，並請您斷開線路。祝大家有個美好的一天。