Designer Brands Inc (DBI) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Designer Brands first quarter 2024 results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Dustin Hauenstein, Senior Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead.

早安，歡迎參加 Designer Brands 2024 年第一季業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。現在我想將會議交給財務高級副總裁達斯汀·豪恩斯坦 (Dustin Hauenstein)。請繼續。

Good morning. Earlier today, the company issued a press release comparing results of operations for the 13-week period ended May 4, 2024, to the 13-week period ended April 29, 2023. Please note that the financial results that we will be referencing during the remainder of today's call exclude certain adjustments recorded under GAAP unless specified otherwise. For a complete reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted earnings, please reference our press release.

早安.今天早些時候，該公司發布了一份新聞稿，比較了截至 2024 年 5 月 4 日的 13 週期間和截至 2023 年 4 月 29 日的 13 週期間的營運結果。另有說明，今天電話會議的其餘部分不包括根據公認會計準則記錄的某些調整。有關 GAAP 與調整後收益的完整調整表，請參閱我們的新聞稿。

Additionally, please note that remarks made about future expectations, plans and prospects of the company constitutes forward-looking statements. Results may differ materially due to the 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 Doug Howe, Chief Executive Officer; Jared Poff, Chief Financial Officer; and Andrea O'Donnell, Brands President. Now, let me turn the call over to Doug.

此外，請注意，有關公司未來預期、計劃和前景的言論構成前瞻性陳述。由於今天的新聞稿中列出的各種因素以及該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的公開文件，結果可能會存在重大差異。該公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。今天加入我們的是執行長 Doug Howe；賈里德·波夫，財務長；以及品牌總裁 Andrea O'Donnell。現在，讓我把電話轉給道格。

Thank you for joining us this morning. This quarter, we were pleased to deliver results in line with our expectations as we gain traction on our path to returning Designer Brands to growth. As a result of meeting our targets on both the top and bottom lines, we are also reaffirming our 2024 fiscal year guidance.

感謝您今天早上加入我們。本季度，我們很高興交付符合我們預期的業績，因為我們在設計師品牌恢復成長的道路上獲得了動力。由於實現了我們的收入和利潤目標，我們也重申了 2024 財年的指導。

As noted last quarter, we are confident that we have the right people and processes in place and believe that 2024 will continue to be a time of transition for Designer Brands as our refreshed leadership team implements thoughtful, strategic, and operational improvements. We are seeing early signs that this refreshed focus is benefiting our organization. To that end, I would also like to thank our DBI associates for their ability to quickly adapt to new ways of working as we transform into a more efficient organization.

如上季所述，我們相信我們擁有合適的人員和流程，並相信 2024 年將繼續成為 Designer Brands 的過渡時期，因為我們新的領導團隊將實施深思熟慮的策略和營運改進。我們看到的早期跡象表明，這種新的關注點正在使我們的組織受益。為此，我還要感謝我們的 DBI 同事，在我們轉變為更有效率的組織的過程中，他們能夠快速適應新的工作方式。

Turning to this quarter's results, in the first quarter, sales were up almost 1% versus last year and we saw a 2.5% decline in comparable sales. These results were in line with our expectations and demonstrated sequential improvement from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. We anticipate that comps will continue to improve throughout fiscal 2024 as our new strategic initiatives, which we will discuss on this call, are further implemented.

談到本季的業績，第一季的銷售額比去年增長了近 1%，但可比銷售額下降了 2.5%。這些結果符合我們的預期，並顯示出自2023 財年第四季以來的連續改善 我們預計，隨著我們將在本次電話會議上討論的新戰略舉措得到進一步實施，我們預計整個2024 財年的業績將繼續改善。

Our strategic changes also enabled us to expand gross margins in the first quarter by 80 basis points to 32.8%. This improvement was driven by strong inventory management, reduction in closeouts, and direct-to-consumer or DTC growth. During this turnaround year, we are continuing to look for ways to rationalize and size our cost based appropriately, streamline our operations and improve our efficiency. Let's first talk about our retail businesses and how we're progressing on our strategic pillars to drive growth.

我們的策略變化也使我們第一季的毛利率擴大了 80 個基點，達到 32.8%。這項改善是由強有力的庫存管理、清倉減少以及直接面向消費者或 DTC 的成長所推動的。在這個轉虧為盈的一年裡，我們將繼續尋找合理化成本並適當調整成本、簡化營運並提高效率的方法。讓我們先談談我們的零售業務以及我們如何在策略支柱上取得進展以推動成長。

In our US retail business, we performed in line with the overall industry as our improving assortment featuring trend-right styles and brands engaged existing customers and reached new audiences, despite seeing continued broad base weakness and seasonal footwear. As we continue to leverage consumer insights to evolve our assortment, we believe that the benefits of a strong athletic and casual assortment are evident.

在我們的美國零售業務中，我們的表現與整個行業保持一致，儘管我們的基數持續疲軟，鞋類季節性增長，但我們不斷改進的品類以潮流風格和品牌為特色，吸引了現有客戶並吸引了新受眾。隨著我們繼續利用消費者洞察來發展我們的產品系列，我們相信強大的運動和休閒產品系列的好處是顯而易見的。

Our first quarter US retail sales were up 1.4% to last year, with comps down 2.3%. We're pleased with the progress we've made on our strategic initiatives to fuel US retail growth. Our efforts to reinvigorate the assortment, optimize our marketing investments, and enhance our omnichannel shopping experience are already beginning to contribute to our results.

我們第一季美國零售額較去年同期成長 1.4%，而同期則下降 2.3%。我們對推動美國零售業成長的策略性舉措所取得的進展感到高興。我們為重振產品種類、優化行銷投資和增強全通路購物體驗所做的努力已經開始為我們的業績做出貢獻。

Let's begin with our first pillar and the progress we've made to reinvigorate the assortment at DSW. We were pleased with our performance in athletic and casual, which outperformed the balance of categories at DSW, with athletic in particular of 15%. According to Circana, for Q1, DSW dollar sales in both of these categories, performance and leisure footwear, outpaced the balance of the footwear market.

讓我們從第一個支柱開始，以及我們在重振 DSW 品種方面所取得的進展。我們對我們在運動和休閒方面的表現感到滿意，這超出了 DSW 的其他類別的平衡，尤其是運動項目，佔 15%。據 Circana 稱，第一季度，功能鞋和休閒鞋這兩個類別的 DSW 銷售額均超過了鞋類市場的其餘部分。

Keds significantly benefited from the heat in these categories as well, with sales dollars outpacing the balance of the footwear market in Q1, according to Circana. As such, athletic penetration of total DSW overall sales grew by over 460 basis points year over year to 30%.

據 Circana 稱，Keds 也從這些類別的熱度中受益匪淺，第一季的銷售額超過了鞋類市場的其餘部分。因此，運動產品在 DSW 整體銷售額中的滲透率比去年同期成長了 460 個基點，達到 30%。

Furthermore, nearly all of the leading national athleisure brands that we carry are seeing impressive growth within DSW that often outpaces their own growth in the market, which has facilitated constructive dialogue with our top partners. Zooming out, we've seen exceptional growth from our top national brands.

此外，我們經營的幾乎所有領先的民族運動休閒品牌在DSW 中都取得了令人矚目的增長，這種增長往往超過了它們自己在市場上的增長，這促進了我們與頂級合作夥伴的建設性對話。縮小範圍，我們看到我們的頂級國家品牌取得了驚人的成長。

Specifically, in the first quarter, our eight hottest brands alone, which include a number of the most sought-after trending athletic brands in the market today, grew 27% year over year. We spoke last quarter about Laura's focus on strategically building stronger relationships with our brand partners. This will help to ensure we always have the right top brands on hand, based on consumer insights, regardless of category.

具體來說，在第一季度，光是我們最熱門的八個品牌（其中包括當今市場上最受歡迎的趨勢運動品牌）就比去年同期成長了 27%。上個季度我們談到了勞拉（Laura）專注於策略性地與我們的品牌合作夥伴建立更牢固的關係。這將有助於確保我們始終擁有基於消費者洞察的正確頂級品牌，無論品類如何。

Laura and her team have also been executing select strategic closeout buys in the affordable luxury market. These exciting finds carry a perceived value in product differentiation that extends well beyond the size of the buys themselves. Although relatively small compared to our other offerings, this affordable luxury category significantly outperformed the balance of our assortment.

勞拉（Laura）和她的團隊也一直在經濟實惠的奢侈品市場上執行精選的策略性清倉收購。這些令人興奮的發現所帶來的產品差異化感知價值遠遠超出了購買規模本身。雖然與我們的其他產品相比相對較小，但這種經濟實惠的奢侈品類別的表現明顯優於我們的其他產品類別。

Additionally, we've gotten incredibly positive customer feedback. Many of our most ardent customers have been attracted to the excitement of the treasure hunt phenomenon at our physical locations. And we want to continue to be a destination of choice for shoppers eager to find exciting and unexpected selections. We believe that these buzzworthy offerings are paying off by enhancing assortment relevance and customer excitement, complementing our existing product, and driving sales in ancillary categories.

此外，我們也獲得了非常正面的客戶回饋。我們許多最熱心的客戶都被我們實體店內令人興奮的尋寶現象所吸引。我們希望繼續成為渴望找到令人興奮和意想不到的選擇的購物者的首選目的地。我們相信，這些值得關注的產品透過增強品種相關性和客戶興奮度、補充我們現有的產品並推動輔助類別的銷售而獲得回報。

Amidst these category successes, we are equally aware of the categories that aren't resonating as strongly with the customer and have enacted prudent inventory controls. The seasonal category got off to a slower start as inconsistent weather impacted this category in the first quarter. The industry continues to see broad weakness in the seasonal footwear space.

在這些品類的成功中，我們同樣意識到有些品類沒有引起客戶強烈的共鳴，並採取了審慎的庫存控制措施。由於第一季不穩定的天氣影響了季節性類別，因此季節性類別的開局較慢。該行業繼續看到季節性鞋類領域普遍疲軟。

Likewise, dress continued to experience softness in the quarter, posting a comp of negative 7% year over year. We will continue to closely monitor these trends and manage our inventory levels and assortment planning accordingly. Beyond these exciting developments in our assortment, in the first quarter, we advanced our second strategic pillar to optimize our marketing investments. I'm very excited to share that

同樣，服裝在本季繼續表現疲軟，年減 7%。我們將繼續密切關注這些趨勢，並相應地管理我們的庫存水準和品種規劃。除了我們產品系列中這些令人興奮的發展之外，我們在第一季還推進了第二個策略支柱，以優化我們的行銷投資。我很高興能分享這一點

Sarah Crockett will be joining our leadership team as DSW's new Chief Marketing Officer. Sarah brings a wealth of experience in customer acquisition and retention, driving traffic and marketing budget efficiency to DSW, which strongly complements the work Laura is already championing around elevating our assortment and shopping experience. Sarah is bringing to DBI an extensive background in global full funnel marketing, including a comprehensive knowledge of brand strategy development.

Sarah Crockett 將加入我們的領導團隊，擔任 DSW 的新任首席行銷長。 Sarah 為 DSW 帶來了在客戶獲取和保留、推動流量和行銷預算效率方面的豐富經驗，這有力地補充了 Laura 已經倡導的提升我們的品類和購物體驗的工作。 Sarah 為 DBI 帶來了全球全通路行銷的豐富背景，包括品牌策略發展的全面知識。

She also has considerable experience in multichannel and consumer-centric marketing. She most recently served as global Chief Marketing Officer at Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc., and prior to that was global Chief Marketing Officer for Dickies, and Chief Marketing Officer at Backcountry and Burton Snowboards. She also has held leadership positions at other specialty retail brands, including Lucky Brands, Vans, and REI.

她在多通路和以消費者為中心的營銷方面也擁有豐富的經驗。她最近擔任 Nature's Sunshine Products, Inc. 的全球首席行銷官，此前曾擔任 Dickies 的全球首席行銷長以及 Backcountry 和 Burton Snowboards 的首席行銷長。她也曾在其他專業零售品牌（包括 Lucky Brands、Vans 和 REI）擔任領導職務。

Our renewed top of funnel programming continues to engage national audiences. Our current campaign, DSW Pairs with Everything, emphasizes the continued expansion of our offerings and styles. We are also focusing on recouping lapsed customers through tailored engagement, including special promotional campaigns. Using data on past purchasing behavior and time since last purchase, we are analyzing new ways to reach out to both lapsed and about to lapse customers. While we are in the early stages of piloting this exciting initiative, we are quite pleased with the positive results we are seeing.

我們更新的漏斗頂部節目繼續吸引全國觀眾。我們目前的活動「DSW Pairs with Everything」強調不斷擴展我們的產品和風格。我們也致力於透過量身訂製的參與（包括特別促銷活動）來挽回流失的客戶。利用過去的購買行為和自上次購買以來的時間數據，我們正在分析接觸已流失和即將流失的客戶的新方法。雖然我們正處於試點這項令人興奮的舉措的早期階段，但我們對所看到的積極成果感到非常滿意。

Moving on to our final pillar, we have continued to find new avenues to enhance our omnichannel experiences. This quarter, digital demand achieved strong mid-single-digit growth versus last year, and conversion continued to improve as we evolved our digital customer experience. At our physical locations, new layouts continue to be piloted, and we have seen a positive reception to store refreshes we are doing, which include fresh paint, new lights, and updated flooring.

轉向我們的最後一個支柱，我們繼續尋找新的途徑來增強我們的全通路體驗。本季度，數位需求與去年相比實現了強勁的中位數成長，並且隨著我們發展數位客戶體驗，轉換率持續改善。在我們的實體店，新的佈局繼續進行試點，我們看到我們正在進行的商店更新受到了積極的歡迎，其中包括新油漆、新燈光和更新的地板。

Our customers love DSW because it provides a variety of brands and price points in convenient locations to try on items and receive exceptional customer support. We are committed to enhancing the client experience both in-store and online and will continue to evaluate new opportunities that will strengthen our ability to drive omnichannel growth.

我們的客戶喜歡 DSW，因為它在便利的地點提供各種品牌和價位的商品，以便試穿商品並獲得卓越的客戶支援。我們致力於增強店內和線上的客戶體驗，並將繼續評估新的機會，以增強我們推動全通路成長的能力。

Beyond our DSW banner, our Canadian operations are also representative of our efforts to improve the shopping experience for our customers. Our sales grew nearly 3% versus last year, while comps declined by 4.9%, a sequential improvement from the fourth quarter in line with our expectations. This was primarily driven by kids in athletic categories, which posted strong positive comps this quarter. As we noted last quarter, Mary Turner has begun fully rebranding the shoe company, both digitally and in new storefronts. This quarter, we opened five new shoe company stores, and we expect to add an additional four net new stores to our portfolio by the end of 2024.

除了我們的 DSW 旗幟之外，我們的加拿大業務也代表了我們為改善客戶購物體驗所做的努力。我們的銷售額與去年相比增長了近 3%，而同比下降了 4.9%，與第四季度相比環比有所改善，符合我們的預期。這主要是由運動類別的孩子推動的，該類別在本季度發布了強勁的積極業績。正如我們上季度指出的那樣，瑪麗特納已開始對鞋業公司進行全面品牌重塑，包括數位化和新店面。本季度，我們開設了 5 家新鞋業公司商店，預計到 2024 年底，我們的投資組合中將新增 4 家淨新商店。

Additionally, as we continue to expand our reach and grow our market share, I am pleased to announce that in the first quarter, we acquired Rubino, a profitable Canadian footwear retailer operating nearly 30 stores, specifically serving the Province of Quebec, a province that represents nearly a quarter of Canada's population, but in which we had no existing presence. Rubino currently operates stores that offer nearly identical atmospheres and assortments to that of our own shoe company stores.

此外，隨著我們不斷擴大業務範圍並增加市場份額，我很高興地宣布，在第一季度，我們收購了Rubino，這是一家盈利的加拿大鞋類零售商，經營著近30 家商店，專門為魁北克省提供服務。 Rubino 目前經營的商店提供與我們自己的鞋業公司商店幾乎相同的氛圍和品種。

Rubino already makes sufficient use of its working capital and is expected to contribute to DBI's operating income at about the same rate as our overall Canadian retail segment, and we expect the acquisition to be immediately accretive. Rubino's customers are loyal to the brand, and we intend to continue operating these storefronts under the Rubino banner. We also believe there's an opportunity to add value by offering our own brands in their stores.

Rubino 已經充分利用了其營運資金，預計將為 DBI 的營業收入做出貢獻，其比例與我們整個加拿大零售部門的比例大致相同，我們預計此次收購將立即產生增值。 Rubino 的顧客對品牌非常忠誠，我們打算繼續在 Rubino 旗下經營這些店面。我們也相信，透過在他們的商店中提供我們自己的品牌，有機會增加價值。

Moving on to the brand's portfolio, I'd love to turn the call over to the new President of our brand's portfolio and footwear industry expert, Andrea O'Donnell, to discuss her priorities for the business now that she has had some time to assess the portfolio and meet with our brand leaders. As a reminder, Andrea joined us in January after serving as the Chief Executive Officer at Everlane at Fashion Retailer, and before that, as President of Fashion Lifestyle and the UGG Brands at Decker's. Andrea, thank you for joining us today.

談到該品牌的產品組合，我很樂意將電話轉給我們品牌產品組合的新任總裁兼鞋類行業專家 Andrea O'Donnell，討論她的業務優先事項，因為她已經有一些時間來評估產品組合併與我們的品牌領導者會面。謹此提醒，Andrea 於 1 月加入我們，此前曾擔任 Fashion Retailer 的 Everlane 首席執行官，此前曾擔任 Decker's 的時尚生活方式和 UGG 品牌總裁。安德里亞，感謝您今天加入我們。

Thank you for having me, Doug. It's a pleasure to be here today. Designer Brands first attracted me because of its unique combination of retail and brand. Since I joined the team, I have become even more excited by the opportunity, not least of which is because of the progress we are already making this year. As a veteran in this industry, I understand footwear brands' competitive advantages very well.

謝謝你邀請我，道格。很高興今天來到這裡。 Designer Brands 首先吸引我的是因為它獨特的零售與品牌結合。自從我加入團隊以來，我對這個機會感到更加興奮，尤其是因為我們今年已經取得了進展。身為這個產業的資深人士，我非常了解鞋類品牌的競爭優勢。

My job here is to build and execute a portfolio strategy that focuses our resources and efforts over the next few years toward the strongest brands and the biggest ideas. Our brand portfolio presents an incredible opportunity to increase the profitability of DBI. So what are we doing? In the immediate term, our focus is on reducing costs, right-sizing the organization, increasing margins, streamlining and simplifying the way we work, and defining the role, purpose, and potential of the brands in our portfolio. We already have in place key competencies in design, sourcing, and logistics.

我在這裡的工作是製定並執行一項投資組合策略，在未來幾年內將我們的資源和努力集中到最強大的品牌和最偉大的想法。我們的品牌組合為提高 DBI 的獲利能力提供了絕佳的機會。那我們在做什麼呢？短期內，我們的重點是降低成本、調整組織規模、提高利潤、精簡和簡化我們的工作方式，以及確定我們產品組合中品牌的角色、目的和潛力。我們已經具備了設計、採購和物流的關鍵能力。

So once we have re-engineered the operating model and built the foundations for profitable growth, I believe we will be well positioned to invest and scale fast. Across our brands, I see a great opportunity to evolve our product ideation process, which will in turn improve adoption rates amongst our collections. We know that not all brands are created equal, and I have charged my team to be discerning. Carefully consider resource trade-offs and think critically about maximizing the long-term potential for our enterprise.

因此，一旦我們重新設計了營運模式並為獲利成長奠定了基礎，我相信我們將處於快速投資和擴張的有利位置。在我們的品牌中，我看到了發展產品構思流程的絕佳機會，這反過來又會提高我們產品系列的採用率。我們知道，並非所有品牌都是平等的，我要求我的團隊要有洞察力。仔細考慮資源權衡，並批判性地思考如何最大限度地發揮我們企業的長期潛力。

Our goal is to build our foundation and refine our core competencies early, professionalizing our product strategy so we can easily grow and integrate further in the future. From next year, we will be executing on a strategy that aims to deliver growth in a number of ways. DSW-exclusive brands already have strength in key women's categories, and we will leverage these strengths to grow sales and become margin maximizers for the business.

我們的目標是儘早奠定基礎並完善我們的核心競爭力，使我們的產品策略專業化，以便我們能夠在未來輕鬆發展和進一步整合。從明年開始，我們將執行一項旨在透過多種方式實現成長的策略。 DSW 獨家品牌已經在關鍵女裝類別中擁有實力，我們將利用這些優勢來增加銷售額並成為業務利潤最大化者。

The DSW relationship gives us a unique opportunity to understand the family channel consumer well, and we are very confident in our ability to give these customers a targeted and focused offer of great style at unbelievable value. We are in the process of redefining the brand and product strategies for our licensed brands, with Jessica Simpson already evidencing potential based on its current competitive positioning. In addition, we will be investing in accelerating growth in Keds and Topo Athletics.

DSW 關係為我們提供了一個獨特的機會來深入了解家庭通路消費者，我們非常有信心能夠以令人難以置信的價值為這些客戶提供有針對性、重點突出的優質款式。我們正在為我們的授權品牌重新定義品牌和產品策略，傑西卡辛普森已經根據其當前的競爭定位證明了潛力。此外，我們還將投資加速 Keds 和 Topo Athletics 的成長。

They are uniquely well positioned within the portfolio, have compelling heritages, and are situated in growing categories. They already have access to great distribution and are achieving upper quartile growth margins. This year to date, brand strengths are emerging. In the first quarter, we saw solid performance from Keds as well as overall D2C growth. Hush Puppies, which was added to our portfolio in the third quarter of last year, was incremental to sales, and Jessica Simpson posted a double-digit comp.

它們在產品組合中處於獨特的有利位置，擁有引人注目的傳統，並且屬於不斷增長的類別。他們已經獲得了良好的分銷管道，並且正在實現上四分之一的成長利潤。今年迄今為止，品牌優勢正在顯現。在第一季度，我們看到了 Keds 的穩健表現以及整體 D2C 的成長。去年第三季添加到我們產品組合中的 Hush Puppies 的銷售額有所增加，傑西卡辛普森 (Jessica Simpson) 的銷售額達到了兩位數。

Topo Athletics continues to be a brand with increasing momentum. This quarter, we saw strong consumer demand as we partnered with Premier Fitness and Outdoors channels such as REI to develop distribution nationwide. In conclusion, my team and I have developed a strategy and a three-year plan. '24 is about reducing waste, driving efficiency. '25 is leveraging our strengths to grow both growth margin and sales. And '26 is really about scaling and scaling fast.

Topo Athletics 仍然是一個勢頭不斷增強的品牌。本季度，我們與 REI 等 Premier Fitness 和 Outdoors 管道合作開發全國分銷，因此看到了強勁的消費者需求。總之，我和我的團隊制定了策略和三年計畫。 '24 是關於減少浪費、提高效率。 '25 正在利用我們的優勢來提高利潤率和銷售額。 26 確實是關於擴展和快速擴展。

As you can tell, Andrea has many exciting perspectives that she has brought to our organization. And I am grateful to have her leadership and industry experience as we progress our own brand strategy both within and outside of DSW. We believe we are on solid footing as we enter the summer months with an increasingly fresh assortment every day that is a mix of our core offerings and vibrant on-trend seasonal assortment.

如你所知，Andrea 為我們的組織帶來了許多令人興奮的觀點。我很感激她的領導力和行業經驗，幫助我們在 DSW 內外推進我們自己的品牌策略。我們相信，隨著進入夏季，我們的基礎穩固，每天都會提供越來越新鮮的品種，這些品種是我們的核心產品和充滿活力的流行季節性品種的組合。

We are welcoming back-lapse customers, increasing engagement with existing customers, and targeting new customers with personalized promotions. We continue to see a clear pathway to reach new audiences as we further grow the relevance of our own brands and DSW offerings. We will continue to leverage our differentiated platform to remain nimble and meet customers where they are.

我們歡迎回頭客，增加與現有客戶的互動，並透過個人化促銷瞄準新客戶。隨著我們進一步提高自有品牌和 DSW 產品的相關性，我們繼續看到一條吸引新受眾的清晰途徑。我們將繼續利用我們的差異化平台來保持靈活性並滿足客戶的需求。

With that, I'll turn it over to Jared. Jared?

有了這個，我會把它交給賈里德。賈里德？

Thank you, Doug, and good morning, everyone. I am pleased with our first quarter financial results, which were in line with our expectations. Our disciplined execution delivered the improved results we had planned while we made headway on our strategic initiatives. I continue to be very pleased with the performance of our athletic and casual segments of the business as we flex our assortment to meet customer demand, something that will continue to anchor our strategy. Let me provide a bit more details on our financial results.

謝謝你，道格，大家早安。我對我們第一季的財務表現感到滿意，這符合我們的預期。我們嚴格的執行力實現了我們計劃的改進結果，同時我們的策略舉措也取得了進展。我仍然對我們的運動和休閒業務部門的表現感到非常滿意，因為我們調整了產品種類以滿足客戶需求，這將繼續鞏固我們的策略。讓我提供有關我們財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

For the first quarter of 2024, net sales of $746.6 million were up 0.6% versus the prior year as reported and were down 2.5% on a 13-week comparable basis. As discussed last quarter, the shift in our fiscal calendar following our 53rd week fiscal 2023 will cause some variability between year-over-year growth and comparable sales growth in any given quarter. Our first quarter results are shifted ahead by one week on the calendar, which resulted in the comparable prior period year results dropping a softer week in early February and picking up a busier week in May.

2024 年第一季度，淨銷售額為 7.466 億美元，較上年同期成長 0.6%，與 13 週可比相比下降 2.5%。如上季所討論的，2023 財年第 53 週之後我們的財政日曆發生變化，將導致任何特定季度的同比增長和可比銷售增長之間出現一些變化。我們第一季的業績在日曆上提前了一周，這導致去年同期的業績在 2 月初出現了較疲軟的一周，而在 5 月份則出現了較繁忙的一周。

In our US retail segment, comps were down 2.3% in the first quarter, a significant sequential improvement over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. As Doug outlined, we are happy with the continued strength we saw from our top national brands and more specifically, in our athletic and casual businesses. We performed relatively in line with the overall footwear market and were pleased to have ended the quarter stronger than we had started and to be continuing to see steady improvement in Q2 as expected.

在我們的美國零售部門，第一季的比較下降了2.3%，比2023 財年第四季有了顯著的環比改善。更具體地說，在我們的運動和休閒業務中。我們的表現與整體鞋類市場相對一致，很高興本季結束時比開始時表現強勁，並且第二季度繼續如預期穩步改善。

With athletic continuing to outperform, we think this also sets us up well as we move into the back-to-school season towards the end of Q2 and beginning of Q3. Our Canada retail segment, comps were down 4.9% in the first quarter, driven by an overall reduction in overall consumer discretionary spending levels. Finally, in our brands portfolio segment, sales were up 12% in the first quarter.

隨著運動繼續表現出色，我們認為這也為我們進入第二季末和第三季初的返校季節做好了準備。由於整體消費者可自由支配支出水準整體下降，我們的加拿大零售部門第一季的綜合業績下降了 4.9%。最後，在我們的品牌組合領域，第一季銷售額成長了 12%。

As a reminder, starting this quarter, we have harmonized our approach to how we transact business between our brands portfolio segment and our retail segments. This resulted in approximately $13 million of year-over-year sales growth for our brand segment. vincecamuto.com reported comps down 6.2% for the first quarter as it lapped a strong first quarter last year, which posted 11.3% comps.

提醒一下，從本季開始，我們已經協調了品牌組合部門和零售部門之間的業務處理方式。這使得我們品牌細分市場的銷售額年增約 1,300 萬美元。 vincecamuto.com 報告稱，第一季的比較下降了 6.2%，去年第一季的比較強勁，去年同期的比較為 11.3%。

Meanwhile, topo.com continued to gain traction with running enthusiasts as it posted a 26.4% comp gain. Consolidated gross margin of 32.8% in the first quarter, which expanded 80 basis points versus the prior year, was primarily driven by our brand segment, which benefited from much fresher inventory levels, resulting in reduced closeout sales attributed to cleaning up inventory in the channel last year upon acquisition, along with margin strength in wholesale.

同時，topo.com 繼續受到跑步愛好者的青睞，其同比漲幅達到 26.4%。第一季綜合毛利率為 32.8%，比上年同期增長 80 個基點，這主要是由我們的品牌部門推動的，該部門受益於庫存水平的更新，導致清理渠道庫存導致清倉銷售減少去年收購後，批發利潤率也強勁。

Our adjusted SG&A was 31.2% of sales compared to 28.9% in the prior year period. We have continued to experience modest deleveraging, largely due to declining sales combined with increases in underlying fixed expenses due to several acquisitions we completed in 2023. As mentioned last quarter, our full-year guidance assumes slight leverage in our SG&A rate. This guidance takes into consideration that we are returning to a normalized level of incentive-based compensation in 2024. We are also acutely focused on finding efficiencies and leverage throughout our organization.

調整後的 SG&A 佔銷售額的 31.2%，而去年同期為 28.9%。我們繼續經歷適度的去槓桿化，這主要是由於銷售額下降，加上我們在2023 年完成的幾項收購導致基本固定費用增加。速率存在輕微槓桿作用。本指南考慮到我們將在 2024 年恢復到基於激勵的薪酬的正常水平。

As part of that work, we recently executed a cost reduction, primarily driven by headcount reduction, which we believe will help drive efficiencies in many parts of the business, both financially and operationally. This cost reduction was anticipated in our annual guidance and reaffirms our prior commitment that we expect to generate slight SG&A rate leverage for the entire fiscal year. We are remaining focused on becoming more optimized with our expense structure as we move forward, both this year and over the long term.

作為這項工作的一部分，我們最近實施了成本削減，主要是透過減少員工人數來推動的，我們相信這將有助於提高業務許多部分的效率，包括財務和營運方面的效率。我們的年度指導中預計會出現這種成本削減，並重申了我們先前的承諾，即我們預計整個財政年度將產生輕微的銷售及行政管理費率槓桿。隨著我們的前進，無論是今年還是長期，我們仍然專注於進一步優化我們的費用結構。

During the quarter, we delivered adjusted operating income of $14.7 million compared to $25.8 million in the prior year. In the first quarter, we had $11.6 million of net interest expense compared to $6.6 million in the prior year period. Our higher interest is a direct result of the term loan we installed last year and higher interest rates on our AVL. Our effective tax rate for the first quarter on an adjusted basis was a negative 53.3% compared to 25.7% last year. This tax rate is primarily the result of tax planning in the quarter, which, when applied against a relatively small base of pre-tax income, resulted in an unusual tax rate.

本季度，我們實現調整後營業收入 1,470 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,580 萬美元。第一季度，我們的淨利息支出為 1,160 萬美元，而去年同期為 660 萬美元。我們較高的利息是我們去年安裝的定期貸款和 AVL 利率較高的直接結果。我們第一季調整後的有效稅率為負 53.3%，而去年為 25.7%。該稅率主要是本季度稅務規劃的結果，當應用於相對較小的稅前收入基數時，導致了不尋常的稅率。

Our first quarter adjusted net income was $4.8 million, or $0.08 in diluted earnings per share. On to our inventory. We ended the first quarter with inventories down 2.7% versus the prior year as we continue to execute against our initiatives to keep our assortment flexible. We are comfortable with our current inventory levels as our strong balance sheet enables us to continue to take advantage of opportunistic buys with our key partners and with select affordable luxury brands.

我們第一季調整後淨利為 480 萬美元，稀釋後每股收益為 0.08 美元。到我們的庫存。由於我們繼續執行保持品種靈活的舉措，我們第一季末的庫存比去年同期下降了 2.7%。我們對目前的庫存水準感到滿意，因為我們強大的資產負債表使我們能夠繼續利用與我們的主要合作夥伴和精選的實惠奢侈品牌的機會主義購買。

During the quarter, we once again reaffirmed our commitment to return cash to shareholders through a $0.05 dividend representing nearly $3 million in aggregate. Additionally, we spent $17.4 million in capitalized costs, including fixed assets and cloud computing arrangements, as we invest for strategic growth and continue to modernize our businesses. We ended the quarter with $43.4 million of cash and our total liquidity, which includes cash and availability under our revolver, was $231.2 million.

本季度，我們再次重申透過 0.05 美元股息（總計近 300 萬美元）向股東返還現金的承諾。此外，我們還花費了 1740 萬美元的資本化成本，包括固定資產和雲端運算安排，因為我們投資於策略性成長並繼續實現業務現代化。本季末，我們的現金為 4,340 萬美元，總流動資金（包括現金和左輪手槍可用資金）為 2.312 億美元。

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, we received the final $47 million of our CARES Act tax refund due to us from the IRS. In addition, we continue to be fully compliant with all covenants associated with our outstanding debt and have strong relationships with all credit providers. Total debt outstanding was $476.1 million as of the end of the first quarter.

本季末後，我們收到了美國國稅局 (IRS) 應付給我們的最後 4,700 萬美元的 CARES 法案退稅款。此外，我們繼續完全遵守與未償債務相關的所有契約，並與所有信貸提供者建立了牢固的關係。截至第一季末，未償債務總額為 4.761 億美元。

Before I conclude, I want to take a minute to reaffirm our 2024 guidance. We continue to expect net sales growth in the low single digits versus last year, which factors in the headwind of sales recorded in the 53rd week of 2023. We also anticipate comparable sales to be up low single digits, improving sequentially as the year progresses. We are also reaffirming our sales outlook in our Brands portfolio segment, reflecting growth in the mid-single digits driven by a double-digit DTC growth as well as wholesale growth in key accounts, especially Topo and Hush Puppies.

在結束之前，我想花一點時間重申我們的 2024 年指導方針。我們繼續預期淨銷售額將比去年低個位數成長，這是考慮到2023 年第53 週的銷售逆風。改善。我們也重申了我們品牌組合細分市場的銷售前景，反映出兩位數 DTC 成長以及主要客戶（尤其是 Topo 和 Hush Puppies）批發成長推動的中個位數成長。

In terms of the full year, we continue to expect comp sales in the fall, to be materially stronger than in the spring, as our assortment evolution continues to take hold, with our top brand offerings taking share during back-to-school and holidays, while helping forge a recovery from last year's lack-luster boot season. We continue to project our third quarter as our strongest sales growth period and our fourth quarter to be our weakest, given the loss of the 53rd week.

就全年而言，我們繼續預計秋季的銷售量將明顯強於春季，因為我們的品種演變繼續佔據主導地位，我們的頂級品牌產品在返校和假期期間佔據份額，同時幫助球隊從去年低迷的靴子賽季中復甦。鑑於第 53 週的虧損，我們繼續預期第三季將是我們最強勁的銷售成長期，而第四季將是我們最弱的銷售成長期。

Given the impact of the 53rd week and our ongoing transformation efforts, we also wanted to provide more clarity on the second quarter. We are pleased with the start of the second quarter, with May posting similar top line performance to Q1. We do anticipate to end Q2 stronger than we had started as we expect our performance to gradually improve as we reach an inflection point in Q3.

考慮到第 53 週的影響以及我們正在進行的轉型努力，我們也希望提供更多關於第二季的資訊。我們對第二季的開始感到滿意，五月的營收表現與第一季相似。我們確實預計第二季的業績會比開始時更強，因為我們預計隨著第三季的轉折點，我們的業績將逐漸改善。

Furthermore, we currently expect our Q2 gross margin to be in line with the levels of Q1. As I mentioned earlier, we continue to see an opportunity for slight expense leverage in our SG&A ratio for the full year, as we cut costs while reinvesting in key areas such as marketing, personnel, and technology. We reaffirm our expectations for our annual adjusted earnings per share, to be in the range of $0.70 to $0.80, representing a roughly 10% increase at the midpoint versus our 2023 results.

此外，我們目前預計第二季的毛利率將與第一季的水準一致。正如我之前提到的，我們繼續看到全年 SG&A 比率中存在輕微費用槓桿的機會，因為我們在削減成本的同時對行銷、人員和技術等關鍵領域進行了再投資。我們重申，我們對年度調整後每股收益的預期為 0.70 美元至 0.80 美元，與 2023 年業績相比，中位數增長約 10%。

EPS will remain below last year for the spring, with growth over last year anticipated for the second half of fiscal 2024. We also continue to expect capital costs, including fixed assets and cloud computing arrangements to be in the range of $65 million to $75 million for the year.

春季每股收益將繼續低於去年，預計 2024 財年下半年將比去年增長。

Throughout our evolution, we are as focused as ever on refreshing the DSW banner and our offerings. Our team's passions and commitments to bringing trend-right styles to our customers, is instrumental for the sustained success of our business. And I believe that by embracing these strategic initiatives firm-wide, we are already seeing the fruits of our labor. We will continue to focus on streamlining our operations, finding efficiencies, and improving our associates' productivity, while our segment leaders execute the priorities that Doug has continued to reinforce.

在我們的發展過程中，我們一如既往地專注於更新 DSW 旗幟和我們的產品。我們團隊的熱情和承諾為客戶提供符合潮流的款式，這對我們業務的持續成功至關重要。我相信，透過在全公司範圍內實施這些策略舉措，我們已經看到了我們的勞動成果。我們將繼續專注於簡化營運、提高效率並提高員工的生產力，而我們的部門領導者則執行道格不斷強化的優先事項。

With that, we will open the call for questions. Operator?

至此，我們將開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Mauricio Serna, UBS.

（操作員指示）Mauricio Serna，UBS。

Hi. Good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. Maybe if you could elaborate a little bit more on the comp sales trend throughout the quarter. It seems that things accelerated in April, so maybe if you could elaborate on that. And also, and what does that imply about May, considering that you say like it's roughly in line with the overall Q1?

你好。早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。也許您可以詳細說明整個季度的比較銷售趨勢。看來四月份事情加速了，所以也許你能詳細說明一下。另外，考慮到您所說的與第一季的整體情況大致一致，這對 5 月意味著什麼？

And then second, maybe if you could talk more about the impact of the Rubino acquisition in Canada. I mean, I would assume that would impact, in a way, your top-line expectations, so maybe you could give us a sense of -- I mean, you mentioned the number of stores, but maybe like from a dollar perspective, like - just for us to get a sense of like how much that is impacting the Canada retail expectations? Thank you.

其次，也許您可以多談談收購 Rubino 對加拿大的影響。我的意思是，我認為這會在某種程度上影響你的頂線預期，所以也許你可以給我們一種感覺——我的意思是，你提到了商店的數量，但也許從美元的角度來看，例如- 只是為了讓我們了解這對加拿大零售預期的影響有多大？謝謝。

Yeah, Mauricio. This is Doug. Thanks for your question. I'll take the first one, and then I'll hand it over to Jared for the Rubino question. Yes, I mean, we exited Q1 stronger than we entered it, as we said in the remarks. And again, we're seeing that trend continue through May. We feel really confident about, all the work that Lowe's is doing, specifically to elevate the assortment and to really lean into the athletic category, which, again, had a 15% increase in Q1.

是的，毛里西奧。這是道格。謝謝你的提問。我將接受第一個，然後將其交給 Jared 來解答 Rubino 問題。是的，我的意思是，正如我們在評論中所說，我們退出第一季比進入第一季時更強勁。我們再次看到這種趨勢持續到五月。我們對 Lowe's 所做的所有工作非常有信心，特別是提升產品種類並真正向運動類別傾斜，該類別在第一季度再次增長了 15%。

And that penetration only is stronger as we move into, obviously, back-to-school, which is, we think, a big opportunity for last year. So again, we're optimistic about that as we move through the quarter, but there was a sequential improvement in the fact that we exited the quarter, at a stronger rate than we entered it, and dramatically stronger than, obviously, the Q4 performance. So we're pleased with the progress. And then, Jared?

顯然，當我們重返校園時，這種滲透只會變得更強，我們認為這是去年的一個巨大機會。因此，我們再次對本季度的表現持樂觀態度，但我們在退出本季度時出現了連續性改善，其速度比進入本季度時要快，並且明顯強於第四季度的表現。所以我們對進展感到滿意。然後，賈里德？

Yeah, and on the Rubino acquisition, so last year, 2023, they generated $47 million. This is in Canadian, $47 million of sales, and we bought them and will be registering three quarters of the year of sales in this year. So we are expecting, like we mentioned, similar operating income contribution from Rubino as our entire -- our Canadian segment. They look, feel, smell, taste just like our shoe company stores, and they basically are the shoe company just rebadged as Rubino serving Quebec.

是的，在收購 Rubino 時，去年，也就是 2023 年，他們獲得了 4,700 萬美元的收入。這是在加拿大，銷售額為 4700 萬美元，我們購買了它們，並將在今年記錄全年銷售額的四分之三。因此，正如我們所提到的，我們預計 Rubino 將為我們整個加拿大業務部門帶來類似的營業收入貢獻。它們看起來、摸起來、聞起來、嘗起來都和我們的鞋業公司商店一樣，而且它們基本上就是剛剛​​重新貼上為魁北克服務的 Rubino 的鞋業公司。

Got it. Super helpful. And then, just a quick follow-up. On the SG&A, just maybe could you provide a little bit more detail on why the acceleration, I mean, high single-digit increase, trying to understand like if there's anything in particular, maybe is it related to timing or with the calendar shift? But, yes, any -- additional detail on SG&A acceleration would be very helpful yes -- as we model the next few quarters? Thank you.

知道了。超有幫助。然後，進行快速跟進。關於SG&A，也許您可以提供更多細節來說明為什麼加速，我的意思是，高個位數的增長，試圖了解是否有什麼特別的事情，也許它與時間或日曆變化有關？但是，是的，當我們對未來幾季進行建模時，關於 SG&A 加速的額外細節會非常有幫助嗎？謝謝。

Sure. Yes. So we did mention in the comments, we did return to our normalized incentive comp posture this year. Last year, given the performance of the business, that was completely removed. You know, that in round numbers is just a little over $30 million. Our incentive comp goes to all employees in the company. And so, that is a net headwind that is pretty evenly dispersed across all four quarters. We did just execute reorganization, as we shared.

當然。是的。因此，我們確實在評論中提到，今年我們確實恢復了正常的激勵補償姿態。去年，考慮到業務的表現，這一點被完全取消了。你知道，這個數字大約只有 3000 萬美元多一點。我們的激勵補償適用於公司的所有員工。因此，這是一個淨逆風，相當均勻地分佈在所有四個季度。正如我們所分享的，我們確實剛剛進行了重組。

That's resulting in this year around $12 million of savings. When you kind of look at year-over-year dollars, as far as being more than last year, right now, these two quarters, you know, we are living with more dollars being spent this year than last year, primarily in that incentive comp land, and a little bit in some marketing. When we get into next year or into the fall, that year-over-year dollar deleverage minimizes primarily, because marketing and selling expenses were higher last year in the fall than they were in the spring. So that's why we're expecting -- the overall SG&A rate to leverage slightly, especially as sales build into the fall. But those are the big drivers.

今年可節省約 1200 萬美元。當你看看同比美元時，就目前而言，這兩個季度的美元數量超過去年，你知道，我們今年花費的美元比去年更多，主要是在激勵措施方面補償土地，以及一些營銷方面的一點點。當我們進入明年或秋季時，年比美元去槓桿化主要會最小化，因為去年秋季的營銷和銷售費用高於春季。這就是為什麼我們預期整體銷售、管理及行政費用率將小幅上升，特別是隨著秋季銷售的成長。但這些是重要的驅動因素。

Understood. Very helpful. Thank you so much.

明白了。非常有幫助。太感謝了。

(Operator Instructions) This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would -- just one moment. I see that we have a follow-up from Mauricio Serna from UBS. Please go ahead.

（操作員說明）我們的問答環節到此結束。我會——就一會兒。我看到瑞銀 (UBS) 的毛里西奧·塞爾納 (Mauricio Serna) 對我們進行了跟進。請繼續。

Great. Thanks. If I could just squeeze one in. If you could talk about maybe what you're seeing on the promotional environment on the US retail business. I know you called out primarily the growth margin expansion that's coming from brands' portfolio. But maybe if you could talk about what you're seeing in the US retail that would be very helpful? Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。如果我能擠進去一點的話。我知道您主要提到了來自品牌組合的利潤率擴張。但如果你能談談你在美國零售業看到的情況，也許會很有幫助？謝謝。

Yes. This is Doug. I'll take that. We definitely, we invested fewer markdowns than we did in Q4. And I would say we have some very early pilots in phase now, where we're trying to be more targeted with those offers. But I think at this point, we feel like it's pretty steady as she goes with regards to the promotional activity, acknowledging we're in a discretionary category. There's still a fair amount of uncertainty out there in the economy. So we want to be prudent about how we're managing that. But we definitely saw some favorability with regards to how promotional we were versus Q4. And that's incorporated into our guidance.

是的。這是道格。我會接受的。當然，我們投入的降價幅度比第四季少。我想說的是，我們現在有一些非常早期的試點項目，我們正在努力更有針對性地提供這些優惠。但我認為在這一點上，我們覺得她在促銷活動方面相當穩定，承認我們處於自由裁量類別。經濟仍然存在相當大的不確定性。因此，我們要謹慎看待如何管理這個問題。但我們確實看到了與第四季度相比我們的促銷方式的一些優勢。這已納入我們的指導中。

All right. Thank you so much.

好的。太感謝了。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Doug Howe for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給道格·豪 (Doug Howe) 發表閉幕詞。

Well, thank you all for joining us today. And I just would like to reiterate one more time how much myself, and this entire leadership team appreciate all of our DBI associates for their ability to adapt their new ways of working, as we transform the business. So again, thanks for your time. We look forward to updating you on our progress as we move throughout the balance of the year.

好的，謝謝大家今天加入我們。我想再次重申，我自己以及整個領導團隊都非常感謝所有 DBI 員工在我們業務轉型過程中適應新工作方式的能力。再次感謝您抽出時間。我們期待在今年餘下的時間向您通報我們的最新進展。

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。您現在可以斷開連線。