CoreCivic Inc (CXW) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the CoreCivic fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's program is being recorded.

感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 CoreCivic 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。(操作員指示)提醒一下，今天的節目正在錄製。

And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Michael Grant, Managing Director of Investor Relations.

現在我想介紹今天節目的主持人、投資者關係董事總經理 Michael Grant。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to CoreCivic's fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call. Participating on today's call are Damon Hininger, CoreCivic's President and Chief Executive Officer; Patrick Swindle, CoreCivic's President and Chief Operating Officer; and David Garfinkle, our Chief Financial Officer. We are also joined here in the room by our Vice President of Finance, Brian Hammonds.

謝謝您，接線生。大家早安，歡迎參加 CoreCivic 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。參加今天電話會議的有 CoreCivic 總裁兼執行長 Damon Hininger； CoreCivic 總裁兼營運長 Patrick Swindle；以及我們的財務長David Garfinkle。我們的財務副總裁布萊恩‧哈蒙茲 (Brian Hammonds) 也來到了我們的會議室。

On this call, we will discuss financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024 as well as financial guidance for the 2025 year. We'll also discuss developments with our government partners and provide you with other general business updates.

在本次電話會議上，我們將討論 2024 年第四季的財務表現以及 2025 年的財務指引。我們還將與政府合作夥伴討論發展並為您提供其他一般業務更新。

During today's call, our remarks, including our answers to your questions, will include forward-looking statements pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities and Litigation Reform Act. Our actual results or trends may differ materially as a result of a variety of factors including those identified in our fourth-quarter 2024 earnings release issued after market yesterday as well as in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings including Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K reports. You are also cautioned that any forward-looking statements reflect management's current views only and that the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update such statements in the future.

在今天的電話會議中，我們的言論（包括對您的問題的回答）將根據《私人證券和訴訟改革法》的安全港條款包含前瞻性陳述。由於多種因素，我們的實際結果或趨勢可能會存在重大差異，包括我們昨天盤後發布的 2024 年第四季度收益報告以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中確定的因素，包括 10-K、10-Q 和 8-K 表格報告。另請注意，任何前瞻性陳述僅反映管理層當前的觀點，公司不承擔將來修改或更新此類陳述的義務。

Management will also discuss certain non-GAAP metrics. A reconciliation of the most comparable GAAP measurement is provided in the corresponding earnings release and included in the company's quarterly supplemental financial data report posted on the Investors page of the company's website at corecivic.com.

管理層也將討論某些非 GAAP 指標。最可比較的 GAAP 衡量標準的對帳表在相應的收益報告中提供，並包含在公司網站 corecivic.com 的投資者頁面上發布的季度補充財務數據報告中。

With that, it is my pleasure to turn the call over to our CEO, Damon Hininger.

現在，我很高興將電話轉給我們的執行長 Damon Hininger。

Thanks, Mike. Good morning and thanks, everyone, for joining us for our CoreCivic fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call. On this morning's call, we will discuss our latest operational results and update you on the latest developments and opportunities with our government partners. Following our opening remarks, we will turn the call over to our CFO, Dave Garfinkle, who will provide greater detail on our fourth quarter and full-year 2024 financial results as well as introduce our 2025 financial guidance. Dave will also provide an update on our capital structure initiatives, including progress on our leverage target and share repurchase program.

謝謝，麥克。早安，感謝大家參加 CoreCivic 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。在今天早上的電話會議上，我們將討論我們最新的營運業績，並向您通報我們與政府合作夥伴的最新發展和機會。在我們的開場白之後，我們將把電話轉給我們的財務長 Dave Garfinkle，他將詳細介紹我們 2024 年第四季和全年的財務業績，並介紹我們的 2025 年財務指引。Dave 也將介紹我們的資本結構舉措的最新進展，包括我們的槓桿目標和股票回購計畫的進展。

I'm going to tag team the opening remarks today with our Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Swindle, who was also named CoreCivic's President in December 2024. Patrick has been with CoreCivic for 17 years in positions of increasing responsibility within finance and operations. He has excelled as our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Corrections Officer for the past seven years. Patrick is an excellent problem solver and brings experience and a great strategic and financial mindset to the present position. We truly look forward to his leadership during what we anticipate to be a period of rapid growth and opportunity.

今天，我將與我們的營運長 Patrick Swindle 一起致開幕詞，斯溫德爾也於 2024 年 12 月被任命為 CoreCivic 總裁。派崔克在 CoreCivic 工作 17 年，擔任財務和營運領域的多個職務，責任越來越重大。過去七年來，他作為我們的營運長和首席懲教官表現出色。派崔克是一位出色的問題解決者，為現任職位帶來了經驗以及出色的策略和財務思維。我們真誠地期待他在我們預期的快速成長和機會時期發揮領導作用。

So let me start with this, I've worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods in my career with the company. Having just wrapped up a strong 2024, we're anticipating significant growth opportunities, perhaps the most significant growth in our company's history over the next several years. We believe CoreCivic is exceptionally well positioned operationally and financially to meet what we expect to be a sharp acceleration demand from our partners, particularly our key federal partners, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and the United States Marshal Service.

首先我要說的是，我在 CoreCivic 工作了 32 年，這確實是我在公司職涯中最令人興奮的時期之一。我們剛結束強勁的 2024 年，預計未來幾年將迎來巨大的成長機會，這可能是我們公司歷史上最顯著的成長。我們相信，CoreCivic 在營運和財務上都處於非常有利的位置，可以滿足我們預期的合作夥伴，特別是我們的主要聯邦合作夥伴、移民和海關執法局（ICE）和美國法警局的急劇加速需求。

The change in Presidential administration on January 20th has ushered in significant policy and legislative changes that directly impact our business, and I would like to run through a few of those that are the most significant. Upon inauguration, President Donald Trump issued nine executive actions intended to secure the borders of the United States and remove illegal immigrants. These initial orders included the declaration of a national emergency on the southern border, aiming to effectively shut down the border to illegal immigration. One notable executive order issued on January 20th was titled Protecting the American People Against Invasion.

1 月 20 日總統政府的更迭帶來了重大的政策和立法變化，這些變化直接影響我們的業務，我想簡要介紹其中最重要的幾個變化。唐納德·川普總統就職時發布了九項行政命令，旨在確保美國邊境安全並驅逐非法移民。這些初步命令包括宣布南部邊境進入國家緊急狀態，旨在有效關閉邊境，阻止非法移民。1 月 20 日發布的一項值得注意的行政命令名為「保護美國人民免於入侵」。

In this EO, the President calls for the federal government to faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States, including the removal of aliens, particularly those who threaten the safety of American people. Included in this EO is language calling on the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources or establish contracts to construct, operate, control, or use facilities to detain removable aliens. The Secretary of Homeland Security further shall take all appropriate actions to assure the detention of aliens apprehended for violations of immigration law pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their removal from the country to the extent permitted by law. Effectively, this EO increases interior enforcement by ICE and directs the Department of Homeland Security to detain those arrested by ICE pending their removal.

在這份行政令中，總統呼籲聯邦政府忠實執行美國的移民法，包括驅逐外國人，特別是那些威脅美國人民安全的外國人。該行政命令中包含一些文字，要求國土安全部長採取一切適當行動，調配所有合法可用資源或簽訂合同，建造、運營、控製或使用設施來拘留可驅逐的外國人。國土安全部長也將採取一切適當行動，確保在法律允許的範圍內拘留因違反移民法而被捕的外國人，等待驅逐程序的結果或將其驅逐出境。實際上，這項行政命令加強了 ICE 的內部執法力度，並指示國土安全部拘留 ICE 逮捕的人員，等待其遣返。

The Laken Riley Act was passed by the Senate with a bipartisan support on January 20th and signed into law by President Trump on January 29th, making it the first law of the current Congress. The act was named for Laken Riley, the nursing student who was murdered on the University of Georgia campus by an undocumented immigrant with a history of arrests and releases. The Laken Riley Act requires to detain certain non-US nationals who have been charged, arrested, or convicted of crimes including burglary, theft, assault of law enforcement officer, as well as killing or injuring another person. ICE has estimated that this act could require 60,000 to 110,000 additional detention beds. This obligation is not specifically funded. However, since this requires mandatory detention, funding will have to be secured shortly.

《萊肯萊利法案》於1月20日在參議院獲得兩黨支持通過，並於1月29日由川普總統簽署成為法律，成為本屆國會第一部法律。該法案以萊肯·萊利 (Laken Riley) 的名字命名，萊肯·萊利是一名護理專業學生，他在喬治亞大學校園被一名多次被捕和釋放的無證移民謀殺。《萊肯萊利法案》要求拘留某些被指控、逮捕或被判犯有盜竊、攻擊執法人員、殺害或傷害他人等罪行的非美國國民。ICE 估計，該法案可能需要增加 6 萬至 11 萬張拘留床位。此項義務並未獲得專門資助。然而，由於這需要強制拘留，因此必須盡快確保資金。

Also on January 20th, President Trump reversed a January 26, 2021 Biden executive order that had directed the Justice Department, which includes the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshals Service, to not renew direct contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities. The administration had the authority to waive its own executive order where no alternative capacity was available, and it often did so over the past four years, renewing a number of significant marshals contracted facilities. Still, the Biden executive order did result in a closure of two CoreCivic facilities that were previously contracted to the marshals, our West Tennessee detention facility in Mason, Tennessee, and our facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, now named the Midwest Regional Reception Center.

此外，在 1 月 20 日，川普總統推翻了拜登於 2021 年 1 月 26 日頒布的一項行政命令，該命令指示司法部（包括聯邦監獄局和美國法警局）不得與私人經營的刑事拘留設施續約直接合約。當沒有其他可用能力時，政府有權放棄自己的行政命令，並且在過去四年中政府經常這樣做，續簽了許多重要的法警合約設施。儘管如此，拜登的行政命令確實導致關閉了兩個先前與法警承包的 CoreCivic 設施，位於田納西州梅森的西田納西州拘留設施，以及位於堪薩斯州萊文沃思的設施，現名為中西部地區接待中心。

We enjoy a strong relationship with the United States Marshal Service, our second largest customer, and it is very helpful to both parties to have the tool of direct contracting available again. The Marshal Service, we believe, prefers the level of service the private sector can provide in relation to what they receive from local county jails, and we look forward to renewing discussions about those and other locations with them. We expect increased demand to come from the United States Marshal Service, which could require an additional 10,000 or more beds over the next several years based on past usage.

我們與第二大客戶美國法警局保持密切的關係，再次啟用直接簽約工具對雙方都非常有幫助。我們相信，法警局更希望私營部門能夠提供與當地縣監獄相比更好的服務水平，我們期待與他們就這些地點和其他地點重新展開討論。我們預計美國法警局的需求將會增加，根據過去的使用情況，未來幾年美國法警局可能需要額外 10,000 張或更多的床位。

Finally, as for the Bureau of Prisons, one item of note. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized the importance of fully implementing the First Step Act, a law that was passed with strong bipartisan support in 2018. Specifically, she referenced the need to increase capacity above their 12,000 current community placements. The First Step Act allows federal adults in custody, or AIC, especially in minimum and low security facilities, to earn time credits through meaningful programs, reducing their sentences, and expanding pre-release custody options like halfway houses or home confinement.

最後，關於監獄管理局，有一件事值得注意。在參議院的確認聽證會上，司法部長帕姆·邦迪強調了全面實施《第一步法案》的重要性，該法案於 2018 年在兩黨的大力支持下通過。具體來說，她提到需要增加目前 12,000 個社區安置點的容量。《第一步法案》允許被拘留的聯邦成年人（AIC），特別是在最低和低安全級別監獄中的囚犯，透過有意義的項目獲得時間積分，減少刑期，並擴大中途之家或家庭監禁等釋放前拘留選擇。

The law is intended to significantly increase the population in community-based custody, but the Bureau of Prisons has faced criticism and lawsuits for delays in the implementation. Because of this, we think the BOP will lean on the private sector to fill this GAAP in implementation. For over 20 years we have been a trusted partner to the BOP for residential and home confinement community services. We believe we are well positioned to help accelerate the First Step Act implementation with our cost effective available bed capacity and industry leading re-entry technology and services.

該法律旨在大幅增加社區監禁的人口，但監獄管理局因實施延遲而面臨批評和訴訟。正因為如此，我們認為BOP將依賴私部門來實施這項GAAP。20 多年來，我們一直是 BOP 值得信賴的合作夥伴，為居民提供住宅和家庭監禁社區服務。我們相信，憑藉我們具有成本效益的可用床位容量以及業界領先的重返社會技術和服務，我們有能力幫助加速《第一步法案》的實施。

Regarding new contracts, we are engaged in active conversations with ICE and the United States Marshal Service in preparation for their increased secure bed needs. This has included the submission of multiple proposals of our capabilities, tours of existing facilities, and anticipated cost estimates. Additionally, as noted in our press release, we are leaning forward on expenditures for facility CapEx and transportation assets with a current estimated range of expenditures between $40 million to $45 million. For ICE, most new contracts may come after funding is established via a congressional budget agreement, and the timing and structure of those contracts are still to be determined. That said, it is possible that contracts could precede a congressional budget agreement. We're still just a few weeks into the new administration, so stay tuned for more on ICE contracting.

關於新合同，我們正在與 ICE 和美國法警局進行積極對話，為他們日益增加的安全床位需求做好準備。這包括提交有關我們能力的多個提案、現有設施的參觀以及預期成本估算。此外，正如我們在新聞稿中指出的那樣，我們傾向於設施資本支出和運輸資產的支出，目前估計的支出範圍在 4,000 萬美元至 4,500 萬美元之間。對於 ICE 來說，大多數新合約可能是在透過國會預算協議確定資金後簽訂的，而這些合約的時間和結構仍有待確定。儘管如此，合約有可能先於國會預算協議。新政府上任才剛幾週，因此請繼續關注 ICE 承包的更多資訊。

One final comment on ICE, if I may. The detention beds supplied by the private sector are the least expensive, most humane, most efficient logistically, have the highest audit compliance scores in the system, and are readily available. Additionally, with 42 years of operating experience with ICE, the private sector beds are the least likely to be legally challenged. Looking at specifically previously public identified opportunities, little has changed since our discussion last quarter, as contracting activity typically is interrupted around the handoff from one administration to the next in order to incorporate the guidance of the new administration.

如果可以的話，我還有關於 ICE 的最後一則評論。私部門提供的拘留床位是成本最低、最人性化、物流最有效率、審計合規分數在系統中最高的，並且隨時可用。此外，由於私部門與 ICE 已有 42 年的合作經驗，因此受到法律挑戰的可能性最小。回顧先前公開確定的具體機會，自上個季度討論以來，幾乎沒有什麼變化，因為承包活動通常會在從一個政府移交給下一個政府時中斷，以便納入新政府的指導。

We only have one minor update that we mentioned last quarter to an RFP ICE issued in June of 2024 for up to 600 detention beds in the state of New Jersey, which would expand their capacity in the state. As a reminder, we have responded with our Elizabeth Detention Facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. ICE has extended our existing contract there several times, now through the end of February, as it continues to evaluate proposals. We continue to believe that the Elizabeth Detention Facility responds well to ICE's needs in that market where bed space is scarce.

我們只對上個季度提到的 RFP ICE 進行了一次小更新，該 RFP 於 2024 年 6 月發布，將在新澤西州增加多達 600 張拘留床位，這將擴大該州的拘留容量。提醒一下，我們已與位於新澤西州伊麗莎白的伊麗莎白拘留所一起做出了回應。ICE 已多次延長我們現有的合同，目前有效期至二月底，同時繼續評估提案。我們仍然相信，伊麗莎白拘留所能夠很好地滿足 ICE 在床位稀缺的市場中的需求。

With respect to state opportunities, during January, we announced that we have been awarded a new major contract with the state of Montana to expand the geographical range of CoreCivic facilities that can serve the state of Montana to the east of the Mississippi. We expect to cater for 240 inmates at our 2,672 bed Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, under this contract commencing during the first quarter of 2025. The phase term of the new management contract with the state of Montana, which is for unspecified number of inmates and therefore could grow beyond 240, runs through December of 2026, and contract extensions could run as long as seven years.

關於州內機會，一月份我們宣布我們已與蒙大拿州簽訂了一份新的重大合同，以擴大 CoreCivic 設施的地理範圍，從而為蒙大拿州至密西西比河以東提供服務。根據該合同，我們預計將於 2025 年第一季開始為密西西比州圖特威勒市塔拉哈奇縣懲教所 (2,672 個床位) 的 240 名囚犯提供服務。與蒙大拿州簽訂的新管理合約的階段期限將持續到2026年12月，合約續約可能長達七年，但囚犯人數未作具體說明，因此可能超過240人。

During January of 2025, we also received an additional 120 Montana inmates that are 1,896 beds to the World Correctional Facility in Eloy, Arizona, under existing contract with the state of Montana, and those beds bring us close to that facility's capacity. We enjoy a strong partnership with Montana, and we appreciate the trust they put in our company and our facility teams.

2025 年 1 月，根據與蒙大拿州現有的合同，我們還向位於亞利桑那州埃洛伊的世界懲教所接收了另外 120 名蒙大拿州囚犯，共計 1,896 張床位，這些床位使該設施的容量接近飽和。我們與蒙大拿州保持著牢固的合作關係，我們感謝他們對我們公司和設施團隊的信任。

CoreCivic remains in active dialogue with several other existing state partners as well as new state partners that could result in additional populations, including the possible use of one or more idle facilities. These opportunities could manifest as early as 2025.

CoreCivic 仍與其他幾個現有的州合作夥伴以及新的州合作夥伴保持積極對話，這可能會帶來更多的人口，包括可能使用一個或多個閒置設施。這些機會最早可能在 2025 年實現。

Now I'll pass it over to Patrick Swindle for an overview of the fourth-quarter operations. Patrick?

現在我將把第四季度的營運情況交給帕特里克·斯溫德爾 (Patrick Swindle)。派崔克？

Thanks, Damon. I'll start with a high-level overview of our fourth quarter and full-year financial results. Overall, CoreCivic's financial results exceed our internal forecasts and analyst estimates held by tight cost discipline and higher occupancy. Occupancy for the quarter was 75.5%, marking our highest occupancy levels since the first quarter of 2020, right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fourth quarter, we generated revenue of $479.3 million, a 2% reduction compared with the prior-year quarter. Excluding the South Texas Family Residential Center, which closed during the third quarter, and the California City Correctional Center, where the lease ended in March, underlying revenue growth increased 8% against the prior-year quarter. For the full year, CoreCivic generated $2 billion in revenue.

謝謝，達蒙。我將首先概述我們的第四季和全年財務表現。總體而言，由於嚴格的成本控制和更高的入住率，CoreCivic 的財務表現超出了我們的內部預測和分析師的估計。本季的入住率為 75.5%，創下自 2020 年第一季（即新冠肺炎疫情爆發之初）以來的最高入住率。第四季度，我們的營收為 4.793 億美元，較去年同期下降 2%。除第三季關閉的南德州家庭住宅中心和三月租約到期的加州市懲教中心外，基礎收入年增 8%。CoreCivic 全年營收為 20 億美元。

During the fourth quarter of 2024, adjusted EBITDA, which excludes expenses associated with debt refinancing, gains on the sale of real estate, and asset impairments, was $74.2 million down from $90 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA increased to $330.8 million from $311 million. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was primarily attributable to the contract termination at the South Texas Family Residential Center and the expiration of the lease with the state of California at the California City facility, partially offset by an increase in occupancy throughout the remainder of our portfolio combined with a general reduction in temporary labor incentives and related costs.

2024 年第四季度，調整後的 EBITDA（不包括與債務再融資相關的費用、房地產出售收益和資產減損）為 7,420 萬美元，低於 2023 年第四季的 9,000 萬美元。全年調整後的 EBITDA 從 3.11 億美元增至 3.308 億美元。第四季度調整後 EBITDA 的下降主要歸因於南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心的合約終止以及加州在加州市設施的租約到期，但被我們其餘投資組合的入住率提高以及臨時勞動力激勵和相關成本的普遍減少部分抵消。

Federal partners, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Marshals Service, comprise almost exactly half of CoreCivic's total revenue in 2024. During the fourth quarter of 2024, revenue from our federal partners declined 12% compared with fourth quarter of last year. Revenue from ICE, our largest partner, declined 22% when comparing the fourth quarter of 2024 versus the prior-year quarter. However, excluding the South Texas Family Residential Center, our revenue with ICE increased 5% versus the fourth quarter of 2024, a rate indicative of ICE's continued detention capacity and needs even during a political transition period. Our fourth-quarter revenue with the US Marshals Service grew by 1%. Excluding South Texas, overall federal revenue for CoreCivic in the fourth quarter of 2024 increased 3% year over year.

聯邦合作夥伴（主要是移民和海關執法局和美國法警局）佔 CoreCivic 2024 年總收入的近一半。2024 年第四季度，來自聯邦合作夥伴的收入與去年第四季相比下降了 12%。與去年同期相比，2024 年第四季我們最大的合作夥伴 ICE 的營收下降了 22%。然而，不包括南德克薩斯家庭居住中心，我們從 ICE 獲得的收入比 2024 年第四季度增長了 5%，這一增長率表明 ICE 即使在政治過渡時期仍能繼續保持拘留能力和需求。我們與美國法警局第四季的營收成長了 1%。除南德克薩斯州外，CoreCivic 在 2024 年第四季的整體聯邦收入年增 3%。

Now I'd like to discuss ICE's usage of detention capacity nationally across all facilities. As you will recall, in a bipartisan funding bill passed in March 2024, Congress provided funding for 41,500 detention beds. During the fourth quarter, ICE's actual uses of detention beds was within a range of 38,000 to 40,000, up slightly from 36,000 to 38,000 in the third quarter. The most recently published ICE detention total was 39,263 on January 25th, 2025, which is just after President Trump's inauguration. From what we are seeing so far, we believe that the total ICE detention population is holding about steady with more arrests from ICE's interior enforcement operations offsetting declining immigration arrests from Customs and Border Patrol at the border.

現在我想討論一下 ICE 在全國範圍內所有設施的拘留容量的使用情況。您可能還記得，國會在 2024 年 3 月通過的一項兩黨撥款法案中為 41,500 張拘留床位提供了資金。第四季度，ICE實際使用的拘留床位數量在38,000至40,000張之間，較第三季度的36,000至38,000張略有增加。最近公佈的 ICE 拘留總數為 39,263 人，時間為 2025 年 1 月 25 日，也就是川普總統就職典禮之後不久。從目前的情況來看，我們認為 ICE 拘留總數保持穩定，ICE 內部執法行動逮捕的人數增加抵消了海關和邊境巡邏隊在邊境逮捕的移民人數減少。

Over the next month or two, we would expect to see the accelerated rate of interior enforcement arrests to result in capacity limitations at the 41,500 funded beds level. CoreCivic's fourth-quarter revenue from state partners and our safety and community segments grew 6.4% versus the prior-year quarter. This increase is the result of higher per diem rates and higher occupancy from our state government partners as well as contributions from new state contracts with Wyoming and Montana signed in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024. These new contracts contributed 1.3% of that growth.

在接下來的一兩個月內，我們預計內部執法逮捕的速度將加快，導致容量限制在 41,500 張資助床位的水平。CoreCivic 第四季來自國家合作夥伴以及安全和社區部門的收入比去年同期成長了 6.4%。這一增長是由於我們州政府合作夥伴的每日津貼率提高和入住率提高，以及 2023 年第四季度和 2024 年第三季度與懷俄明州和蒙大拿州簽署的新州合約的貢獻。這些新合約貢獻了1.3%的成長。

As Damon mentioned in his remarks, we've added another contract with Montana during January 2025. We've already received 120 inmates at our Tallahatchie facility in Mississippi and anticipate receiving additional inmates in the near future. The transfer and intake processes have gone smoothly, and we are pleased to expand our relationship with Montana and to boost our Tallahatchie facility to a higher level of occupancy.

正如達蒙在演講中提到的，我們在 2025 年 1 月與蒙大拿州簽訂了另一份合約。我們在密西西比州塔拉哈奇監獄已經接收了 120 名囚犯，預計在不久的將來還會接收更多囚犯。轉移和接收過程進展順利，我們很高興擴大與蒙大拿州的關係，並將我們塔拉哈奇工廠的入住率提高到更高的水平。

Within our safety portfolio, some of the greatest operational improvements have come in facilities serving state partners. Much of this operational improvement has related to improved staffing levels, which have allowed us to reduce or eliminate expensive short-term labor measures that were necessary during as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. Staffing that is permanent and locally hired improves facility performance in such areas as safety, program outcomes, and audit performance. It is also the most cost effective and stable approach to staffing our facilities.

在我們的安全組合中，一些最大的營運改善來自為國家合作夥伴提供服務的設施。這些營運改善很大程度上與人員配備水準的提高有關，這使我們能夠減少或取消在擺脫 COVID-19 疫情期間所必需的昂貴的短期勞動力措施。永久性和本地僱用的人員配置可提高設施在安全、專案成果和審計績效等方面的績效。這也是為我們的設施配備人員最具成本效益和最穩定的方法。

For example, our La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, experienced meaningful improvements in performance as our investments and hard work directed at local hiring helped eliminate the facility's reliance on temporary labor resources. I'm also excited to share that Rusty Washburn, the warden at La Palma, was recently recognized as Warden of the Year by the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents or NAWS.

例如，我們位於亞利桑那州埃洛伊的拉帕爾馬懲教所的績效取得了顯著的提高，因為我們在當地招聘方面的投資和努力幫助該機構擺脫了對臨時勞動力資源的依賴。我還很高興地告訴大家，拉帕爾馬監獄長 Rusty Washburn 最近被北美監獄長和督察協會（NAWS）評為年度監獄長。

To round out our discussion of fourth quarter 2024 revenue, local revenue and our safety and community segments, which is revenue generated from contracts with county governments, increased 26%. This growth reflects new management contracts signed in the second half of 2023 with Hinds County, Mississippi and Harris County, Texas. Those populations are housed at our Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility located in Tutwiler, Mississippi. I'd like to thank Warden Luis Rosa and the whole team at the Tallahatchie facility for all their efforts and satisfying the needs of seven different government partners, including four new partners at this facility over the past two years.

完善我們對 2024 年第四季收入的討論，地方收入以及我們的安全和社區部門（與縣政府簽訂合約產生的收入）增長了 26%。這一增長反映了 2023 年下半年與密西西比州欣茲縣和德克薩斯州哈里斯縣簽署的新管理合約。這些囚犯被關在我們位於密西西比州圖特威勒的塔拉哈奇郡懲教所。我要感謝監獄長路易斯·羅薩和塔拉哈奇監獄的整個團隊，感謝他們的所有努力，滿足了七個不同政府合作夥伴的需求，包括過去兩年來該監獄的四個新合作夥伴。

CoreCivic's overall occupancy in our safety and community segments for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased to 75.5% from 74% in the prior-year period. This growth in occupancy stems from both higher use of existing contracts, particularly with ICE, and also from greater utilization of the four new contracts signed in the second half of 2023, as well as the new contract with Montana at Saguaro signed in the third quarter of 2024 that we previously mentioned.

2024 年第四季度，CoreCivic 在安全和社區領域的整體入住率從去年同期的 74% 上升至 75.5%。入住率的成長既源自於現有合約（尤其是與 ICE 的合約）的使用率提高，也源自於 2023 年下半年簽署的四份新合約以及我們之前提到的 2024 年第三季與 Montana at Saguaro 簽署的新合約的利用率提高。

From the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of this year, occupancy in our safety segment increased from 74.7% to 76%, while occupancy in our community segment improved from 63.7% to 68.8%. As we have mentioned in the past, our operating model has significantly embedded operating leverage to changes in occupancy, and this was a factor in our margin of performance during the fourth quarter.

從 2023 年第四季到今年第四季度，我們安全部門的入住率從 74.7% 上升到 76%，而社區部門的入住率從 63.7% 提高到 68.8%。正如我們過去所提到的，我們的營運模式已將營運槓桿顯著地嵌入入住率的變化中，這是我們第四季業績利潤率的一個因素。

Throughout 2024, our ongoing labor attraction and retention efforts generated operational and financial improvements following the very challenging labor markets experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath. Broadly, labor inflation has now returned to relatively normal levels, and labor markets and most of our geographies are displaying stability. We've invested significantly in our frontline employees and implemented human capital attraction and retention strategies. I'm excited to report that our staffing has improved to nearly pre-pandemic levels, and that has allowed us to reduce elevated spending on temporary staffing expenses.

在整個 2024 年，在 COVID-19 疫情及其後續影響導致勞動力市場經歷巨大挑戰之後，我們持續的勞動力吸引和保留工作帶來了營運和財務方面的改善。整體來看，勞動力通膨目前已恢復到相對正常的水平，勞動力市場和我們大多數地區都呈現穩定。我們對第一線員工進行了大量投資，並實施了人力資本吸引和保留策略。我很高興地報告，我們的人員配置已改善至接近疫情前的水平，這使我們能夠減少臨時人員配置費用的增加。

Maintaining strong staffing levels in our current-based facilities is particularly important as we now look forward to higher demand under existing contracts and the possibility of future activations. In short, our improved staffing positions us well operationally to maintain the trust of our partners to manage their higher population needs and respond swiftly to new opportunities. Our safety segment, which includes our large higher security level prison and detention facilities, is of CoreCivic's largest segment, having provided 93% of 2024 total revenue.

在我們現有的設施中維持強大的人員配備水準尤為重要，因為我們現在期待現有合約下更高的需求和未來啟動的可能性。簡而言之，我們改進的人員配置使我們在營運上處於良好的位置，以維持合作夥伴的信任，管理他們更高的人口需求並對新的機會做出快速反應。我們的安全部門包括大型高安全級別監獄和拘留設施，是 CoreCivic 最大的部門，提供了 2024 年總收入的 93%。

Net operating income for our safety segment fell 3% during the fourth quarter of 2024, reflecting the termination of the South Texas facility that we mentioned earlier, offset by cost management efforts and occupancy gains elsewhere. For the full year, safety facility net operating income increased 16% to $434 million.

2024 年第四季度，我們安全部門的淨營業收入下降了 3%，反映了我們之前提到的南德克薩斯工廠的終止，但成本管理工作和其他地方的入住率增長抵消了這一影響。全年安全設施淨營業收入成長16%，達4.34億美元。

CoreCivic's community segment comprises 21 residential reentry facilities serving the Federal Bureau of Prisons as well as various state and county governments. The community segment facilities are typically smaller than our safety facilities and are engaged primarily in the vital work of preparing individuals for successful reentry to their communities after a period of incarceration or as an alternative to incarceration. CoreCivic's electronic monitoring and case management services are also included in our community segment.

CoreCivic 的社區部分包括 21 個住宅重返社會設施，為聯邦監獄局以及各州和縣政府提供服務。社區部分設施通常比我們的安全設施小，主要從事為個人在監禁一段時間後或作為監禁的替代方案成功重返社區做好準備的重要工作。CoreCivic 的電子監控和案件管理服務也包含在我們的社區部分中。

As mentioned, occupancy in the community segment increased in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with the fourth quarter of 2023 due to the sale in the third quarter of 2024 of an idle residential reentry facility. Net operating income of $6.3 million in this segment declined to $1 million versus the fourth quarter of last year. For the full year, community facility net operating income increased slightly to $21.7 million. Similar to our safety segment, our community segment facilities have been able to normalize their staffing levels and reduce dependence on temporary solutions. We remain positive about the occupancy outlook for the community segment as more of our government partners, including the BOP, return their focus to successful reentry in order to curb the recidivism challenge.

如上所述，由於 2024 年第三季出售了閒置的住宅重返社會設施，2024 年第四季社區部分的入住率與 2023 年第四季相比有所增加。該部門淨營業收入為 630 萬美元，較去年第四季下降至 100 萬美元。全年社區設施營業淨收入小幅增加至 2,170 萬美元。與我們的安全部門類似，我們的社區部門設施已經能夠正常化其人員配備水準並減少對臨時解決方案的依賴。隨著我們越來越多的政府合作夥伴（包括 BOP）將重點轉移到成功重返社會以遏制重犯犯罪的挑戰，我們對社區部門的入住率前景仍持樂觀態度。

To conclude this business update, we believe the longer term macro environment for our federal, state, and local businesses remains positive, particularly as we enter a new Presidential administration that is emphasizing public safety and immigration priorities. Our government partners face complex challenges including capacity limitations; aging, expensive to maintain, and expensive to build facilities; persistent staffing challenges; and populations that are increasing in numbers and evolving in their complexity. Conversations with our partners highlight the growing needs, as do other metrics, including jail backlogs and prison population forecasts.

總結本次業務更新，我們相信，對於我們的聯邦、州和地方企業來說，長期宏觀環境仍然是積極的，特別是在我們進入強調公共安全和移民優先事項的新總統政府之際。我們的政府合作夥伴面臨複雜的挑戰，包括能力限制；設施老化、維護費用昂貴、建設費用昂貴；持續的人員配備挑戰；人口數量不斷增加，其複雜性也不斷演變。與我們的合作夥伴的對話強調了日益增長的需求，其他指標也是如此，包括監獄積壓案件和監獄人口預測。

2025 is likely to bring significant opportunities, particularly on the federal side, and these opportunities may require activations of several of our idle facilities. CoreCivic has already taken proactive steps, including capital improvements, preparatory maintenance, and labor force readiness to prepare facilities for activation. From an operations perspective, CoreCivic's activation team is already exceptionally busy at a number of our facilities in anticipation of potential new contracts with ICE or other partners. CoreCivic's team stands prepared to start hiring and training as soon as our government partners are ready. When we believe the need is clear, we do not wait for a contract award to begin preparations.

2025 年可能會帶來重大機遇，特別是在聯邦方面，這些機會可能需要啟動我們的一些閒置設施。CoreCivic 已經採取了積極措施，包括資本改善、準備性維護和勞動力準備，為設施投入使用做好準備。從營運角度來看，CoreCivic 的啟動團隊已經在我們的許多設施中異常忙碌，準備與 ICE 或其他合作夥伴簽訂潛在的新合約。一旦我們的政府合作夥伴準備就緒，CoreCivic 團隊就準備好開始招募和培訓。當我們認為需求明確時，我們不會等待合約授予才開始準備。

Also, just as important as facility activations are likely to be in the next several years, we recognize that growth only works if our foundation of existing facilities remains strong. With that, we are continuing to commit the necessary resources to fortify operations at our current facilities and build on the operational progress we achieved in 2024 in such areas as staffing, contraband intervention, and programs and outcomes.

此外，儘管未來幾年設施啟動可能同樣重要，但我們認識到，只有現有設施的基礎保持強勁，成長才有可能實現。同時，我們將繼續投入必要的資源來加強我們現有設施的運營，並在人員配備、違禁品幹預以及計劃和成果等領域鞏固我們在 2024 年取得的運營進展。

Now I'll turn the call over to Dave Garfinkel who will provide a detailed look at our fourth-quarter financial results, our capital market activities, and assumptions included in our 2025 financial guidance. Dave?

現在，我將電話轉給戴夫·加芬克爾 (Dave Garfinkel)，他將詳細介紹我們的第四季度財務業績、資本市場活動以及 2025 年財務指引中包含的假設。戴夫？

Thank you, Patrick, and good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter of 2024, we generated GAAP net income of $0.17 per share, including $0.01 per share for a gain on sale of real estate assets. Excluding this special item, adjusted EPS during the fourth quarter was $0.16, exceeding average analyst estimates by $0.06 per share. Normalized FFO per share was $0.39 during the fourth quarter of 2024, exceeding average analyst estimates by $0.05 per share, and adjusted EBITDA was $74.2 million, exceeding average analyst estimates by $7.9 million.

謝謝你，派崔克，大家早安。2024 年第四季度，我們實現了每股 0.17 美元的 GAAP 淨收入，其中包括每股 0.01 美元的房地產資產出售收益。除此特殊項目外，第四季度調整後每股收益為 0.16 美元，比分析師平均預期高出 0.06 美元。2024 年第四季，每股標準化 FFO 為 0.39 美元，比分析師平均預期高出 0.05 美元/股，調整後 EBITDA 為 7,420 萬美元，比分析師平均預期高出 790 萬美元。

A decrease in adjusted EBITDA from the prior-year quarter of $15.8 million and decreases in adjusted EPS of $0.07 and normalized FFO per share of $0.06 resulted from the termination of our contract with ICE at the South Texas Family Residential Center effective August 9, 2024 and a lease expiration with the state of California effective March 31, 2024 at our California City Correctional Center. These terminations accounted for a decrease in facility net operating income of $22.8 million or $0.15 per share from the prior-year quarter. These reductions were partially offset by higher occupancy from state and local partners as well as from ICE across the remainder of the portfolio. Decreases in interest expense, a lower effective tax rate, and fewer shares outstanding also contributed to increases in per share earnings, aggregating approximately $0.04 per share.

調整後的 EBITDA 較去年同期減少 1,580 萬美元，調整後的 EPS 減少 0.07 美元，每股標準化 FFO 減少 0.06 美元，原因是我們與南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心 ICE 的合同於 2024 年 8 月 9 日終止，以及我們加州城市懲教中心與加州城市的 3 月 3 月 3 月 3 月）這些終止導致設施淨營業收入較去年同期減少 2,280 萬美元，即每股 0.15 美元。這些減少的部分被來自州和地方合作夥伴以及來自 ICE 的剩餘投資組合的更高入住率所抵消。利息支出減少、有效稅率降低及流通股減少也促使每股盈餘增加，總計每股約 0.04 美元。

Federal revenue in our safety and community segments decreased $32.8 million from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, including a reduction in management revenue at the South Texas facility of $39.1 million. So excluding this facility, federal revenue in our safety and community segments increased $6.3 million or 2.8%. State revenue in the safety and community segments increased $12 million or 6.4% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, which included revenue from new contracts with the states of Wyoming and Montana, awarded in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024.

我們安全和社區部門的聯邦收入從 2023 年第四季到 2024 年第四季減少了 3,280 萬美元，其中南德州工廠的管理收入減少了 3,910 萬美元。因此，除去該設施，我們安全和社區部門的聯邦收入增加了 630 萬美元，即 2.8%。從 2023 年第四季到 2024 年第四季度，安全和社區部門的州收入增加了 1,200 萬美元或 6.4%，其中包括 2023 年第四季度和 2024 年第三季度授予懷俄明州和蒙大拿州的新合約的收入。

We expect our state revenue to further increase from another new contract award from the state of Montana we announced last month, with 120 inmates having already arrived at our Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi. Local revenue in our safety and community segments increased $2.7 million or 26% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily resulting from new contracts with Hinds County, Mississippi and Harris County, Texas, both awarded in the second half of 2023. Revenue in our property segment declined $7.4 million primarily due to the aforementioned expiration of the lease at our California City facility.

我們預計，由於上個月我們宣布與蒙大拿州簽訂了另一份新合同，我們州的收入將進一步增加，目前已有 120 名囚犯抵達我們位於密西西比州的塔拉哈奇縣懲教所。我們安全和社區部門的本地收入從 2023 年第四季度到 2024 年第四季度增加了 270 萬美元或 26%，主要來自於與密西西比州欣茲縣和德克薩斯州哈里斯縣簽訂的新合同，均於 2023 年下半年授予。我們的房地產部門的收入下降了 740 萬美元，主要原因是前面提到的加州市工廠的租約到期。

Operating margin in our safety and community facilities combined was 23.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to 24.4% in the prior-year quarter. The decrease in our operating margin was due to the termination of the ICE contract at the South Texas facility. As mentioned last quarter, the margin at the South Texas Family Residential Center was higher than the portfolio average due to the size and scalability of expenses and due to the unique design and specialized services we provided at the facility. Excluding the South Texas facility, operating margin was 22.8% in the prior-year quarter.

2024 年第四季度，我們安全和社區設施的綜合營業利潤率為 23.6%，而去年同期為 24.4%。我們的營業利潤率下降是由於南德克薩斯工廠的 ICE 合約終止。正如上個季度所提到的，由於費用的規模和可擴展性，以及我們在該設施提供的獨特設計和專業服務，南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心的利潤率高於投資組合的平均水平。不包括南德州工廠，去年同期的營業利益率為 22.8%。

The increase in our operating margin excluding the South Texas facility was due to an increase in occupancy from 73% to 75.5% for our safety and community segments combined and a reduction in certain operating expenses. During the fourth quarter, we were able to further reduce registry nursing, temporary wage incentives, and travel, all related to labor market pressures that have normalized over the past several quarters. These three expense categories declined by $8.3 million from the fourth quarter of 2023 and during the fourth quarter of 2024 were at levels comparable to pre-pandemic levels.

除南德克薩斯工廠外，我們的營業利潤率有所增加，這是由於我們的安全和社區部門的入住率從 73% 增加到 75.5%，以及某些營業費用的減少。在第四季度，我們進一步減少了註冊護理、臨時工資獎勵和差旅費用，所有這些都與過去幾季正常化的勞動力市場壓力有關。這三項支出類別較 2023 年第四季減少了 830 萬美元，2024 年第四季的水準與疫情前的水準相當。

Turning next to the balance sheet. During 2024, we repaid $95 million of debt, net of the change in cash, including $7.2 million repaid in the fourth quarter. In recognition of our earnings outlook and based on our confidence in the business during the fourth quarter, we resumed share repurchases under our $350 million share repurchase program, which we had deprioritized in June upon receipt of the contract termination at the South Texas Family Residential Center. During 2024, we repurchased $68.5 million of our common stock, including $9 million in December.

接下來來看看資產負債表。2024 年，我們償還了 9,500 萬美元的債務，扣除現金變化，其中包括第四季償還的 720 萬美元。認識到我們的獲利前景並基於我們對第四季度業務的信心，我們根據 3.5 億美元的股票回購計劃恢復了股票回購，我們在 6 月份收到南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心的合約終止通知後已取消了該計劃的優先順序。2024 年，我們回購了 6,850 萬美元的普通股，其中 12 月回購了 900 萬美元。

Since our share repurchase program was announced in May 2022 through December 31, we have repurchased 14.5 million shares of our stock at a total cost of $181.1 million or an average price of $12.47 per share. As of December 31, 2024, we had $168.9 million available under the Board authorization.

自 2022 年 5 月宣布股票回購計畫以來，截至 12 月 31 日，我們已回購了 1,450 萬股股票，總成本為 1.811 億美元，平均價格為每股 12.47 美元。截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日，根據董事會授權，我們擁有 1.689 億美元可用資金。

Our leverage measured by net debt to adjust at EBITDA was 2.3 times using the trailing 12 months ended December 31, 2024. As of December 31, we had $107 million of cash on hand and an additional $257 million of borrowing capacity on our revolving credit facility, providing us with total liquidity of $364 million. We have no debt maturities until 2027 when $238.5 million of senior unsecured notes mature.

使用截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的過去 12 個月的數據，以 EBITDA 調整後的淨債務衡量的槓桿率為 2.3 倍。截至 12 月 31 日，我們擁有 1.07 億美元現金，循環信貸額度還有 2.57 億美元的額外借貸能力，為我們提供了 3.64 億美元的總流動資金。2027 年之前我們沒有債務到期，屆時 2.385 億美元的優先無擔保票據將到期。

Moving lastly to a discussion of our 2025 financial guidance, we expect to generate diluted EPS of $0.48 to $0.61 and FFO per share of $1.37 to $1.50. Our guidance assumes steady increases in federal populations throughout 2025, assuming higher utilization of existing contracts. As a reminder, compared with 2024, our 2025 guidance includes a collective per share reduction of $0.40 from 2024, resulting from the termination of the contract at the South Texas Family Residential Center effective August 9, 2024, and the lease termination at the California City Correctional Center effective March 31, 2024. Our guidance includes some expenses in anticipation of higher populations. Although consistent with past practice, our guidance does not include the impact of new contract awards because the timing of government actions on new contracts is always difficult to predict.

最後討論我們的 2025 年財務指導，我們預計每股攤薄收益為 0.48 美元至 0.61 美元，每股 FFO 為 1.37 美元至 1.50 美元。我們的指導假設是，2025 年聯邦人口將穩定增加，現有合約的使用率將提高。提醒一下，與 2024 年相比，我們的 2025 年指引包括從 2024 年起每股總體減少 0.40 美元，這是由於南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心的合約於 2024 年 8 月 9 日終止，以及加州城市懲教中心的租約於 2024 年 3 月 31 日終止。我們的指導包括一些預計人口增加的費用。儘管與過去的做法一致，但我們的指導並不包括新合約授予的影響，因為政府對新合約採取行動的時間總是難以預測。

Based on immigration policies of the new administration as well as newly enacted legislation requiring the utilization of more detention for certain criminal violations, we expect new contracts to require the activation of one or more of our idle facilities. We currently own nine idle correctional and detention facilities that have over 13,000 available beds. Although we can provide no assurance, activations could also include the South Texas Family Residential Center, which is owned by a third party. We will revise our financial guidance throughout the year as new contracts are signed.

根據新政府的移民政策以及新頒布的立法，要求對某些刑事違法行為使用更多拘留，我們預計新合約將要求啟動一個或多個閒置設施。我們目前擁有 9 間閒置的懲教和拘留設施，共有超過 13,000 張可用床位。雖然我們無法保證，但啟動的機構也可能包括第三方擁有的南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心。隨著新合約的簽署，我們將全年修改我們的財務指導。

The activation of an idle facility generally requires four to six months to hire, train, and prepare the facility to accept residential populations, which results in substantial start-up expenses before we realize additional revenue. To the extent any new contract requires the activation of an idle facility, our guidance will likely be negatively impacted by these start-up expenses unless awarded in the very short term, with ample time to generate sufficient EBITDA to offset our start-up expenses in the calendar year. Therefore, any idle facility activations this year would likely more favorably be impactful in 2026.

啟用閒置設施通常需要四到六個月的時間來僱用、培訓和準備該設施接收居民，這會導致在我們實現額外收入之前產生大量的啟動費用。如果任何新合約需要啟動閒置設施，我們的指引可能會受到這些啟動費用的負面影響，除非在很短的時間內授予，並有充足的時間產生足夠的 EBITDA 來抵消我們在日曆年內的啟動費用。因此，今年任何閒置設施的啟動都可能對 2026 年產生更有利的影響。

While activating an idle facility is a complex and fluid process, we generally estimate start-up expenses to be $4,000 to $6,000 per bed for the start-up period before we are able to accept residential populations with positive EBITDA and cash flows occurring at approximately 50% to 65% occupancy, depending on the contract structure. We plan to spend $60 million to $65 million on maintenance capital expenditures during 2025 compared with $63.5 million in 2024 and $6 million to $7 million for other capital expenditures compared with $7 million in 2024.

雖然啟動閒置設施是一個複雜且不穩定的過程，但我們通常估計啟動期間每張床位的啟動費用為 4,000 至 6,000 美元，之後我們才能夠接受 EBITDA 為正且現金流約為 50% 至 65% 入住率的住宅人口，具體取決於合約結構。我們計劃在 2025 年花費 6,000 萬至 6,500 萬美元用於維護資本支出，而 2024 年為 6,350 萬美元；其他資本支出為 600 萬至 700 萬美元，而 2024 年為 700 萬美元。

Even though our guidance does not include any new contract awards, our 2025 forecast also includes $40 million to $45 million of capital expenditures associated with potential idle facility activations in order to prepare these facilities to quickly accept residential populations if opportunities arise as well as to provide transportation services. We review our activation plans frequently and could decide to incur additional capital expenditures in anticipation of additional activations if we have better visibility on specific needs and if the lead time to complete the capital expenditures exceeds the period needed to hire, train, and prepare a facility to accept residential populations.

儘管我們的指導意見不包括任何新的合約授予，但我們對 2025 年的預測還包括 4000 萬至 4500 萬美元的資本支出，與潛在的閒置設施激活有關，以便這些設施能夠在機會出現時迅速接納居民並提供運輸服務。我們會經常審查我們的啟動計劃，如果我們對具體需求有更好的了解，並且完成資本支出的時間超過了僱用、培訓和準備接收居民的設施所需的時間，我們可能會決定為預期額外的啟動而產生額外的資本支出。

We estimate capital expenditures to reactivate an idle facility of $2,500 to $5,000 per bed depending how long a facility has been idle. Although we have seen an increase in M&A opportunities in our core business, our guidance does not include any M&A activity. However, we could deploy additional capital for a tuck-in acquisition, where we believe cash flows are sustainable over the long term and where returns justify the capital deployed.

我們估計重新啟動閒置設施的資本支出為每張床位 2,500 至 5,000 美元，具體取決於設施閒置的時間長短。儘管我們看到核心業務中的併購機會增加，但我們的預期並不包括任何併購活動。然而，我們可以部署額外資本用於補充收購，我們相信現金流在長期內是可持續的，並且回報證明部署的資本是合理的。

Our 2025 guidance contemplates staying within our targeted leverage of 2.25 times to 2.75 times. However, as mentioned, our guidance does not include the reactivation of any idle facilities, which could result in an increase in our leverage during the start-up period. Our guidance also does not contemplate any share repurchases beyond those completed to date or M&A activity. Accordingly, we could temporarily exceed our leverage target in the short term, maintaining focus in our leverage ratios, balancing the use of our free cash flow between reducing our debt, and modifying the pace of our share repurchases, taking into consideration our earnings trajectory, stock price, liquidity, and alternative opportunities to deploy capital, and would expect to naturally achieve and sustain our targeted leverage over the medium and long term.

我們的 2025 年指導方針設想將槓桿率保持在 2.25 倍至 2.75 倍的目標範圍內。然而，如上所述，我們的指引並不包括重新啟動任何閒置設施，這可能會導致啟動期間我們的槓桿率增加。我們的指導意見也不考慮迄今為止已完成的股票回購或併購活動之外的任何股票回購。因此，我們可能會在短期內暫時超過我們的槓桿率目標，保持對槓桿率的關注，在減少債務和調整股票回購速度之間平衡自由現金流的使用，同時考慮到我們的盈利軌跡、股價、流動性和部署資本的替代機會，並期望在中長期內自然實現和維持我們的目標槓桿率。

We are entering a unique period that could result in significant growth in earnings and cash flows. Our balance sheet and cash flows remain strong, with low leverage and no near-term debt maturities and readily available bed capacity positioning us well to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. We expect adjusted funds from operations or AFFO, which we consider a proxy for our cash flow available for capital allocation decisions, to range from $148.5 million to $165.5 million for 2025.

我們正在進入一個獨特的時期，這可能導致收益和現金流大幅成長。我們的資產負債表和現金流依然強勁，槓桿率低，沒有近期債務到期，且床位容量充足，使我們能夠充分利用市場機會。我們預計，2025 年調整後的營運資金或 AFFO（我們認為其是可用於資本配置決策的現金流的代表）將在 1.485 億美元至 1.655 億美元之間。

For modeling our quarterly results, as a reminder, compared to the 4th quarter, Q1 is seasonally weaker because of two fewer days in the quarter, higher utilities, and because we incur approximately 75% of our unemployment taxes during the first quarter, resulting in a collective $0.04 per share decline from Q4 to Q1 and negatively impacting our operating margins. We expect our normalized annual effective tax rate to be 25% to 30% with a lower rate in Q1 compared with the other quarters. The full-year EBITDA guidance in our press release provides you with our estimate of total depreciation and interest expense. We are forecasting G&A expenses in 2025 to be between $145 million and $150 million.

為了對我們的季度業績進行建模，需要提醒的是，與第四季度相比，第一季度由於本季度減少了兩天、公用事業費用更高以及我們在第一季度承擔了約 75% 的失業率稅，因此受到季節性因素的影響，第一季度與第四季度相比每股收益總計下降 0.04 美元，並對我們的營業利潤率產生了負面影響。我們預計我們的標準化年度有效稅率為 25% 至 30%，第一季的稅率將低於其他季度。我們新聞稿中的全年 EBITDA 指引為您提供了我們對總折舊和利息支出的估計。我們預測 2025 年的 G&A 費用將在 1.45 億美元至 1.5 億美元之間。

I will now turn the call back to the operator to open up the lines for questions.

我現在將把電話轉回給接線員，以便開通問答熱線。

Joe Gomes, NOBLE Capital.

NOBLE Capital 的 Joe Gomes。

So Damon, first question, I kind of wanted to look at big picture. What total capacity do you think ICE might need with all the actions that are going on and what impact, if any, do you see for some of the other alternatives that have been put out in the press Guantanamo, El Salvador idled government prisons in terms of what demand might be for the private sector?

所以達蒙，第一個問題，我想看一下大局。在採取所有這些行動的情況下，您認為 ICE 可能需要的總容量是多少？如果有的話，您認為對於私營部門的需求而言，媒體報導的其他一些替代方案（例如薩爾瓦多關塔那摩等閒置的政府監獄）會產生什麼影響？

Hello?

你好？

I believe our speaker line is currently muted. You'll need to unmute at this time.

我認為我們的揚聲器線路目前處於靜音狀態。此時您需要取消靜音。

Great, we can hear you now.

太好了，我們現在可以聽到你的聲音了。

Thank you for that. Joe, can you hear me okay?

謝謝你。喬，你聽得到我說話嗎？

I can hear you.

我聽到你的聲音。

Very good. Well, good morning again, my friend, and I heard your question completely, so let me give you the answer.

非常好。好吧，我的朋友，早上好，我完全聽到了你的問題，所以讓我告訴你答案。

So big picture, first, let me say that we've been talking to members of the transition team now obviously part of the administration really on a daily basis since the election in November. One thing that's very clear to us is that there is a very strong focus on detention, and obviously you're seeing that play out in the press, and you've got many spokespersons for the administration are talking about that. The need for additional capacity in the detention is a key focus for the administration. So I'd start with that as number one.

首先，從總體上看，自去年 11 月大選以來，我們每天都在與過渡團隊的成員交談，他們顯然是政府的一部分。我們非常清楚的一件事是，人們非常關注拘留問題，很明顯你可以在媒體上看到這一點，而且許多政府發言人都在談論這個問題。增加拘留容量的需求是政府關注的重點。因此我首先要說的是這一點。

Number two, to your bed number question. So this has been a little fluid, but it feels like in the last probably two or three weeks, it's kind of circling in into a pretty close range on needed capacity. So let me give you kind of two numbers here. One is that you're hearing in the press, and again we're hearing this also privately, that there is a need for about 100,000 beds for enforcement operations, both on the southwest border but also for interior enforcement. So that has been pretty consistent here in the last 30 days.

第二，關於你的床號的問題。因此，這有點不穩定，但感覺好像在過去的兩三週內，它在所需容量上已經回到了一個相當接近的範圍內。讓我在這裡給你兩個數字。一是你們在媒體上聽到的，而且我們也私下聽過這樣的消息，即不僅在西南邊境，而且在內部執法，執法行動需要大約 10 萬張床位。所以過去 30 天的情況一直比較穩定。

The other, which is more recent, is that you've heard obviously the passage of Laken Riley bill. I mentioned that in my script. And again, this has been reported in the press, too, but we've heard a range of numbers of about 60,000 beds to 110,000 beds needed for that requirement, which is going to require mandatory detention for certain individuals arrested for certain crimes. So it feels like you kind of put those two numbers together, they're going into a range of 100,000 to 200,000. If you want it to be a little more, I think, precise, it feels like 150,000 to 200,000 is where they're going to end up.

另一個是更近的消息，大家顯然已經聽說了萊肯萊利法案的通過。我在我的腳本中提到過這一點。並且，媒體也對此進行了報道，但我們聽說，需要大約 60,000 張至 110,000 張床位才能滿足這一要求，這將要求對因某些罪行被捕的某些個人進行強制拘留。因此，感覺就像把這兩個數字放在一起，它們的範圍是 100,000 到 200,000。如果希望再高一點，我想，更精確一點，感覺他們最終的數字會是 15 萬到 20 萬。

Now, obviously, That is going to be driven by the budget, and you're seeing this also daily being played out in the press where there is potentially an effort by the House but also potentially an effort by the Senate to do a funding bill, and there has been discussion if it's one bill or two bills, and so I won't get into details on that. Like I said, there's a lot of press and media reports on that on a daily basis.

現在，顯然，這將由預算推動，而且你每天都會在媒體上看到這種報道，眾議院可能會努力，參議院也可能會努力製定一項撥款法案，並且已經討論過這是一項法案還是兩項法案，因此我不會詳細討論這個問題。正如我所說，每天都有大量新聞媒體對此進行報導。

But I will say that the Senate has released some detail on what a reconciliation would look like with a two-bill approach, and the two-bill approach would have one that would focus on border security, defense, and energy. And if you look in the detail that has been released here in the last few days, for border security, again this is a reconciliation, the two-bill approach, if you see the dollars that they're proposing for that piece for immigration and border security, it's $175 billion. And just to put that in perspective, I know you know this already, Joe, but for the benefit of the rest of the callers, ICE current funding budget for the current fiscal year is $9.6 billion and that's for 41,000 beds.

但我要說的是，參議院已經公佈了一些關於通過兩項法案達成和解的細節，其中一項法案的重點是邊境安全、國防和能源。如果你看一下過去幾天發布的邊境安全細節，你會發現這又是一個和解方案，即兩項法案的做法，如果你看到他們為移民和邊境安全提出的撥款金額，那就是 1750 億美元。為了更清楚地說明這一點，喬，我知道你已經知道這一點，但為了其他來電者的利益，ICE 本財政年度的當前資金預算為 96 億美元，用於 41,000 張床位。

So $9.6 billion is the current run rate for ICE for 41,000 beds. Reconciliation proposed by the Senate version is $175 billion. So go back to the numbers, if the numbers for 150 to 200,000 beds, if that's ultimately the funding, that feels pretty realistic.

因此，96 億美元是 ICE 目前 41,000 張床位的營運費用。參議院版本提出的和解金額為 1750 億美元。所以回到數字上，如果 15 萬到 20 萬床位的數字，如果這最終是資金，那麼感覺就非常現實。

The second part of your question is about the value proposition, so let me touch on that a little bit. So to your point, there has been some reports about Guantanamo Bay potentially utilizing capacity or new capacity there, El Salvador, and then there's also some reports about state or local governments providing land and doing some soft-sided structures. As I mentioned in my script, if you look at kind of five to six, what I call, factors showing our value proposition, we think we're superior on all six of these versus these other alternatives, first of which is cost.

你的問題的第二部分是關於價值主張的，所以讓我稍微談談。正如您所說，有一些報告稱關塔那摩灣可能利用那裡（薩爾瓦多）的容量或新增容量，也有一些報道稱州或地方政府提供土地並建造一些軟邊建築。正如我在腳本中提到的，如果您看一下我所說的顯示我們價值主張的五到六個因素，我們認為我們在所有這六個方面都優於其他替代方案，首先是成本。

And so it has been well documented on the cost to operate Gitmo over the last 10 to 20 years. That's obviously with a smaller number versus what they're talking about, which is 30,000 beds. But we estimate that we're 5 to 10 times less than what it would cost to operate the facility down in Gitmo. Also, if you look at the soft side of structures, we're estimating that we're probably, 2 to 3 times less than those structures, too. So that'd be number one. We think we've got a real advantage on the cost side especially in this environment. We've got DOGE out there looking at the best value for for government.

在過去 10 到 20 年間，營運關塔那摩監獄的成本已經被充分記錄。這顯然比他們所說的 30,000 張床位還要少。但我們估計，我們的成本比關塔那摩監獄設施的營運成本低 5 到 10 倍。此外，如果你看結構的軟性方面，我們估計我們可能也比這些結構少 2 到 3 倍。所以這是第一位的。我們認為，特別是在這種環境下，我們在成本方面具有真正的優勢。我們讓 DOGE 為政府尋找最佳價值。

The second part of our value proposition is having the most humane facilities, and that's because we meet all the national and key requirements around this. We have always incorporated that into our training into our facilities relative to how we operate and other requirements. So that'd be number two, more humane than other alternatives.

我們價值主張的第二部分是擁有最人性化的設施，這是因為我們滿足所有國家和關鍵的相關要求。我們始終將其融入我們的設施培訓中，以符合我們的運作方式和其他要求。因此這是第二點，比其他選擇更人道。

Third, and this is kind of captain obvious, is we're logistically more efficient. So our facilities are here in the US. They're in close to key ports of entry. They're close to airports versus obviously if the population out of the country that makes it a little more challenging logistically.

第三，這是顯而易見的，我們的後勤效率更高了。我們的設施就在美國。他們距離主要入境口岸很近。這些地方靠近機場，如果人口在國外，這顯然會在後勤上帶來更多挑戰。

Fourth is that we have, and we're very proud of this, we wear it as a badge of honor, but we're the most audited and inspected facilities in the country, and with that have the highest scores relative to audits on a consistent basis. And so our team works really hard. We don't take that for granted. We work hard every day to make sure that versus other alternatives, we have the highest review rates and also the highest audit scores versus other alternatives.

第四，我們對此感到非常自豪，我們將其視為榮譽徽章，我們是全國接受審計和檢查最多的機構，並且一直在審計中獲得最高分數。所以我們的團隊非常努力。我們不會認為這是理所當然的。我們每天都努力工作，以確保與其他替代方案相比，我們擁有最高的審核率以及最高的審計分數。

The fifth thing is that we're available today, so we've got capacity available today where they can utilize it within our system very, very quickly. And then finally, we've been doing this for 42 years, so we know ICE really, really well. They know us obviously very well, and so with that, we're the, we think, of all the alternatives the least likely to get litigation risk versus other alternatives because, again, we've got a 42-year history showing that we've been able to perform at a very high level. So that's to put the bow on the value proposition.

第五件事是，我們今天有空，所以我們今天有可用的容量，他們可以在我們的系統內非常非常快速地利用它。最後，我們已經做了 42 年了，所以我們非常非常了解 ICE。他們顯然非常了解我們，因此，我們認為，在所有的替代方案中，與其他替代方案相比，我們是最不可能遭遇訴訟風險的，因為我們 42 年的歷史表明，我們能夠保持非常高的水平。這就是價值主張的詮釋。

The last thing I'll just say, Joe, a little bit more to your -- discussion we've had with you and others in the last few days about what our capabilities are. So we have got obviously vacant capacity today. We've actually given ICE a proposal to do 28,000 beds, and that's capacity we've got in existing facilities that are partially operated, maybe existing contracts with ICE. That's also in vacant facilities that are currently not activated that could be activated very quickly. And then third part of that total comes from facilities that we could lease, i.e., Target, where we've got South Texas in Dilley.

最後我想說的是喬，關於你——我們在過去幾天與你以及其他人討論過我們的能力。因此我們今天明顯有空置產能。實際上，我們已經向 ICE 提交了一份提供 28,000 張床位的提案，這是我們在部分運營的現有設施中的容量，可能是與 ICE 簽訂的現有合約。這也是目前尚未啟用但可以很快啟用的空置設施。然後，該總額的三分之一來自我們可以租用的設施，例如 Target，我們在南德克薩斯州的迪利設有辦事處。

And then even behind that 28,000 beds that we proposed to ICE, we're also looking at expansion capabilities within our system and then also vacant facilities that are currently potentially on the market for either purchase or for for lease. So Dave's going to touch a little bit on, I think, potentially the margin opportunity with this, but I'll just say, with 28,000 beds that we put in front of ICE, I mean, if you just put a number to relative revenues, that could be $1.5 billion relative to potential revenues for the company. And again, I think a little later, Dave will talk about potential margin opportunity.

在我們向 ICE 提議的 28,000 張床位之後，我們也正在考慮系統內的擴展能力，以及目前可能在市場上購買或租賃的空置設施。因此，我認為 Dave 會稍微談一下這方面的潛在利潤機會，但我只想說，我們為 ICE 提供了 28,000 張床位，我的意思是，如果你把一個數字放到相對收入中，這個數字相對於公司的潛在收入來說可能是 15 億美元。我想稍後戴夫會再次談論潛在的利潤機會。

But the final thing I'll just say, Joe, is, as I said in our script and also in our press release, we're spending $40 million to $45 million in CapEx, so we're feeling very encouraged by the conversations with ICE to date. They've given us a good sense of kind of the first five or six facilities that would be the highest priority for them to utilize within our system, so no surprise there. We think about that $40 million to $45 million. We're spending that towards the first five or six that we think are going to be the highest priority initially for ice for capacity utilization.

但喬，我最後要說的是，正如我在我們的腳本和新聞稿中所說，我們的資本支出為 4000 萬至 4500 萬美元，因此我們對迄今為止與 ICE 的對話感到非常鼓舞。他們讓我們清楚地了解了在我們的系統中他們最優先利用的五到六個設施，所以這並不奇怪。我們認為是 4,000 萬到 4,500 萬美元。我們將把這筆錢用於我們認為對 ICE 產能利用率最優先考慮的前五、六個項目。

And again, we've been spending that money in the last probably four to six weeks getting ourselves prepared along with what Patrick talked about getting ourselves ready for staffing and other kind of logistical steps we need to take to get ourselves prepared.

再說一遍，我們大概在過去四到六週的時間裡一直在花這筆錢來做好準備，同時還像帕特里克所說的那樣做好人員配備和其他後勤準備工作。

But Dave, maybe just touch on a minute, if you wouldn't mind, a little bit about kind of the realm of the possible relative to the margin profile and the capacity being utilized.

但是戴夫，如果你不介意的話，也許您可以花一點時間談談與利潤率概況和所利用的產能相關的可能範圍。

Yeah, we were estimating if we activated all of our idle capacity, so that's the nine facilities that we have over 13,000 beds, plus the South Texas Family Residential Center, which we don't own but still in close contact with both Target Logistics and Target Hospitality and ICE on that facility, we estimate we could generate incremental EBITDA of $200 million to $275 million roughly of EBITDA at margins consistently with where we've historically generated margins from our federal government partners.

是的，我們估計，如果我們啟動所有閒置產能，也就是擁有超過 13,000 張床位的 9 個設施，再加上南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心（雖然我們並不擁有該中心，但仍與 Target Logistics、Target Hospitality 和 ICE 保持密切聯繫），我們估計我們可以產生大約 2 億至 2.75 億美元的利潤增量

So Joe, that was a long answer, but the punchline is is that we've gotten proposal in front of ICE for 28,000 beds. Dave just went through the numbers rolled up to capacity we've got available today, but we've got an opportunity to really double the amount of EBITDA of this company produces on an annual basis. So that's what we're focusing on and looking as an opportunity.

喬，這是一個很長的答案，但關鍵是我們已經向 ICE 提出了 28,000 張床位的提案。戴夫剛剛查看了我們今天可用的產能數據，但我們有機會真正將該公司每年的 EBITDA 翻一番。所以這就是我們所關注的重點，也是我們視為機會的。

Great, thanks for that, very detailed. Just on South Texas for a second. There's indications out there from ICE and Trump that they want to reopen a family center facility. Obviously, as you just mentioned, you remain in discussions with Target on that, but are there any other alternatives out there to South Texas that could be a family center? Is that something that would have to go through an RFP, or do you think you'd get something, and I'm using air quotes here, some like emergency dispensation to open that facility without going through an RFP? And how quickly could that facility be reopened since it wasn't closed that long ago?

太好了，謝謝，非常詳細。只談南德克薩斯州。有跡象表明，ICE 和川普希望重新開放家庭中心設施。顯然，正如您剛才提到的，您仍在與 Target 就此事進行討論，但是除了南德克薩斯州，還有其他可以作為家庭中心的替代方案嗎？這是必須要經過 RFP 的事情嗎，或者您認為您會得到一些東西，我在這裡使用空氣引號，一些像緊急分配這樣的東西可以在沒有經過 RFP 的情況下開設該設施？由於該設施關閉的時間並不長，多久可以重新開放？

Yeah, great question. And the short answer is, yes. We think that ICE is considering a couple of alternatives, notably I think the Karnes facility that's under GEO's control is potentially an opportunity there for families. But to your question, yeah, we're talking to Target daily, maybe even hourly, and let me just say they're a great partner of ours. And we're looking at not just Dilley, but if the need is greater than the size of Dilley, Joe, we're talking to Target on expansion either there locally or maybe other parts of the Southwest.

是的，很好的問題。簡短的回答是，是的。我們認為 ICE 正在考慮幾種替代方案，特別是我認為 GEO 控制下的卡恩斯設施可能為家庭提供一個機會。但對於你的問題，是的，我們每天，甚至每小時都在與 Target 溝通，我只想說他們是我們很好的合作夥伴。而且，我們的關注點不僅僅在於迪利，如果需求大於迪利的規模，喬，我們正在與塔吉特商談擴張事宜，無論是在當地，還是在西南部的其他地區。

So we think we've got expansion capability with them above and beyond the 2,400 beds at Dilley if ICE is saying they need a bigger -- they have a bigger requirement. But yeah, we're leaning forward on staffing, making sure that we can activate very quickly. We've had additional conversations on this very topic with ICE here in the last seven days, so we're leaning again forward on getting ourselves prepared.

因此，我們認為，如果 ICE 說他們需要更大的床位——他們有更大的要求，那麼我們就可以擴大 Dilley 的 2,400 張床位。但是的，我們正在傾向於人員配備，以確保我們能夠很快地啟動。在過去的七天裡，我們就這個主題與 ICE 進行了額外的對話，因此我們再次傾向於做好準備。

As it relates to the way they would contract it, I think they're evaluating that. Also, we've given them a couple of different ideas. To your point, that's just deactivated here in the last, what, six, seven months, so I think some of the things that they would normally have to do for a new contract, they probably don't have to since again just was recently deactivated. And that also gives us an advantage because since it was recently deactivated, that gives us a much quicker way to activate the facility versus if we were starting with a blank sheet of paper.

至於他們簽訂合約的方式，我認為他們正在對此進行評估。此外，我們也向他們提出了一些不同的想法。正如您所說，這項服務在最近的六、七個月內才被停用，所以我認為，他們通常需要為新合約做的一些事情，由於這項服務最近才被停用，所以他們可能不需要再做了。這也為我們帶來了優勢，因為它最近才被停用，與從一張白紙開始相比，這為我們提供了一種更快的方式來啟動該設施。

But maybe, Patrick, I'll look to you to see if you would add to that.

但是也許，派崔克，我會看看你是否會補充這一點。

No, the only thing I would add is that, to your point, we've taken a number of steps to prepare for activation that might typically occur later in an activation cycle. So we're doing our best to minimize the cycle time that would require the time that we would need to accept our first group of detainees at the facility. So we're doing everything within our power to shorten that time horizon to give ICE the support they need as quickly as possible to be able to support the mission and feel like we're in a great place to the extent that we get that phone call to be able to deliver for them very, very quickly.

不，我唯一想補充的是，正如您所說，我們已經採取了一些步驟來為激活做準備，這些步驟通常會在激活週期的後期發生。因此，我們正在盡最大努力，縮短該設施接收第一批被拘留者所需的週期時間。因此，我們正在竭盡全力縮短時間範圍，以便盡快為 ICE 提供他們所需的支持，從而能夠支持他們的任務，並且感覺我們處於一個很好的位置，以至於我們接到電話後能夠非常非常迅速地為他們提供服務。

Okay, and then I have a question. So I'm looking through your supplemental and looking at occupancy, the Laredo facility has been above 100% occupancy or capacity all year. Is that something you can do at some of your other ICE facilities. And I guess, kind of what percentage capacity does it become, this is the max that we can operate at and how long could you do something like that for?

好的，我有一個問題。因此，我查看了您的補充資料並查看了佔用率，發現拉雷多設施全年的佔用率或容量都超過 100％。你們可以在其他 ICE 設施中做這樣的事嗎？我想，它的容量百分比是多少，這是我們可以運行的最大限度，你可以這樣做多長時間？

Joe, this is Patrick. So the way I would answer that is that each facility is uniquely designed and so the answer to that would be different at each facility that we operate. We're obviously very focused on the standards that we must meet to ensure that we have safe, humane environments for the detainees. But we do have an opportunity to repurpose space in many of our facilities that would help us increase capacity beyond what might be our rated capacity, at least as we describe it in our supplementals.

喬，這是派崔克。因此，我的回答是，每個設施都是獨特設計的，因此，我們運營的每個設施的答案都會有所不同。我們顯然非常注重必須達到的標準，以確保為被拘留者提供安全、人道的環境。但我們確實有機會重新利用我們許多設施中的空間，這將有助於我們將容量提高到超出我們的額定容量，至少正如我們在補充資料中所描述的那樣。

So it's going to vary from facility to facility, but all of our facilities where we currently maintain ICE contracts would give us an ability to flex our capacity up a bit, certainly on a short-term basis. And then to the extent that we were to think about long term, we've also looked at potential more permanent capacity additions or conversions of space that would make that flexing up more permanent.

所以各個設施的情況會有所不同，但我們目前與 ICE 簽訂合約的所有設施都使我們能夠稍微增加產能，當然是在短期內。然後，從長遠考慮的角度來說，我們也研究了潛在的更永久的容量增加或空間轉換，以使這種靈活性更加永久。

And one thing I'd add to that, Joe, is that the number I shared earlier, again, the 28,000 bed proposal that we've given to ICE, we have incorporated as part of the total that very number. So they've got some thoughts already in front of them on where we have capability by location.

喬，我想補充一點，就是我之前分享的數字，也就是我們向 ICE 提出的 28,000 張床位的提案，我們已經將該數字納入總數中。所以他們已經對我們在哪些地方具備能力有了一些想法。

And then one more for me, and I'll get back in queue. So you talked about the $40 million to $45 million of additional CapEx to reopen idle facilities, and I know there's some transportation dollars in there. Does that have -- or what impact, if any, would that additional CapEx have on the amount of share repurchases that you would do?

然後我再說一遍，然後我回到隊列。所以您談到了重新開放閒置設施的 4000 萬到 4500 萬美元的額外資本支出，我知道其中有一些運輸費用。這是否有影響？或者，如果有的話，額外的資本支出會對您將進行的股票回購量產生什麼影響？

Joe, I'll take that one. I mean, that won't impact it. I mean, it has been factored into our thinking. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, our leverage is projected to be within the target of 2.25 times and 2.75 times. That incorporates that $40 million to $45 million. So it really won't impact impact our thinking going forward.

喬，我想要這個。我的意思是，這不會影響它。我的意思是，它已被考慮到了。正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，我們的槓桿率預計在​​ 2.25 倍和 2.75 倍的目標範圍內。其中包括 4,000 萬至 4,500 萬美元。所以它實際上不會影響我們未來的思考。

The only things I would consider that would affect the pace at which we repurchase shares are the pace of our reactivation, how much start-up costs are we going to have to reactivate facilities, what other M&A tuck-in acquisitions are available, and other capital deployment opportunities. So we could, as I mentioned, exceed our target of leverage in the short term. That's if kind of all the stars align, and we're deploying capital for all of those things.

我認為唯一會影響我們回購股票速度的因素是我們重新啟動的速度、重新啟動設施需要多少啟動成本、還有哪些其他可用的併購附加收購以及其他資本配置機會。因此，正如我所提到的那樣，我們可以在短期內超越我們的槓桿目標。如果一切順利，我們就會為所有這些事情部署資金。

I tend to think they'll be kind of more moderately paced, but no doubt once a reactivation starts generating cash flow, we will be back within the targeted leverage on a sustainable basis over the medium and long term.

我傾向於認為它們的步伐會更加適中，但毫無疑問，一旦重新啟動並開始產生現金流，我們將在中長期內在可持續的基礎上回到目標槓桿率範圍內。

Greg Gibas, Northland Securities.

北國證券公司的格雷格·吉巴斯（Greg Gibas）

I appreciate all the colors that you provided earlier in terms of your proposal to ICE, and I guess just to clarify or put more of a fine point on it, I think it was like 18,000 or so available beds that you had last time we kind of got an update in Q3. I wanted to kind of get a better sense of maybe where those additional 10,000, where you acquired those and, as it relates to that, $200 million to $275 million EBITDA uplift number. Does that reflect like the 18,000, or how should we think about that maybe total 28,000 opportunity in terms of EBITDA uplift?

我感謝您之前在向 ICE 提出的提案中提供的所有細節，我想只是為了澄清或更詳細地闡述一下，我認為上次我們在第三季度得到更新時，可用的床位數量大約是 18,000 張。我想更了解這額外的 10,000 名員工來自哪裡、從哪裡獲得的，以及與此相關的 2 億美元至 2.75 億美元的 EBITDA 提升數字。這是否反映了 18,000 的量，或者我們應該如何看待 EBITDA 成長方面總共 28,000 的量機會？

Yeah, so let me tag team with Dave on this a little bit, but the 28,000 is made from a couple buckets of beds. So the first one is facilities that are currently operating today but are at lower occupancy, and some of those are -- don't have a contract with ICE or Marshal Services, some of them do, but that's the first one. So operating today with lower occupancy where we've got available capacity.

是的，所以讓我在這件事上和戴夫稍微合作一下，但是 28,000 是由幾床組成的。因此，第一個是目前正在運營但入住率較低的設施，其中一些沒有與 ICE 或法警署簽訂合同，有些有，但這是第一個。因此，今天我們在有可用容量的情況下以較低的入住率運作。

The second bucket is facilities that are currently vacant today, so there's no one -- there's no contract to the facilities, so completely mothballed and could be activated in short order. The third one is the question that Joe just asked again, and that's capacity where we could go in a safe and secure way above and beyond the rated capacity. So that's the third part of the total is what we call surge capacity in certain locations.

第二類是目前空置的設施，因此沒有人——這些設施沒有合同，因此完全被封存，可能很快就會投入使用。第三個是喬剛才再次提出的問題，即我們可以在超出額定容量的情況下以安全可靠的方式行駛的容量。總數的第三部分就是我們所說的特定地點的激增容量。

And then the final piece of that total 28,000 is third-party capacity, and the obvious one on that -- and this is just one piece of that total, but the obvious one is like South Texas. So that's a facility that we have leased in the past with Target. In addition to Dilley in South Texas, 2,400 beds, they also have given us line of sight of additional capacity they can make available within their system. So those are the building blocks that make up the total 28,000, but they've all achieved that.

然後，總數 28,000 的最後一部分是第三方容量，這是顯而易見的——這只是總數的一部分，但顯而易見的是南德克薩斯州。這是我們過去與 Target 租賃的設施。除了位於南德克薩斯州的迪利 (Dilley) 的 2,400 張床位外，他們還向我們提供了其係統內可提供的額外容量。這些就是構成總數 28,000 的基礎，但他們都實現了這一目標。

On the 18,000 and then with respect to the $200 million and $275 million of incremental EBITDA, I was counting it's about 15,000 beds. The other 3,000 beds and that 15,000 is roughly all of our idle capacity plus the South Texas facility, which we don't own. The other several 1,000 beds that that you're quoting, the 18,000 is already embedded in our guidance. That would be the couple 1,000 beds that are already under contract with ICE.

關於 18,000 張床位以及 2 億美元和 2.75 億美元的增量 EBITDA，我計算得出大約有 15,000 張床位。其餘 3,000 張床位和那 15,000 張床位大約是我們所有閒置容量加上不屬於我們的南德州設施。您所引用的另外幾千張床位，18,000張已經包含在我們的指導中。這將是已經與 ICE 簽約的數千張床位。

Great, makes complete sense and nice to hear that there's seemingly a lot of opportunity above that 15,000 or so that you speak to that opportunity. So very helpful there. I guess, as it relates to more near term, does your guidance account for any strengths that you're seeing in Q1 so far? Want to get a sense of maybe how Q1 has trended relative to Q4. I know you provided some high-level ICE numbers, but if you could maybe speak to how it trended relative to last quarter and maybe relative to your guidance.

太好了，完全有道理，很高興聽到您提到的 15,000 左右的機會似乎還有很多。所以非常有幫助。我想，由於它與近期相關，您的指導是否考慮到了您迄今為止在第一季看到的任何優勢？想要了解第一季相對於第四季的趨勢如何。我知道您提供了一些高級 ICE 數字，但您是否可以談談與上一季相比以及與您的指導相比的趨勢如何。

Yeah, our populations are -- they're up slightly. If you go back to, say, inauguration date, they're up a few hundred. That's not a significant increase. And so our guidance for Q1 does not include a big increase in populations. Our guidance, I would say, includes kind of a steady increase throughout the year from Q1 to Q4.

是的，我們的人口——略有增加。如果你回溯到就職典禮那天，你會發現人數已經增加了幾百人。這不是一個顯著的成長。因此，我們對第一季的預測並不包括人口的大幅成長。我想說，我們的預期包括從第一季到第四季全年的穩定成長。

Fair enough. And as it relates to some of your guidance commentary, mentioning the activating of an idle facility negatively impacting guidance just due to those start-up expenses until the revenue catches up, wanted to see if you could get -- I guess, provide a little bit more color on what degree it can impact financials, or maybe the better question would be kind of how long on average or as an example would it take to maybe cover those costs?

很公平。並且至於您的一些指導性評論，您提到啟動閒置設施會對指導產生負面影響，僅僅是因為啟動費用直到收入趕上來，想看看您是否可以提供更多的細節，說明它會對財務產生多大程度的影響，或者更好的問題是平均需要多長時間，或者舉個例子，可能需要支付這些費用？

Yeah, so it takes about four to six months to activate a facility depending on the facility. I think, we talk about South Texas, and we already mentioned that one could probably go a little faster given that it was -- the contract just ended in August, so we've got a good number of those employees still within the company and then I'm sure there's still some in the area that we could rehire.

是的，因此，根據設施的不同，啟動一個設施大約需要四到六個月的時間。我想，我們談論的是南德克薩斯州，我們已經提到，考慮到合約剛剛在八月份結束，所以進度可能會更快一些，所以我們公司內仍有相當多的員工，而且我相信該地區還有一些員工我們可以重新僱用。

But the start-up cost that I was kind of quoting in my script covers that four- to six-month period. Then you've probably got another 6 to 12 months where you're fully activating a facility because you can only take on so many intakes per week.

但我在腳本中引用的啟動成本涵蓋了這四到六個月的時間。然後你可能還需要 6 到 12 個月的時間來全面啟動設施，因為你每週只能接收這麼多的病人。

And let me add a little bit to your earlier question and say that budget is going to drive higher utilization, so that's being captain obvious. But as I mentioned earlier, we're watching closely on kind of actions both on the House and the Senate and talk through the kinds of numbers there. And I think the timetable on that is kind of March, maybe early April. But you're looking at those numbers obviously that could significantly increase utilization very, very quickly depending on where they go first, where we've got available capacity.

讓我補充一下您之前的問題，預算將推動更高的利用率，這是顯而易見的。但正如我之前提到的，我們正在密切關注眾議院和參議院的行動，並討論那裡的各種數據。我認為具體時間是在三月或四月初。但是你看到這些數字，顯然它們可以非常迅速地顯著提高利用率，這取決於它們首先去哪裡，以及哪裡有可用的容量。

The second thing, as I mentioned in my script, we do think there is some effort underway to get maybe some funding over to ICE increased utilization in advance of anything done by the Congress. And so again being captain obvious, funding is going to be key here in the coming days and weeks to drive higher utilization pretty quickly.

第二件事，正如我在腳本中提到的那樣，我們確實認為，在國會採取任何行動之前，我們正在努力為 ICE 增加利用率提供一些資金。因此，顯而易見，未來幾天和幾週內，資金將成為快速提高利用率的關鍵。

Anything you want to add to that?

您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Nope, I think that covers it.

不，我想這就涵蓋了。

M. Marin, Zacks.

M. Marin，Zacks。

I think in your prepared remarks, you indicated that you might act in advance of actually securing a contract if you believe the need is clear, which I'm sure is based on having consistent and extensive conversations with potential customers, so can you walk us through what, if any, are potential low cost initiatives that you might be able to do to shorten the start-up time in activating a currently idled facility?

我認為在您準備好的發言中，您表示如果您認為需求明確，您可能會在實際獲得合約之前採取行動，我相信這是基於與潛在客戶進行一致和廣泛的對話，所以您可以向我們介紹一下，如果有的話，有哪些潛在的低成本舉措您可以做，以縮短啟動目前閒置的設施的時間？

Sure, this is Patrick. So to give some background, we have been taking steps since the late third quarter of last year to make sure that we were prepared to meet the government's demand need as quickly as possible. And so we put together an internal activation team. They built an internal project management plan for each of our facilities. We've gone and done a significant amount of the pre-activation work in those facilities to make them ready for receipt of populations.

當然，這是派崔克。背景情況是，自去年第三季末以來，我們一直在採取措施，確保我們準備好盡快滿足政府的需求。因此我們組建了一個內部激活團隊。他們為我們的每個設施制定了內部專案管理計劃。我們已經在這些設施中完成了大量的預啟動工作，以使它們做好接收民眾的準備。

In the past, that might have been something we would have done on a pre-award basis. And so we're acting in advance of an award to make sure the facilities are prepared. With each location, we're trying to evaluate relative priority for activation timing, and so we're having conversations with our customer on a consistent basis, trying to identify those facilities that might be highest priority.

在過去，這可能是我們在授予合約之前會做的事情。因此，我們在合約頒發之前就採取行動，確保設施準備就緒。對於每個地點，我們都試圖評估啟動時間的相對優先級，因此我們會與客戶進行持續的對話，試圖確定那些可能具有最高優先級的設施。

We can take steps forward as in putting our facility leadership teams in place. We can have our advertising marketing plan ready, our training teams ready to go. And so the ability to hit the go button on those activities very rapidly positions us well to shorten the timeline at which it would take to receive the first detainee. So we're trying to remove any barriers that we can remove to allow us to accelerate the activation timing, and we're trying to react in a prudent way, but also in an aggressive way in those locations where we believe we have the greatest opportunity to act quickly to make sure that, again, we can shorten that time horizon.

我們可以採取措施，建立我們的設施領導團隊。我們可以準備好廣告行銷計劃，讓我們的培訓團隊做好準備。因此，能夠非常迅速地啟動這些活動使我們能夠縮短接收第一位被拘留者所需的時間。因此，我們正在嘗試消除一切可以消除的障礙，以便加快啟動時間。我們正在嘗試以審慎的方式做出反應，但也在我們認為最有機會迅速採取行動的地方採取積極的方式，以確保我們能夠縮短這個時間範圍。

And so as Dave talked about, we would look at traditionally a four- to six-month time horizon. If we have high levels of certainty that we may be moving forward, we may be able to take two or three months out of that timeline prior to the receipt of the first detainee. But again, that's going to be situational, and there are so many locations. We don't think it prudent to lean that far forward in every location, but we are going to do that where that makes sense and where we believe the priority is highest.

正如戴夫所說的，我們傳統上會專注於四到六個月的時間範圍。如果我們高度確定我們可以向前邁進，我們可能可以在接收第一名被拘留者之前花兩三個月的時間。但同樣，這將取決於具體情況，而且地點有很多。我們認為在每個地方都採取如此大的動作並不是明智之舉，但我們會在合理的地方以及我們認為優先順序最高的地方這樣做。

Okay, got it. So then the six months could be just you are being very conservative and it could be shorter than that depending upon what you do now, depending upon where the location, so would it be fair to think that the earlier activations would be at locations where you're already doing some prep work and so that four to six months is probably a little too long for the first and maybe second location if things go the way we're expecting.

好的，明白了。所以，六個月的時間可能只是非常保守的說法，也可能比這更短，這取決於你現在所做的事情，取決於地點在哪裡，因此，是否可以公平地認為，早期的激活應該是在你已經在做一些準備工作的地點，所以，如果事情按我們預期的方式發展，那麼四到六個月的時間對於第一個地點甚至第二個地點來說可能有點太長了。

I think that's a fair assessment. We are going -- again, we're prioritizing those facilities that we think would be a priority for our customer. We're leaning forward in those locations pretty aggressively in some cases, and so we want to shorten the timeline as much as possible.

我認為這是一個公正的評價。我們會—再說一次，我們會優先考慮那些我們認為對客戶來說很重要的設施。在某些情況下，我們在這些位置的進展相當積極，因此我們希望盡可能縮短時間表。

Now the counterbalance to that is we want to make sure when we activate, we activate well and we're able to deliver high quality services in a safe, secure, and humane environment. And so to do that, we traditionally have said four to six months is optimal. But again, we've shortened that time horizon, and so I can argue that we're 30 days or 60 days into activations already at a couple of locations based on the steps that we've already taken if we were to compare that to history.

現在，我們需要平衡這一點，確保在啟動時能夠順利啟動，並能夠在安全、有保障和人道的環境中提供高品質的服務。因此，為了實現這一目標，我們傳統上認為四到六個月是最佳時間。但是，我們再次縮短了這個時間範圍，因此，如果與歷史相比，根據我們已經採取的步驟，我可以說，我們已經在幾個地點啟動了 30 天或 60 天。

So I think the short answer would be, yes, we are working to activate more quickly. If we get to a place in the activation where we are ready for the receipt of the first group of detainees, then we certainly would provide that opportunity for ICE that we would not constrain their ability to use that capacity if we were ready sooner, and we're going to strive to do that.

所以我認為簡短的回答是，是的，我們正在努力更快地啟動。如果我們在啟動階段已經做好接收第一批被拘留者的準備，那麼我們肯定會為 ICE 提供這個機會，如果我們能更早做好準備，我們就不會限制他們使用該能力的能力，我們會努力做到這一點。

Okay, great. And last question from me is specifically on the South Texas facility, if that were to be renewed as an under an ICE contract, I think the last contract was terminated because it was operating under a model that was a significantly higher cost model than the standard one in most of your facilities. Would the facility require any retrofitting or significant changes in order to go forward as operating under a more standardized contract?

好的，太好了。我的最後一個問題是關於南德克薩斯州的工廠的，如果該工廠根據 ICE 合約進行續約，我認為上一份合約被終止是因為其運營模式比你們大多數工廠的標準模式成本高得多。為了按照更標準化的合約繼續運營，該設施是否需要進行任何改造或重大變更？

This is Damon, and thank you again for that question. I would say it's very modest. I mean, again, we've only had it deactivated about six, seven months, and so there is some stuff that we're working on with Target, but pretty modest to your point because I say it was just recently deactivated.

我是達蒙，再次感謝您的提問。我想說的是，這非常謙虛。我的意思是，我們只停用了它六、七個月，所以我們正在與 Target 合作做一些事情，但對於你的觀點來說，這是相當溫和的，因為我說它是最近才被停用的。

Kirk Ludtke, Imperial Capital.

柯克‧路德克 (Kirk Ludtke)，帝國首都。

I guess, can you talk a little bit about how ICE deportations might ramp and and how you're protecting yourself with contracts that have maybe minimum beds and contract length, and how all that might work and how you protect yourself?

我想，您能否談談 ICE 驅逐出境人數可能會增加多少，您如何透過可能有最低床位和合約期限的合約來保護自己，所有這些可能如何運作，您如何保護自己？

This is Damon, and the short answer is that we expect that the structure of our ICE agreements or new agreements that we have with ICE would be very similar to what we've done historically. So to your point, it's very clear on having some type of fixed payment to cover the fixed costs within the facility. ICE has been very agreeable and understands the reason behind that. So we think those type of features that are in our contracts previously would be in the contracts that would be going forward, either new contracts or maybe modifications to existing contracts where ICE would be a user or a rider.

我是達蒙，簡而言之，我們預計我們與 ICE 達成的協議或新協議的結構將與我們過去所做的非常相似。所以，就您的觀點而言，很明顯需要有某種類型的固定付款來支付設施內的固定成本。ICE 非常同意並且理解背後的原因。因此，我們認為，我們先前合約中的這些功能將會出現在未來的合約中，無論是新合約還是對現有合約的修改，ICE 都可以作為使用者或附加條款。

The other thing I will say, as I mentioned earlier, the value proposition, us versus other alternatives, I kind of went through the six factors that give us, we think, a superior edge on this other alternative, I want to be very clear on this. We don't see that as an either or. We actually see it as both of them being utilized.

我要說的另一件事，正如我之前提到的，價值主張，我們與其他替代方案的比較，我大致介紹了六個因素，我們認為這些因素使我們比其他替代方案更具優勢，我希望非常清楚地說明這一點。我們不認為這是一個非此即彼的問題。我們實際上認為它們都被利用了。

I think it's important to reinforce that because, again, if you're looking at numbers at 150,000 to 200,000, you obviously heard what we're proposing and you've heard some of these other alternatives, they're going to need really all that capacity to meet the mission and the needs with the numbers that they're looking to get from Congress. So I think this is an important point too.

我認為強調這一點很重要，因為，再說一次，如果你看到 15 萬到 20 萬這個數字，你顯然聽到了我們的提議，也聽到了其他一些替代方案，他們確實需要所有這些能力才能完成任務，滿足他們希望從國會獲得的數字需求。所以我認為這也是一個重要的觀點。

And it hasn't come up on this call, but are you hearing anything on ISAP and how the new administration is thinking about alternatives to detention?

這次電話會議中沒有提到這個問題，但是您是否聽到有關 ISAP 的任何消息以及新政府如何考慮拘留的替代方案？

Not much, to be honest with you. As I mentioned earlier, I mean, again, it's almost hourly that we're talking to ICE and members of the administration. And again, the focus has been all on detention. And so all the discussion, all the proposals, all the information we're getting given to them on cost. I mean, we've got active tours going on at either vacant facilities or current operating facilities, and it has all been around detention.

說實話，不多。正如我之前提到的，我們幾乎每小時都在與 ICE 和政府成員交談。再次，焦點一直集中在拘留上。因此，我們將向他們提供所有與成本有關的討論、所有提案和所有資訊。我的意思是，我們正在對空置的設施或目前運營的設施進行積極的參觀，而且都是與拘留有關的。

So we're prepared. We think that potentially that could be a tool they look out down the road. And we've obviously well recounted to this group our capabilities on that front, and we think we're well positioned if the need is there, but again, that has not been top of the priority list at least here in the near-term.

所以我們已經做好準備了。我們認為，這可能成為他們展望未來的工具。我們顯然已經向這個小組充分講述了我們在這方面的能力，並且我們認為如果有需要，我們處於有利地位，但是，至少在短期內，這並不是首要任務。

Got it. Great, thank you. And then last topic, you mentioned acquisitions a couple of times in the prepared remarks. Are you thinking about others -- the idle facilities of other operators, or are you thinking about actually buying other operators?

知道了。太好了，謝謝。最後一個主題，您在準備好的發言中幾次提到了收購。您是在考慮其他業者的閒置設施，還是在考慮實際收購其他業者？

It's a little bit all of the above. So our real estate team is really good. They have a database of all vacant facilities nationwide that they look at on a regular basis and they look at that compared to factors relative to the age of facility, the size, the location, the labor markets, et cetera, et cetera. And so we continue to kind of keep that refreshed, and if we think there is an opportunity through an acquisition or maybe through a lease or maybe just have the right of first refusal if there was a need expressed by ICE in a certain location, we just want to make sure we get ourselves prepared.

以上都有一點。所以我們的房地產團隊非常優秀。他們擁有全國所有空置設施的資料庫，他們會定期查看這些設施，並將其與設施年齡、規模、位置、勞動力市場等因素進行比較。因此，我們會繼續保持這種更新，如果我們認為有機會透過收購或租賃，或者如果 ICE 在某個地點表達了需求，那麼也許有優先購買權，我們只是想確保我們做好準備。

So that's an active, again, analysis that we're doing with our real estate team. And the other thing is not to your question, but it's I think important to note is that majority of our facilities have a lot of space, and I mean space, property and availability around the actual physical structure where we operate where we could expand either inside the actual facility itself or maybe outside the fence. And so that's also part of the analysis.

這是我們與房地產團隊正在進行的積極分析。另一件事與您的問題無關，但我認為值得注意的是，我們的大多數設施都擁有很大的空間，我的意思是我們運營的實際物理結構周圍有足夠的空間、財產和可用性，我們可以在實際設施內部或圍欄外部擴展。這也是分析的一部分。

And so just trying to get ourselves prepared. Again, if the number is going to be 150,000 to 200,000 beds from ice, we want to get ourselves prepared for not only the near term but also the long term and look at all these alternatives.

所以，我們只是想做好準備。再說一遍，如果要從冰毒中提取 15 萬到 20 萬張病床，我們不僅要為短期做好準備，還要為長期做好準備，並考慮所有這些替代方案。

And I'd add, Kirk, we're talking about acquisitions in the core business, so they'd be tuck-ins that look very similar to what our existing facilities look like. We want to make sure the cash flows are going to be sustained over the long term because we have seen a number of assets become available in this marketplace, but we're going to be very disciplined.

我想補充一點，柯克，我們正在談論核心業務的收購，所以它們的合併看起來與我們現有的設施非常相似。我們希望確保現金流能夠長期維持，因為我們已經看到這個市場上有大量資產可供出售，但我們會非常自律。

Jay McCanless, Wedbush.

傑伊麥坎利斯，韋德布希。

So the first question I had, and I think you answered part of this in your report about the Marshal Service, but if we think about now the rules have essentially been reset to where we were pre-COVID that you can do business with Marshall's at BOP, I guess what's the path to getting safety occupancy back up above 80% and keeping it there longer term?

所以我的第一個問題是，我想您在有關法警局的報告中已經回答了部分問題，但如果我們現在考慮一下，規則基本上已經重置為 COVID 之前的狀態，您可以在 BOP 與 Marshall 做生意，我想有什麼辦法可以讓安全入住率回到 80% 以上並長期保持這一水平？

Is your question more about the Marshal Service or more just just generally about --

你的問題是關於法警局的，還是只是一般性的問題--

Yeah, just -- I mean, now that you have the flexibility to work with the BOP and and the subsidiaries of the BOP again, that along with what you guys have given us on on ICE, etcetera.

是的，只是——我的意思是，現在您可以靈活地再次與 BOP 及其子公司合作，以及你們在 ICE 等方面給予我們的幫助。

Yeah, absolutely. Well, yeah, I mean, recounting all the opportunities. With ICE, I mean, you can get to that number, just that customer alone to your 85% number you mentioned a second ago. But let me just maybe just do a quick headline on the Marshal Service. I mentioned this in the script, but it's worth noting.

是的，絕對是如此。嗯，是的，我的意思是重述所有的機會。我的意思是，有了 ICE，你就可以達到那個數字，光是那位客戶就可以達到你剛才提到的 85% 的數字。但是，讓我先簡單介紹一下法警局。我在腳本中提到過這一點，但值得注意。

I mean, Marshal Service, I think nationwide populations around 54,000. That got as high, I think, 66,000, 67,000 under the previous Trump administration. So that also could be a meaningful opportunity. In fact, again, we didn't really talk about this in the scripts, that's another customer that is knocking on our door.

我的意思是，法警局，我認為全國人口約為 54,000。我認為，在前川普政府時期，這個數字最高達到 66,000 到 67,000。所以這也可能是個有意義的機會。事實上，我們並沒有在腳本中真正談論這個問題，這是另一個來敲我們門的客戶。

We're already having active conversations with the Marshal Service on facilities that maybe they weren't able to access recently. They're interested in potentially riding on ICE contracts or maybe using higher utilization in their existing contracts. So Marshal Service, actually that engagement with us has picked up pretty significantly here in the last 30 days.

我們已經與法警局就他們最近可能無法進入的設施進行了積極的溝通。他們有興趣潛在地利用 ICE 合約或利用現有合約中的更高利用率。因此，實際上，法警局與我們的合作在過去 30 天裡已經大大增加。

Anything you want to add to that, Dave?

戴夫，您還有什麼要補充嗎？

I was going to say exactly what you did. It's over a reduction of over 10,000 detainees since early -- late 2020, early 2021, so there's a large opportunity there. We would expect as US attorneys to get put in place, we would expect those populations to increase, so that is another opportunity that perhaps underappreciated by the market that is focused on ICE right now.

我原本想說的正是你所做的事情。自 2020 年初至 2021 年初以來，被拘留者人數已減少 10,000 多人，因此這是一個巨大的機會。我們預計，隨著美國檢察官的到位，這些人群將會增加，所以這是另一個機會，也許被目前關注 ICE 的市場低估了。

And our state business, the contracts we've entered into over the past about a year plus. Montana as early as recently as last month, Wyoming, and a couple of counties as well. We do see growth in the state business, so we see a number of avenues to get to the mid 80s in terms of occupancy.

還有我們的國家業務，以及我們過去一年多來簽訂的合約。蒙大拿州上個月就已宣布了這項決定，懷俄明州和幾個縣也宣布了這項決定。我們確實看到了國有業務的成長，因此我們看到了許多途徑可以使入住率達到 80 年代中期。

Yeah, that's a good point to kind of reinforce what Dave just said on the state side. I mean, we're really thankful for the recent contracts with Montana, but as you know, we've had recent contracts with Wyoming and with Idaho and even a couple of counties and our Saguaro facility out in Arizona, I mean, as a result of a couple of those contracts coming together, we're at full utilization there in that facility, probably the first time in probably a decade at that facility. So a lot of great kind of activity going on with state business right now and some of these contracts that we've gotten recently.

是的，這是一個很好的觀點，可以強化戴夫剛才在州方面所說的話。我的意思是，我們非常感謝最近與蒙大拿州簽訂的合同，但正如你所知，我們最近與懷俄明州、愛達荷州甚至幾個縣以及亞利桑那州的 Saguaro 工廠簽訂了合同，我的意思是，由於其中幾份合同的簽訂，我們在該工廠的利用率達到了滿負荷狀態，這可能是該工廠十年來的第一次工廠。目前，國家事務方面正在進行許多出色的活動，我們最近還簽訂了一些合約。

That's great. The second one I had, you talked earlier in the script about $200 million to $275 million in potential incremental EBITDA. Can you walk us through where that comes from again, please?

那太棒了。第二個問題是，您之前在腳本中談到了潛在的增量 EBITDA 為 2 億至 2.75 億美元。您能再向我們解釋一下這是怎麼回事嗎？

Yeah, so that was the EBITDA that we could potentially generate if we activated all of our idle capacity and the South Texas Family Residential Center, so it's a little over 15,000 beds in total.

是的，如果我們啟動所有閒置容量和南德克薩斯家庭住宅中心，我們可能會產生這些 EBITDA，所以總共會有超過 15,000 張床位。

And then the only other question I had is, and I think you've addressed this earlier, but when you think about a potentially rising inflationary environment, tariffs, etcetera, and the cost of certain things starting to go up again, I guess, how comfortable are you with the discussion you're having with ICE in being able to cover costs, especially if costs start to move against you for the different things you have to provide into the facilities?

然後我唯一的另一個問題是，我想您之前已經回答過這個問題，但是當您考慮到潛在的通膨環境、關稅等，以及某些東西的成本開始再次上漲時，我想，對於您與 ICE 進行的討論，您是否感到滿意，能夠承擔成本，特別是當成本開始對您不利於您必須向設施提供的不同東西時？

We work very closely with all of our vendors and have strong visibility and in some cases have made preemptive purchases on goods that are necessary for the activation of our facilities. So in the short run, we feel very good about how we're positioned and our ability to provide our beds in a cost-effective way that would be consistent with historical spend levels. Obviously, we'll have to watch over the long term. To the extent the environment shifts and changes, then we obviously have to be sensitive to that.

我們與所有供應商密切合作，具有很強的知名度，在某些情況下，我們對啟動我們設施所需的商品進行了預先購買。因此，從短期來看，我們對自己的定位以及以符合歷史支出水準的經濟有效的方式提供床位的能力感到非常滿意。顯然，我們必須進行長期關注。隨著環境變化，我們顯然必須對此保持敏感。

But when you look at the mix of our cost structure, about 2/3 of our cost structure is staffing, so it's a combination of staffing and benefits, if you look at actual supplies that you need to operate the facility, it's relatively small as a percentage of overall cost structure. So that's not to say that we're not focused on it, but in terms of where we're most sensitive to inflation, it's going to be on staffing and benefits, and we feel like we're very well positioned in the market right now with our ability to hire and retain staff.

但是，當你查看我們的成本結構時，大約 2/3 的成本結構是人員配置，因此它是人員配置和福利的組合，如果你查看運營設施所需的實際供應，它佔整體成本結構的百分比相對較小。所以，這並不是說我們沒有關注它，但是就我們對通貨膨脹最敏感的領域而言，它將是人員配備和福利，而且我們覺得，憑藉我們聘用和留住員工的能力，我們目前在市場上處於非常有利的地位。

And if I could just add one thing. One thing I'd add to that is that I think you're aware that under federal contracts, we have to pay wage determination. And if the wage determination from one contract period to the next goes up, we have to redo that raise so the wage determination tells us, okay, the new salary is this, so we have to raise those salaries that's directed by the wage determination. But we also get reimbursed dollar for dollar from the federal government through higher compensation, and so that's a nice feature in the federal contracts if we are in an inflationary environment and that does have an impact on salary and wages, we get reimbursed from that from the federal government.

我還可以補充一點。我想補充一點，我想你知道，根據聯邦合同，我們必須支付工資決定費。如果從一個合約期間到下一個合約期間的工資確定有所上漲，我們就必須重新進行加薪，工資確定會告訴我們，好的，新的工資是這樣的，所以我們必須提高工資確定所要求的工資。但是，我們也透過更高的薪酬從聯邦政府獲得一美元一美元的補償，所以這是聯邦合約的一個很好的特點，如果我們處於通貨膨脹的環境中，並且這確實對工資和薪水產生影響，我們就可以從聯邦政府獲得補償。

And of course 100% domestic operations. So unlike many other companies in corporate America, we don't have to worry so much about tariffs. As Patrick mentioned, we do have some supplies and things like that that would be potentially impacted, but when 2/3 of our costs are in salaries and benefits, that's a small component of our expense structure.

當然，100％ 都是國內業務。因此，與美國企業的許多其他公司不同，我們不必過度擔心關稅。正如帕特里克所提到的，我們確實有一些供應品和類似的東西可能會受到影響，但當我們的 2/3 成本用於工資和福利時，這只是我們費用結構的一小部分。

Ben Briggs, StoneX Financial.

本·布里格斯（Ben Briggs），StoneX Financial。

So I know we've already touched on this a few times, but I just want to make sure that I understand these numbers correctly. So you currently have a proposal in front of ICE for up to 28,000 beds. Is that correct?

我知道我們已經談過幾次了，但我只是想確保我正確理解這些數字。目前，ICE 面前有一份提案，要求提供最多 28,000 張床位。那正確嗎？

That's correct.

沒錯。

And if 15,000 of those beds are activated, that could result in up to $1.5 billion of additional revenue and $200 million to $275 million of additional EBITDA.

如果其中 15,000 張床位被激活，則可能帶來高達 15 億美元的額外收入和 2 億至 2.75 億美元的額外 EBITDA。

So yeah, let me tag team with Dave. On the revenue side, what I was doing the total off is the 28,000. So if you do --

是的，讓我和戴夫一起組隊。在收入方面，我總共賺了 28,000 美元。所以如果你--

Okay, got it.

好的，明白了。

And then Dave will walk you through the math on the contribution.

然後戴夫將帶您了解貢獻的計算方法。

Yeah, if I was just given the contribution from the idle beds that we have, again that's assuming every one of our idle beds is activated at a margin consistent with where we've historically generated margins from the federal government. So if you do back into the math, that's probably $750 million to $800 million of revenue.

是的，如果我只得到我們閒置病床的貢獻，同樣，這是假設我們每一個閒置病床的激活利潤與我們過去從聯邦政府獲得的利潤一致。所以如果你重新計算一下，那可能是 7.5 億到 8 億美元的收入。

Okay, so the 15,000 beds would be around $750 million of revenue and anywhere between $200 million and $275 million of additional EBITDA.

好的，那麼 15,000 張床位將帶來約 7.5 億美元的收入以及 2 億至 2.75 億美元的額外 EBITDA。

That's right, $750 to $800 million of revenue.

沒錯，收入 7.5 億到 8 億美元。

Got it. I just wanted to make sure I have those numbers straight. Thank you for that clarification.

知道了。我只是想確保這些數字是正確的。感謝您的澄清。

And then, I'd say the majority of mine asked just by way of kind of managing this and being able to put heads in idle beds, are you able to mix populations so like can you put an ICE detainee with a state or US Marshals detainee or does that depend by the contract or are there any restrictions around that?

然後，我想說的是，大多數人只是通過管理這種方式並能夠將人安排在閒置的床上，您是否能夠將人群混合，例如您是否可以將 ICE 被拘留者與州或美國法警拘留者放在一起，或者這取決於合同還是有任何限制？

This is Patrick. So each facility is designed a bit differently, but our facilities can be very flexible in terms of housing new populations. Our Tallahatchie facility in Mississippi presently houses eight different customers in that facility, and we're able to manage the services for each of their individual contractual requirements appropriately based on some combination of combining customers in a housing unit and separating them. Generally, what you're going to see in a facility is you're going to have separation by pod, and so you would not have the US Marshals Service and ICE, for example, in the same pod, but you could have them adjacent. And so our responsibility is to manage separation of the populations in a way that allow us to deliver services appropriate for each of those customers, but our facilities are designed in a very flexible way that allows us to maximize utilization of the pockets of beds that we do have again while maintaining appropriate levels of separation.

這是派崔克。因此，每個設施的設計都略有不同，但我們的設施在安置新人口方面可以非常靈活。我們位於密西西比州的塔拉哈奇工廠目前容納了八個不同的客戶，我們能夠透過將客戶集中到一個住房單元並將他們分開來適當地管理每個客戶的單獨合約要求的服務。一般來說，您會在設施中看到，它們會透過隔間分隔，因此，例如，您不會將美國法警局和 ICE 安排在同一個隔間中，但您可以將它們安排在相鄰的隔間中。因此，我們的責任是管理人群分離，以便我們能夠為每位客戶提供適當的服務，但我們的設施設計非常靈活，使我們能夠最大限度地利用我們現有的床位，同時保持適當的分離水平。

Understood. Got it. Obviously we've been talking a lot about capacity here and everything from using repurposed space to maybe even M&A. Is there any chance of brand new facility builds or is that something that might be farther out?

明白了。知道了。顯然，我們已經討論了很多關於容量的問題以及從使用重新利用的空間甚至併購等所有事情。是否有可能建造全新的設施，或者這可能還需要更遠的時間？

That's a possibility. But again, based on what we've got in our system today, our capabilities and again the various kind of building blocks that make up the total amount of the 28,000 and again also our capability potentially to expand facilities and then finally you have facilities that may be out there today that we could buy, purchase, lease, or maybe have a right of first refusal, I don't see that as a kind of near-term, kind of need or opportunity, but also we'll be watching closely to again see what ICE's total funding is and what their needs are. But again, I think we've got a lot of capability right in front of us to provide a lot of support for ICE in their current mission.

這是有可能的。但是，基於我們目前的系統、我們的能力以及構成 28,000 個總數的各種構建模組，以及我們擴展設施的潛在能力，最後您可以購買、租賃或可能擁有優先購買權的設施，我不認為這是一種短期需求或機會，但我們也會密切關注 ICE 的總資金情況以及他們的需求。但我再次認為，我們擁有很大的能力為 ICE 目前的任務提供大量支援。

Got it. Okay, thank you. And then final one from me is going to be, so the new executive order that basically lifted the prohibition on new or renewed Department of Justice contracts. Now that that's formally lifted, do you see anything by way of new Bureau of Prisons opportunities? I know that BOP was a relatively small percentage of revenue even immediately prior to Biden's executive order, but I'm curious if you see any opportunities for growth there.

知道了。好的，謝謝。我最後一個要說的是，新的行政命令基本上解除了對司法部簽訂新合約或續約合約的禁令。現在這項限制已正式解除，您是否認為監獄管理局將迎來新的機會？我知道，即使在拜登發布行政命令之前，BOP 佔收入的比例也相對較小，但我很好奇您是否看到了那裡的成長機會。

Yeah, it's a great question, and I'll give you two answers. One is that you may be aware that the most recent director, she left the agency I think within the last two weeks, so they're currently being led by an interim director. So I think the first part of the answer is that once the permanent is selected and he or she is in place, then obviously they'll have a vision that I'm sure they'll lay out not just for the agency but also the partnership with the private sector. So that'd be part A of the answer.

是的，這是一個很好的問題，我會給你兩個答案。一是您可能知道，最近的主管我想是在最近兩週內離開了該機構，所以他們目前由一位臨時主管領導。因此，我認為答案的第一部分是，一旦選定了正式負責人並且任命成功，那麼顯然他們會有一個願景，我相信他們不僅會為機構制定願景，還會為與私營部門的合作關係制定願景。這就是答案的 A 部分。

Part B of the answer would be, as what I've alluded to earlier, we do get the sense there's a lot of frustration and consternation especially with this new administration about the lack of increase of community confinement and halfway house beds as a result of the First Step Act. And so what we're hearing pretty loudly is that they think there's an opportunity to lean on the private sector to really substantially expand that part of the business. Now that wasn't impacted by the executive order, but we do think kind of near term, the bureau is going to look for the private sector to significantly increase that capacity again for both home confinement, community confinement, but also halfway house beds.

答案的 B 部分是，正如我之前提到的，我們確實感覺到有很多沮喪和驚愕，尤其是對於新政府而言，《第一步法案》實施後社區監禁和中途之家床位並沒有增加。因此，我們聽到的普遍聲音是，他們認為有機會依靠私營部門來真正大幅擴展這部分業務。現在這並沒有受到行政命令的影響，但我們確實認為，在短期內，該局將尋求私營部門再次大幅增加家庭監禁、社區監禁以及中途之家床位的容量。

Thank you. And this does conclude the question-and-answer session of today's program. I'd like to hand the program back to Damon Hininger for any further remarks.

謝謝。今天節目的問答環節到此結束。我想將該計劃交還給 Damon Hininger，以便做出進一步的評論。

All right, thank you, sir. Well, thank you all so very much. A lot of great questions, and sorry we went over a little bit, a lot of great detail. As you know, we've got a lot of activity going on in the organization, a lot of opportunities, so it's a very exciting time within the company.

好的，謝謝您，先生。好吧，非常感謝大家。有很多很好的問題，很抱歉，我們討論得有些多了，有很多很詳細的內容。如你所知，我們組織內有很多活動，有很多機會，所以這是公司內部非常令人興奮的時刻。

As always, we're grateful for your support, your advice, all that you do for us, and all that you do to invest in our company. So we're excited about the near term and looking forward to sharing our results here in the coming days and weeks as we lead up to the second quarter. Thanks everyone for calling in today.

一如既往，我們感謝您的支持、建議、為我們所做的一切以及對我們公司所做的一切投資。因此，我們對近期的業績感到興奮，並期待在未來幾天和幾週內分享我們的業績，迎接第二季的到來。感謝大家今天的來電。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家參加今天的會議。該計劃確實結束了。您現在可以斷開連線。再會。