Donnelley Financial Solutions Inc (DFIN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Audra and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Donnelley Financial Solutions Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded and all lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise.

早安.我叫奧德拉，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時，我謹歡迎大家參加唐納利金融解決方案 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中，所有線路均已靜音，以防止任何背景噪音。

After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session if you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mike Chou, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

演講者發言後，將進行問答環節，如果您想在此期間提問，只需按星號鍵，然後按電話鍵盤上的數字一即可。如果您想撤回問題，請再按星號一。現在，我想將會議交給投資人關係主管 Mike Chou。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Donnelley Financial Solutions Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results Conference Call. This morning, we released our earnings report, supplemental trending schedules of historical results and the latest investor presentation, which includes our updated long-term projections, all of which can be found in the Investors section of our website at Defense Solutions.com. 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 and other filings with the SEC.

謝謝。大家早安，感謝您參加 Donnelley Financial Solutions 2023 年第四季和全年業績電話會議。今天早上，我們發布了收益報告、歷史績效的補充趨勢表和最新的投資者演示，其中包括我們更新的長期預測，所有這些都可以在我們網站 Defense Solutions.com 的投資者部分找到。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，以及我們最新的 10 K 表格年度報告和向 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. I am joined this morning by Dan lead, Dave Gardella, Craig Clay, Eric Johnson, Floyd's family and candy Turner. I will now turn the call over to Dan.

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。今天早上加入我的還有丹鉛、戴夫加德拉、克雷格克萊、艾瑞克約翰遜、佛洛伊德的家人和坎迪特納。我現在將把電話轉給丹。

Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. We finished 2023 by delivering strong fourth quarter results, highlighted by 5.4% organic consolidated net sales growth year-over-year growth in adjusted EBITDA and strong adjusted EBITDA margin performance. I am encouraged by the reacceleration of sales growth in the fourth quarter despite the continued headwind in our event-driven capital markets transactional offering.

謝謝你，麥克，大家早安。我們在 2023 年完成了強勁的第四季度業績，其中調整後 EBITDA 的有機綜合淨銷售額同比增長 5.4%，以及調整後 EBITDA 利潤率表現強勁。儘管我們的事件驅動的資本市場交易產品持續面臨阻力，但第四季度銷售成長的重新加速令我感到鼓舞。

I am also pleased by the performance of our Venue data room product, which delivered net sales growth of approximately 26% in the quarter. As a result of focused execution, we grew consolidated adjusted EBITDA by $2 million or 5.1% year over year and delivered an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.4% in the quarter, in line with last year's fourth quarter despite 9% lower event-driven revenue within Capital Markets.

我也對我們的 Venue 資料室產品的表現感到高興，該產品在本季度實現了約 26% 的淨銷售額成長。由於集中執行，我們的綜合調整後 EBITDA 年比增長了 200 萬美元，即 5.1%，本季度調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 23.4%，與去年第四季度持平，儘管我們的事件驅動收入下降了 9%。資本市場。

Our fourth quarter results continued to demonstrate the resiliency of our operating model, reflecting on the full year 2023 results. Given the persistent market volatility, macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical uncertainty. We delivered strong full year results following significant declines in capital markets. Event-driven revenue in 2022, the market remained very weak throughout 2023, resulting in a further revenue reduction of approximately $52 million or 22% year over year.

我們第四季的業績繼續證明了我們營運模式的彈性，反映了 2023 年全年業績。鑑於市場持續波動、宏觀經濟逆風和地緣政治不確定性。在資本市場大幅下跌之後，我們實現了強勁的全年業績。2022 年事件驅動的收入，整個 2023 年市場仍然非常疲軟，導致收入進一步減少約 5,200 萬美元，年減 22%。

Our total event-driven revenue, which also includes investment companies transactions, was down (technical difficulty) or 18% year over year. Despite this headwind, in 2023, we delivered $207.4 million of adjusted EBITDA, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 26%, both of which continued to be significantly higher than historical periods with similar overall and transactional revenues, our long-term focused execution to improve our sales mix and both manage and variabilize.

我們的事件驅動總收入（其中還包括投資公司交易）年減（技術難度）或 18%。儘管存在這種逆風，我們在2023 年實現了2.074 億美元的調整後EBITDA，調整後EBITDA 利潤率達到26%，這兩項指標均繼續顯著高於總體收入和交易收入相似的歷史時期，我們的長期重點執行改善我們的銷售組合併進行管理和變更。

Our cost structure have resulted in decent becoming structurally more profitable across varying market conditions, creating the financial flexibility to invest aggressively in our transformation while also repurchasing shares and reducing debt. In 2023, we made continued progress in increasing the consistency and stability of our performance. Specifically, we grew the stable and recurring parts of our business. While the volatile event-driven parts of our business declined illustrate this in more detail during the year.

我們的成本結構使體面在不同的市場條件下在結構上變得更加有利可圖，創造了財務靈活性，可以積極投資於我們的轉型，同時回購股票並減少債務。2023年，我們在提高業績的一致性和穩定性方面不斷取得進展。具體來說，我們發展了業務的穩定和經常性部分。雖然我們業務中由事件驅動的不穩定部分有所下降，但這一年更詳細地說明了這一點。

Our recurring and reoccurring revenue comprised of compliance related software and services, as well as our Venue data room product increased by 2.4% from 2022 on an organic basis while our total event-driven revenue declined by approximately 18%. In 2023, we derived approximately 75% of our total revenue from recurring and reoccurring offerings with the remaining 25% of revenue being event-driven.

我們的經常性和經常性收入由合規相關軟體和服務以及我們的 Venue 資料室產品組成，較 2022 年有機增長了 2.4%，而我們的事件驅動總收入下降了約 18%。2023 年，我們總收入的約 75% 來自經常性和重複性產品，其餘 25% 的收入來自事件驅動。

We expect the evolution of our revenue profile towards a higher mix of predictable revenue to continue going forward as we accelerate the growth in our recurring and reoccurring offerings, while benefiting but being less dependent on event-driven revenues, a key component of our recurring and reoccurring revenue is our software solutions portfolio.

我們預計，隨著我們加速經常性和經常性產品的成長，我們的收入狀況將繼續朝著更高的可預測收入組合發展，同時受益但較少依賴事件驅動的收入，這是我們經常性和重複性收入的關鍵組成部分經常性收入是我們的軟體解決方案組合。

For the full year, we achieved record Software Solutions net sales of approximately $293 million, an increase of approximately 7% from 2022 on an organic basis, driven by double digit growth in our Venue Data Room offering, which has become our largest software product with nearly $110 million in revenue. In addition to its strong growth, venue also exhibited a consistent level of performance in 2023, it significantly outperformed the market trend for its primary use case M&A owing to venues, broader application within the deal ecosystem that creates more resilient, stable demand.

全年，我們實現了創紀錄的軟體解決方案淨銷售額約2.93 億美元，較2022 年有機增長約7%，這得益於我們的場地數據室產品兩位數的增長，該產品已成為我們最大的軟體產品近1.1億美元的收入。除了強勁成長之外，場館在2023 年也表現出一致的業績水平，由於場館、交易生態系統內更廣泛的應用創造了更有彈性、更穩定的需求，其主要用例併購的表現明顯優於市場趨勢。

In 2023 Software Solutions net sales represented approximately 37% of our full year net sales, up from approximately 34% in 2022. Through new product introductions such as new AD and total compliance management, increased go-to-market investments and expansion of our partner ecosystem. We have more than doubled our software solutions revenue since our spin in 2016 to nearly $300 million in 2023, which translates into an annualized growth rate of approximately 13% on an organic basis.

2023 年，軟體解決方案淨銷售額約占我們全年淨銷售額的 37%，高於 2022 年的約 34%。透過新產品的推出（例如新 AD 和全面合規管理），增加了上市投資並擴大了我們的合作夥伴生態系統。自 2016 年剝離以來，我們的軟體解決方案收入成長了一倍多，到 2023 年將達到近 3 億美元，這意味著有機年增長率約為 13%。

Our past investments position us well to capture opportunities from current and future regulations given the rapid pace of regulatory change. Our clients depend on defense technology, domain expertise and service capabilities to guide them through an increasingly complex regulatory and compliance environment. In 2023 we develop solutions to assist our clients to comply with new SEC regulations, such as the pay versus performance disclosure and are also near complete on the development and readiness for the tailored shareholder reports rule, which becomes effective in July 2024, deepen was first to market with an alpha release of our tailored shareholder report software solution in October of last year.

鑑於監管變化的快速步伐，我們過去的投資使我們能夠很好地抓住當前和未來監管的機會。我們的客戶依靠國防技術、領域專業知識和服務能力來指導他們應對日益複雜的監管和合規環境。2023 年，我們開發解決方案，幫助客戶遵守新的 SEC 法規，例如薪酬與績效揭露，也接近完成客製化股東報告規則的開發和準備工作，該規則將於 2024 年 7 月生效，首先是深化去年10 月，我們客製化的股東報告軟體解決方案的alpha 版本已推向市場。

Since then, we've been working diligently on product enhancements to enable clients to complete PSR workflows at scale with tailored shareholder reports being a financial report, decent is ideally positioned to leverage our arc reporting, offering leading financial close solution for investment companies and our deep expertise in the areas of IT, Spirit tagging and compliance filing to create an end to end compliance solution for tailored shareholder reports.

從那時起，我們一直在努力改進產品，讓客戶能夠大規模完成PSR 工作流程，將客製化的股東報告作為財務報告，Decent 非常適合利用我們的弧形報告，為投資公司和我們的公司提供領先的財務結算解決方案。在 IT、Spirit 標籤和合規歸檔領域擁有深厚的專業知識，可為客製化股東報告建立端到端合規解決方案。

Importantly, our arc reporting product offers clients the ability to execute financial calculations, report creation at the fund and share class level, XBRL tagging, reviewing and filing all through a single solution. Further integrated data flow within ARC reporting eliminates the need for postproduction reconciliation and guarantees consistency with the fund's financial results at the share class level coupled with defense service expertise and production capabilities, we have created an integrated compliance solution that eliminates handoffs.

重要的是，我們的 arc 報告產品使客戶能夠透過單一解決方案執行財務計算、在基金和股票類別層級建立報告、XBRL 標記、審查和歸檔。ARC 報告中進一步整合的資料流消除了後期製作對帳的需要，並保證了與基金的股票類別財務績效的一致性，再加上國防服務專業知識和生產能力，我們創建了一個消除交接的集成合規解決方案。

We expect tailored shareholder reports will generate approximately $20 million to $25 million in revenue for the full year 2025 with approximately a half year impact expected in 2024. Given our integrated approach, tailored shareholder reports will benefit each of our offerings, software solutions, tech-enabled services and distribution. We expect software solutions to account for nearly half of total tailored shareholder reports revenue.

我們預計，量身訂製的股東報告將在 2025 年全年產生約 2,000 萬至 2,500 萬美元的收入，預計到 2024 年將產生約半年的影響。鑑於我們的綜合方法，量身定制的股東報告將使我們的每項產品、軟體解決方案、技術支援的服務和分銷受益。我們預計軟體解決方案將佔客製化股東報告總收入的近一半。

Before turning things over to Dave, let me provide some additional perspective on our updated long-term projections. Our focus strategic transformation over the past several years has enabled defense to become more profitable and resilient with a solid foundation created. We are well positioned to continue to deliver increasing value to our three stakeholders, our clients, our employees and our shareholders.

在將事情交給戴夫之前，讓我就我們更新的長期預測提供一些額外的觀點。我們過去幾年的重點戰略轉型使國防變得更加有利可圖，更具彈性，並奠定了堅實的基礎。我們有能力繼續為我們的三個利害關係人、我們的客戶、我們的員工和我們的股東提供不斷增長的價值。

Currently, we're in the final stages of Chapter two or the fundamental transformation chapter of our journey as an independent company, a phase that started in 2020 and has approximately 18 months remaining specifically by the completion of Chapter two, we will have transformed all areas of the Company, simplifying and improving our business processes, installing more robust tooling across the organization and completing development of our single compliant SaaS platform, all aimed at creating a significantly improved and predictable experience for our clients, employees and shareholders.

目前，我們正處於第二章的最後階段，即我們作為獨立公司的旅程的根本轉型章節，這一階段於2020 年開始，大約還剩18 個月，具體到第二章完成時，我們將完成所有轉型我們的目標是，簡化和改進我們的業務流程，在整個組織內安裝更強大的工具，並完成我們單一合規SaaS 平台的開發，所有這些都旨在為我們的客戶、員工和股東創造顯著改進和可預測的體驗。

While there are still work remaining in Chapter two within our projection period, we will move into Chapter three of our transformational journey and chapter three, we will continue to realize benefits from our revenue mix shift and historical investments that have resulted in a strong foundation for continued innovation and growth these dynamics result in sustained profitable revenue growth. We look forward to increasing value creation by delivering predictable, consistent organic top line growth, continued strong profitability and robust cash flow generation over the next five years.

雖然在我們的預測期內第二章仍有工作要做，但我們將進入轉型之旅的第三章，在第三章中，我們將繼續從我們的收入結構轉變和歷史投資中獲益，這些轉變和歷史投資為我們的轉型奠定了堅實的基礎。持續創新和成長這些動力帶來持續的獲利收入成長。我們期待在未來五年內透過提供可預測的、持續的有機營收成長、持續強勁的獲利能力和強勁的現金流生成來增加價值創造。

Let me highlight some of the growth drivers in our long-term plan. First, deep and strong market position, regulatory and compliance support the strategy of share of wallet expansion within our existing client base. We believe our industry leading technology and service capabilities, coupled with our deep domain expertise, provide unique value to our clients and provide defend with an advantaged position across the competitive landscape. New regulations are a tailwind in our plan. Our long-term projections include opportunities from known SEC regulations such as tailored shareholder reports, given the rate of regulatory change, we expect our revenue will likely benefit from new regulations yet to be enacted. Those undefined future regulations will be upside to our projections. And given the typical Proposal two adoption cycle would positively impact 2027 and 2028.

讓我強調一下我們長期計劃中的一些成長動力。首先，深厚而強大的市場地位、監管和合規性支持我們在現有客戶群中擴大錢包份額的策略。我們相信，我們領先業界的技術和服務能力，加上我們深厚的領域專業知識，可以為我們的客戶提供獨特的價值，並在競爭格局中為國防提供優勢地位。新法規是我們計劃的推動力。我們的長期預測包括來自已知 SEC 法規的機會，例如量身定制的股東報告，考慮到監管變化的速度，我們預計我們的收入可能會受益於尚未頒布的新法規。那些未定義的未來法規將有利於我們的預測。鑑於典型的提案二採用週期將對 2027 年和 2028 年產生正面影響。

Finally, we are developing capabilities to expand beyond our current core SEC compliance offerings into adjacent markets and use cases by leveraging defense foundational capabilities in the areas of document management, composition, tagging and filing. We have the ability to expand into new use cases that call upon the same set of capabilities we already possess for which we do not serve today. In doing so, we have significant opportunities to increase the size of our serviceable market while staying close to our core competencies, allowing us to serve those new use cases productively. We expect non SEC related opportunities will benefit us later in our projection period. Our single compliance platform will serve as a foundational component of our future technology ecosystem and will allow scalable revenue growth and market expansion. Our recent development efforts, which have resulted in the brand new build of ActiveDisclosure and the newly launched tailored shareholder report. Software Solution demonstrate the capabilities we are adding to the platform and the potential to address new market opportunities. As I've said before, if any opportunities ahead are greater than what we have accomplished thus far.

最後，我們正在開發能力，透過利用文件管理、撰寫、標記和歸檔領域的國防基礎能力，將我們目前的核心 SEC 合規產品擴展到相鄰市場和用例。我們有能力擴展到新的用例，這些用例需要我們已經擁有但目前還沒有提供的相同功能集。在此過程中，我們有很大的機會擴大我們的可用市場規模，同時保持我們的核心競爭力，使我們能夠有效地為這些新用例提供服務。我們預計非 SEC 相關的機會將使我們在預測期後期受益。我們的單一合規平台將作為我們未來技術生態系統的基礎組成部分，並將實現可擴展的收入成長和市場擴張。我們最近的開發工作帶來了全新的 ActiveDisclosure 版本和新推出的客製化股東報告。軟體解決方案展示了我們為平台添加的功能以及抓住新市場機會的潛力。正如我之前所說，未來的機會是否比我們迄今為止所取得的成就更大。

Before I share a few closing remarks, I would like to turn the call over to Dave to provide more details on our fourth quarter financial results outlook for the first quarter of 2024 and our updated long-term projections. Dave?

在我發表一些結束語之前，我想將電話轉給 Dave，以提供有關我們 2024 年第一季度第四季度財務業績展望以及我們更新的長期預測的更多詳細資訊。戴夫？

Thank you, Dan, and good morning, everyone. Before I discuss our fourth quarter financial performance. I'd like to recap a few housekeeping items in the quarter. First, during the fourth quarter, we completed the sale of eBrevia, a software solution, primarily used in contract analytics which we acquired in 2018 and had net sales of approximately $3.8 million in 2023.

謝謝丹，大家早安。在討論我們第四季度的財務表現之前。我想回顧一下本季的一些家務事項。首先，在第四季度，我們完成了 eBrevia 的銷售，這是一種軟體解決方案，主要用於合約分析，我們於 2018 年收購了該解決方案，2023 年的淨銷售額約為 380 萬美元。

As part of our technology development over the last several years, we have gradually integrated eBrevia as artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities into our existing offerings, including client implementations going forward, eBrevia as a standalone offering had limited value to defend and as such we sold the business.

作為過去幾年技術開發的一部分，我們逐漸將 eBrevia 作為人工智慧和機器學習功能整合到我們現有的產品中，包括未來的客戶端實施，eBrevia 作為獨立產品的防禦價值有限，因此我們出售了這生意。

We received de minimus proceeds from the sale, resulting in a pretax loss of $6.1 million, which is recorded within the capital markets software Solutions operating segments. Second, during the fourth quarter, the Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program of up to $150 million with an expiration date of December 31st, 2025. This repurchase authorization, which commenced on January first, 2020 for replace the prior authorization, which expired on December 31st, 2023. We continue to view share repurchases as an important component to drive value for shareholders and as part of our balanced capital deployment plan, which also features organic investments to drive future growth and net debt reduction.

我們從出售中獲得了微薄的收益，導致稅前損失 610 萬美元，該損失記錄在資本市場軟體解決方案營運部門中。其次，第四季度，董事會批准了一項高達 1.5 億美元的新股票回購計劃，到期日為 2025 年 12 月 31 日。此回購授權於2020年1月1日開始生效，以取代先前於2023年12月31日到期的授權。我們繼續將股票回購視為推動股東價值的重要組成部分，也是我們平衡資本部署計劃的一部分，該計劃還包括有機投資，以推動未來成長和淨債務削減。

Finally, as part of our ongoing effort to enhance ActiveDisclosure functionality, our Section 16 filing capabilities, which were previously reported in the standalone file 16 offering, have been integrated into ActiveDisclosure. While 16 as a software solution used in the filing of beneficial ownership information mandated under SEC section 16 and had full year 2023 revenue of approximately $9.4 million.

最後，作為我們增強 ActiveDisclosure 功能的持續努力的一部分，我們的第 16 條歸檔功能（先前在獨立的 file 16 產品中報告過）已整合到 ActiveDisclosure 中。16 作為一種軟體解決方案，用於根據 SEC 第 16 條規定提交受益所有權信息，2023 年全年收入約為 940 萬美元。

We have updated the reporting of product level revenue details to reflect this change given final 16 has been historically comprised of both a subscription and a transactionally driven component as we transition file 16 to a subscription-based model to align with active disclosures revenue model. We expect churn to be temporarily elevated as a result of this transition, which will be more than offset by the benefits associated with a subscription-based offering, including long-term predictability.

我們更新了產品層級收入詳細資訊的報告，以反映此變化，因為 Final 16 歷來由訂閱和交易驅動元件組成，因為我們將文件 16 轉換為基於訂閱的模型，以與主動揭露收入模型保持一致。我們預計，由於這一轉變，客戶流失率將暫時上升，而與基於訂閱的產品相關的好處（包括長期可預測性）將足以抵消這種影響。

Now turning to our fourth quarter results. As Dan noted, we delivered solid results in a challenging environment, including consolidated year-over-year net sales growth, higher adjusted EBITDA and an increase in operating cash flow from last year's fourth quarter. We posted 8.2% organic growth in our Software Solutions net sales led by record quarterly net sales in venue, all while continuing to invest in evolving to a more recurring sales mix, aggressively managing our cost structure and being disciplined stewards of capital.

現在轉向我們第四季的業績。正如 Dan 指出的那樣，我們在充滿挑戰的環境中取得了堅實的業績，包括綜合淨銷售額同比增長、調整後 EBITDA 更高以及營運現金流較去年第四季度有所增加。我們的軟體解決方案淨銷售額實現了8.2% 的有機成長，這得益於創紀錄的季度淨銷售額，同時我們繼續投資發展更具經常性的銷售組合，積極管理我們的成本結構並嚴格管理資本。

On a consolidated basis, total net sales for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $176.5 million, an increase of $8.8 million or 5.2% on a reported basis and 5.4% on an organic basis from the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in consolidated net sales was driven by higher investment companies, Compliance & Communications Management segment net sales, primarily as a result of higher mutual fund special proxy activity in the quarter as well as growth in total Software Solutions net sales, which combined to more than offset a modest year-over-year decline in event-driven capital markets, transactional revenue and the impact of the eBrevia and EDGAR Online dispositions.

合併後，2023 年第四季的總淨銷售額為 1.765 億美元，較 2022 年第四季增加 880 萬美元，按報告計算成長 5.2%，以有機成長 5.4%。綜合淨銷售額的成長是由投資公司、合規與通訊管理部門淨銷售額的增加所推動的，這主要是由於本季度共同基金特別代理活動的增加以及軟體解決方案總淨銷售額的增長，這些因素結合在一起，推動了合併淨銷售額的成長。這抵消了事件驅動的資本市場、交易收入以及 eBrevia 和 EDGAR Online 處置的影響同比小幅下降。

Q4 adjusted non-GAAP gross margin was 59.8%, approximately 470 basis points higher than the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily driven by growth in software solutions, net sales in the impact of cost control initiatives, partially offset by incremental investments to accelerate our transformation and lower capital markets transactional activities.

第四季調整後的非GAAP 毛利率為59.8%，比2022 年第四季高出約470 個基點，主要受到軟體解決方案成長、成本控制措施影響下的淨銷售額的推動，部分被加速轉型的增量投資所抵銷資本市場交易活動減少。

Adjusted non-GAAP SG&A expense in the quarter was $64.2 million, an $11 million increase from the fourth quarter of 2022. As a percentage of net sales, adjusted non-GAAP SG&A was 36.4%, an increase of approximately 470 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in adjusted non-GAAP SG&A was primarily driven by an increase in selling expenses as a result of higher sales volumes, higher incentive compensation expense relative to last year's fourth quarter, though full year incentive compensation expense remained flat to last year and incremental transformation related investments, partially offset by the impact of cost control initiatives.

本季調整後的非 GAAP SG&A 費用為 6,420 萬美元，比 2022 年第四季增加 1,100 萬美元。調整後的非 GAAP SG&A 佔淨銷售額的百分比為 36.4%，較 2022 年第四季增加約 470 個基點。調整後的非公認會計準則銷售費用和一般管理費用的增加主要是由於銷量增加、激勵薪酬費用相對於去年第四季度更高而導致銷售費用增加，儘管全年激勵薪酬費用與去年持平，並且增量轉型相關投資，部分被成本控制措施的影響所抵銷。

Our fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was $41.3 million, an increase of $2 million or 5.1% from the fourth quarter of 2022. Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was 23.4%, flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 as higher investment companies, transactional and software solutions, net sales volume and the impact of cost control initiatives were offset by lower capital markets. Transactional net sales and incremental investments to accelerate the company's transformation.

我們第四季調整後的 EBITDA 為 4,130 萬美元，比 2022 年第四季增加了 200 萬美元，增幅為 5.1%。第四季調整後EBITDA 利潤率為23.4%，與2022 年第四季持平，原因是投資公司、交易和軟體解決方案、淨銷售額以及成本控制舉措的影響增加，被較低的資本市場所抵消。交易淨銷售額和增量投資加速公司轉型。

Turning now to our fourth quarter segment results. Net sales in our Capital Markets Software Solutions segment were $48 million, an increase of 12.4% on an organic basis from the fourth quarter of last year, driven by the strong growth in our virtual data room offering venue, which was up $6.3 million or 26% year over year and achieved record quarterly sales venues.

現在轉向我們第四季的部門業績。我們的資本市場軟體解決方案部門的淨銷售額為4,800 萬美元，比去年第四季度有機增長12.4%，這得益於我們的虛擬數據室服務領域的強勁增長，該領域增長了630 萬美元，即26年成長 %，季度銷售場地創歷史新高。

Outstanding performance in the quarter was driven by a higher room count, an increase in volume within existing rooms and higher pricing. On a full year basis, venue delivered approximately $110 million in net sales and grew nearly 11% versus full year 2022 and is a main contributor to the growth of our recurring and reoccurring offerings in 2023 venues performance has been consistent primarily as a result of stable demand from both announced and unannounced deals as well as across public and private companies alike, despite some volatility inherent in the broader M&A market.

本季度的出色業績得益於客房數量的增加、現有客房數量的增加以及定價的上漲。從全年來看，場館實現了約1.1 億美元的淨銷售額，與2022 年全年相比增長了近11%，是我們經常性和經常性產品在2023 年增長的主要貢獻者。場館業績保持一致，主要是由於穩定的儘管更廣泛的併購市場存在一些固有的波動，但已宣布和未宣布的交易以及上市公司和私營公司的需求仍然存在。

In terms of completed deals, net sales of our recurring compliance products. Active disclosure, including file 16, declined approximately 2% in the fourth quarter, driven primarily by lower section 16 filing activity, which was down nearly 16%.

就已完成交易而言，我們經常性合規產品的淨銷售額。第四季的主動揭露（包括文件 16）下降了約 2%，這主要是由於第 16 條申請活動下降了近 16%。

In the quarter, we experienced lower demand for beneficial ownership filings as a result of a weak IPO market as well as elevated churn as we transition clients to a subscription-based model in addition, following the decommissioning of the legacy AT three platform, we had fewer clients on the new AD. platform as a result of the expected elevated customer churn rate during the transition, a lower customer count in conjunction with the impact of spec liquidations, normal customer churn and the ongoing weakness in IPO activity resulted in a modest decline in subscription revenue in the quarter. The decline in subscription revenue was partially offset by price increases, higher service revenue and new customer wins.

本季度，由於 IPO 市場疲軟，我們對實益所有權申請的需求下降，而且隨著我們將客戶轉向基於訂閱的模式，客戶流失率上升。此外，在傳統 AT 三平台退役後，我們新AD 上的客戶端較少。由於過渡期間預期客戶流失率上升、客戶數量減少以及投機清算的影響、正常的客戶流失以及 IPO 活動持續疲軟，導致該季度訂閱收入小幅下降。訂閱收入的下降被價格上漲、服務收入增加和新客戶贏得部分抵消。

During the fourth quarter, we made continued progress to expand the adoption of ActiveDisclosure following a sequential increase in net client count during the third quarter, we realized the sequential increase in client count again during the fourth quarter. The momentum in client count growth, coupled with product enhancements we have released create a strong foundation for sales growth in 2024 and beyond.

繼第三季淨客戶數量連續成長之後，我們在第四季度繼續擴大 ActiveDisclosure 的採用，並在第四季度再次實現了客戶數量的連續成長。客戶數量成長的勢頭，加上我們發布的產品增強功能，為 2024 年及以後的銷售成長奠定了堅實的基礎。

We expect Asic disclosures growth rate in the second half of 2024 to be stronger than the first half as some of the headwinds we experienced in 2023 continue to play out in the first part of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 26.5%, an increase of approximately 530 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022 primarily due to higher net sales volumes and cost control initiatives, partially offset by higher selling expenses as a result of increased net sales and higher incentive compensation expense.

我們預計 2024 年下半年的 Asic 揭露成長率將強於上半年，因為我們在 2023 年經歷的一些不利因素將在 2024 年上半年繼續發揮作用。該部門調整後的EBITDA 利潤率為26.5%，較2022 年第四季增加約530 個基點，主要是由於淨銷量增加和成本控制舉措，但部分被淨銷售額增加和成本上升導致的銷售費用增加所抵銷。激勵補償費用。

Net sales in our Capital Markets Compliance & Communications Management segment were $68.3 million, a decrease of $5.1 million or 6.9% from the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily driven by lower event-driven or transactional net sales. We recorded approximately $50 million in Q4 transactional revenue, in line with our expectations.

資本市場合規與通訊管理部門的淨銷售額為 6,830 萬美元，比 2022 年第四季減少 510 萬美元，即 6.9%，這主要是由於事件驅動或交易淨銷售額下降所致。我們第四季的交易收入約為 5000 萬美元，符合我們的預期。

Similar to the trends we experienced during the first nine months of the year, the demand environment for equity transactions remained soft in the fourth quarter, though the rate of decline continued to moderate as we overlapped periods of weak demand in 2022. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 30.7%, a decrease of approximately 120 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to lower transactional sales volumes, partially offset by cost control initiatives.

與今年前 9 個月的趨勢類似，第四季度股權交易的需求環境仍然疲軟，但由於與 2022 年需求疲軟時期重疊，下降速度繼續放緩。該部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 30.7%，較 2022 年第四季下降約 120 個基點。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的下降主要是因為交易銷售下降，但部分被成本控制措施所抵銷。

Net sales in our investment companies software Solutions segment were $25.7 million, an increase of 1.6% versus the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily driven by growth in the our digital and our regulatory modules within Arc Suite. As expected, the growth rate in the fourth quarter was slower compared to the third quarter of this year, which was aided by higher onetime services and support revenue.

我們的投資公司軟體解決方案部門的淨銷售額為 2,570 萬美元，與 2022 年第四季相比成長 1.6%，這主要是由 Arc Suite 中的數位和監管模組的成長推動的。正如預期的那樣，第四季度的成長率比今年第三季要慢，這得益於一次性服務和支援收入的增加。

On a full year basis, total ARC suite delivered approximately $107 million in revenue and grew 7.4% year over year, driven by growth in subscription revenue as a result of the continued strong adoption of our suite within Investment Companies.

全年來看，ARC 套件總收入約為 1.07 億美元，年增 7.4%，這主要是由於投資公司繼續大力採用我們的套件而導致訂閱收入成長。

Based on the incremental revenue from Taylor shareholder reports, we expect stronger Arc Suite revenue growth starting in the second half of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 31.5%, a decrease of approximately 530 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to higher product development and technology investments in support of growth opportunities such as tailored shareholder reports and higher incentive compensation expense, partially offset by cost control initiatives.

根據 Taylor 股東報告的增量收入，我們預計 Arc Suite 收入將從 2024 年下半年開始出現更強勁的成長。該部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 31.5%，較 2022 年第四季下降約 530 個基點。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的下降主要是由於為支持成長機會而增加的產品開發和技術投資，例如量身定制的股東報告和更高的激勵補償費用，但部分被成本控制舉措所抵消。

Net sales in our investment companies, Compliance & Communications Management segment were $34.5 million, an increase of $8.9 million or 34.8% from the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily driven by higher event-driven revenue from a large mutual fund special proxy project.

我們的投資公司、合規與通訊管理部門的淨銷售額為3,450 萬美元，較2022 年第四季增加890 萬美元，即34.8%，這主要是由於大型共同基金特別代理專案的事件驅動收入增加所致。

Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 30.1%, an increase of approximately 860 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to higher net sales volumes and the impact of cost control initiatives, including continued synergies from our print platform consolidation, partially offset by higher incentive compensation expense.

該部門調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 30.1%，較 2022 年第四季增加約 860 個基點。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的增加主要是由於淨銷售的增加和成本控制措施的影響，包括我們的印刷平台整合帶來的持續協同效應，但部分被較高的激勵補償費用所抵消。

Non-gaap unallocated corporate expenses were $10.9 million in the quarter, an increase of $2.8 million from the fourth quarter of 2022, primarily driven by an increase in expenses aimed at accelerating our transformation and higher incentive compensation expense, partially offset by the impact of cost control initiatives.

本季非 GAAP 未分配企業費用為 1,090 萬美元，較 2022 年第四季增加 280 萬美元，主要是由於旨在加速轉型的費用增加和激勵薪酬費用增加，部分被成本的影響所抵消控制舉措。

Free cash flow in the quarter was $56 million, a decrease of $2.5 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The year-over-year decline in free cash flow was primarily driven by higher capital expenditures related to investments in our software products and the underlying technology to support them, partially offset by an increase in adjusted EBITDA.

該季度自由現金流為 5,600 萬美元，較 2022 年第四季減少 250 萬美元。自由現金流的年減主要是由於與我們的軟體產品及其支援基礎技術投資相關的資本支出增加所致，但部分被調整後 EBITDA 的成長所抵銷。

We ended the quarter with $124.5 million of total debt and $101.4 million of non-GAAP net debt, a reduction of $44.7 million and $33.6 million, respectively, versus year end 2022. At year end 2023, we had no outstanding borrowings under our revolver and had $23.1 million of cash on hand. As of December 31st, 2023, our non-GAAP net leverage ratio was 0.5 times.

截至本季末，我們的總債務為 1.245 億美元，非 GAAP 淨債務為 1.014 億美元，與 2022 年底相比分別減少了 4,470 萬美元和 3,360 萬美元。截至 2023 年底，我們的左輪手槍沒有未償還的借款，手上有 2,310 萬美元現金。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的非 GAAP 淨槓桿率為 0.5 倍。

Regarding capital deployment, we repurchased approximately 82,000 shares of common stock during the fourth quarter for $4.6 million at an average price of $56.7 per share. For the full year 2023, we repurchased approximately 469,000 shares for $22.6 million at an average price of $48.20 per share.

在資本部署方面，我們在第四季以 460 萬美元回購了約 82,000 股普通股，平均價格為每股 56.7 美元。2023 年全年，我們以 2,260 萬美元的價格回購了約 469,000 股股票，平均價格為每股 48.20 美元。

Going forward we will continue to take a balanced approach toward 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 we'll 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，並且我們將在這一領域保持自律。

As it relates to our outlook for the first quarter of 2024, we are encouraged by improving level of transactional activity so far in the first quarter, especially in the number of priced and publicly filed IPOs, though, overall transactional activity remains well below the historical average in the near term. We expect macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical factors will continue to weigh on the return to a more normalized deal activity level.

由於這關係到我們對 2024 年第一季的展望，我們對第一季迄今交易活動水準的改善感到鼓舞，尤其是定價和公開申請的 IPO 數量，但整體交易活動仍遠低於歷史水準短期內處於平均水平。我們預期宏觀經濟不利因素和地緣政治因素將繼續影響交易活動恢復到更正常化的水平。

We expect consolidated first quarter net sales in the range of $210 million to $220 million and adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid 20% range. Compared to the first quarter of last year, the midpoint of our consolidated revenue guidance, $215 million, implies growth of approximately 8%. Our margin guidance also implies a higher adjusted EBITDA margin from the first quarter of 2023, which was 21.3%.

我們預計第一季合併淨銷售額將在 2.1 億美元至 2.2 億美元之間，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將在 20% 左右。與去年第一季相比，我們綜合收入指引的中點為 2.15 億美元，意味著成長約 8%。我們的利潤率指引也意味著調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率較 2023 年第一季更高，為 21.3%。

I'll also provide a bit more color on our assumptions for the capital markets Compliance & Communications Management segment. At the midpoint of our sales range. We assume transactional sales of approximately $50 million in the first quarter, reflecting an increase of approximately $9 million from the first quarter of 2023.

我也會對我們對資本市場合規與通訊管理部門的假設進行更多說明。處於我們銷售範圍的中點。我們假設第一季的交易銷售額約為 5,000 萬美元，較 2023 年第一季增加約 900 萬美元。

As it relates to the full year, our 2024 operating plan reflects the continued execution of our strategy and associated investments aimed toward accelerating our transformation. Our capital spending which is predominantly related to development in our software products and the underlying technology to support them. It's projected to be between $65 million and $70 million, an increase from the $61.8 million that we spent in 2023.

由於與全年相關，我們的 2024 年營運計畫反映了我們旨在加速轉型的策略和相關投資的持續執行。我們的資本支出主要與軟體產品的開發以及支援它們的基礎技術有關。預計支出在 6,500 萬至 7,000 萬美元之間，比 2023 年的 6,180 萬美元增加。

The additional CapEx is aimed at supporting the continued development of our tailored shareholder reports solution and advancing toward our single compliance platform vision as part of our future product roadmap from a margin perspective, due to increased investment levels in 2024 to support software product development and sales and marketing initiatives associated with tailored shareholder reports. We expect the tailored shareholder reports solution to have a slightly dilutive impact to defense consolidated adjusted EBITDA in 2024 given its half year impact in 2024 and becoming accretive to consolidated adjusted EBITDA in 2025.

額外的資本支出旨在支持我們量身定制的股東報告解決方案的持續開發，並從利潤角度推動我們的單一合規平台願景，作為我們未來產品路線圖的一部分，因為2024 年支持軟體產品開發和銷售的投資水準增加以及與客製化股東報告相關的行銷活動。鑑於其對 2024 年半年的影響，我們預計量身定制的股東報告解決方案將對 2024 年國防綜合調整後 EBITDA 產生輕微稀釋影響，並在 2025 年對綜合調整後 EBITDA 產生增值。

Additionally, in 2024, we will continue to make investments to accelerate our transformation. These investments in both software development and associated business processes. We'll support our continued modernization, innovation and growth, the combined impact of the ramp up of tailored shareholder reports and transformation related investments are expected to be offset by higher revenue, continued mix shift into higher margin software offerings and further operating efficiencies. As a result, we expect our full year 2024 adjusted EBITDA margin to approximate the level we achieve in 2023, which was 26%.

此外，2024年，我們將持續進行投資，加速轉型。這些投資包括軟體開發和相關業務流程。我們將支持我們持續的現代化、創新和成長，客製化股東報告的增加和轉型相關投資的綜合影響預計將被更高的收入、持續向更高利潤率的軟體產品的組合轉變和進一步的營運效率所抵消。因此，我們預計 2024 年全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將接近 2023 年達到的水平，即 26%。

Finally, let me share a few key takeaways from our updated long-term projections. As a reminder, the detailed guidance can be found in our investor presentation posted on our Investor Relations website. First, having historically prioritized business stability while protecting our margins, our focus shifts to driving sustained revenue growth and margin expansion. In chapter three, our updated 5-year projections deliver sustainable and profitable revenue growth. Specifically, we expect the growth in software solutions. It more than offset the declines in tech-enabled services and print and distribution sales, enabling us to deliver consistent low single digit consolidated net sales growth annually starting in 2024.

最後，讓我分享我們更新的長期預測的一些關鍵要點。提醒一下，詳細的指導可以在我們的投資者關係網站上發布的投資者簡報中找到。首先，我們歷來在保護利潤的同時優先考慮業務穩定性，現在我們的重點轉向推動持續的收入成長和利潤擴張。在第三章中，我們更新了 5 年預測，實現了可持續且有利可圖的收入成長。具體來說，我們預計軟體解決方案將會成長。它足以抵消技術服務以及印刷和分銷銷售的下降，使我們能夠從 2024 年開始每年實現持續的低個位數綜合淨銷售額成長。

Next, based on the revenue growth profile, we expect to continue to evolve toward a heavier mix of software solutions net sales in our five-year plan with focused efforts and targeted investments we project Software Solutions net sales will represent approximately 60% of our total net sales by 2028, up from approximately 37% of total net sales at the end of 2023.

接下來，根據收入成長情況，我們預計在我們的五年計畫中，透過重點努力和有針對性的投資，繼續向軟體解決方案淨銷售額的更廣泛組合發展，我們預計軟體解決方案淨銷售額將占我們總銷售額的約60%到 2028 年淨銷售額將高於 2023 年底總淨銷售額的約 37%。

In addition to the organic growth we are targeting for our software offerings, we expect to increasingly serve our clients via software, which entails a shift of revenue from traditional services to software over time. Based on our experience in other areas where this has occurred, the shift from traditional services to software produces favorable economics with slightly lower revenue, but higher adjusted EBITDA. We expect tech-enabled services net sales to decline moderately moving forward due to the shift to our software solutions consistent with the long term trend, print and distribution net sales will continue to be impacted by secular decline and by 2028 are expected to represent approximately 15% of our net sales.

除了我們軟體產品的有機成長之外，我們還希望越來越多地透過軟體為客戶提供服務，這意味著隨著時間的推移，收入將從傳統服務轉向軟體。根據我們在發生這種情況的其他領域的經驗，從傳統服務轉變為軟體的良好的經濟效益，收入略低，但調整後的 EBITDA 較高。我們預計，由於轉向我們的軟體解決方案，與長期趨勢一致，技術支援的服務淨銷售額將適度下降，印刷和發行淨銷售額將繼續受到長期下降的影響，到2028 年預計將佔約15% 。占我們淨銷售額的%。

More importantly, with the growth in software solutions, our revenue composition will also become more stable and predictable. By 2028, we expect 80% of our revenue will be derived from recurring and reoccurring use cases with the remaining 20% being event-driven comprised primarily of Capital Markets transactional revenue.

更重要的是，隨著軟體解決方案的成長，我們的收入組成也將變得更加穩定和可預測。到 2028 年，我們預計 80% 的收入將來自重複出現的用例，其餘 20% 由事件驅動，主要由資本市場交易收入組成。

For modelling purposes, we assume total transactional revenue to be flat to the 2023 levels in our five-year projections with portions of transaction revenue historically recorded within tech-enabled services shifting to software solutions over our projection period. The combination of an evolving revenue mix, specifically growing our high-margin software offerings, along with pricing opportunities and improvements in operating efficiencies creates the basis for a long-term adjusted EBITDA margin expansion by 2028, we expect adjusted EBITDA margin to exceed 30% with a ramp up in margin expansion beginning in 2025.

出於建模目的，我們假設五年預測中的總交易收入將與 2023 年的水平持平，歷史上記錄在技術支援服務中的部分交易收入在我們的預測期內轉向軟體解決方案。不斷變化的收入組合，特別是我們高利潤率軟體產品的成長，加上定價機會和營運效率的提高，為2028 年長期調整後EBITDA 利潤率擴張奠定了基礎，我們預計調整後EBITDA 利潤率將超過30%從 2025 年開始，利潤率將加速擴張。

The growth in adjusted EBITDA, a moderate level of CapEx, and declining interest expense are expected to result in strong free cash flow generation across the projection period. We expect the cumulative adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion of approximately 45% between 2024 and 2028 and expect to generate more than $500 million in free cash flow over this period.

調整後 EBITDA 的成長、適度的資本支出水準以及利息支出的下降預計將在預測期內產生強勁的自由現金流。我們預計 2024 年至 2028 年間，累計調整後 EBITDA 向自由現金流的轉換約為 45%，並預計在此期間產生超過 5 億美元的自由現金流。

Finally, our long-term capital allocation priorities remain the same. Our approach to the use of capital will remain disciplined and thoughtful allocating dollars to areas that best advance our strategy and maximize shareholder value based on the significant value-creation opportunities embedded in our plan the best and highest use of cash remains investing in the long-term organic growth for Dayton. We are targeting average annual CapEx of approximately $60 million from 2024 through 2028 with the near term expected to require more investment, which will then moderate over time as we gain increased scale and efficiencies.

最後，我們的長期資本配置優先事項保持不變。我們使用資本的方法將保持嚴格和深思熟慮，根據我們計劃中包含的重大價值創造機會，將資金分配到最能推進我們戰略並最大化股東價值的領域，最佳和最高程度的現金使用仍然投資於長期業務。代頓的長期有機成長。我們的目標是從 2024 年到 2028 年，平均每年資本支出約為 6,000 萬美元，短期內預計需要更多投資，隨著我們擴大規模和提高效率，投資額將隨著時間的推移而放緩。

Next, share repurchases and net debt reduction will each continue to occupy the next highest priority for use of cash.

接下來，股票回購和淨債務削減將繼續佔據現金使用的第二高優先事項。

Regarding M&A, we do not have any transactions assumed in our plans, while we will continue to evaluate opportunities that could accelerate our strategy. We will maintain the same discipline that we have exhibited historically. And lastly, we view dividends as the lowest priority for our use of cash at this time and as such, do not anticipate any dividend payments. We are committed to executing against our long-term plan and continue to find opportunities to create value for all our stakeholders. We look forward to sharing our progress against our updated projections going forward.

關於併購，我們的計劃中沒有假設任何交易，但我們將繼續評估可以加速我們策略的機會。我們將保持我們歷史上所表現出的同樣的紀律。最後，我們認為股息是我們目前使用現金的最低優先級，因此，預計不會支付任何股息。我們致力於執行我們的長期計劃，並繼續尋找機會為所有利害關係人創造價值。我們期待分享我們針對未來更新預測的進展。

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. In 2023, we executed well in a very challenging market environment, delivering solid financial results while continuing to invest to become the leading provider of compliance and regulatory solutions in 2024, you can expect our primary focus to remain on accelerating our business mix shift by continuing to grow our recurring revenue base while maintaining share in our core traditional businesses, including transactions. We will continue to invest in our regulatory and compliance software platform to ready ourselves to capitalize on the demand from future new regulations and non-SEC use cases. In addition, we will continue to aggressively manage our costs and drive operational efficiencies.

謝謝，戴夫。2023 年，我們在充滿挑戰的市場環境中表現出色，取得了穩健的財務業績，同時繼續投資，在2024 年成為合規和監管解決方案的領先提供商，您可以預期我們的主要重點仍然是通過繼續加速我們的業務組合轉變擴大我們的經常性收入基礎，同時保持我們在核心傳統業務（包括交易）中的份額。我們將繼續投資於我們的監管和合規軟體平台，以便做好充分利用未來新法規和非 SEC 用例的需求的準備。此外，我們將繼續積極管理成本並提高營運效率。

Finally, we will remain disciplined in the allocation of capital in order to maintain our financial flexibility to execute our strategy. I am confident that if we do these things well, we will continue to create increased value for our stakeholders, clients, employees and shareholders in 2024 and beyond.

最後，我們將在資本配置方面保持嚴格，以維持執行策略的財務彈性。我相信，如果我們做好這些事情，我們將在 2024 年及以後繼續為利害關係人、客戶、員工和股東創造更多價值。

Before we open it up for Q&A, I'd like to thank the different employees around the world who 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不同員工，他們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) Charles Strauzer, CJS Securities.

（操作員指示）Charles Strauzer，CJS 證券。

Given the volatility in the M&A market in the you had nice growth this year showed and then you know, how sustainable is the growth there and what are the things you're seeing in the M&A market, you can show it?

考慮到併購市場的波動性，你今年表現出了良好的成長，然後你知道，那裡的成長有多可持續，以及你在併購市場中看到了什麼，你可以展示一下嗎？

Yes, Charlie, thanks for the question. One of the things that we've looked at in terms of venue, it's not it's not as nearly as volatile as the broader M&A market in terms of completed deals, I think certainly when you see some, you know, the number of transactions completed relative to our performance in venue, a bit of a disconnect there, even though deals aren't getting done, doesn't mean they're not getting work done, et cetera.

是的，查理，謝謝你的提問。我們在地點方面考慮的事情之一，就完成的交易而言，它並不像更廣泛的併購市場那樣波動，我想當然是當你看到一些完成的交易數量時相對於我們在場地上的表現，即使交易沒有完成，也有一點脫節，並不意味著他們沒有完成工作，等等。

And the 26% growth that we saw in the quarter, obviously much, much stronger than the number of deals getting completed. We look at venue again as being more, certainly not recurring like active disclosure. Some of the other on ARC, the compliance products, et cetera, some but certainly reoccurring and more stable than the balance of the transactional business.

我們在本季看到的 26% 的成長，顯然遠遠強於完成的交易數量。我們再次將場地視為更多，當然不會像主動披露那樣反覆出現。ARC 上的其他一些、合規產品等等，有些但肯定會重複出現，並且比交易業務的平衡更穩定。

It makes sense. Great. I mean, it's just following up there, too. If you could give us a little bit more color into the assumptions that kind of baked into your near term guidance and how should we think about the range of what's kind of vacancy? The high-low there.

這說得通。偉大的。我的意思是，它也只是跟進。如果您能給我們更多關於您近期指導中的假設的信息，以及我們應該如何考慮空缺類型的範圍？那裡的高低。

Yes, I think, Tom, is that I assume you're talking about the first quarter guide specifically talked about in our prepared remarks, the transactional revenue being up pretty significantly relative to last year's first quarter. Now that said, last year's first quarter was the low watermark in recent history. And so while we're seeing a pretty substantial or anticipating a pretty substantial percentage increase, I would say on an absolute dollar amount that the transactional revenue for the quarter is still expected to be well below historical averages.

是的，湯姆，我認為您正在談論我們在準備好的評論中專門談到的第一季指南，交易收入相對於去年第一季大幅成長。話雖如此，去年第一季是近代史上的低水位。因此，雖然我們看到相當大的百分比增長或預計會有相當大的百分比增長，但我想說，就絕對美元金額而言，本季度的交易收入預計仍將遠低於歷史平均水平。

Great. And just lastly, when you when you look at the EBITDA contribution from TSRs in 2025, how should we think about the margin on that? Is it similar to your kind of the historical print margin or do you is it you think it's about that?

偉大的。最後，當您查看 2025 年股東總回報對 EBITDA 的貢獻時，我們應該如何考慮其利潤率？它與您的歷史印刷邊距類似嗎？還是您認為與此有關？

Yes, Tom, it's I would say above that. And when you look at it I think it again, it's a combination that our TSR solution is a combination of software service and print and a rough roughly half of it will be software. The balance spread across certain traditional services or and print as well. I think when you think about it on an incremental margin basis, somewhere in the 40% to 50% range is probably a probably reasonable.

是的，湯姆，這就是我要說的。當你再看一次時，我再次想到，我們的 TSR 解決方案是軟體服務和列印的組合，其中大約一半是軟體。平衡分佈在某些傳統服務或印刷領域。我認為當你考慮增量利潤的基礎上時，40% 到 50% 的範圍可能是合理的。

Pete Heckmann, D.A. Davidson.

皮特‧赫克曼，D.A.戴維森。

Great. Thank you for taking the question and I apologize, I missed that last question, forgive me if I'm repeating it. But on the total shareholder, I'm sorry, the care tailored shareholder reports and your thought process there around total revenue opportunity for defense. And I guess how how does that compare to what you consider to be the overall a potential from that market? I guess in terms of did you get that? Are you getting the share or do you believe you'll get the share that you thought. Or are there other competitive solutions that have proven to be a little bit more competitive than what you thought?

偉大的。感謝您提出問題，我很抱歉，我錯過了最後一個問題，如果我重複了，請原諒我。但就總股東而言，我很抱歉，精心定制的股東報告以及您圍繞總收入機會進行辯護的思維過程。我想這與您認為的該市場的整體潛力相比如何？我想你明白了嗎？您是否獲得了份額，或者您是否相信您會獲得您想要的份額。或者是否有其他有競爭力的解決方案已被證明比您想像的更具競爭力？

Yes. Thanks, Pete. We are we did well in the market and it continues to play out. I think the big differentiator for us, a couple of things. One is coming off of a Fin. This is a financial report. And so having the premier financial reporting system in the market, I'm clearly not the only one, but we believe it's the largest one, it makes it an easy, easier sell to our clients in terms of a seamless process, no need to reconcile back to a system because it's coming from the source data for those that operate on our financial reporting tool.

是的。謝謝，皮特。我們在市場上做得很好，而且還在繼續發揮作用。我認為對我們來說最大的區別在於以下幾點。其中一個正從鰭上脫落。這是一份財務報告。因此，擁有市場上首屈一指的財務報告系統，我顯然不是唯一的系統，但我們相信它是最大的系統，它使我們能夠透過無縫流程輕鬆、輕鬆地向客戶銷售產品，無需協調回系統，因為它來自使用我們的財務報告工具運行的系統的來源資料。

And so where we've seen more price pressure and more fragmentation is really in the back end for distribution right now, under current regulation, there is a print requirements. And so we've seen a more aggressive pricing just on the print side.

因此，我們看到更大的價格壓力和更多的碎片化實際上是在分銷的後端，根據當前的監管，存在印刷要求。因此，我們在印刷方面看到了更激進的定價。

But let me also ask Eric, if you have anything else to add to that?

但我還要問艾瑞克，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Dan. And Pete, thanks for the question. Yes, I think Dan covered, certainly the highlights. I would just say that it deepens our offering. Clearly, it's an end to end solution. From our perspective, we can cover the full spectrum of services. So from software to services to distribution, we have that opportunity to provide an integrated compliance solution at the same time cover the entire spectrum. So based on that, we have software opportunities and competitive environment as well as print distribution and the tech-enabled services side of things so given our spectrum of services and our total complete end-to-end offering, we're positioned well and two to achieve the market results that we are targeting.

是的。謝謝，丹。皮特，謝謝你的提問。是的，我認為丹涵蓋了，當然是亮點。我只想說它加深了我們的產品。顯然，這是一個端到端的解決方案。從我們的角度來看，我們可以涵蓋全方位的服務。因此，從軟體到服務再到分銷，我們有機會提供整合的合規解決方案，同時涵蓋整個範圍。因此，基於此，我們擁有軟體機會和競爭環境以及印刷發行和技術支援的服務方面，因此考慮到我們的服務範圍和完整的端到端產品，我們處於有利地位，並且兩個實現我們目標的市場結果。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just I appreciate all the additional longer-term guidance framework that that's helpful. In thinking about the company when you have it seems like software, if I'm inferring something in the mid 10s in terms of total software revenue growth over the period 24 to 28 and number one, is that correct? And number two is, I guess how much of that growth do you think comes from existing solutions versus versus new solutions? And would you say that you're based upon some of your developments of new solutions, Pam, would there be some years that you would expect to be higher than that compound average rate in the in the mid 10s?

好的。這很有幫助。然後我很欣賞所有額外的長期指導框架，這很有幫助。考慮一下公司，當你擁有它時，它看起來像是軟體，如果我推斷 24 至 28 年間軟體總收入增長在 10 左右，排名第一，這是正確的嗎？第二個問題是，我想您認為這種增長有多少來自現有解決方案與新解決方案？Pam，您是否會說，您是基於新解決方案的一些開發，您是否會預計在某些年份中複合平均率會高於 10 年代中期的複合平均率？

Yes, thanks. A couple of dynamics in the model mix, we put the slides out this morning. So and the first being that what's included in the plan are known regulatory change. What's not included are things yet to come. So we didn't make an estimate of those. So we believe that based on trajectory of regulatory change as well as time to phase in that, anything that gets there will be things passed during the planning period that will positively impact 27 and 28 that are not currently being projected.

對了謝謝。模型組合中的一些動態，我們今天早上發布了幻燈片。首先，該計劃中包含的內容是已知的監管變化。未包括在內的是尚未發生的事情。所以我們沒有對這些進行估計。因此，我們相信，根據監管變革的軌跡以及分階段實施的時間，任何能夠實現這一目標的事情都將在規劃期內通過，這將對目前尚未預測的 27 和 28 產生積極影響。

In terms of the question on and the growth rates, the growth rate looks similar in the low to mid 10s on our compliance offerings. And then in venue, we've actually we're a little bit lower than that. I'm always a little tougher to call on. We've seen a great amount of stability in venue and upside in venue to Dave's comment on it's broader it broader application within the deal ecosystem.

就成長率問題而言，我們的合規產品的成長率看起來相似，在 10 左右。然後在場地方面，我們實際上比這個要低一些。我總是比較難打電話。根據戴夫關於交易生態系統中更廣泛應用的評論，我們看到了場地的巨大穩定性和場地的上行空間。

But we also think that will get benefit from the compliance platform that we're building from our ability to address new regulatory requirements more efficiently. And then our ability now that we have these thing now that we have the compliance platform established within the next 18 months or so that we can also start to target some use cases outside of the SEC mandate. And so all of those things channel into what looks looks a lot like what we've achieved achieved thus far and continuing that, but then also with the upside of being able to move into new use cases as well as additional regulatory change.

但我們也認為，這將從我們正在建構的合規平台中受益，因為我們能夠更有效地滿足新的監管要求。然後我們現在擁有這些能力，我們已經在未來 18 個月左右建立了合規平台，這樣我們也可以開始針對 SEC 授權之外的一些用例。因此，所有這些事情看起來很像我們迄今為止所取得的成就，並且繼續這樣做，但也有能夠進入新用例以及額外監管變革的好處。

Okay. And --?

好的。和——？

Sorry, Pete, this is Dave. I would just add one of the comments that Dan made the way we get to the mid teen growth that we projected for software also includes and you know, an assumption that over time, a lot of the work that's done traditionally migrates to a more what we call a hybrid model, right, where there's an aspect of clients using some of the existing software products, but also still relying on that full service. And so that's just a shift in the mix and we go through that in some detail in the presentation.

抱歉，皮特，這是戴夫。我只想補充丹提出的評論之一，我們對軟體的預測還包括這樣一個假設：隨著時間的推移，傳統上所做的許多工作都會遷移到更多的東西。我們稱之為混合模型，對吧，客戶一方面使用一些現有的軟體產品，但仍然依賴全面的服務。所以這只是組合上的一個轉變，我們在演示中詳細介紹了這一點。

Raj Sharma, B. Riley Securities.

Raj Sharma，B. Riley 證券。

I thank you for taking my questions. But my first question was just around the software dispositions, the eBrevia and EDGAR Online. Is that -- are those being disposed of because functionality their functionality is already included in the new ActiveDisclosure ARC suite.

我感謝您回答我的問題。但我的第一個問題是關於軟體設定、eBrevia 和 EDGAR Online。是那些被廢棄的，因為它們的功能已經包含在新的 ActiveDisclosure ARC 套件中。

Yes --

是的--

Go ahead, Dave.

繼續吧，戴夫。

No. go ahead, Eric.

不，繼續吧，艾瑞克。

I'll start and then turn it back to Dave. If we look back at the reason we purchased the Bravia. It was to drive new revenue to create product differentiation through using AI for document review and with that drive to increase any revenue. Those features from a revenue perspective, it's been incorporated in their complete some. So we've already, as a standalone offering, had limited value to us and they weren't going to create yet another episodic on M&A business and so since our focus is on recurring financial regulatory software, we made a strategic and operational decision to to dispose of it from EDGAR Online. Similarly, we have the services that are incorporated within our products. And Dave, I'll turn it to you to expand.

我會開始，然後把它轉回給戴夫。如果我們回顧一下我們購買 Bravia 的原因。它是透過使用人工智慧進行文件審查來推動新的收入，從而創造產品差異化，並以此推動增加收入。從收入的角度來看，這些功能已經納入其中。因此，作為一個獨立的產品，我們的價值已經有限，他們不會再創建一個關於併購業務的片段，因此，由於我們的重點是經常性的金融監管軟體，我們做出了一項策略和營運決策從EDGAR Online 處理它。同樣，我們的產品中也包含服務。戴夫，我會把它交給你來擴展。

You covered it all, Eric.

你涵蓋了這一切，艾瑞克。

Thanks. Great. Great. And then just briefly on venue again, clearly there's a substantial pickup in venue is that indicative of Capital Markets pickup for coming, but guidance for the transactional business is sort of along a similar vein as last year and also is is venue taking share? And can you what can you expect in the near term growth step for Van Monster thing?

謝謝。偉大的。偉大的。然後再次簡單介紹一下場地，顯然場地有大幅回升，這表明資本市場即將回升，但交易業務的指導與去年類似，場地是否正在佔據份額？您對 Van Monster 的近期成長有何預期？

So thank you, Craig. Again, venue growth was obviously very strong in the quarter, 26% despite a sluggish M&A market. So up 9% sequentially from Q3 record revenue quarter for us. Some So venue continued to perform in a much more predictable manner than its primary use case, which is M&A. So obviously, we all suffered through the market last year and the Navy was down 18% in Q4.

謝謝你，克雷格。同樣，儘管併購市場低迷，但本季場館成長明顯非常強勁，達到 26%。因此，我們的收入比第三季創紀錄的季度增長了 9%。一些 So 場所繼續以比其主要用例（即併購）更可預測的方式執行。很明顯，我們去年的市場都遭受了損失，海軍在第四季度下跌了 18%。

And so what we're seeing is increased room activity and higher activity on existing rooms and higher pricing in Q4. So these runs are staying open longer, again, reinforcing the stability of venue and the underlying demand that we're seeing is less volatile than M&A. So it's reoccurring in nature as we're generating a more stable revenue stream with what has been an event-driven transactional product, then we're certainly encouraged by the resilience underneath that we're hearing from our deal makers that after years of decline and finding opportunities despite value adjustments.

因此，我們看到的是第四季度房間活動增加、現有房間活動增加以及價格上漲。因此，這些跑步活動的開放時間更長，再次增強了場地的穩定性，而且我們看到的潛在需求比併購的波動性更小。因此，當我們透過事件驅動的交易產品產生更穩定的收入流時，這種情況本質上會重複出現，那麼我們肯定會對交易撮合者的彈性感到鼓舞，因為我們從交易撮合者那裡得知，經過多年的下滑並在價值調整的情況下尋找機會。

So the demand for high-quality assets is high and our pipeline is good. And to your point, it's our belief that we're taking share and executing in our primary markets, most notably in New York and we're also continuing to grow revenue outside of M&A into recurring use cases such as our subscription business, again, stable recurring revenue growth. And we're seeing adoption in franchise and technology and energy and healthcare. And so we're executing on our plan to take share in any market. And I think our unique position on the deal team from our traditional C. and CM. business means that we'll continue to drive software revenue through our venue virtual data room on. So it ecosystem that's certainly working for us. So thank you for your question.

所以對優質資產的需求很高，我們的管道也很好。就您的觀點而言，我們相信我們正在主要市場（尤其是紐約）佔據份額並執行任務，並且我們還將繼續在併購之外的經常性用例中增加收入，例如我們的訂閱業務，經常性收入穩定成長。我們看到了特許經營、技術、能源和醫療保健領域的採用。因此，我們正在執行我們的計劃，以在任何市場中佔據份額。我認為我們在交易團隊中的獨特地位不同於傳統的 C. 和 CM。業務意味著我們將繼續透過我們的場館虛擬資料室來推動軟體收入。所以它的生態系肯定對我們有用。謝謝你的提問。

So just lastly, on the total, the total shareholder reports, the revenue in the accretive dilutive guide, does that include your pay versus performance as well? Are all the new regulatory reporting requirements, sort of product lines included in that guidance.

那麼最後，就總數而言，股東報告總額，增值稀釋指南中的收入，這是否也包括您的薪酬與績效？所有新的監理報告要求、產品線是否都包含在該指南中？

And so I'll start and then the team come paid. Pay-for-performance was of the 34 act. Regulatory requirement that we completed in 23 for the 1st year. So that was included in the proxy statement. And so from their alternative, yes, to a certain comment, yes, I think yes, thanks.

所以我會開始，然後團隊就會付錢。按績效付費是第 34 幕。我們第一年在23完成了監管要求。所以這被包含在代理聲明中。因此，從他們的選擇，是的，到某個評論，是的，我認為是的，謝謝。

Yes, the commentary around TSR was specific to TSR and just to elaborate a bit on that. So the regulation goes into effect in July. So we expect 24 we expect the half year of of impact in 24. Certainly it was dilutive to 23 as we had investment to build the offering. And similarly, we'll have a full year of investment in 24 to build, finished the build of the offering and then get a half year of revenue, et cetera. And so moving to 25, we get the like-for-like into Dave's comment of a full year of impact as a really attractive financial return and just in 23 and 24 as an investment base.

是的，有關 TSR 的評論是針對 TSR 的，只是為了對此進行詳細說明。因此，該規定將於 7 月生效。所以我們預計 24 月我們預計 24 月的半年影響。當然，由於我們有投資來建造該產品，因此它被稀釋為 23。同樣，我們將在 24 中投入一整年的投資來構建，完成產品的構建，然後獲得半年的收入，等等。因此，到了 25 年，我們將戴夫的評論中的全年影響視為真正有吸引力的財務回報，並將 23 和 24 作為投資基礎。

Kyle Peterson, Needham.

凱爾彼得森，尼達姆。

Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. I want to start out on software growth. Obviously, the 2020 targets at the mid teens. Growth is great to see. But given that's a pretty big step-up kind of from where we are now on organic basis, how should we think about the path to get kind of where we are now in that mid to high single digit range up to the mid 10s range and both in timing and kind of how scale the ramp has.

嘿，早上好，夥計們。感謝您提出問題。我想從軟體成長開始。顯然，2020 年的目標是十幾歲左右。增長是令人高興的。但考慮到這與我們現在的有機基礎相比是一個相當大的進步，我們應該如何考慮如何達到我們現在的中高個位數範圍，直到 10 年代中期的水平，無論是在時間上還是在坡道的規模上。

(mutiple speakers) Thanks for the question. So I think when you look at the overall on software growth that at mid 10s, there's a there's a portion of it based on the existing products, et cetera, that when you look relative to our historical performance on that growth is very, very much in line. I think when you look at our total software sales growth from 2019 through 2023, it was about 11.5%. And that's just on the core existing products.

（多位發言者）謝謝你的提問。因此，我認為，當您查看 10 年代中期軟體成長的總體情況時，其中有一部分基於現有產品等，當您查看相對於我們的歷史表現時，該增長是非常非常多的排隊。我認為，當你看看 2019 年到 2023 年我們的軟體總銷售額成長率時，你會發現約為 11.5%。這還只是現有的核心產品。

My comments earlier, I think it was Charlie's question around the incremental growth. It comes from what we're expecting a shift out of some of the traditional services into more of a hybrid model, right? So leveraging the software products, but also leveraging a lot of the traditional services. And that what we think kind of the delta between the projections relative to our historical performance, which was about 11.5%.

我之前的評論，我認為這是查理關於增量成長的問題。它來自於我們期望從一些傳統服務轉變為更多的混合模式，對吧？所以在利用軟體產品的同時，也利用了許多傳統的服務。我們認為預測與我們歷史績效之間的差異約為 11.5%。

Yes. And just to add to that, we've seen that over time. In terms of the shift and to Dave's comments in the prepared remarks, the shift is generally less or slightly less revenue, a similar amount of profitability so a much improved margin profile when that shift occurs on calling the timing, exactly of that shift is a little tougher, but we've found good ability to be able to transition clients and take them support them in the way in which they want to work as they move from on the traditional side over to the software side.

是的。除此之外，隨著時間的推移，我們已經看到了這一點。就這種轉變以及戴夫在準備好的發言中的評論而言，這種轉變通常是收入減少或略少，盈利能力類似，因此當這種轉變發生在調用時機時，利潤率狀況會大大改善，確切地說，這種轉變是有點困難，但我們發現能夠很好地轉變客戶，並讓他們在從傳統方面轉向軟體方面時以他們想要的工作方式支持他們。

I would just add kind of sort of what the last thing there. The tailored shareholder reports is probably a great example where kind of the initial hypothesis was that it was going to be much more heavily weighted towards software. And then we get to see the details of the regulation and how the market wants to be served. And it's really through a combination of software services and in the case of TSR. print. And so one of one of the advantages we have in the competitive landscape is being able to serve clients on all three of those fronts. And so again, we're going to we're going to combine our offerings the way the market wants to work and how best to serve our clients.

我只想添加最後一件事。客製化的股東報告可能是一個很好的例子，最初的假設是它將更加重視軟體。然後我們可以看到監管的細節以及市場希望如何得到服務。這實際上是透過軟體服務的組合以及 TSR 的情況來實現的。列印.因此，我們在競爭格局中擁有的優勢之一就是能夠在所有這三個方面為客戶提供服務。因此，我們將按照市場希望的運作方式以及如何最好地服務我們的客戶來整合我們的產品。

And there are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the conference over to Deanne Li for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我想請 Deanne Li 致閉幕詞。

Great. Thank you, Audra, and thank you, everyone, for attending, and we'll look forward to being in touch soon. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝奧德拉，也謝謝大家的出席，我們期待盡快與您聯絡。謝謝。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。