Designer Brands Inc (DBI) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Designer Brands, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jessica Miller, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，歡迎來到 Designer Brands, Inc. 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係主管 Jessica Miller。請繼續。

Good morning. Earlier today, the company issued a press release comparing results of operations for the 13-week and 52-week periods ended January 28, 2023, to the 13-week and 52-week periods ended January 29, 2022. Please note that the financial results that we will reference during the remainder of today's call excludes certain adjustments recorded under GAAP unless specified otherwise. For a complete reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted earnings, please reference our press release.

早上好。今天早些時候，該公司發布了一份新聞稿，比較了截至 2023 年 1 月 28 日的 13 周和 52 週期間與截至 2022 年 1 月 29 日的 13 周和 52 週期間的運營結果。請注意，財務除非另有說明，否則我們將在今天電話會議的剩餘時間參考的結果不包括根據 GAAP 記錄的某些調整。如需 GAAP 與調整後收益的完整對賬，請參考我們的新聞稿。

Additionally, please note that remarks made about the future expectations, plans and prospects of the company constitute forward-looking statements. Results may differ materially, due to various factors listed in today's press release and the company's public filings, with the SEC. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Joining us today are Roger Rawlins, Chief Executive Officer; Jared Poff, Chief Financial Officer; and Doug Howe, incoming CEO of DBI and President of DSW. Now, let me turn over the call to Roger.

此外，請注意有關公司未來預期、計劃和前景的評論構成前瞻性陳述。由於今天的新聞稿和公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的公開文件中列出的各種因素，結果可能存在重大差異。公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。今天加入我們的是首席執行官 Roger Rawlins；賈里德波夫，首席財務官； DBI 即將上任的首席執行官兼 DSW 總裁 Doug Howe。現在，讓我把電話轉給羅傑。

Thanks, Jesse. Thank you, everyone, for joining us this morning, especially our associates, who I know are listening in today. I'm proud of the results we posted this year, delivering an adjusted EPS at the top of our original annual guidance. Especially given, what has proven to be a very challenging environment. Before turning it over to Doug and Jared, I wanted to share a few thoughts on the progress we have made over the past 7 years, as we have evolved from DSW, a domestic retailer selling other people's brands to the multinational brand building enterprise that is now Designer Brands.

謝謝，傑西。謝謝大家今天早上加入我們，特別是我們的同事，我知道他們今天正在聽。我為我們今年發布的結果感到自豪，在我們最初的年度指導中提供了調整後的每股收益。特別是，事實證明這是一個非常具有挑戰性的環境。在交給 Doug 和 Jared 之前，我想分享一下我們在過去 7 年中取得的進展，因為我們已經從 DSW 發展成為跨國品牌建設企業，DSW 是一家銷售他人品牌的國內零售商。現在是設計師品牌。

In 2016, we shared our belief that the days of being a retailer of others brands were in jeopardy. We described it, as a piece of ice sitting out in 35-degree weather. Some retailers were glaciers, that would take years to melt away, but others were going to disappear quickly, as we predicted that brands would aggressively take their products direct to consumer, through the websites they operate in the stores they were opening. Competing directly with the retailers that spent years and billions of dollars supporting them and growing their brands. As a result of this challenge, we felt it was necessary to diversify our business model.

2016 年，我們都相信，成為其他品牌零售商的日子岌岌可危。我們將其描述為 35 度天氣下的一塊冰。一些零售商是冰川，需要數年時間才能融化，但其他零售商將很快消失，正如我們預測的那樣，品牌將通過他們在開設的商店中運營的網站，積極地將他們的產品直接帶給消費者。與花費數年和數十億美元支持他們並發展其品牌的零售商直接競爭。由於這一挑戰，我們認為有必要使我們的業務模式多樣化。

We first move to expand our retail reach beyond the U.S., leading to the acquisition of the Shoe Company brand in Canada in 2018, where we bucked the trend of other U.S.-based businesses, who have failed to grow in the market. This acquisition has been successful because we attracted an amazing team of experienced Canadian retailers, who leverage the core retail competencies of our DSW business, including our direct-to-consumer capabilities, assortment disciplines and technology infrastructure, allowing them to deliver nearly $100 million in gross profit and meaningfully contributing to DBI's bottom line, while materially growing our share of the Canadian market.

我們首先將零售業務擴展到美國以外的地區，導致我們於 2018 年在加拿大收購了 Shoe Company 品牌，在該品牌中，我們逆勢而行，與其他未能在市場上取得增長的美國企業抗衡。此次收購之所以成功，是因為我們吸引了一支由經驗豐富的加拿大零售商組成的出色團隊，他們利用我們 DSW 業務的核心零售能力，包括我們直接面向消費者的能力、分類規則和技術基礎設施，使他們能夠提供近 1 億美元的銷售額毛利潤和顯著貢獻 DBI 的底線，同時實質性地增加我們在加拿大市場的份額。

Becoming one of the most commanding retailers in our channel. Additionally, we wanted to deliver a differentiated product and assortment through DSW, and acquired the ability to design and source our own goods and to own or control brands through our own direct-to-consumer channels. This vision led to the acquisition of the Camuto organization, which has allowed us to now own and/or operate 6 of the top 50 women's fashion footwear brands. It also allowed us to increase our penetration of owned brands sold through our direct-to-consumer channels to 18%, delivering approximately $100 million of incremental gross profit on the goods we design and source. And expanding our gross margin on these goods by over 1,000 basis points on average.

成為我們渠道中最具影響力的零售商之一。此外，我們希望通過 DSW 提供差異化的產品和分類，並獲得設計和採購我們自己的商品以及通過我們自己的直接面向消費者的渠道擁有或控製品牌的能力。這一願景促成了對 Camuto 組織的收購，這使我們現在擁有和/或經營 50 強女性時尚鞋類品牌中的 6 個。它還使我們能夠將通過我們直接面向消費者的渠道銷售的自有品牌的滲透率提高到 18%，為我們設計和採購的商品帶來大約 1 億美元的增量毛利潤。並將我們在這些商品上的毛利率平均提高了 1,000 多個基點。

And finally, this vision expanded distribution of our owned brands to a much broader customer base, through our wholesale partners, which today includes some of the best retail platforms in the world. We also shared back in 2016, the desire to evolve our assortment to DSW. We were, and are still a dominant player in the women's dress and seasonal categories, but we needed to casualize our mix to attack the athleisure category, which represented roughly half of all footwear sales.

最後，這一願景通過我們的批發合作夥伴將我們自有品牌的分銷範圍擴大到更廣泛的客戶群，這些合作夥伴如今包括世界上一些最好的零售平台。早在 2016 年，我們就分享了將我們的產品分類發展為深海水的願望。我們過去是，現在仍然是女裝和季節性品類的主導者，但我們需要將我們的產品組合休閒化，以進軍運動休閒品類，該品類約佔所有鞋類銷售額的一半。

At that point, our penetration was roughly 30%, and we saw so much upside in supporting our fashion customer with this type of casual athleisure footwear. I'm very proud of the shifts our team has made, and this category now represents over 47% of our assortment. We've gained market share in the category through the expanded assortment of top national brands at DSW, and the amazing Canadian results, our launch of kids footwear and the recent acquisitions of Keds, Le Tigre and Topo, which now sit on our owned brands portfolio. With these new additions, DBI now has the ability to design and source not just fashion and seasonal footwear, but casual footwear as well, meeting even more of the needs of the consumer, we service through so many of our direct-to-consumer channels.

那時，我們的滲透率大約為 30%，我們看到了通過這種休閒運動休閒鞋為時尚客戶提供支持的巨大優勢。我為我們團隊所做的轉變感到非常自豪，這個類別現在占我們產品種類的 47% 以上。我們在 DSW 擴大了頂級國家品牌的種類，在加拿大取得了驚人的成績，我們推出了童鞋，最近收購了我們自有品牌的 Keds、Le Tigre 和 Topo，從而獲得了該類別的市場份額文件夾。有了這些新增功能，DBI 現在不僅可以設計和採購時尚和季節性鞋類，還可以設計和採購休閒鞋類，以滿足消費者的更多需求，我們通過許多直接面向消費者的渠道提供服務.

This is such a critical piece of the puzzle, as we build for long-term growth in both our top and bottom line. That's a lot of change in 7 years, especially when you consider we did all of that while going through a pandemic. When the consumer wanted nothing to do with fashion footwear, as they were working from home and limiting their social occasions. We had our share of bumps along the way. However, I firmly believe our effective execution on our vision has set DBI up for success, as we integrate our recent acquisitions, continue to accelerate our direct-to-consumer capabilities and build our owned brands across the retail landscape.

這是一個非常關鍵的難題，因為我們正在為我們的收入和利潤的長期增長而努力。 7 年來發生了很大的變化，尤其是當你考慮到我們在經歷大流行病時做了所有這些。當消費者不想與時尚鞋有任何關係時，因為他們在家工作並限制了他們的社交場合。一路上我們遇到了一些顛簸。然而，我堅信，我們對願景的有效執行為 DBI 的成功奠定了基礎，因為我們整合了最近的收購，繼續加速我們直接面向消費者的能力，並在整個零售領域打造我們的自有品牌。

This vision and our culture is what attracted Doug to our business a year ago, and I believe he's uniquely qualified as a merchant leader to take this strategy to the next level. To ensure our glacier doesn't melt but instead grows to new heights. To that end, and in conjunction with the significant evolution of our business, we have recently undertaken some actions to streamline our operations, promote collaboration and make our organization more efficient. We are sensitive to the fact, that a number of our employees have been affected by this action. We're working closely with them to aid in their transition, and I personally would like to thank them for all their contributions to DBI.

這一願景和我們的文化正是一年前吸引 Doug 加入我們的業務的原因，我相信他具有獨特的商業領袖資格，可以將這一戰略提升到一個新的水平。確保我們的冰川不會融化，而是會增長到新的高度。為此，結合我們業務的重大發展，我們最近採取了一些行動來簡化我們的運營、促進協作並提高我們組織的效率。我們對以下事實很敏感，即我們的一些員工已受到此行動的影響。我們正在與他們密切合作以幫助他們完成過渡，我個人要感謝他們為 DBI 做出的所有貢獻。

I want to thank Jay and our Board, my team and my teammates for all the support they have given me, and can't wait to watch them utilize the platforms we have built to deliver on our mission of inspiring self-expression. With that, I will turn it over to Doug and Jared for an overview of the past quarter. Doug?

我要感謝 Jay 和我們的董事會、我的團隊和隊友給予我的所有支持，並且迫不及待地想看到他們利用我們建立的平台來實現我們激發自我表達的使命。有了這個，我將把它交給 Doug 和 Jared 來概述上個季度。道格？

Thank you, Roger. And good morning, everyone. I've gotten to speak with some of you since the news of my appointment, but I want to share that I am incredibly excited to be taking on this role. I want to thank Roger for his phenomenal leadership that has elevated Designer Brands to its current status, and I look forward to continuing to work with him over the next year. Thank you as well to our teams for the support you've shown me thus far. I look forward to traveling even more in the coming quarters to get to know more of you individually. We delivered well this quarter and this year, amidst a pressured macro environment.

謝謝你，羅傑。大家早上好。自從我被任命的消息傳出後，我已經與你們中的一些人交談過，但我想分享一下，我對擔任這個角色感到非常興奮。我要感謝 Roger 非凡的領導才能將 Designer Brands 提升到目前的地位，我期待在明年繼續與他合作。也感謝我們的團隊迄今為止對我的支持。我期待著在接下來的幾個季度裡出差更多，以單獨了解你們中的更多人。在充滿壓力的宏觀環境中，我們本季度和今年的表現都很好。

The dynamics we called out last quarter continued to persist. In the fourth quarter, the footwear industry was highly promotional, specifically in athletic to combat over inventory positions and a constrained consumer. In considering the variables we could control, we elected to be less promotional in athletic. We had positioned ourselves well with proactive actions earlier in the year to manage our inventory levels, and we were supported by the continued resurgence of our clearance business.

我們上個季度呼籲的動力繼續存在。第四季度，製鞋業的促銷活動非常活躍，尤其是運動鞋業，以應對庫存過剩和消費者受限的情況。在考慮我們可以控制的變量時，我們選擇減少運動方面的宣傳。我們在今年早些時候採取了積極行動來管理我們的庫存水平，並為我們的清關業務的持續復甦提供了支持。

We made this decision with an eye towards protecting our dress and seasonal market share during a critically important season. As such, we chose to implement select thoughtful promotions in our seasonal business, specifically on ready-to-wear product like boots in the quarter. Our customer has clearly shown us that they are looking for value at this point in time, and we saw outperformance of our clearance business. In the quarter at DSW, clearance sales were up 2%, while regular price selling was down 10%. As other companies across our space have been sharing, we are continuing to see a consumer under pressure, as we enter the new year.

我們做出這個決定是為了在一個至關重要的季節保護我們的服裝和季節性市場份額。因此，我們選擇在我們的季節性業務中實施精心挑選的促銷活動，特別是本季度的靴子等成衣產品。我們的客戶已清楚地向我們表明，他們此時正在尋找價值，我們看到了清關業務的出色表現。在 DSW 的本季度，清倉銷售增長了 2%，而正常價格銷售下降了 10%。隨著我們這個領域的其他公司一直在分享，隨著我們進入新的一年，我們繼續看到消費者面臨壓力。

Between current inflation levels and a looming recession, customers are spending less and purchasing discounted product more. Ultimately, we are continuing to be thoughtful about how we are playing in the promotional space, while carefully balancing inventory investments. Putting us in a position to chase into any opportunities we see in real time. Importantly, our owned and national brand strategy continues to be our priority. I want to take a moment to emphasize that our goal is to maintain strong partnerships with national brands while doubling owned brands are completely complementary.

在當前的通貨膨脹水平和迫在眉睫的經濟衰退之間，客戶正在減少支出並更多地購買打折產品。最終，我們將繼續深思熟慮我們在促銷領域的表現，同時謹慎平衡庫存投資。讓我們能夠抓住我們實時看到的任何機會。重要的是，我們的自有品牌和民族品牌戰略仍然是我們的首要任務。我想花點時間強調一下，我們的目標是與民族品牌保持牢固的合作夥伴關係，而雙自有品牌是完全互補的。

We will continue to aggressively grow our owned brands, while finding unique ways to unlock additional opportunities with our national brand partners. With our recent additions to our portfolio, we have put ourselves in a position to continue building an incredibly strong foundation in 2023, that will position us for even greater growth in 2024. Let me start with our owned brands. In recent months, we have made 3 exciting acquisitions, Le Tigre, Topo Athletic and Keds that support our strategy to be a leading brand builder and get us even closer to our owned brands target, which we are set to achieve in 2026. This is notable for two reasons. First, it demonstrates our ability to make material progress on our strategy. 12 months ago, we had no athletic or athleisure product represented in our own portfolio. And now, we owned brands across all major price points for our customers to shop. And secondly, it highlights the importance of our national brand partners to our owned brands strategy.

我們將繼續積極發展我們的自有品牌，同時尋找獨特的方式與我們的國家品牌合作夥伴一起釋放更多機會。隨著我們最近增加了我們的產品組合，我們已經使自己能夠在 2023 年繼續建立一個令人難以置信的強大基礎，這將使我們在 2024 年實現更大的增長。讓我從我們的自有品牌開始。最近幾個月，我們進行了 3 項激動人心的收購，即 Le Tigre、Topo Athletic 和 Keds，它們支持我們成為領先品牌建設者的戰略，並使我們更接近我們定於 2026 年實現的自有品牌目標。這是值得注意的有兩個原因。首先，它展示了我們在戰略上取得實質性進展的能力。 12 個月前，我們自己的產品組合中沒有運動或運動休閒產品。現在，我們擁有所有主要價位的品牌，供我們的客戶購物。其次，它突出了我們的國家品牌合作夥伴對我們自有品牌戰略的重要性。

Our strong long-term relationship with Wolverine has allowed us to partner in many ways from being the largest wholesale customer to Keds, to unlocking new value with the Hush Puppies brand, to ultimately acquiring Keds and soon exclusively licensing Hush Puppies. As a reminder, we invested in Le Tigre and simultaneously entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for footwear in July to distribute premium athletic product through our channels, and selectively expand that distribution in the future.

我們與 Wolverine 牢固的長期合作關係使我們能夠以多種方式合作，從成為 Keds 最大的批發客戶，到通過 Hush Puppies 品牌釋放新價值，再到最終收購 Keds 並很快獨家授權 Hush Puppies。提醒一下，我們在 7 月投資了 Le Tigre 並同時簽訂了鞋類獨家許可協議，通過我們的渠道分銷優質運動產品，並在未來有選擇地擴大分銷。

Then in December, we acquired Topo Athletic which provides a premium athletic product that focuses on running, walking, hiking and comfort. And most recently, our acquisition of Keds gives us an iconic brand with wide reach and brand love which gives us more opportunities to continue building brands outside our retail operations. Also announced just a few weeks ago was our anticipated future expansion with Hush Puppies where Designer Brands is expected to become the exclusive licensee in the U.S. and Canada effective later this year.

然後在 12 月，我們收購了 Topo Athletic，該公司提供專注於跑步、步行、遠足和舒適性的優質運動產品。最近，我們對 Keds 的收購為我們帶來了一個具有廣泛影響力和品牌喜愛度的標誌性品牌，這讓我們有更多機會在零售業務之外繼續打造品牌。就在幾週前，我們還宣布了與 Hush Puppies 的預期未來擴張，預計 Designer Brands 將成為美國和加拿大的獨家被許可人，並於今年晚些時候生效。

The new agreement opens up the opportunity for us to wholesale the brand in the U.S. and Canada, operate hushpuppies.com and design and source product in the highly critical comfort space, another large white space for our owned brands. As Roger mentioned, we have been extremely successful growing our owned brands penetration within our own retail distribution, delivering incredible margin accretion along the way. All the while, we have made significant progress growing our owned brands outside our DSW store base.

新協議為我們提供了在美國和加拿大批髮品牌、運營 hushpuppies.com 以及在高度關鍵的舒適空間（我們自有品牌的另一個大空白空間）設計和採購產品的機會。正如羅傑所提到的，我們已經非常成功地提高了自有品牌在我們自己的零售分銷中的滲透率，並在此過程中實現了令人難以置信的利潤增長。一直以來，我們在 DSW 商店基地之外發展自有品牌方面取得了重大進展。

Prior to 2019, we only had one e-commerce site and have made notable progress in the time sense. Today, we now operate 5 independent e-commerce sites, DSW, Shoe Co, Topo Athletic, vincecamuto.com and keds.com with a sixth hushpupppies.com anticipated to come into the fold, later this year. For those of our owned brands that have a personalized online presence, roughly 30% of their sales come through that channel. We are exploring ways we can continue to capitalize on this with some of our other owned brands where we have e-com white space.

2019年之前，我們只有一個電商站點，在時間意義上取得了顯著進步。今天，我們現在運營著 5 個獨立的電子商務網站，DSW、Shoe Co、Topo Athletic、vincecamuto.com 和 keds.com，預計今年晚些時候將有第六個 hushpupppies.com。對於那些擁有個性化在線形象的自有品牌，大約 30% 的銷售額來自該渠道。我們正在探索我們可以繼續利用我們擁有電子商務空白的其他一些自有品牌的方法。

As we think about setting ourselves up for greater growth in the future, we are also thinking about how to connect with our customers in different ways. Our owned brands are playing a significant role in this. In addition to our DBI VIP loyalty programs, gaining over 4 million new customers over the last year, our recent acquisitions allow us to broaden our customer reach beyond just DSW. Topo Athletic brings Designer Brands a new customer, that is at a premium price point. Hush Puppies allows us to target millennials who want both style and comfort in their busy lifestyles.

當我們考慮為未來的更大增長做好準備時，我們也在考慮如何以不同的方式與我們的客戶建立聯繫。我們的自有品牌在這方面發揮著重要作用。除了我們的 DBI VIP 忠誠度計劃，在去年獲得了超過 400 萬新客戶，我們最近的收購使我們能夠擴大我們的客戶範圍，而不僅僅是 DSW。 Topo Athletic 以高價為 Designer Brands 帶來了一位新客戶。 Hush Puppies 使我們能夠瞄准在忙碌的生活方式中既想要時尚又想要舒適的千禧一代。

Keds has a large penetration on Amazon, which we can now glean insights from as well as a kids wholesale business in Canada. They will also bring into the DBI fold a significant international presence that will continue to be a growth engine for the brand, and we will look for potential opportunities to leverage this among our other brands as well. These are all clear examples of how we will easily broaden our reach to include a new set of touch points with potential customers, while expanding our offering for our existing customer base.

Keds 在亞馬遜上的滲透率很高，我們現在可以從加拿大的兒童批發業務中收集見解。他們還將為 DBI 帶來重要的國際影響力，這將繼續成為該品牌的增長引擎，我們也將尋找潛在機會在我們的其他品牌中利用這一點。這些都是我們將如何輕鬆擴大我們的影響範圍以包括與潛在客戶的一組新接觸點，同時擴展我們為現有客戶群提供的服務的明顯例子。

All these accomplishments are resulting in more diversity across our owned brands portfolio. We have long been clear leaders in dress and seasonal, and now we are successfully making a name for ourselves in athleisure and casual. Ultimately, this will allow us to balance our performance through economic and demand cycles, as well as changes in trends and consumer purchasing preferences. On the national brand side, our top 5 brand partners achieved a nearly 20% increase in sales across our U.S. and Canadian Retail operations for the year, showcasing the continued success of our amplify and edit strategy.

所有這些成就使我們的自有品牌組合更加多樣化。長期以來，我們一直是著裝和季節性領域的明顯領導者，現在我們在運動休閒和休閒領域成功樹立了自己的名聲。最終，這將使我們能夠通過經濟和需求週期以及趨勢和消費者購買偏好的變化來平衡我們的績效。在國家品牌方面，我們的前 5 大品牌合作夥伴在我們美國和加拿大的零售業務中實現了今年近 20% 的銷售額增長，展示了我們擴大和編輯戰略的持續成功。

You've heard us speak in recent quarters and years about our intense focus on the top 50 brands in footwear. We are not stepping away from that strategy but are beginning to flex some of our other capabilities to take advantage of things like closeout buys in environments like today, where this will benefit our business.

在最近幾個季度和幾年裡，您已經聽到我們談到我們對鞋類 50 強品牌的高度關注。我們並沒有放棄這一戰略，而是開始靈活運用我們的其他一些能力，以在今天這樣的環境中利用諸如清倉收購之類的優勢，這將使我們的業務受益。

Turning to results. We were pleased with our performance during the quarter and the year. We delivered healthy comps of 4.4% in fiscal year 2022, while effectively managing our expenses, which improved year-over-year. Although our sales and profitability were pressured in this highly promotional environment, our gross margin rates were well above 2019 levels for the year. Our owned brands strategy continues to gain traction with robust sales growth, putting us well on our way to achieving our goal of nearly 1/3 of total sales by 2026. For the year, total owned brands penetration grew to 24% from 19% in the prior year, and DTC owned brands grew to 18% penetration versus 14% in the prior year.

轉向結果。我們對本季度和本年度的表現感到滿意。我們在 2022 財年實現了 4.4% 的健康業績，同時有效地管理了我們的支出，同比有所改善。儘管我們的銷售和盈利能力在這種高度促銷的環境下受到壓力，但我們的毛利率遠高於 2019 年的水平。我們的自有品牌戰略繼續獲得牽引力，銷售增長強勁，使我們順利實現到 2026 年佔總銷售額近 1/3 的目標。今年，自有品牌的總滲透率從 19% 增長到 24%前一年，DTC 自有品牌的滲透率增長到 18%，而前一年為 14%。

Although the industry struggled in Q4 with being over-inventoried, we personally saw bright spots in our owned brands portfolio with Lucky up 42% and given its more casual nature versus Vince Camuto and Jessica Simpson that felt pressure as more dressy brands. Our brands with the strongest DTC performance in the fourth quarter were Lucky, which was up 65%. Kelly & Katie, which was up 28% and Crown vintage, up 17% on the heels of a fantastic celebrity partnership with Emma Roberts in Q3 and continued momentum into Q4.

儘管該行業在第四季度因庫存過剩而苦苦掙扎，但我們個人在我們的自有品牌組合中看到了亮點，其中 Lucky 增長了 42%，並且鑑於其更休閒的性質，而 Vince Camuto 和 Jessica Simpson 則作為更講究的品牌感到壓力。我們在第四季度 DTC 表現最強的品牌是 Lucky，增長了 65%。 Kelly & Katie 上漲 28%，Crown vintage 在第三季度與 Emma Roberts 建立夢幻般的名人合作關係後上漲 17%，並在第四季度繼續保持增長勢頭。

I want to take a moment to discuss our guidance, which Jared will dissect in more detail, in just a moment. You'll clearly notice, we are planning our sales and earnings down for the year, and that is because we believe it is prudent to assume the pressure facing our customers will continue through the first part of 2023. That being said, we do believe these trends are temporary. With that in mind, we are laser-focused on what we can control to deliver profitability that continues to be above historical levels. We'll also continue to manage our inventory carefully. We have managed our inventory position to be better than most of our peers and competitors, and we feel we are well positioned to pounce on any sign of opportunity, and chase business that may materialize stronger than anticipated.

我想花點時間討論一下我們的指南，稍後 Jared 將對其進行更詳細的剖析。您會清楚地註意到，我們正計劃降低今年的銷售額和收益，這是因為我們認為假設我們的客戶面臨的壓力將持續到 2023 年上半年是明智的。話雖如此，我們確實相信這些趨勢是暫時的。考慮到這一點，我們非常專注於我們可以控制的事情，以提供繼續高於歷史水平的盈利能力。我們還將繼續謹慎管理我們的庫存。我們的庫存狀況比大多數同行和競爭對手都好，我們認為我們有能力抓住任何機會跡象，並追逐可能比預期更強大的業務。

Assuming, there is a soft landing as economists are predicting, we are anticipated seeing a recovery in our results in the second half of the year, as we begin to lap the easier comparisons as well. Before I pass it over to Jared, I want to thank all of our associates for their hard work. We are executing well in challenging times, and I am confident in our ability to continue to do so. With that, I'll pass it over to Jared. Jared?

假設如經濟學家預測的那樣出現軟著陸，我們預計會在今年下半年看到我們的業績復甦，因為我們也開始進行更容易的比較。在我將它傳遞給 Jared 之前，我要感謝我們所有同事的辛勤工作。我們在充滿挑戰的時代表現出色，我相信我們有能力繼續這樣做。有了這個，我會把它傳遞給賈里德。賈里德？

Thanks, Doug. And good morning, everyone. I briefly want to echo Roger and Doug's comments, on how proud I am of the progress we made on our strategy during the quarter and the year. We once again, posted results that showcased our evolved business model and the power of our brand-building capabilities. Adjusted EPS for the full year was $1.85, landing at the very top of the guidance we provided at the start of the year and on top of a strong 2021. While the fourth quarter saw some pressure from a top line perspective, I am pleased with our earnings versus our expectations. The team effectively managed inventory and expenses and continue to successfully deliver on our owned brands strategy.

謝謝，道格。大家早上好。我想簡短地回應羅杰和道格的評論，我對我們在本季度和本年度的戰略取得的進展感到自豪。我們再次發布了展示我們不斷發展的商業模式和品牌建設能力的結果。全年調整後的每股收益為 1.85 美元，在我們年初和強勁的 2021 年提供的指引中處於最高水平。雖然第四季度從頂線的角度來看有些壓力，但我很高興我們的收入與我們的預期。該團隊有效地管理了庫存和費用，並繼續成功地實施我們的自有品牌戰略。

Turning to our results. For the full year, sales increased 3.7% to $3.3 billion compared to 2021. In the quarter, sales decreased 7.5% to $760.5 million compared to 2021, primarily as a result of a pressured consumer and a highly competitive and promotional environment. On top of record level performance last year, total comps were up 4.4% and U.S. retail comps were up 2% for the full year. Canada also had an excellent year, posting comps of 28.8%. We are incredibly proud of our performance on vincecamuto.com with comps up 34.5%.

轉向我們的結果。與 2021 年相比，全年銷售額增長 3.7% 至 33 億美元。本季度銷售額與 2021 年相比下降 7.5% 至 7.605 億美元，這主要是由於消費者壓力大以及競爭激烈和促銷環境。除了去年創紀錄的表現外，全年總收入增長了 4.4%，美國零售收入增長了 2%。加拿大也有出色的一年，收入為 28.8%。我們對我們在 vincecamuto.com 上的表現感到無比自豪，收入增長了 34.5%。

Specifically, our owned brands had a great showing, growing 32% for the year and DTC was up 35%. In the fourth quarter, total comps were down 5.5%, following a 36.9% comp in the fourth quarter of 2021. U.S. retail comps for the fourth quarter were down 8.1%, driven by the pressure of a constrained consumer. As Doug mentioned, our industry has struggled with being over inventory, and as a result, our external wholesale business was down 9% during the quarter on a net sales basis, where as for the year, it was up 24%.

具體來說，我們的自有品牌表現出色，全年增長 32%，DTC 增長 35%。在第四季度，總收入下降了 5.5%，而 2021 年第四季度的收入為 36.9%。美國第四季度的零售收入下降了 8.1%，這是受消費者受限的壓力推動的。正如 Doug 所提到的，我們的行業一直在為庫存過剩而苦苦掙扎，因此，我們的外部批發業務在本季度的淨銷售額下降了 9%，而全年則增長了 24%。

Canada's growth story continued, as they posted comps of 15.9% for the quarter. vincecamuto.com comps were up an impressive 44.4% for the quarter compared to a gain of 50.9% in the prior year. We're pleased with this continued online growth for vincecamuto.com, our largest owned brand. As we look forward, with keds.com now on our DBI family, we'll look to leverage best practices from all of our online presences to grow our owned brands further.

加拿大的增長故事仍在繼續，因為他們公佈了本季度 15.9% 的收入。與去年同期的 50.9% 的漲幅相比，vincecamuto.com 本季度的業績增長了 44.4%，令人印象深刻。我們對我們最大的自有品牌 vincecamuto.com 的在線持續增長感到滿意。展望未來，隨著 keds.com 現在加入我們的 DBI 家族，我們將尋求利用我們所有在線業務的最佳實踐來進一步發展我們的自有品牌。

For the full year, gross margin was 32.6% compared to 33.4% in the prior year, a decrease of 80 basis points, as a result of our intentional strategy to increase our clearance activity that we laid out at the start of the year. Importantly, gross margin continues to be structurally more robust than pre-pandemic with full year consolidated gross margin 400 basis points above fiscal 2019. In the quarter, the consolidated gross margin was 29.2% compared to 30.9% last year, a decrease of 170 basis points due to our increased clearance activity, and a slightly higher promotional level.

全年毛利率為 32.6%，而去年同期為 33.4%，下降 80 個基點，這是我們在年初制定的增加清關活動的有意戰略的結果。重要的是，毛利率在結構上繼續比大流行前更強勁，全年綜合毛利率比 2019 財年高 400 個基點。本季度，綜合毛利率為 29.2%，而去年同期為 30.9%，下降了 170 個基點由於我們增加了清倉活動和略高的促銷水平。

This year-over-year change was, however, a sequential improvement over the prior quarter. Again, this continues to be significantly better than pre-pandemic with the fourth quarter up 440 basis points compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. The team continued to manage expenses closely, our adjusted SG&A ratio for the fiscal year was 26.6% of sales compared to 27% in fiscal 2021. For the fourth quarter, our adjusted SG&A ratio was 27.5% compared to 28.3% last year, as we look to find opportunities to cut back expenses across the entire business.

然而，這一同比變化比上一季度有所改善。同樣，這繼續明顯好於大流行前，第四季度與 2019 年第四季度相比增長了 440 個基點。團隊繼續密切管理費用，我們調整後的本財年 SG&A 比率為銷售額的 26.6%在 2021 財年達到 27%。第四季度，我們調整後的 SG&A 比率為 27.5%，而去年為 28.3%，因為我們希望找到機會削減整個業務的開支。

For the full year, adjusted operating profit was 6.3% of sales compared to 6.7% in the prior year. For the fourth quarter, adjusted operating profit was 2% of sales compared to 2.9% last year. We had $14.9 million of net interest expense during fiscal 2022 and $4.3 million of net interest expense during the fourth quarter. Our effective tax rate on our adjusted results was 30.6% for the full year and 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Full year adjusted net income was $133.6 million or $1.85 diluted EPS versus $1.70 last year.

全年，調整後營業利潤佔銷售額的 6.3%，上年為 6.7%。第四季度，調整後的營業利潤佔銷售額的 2%，而去年同期為 2.9%。我們在 2022 財年的淨利息支出為 1,490 萬美元，在第四季度的淨利息支出為 430 萬美元。我們調整後的結果的有效稅率全年為 30.6%，第四季度為 56.7%。全年調整後淨收入為 1.336 億美元或稀釋每股收益 1.85 美元，而去年為 1.70 美元。

Fourth quarter adjusted net income was $4.7 million or $0.07 of diluted EPS versus $0.15 last year. Turning to our inventory. We ended the fourth quarter with inventories of $605.7 million compared to $586.4 million last year. On a retail square foot basis, we ended up 5% versus the end of fiscal '22, a notable improvement over the prior 3 quarters, which was the plan we have been signaling all along. Remember, our inventory levels were up 21% at the start of the year, so we made great progress on bringing down our inventory levels, throughout the year. As we head into 2023, we feel great about our inventory position, especially compared to others in our space.

第四季度調整後淨收入為 470 萬美元或攤薄每股收益 0.07 美元，而去年同期為 0.15 美元。轉向我們的庫存。我們在第四季度結束時的庫存為 6.057 億美元，而去年為 5.864 億美元。在零售平方英尺的基礎上，我們最終比 22 財年末增長了 5%，比前三個季度有了顯著改善，這是我們一直在暗示的計劃。請記住，我們的庫存水平在年初上升了 21%，因此我們在全年降低庫存水平方面取得了很大進展。隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們對我們的庫存狀況感到滿意，尤其是與我們所在領域的其他公司相比。

We ended the quarter with $58.8 million of cash and our total liquidity, which includes cash and availability under our revolver was $302.7 million. We had $243.9 million available to draw on our revolving credit facility. As a reminder, we continue to await the receipt of the final approximate $40 million of our CARES Act tax refund due to us from the IRS, which we expect as soon as the standard audits of the applicable prior tax years conclude.

我們在本季度結束時擁有 5880 萬美元的現金，我們的總流動資金（包括現金和我們循環貸款下的可用性）為 3.027 億美元。我們有 2.439 億美元可用於提取我們的循環信貸額度。提醒一下，我們繼續等待收到美國國稅局應向我們支付的最後約 4000 萬美元的 CARES 法案退稅款，我們預計在適用的先前納稅年度的標準審計結束後儘快收到。

As we look towards 2023, I would like to provide guidance on our overall base business, excluding our recent acquisition of Keds which will be additive to our top line but neutral to our earnings in 2023, given this is an integration year. With the continued uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment and evolving patterns of consumer discretionary spending, we expect the pullback of consumer spending that we saw starting in October of 2022 to continue through the first half of this year, with signs of a soft landing in Q3. By Q4, we plan a modest return to growth as we start lapping that October pullback. Specifically, within our U.S. Retail segment, we are expecting to see sales for the year down in the mid-single digits.

展望 2023 年，我想就我們的整體基礎業務提供指導，不包括我們最近對 Keds 的收購，鑑於今年是整合年，這將增加我們的收入，但對我們 2023 年的收益保持中性。隨著宏觀經濟環境的持續不確定性和消費者可自由支配支出模式的不斷變化，我們預計我們從 2022 年 10 月開始看到的消費者支出回落將持續到今年上半年，並在第三季度出現軟著陸跡象。到第四季度，我們計劃在開始應對 10 月份的回調時適度恢復增長。具體來說，在我們的美國零售部門，我們預計今年的銷售額將下降到中個位數。

We are expecting sales to be down mid-single digits for the first half of the year, recovering throughout the third and fourth quarters with relatively flat quarterly comps by the time we exit the year. We anticipate a similar trend in our external wholesale business, excluding Keds with spring expected to be down 25% to 35% to 2022 and fall being down between 5% to 15% to last year. For the full year, within our Brand Portfolio segment, we expect external wholesale excluding Keds to be down by 15% to 20%.

我們預計今年上半年的銷售額將下降中個位數，在第三和第四季度恢復，到我們年底時季度業績相對持平。我們預計我們的外部批發業務會出現類似的趨勢，不包括 Keds，春季預計到 2022 年將下降 25% 至 35%，與去年相比下降 5% 至 15%。對於全年，在我們的品牌組合部分，我們預計不包括 Keds 的外部批發將下降 15% 至 20%。

We also anticipate our vincecamuto.com DTC site to be relatively flat to last year. Within our Canadian Retail business, we expect to remain relatively flat to last year in sales, given the continued post-COVID recovery that, that geography is experiencing. This guidance excludes the impact of our Keds acquisitions but incorporates Topo, being added to our Brand Portfolio segment and the inclusion of a 53rd selling week at our Retail segment which will add approximately $30 million of sales over 2022, in the fourth quarter.

我們還預計我們的 vincecamuto.com DTC 網站將與去年持平。在我們的加拿大零售業務中，鑑於該地區正在經歷 COVID 後的持續復甦，我們預計銷售額將與去年持平。該指南不包括我們收購 Keds 的影響，但包括 Topo，它被添加到我們的品牌組合部分，並包括我們零售部分的第 53 個銷售週，這將在 2022 年第四季度增加約 3000 萬美元的銷售額。

In summary, we anticipate total Designer Brands net sales excluding Keds to be down mid-single digits to fiscal 2022. As it pertains to Keds, as a reminder, we did close on the Keds acquisition at the beginning of this fiscal year. As such, we are anticipating that this acquisition will add approximately $75 million to $85 million of net sales across multiple channels of wholesale, DTC, international and Canada. As I said previously, it should be noted that while we are excited about this acquisition and we will recognize these incremental sales, we are anticipating no material impact to the profitability from these sales in the current year, due to cost and investments related to the integration.

總之，我們預計到 2022 財年，不包括 Keds 在內的 Designer Brands 總淨銷售額將下降中個位數。提醒一下，與 Keds 相關的是，我們在本財年年初確實完成了對 Keds 的收購。因此，我們預計此次收購將在批發、DTC、國際和加拿大等多個渠道增加約 7500 萬至 8500 萬美元的淨銷售額。正如我之前所說，應該指出的是，雖然我們對此次收購感到興奮並且我們將認識到這些增量銷售，但我們預計這些銷售對本年度的盈利能力不會產生實質性影響，因為與一體化。

Turning to factors impacting our profitability. While we are not providing detailed P&L line item guidance, directionally, I want to highlight a few key points. As we look at our total business, we expect gross profit dollars to be down mid-single digits in 2023, but gross margin rate to be up as a result of continued penetration of owned brands and the normalization of supply chain costs versus 2022. Given the current pressures, we are working hard to pare back every line of spending possible, including labor, management incentive compensation and zero-based budgeting of all discretionary line items.

轉向影響我們盈利能力的因素。雖然我們沒有提供詳細的 P&L 項目指導，但我想強調幾個關鍵點。當我們審視我們的整體業務時，我們預計 2023 年毛利潤美元將下降中等個位數，但由於自有品牌的持續滲透和供應鏈成本與 2022 年相比正常化，毛利率將上升。鑑於在當前的壓力下，我們正在努力削減可能的每一項支出，包括勞動力、管理激勵薪酬和所有可自由支配的項目的零基預算。

Therefore, our business for the 52-week period, excluding the new acquisition of Keds and Topo is expected to reduce SG&A by approximately $25 million. This is all while also covering meaningful inflation across multiple lines in the P&L. Keds, Topo in the 53rd week are expected to add approximately $50 million of SG&A. On the operating income line, we anticipate the 53rd week will contribute approximately $4 million. Topo is also expected to contribute $2 million to $3 million this year. As mentioned earlier, 2023 is a heavy integration year for kids with work and investment occurring at DBI, while simultaneously paying Wolverine to support this business under a robust transition services agreement.

因此，我們在 52 週期間的業務（不包括對 Keds 和 Topo 的新收購）預計將使 SG&A 減少約 2500 萬美元。這同時也涵蓋了損益表中多條線的有意義的通貨膨脹。 Keds, Topo 在第 53 週預計將增加約 5000 萬美元的 SG&A。在營業收入線上，我們預計第 53 週將貢獻約 400 萬美元。預計 Topo 今年也將貢獻 200 萬至 300 萬美元。如前所述，2023 年對於在 DBI 進行工作和投資的孩子來說是重要的整合年，同時根據穩健的過渡服務協議向 Wolverine 支付費用以支持該業務。

Thus, we are anticipating that Keds will operate at a breakeven operating income contribution, during the year. Our expectation is that the Keds business will become profitable in 2024, once they are fully off of the TSA. With an assumed tax rate of 29.5% and approximately 69 million weighted average shares for the year, our adjusted EPS in 2023 is expected to be in the range of $1.65 to $1.75, including acquisitions in the 53rd week. From a calendarization perspective, we are planning almost all of the decline from last year to materialize in the first quarter with the balance of the quarters remaining relatively flat to up slightly to last year.

因此，我們預計 Keds 將在年內以盈虧平衡的營業收入貢獻運營。我們預計，一旦 Keds 業務完全脫離 TSA，它們將在 2024 年實現盈利。假設稅率為 29.5%，全年加權平均股數約為 6900 萬股，我們預計 2023 年調整後的每股收益將在 1.65 美元至 1.75 美元之間，包括第 53 週的收購。從日曆的角度來看，我們計劃將去年的幾乎所有下降都在第一季度實現，而各季度的餘額將保持相對持平，略高於去年。

This is due primarily to the macro pressures on the consumer strongly continuing from Q4 into 2023, and the assumption around a soft landing in the back half of the year. Additionally, we find the toughest compares to last year residing in Q1, generating the most fixed cost deleverage. Furthermore, we expect more of the targeted expense reductions we've implemented for 2023, not to become effective until midway through the quarter. We see upside to these estimates from opportunities like exciting closeout buys, a potential faster recovery in the macro environment and an accelerated integration of Keds.

這主要是由於消費者的宏觀壓力從第四季度持續到 2023 年，以及圍繞今年下半年軟著陸的假設。此外，我們發現與去年相比最艱難的是第一季度，產生了最大的固定成本去槓桿化。此外，我們預計我們為 2023 年實施的更多目標費用削減要到本季度中旬才會生效。我們從令人興奮的清倉收購、宏觀環境可能更快的複蘇以及 Keds 的加速整合等機會中看到了這些估計的上行空間。

In conclusion, our brands are delivering structurally improved results across the board, and I'm excited about the milestones we've reached, this year, and continue to support the diversification of our owned brands portfolio and revenue streams. With that, we'll open the call for questions. Operator?

總而言之，我們的品牌正在全面提供結構性改進的結果，我對我們今年達到的里程碑感到興奮，並繼續支持我們自有品牌組合和收入流的多元化。有了這個，我們將打開問題的電話。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Roger Rawlins, for any closing remarks.

（操作員說明）我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給 Roger Rawlins，聽取任何閉幕詞。

Thanks again, everybody, for joining the call and appreciate everybody's support, and look forward to all the success that Doug and his team are going to have. Thanks, everybody.

再次感謝大家加入電話會議，感謝大家的支持，並期待 Doug 和他的團隊取得成功。謝謝大家。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。