Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc (DFIN) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thanks for standing by, and welcome to the Donnelley Financial Solutions Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call.

感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加唐納利金融解決方案 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。

I would now like to welcome Mike Zhao, Head of Investor Relations to begin the call. Mike, over to you.

現在我歡迎投資者關係主管麥克趙開始電話會議。麥克，交給你了。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Donnelley Financial Solutions' Third Quarter 2023 Results Conference Call. This morning, we released our earnings report, including a supplemental trending schedule of historical results, copies of which can be found in the Investors section of our website at dfinsolutions.com.

謝謝。大家早安，感謝您參加 Donnelley Financial Solutions 的 2023 年第三季業績電話會議。今天早上，我們發布了收益報告，包括歷史業績的補充趨勢表，其副本可以在我們網站 dfinsolutions.com 的投資者部分找到。

During this call, we'll refer to forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. For a complete discussion, please refer to the cautionary statements included in our earnings release and further detailed in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC.

在本次電話會議中，我們將提及受風險和不確定性影響的前瞻性陳述。如需完整討論，請參閱我們的收益發布中包含的警示性聲明，以及我們最近的 10-K 表年度報告、10-Q 表季度報告以及向 SEC 提交的其他文件中的進一步詳細資訊。

Further, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial information, such as adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and organic net sales. We believe the presentation of non-GAAP financial information provides you with useful supplementary information concerning the company's ongoing operations and is an appropriate way for you to evaluate the company's performance. They are however provided for informational purposes only. Please refer to the earnings release and related tables for GAAP financial information and reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP financial information.

此外，我們還將討論某些非 GAAP 財務訊息，例如調整後 EBITDA、調整後 EBITDA 利潤率和有機淨銷售額。我們相信，非公認會計準則財務資訊的呈現可為您提供有關公司持續運營的有用補充信息，並且是您評估公司業績的適當方式。然而，它們僅供參考。請參閱收益發布和相關表格，以了解 GAAP 財務資訊以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務資訊的調整表。

I'm joined this morning by Dan Leib, Dave Gardella, Craig Clay, Eric Johnson, Floyd Strimling and Kami Turner. I will now turn the call over to Dan.

今天早上，丹·萊布、戴夫·加德拉、克雷格·克萊、埃里克·約翰遜、弗洛伊德·斯特林林和卡米·特納也加入了我的行列。我現在將把電話轉給丹。

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. We delivered strong consolidated third quarter results, given the economic backdrop, with net sales of $180 million, adjusted EBITDA of $49.4 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 27.4%.

謝謝你，麥克，大家早安。鑑於經濟背景，我們第三季綜合業績強勁，淨銷售額為 1.8 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 4,940 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 27.4%。

During the third quarter, we navigated a transactions market that, despite some signs of improvement, remained weak. As a result of strong execution, we increased our third quarter adjusted EBITDA by $4.1 million or 9.1% year-over-year and expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin by 340 basis points from the third quarter of 2022.

在第三季度，我們的交易市場儘管出現了一些改善的跡象，但仍然疲軟。由於執行力強勁，我們第三季調整後 EBITDA 年比增加 410 萬美元，即 9.1%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率較 2022 年第三季增加 340 個基點。

Continued strong performance through an extended weak transactions market is an important accomplishment that demonstrates the underlying characteristics of our business and is a proof point for our broader strategy, namely, continuing to evolve toward a profitable recurring sales mix, aggressively managing our cost structure and being disciplined stewards of capital.

在長期疲軟的交易市場中持續保持強勁業績是一項重要成就，它展示了我們業務的基本特徵，也是我們更廣泛戰略的證明點，即繼續向盈利的經常性銷售組合發展，積極管理我們的成本結構，並紀律嚴明的資本管理者。

Consistent with our performance last quarter, our software offerings delivered another quarter of higher sales growth compared to recent trend. Total Software Solutions net sales grew approximately 7% on an organic basis versus the third quarter of 2022. Third quarter Software Solutions net sales growth was led by Arc Suite and Venue, which grew approximately 13% and 9%, respectively. Software Solutions made up 40.7% and of total third quarter net sales, an increase of approximately 390 basis points from last year's third quarter. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, software Solutions net sales of approximately $288 million represented 36.5% of total net sales, an increase of approximately 480 basis points from the third quarter 2022 trailing 4-quarter period.

與我們上季度的業績一致，我們的軟體產品與最近的趨勢相比，又實現了更高的銷售成長。與 2022 年第三季相比，整體軟體解決方案淨銷售額有機成長約 7%。第三季軟體解決方案淨銷售額成長由 Arc Suite 和 Venue 引領，分別成長約 13% 和 9%。軟體解決方案佔第三季總淨銷售額的 40.7%，比去年第三季成長約 390 個基點。以過去 4 季計算，軟體解決方案淨銷售額約為 2.88 億美元，佔總淨銷售額的 36.5%，較 2022 年第三季往後 4 季成長約 480 個基點。

Our third quarter performance reflects the strength of our recurring regulatory and compliance offerings. These offerings, which span across both Software Solutions and Tech-enabled Services, serve the compliance needs of corporations and investment companies. As we continue to invest in our recurring compliance products, we will ship DFIN toward a higher mix of profitable recurring revenue, and more importantly, benefit from the financial profile associated with such a recurring revenue model.

我們第三季的業績反映了我們經常性監管和合規服務的實力。這些產品涵蓋軟體解決方案和技術支援服務，滿足企業和投資公司的合規需求。隨著我們繼續投資於我們的經常性合規產品，我們將使 DFIN 實現更高的可獲利經常性收入組合，更重要的是，從與這種經常性收入模式相關的財務狀況中受益。

One key component of our recurring revenue base is our compliance and regulatory-driven software products, which include ActiveDisclosure and Arc Suite, each possess the characteristics of traditional enterprise software offerings with a high component of recurring subscription revenue as well as long-term contracts. During the third quarter, these recurring compliance software offerings grew 8% in aggregate versus the third quarter of last year and accounted for approximately 60% of total Software Solutions net sales.

我們的經常性收入基礎的關鍵組成部分是我們的合規性和監管驅動的軟體產品，其中包括ActiveDisclosure 和Arc Suite，每種產品都具有傳統企業軟體產品的特徵，其中經常性訂閱收入以及長期合約的組成部分很高。第三季度，這些經常性合規軟體產品與去年第三季相比總計成長了 8%，約佔軟體解決方案總淨銷售額的 60%。

As discussed previously, we are building a cloud-native unified compliance platform that enables shared features across Active Disclosure and Arc suite, providing foundational capabilities, such as composition, tagging, filing and regulatory and financial reporting, into a single solution while also maintaining market-specific capabilities within the individual products. This platform, in conjunction with our deep domain expertise, allows us to better serve recurring regulatory and compliance use cases under current and future regulations and also provides us the ability to expand our current SEC-oriented addressable market into adjacent markets and use cases not served by us today, facilitating future recurring revenue growth.

如前所述，我們正在建立一個雲端原生統一合規平台，該平台支援Active Disclosure 和Arc 套件之間的共享功能，將組合、標記、歸檔以及監管和財務報告等基礎功能整合到單一解決方案中，同時維護市場- 各個產品內的特定功能。該平台與我們深厚的領域專業知識相結合，使我們能夠更好地服務於當前和未來法規下的經常性監管和合規用例，並且還使我們能夠將當前面向SEC 的可尋址市場擴展到相鄰市場和未服務的用例我們今天的努力，促進了未來經常性收入的成長。

As it relates to Venue, historical demand in the data room market has been relatively stable, though can fluctuate based on underlying diligence activity taking place related not only to announced deals but also to those unannounced, both public and private alike. In addition to this market's resilient demand, product enhancement and strong sales execution have also contributed to Venue's steady performance all of which promote more consistent top and bottom line performance for DFIN.

就場地而言，數據室市場的歷史需求一直相對穩定，儘管可能會根據進行的基礎盡職調查活動而波動，這些活動不僅與已宣布的交易相關，還與未宣布的交易（無論是公共還是私人交易）有關。除了市場的彈性需求之外，產品的增強和強大的銷售執行力也促成了 Venue 的穩定業績，所有這些都促進了 DFIN 更一致的頂線和底線業績。

DFIN remains focused on driving profitable recurring revenue growth. A key source of the growth will come from regulatory and compliance opportunities which have a recurring demand profile, such as the Tailored Shareholder Reports regulation that will come into effect in July 2024.

DFIN 仍專注於推動獲利性經常性收入成長。成長的關鍵來源將來自具有經常性需求的監管和合規機會，例如將於 2024 年 7 月生效的客製化股東報告法規。

We continue to make great progress in our technology development and go-to-market plans. In mid-October, we achieved an important milestone in our readiness by launching the alpha release of our Tailored Shareholder Reports module that integrates with the financial reporting functionalities of our ArcReporting SaaS offering. This newly introduced SaaS capability is just one component of our end-to-end solution, which also features our industry-leading Tech-enabled Services and Print and Distribution offerings.

我們在技術開發和上市計劃方面繼續取得巨大進展。 10 月中旬，我們推出了客製化股東報告模組的 alpha 版本，該模組與我們的 ArcReporting SaaS 產品的財務報告功能集成，從而實現了準備工作中的一個重要里程碑。這項新推出的 SaaS 功能只是我們端到端解決方案的一個組成部分，該解決方案還具有我們領先業界的技術支援服務以及列印和分發產品。

Our full platform solution enables DFIN to adapt to the way our clients wish to work, from self-service, full service or a combination of both. We are encouraged by the positive market response to our solution and have started onboarding clients onto the platform. We expect Tailored Shareholder Reports will benefit each of our Software, Tech-enabled Services and Print and Distribution offering. We are currently working to refine the estimated benefits and look forward to providing further details on our February earnings call.

我們的完整平台解決方案使 DFIN 能夠適應客戶希望的工作方式，從自助服務、全方位服務或兩者的組合。市場對我們的解決方案的積極反應令我們深受鼓舞，並已開始讓客戶加入平台。我們預計客製化的股東報告將使我們的每項軟體、技術支援的服務以及印刷和分發產品受益。我們目前正在努力完善預計收益，並期待在 2 月的財報電話會議上提供更多詳細資訊。

As the global regulatory and compliance landscape continues to evolve, DFIN is well positioned to serve an increasing number of recurring compliance use cases, including ESG reporting. With the momentum building globally to adopt ESG measures, the increased level of recurring reporting and disclosure requirements is well suited for our ActiveDisclosure product.

隨著全球監管和合規環境的不斷發展，DFIN 已做好充分準備，可以服務越來越多的重複合規用例，包括 ESG 報告。隨著全球採用 ESG 措施的勢頭不斷增強，不斷提高的定期報告和揭露要求非常適合我們的 ActiveDisclosure 產品。

In the U.S., we are encouraged by the passing of 2 California state bills in September which will require private and public companies operating in California to publicly disclose greenhouse gas emissions by 2026. California is the first state to mandate a robust ESG data collection and disclosure framework. We expect the SEC to follow suit and enact broader national-level ESG regulations in the near future.

在美國，我們對9 月通過的兩項加州法案感到鼓舞，這些法案將要求在加州運營的私人和上市公司到2026 年公開披露溫室氣體排放量。加州是第一個強制要求進行嚴格的ESG 數據收集和披露的州框架。我們預計 SEC 將效仿並在不久的將來頒布更廣泛的國家級 ESG 法規。

In the EU, ESG reporting will become mandatory in 2025 as part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive adopted by the European Commission.

在歐盟，ESG 報告將於 2025 年成為歐盟委員會通過的企業永續發展報告指令的一部分，成為強制報告。

By leveraging the functionalities of our ActiveDisclosure platform and integrating capabilities from our ecosystem of leading ESG data partners, DFIN offers a robust ESG solution ready to fulfill upcoming U.S.- and EU-specific ESG regulations. We look forward to further expanding our recurring revenue growth with this solution.

透過利用我們的 ActiveDisclosure 平台的功能並整合我們領先的 ESG 資料合作夥伴生態系統的功能，DFIN 提供強大的 ESG 解決方案，隨時滿足即將出台的美國和歐盟特定 ESG 法規。我們期待透過該解決方案進一步擴大我們的經常性收入成長。

Before I share a few closing remarks, I would like to turn the call over to Dave to provide more details on our third quarter results and our outlook for the fourth quarter. Dave?

在我發表一些結束語之前，我想將電話轉給戴夫，以提供有關我們第三季業績和第四季度前景的更多詳細資訊。戴夫？

Thanks, Dan, and good morning, everyone. As Dan noted, we delivered solid third quarter results in a challenging environment, including strong year-over-year increases in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin.

謝謝丹，大家早安。正如 Dan 指出的那樣，我們在充滿挑戰的環境中實現了穩健的第三季業績，包括調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率同比強勁增長。

We posted approximately 7% organic growth in our Software Solutions net sales, including approximately 8% sales growth in our recurring compliance software products, all while continuing to drive operating efficiencies and expanding adjusted EBITDA margin to 27.4%. On a consolidated basis, total net sales for the third quarter of 2023 were $180 million, a decrease of $8.7 million or 4.6% on a reported basis and 4.2% on an organic basis from the third quarter of 2022.

我們的軟體解決方案淨銷售額實現了約 7% 的有機成長，其中經常性合規軟體產品的銷售額增長了約 8%，同時繼續提高營運效率並將調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴大至 27.4%。合併後，2023 年第三季的總淨銷售額為 1.8 億美元，較 2022 年第三季減少 870 萬美元，按報告減少 4.6%，按有機減少 4.2%。

Despite a modest sequential improvement in the level of capital markets transactional activity in the third quarter, the overall transactional environment remained weak. In the third quarter, the capital markets transactional business, which was down $8.8 million or 15% versus the third quarter of 2022, once again accounted for more than all of the year-over-year sales decline.

儘管第三季資本市場交易活動水準略有改善，但整體交易環境仍疲軟。第三季度，資本市場交易業務與 2022 年第三季相比下降了 880 萬美元，即 15%，再次成為銷售額年減的主要原因。

The decline in capital markets transactional sales as well as lower sales related to capital markets compliance activities were partially offset by growth in Software Solutions sales which increased $3.7 million or 5.3% on a reported basis and 6.8% on an organic basis compared to the third quarter of last year.

資本市場交易銷售額的下降以及與資本市場合規活動相關的銷售額的下降被軟體解決方案銷售額的成長所部分抵消，與第三季度相比，軟體解決方案銷售額增加了370 萬美元，按報告計算成長5.3%，有機成長6.8%去年的。

Third quarter adjusted non-GAAP gross margin was 60.6%, approximately 510 basis points higher than the third quarter of 2022, primarily driven by the impact of cost control initiatives and the growth in Software Solutions sales, partially offset by lower capital markets transactional activity and incremental investments to accelerate our transformation.

第三季調整後的非GAAP 毛利率為60.6%，比2022 年第三季高出約510 個基點，這主要是受到成本控制措施的影響和軟體解決方案銷售成長的推動，但部分被資本市場交易活動減少和增量投資加速轉型。

Adjusted non-GAAP SG&A expense in the quarter was $59.7 million, a $0.2 million increase from the third quarter of 2022. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted non-GAAP SG&A was 33.2%, an increase of approximately 160 basis points from the third quarter of 2022. The increase in adjusted non-GAAP SG&A was primarily driven by incremental transformation-related investments and higher bad debt expense, partially offset by the impact of cost control initiatives and a reduction in selling expenses as a result of lower transactional sales volumes.

本季調整後的非 GAAP SG&A 費用為 5,970 萬美元，較 2022 年第三季增加 20 萬美元。調整後的非 GAAP SG&A 佔淨銷售額的百分比為 33.2%，較第三季增加約 160 個基點2022 年第四季調整後的非GAAP SG&A 的成長主要是由增量轉型相關投資和壞帳費用增加所推動的，但部分被成本控制措施的影響以及交易銷售下降導致的銷售費用減少所抵銷。

Our third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $49.4 million, an increase of $4.1 million or 9.1% from the third quarter of 2022. Third quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was 27.4%, an increase of approximately 340 basis points from the third quarter of 2022, primarily driven by the impact of cost control initiatives, partially offset by lower capital markets transactional sales and incremental investments to accelerate the company's transformation.

我們第三季調整後EBITDA 為4,940 萬美元，較2022 年第三季增加410 萬美元，即9.1%。第三季調整後EBITDA 利潤率為27.4%，較2022 年第三季增加約340 個基點，主要由成本控制舉措的影響部分被較低的資本市場交易銷售和加速公司轉型的增量投資所抵消。

Turning now to our third quarter segment results. Net sales in our Capital Markets Software Solutions segment were $46.5 million, an increase of 4.4% on an organic basis from the third quarter of last year.

現在轉向我們的第三季部門業績。我們資本市場軟體解決方案部門的淨銷售額為 4,650 萬美元，比去年第三季有機成長 4.4%。

Net sales of our recurring compliance product, ActiveDisclosure, grew approximately 4% in the third quarter. During the quarter, we made continued progress to expand the adoption of ActiveDisclosure. With the decommissioning of the legacy AD3 platform and associated customer churn behind us, we achieved an increase in net client count for the first time this year during the third quarter.

我們的經常性合規產品 ActiveDisclosure 的淨銷售額在第三季成長了約 4%。本季度，我們在擴大 ActiveDisclosure 的採用方面取得了持續進展。隨著舊版 AD3 平台的退役和相關客戶流失的結束，我們今年第三季的淨客戶數量首次實現成長。

Our efforts to increase the value of ActiveDisclosure platform has generated nearly $130 million of cumulative subscription contract value sold on new AD. More importantly, this increased value has resulted in our average subscription value per client to increase by approximately 13% from the third quarter of 2022 and is up over 40% from the second quarter of 2020 prior to the launch of new AD.

我們為增加 ActiveDisclosure 平台價值所做的努力已在新 AD 上銷售的累計訂閱合約價值近 1.3 億美元。更重要的是，這種增加的價值導致我們每位客戶的平均訂閱價值比 2022 年第三季增加了約 13%，比新 AD 推出前的 2020 年第二季增加了 40% 以上。

Net sales of our virtual data room offering, Venue, were up $2.2 million or 8.7% compared to the third quarter of last year driven by increased room activity and higher pricing. As Dan noted earlier, Venue's performance has remained stable, which is a testament to the strong recurring demand for our virtual data room platform as well as our sales execution.

由於房間活動增加和定價上漲，我們的虛擬資料室產品 Venue 的淨銷售額與去年第三季相比增長了 220 萬美元，即 8.7%。正如 Dan 先前指出的，Venue 的表現一直保持穩定，這證明了對我們的虛擬資料室平台以及我們的銷售執行力的強勁經常性需求。

Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 25.6%, an increase of approximately 310 basis points from the third quarter of 2022, primarily due to higher sales and cost control initiatives, partially offset by incremental investments in technology development.

該部門調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 25.6%，較 2022 年第三季增長約 310 個基點，主要是由於銷售和成本控制舉措的增加，部分被技術開發的增量投資所抵消。

Net sales in our Capital Markets Compliance & Communications Management segment were $70.1 million, a decrease of 16% on an organic basis from the third quarter of 2022, primarily driven by lower capital markets transactional activity. As we anticipated, the level of capital markets transactional activity in the third quarter improved modestly from the second quarter and remained well below last year's level, albeit at a lower rate of decline than we experienced in the first half of the year.

資本市場合規與通訊管理部門的淨銷售額為 7,010 萬美元，較 2022 年第三季有機下降 16%，主要是由於資本市場交易活動減少所致。正如我們預期，第三季資本市場交易活動水準較第二季略有改善，仍遠低於去年水平，但降幅低於上半年。

While the outlook for capital markets transactional environment is uncertain, including negative impact stemming from a potential government shutdown, DFIN remains very well positioned to capture a significant share of future demand for transaction-related products and services when market activity picks up.

儘管資本市場交易環境的前景不確定，包括政府可能關門帶來的負面影響，但 DFIN 仍處於有利地位，可以在市場活動回升時抓住交易相關產品和服務的未來需求的很大一部分。

Capital Markets Compliance revenue was down $4.4 million or approximately 17% versus the third quarter of 2022. While our Capital Markets Compliance offering, which supports our corporate clients with their ongoing compliance needs is mostly recurring in nature, a component of it is event-driven, including certain 8-K filings and special proxies, which can fluctuate from period to period. This year's third quarter net sales decline was driven by a lower volume of event-driven special proxies as well as timing shifts of certain client filings which were completed and recognized in the third quarter last year but were completed and recognized in the second quarter this year.

與2022 年第三季相比，資本市場合規收入下降了440 萬美元，約17%。雖然我們為企業客戶提供持續合規需求支援的資本市場合規服務本質上大部分是重複性的，但其中一個組成部分是事件驅動的，包括某些 8-K 申請和特殊代理，這些文件可能會因時期而異。今年第三季淨銷售額下降的原因是事件驅動的特殊代理數量減少以及某些客戶文件的時間變化，這些文件在去年第三季完成和確認，但在今年第二季完成和確認。

Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 37.9%, an increase of approximately 730 basis points from the third quarter of 2022. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to cost control initiatives, partially offset by lower sales volumes and higher bad debt expense.

該部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 37.9%，較 2022 年第三季增長約 730 個基點。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的增長主要歸因於成本控制舉措，但部分被銷售下降和壞帳費用上升所抵消。

Net sales in our Investment Company Software Solutions segment were $26.7 million, an increase of 12.7% or 11.4% on an organic basis versus third quarter of 2022, primarily driven by growth in subscription revenue as a result of the continued strong adoption of Arc Suite within investment companies. In addition to the subscription revenue growth, we realized higher services and support revenue in the third quarter related to a regulatory-driven filing in the EU that was onetime in nature. We expect a more normalized growth rate in the fourth quarter. We are encouraged by the performance of Arc Suite in the third quarter and remain well positioned to capture opportunities from regulations such as Tailored Shareholder Reports to drive future recurring revenue growth.

投資公司軟體解決方案部門的淨銷售額為 2,670 萬美元，與 2022 年第三季相比有機成長 12.7% 或 11.4%，這主要是由於 Arc Suite 的持續強勁採用而導致訂閱收入成長。投資公司。除了訂閱收入成長之外，我們在第三季還實現了更高的服務和支援收入，這與歐盟監管驅動的備案有關，這本質上是一次性的。我們預計第四季的成長率將更加正常化。我們對 Arc Suite 第三季的表現感到鼓舞，並保持良好的狀態，可以抓住客製化股東報告等法規帶來的機會，推動未來的經常性收入成長。

Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 37.1%, an increase of approximately 760 basis points from the third quarter of 2022. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to operating leverage on the increase in sales and cost control initiatives partially offset by higher product development and technology investments in support of growth opportunities.

該部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 37.1%，較 2022 年第三季度增長約 760 個基點。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的增長主要是由於銷售增長和成本控制舉措的運營槓桿被較高的產品部分抵消支持成長機會的開發和技術投資。

Net sales in our Investment Companies Compliance and Communications Management segment were $36.7 million, an increase of 2.2% from the third quarter of 2022, driven by higher transactional revenue primarily related to a large mutual fund special proxy project.

投資公司合規與通訊管理部門的淨銷售額為 3,670 萬美元，較 2022 年第三季成長 2.2%，主要受到與大型共同基金特別代理專案相關的交易收入增加的推動。

Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 34.1%, approximately 40 basis points higher than the third quarter of 2022. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to the impact of cost control initiatives, including continued synergies from our print platform consolidation and higher sales volumes.

該部門調整後EBITDA 利潤率為34.1%，比2022 年第三季高出約40 個基點。調整後EBITDA 利潤率的成長主要是由於成本控制措施的影響，包括我們的列印平台整合和更高銷售額帶來的持續協同效應卷。

Non-GAAP unallocated corporate expenses were $11.5 million in the quarter, an increase of $1.9 million from the third quarter of 2022, primarily driven by an increase in expenses aimed at accelerating our transformation, partially offset by the impact of cost control initiatives.

本季非 GAAP 未分配企業費用為 1,150 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季增加 190 萬美元，主要是由於旨在加速轉型的費用增加，部分被成本控制措施的影響所抵消。

Free cash flow in the quarter was $61.3 million, a decrease of $7.4 million compared to the third quarter of 2022. The year-over-year decline in free cash flow is driven by higher capital expenditures related to investments in our software products and underlying technology to support them and higher restructuring and interest payments, partially offset by an increase in adjusted EBITDA.

本季自由現金流為 6,130 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季減少 740 萬美元。自由現金流同比下降是由於與我們的軟體產品和基礎技術投資相關的資本支出增加所致來支持它們以及更高的重組和利息支付，但部分被調整後EBITDA 的增加所抵銷。

We ended the quarter with $165.9 million of total debt and $154.2 million of non-GAAP net debt, including $41.5 million drawn on our revolver, down from $95.5 million drawn at the end of the second quarter.

本季末，我們的總債務為 1.659 億美元，非 GAAP 淨債務為 1.542 億美元，其中包括我們的左輪手槍提取的 4,150 萬美元，低於第二季末提取的 9,550 萬美元。

From a liquidity perspective, we had access to the remaining $257.5 million of our revolver as well as $11.7 million of cash on hand. As of September 30, 2023, our non-GAAP net leverage ratio was 0.8x. As a reminder, our cash flow is historically seasonal, generating more than all of our free cash flow in the second half of the year.

從流動性角度來看，我們可以動用剩餘的 2.575 億美元左輪手槍以及 1,170 萬美元的手頭現金。截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，我們的非 GAAP 淨槓桿率為 0.8 倍。提醒一下，我們的現金流從歷史上看是季節性的，下半年產生的自由現金流超過了我們所有的自由現金流。

Regarding capital deployment, we repurchased approximately 310,000 shares of common stock during the quarter for $14.8 million at an average price of $47.77 per share. Year-to-date through September 30, we've repurchased approximately 387,000 shares for $18 million at an average price of $46.53 per share. As of September 30, 2023, we had $106.3 million remaining on our $150 million stock repurchase authorization.

關於資本部署，我們在本季以 1,480 萬美元回購了約 310,000 股普通股，平均價格為每股 47.77 美元。今年迄今為止，截至 9 月 30 日，我們已以 1,800 萬美元的價格回購了約 387,000 股股票，平均價格為每股 46.53 美元。截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，我們的 1.5 億美元股票回購授權尚剩餘 1.063 億美元。

Going forward, we will continue to take a balanced approach towards capital deployment. We continue to view organic investments to drive our transformation, share repurchases and net debt reduction each as key components of our capital deployment strategy and will remain disciplined in this area.

未來，我們將繼續採取平衡的資本配置方式。我們繼續將推動轉型的有機投資、股票回購和淨債務削減視為我們資本部署策略的關鍵組成部分，並將在這一領域保持紀律。

As it relates to our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2023. We expect continued softness in the capital markets transactions environment due to macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical factors. We expect consolidated fourth quarter net sales in the range of $160 million to $180 million and adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid-20% range. Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, the midpoint of our consolidated revenue guidance, $170 million, implies a very modest year-over-year increase in net sales.

因為這關係到我們對 2023 年第四季的展望。由於宏觀經濟不利因素和地緣政治因素，我們預期資本市場交易環境將持續疲軟。我們預計第四季度合併淨銷售額將在 1.6 億至 1.8 億美元之間，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將在 20% 左右。與去年第四季相比，我們綜合收入指引的中點為 1.7 億美元，這意味著淨銷售額比去年同期成長非常小。

I'll also provide a bit more color on our assumptions for the Capital Markets Compliance and Communications Management segment. At the midpoint of our sales range, we assume transactional sales of approximately $50 million. In addition, and related to my earlier comments regarding the impact of the transactional environment on certain compliance filings, most notably special proxies and 8-Ks, our fourth quarter estimate assumes a modest year-over-year decline in our compliance-based sales within this segment.

我也會對我們對資本市場合規和通訊管理部門的假設提供更多的說明。在我們的銷售範圍的中點，我們假設交易銷售額約為 5000 萬美元。此外，與我之前關於交易環境對某些合規備案（尤其是特殊代理和 8-K）影響的評論相關，我們第四季度的估計假設我們基於合規的銷售額同比略有下降這一段。

With that, I'll now pass it back to Dan.

有了這個，我現在將其傳回給丹。

Thanks, Dave. The execution of our strategy continues to deliver positive results and further demonstrates DFIN's ability to perform well in varying market conditions. While the outlook for the capital markets transactions market remains uncertain, our solid financial profile provides us with the foundation to continue to execute our strategic transformation.

謝謝，戴夫。我們策略的執行持續帶來正面的成果，並進一步證明了 DFIN 在不同市場條件下表現良好的能力。儘管資本市場交易市場的前景仍不確定，但我們穩健的財務狀況為我們繼續執行策略轉型奠定了基礎。

Our focus remains on accelerating our business mix shift by continuing to grow our recurring revenue base while maintaining market share elsewhere. We will continue to invest in our compliance software platform to capitalize on regulatory tailwinds created by regulations, such as Tailored Shareholder Reports, ESG and the Financial Data Transparency Act. In addition, we will continue to aggressively manage our costs and drive operational efficiencies while maintaining our historical discipline in the allocation of capital.

我們的重點仍然是透過繼續擴大我們的經常性收入基礎，同時保持其他地方的市場份額來加速我們的業務組合轉變。我們將繼續投資於我們的合規軟體平台，以利用客製化股東報告、ESG 和金融數據透明度法案等法規帶來的監管順風。此外，我們將繼續積極管理成本並提高營運效率，同時保持我們在資本配置方面的歷史紀律。

We are in the midst of preparing our 2024 operating plan and extending our long-range plan through 2028. In 2024, we expect to realize additional benefits from new regulations, continued operational transformation and the execution of our strategy, yet expect continued uncertainty in the capital markets transactional environment, driven by broader macroeconomic headwinds.

我們正在製定 2024 年營運計劃，並將長期計劃延長至 2028 年。到 2024 年，我們預計將透過新法規、持續營運轉型和策略執行獲得額外收益，但預計未來發展仍將存在不確定性。資本市場交易環境受到更廣泛的宏觀經濟逆風的推動。

Through the planning period, we expect continued progress in delivering higher value for our clients, employees and shareholders. Consistent with past practice, we expect to provide an update on 2024 and our long-range projections in February.

在整個規劃期間，我們期望在為客戶、員工和股東創造更高價值方面不斷取得進展。與過去的做法一致，我們預計將在 2 月提供 2024 年的最新情況和長期預測。

Before we open it up for Q&A, I'd like to thank the DFIN employees around the world who have been working tirelessly to ensure our clients continue to receive the highest-quality solutions.

在我們開始問答之前，我要感謝世界各地的 DFIN 員工，他們不懈地努力，確保我們的客戶繼續獲得最高品質的解決方案。

Now with that, operator, we're ready for questions.

現在，接線員，我們準備好回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Charlie Strauzer with CJS Securities, Inc.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 CJS Securities, Inc. 的 Charlie Strauzer。

Just a lot of talk about boosting recurring revenue and really appreciate that avenue, if you will. Maybe we could talk a little bit more and provide a little bit more color there about the efforts to drive your sales mix more towards recurring revenue.

只是很多關於增加經常性收入的討論，如果你願意的話，你真的很欣賞這個途徑。也許我們可以多談談，並提供更多關於推動您的銷售組合更多地實現經常性收入的努力。

Great. Let me start, and then Dave, see if you have any additional comments. So we start at the nature of the business and the markets we serve -- or we serve rather, they're characterized by recurring demand, and that's in both software offerings as well as tech-enabled solutions. And the recurring demand obviously drives performance predictability. And then in addition, we also serve the corporate transactions market, which, of course, is event-driven, but really attractive financially and an important offering to serve our clients.

偉大的。讓我開始，然後戴夫，看看您是否有任何其他意見。因此，我們從業務的性質和我們所服務的市場開始——或者更確切地說，我們所服務的市場的特點是反覆出現的需求，這既體現在軟體產品中，也體現在技術支援的解決方案中。經常性需求顯然會提高性能的可預測性。此外，我們也為企業交易市場提供服務，當然，該市場是事件驅動的，但在財務上確實具有吸引力，並且是服務我們客戶的重要產品。

And then something like Venue sits in the middle, where its performance has been more predictable or consistent than the broader -- or than our transactions business because of its breadth of the markets it serves and the diligence process that it serves.

然後像Venue 這樣的東西位於中間，它的表現比更廣泛的業務或我們的交易業務更可預測或更一致，因為它所服務的市場範圍很廣，而且它所服務的盡職調查過程也很廣泛。

And so if we look back, really since the spin, our investment and planning has been geared towards expanding the recurring, predictable offerings, and that includes serving new regulations, new disclosures, looking for new use cases to support our clients' compliance needs. We do have some areas of our business, and at least in our reporting, that include a mix of predictable as well as more event-driven demand. And Dave can take you through some of that. Over time, we will have more disclosure and split that out to help get a clearer view of the various pieces.

因此，如果我們回顧過去，實際上自旋轉以來，我們的投資和規劃一直致力於擴大經常性的、可預測的產品，其中包括服務新的法規、新的披露、尋找新的用例來支持客戶的合規需求。我們確實有一些業務領域，至少在我們的報告中，包括可預測的以及更多事件驅動的需求。戴夫可以帶你經歷其中的一些事情。隨著時間的推移，我們將揭露更多內容並將其分開，以幫助更清晰地了解各個部分。

Dave?

戴夫？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Charlie. So as Dan noted, we do provide the detailed breakout of our sales by product in the investor presentation. I think from that data, you can get a pretty good sense. The vast majority of what we call compliance sales in both of the Compliance and Communications Management segment would fit that bucket. All of the -- or the vast majority, I should say, of the investment company software. And then when you go to the capital markets software, right, things like ActiveDisclosure, File 16, all recurring in nature.

是的。謝謝你的提問，查理。正如丹所指出的那樣，我們確實在投資者演示中提供了按產品劃分的銷售細節。我認為從這些數據中，你可以得到很好的感覺。合規和通訊管理領域的絕大多數我們所說的合規銷售都符合這項要求。我應該說，所有的──或者說絕大多數，是投資公司的軟體。然後當你去資本市場軟體時，對吧，像 ActiveDisclosure、File 16 這樣的東西，本質上都是反覆出現的。

The -- and we touched on it in the prepared remarks and Dan just commented on it. There is a component of what we call compliance that is really event-driven things, like special proxies, et cetera. And so we'll be breaking that detail out in the future.

我們在準備好的演講中談到了這一點，丹剛剛對此發表了評論。我們稱之為合規性的一個組成部分實際上是事件驅動的東西，例如特殊代理等等。所以我們將來會詳細說明這個細節。

And then I think, again, we touched on it in the prepared remarks, and Dan commented on it here. When you look at something like Venue, while the primary use case for Venue is M&A, Venue's tended to be much, much more consistent than certainly the M&A deals getting completed, the broader M&A market, et cetera. I think when you look at the underlying diligence activity, it just tends to be much more stable regardless of whether deals are getting completed or not.

然後我想，我們在準備好的發言中再次談到了這一點，丹在這裡對此進行了評論。當您查看像 Venue 這樣的東西時，雖然 Venue 的主要用例是併購，但 Venue 往往比完成的併購交易、更廣泛的併購市場等更一致。我認為，當你觀察潛在的盡職調查活動時，無論交易是否完成，它往往更加穩定。

Great. And just a follow-up there. What does the competitive environment look like today versus maybe it was pre-pandemic in those kind of recurring software avenues?

偉大的。只是後續行動。與流行病爆發前那些反覆出現的軟體途徑相比，今天的競爭環境是什麼樣的？

Yes. I think we've made a lot of improvement over time in our offerings, and I think the expansive nature of our offerings, being able to bridge from software into the service area has been a real differentiator for us and including into the distribution. If you look at something like Tailored Shareholder Reports, and that's going to expand across all 3 of those offerings.

是的。我認為隨著時間的推移，我們的產品已經取得了很大的進步，而且我認為我們產品的廣泛性，能夠從軟體過渡到服務領域，對我們來說是一個真正的差異化因素，包括在發行版中。如果您查看諸如「客製化股東報告」之類的內容，您會發現這將擴展到所有這 3 個產品。

And so I think a combination of what we've been doing internally as well as just the breadth of our offering is helpful. That said, competitors aren't standing still either. And so the markets remain competitive as they've always been, but we feel really good about the progress that we've made.

因此，我認為我們內部所做的事情以及我們提供的產品的廣度的結合是有幫助的。也就是說，競爭對手也沒有坐以待斃。因此，市場一如既往地保持競爭，但我們對所取得的進展感到非常滿意。

Our next question comes from the line of Pete Heckmann with D.A. Davidson.

我們的下一個問題來自 Pete Heckmann 和 D.A.戴維森。

I missed some of the call, had some overlapping activity this morning. But one thing I wanted to follow up on is talking about the competitive dynamics within the compliance piece of the business. Are you seeing much shift there? It seems to me like maybe one strong player on the software side and then a lot of fragmentation of smaller players.

我錯過了一些電話，今天早上有一些重疊的活動。但我想跟進的一件事是談論業務合規部分的競爭動態。您看到那裡有很多變化嗎？在我看來，這可能是軟體方面的一個強大參與者，然後是許多較小參與者的碎片。

I mean, how do you see that shaking out over the intermediate term? Do you see some of those subscale players just kind of shaking out, not being able to compete, or maybe the owners aging out of the business? But more importantly, I guess, how do you see yourself competing with -- on the tech side with software feature functionality?

我的意思是，您如何看待中期的變化？您是否看到一些規模較小的企業正在退出，無法競爭，或者所有者可能會退出該行業？但更重要的是，我想，您如何看待自己在技術方面與軟體功能的競爭？

Sure. Yes, let me start and others can jump in. It's going to vary by product and offer. I think for us, we're #1, 2 or 3 in each of the offerings that we have. And if you look at leadership economics generally flow to #1, 2 or 3. So that said, like I said in the last comment, there are formidable competitors, but we're happy with the progress that we're making, and we'll continue to invest behind it to make more.

當然。是的，讓我開始，其他人可以加入。它會因產品和報價而異。我認為對我們來說，我們在每項產品中都排名第一、第二或第三。如果你看看領導經濟學，通常會流向#1、2或3。也就是說，就像我在上一條評論中所說的那樣，存在強大的競爭對手，但我們對我們正在取得的進展感到滿意，我們將繼續對其進行投資以賺取更多。

Specifically to your question on folks' businesses going out or owners passing the torch. We're not seeing a lot of different behavior. Recently, the one thing that we've seen, obviously, with the raising -- or the increase in interest rates and financing, having a cost applied to it, is from a valuation standpoint in the broader market, both public and private, some of these businesses have been repriced.

特別是關於你關於人們的企業走出去或業主傳遞火炬的問題。我們沒有看到很多不同的行為。最近，我們顯然看到的一件事是，從更廣泛的市場（無論是公共市場還是私人市場）的估值角度來看，隨著融資或利率和融資的增加，這會產生成本。這些業務已重新定價。

But for us, we're very comfortable with our strategy. We're focused on executing against it. I think the differentiators I mentioned on the last question is that we've got both the software side of it and we can work with our clients the way in which they want to work, and in the meantime, push them along the progression and sometimes ourselves getting pushed along the progression towards certainly more software orientation. But the ability to play in both sides is really helpful for us.

但對我們來說，我們對我們的策略非常滿意。我們專注於執行它。我認為我在最後一個問題中提到的區別在於，我們擁有軟體方面的優勢，我們可以按照客戶想要的方式與他們合作，同時推動他們前進，有時我們自己正被推動朝著更加面向軟體的方向發展。但同時踢球的能力對我們來說確實很有幫助。

Dan, maybe to build on that with the compliance software. The progress we're making in ActiveDisclosure isn't necessarily reflected this quarter. And so I look at that increased net client count in Q2 -- in Q3, which is the first time we've had a higher client count.

丹，也許可以在此基礎上開發合規軟體。我們在 ActiveDisclosure 方面取得的進展不一定反映在本季。因此，我看到了第二季和第三季淨客戶數量的增加，這是我們第一次擁有更高的客戶數量。

And we're excited by what we see on the ActiveDisclosure platform because it's the newest fit-for-purpose disclosure tool in the market. I'd rather be us than anyone else. So our clients are using ActiveDisclosure for their most important compliance needs. It's delivering. We're building it and have built it on decades of SEC client success. Very purpose-driven.

我們對在 ActiveDisclosure 平台上看到的內容感到興奮，因為它是市場上最新的適合用途的揭露工具。我寧願成為我們，也不願成為其他人。因此，我們的客戶正在使用 ActiveDisclosure 來滿足他們最重要的合規需求。它正在交付。我們正在建立它，並且已經在 SEC 客戶數十年的成功經驗的基礎上建立了它。非常有目的驅動。

Price remains a strategic opportunity for us. So we've been able to achieve higher prices with built-in price renewals and longer contracts. And our clients are recognizing the value of this better product. They're signing up for multiyear contracts. Our cumulative average contract length is now 30 months. We are able to price at or below the market, which gives us an opportunity relative to the competition, who charges expensive add-ons for additional modules that can accomplish what ActiveDisclosure does.

價格對我們來說仍然是一個戰略機會。因此，我們能夠透過內建的價格續約和更長的合約來實現更高的價格。我們的客戶正在認識到這種更好產品的價值。他們正在簽署多年合約。我們的累計平均合約期限現在為 30 個月。我們能夠以等於或低於市場的價格定價，這給了我們相對於競爭對手的機會，競爭對手對可以完成 ActiveDisclosure 功能的附加模組收取昂貴的附加費用。

So you can buy what you want here, not being forced to pay for other modules with multiple contracts. With the decommissioning of AD3 done, we're totally focused on the competition on net new logos. We're bringing more opportunities into our funnels. And we're really encouraged by the metrics that we see in our pipeline for future growth.

因此，您可以在這裡購買您想要的東西，而不必被迫為具有多個合約的其他模組付費。隨著 AD3 的退役，我們完全專注於網路新標誌的競爭。我們正在為我們的管道帶來更多機會。我們對未來成長管道中看到的指標感到非常鼓舞。

Our next question comes from the line of Sam Salvas with Needham & Company.

我們的下一個問題來自李約瑟公司的薩姆·薩爾瓦斯 (Sam Salvas)。

I'm on for Kyle today. Could you guys just talk a bit more about what you're seeing in terms of capital markets trends and maybe how those progressed throughout the quarter?

今天我來找凱爾。你們能否多談談你們在資本市場趨勢方面所看到的情況，以及整個季度的進展？

Sure. This is Craig. Thank you for the question. I think if you look at the IPO market first, I said last time that the IPO market recovery is not going to be a straight line, and we certainly saw that in Q3, and it continues in October. So we had some big IPOs in Q3. We had Arm, which raised 63% of the quarterly proceeds in Q3. We also had Instacart and Klaviyo. It's -- those haven't always been well received in the marketplace.

當然。這是克雷格。感謝你的提問。我認為，如果你先看看 IPO 市場，我上次說過 IPO 市場的復甦不會是直線，我們在第三季確實看到了這一點，而且這種情況在 10 月仍在繼續。因此，我們在第三季進行了一些大型首次公開募股。我們有 Arm，它籌集了第三季季度收益的 63%。我們還有 Instacart 和 Klaviyo。這些產品並不總是受到市場的好評。

So from a file perspective, in the quarter, we had 12 filings greater than $50 million. The remaining filings, which were 42, were nano, microchip -- microcap companies. So it speaks to the noise in the IPO market and the really small deals that are out there. We had 10 IPOs that priced in the quarter, raising more than $50 million. 6 of those took place in the last couple of weeks of the quarter. 2 of the 7 companies who raised $100 million trading above their IPO price. So the pipeline for the companies filed certainly is nice. And we had 22 in the market publicly filed, DFIN's working with 14 of those. And it doesn't include companies that have filed confidentially.

因此，從文件的角度來看，本季我們有 12 份文件金額超過 5,000 萬美元。剩下的 42 份申請是奈米、微晶片——微型資本公司。因此，這說明了 IPO 市場的喧囂以及現有的小額交易。我們在本季進行了 10 次 IPO，籌集了超過 5000 萬美元的資金。其中 6 起發生在本季的最後幾週。籌集 1 億美元資金的 7 家公司中有 2 家的交易價格高於 IPO 價格。因此，提交申請的公司的管道當然很好。我們在市場上公開備案了 22 個項目，DFIN 正在與其中的 14 個項目合作。而且它不包括已秘密提交文件的公司。

So certainly, you've seen the market, there's a little dampened enthusiasm, and the resurgence in IPOs is going to depend on how these IPOs do. But there's still a solid pipeline of companies that we think are waiting for the late first quarter, second quarter of 2024. Assuming we get some stability in interest rates, the economy, geopolitical situations.

當然，你已經看到了市場，熱情減弱，IPO 的復甦將取決於這些 IPO 的表現。但我們認為仍有大量公司正在等待 2024 年第一季末和第二季的到來。假設我們的利率、經濟和地緣政治局勢保持一定程度的穩定。

Carve-outs have been a success. So we've had a continued bright spot of companies carving out IPOs. So we had Kellogg's, which we worked with in the quarter, which was a nice IPO. And there's a strong pipeline. So there's about 6 major spins that are working. We're working with almost all of them, which is really terrific.

剝離已取得成功。因此，我們看到了持續進行首次公開募股的公司的亮點。所以我們有家樂氏，我們在本季與它合作，這是一次很好的首次公開募股。並且有強大的管道。所以大約有 6 個主要的旋轉正在發揮作用。我們幾乎與他們所有人都在合作，這真是太棒了。

And then as I move to M&A, certainly, the quarter was not very exciting. As we referenced in the remarks, deals down 35%. But a bright note in October, which has seen monthly M&A volume be the greatest in over 4 years. So certainly, the busiest month that we've had in quite some time. These deals are obviously going to take place for a while, and for us, be 2024 events.

然後，當我轉向併購時，當然，這個季度並不是很令人興奮。正如我們在評論中提到的，交易量下降了 35%。但 10 月的亮點是，月度併購交易量達到 4 年來最高水準。當然，這是我們一段時間以來最忙碌的一個月。這些交易顯然會持續一段時間，對我們來說，是 2024 年的事件。

But the -- what does this all mean? The history has demonstrated that the deal market can change very quickly. It only takes a few well-received listings to change sentiment. And we think, as business normalizes, DFIN is going to deliver our strong mix of high profile, high profit, M&A, IPO, private equity, de-SPACs.

但這——這一切意味著什麼？歷史表明，交易市場變化得非常快。只需要一些廣受好評的房源就能改變人們的情緒。我們認為，隨著業務正常化，DFIN 將提供我們高知名度、高利潤、併購、IPO、私募股權、去SPAC 的強大組合。

And more importantly, back to the software question, these transactional deals are a pipeline for recurring software subscription revenue because we support our clients and their ongoing reporting needs. So we think we're performing better than the market. From a transactional perspective, we think engagement is high, underlying activity is high, and it will result in recurring software.

更重要的是，回到軟體問題，這些交易交易是經常性軟體訂閱收入的管道，因為我們支援我們的客戶及其持續的報告需求。所以我們認為我們的表現比市場更好。從交易的角度來看，我們認為參與度很高，基礎活動也很高，這將導致軟體的重複出現。

So Dave, I don't know if you want to add to that?

戴夫，我不知道你是否想補充？

Yes. And I think I would just say a couple of things to put it into context relative to 2021, where the transactional business was just north of $400 million in sales. I think when you look on a trailing 4-quarter basis now, we're well under half of that, I think about $190 million or so.

是的。我想我只想說幾句話來將其與 2021 年的背景聯繫起來，當時交易業務的銷售額剛剛超過 4 億美元。我認為，當你現在查看過去 4 個季度的數據時，我們遠低於這個數字的一半，我認為約為 1.9 億美元左右。

To Craig's point, when you look at how this year has started to slowly recover and you go quarter-by-quarter, from $41 million in Q1; to $46 million in Q2; $49 million this quarter; and like we said in the guidance, assuming $50 million for the fourth quarter. So still in the $180 million range for the year is well off the high watermark that we saw in 2021.

對於克雷格來說，當你看看今年如何開始緩慢復甦，並且從第一季的 4,100 萬美元開始逐季度復甦時；第二季達 4,600 萬美元；本季 4,900 萬美元；正如我們在指南中所說，假設第四季為 5000 萬美元。因此，今年的收入仍處於 1.8 億美元的範圍內，遠低於我們在 2021 年看到的高水位線。

And then I just wanted to touch on the gross margin strength this quarter. Those came in really impressive. Could you guys just talk about some of the drivers behind the expansion there? And how we should think about those going forward, too, maybe?

然後我只想談談本季的毛利率實力。這些確實令人印象深刻。你們能談談擴張背後的一些驅動因素嗎？或許我們也該如何考慮未來的發展？

Yes. I think, look, it's more of the same, right, as we continue to shift the mix towards software. The incremental margins, the operating leverage you get on that offering is very, very high. I think also -- and it's been part of our DNA, when you look really since the spin, really doing a tremendous job on managing the cost structure. And we referenced in some of the product offerings where we're recognizing some price increases, et cetera.

是的。我認為，看，隨著我們繼續將組合轉向軟體，情況更加相似，對吧。您從該產品中獲得的增量利潤和營運槓桿非常非常高。我也認為，這已經成為我們 DNA 的一部分，從公司成立以來，我們在管理成本結構方面確實做了很多工作。我們在一些產品中提到了我們認識到價格上漲等情況。

So all those factors contribute to the -- not only the high gross margin, but EBITDA margin at 27% in the quarter. Really, really strong, especially in the soft capital markets transactional environment.

因此，所有這些因素不僅導致了高毛利率，而且導致了本季 27% 的 EBITDA 利潤率。真的非常強大，尤其是在資本市場交易環境疲軟的情況下。

Our next question comes from the line of Raj Sharma with B. Riley.

我們的下一個問題來自 Raj Sharma 和 B. Riley 的對話。

Solid quarter. Just had a couple of questions on the compliance transactions were lower in Q3. Is the decline all due to seasonality? I see that there were one-off proxies. And is that impact to continue? Could you add more color to that, please?

堅實的季度。只是有幾個關於第三季合規交易較低的問題。下降完全是季節性造成的嗎？我看到有一次性代理。這種影響會持續嗎？你能為它添加更多顏色嗎？

Yes. Raj, so -- and we noted it in the prepared remarks, right? And I assume you're talking about the Capital Markets Compliance and Communications Management segment and the revenue that we call compliance there. There's -- absolutely, part of it is seasonal. So you would see the normal seasonality, with Q2 typically being the peak. We did note in the prepared remarks that when you look at the comparisons on a year-over-year basis, and obviously, the seasonality is similar between years.

是的。 Raj，所以——我們在準備好的發言中註意到了這一點，對嗎？我假設您談論的是資本市場合規性和通訊管理部門以及我們稱之為合規性的收入。當然，其中一部分是季節性的。因此，您會看到正常的季節性，第二季度通常是高峰。我們在準備好的評論中確實注意到，當你查看同比的比較時，顯然，年份之間的季節性是相似的。

The other factors that contributed to it were the fact that there were a few proxies and kind of the recurring proxy work that were filed in Q3 of 2022, and those same companies filed in Q2 of 2023. So we do get a little bit of a pickup in Q2, and then you see that flipping back the other way here in Q3.

造成這種情況的其他因素是，有一些代理和重複代理工作在 2022 年第三季度提交，而這些公司在 2023 年第二季度提交。所以我們確實得到了一點在第二季度回升，然後你會在第三季看到相反的情況。

And then in addition, there were also some special proxies which are more event-driven that occurred in the third quarter of 2022, and we didn't have the level of activity associated with that type of work in the third quarter this year.

此外，還有一些特殊代理，它們更多是由事件驅動的，發生在 2022 年第三季度，而我們今年第三季度沒有與此類工作相關的活動水平。

Got it. And then just a question on the Tailored Shareholder Reports. The impact or sort of the need for the services going forward in terms of the need for print output is seemingly -- is different from the 30e-3 requirements. So if more print output is needed for TSR, does that raise costs and reduce margins? Or how do you sort of handle that now that a lot of the print has been rationalized and outsourced and...

知道了。然後是關於定制股東報告的問題。就列印輸出的需求而言，未來服務的影響或需求似乎與 30e-3 的要求不同。那麼，如果 TSR 需要更多的印刷輸出，是否會增加成本並降低利潤？或者你如何處理現在很多印刷品已經合理化和外包並且...

Yes. So it's a great question, Raj. And I'll comment and have Eric jump in with some more details. So you're right that the way the regulation is currently, that print output will be part of the -- what's required and will be part of our revenue stream there. We've talked in the past that we're seeing -- we expect to see not only print but also traditional services as well as software.

是的。所以這是一個很好的問題，拉傑。我會發表評論，並請埃里克提供更多細節。所以你說得對，按照目前的監管方式，印刷輸出將成為所需的一部分，並將成為我們收入來源的一部分。我們過去曾談到我們所看到的東西——我們期望不僅看到印刷品，還看到傳統服務和軟體。

Specific to your question on the cost structure and how it affects us. As you know, we've done a really, really good job. And to the earlier question on gross margin, we've consolidated our manufacturing facility down to a single digital print location. We outsource all of our offset printing.

具體到您關於成本結構及其對我們有何影響的問題。如您所知，我們做得非常非常好。對於先前關於毛利率的問題，我們已經將我們的製造工廠整合到一個數位印刷地點。我們將所有膠印工作外包。

And so when you think about those 2 components, the offset printing will -- it's effectively a fully variable model. And so no impact on our cost structure other than outsourcing that work when we have the revenue and the work that we need to produce it. And on the digital equipment, a little bit of a different model there. As you've seen, our margins have gone up over time, just given the mix and how we're managing both the digital print platform as well as the -- how we're treating the outsourcing.

因此，當您考慮這兩個組成部分時，膠印將——它實際上是一個完全可變的模型。因此，當我們擁有收入和生產收入所需的工作時，除了外包工作外，對我們的成本結構沒有任何影響。在數位設備上，有一點不同的模型。正如您所看到的，我們的利潤隨著時間的推移而上升，只要考慮到組合以及我們如何管理數位印刷平台以及我們如何對待外包。

And so the short answer is no change to the cost structure. There's obviously some variable costs that come along with the incremental revenue. But we feel really good about kind of the dynamics there and how we're positioned to serve that market and really drive solid margins going forward, regardless if it's digital print or offset print.

因此，簡單的回答是成本結構不會改變。顯然，隨著收入的增加，會產生一些變動成本。但我們對那裡的動態以及我們如何定位服務該市場並真正推動未來堅實的利潤感到非常滿意，無論是數位印刷還是膠印。

Eric, anything to add on the regulation?

艾瑞克，對法規有什麼補充嗎？

Thanks, Dave. And Raj, just building on Dave's comments. The if you think of an annual report, much, much larger document, the Tailored Shareholder Report is a much smaller page count so it's a great fit for our digital platform. So while the number of share classes increases, the number of pages actually distributed decreases. So again, that fits our platform extremely well.

謝謝，戴夫。 Raj，只是以戴夫的評論為基礎。如果您想到的是年度報告，那麼文件要大得多，而客製化股東報告的頁數要少得多，因此非常適合我們的數位平台。因此，雖然共享類別的數量增加，但實際分配的頁面數量卻減少了。再說一遍，這非常適合我們的平台。

But I think key to your question and maybe to expand a bit on it, is this regulation is a mix of a broad spectrum of services which fit DFIN extremely well. A lot of discussion around the tagging and the iXBRL. There's creation of the share class reports, and that can be done in our software as well as our Tech-enabled Solutions, the tagging and then the filing. But I think where you were going with your question was around the downstream impact.

但我認為你的問題的關鍵（也許可以進一步擴展）是，這項法規是一系列廣泛服務的組合，非常適合 DFIN。關於標記和 iXBRL 的大量討論。建立股票類別報告，可以在我們的軟體以及我們的技術支援解決方案中完成，標記然後歸檔。但我認為你的問題是關於下游影響的。

So there, beyond the digital print requirements, those share class reports have to be web-hosted and distributed, electronically delivered. And there's an ADA element to all this, where that the value-add that DFIN provides from our solutions, both tech-enabled and software, to help our clients meet this demand across the spectrum.

因此，除了數位列印要求之外，這些股票類別報告還必須透過網站託管和分發，以電子方式交付。所有這些都包含 ADA 元素，其中 DFIN 透過我們的解決方案（包括技術支援和軟體）提供增值，以幫助我們的客戶滿足各個領域的這種需求。

So -- but certainly, it drives digital printing activity, but it does drive a lot more services across our spectrum of solutions. And it not only is a fund asset manager-type impact, there's also the insurance investment side of this, which has impacted significantly on the distribution side. While the mutual funds and the share class requirements are significant, the investment insurance side of the business also has to comply with the TSR regulation. So there's a big impact there as well, very complex ecosystem, and our clients are coming to DFIN to manage that.

所以，但可以肯定的是，它推動了數位印刷活動，但它確實推動了我們解決方案範圍內的更多服務。這不僅是基金資產管理公司類型的影響，還有保險投資方面，這對分銷方面產生了重大影響。雖然共同基金和股票類別的要求很重要，但該業務的投資保險方面也必須遵守股東總回報率法規。因此，那裡也有很大的影響，非常複雜的生態系統，我們的客戶正在使用 DFIN 來管理它。

Dan had mentioned earlier, we had a press release earlier in October to talk about our alpha release. And in that release, I think it's important to note that our solution has a straight-through processing element that enables the financial report and the TSR to be strongly linked, eliminating any need for post-production reconciliation. The dynamic output template's allowing a great deal of flexibility and output, and that ultimately then drives the distribution and output.

Dan 之前提到過，我們在 10 月初發布了一份新聞稿，討論我們的 alpha 版本。在該版本中，我認為值得注意的是，我們的解決方案具有直通式處理元素，使財務報告和 TSR 能夠緊密鏈接，從而消除任何後期製作調節的需要。動態輸出模板允許很大的靈活性和輸出，並最終驅動分發和輸出。

And then all of this then managed by enhanced dashboard experience giving our clients a full view of where their TSRs stand, from production the whole way through distribution.

然後，所有這些都透過增強的儀表板體驗進行管理，使我們的客戶能夠全面了解他們的 TSR 狀況，從生產到分銷的整個過程。

And then just one last question on -- related to the Tailored Shareholder Reports and the SEC requirements mandates that are coming. So they will drive higher revenues for software revenue growth.

最後一個問題與即將推出的客製化股東報告和 SEC 要求授權相關。因此，他們將為軟體收入成長帶來更高的收入。

But there is a -- when you say to go from the current year-on-year growth rates to doubling, you talked about software doubling by fiscal '26. Correct me if I'm mistaken on that. That is a pretty significant jump from where software has grown in the last, let's say, year. And could you talk a little bit about that? How do you -- how to understand that jump in growth rates going forward?

但是，當您說要從目前的同比增長率翻一番時，您談到了到 26 財年軟體將翻一番。如果我弄錯了，請糾正我。與去年（比如說）軟體的成長相比，這是一個相當大的飛躍。您能談談這個嗎？您如何理解未來成長率的跳躍？

Raj, I'm happy to take that one. And so I think to your point, you look at the historical growth rates. And if you just run those out, you may get a different answer. I think when you look at some of the new regulations coming into play, like TSR, we've talked about our single compliance platform with the potential to address new regulations.

Raj，我很高興接受這個。所以我認為就你的觀點而言，你應該關注歷史成長率。如果你把這些都用完，你可能會得到不同的答案。我認為，當您看到一些正在發揮作用的新法規（例如 TSR）時，我們已經討論過我們的單一合規平台具有解決新法規的潛力。

I also think there's an aspect of certain parts of the business that today, we work through traditional services that, over time, will continue to migrate more toward a software offering or a hybrid software offering.

我還認為，今天業務的某些部分，我們透過傳統服務開展工作，隨著時間的推移，這些服務將繼續更多地轉向軟體產品或混合軟體產品。

And so like we said, we're in the midst of extending out our long-range projections, and we'll share more in February as we typically do. But those are just some of the highlights of how we're thinking about the overall mix of revenue going forward.

正如我們所說，我們正在擴展我們的長期預測，我們將像往常一樣在二月分享更多資訊。但這些只是我們如何考慮未來整體收入組合的一些亮點。

There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the call over to Dan Leib for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。現在我想將電話轉給 Dan Leib 致閉幕詞。

Yes. Thank you, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. We look forward to speaking again on our Q4 call in February and prior to that at some investor conferences. So thank you again.

是的。謝謝你們，也謝謝大家加入我們。我們期待在二月份的第四季電話會議以及之前的一些投資者會議上再次發言。所以再次感謝你。

I would like to thank our speakers for today's presentation and thank you all for joining us. This now concludes today's call, and you may now disconnect.

我要感謝今天的演講者的演講，並感謝大家加入我們。今天的通話到此結束，您現在可以掛斷電話了。