達樂 (DG) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Robert, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Dollar General's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Today is Thursday, March 16, 2023. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) Now I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Kevin Walker, Vice President of Investor Relations. Kevin, you may begin your conference.

早上好。我叫羅伯特，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線員。此時，我想歡迎大家參加 Dollar General 的 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。今天是 2023 年 3 月 16 日，星期四。（操作員說明）正在錄製此電話。 （操作員說明）現在我想將會議轉交給投資者關係副總裁凱文沃克先生。凱文，你可以開始你的會議了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On the call with me today are Jeff Owen, our CEO; and John Garratt, our CFO. Our earnings release issued today can be found on our website at investor.dollargeneral.com under News and Events.

謝謝大家，早上好。今天和我通電話的是我們的首席執行官傑夫歐文；和我們的首席財務官 John Garratt。我們今天發布的收益報告可以在我們網站 investor.dollargeneral.com 的新聞和活動下找到。

Let me caution you that today's comments include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements about our financial guidance, strategy initiatives, plans, goals, priorities, opportunities, investments, expectations or beliefs about future matters and other statements that are not limited to historical fact.

請注意，今天的評論包括 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中定義的前瞻性陳述，例如關於我們的財務指導、戰略舉措、計劃、目標、優先事項、機會、投資、對未來的預期或信念的陳述不限於歷史事實的事項和其他陳述。

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These factors include, but are not limited to, those identified in our earnings release issued this morning, under Risk Factors in our 2021 Form 10-K filed on March 18, 2022, and any later filed periodic report and in the comments that are made on this call.

這些陳述受風險和不確定因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期和預測存在重大差異。這些因素包括但不限於我們今天上午發布的收益報告中確定的因素、我們於 2022 年 3 月 18 日提交的 2021 年 10-K 表格中的風險因素，以及任何後來提交的定期報告和發表的評論中確定的因素在這個電話上。

You should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. Dollar General disclaims any obligation to update or revise any information discussed in the call unless required by law. (Operator Instructions) Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Jeff.

您不應過分依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表今天的情況。除非法律要求，否則 Dollar General 不承擔任何更新或修改電話中討論的任何信息的義務。 （操作員說明）現在我很高興將電話轉給 Jeff。

Thank you, Kevin, and welcome to everyone joining our call. I want to begin by thanking our associates for their dedication to serving our customers and communities this year. I am inspired by this team's commitment to our mission of serving others and the passion they have for helping our customers save time and money every day.

謝謝你，凱文，歡迎大家加入我們的電話會議。首先，我要感謝我們的員工今年致力於為我們的客戶和社區服務。我被這個團隊致力於服務他人的使命以及他們每天幫助我們的客戶節省時間和金錢的熱情所鼓舞。

Our fourth quarter performance was led by strong comp sales growth of 5.7%. And while this result was below our expectations, our performance included market share gains in both consumables and nonconsumables and contributed to a net sales increase of 17.9% to $10.2 billion.

我們第四季度的業績是由 5.7% 的強勁銷售增長帶動的。雖然這一結果低於我們的預期，但我們的業績包括消耗品和非消耗品市場份額的增長，並促成了淨銷售額增長 17.9% 至 102 億美元。

Our Q4 comp sales were driven by an increase in average basket size, primarily attributable to inflation and partially offset by a slight decrease in customer traffic, primarily due to a decrease in customer traffic in late December. And similar to recent quarters, average units per basket were down. Notably, both November and January comp sales at 6.7% and 6.5%, respectively, were within our expected range of 6% to 7% for the quarter. However, our December sales performance was negatively impacted by winter storm Elliott, which had the most significant effect on our stores in the final days leading up to Christmas. The quarter was also impacted by greater-than-anticipated inventory damages, which contributed to diluted EPS results that were below our expectations.

我們第四季度的比較銷售是由平均籃子大小的增加推動的，這主要是由於通貨膨脹，部分被客流量略有下降所抵消，這主要是由於 12 月下旬的客流量減少。與最近幾個季度類似，每籃子的平均單位數量有所下降。值得注意的是，11 月和 1 月的複合銷售額分別為 6.7% 和 6.5%，在我們本季度 6% 至 7% 的預期範圍內。然而，我們 12 月的銷售業績受到冬季風暴 Elliott 的負面影響，這場風暴在聖誕節前的最後幾天對我們的商店產生了最顯著的影響。該季度還受到超出預期的庫存損失的影響，這導致稀釋後的每股收益結果低於我們的預期。

While the storm had some damages impact, we also incurred higher damages than expected as we work through the residual impact of the storage capacity constraints and related store and distribution inefficiencies we experienced during the second half of the year. Although we expect some of these related impacts to be with us through the end of Q1, we are pleased to have the storage capacity constraints largely behind us, which we believe positions us well moving forward.

雖然風暴造成了一些損失影響，但我們也遭受了比預期更高的損失，因為我們正在努力解決我們在下半年遇到的存儲容量限制和相關存儲和分銷效率低下的殘餘影響。儘管我們預計這些相關影響中的一些會一直持續到第一季度末，但我們很高興存儲容量限制在很大程度上已經過去，我們相信這使我們能夠很好地向前發展。

Turning to a few highlights of the 2022 fiscal year. Net sales increased 10.6% to $37.8 billion and included a benefit of approximately 2 percentage points or $678 million in sales from the 53rd week. Comp sales for the year increased 4.3%, driven by strong growth in basket size. Although a significant portion of the basket growth was attributable to inflation, we were pleased to see an average basket size at the end of the year of more than five items and nearly $17.

談談 2022 財年的一些亮點。淨銷售額增長 10.6% 至 378 億美元，其中包括從第 53 週開始約 2 個百分點或 6.78 億美元的銷售額收益。受購物籃規模強勁增長的推動，全年比較銷售額增長了 4.3%。儘管籃子增長的很大一部分歸因於通貨膨脹，但我們很高興看到年底的平均籃子大小超過五項，接近 17 美元。

The team accomplished a great deal in 2022, and we closed the year with significant progress on our strategic initiatives and operating priorities while achieving several key milestones in Q4 and the weeks thereafter.

該團隊在 2022 年取得了巨大成就，我們在戰略計劃和運營優先事項方面取得了重大進展，並在第四季度和之後的幾週內實現了幾個關鍵里程碑，從而結束了這一年。

We were particularly excited to celebrate the opening of our 19,000 store in Joplin, Missouri in January, as we continue to support our customers with our unique combination of value and convenience in their hometown communities. We also completed the initial rollout of our nonconsumable initiative, or NCI with the offering now in nearly all of our stores across the chain.

我們特別高興地慶祝 1 月份在密蘇里州喬普林開設了 19,000 家門店，因為我們將繼續通過我們在客戶家鄉社區獨特的價值和便利組合來支持他們。我們還完成了我們的非消耗品計劃或 NCI 的初步推出，現在我們整個連鎖店的幾乎所有商店都提供該產品。

Finally, we made strong progress in our supply chain, reducing our storage capacity constraints and improving operations during the quarter. More specifically, and as we said we would do, we added significant capacity in Q4, bringing nearly 3 million square feet of distribution capacity online. These efforts culminated with the opening of our newest distribution center in Blair, Nebraska during the quarter.

最後，我們在供應鏈方面取得了長足進步，減少了我們的存儲容量限制並改善了本季度的運營。更具體地說，正如我們所說的那樣，我們在第四季度增加了大量產能，使近 300 萬平方英尺的在線配送能力。本季度，我們在內布拉斯加州布萊爾開設了最新的配送中心，這些努力達到了頂峰。

I also want to highlight that we have started 2023 with the opening of our first store in Mexico. And while the store has only been open a few short weeks, we are very encouraged by the early response from our new customers. These achievements are a testament to this team's hard work and continued focus on execution and innovation as we continue to deliver on our mission of serving others.

我還想強調的是，隨著我們在墨西哥開設第一家商店，我們已經開始了 2023 年。雖然這家商店才開業短短幾週，但我們對新客戶的早期反應感到非常鼓舞。這些成就證明了這個團隊的辛勤工作，以及在我們繼續履行為他人服務的使命時對執行和創新的持續關注。

Turning now to an update on our customers. In addition to adjusting the mix of their baskets, we continue to see customers shift spending to more affordable options, including our private brands, which represent more than 20% of our total sales. Within consumables, private brand growth, both in absolute dollars and penetration was the highest in the fourth quarter. We also increased our share of wallet and share of trips across all segments of our core customer in Q4, and we believe we will be increasingly important to them in the year ahead.

現在轉向我們客戶的更新。除了調整他們購物籃的組合外，我們繼續看到客戶將支出轉向更實惠的選擇，包括我們的自有品牌，它們占我們總銷售額的 20% 以上。在消費品中，自有品牌的增長（無論是絕對金額還是滲透率）在第四季度都是最高的。我們還在第四季度增加了我們在核心客戶所有細分市場中的錢包份額和旅行份額，我們相信我們在未來一年對他們來說將變得越來越重要。

With regard to trade-in behavior, customers and income brackets above our core customers are shopping with us at an increasing rate, underscoring our belief that our value and convenience proposition resonates with a broad spectrum of customers.

關於以舊換新行為，我們核心客戶以上的客戶和收入階層正在以越來越高的速度與我們一起購物，這表明我們相信我們的價值和便利主張會引起廣泛客戶的共鳴。

We remain focused on our goal to be priced at relative parity with mass merchants and we continue to feel very good about our price position relative to competitors and all classes of trade. Furthermore, given the strong demand from customers, we remain committed to offering products at the $1 or less price point. Notably, during Q4, our comp sales were over 30% in our Value Valley set, which is comprised entirely of items at the $1 price point.

我們仍然專注於我們的目標，即與大眾商家保持相對平等的價格，我們繼續對我們相對於競爭對手和所有貿易類別的價格地位感到非常滿意。此外，鑑於客戶的強勁需求，我們仍然致力於以 1 美元或更低的價格提供產品。值得注意的是，在第四季度，我們的 Value Valley 套裝中的贈品銷售額超過 30%，該套裝完全由 1 美元價位的商品組成。

Overall, we continue to be pleased with the strong performance of this program and the value it offers to our customers. In addition, we believe we are well positioned to continue serving both new and existing customers, and we are moving with great intentionality to build on our momentum.

總的來說，我們仍然對該計劃的強勁表現及其為我們的客戶提供的價值感到滿意。此外，我們相信我們有能力繼續為新客戶和現有客戶提供服務，並且我們正以極大的意願繼續前進，以鞏固我們的勢頭。

To this end, we are excited about our plans for 2023. Building on the investments we made in 2022, we plan to make a larger targeted incremental investment of approximately $100 million in our stores this year. This investment will primarily consist of incremental labor hours to support our expectations regarding consistent store standards while further enhancing the associate and customer experience.

為此，我們對 2023 年的計劃感到興奮。在 2022 年的投資基礎上，我們計劃今年對我們的門店進行約 1 億美元的更大目標增量投資。這項投資將主要包括增加工時，以支持我們對一致商店標準的期望，同時進一步增強員工和客戶體驗。

In turn, we believe this investment will position us to drive greater on-shelf availability and capture additional market share while amplifying the potential of our initiatives and ensuring our readiness for our growing customer base.

反過來，我們相信這項投資將使我們能夠提高貨架可用性並獲得更多市場份額，同時擴大我們計劃的潛力並確保我們為不斷增長的客戶群做好準備。

And with the progress we have made in the supply chain, the prior investments we have made in wages, and the growing customer engagement we are seeing, we believe we are well positioned to see a meaningful return on this investment. We operate in one of the most attractive sectors in retail and we believe our innovation will continue to distance and differentiate Dollar General from the rest of the retail landscape.

隨著我們在供應鏈方面取得的進步、我們之前在工資方面所做的投資以及我們看到的客戶參與度的提高，我們相信我們已經做好準備，可以看到這項投資帶來有意義的回報。我們在零售業中最具吸引力的行業之一開展業務，我們相信我們的創新將繼續使 Dollar General 與其他零售業保持距離並使其脫穎而出。

In summary, we are excited about our plans to deliver strong growth in 2023 while also making significant and deliberate investments in the business. We believe our customer and communities will need us even more as we move throughout 2023. And as a mature retailer in growth mode, we are well positioned to serve them while also creating long-term value for our shareholders.

總而言之，我們對我們在 2023 年實現強勁增長的計劃感到興奮，同時也對業務進行了重大和有意識的投資。我們相信，隨著我們在 2023 年的發展，我們的客戶和社區將更加需要我們。作為一家處於增長模式的成熟零售商，我們有能力為他們服務，同時為我們的股東創造長期價值。

With that, I will turn the call over to John.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給約翰。

Thank you, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. Now that Jeff has taken you through a few highlights of the quarter and full year, let me take you through some of the important financial details. Unless we specifically note otherwise, all comparisons are year-over-year, all references to EPS refer to diluted earnings per share and all years noted refer to the corresponding fiscal year.

謝謝你，傑夫，大家早上好。既然 Jeff 已經向您介紹了本季度和全年的一些亮點，那麼讓我向您介紹一些重要的財務細節。除非我們另有特別說明，否則所有比較均為同比，所有提及的每股收益均指稀釋後的每股收益，所有註明的年份均指相應的財政年度。

As Jeff already discussed sales, I will start with gross profit. For Q4, gross profit as a percentage of sales was 30.9%, a decrease of 35 basis points. This decrease was primarily attributable to an increased LIFO provision, a greater proportion of sales coming from the consumables category, and increases in inventory shrink, damages and markdowns, partially offset by higher inventory markups and a reduction in transportation costs. Of note, product cost inflation continued as a significant headwind, resulting in a LIFO provision of approximately $164 million during the quarter and approximately $517 million for the full year.

正如 Jeff 已經討論過的銷售，我將從毛利開始。第四季度，毛利潤佔銷售額的百分比為 30.9%，下降了 35 個基點。這一下降主要歸因於後進先出法準備金的增加、來自消耗品類別的銷售額的更大比例以及庫存縮減、損壞和降價的增加，部分被更高的庫存加價和運輸成本的降低所抵消。值得注意的是，產品成本通脹繼續成為一個重大不利因素，導致本季度後進先出法撥備約為 1.64 億美元，全年約為 5.17 億美元。

SG&A as a percentage of sales was 21.7%, a decrease of 29 basis points. This decrease was driven by expenses that were lower as a percentage of sales, the most significant of which were retail occupancy costs, incentive compensation and retail labor. These were partially offset by certain expenses that were greater as a percentage of net sales in the current year period primarily utilities.

SG&A 佔銷售額的百分比為 21.7%，下降了 29 個基點。這一下降是由於費用佔銷售額的百分比較低，其中最重要的是零售入住成本、激勵補償和零售勞動力。這些被某些費用部分抵消，這些費用佔本年度淨銷售額的百分比更大，主要是公用事業。

Moving down the income statement. Operating profit for the fourth quarter increased 17.1% to $933 million. As a percentage of sales, operating profit was 9.1%, a decrease of 6 basis points. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.2% and compares to 21.2% in the fourth quarter last year. This higher effective income tax rate was primarily due to decreased income tax benefits associated with the stock-based compensation compared to 2021. Finally, EPS for the fourth quarter increased 15.2% to $2.96. For the full year, EPS increased 5% to $10.68 and included an estimated positive impact of approximately 4 percentage points from the 53rd week.

向下移動損益表。第四季度營業利潤增長 17.1% 至 9.33 億美元。營業利潤佔銷售額的百分比為 9.1%，下降了 6 個基點。我們本季度的有效稅率為 23.2%，而去年第四季度為 21.2%。與 2021 年相比，這種更高的有效所得稅率主要是由於與股票薪酬相關的所得稅優惠減少。最後，第四季度每股收益增長 15.2% 至 2.96 美元。從第 53 週開始，全年每股收益增長 5% 至 10.68 美元，估計產生了約 4 個百分點的積極影響。

Turning now to our balance sheet and cash flow, which remains strong and provide us the financial flexibility to continue investing for the long term while delivering significant returns to shareholders.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表和現金流，它們仍然強勁，為我們提供了財務靈活性，可以繼續進行長期投資，同時為股東帶來可觀的回報。

Merchandise inventories were $6.8 billion at the end of the year, an increase of 20.4% overall and 14.3% on a per store basis. This increase continues to reflect the impact of product cost inflation as well as a greater mix of higher-value products, particularly in the home and seasonal categories, primarily due to the continued rollout of NCI as well as the earlier receipt of seasonal goods. While inventory growth is still elevated, the pace is moderating as we expected. Notably, our Q4 inventory growth rate per store was essentially half of what it was in Q3. Looking ahead, we anticipate more normalized growth rates as we move through 2023.

截至年底，商品庫存為 68 億美元，整體增長 20.4%，每家門店增長 14.3%。這一增長繼續反映了產品成本通脹的影響以及更高價值產品的更多組合，特別是在家庭和季節性類別中，這主要是由於 NCI 的持續推出以及季節性商品的提早接收。雖然庫存增長仍然很高，但正如我們預期的那樣，增速正在放緩。值得注意的是，我們第四季度每家商店的庫存增長率基本上是第三季度的一半。展望未來，我們預計隨著 2023 年的到來，增長率將更加正常化。

Importantly, we continue to believe the quality of our inventory is in good shape. In 2022, the business generated cash flows from operations totaling $2 billion, a decrease of 31%, which was primarily attributable to higher inventory levels. Total capital expenditures were $1.6 billion and included our planned investments in new stores, remodels and relocations, distribution, transportation projects and spending related to the strategic initiatives.

重要的是，我們仍然相信我們的庫存質量狀況良好。 2022 年，該業務產生的運營現金流總額為 20 億美元，下降了 31%，這主要歸因於較高的庫存水平。總資本支出為 16 億美元，包括我們計劃在新店、改造和搬遷、分銷、運輸項目以及與戰略計劃相關的支出方面的投資。

During the quarter, we repurchased 4.5 million shares of our common stock for $1.1 billion and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per common share outstanding for a total payout of $121 million. At the end of the year, the remaining share repurchase authorization was $1.4 billion. Our capital allocation priorities continue to serve us well and remain unchanged. Our first priority is investing in high-return growth opportunities, including new store expansion and our strategic initiatives.

本季度，我們以 11 億美元的價格回購了 450 萬股普通股，並支付了每股已發行普通股 0.55 美元的季度股息，總支出為 1.21 億美元。年底，剩餘股份回購授權為14億美元。我們的資本配置優先事項繼續為我們服務，並且保持不變。我們的首要任務是投資於高回報增長機會，包括新店擴張和我們的戰略舉措。

We also remain committed to returning significant cash to shareholders through anticipated share repurchases and quarterly dividend payments, all while maintaining our current investment-grade credit rating and managing to a leverage ratio of approximately 3x adjusted debt to EBITDA.

我們還繼續致力於通過預期的股票回購和季度股息支付向股東返還大量現金，同時保持我們目前的投資級信用評級，並設法將調整後債務與 EBITDA 的槓桿率保持在約 3 倍。

Moving to our financial outlook for the fiscal 2023 year. We anticipate the challenging economic and operating environment to continue into 2023, but we believe we are well positioned to drive strong growth as we move throughout the year. For 2023, we are reiterating the financial guidance we provided on February 23, 2023, and providing additional financial guidance to include the following expectations.

轉到我們 2023 財年的財務展望。我們預計充滿挑戰的經濟和經營環境將持續到 2023 年，但我們相信，隨著我們全年的發展，我們已做好充分準備來推動強勁增長。對於 2023 年，我們重申我們在 2023 年 2 月 23 日提供的財務指導，並提供額外的財務指導以包括以下預期。

Net sales growth in the range of approximately 5.5% to 6%, including an anticipated negative impact of approximately 2 percentage points due to lapping the 2022 53rd week; same-store sales growth in the range of 3% to 3.5%; and EPS growth in the range of approximately 4% to 6%, including estimated negative impacts of approximately 3 percentage points due to higher interest expense and approximately 4 percentage points due to lapping the 2022 53rd week.

淨銷售額增長約 5.5% 至 6%，包括預計因 2022 年第 53 周而產生的約 2 個百分點的負面影響；同店銷售額增長在 3% 至 3.5% 之間；每股收益增長約 4% 至 6%，包括因利息支出增加而帶來的估計負面影響約 3 個百分點，以及因 2022 年第 53 週臨近而帶來的約 4 個百分點的負面影響。

Our EPS guidance assumes an effective tax rate in the range of approximately 22.5% to 23%. We also expect capital spending to be in the range of $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion, which includes the impact of significant inflation in the cost of certain building materials, construction of new distribution centers and continued investment in our strategic initiatives and core business to support and drive future growth.

我們的 EPS 指南假設有效稅率在大約 22.5% 到 23% 的範圍內。我們還預計資本支出將在 18 億美元至 19 億美元之間，其中包括某些建築材料成本大幅上漲的影響、新配送中心的建設以及對我們的戰略計劃和核心業務的持續投資，以支持和推動未來增長。

With regard to shareholder returns, our Board of Directors recently approved an increased quarterly dividend payment of $0.59 per share. We also plan to repurchase a total of approximately $500 million of our common stock this year. This is a lower amount as compared to the recent years but consistent with our capital allocation priorities and reflects our commitment to our current credit rating, our continued strong liquidity position and confidence in the long-term growth opportunity for our business.

關於股東回報，我們的董事會最近批准增加每股 0.59 美元的季度股息支付。我們還計劃今年回購總計約 5 億美元的普通股。與最近幾年相比，這一數額較低，但符合我們的資本配置重點，反映了我們對當前信用評級的承諾、我們持續強勁的流動性狀況以及對我們業務長期增長機會的信心。

Let me now provide some additional context as it relates to our outlook. In terms of quarterly cadence, we expect EPS growth to be much stronger in the second half compared to the first half. This is due in part to our expectation of continued headwinds from sales mix pressure, higher interest expense and increased shrink and damages as we move through the first half of the year. We anticipate certain of these headwinds to be most pronounced in Q1, including an estimated year-over-year increase in interest expense of approximately $40 million, inventory damages and residual impacts of the storage capacity constraints and related inefficiencies that Jeff mentioned earlier.

現在讓我提供一些與我們的前景相關的額外背景。就季度節奏而言，我們預計下半年每股收益增長將比上半年強勁得多。這在一定程度上是由於我們預計在今年上半年，銷售組合壓力、利息支出增加以及收縮和損失增加會帶來持續的不利因素。我們預計這些逆風中的某些不利因素將在第一季度最為明顯，包括估計利息支出同比增長約 4000 萬美元、庫存損失和存儲容量限制的殘餘影響以及 Jeff 之前提到的相關低效率。

In addition, we expect the year-over-year net impact of the labor investment to be most significant in Q1 as we don't begin lapping last year's smaller investments until Q2, and we believe the benefits of the incremental labor will become more significant later in the year. As we move into the back half, we also anticipate a benefit from lapping the significant supply chain costs and winter storm impacts from the second half of 2022.

此外，我們預計勞動力投資的同比淨影響在第一季度最為顯著，因為我們要到第二季度才開始評估去年較小的投資，而且我們相信增量勞動力的好處將變得更加顯著今年晚些時候。隨著我們進入下半年，我們還預計將從 2022 年下半年開始的大量供應鏈成本和冬季風暴影響中獲益。

Turning now to gross margin for 2023. In addition to the material benefit from lapping the increased supply chain expenses in the second half of 2022, we expect significant benefits from greater distribution center capacity and productivity, lower carrier rates, expansion of our private tractor fleet and other distribution and transportation efficiencies.

現在轉向 2023 年的毛利率。除了從 2022 年下半年增加的供應鏈費用中獲得物質利益外，我們預計更大的配送中心容量和生產力、更低的承運人費率、我們的私人拖拉機車隊的擴張將帶來重大利益以及其他分配和運輸效率。

We also expect to continue realizing benefits from our initiatives, including DG Fresh and NCI. Furthermore, we anticipate a significant contribution from our DG Media Network, which Jeff will discuss in more detail in a moment. Partially offsetting some of these expected benefits are the anticipated sales mix pressure and increased inventory shrink and damages I mentioned as well as increased markdowns as we return to rates more in line with the historic norms.

我們還希望繼續從我們的舉措中獲益，包括 DG Fresh 和 NCI。此外，我們期待我們的 DG 媒體網絡做出重大貢獻，Jeff 稍後將對此進行更詳細的討論。部分抵消了這些預期收益中的一些是預期的銷售組合壓力和我提到的庫存縮減和損害增加以及隨著我們恢復到更符合歷史規範的利率而增加的降價。

With regard to SG&A, we expect continued investments in our strategic initiatives as we further their rollouts. However, in aggregate, we continue to expect they will positively contribute to operating profit and margin in 2023, as we expect the benefits to gross margin from our initiatives will more than offset the associated SG&A expense. And as Jeff noted, we plan to make an incremental investment of approximately $100 million in our stores, primarily through additional labor hours. While this investment will pressure SG&A in 2023, we believe it is the right thing for the business and will drive stronger in-store execution, positioning us well to build on the momentum we have with our customers.

關於 SG&A，我們希望在進一步推出戰略計劃時繼續投資於我們的戰略計劃。然而，總的來說，我們繼續預計它們將在 2023 年為營業利潤和利潤率做出積極貢獻，因為我們預計我們的舉措對毛利率的好處將超過相關的 SG&A 費用。正如 Jeff 指出的那樣，我們計劃在我們的商店中增加大約 1 億美元的投資，主要是通過額外的工時。雖然這項投資將在 2023 年給 SG&A 帶來壓力，但我們認為這對企業來說是正確的，並將推動更強大的店內執行力，使我們能夠更好地利用我們與客戶之間的勢頭。

We expect a headwind from inflationary pressures in our business. So we continue to pursue efficiencies and savings through our Save to Serve program, including Fast Track.

我們預計我們的業務會受到通脹壓力的不利影響。因此，我們繼續通過我們的 Save to Serve 計劃（包括 Fast Track）追求效率和節約。

In closing, we are grateful for the team's hard work to deliver for our customers in 2022. Looking ahead, we are excited about our growth plans for 2023, including strong sales and operating profit while simultaneously making significant and deliberate investments in the business.

最後，我們感謝團隊在 2022 年為我們的客戶交付的辛勤工作。展望未來，我們對 2023 年的增長計劃感到興奮，包括強勁的銷售和營業利潤，同時對業務進行重大和審慎的投資。

As always, we continue to be disciplined in how we manage expenses and capital with the goal of delivering consistent, strong financial performance while strategically investing for the long term. We are confident in our business model and our ongoing financial priorities to drive profitable same-store sales growth, healthy new store returns, strong free cash flow and long-term shareholder value.

一如既往，我們在管理費用和資本方面繼續保持紀律，目標是在長期戰略投資的同時提供一致、強勁的財務業績。我們對我們的商業模式和我們持續的財務優先事項充滿信心，以推動盈利的同店銷售增長、健康的新店回報、強勁的自由現金流和長期股東價值。

With that, I will turn the call back over to Jeff.

有了這個，我會把電話轉回傑夫。

Thank you, John. Let me take a few minutes to update you on our operating priorities and strategic initiatives, which have transformed this company in recent years, resulting in strong growth and enhanced profitability.

謝謝你，約翰。讓我花幾分鐘時間向您介紹我們的運營重點和戰略舉措，這些舉措在近年來改變了這家公司，帶來了強勁的增長和更高的盈利能力。

Our first operating priority is driving profitable sales growth. Starting with NCI. With the initial rollout phase now complete, we will focus on continuing to refine the assortment and enhance the treasure hunt offering to provide value to our customers in the nonconsumable categories. Overall, we are very pleased with the success of NCI including market share gains in nonconsumable sales in Q4.

我們的首要運營重點是推動盈利性銷售增長。從 NCI 開始。隨著初始推出階段的完成，我們將專注於繼續完善分類並增強尋寶服務，為非消耗品類別的客戶提供價值。總體而言，我們對 NCI 的成功感到非常高興，包括第四季度非消耗品銷售額的市場份額增長。

Moving to our pOpshelf store concept, which further builds on our success and learnings with NCI. As a reminder, pOpshelf aims to engage customers by offering a fun, affordable and differentiated treasure hunt experience delivered through continually refreshed merchandise, a differentiated in-store experience and exceptional value with the majority of our items priced at $5 or less. During the quarter, we opened 37 new pOpshelf locations, bringing the total number of stores to 140 at the end of 2022, located within 14 states.

轉向我們的 pOpshelf 商店概念，它進一步建立在我們與 NCI 的成功和學習之上。提醒一下，pOpshelf 旨在通過不斷更新的商品提供有趣、實惠和差異化的尋寶體驗、差異化的店內體驗和卓越的價值來吸引客戶，我們的大部分商品價格不超過 5 美元。在本季度，我們開設了 37 個新的 pOpshelf 門店，到 2022 年底，門店總數達到 140 家，分佈在 14 個州。

While sales in this economic environment have been somewhat softer than our earlier results, we continue to be pleased with the customer response. Looking ahead, we plan to more than double the pOpshelf shell store count in 2023, bringing the total number of pOpshelf stores to nearly 300 by year-end, and we are excited about our goal of approximately 1,000 locations by year-end 2025.

雖然在這種經濟環境下的銷售比我們之前的結果有所疲軟，但我們仍然對客戶的反應感到滿意。展望未來，我們計劃在 2023 年將 pOpshelf 空殼店數量增加一倍以上，到年底使 pOpshelf 門店總數達到近 300 家，我們對到 2025 年底達到約 1,000 家門店的目標感到興奮。

Turning now to DG Fresh, which is a strategic, multiphase shift to self-distribution of frozen and refrigerated goods along with a focus on driving continued sales growth in these areas. We are now delivering perishable products to more than 19,000 stores from 12 facilities, and we continue to be pleased with the cost savings from this initiative and importantly, the significantly enhanced profitability of our perishables offering.

現在轉向 DG Fresh，這是一個戰略性的、多階段的轉變，轉向冷凍和冷藏商品的自我分銷，同時專注於推動這些領域的持續銷售增長。我們現在從 12 個設施向 19,000 多家商店提供易腐產品，我們繼續對這一舉措節省的成本感到滿意，重要的是，我們的易腐產品的盈利能力顯著提高。

In addition to capturing cost savings, DG Fresh also aims to increase sales in frozen and refrigerated categories. We are pleased with the performance on this front, including enhanced product offerings in stores and strong performance from our perishables department, which had our strongest rate of comp sales growth during 2022.

除了節省成本外，DG Fresh 還旨在增加冷凍和冷藏類別的銷售額。我們對這方面的表現感到滿意，包括店內產品供應的增強以及易腐品部門的強勁表現，該部門在 2022 年的銷售額增長率最為強勁。

Going forward, we expect to realize additional benefits from DG Fresh as we continue to optimize our network, further leverage our scale, deliver an even wider product selection and build on our multiyear track record of growth in cooler doors and associated sales. And while produce is not included in our initial rollout, we continue to believe that DG Fresh provides a potential path forward to expanding our produce offering to more than 10,000 stores over time. To that end, at the end of 2022, we offered fresh produce in more than 3,200 stores with plans to expand this offering to a total of more than 5,000 stores by the end of 2023.

展望未來，隨著我們繼續優化我們的網絡、進一步利用我們的規模、提供更廣泛的產品選擇並鞏固我們多年來在冷藏門和相關銷售方面的增長記錄，我們預計將從 DG Fresh 中獲得更多收益。雖然我們最初推出的產品不包括農產品，但我們仍然相信，隨著時間的推移，DG Fresh 提供了將我們的農產品產品擴展到 10,000 多家商店的潛在途徑。為此，到 2022 年底，我們在 3,200 多家商店提供新鮮農產品，併計劃到 2023 年底將此服務擴大到 5,000 多家商店。

Finally, DG Fresh has also extended the reach of our cooler expansion program. During 2022, we added more than 66,000 cooler doors across our store base. And we plan to install a similar number of cooler doors in 2023. Importantly, despite the meaningful improvements we have made and savings we realized to date as a result of DG Fresh, we believe we still have an opportunity to drive significant additional returns with this initiative in the years ahead.

最後，DG Fresh 還擴大了我們冷藏箱擴展計劃的範圍。 2022 年期間，我們在整個門店基地增加了超過 66,000 個冷藏門。我們計劃在 2023 年安裝類似數量的冷卻器門。重要的是，儘管我們通過 DG Fresh 做出了有意義的改進並實現了迄今為止的節省，但我們相信我們仍然有機會通過此獲得顯著的額外回報未來幾年的主動權。

Turning now to an update on our health initiative, branded as DG Wellbeing. As a reminder, the initial focus of this project is an expanded health offering, which consists of approximately 30% more selling space and up to 400 additional items as compared to our standard offering. This offering was available in nearly 4,400 stores at the end of 2022, and we plan to expand to a total of more than 5,500 stores by the end of 2023.

現在轉向我們的健康倡議的更新，品牌為 DG Wellbeing。提醒一下，該項目最初的重點是擴展健康產品，與我們的標準產品相比，它包括增加約 30% 的銷售空間和多達 400 種額外的項目。到 2022 年底，該產品已在近 4,400 家門店推出，我們計劃到 2023 年底將門店總數擴大到 5,500 多家。

Looking ahead, our plans include further expansion of our health offering and testing of our mobile clinic with the goal of increasing access to basic health care products and ultimately, services over time, particularly in rural America.

展望未來，我們的計劃包括進一步擴大我們的醫療服務和測試我們的流動診所，目標是增加獲得基本醫療保健產品的機會，並最終隨著時間的推移提供服務，特別是在美國農村地區。

Finally, we also plan to make significant enhancements to our private brand offering in 2023 as we know how important these value offerings are for our customers. We are increasing private brand offerings across many important categories, including candy and snacks, perishables, pet food and over-the-counter health care products. We believe these products will further differentiate Dollar General in the marketplace as we look to provide our customers with tremendous value on quality products.

最後，我們還計劃在 2023 年顯著增強我們的自有品牌產品，因為我們知道這些價值產品對我們的客戶有多麼重要。我們正在增加許多重要類別的自有品牌產品，包括糖果和零食、易腐食品、寵物食品和非處方保健產品。我們相信這些產品將在市場上進一步區分 Dollar General，因為我們希望為我們的客戶提供優質產品的巨大價值。

In addition to the initiatives I just discussed, as well as the anticipated supply chain efficiencies I mentioned earlier, we continue to pursue other opportunities to enhance gross margin, including improvements in global sourcing as well as shrink and damage reduction.

除了我剛才討論的舉措以及我之前提到的預期供應鏈效率外，我們繼續尋求其他機會來提高毛利率，包括改善全球採購以及減少收縮和損壞。

Our second priority is capturing growth opportunities. Our proven high-return, low-risk real estate model has served us well for many years and continues to be a core strength of our business. In 2022, we completed a total of 2,961 real estate projects, including 1,039 new stores, 1,795 remodels and 127 relocations.

我們的第二要務是抓住增長機會。我們久經考驗的高回報、低風險房地產模式多年來一直為我們提供良好的服務，並將繼續成為我們業務的核心優勢。 2022年，我們共完成房地產項目2,961個，其中新店1,039個，改造1,795個，搬遷127個。

For 2023, our goal remains to execute approximately 3,170 real estate projects in the United States across our Dollar General and pOpshelf banners, including 1,050 new stores, 2,000 remodels and 120 store relocations. Notably, this would be the most real estate projects we have executed in 1 year.

到 2023 年，我們的目標仍然是通過我們的 Dollar General 和 pOpshelf 橫幅在美國執行大約 3,170 個房地產項目，包括 1,050 家新店、2,000 家改造店和 120 家店搬遷。值得注意的是，這將是我們在 1 年內執行的最多的房地產項目。

Our ability to innovate on the store formats continues to be an important strength for the business, and we expect to leverage multiple formats to drive strong returns in the year ahead. Approximately 80% of our new stores in nearly all of our relocations will be in one of our larger store formats, which continue to drive increased sales productivity per square foot as compared to our traditional store.

我們在商店形式上的創新能力仍然是業務的重要優勢，我們希望利用多種形式來推動未來一年的強勁回報。在我們幾乎所有的搬遷地點中，大約 80% 的新店將採用我們較大的店面形式之一，與我們的傳統店面相比，這將繼續推動每平方英尺銷售效率的提高。

With regard to remodels, approximately 80% will be in our DGTP format, which provides the opportunity for a significant increase in cooler count as well as the ability to add fresh produce in many stores.

關於改造，大約 80% 將採用我們的 DGTP 格式，這為顯著增加冷卻器數量以及在許多商店中添加新鮮農產品的能力提供了機會。

In addition to our planned Dollar General and pOpshelf growth, we are excited about our international expansion. We were pleased to open our first Mi Super Dollar General in Monterrey, Mexico last month, and we have been very encouraged by the customer response and community reception we have seen so far.

除了我們計劃的 Dollar General 和 pOpshelf 增長外，我們對我們的國際擴張感到興奮。我們很高興上個月在墨西哥蒙特雷開設了我們的第一家 Mi Super Dollar General，到目前為止，我們看到的客戶反應和社區接待讓我們深受鼓舞。

Looking ahead, our goal is to have approximately 20 stores serving underserved communities in Northern Mexico by the end of 2023 as we look to leverage our brand awareness while extending our value and convenience proposition to a customer base that is similar to our core customer in the United States.

展望未來，我們的目標是到 2023 年底在墨西哥北部擁有大約 20 家服務欠缺社區的商店，因為我們希望利用我們的品牌知名度，同時將我們的價值和便利主張擴展到與我們核心客戶類似的客戶群美國。

Overall, our real estate pipeline remains robust, and with more U.S. brick-and-mortar stores than any retailer, we are excited about our ability to capture significant growth opportunities in the years ahead.

總體而言，我們的房地產渠道依然強勁，美國的實體店數量比任何零售商都多，我們很高興能夠在未來幾年抓住重要的增長機會。

Next, our digital initiative, which is an important complement to our physical footprint as we continue to deploy and leverage technology to further enhance convenience and access for customers. Our efforts remain centered around creating a digital front porch for our customers as we look to continue building engagement across our digital properties, including our mobile app. We ended 2022 with approximately 4.5 million monthly active users on the app and expect this number to continue to grow as we look to further enhance our digital offerings.

接下來，我們的數字計劃是對我們物理足蹟的重要補充，因為我們將繼續部署和利用技術來進一步提高客戶的便利性和訪問權限。我們的努力仍然集中在為我們的客戶創建數字前沿，因為我們希望繼續在我們的數字資產（包括我們的移動應用程序）中建立參與度。到 2022 年底，我們的應用每月活躍用戶約為 450 萬，隨著我們希望進一步增強我們的數字產品，預計這一數字將繼續增長。

Our partnership with DoorDash continues to serve us as an important extension of the value offering of Dollar General, combined with the convenience of same-day delivery in an hour or less. DoorDash is available in nearly 14,000 stores, and we anticipate extending this offering to an additional 1,000 stores in 2023. We are pleased with the incremental sales growth attributed to this partnership as well as its profitability, and we believe we have an opportunity to drive even stronger growth moving forward.

我們與 DoorDash 的合作夥伴關係繼續為我們提供服務，作為 Dollar General 提供的價值的重要延伸，以及在一小時或更短時間內實現當日送達的便利。 DoorDash 在近 14,000 家商店有售，我們預計到 2023 年將此服務擴展到另外 1,000 家商店。我們對這種夥伴關係帶來的增量銷售增長及其盈利能力感到滿意，我們相信我們有機會推動甚至更強勁的增長向前推進。

In addition, we are excited about the continued growth of our DG Media Network. We are seeing significant interest and participation from CPG companies and brands who are seeking to connect with our more than 90 million unique customer profiles, especially rural customers, who represent about 30% of the country. We expect our DG Media Network to grow significantly in 2023 as we expand the program and enhance the value proposition for both our customers and brand partners while substantially increasing the overall net financial benefit for the business.

此外，我們對 DG 媒體網絡的持續發展感到興奮。我們看到 CPG 公司和品牌的極大興趣和參與，他們正在尋求與我們超過 9000 萬獨特的客戶檔案建立聯繫，尤其是佔全國 30% 左右的農村客戶。我們預計我們的 DG Media Network 將在 2023 年顯著增長，因為我們將擴大該計劃並增強對客戶和品牌合作夥伴的價值主張，同時大幅增加業務的整體淨財務收益。

Overall, our strategy consists of building a digital ecosystem specifically tailored to provide our customers with an even more convenient, frictionless and personalized shopping experience, and we are pleased with the growing engagement we are seeing across our digital properties.

總的來說，我們的戰略包括建立一個專門定制的數字生態系統，為我們的客戶提供更方便、更順暢和個性化的購物體驗，我們很高興看到我們數字資產的參與度越來越高。

Our third operating priority is to leverage and reinforce our position as a low-cost operator. We have a clear and defined process to control spending, which continues to govern our disciplined approach to spending decisions. This approach, internally branded as Save to Serve, keeps the customer at the center of all we do while reinforcing our cost control mindset.

我們的第三個運營重點是利用和鞏固我們作為低成本運營商的地位。我們有一個清晰明確的支出控制流程，該流程將繼續指導我們嚴格的支出決策方法。這種方法在內部被稱為 Save to Serve，將客戶置於我們所有工作的中心，同時強化了我們的成本控制理念。

Our Fast Track initiative is a great example of this approach. The first phase of this initiative, which included rolltainer optimization and self-checkout is focused on enhancing customer convenience and labor productivity in our stores. Self-checkout, which provides customers with another flexible and convenient checkout solution, was available in more than 11,000 stores at the end of 2022, and we continue to be pleased with our results, including strong customer adoption rates.

我們的 Fast Track 計劃就是這種方法的一個很好的例子。該計劃的第一階段包括 rolltainer 優化和自助結賬，重點是提高我們商店的客戶便利性和勞動生產率。自助結賬為客戶提供了另一種靈活方便的結賬解決方案，截至 2022 年底已在 11,000 多家商店推出，我們繼續對我們的結果感到滿意，包括強勁的客戶採用率。

Looking ahead, our goal is to have a self-checkout offering in more than 13,000 stores by the end of 2023, including the full self-checkout option in more than 2,000 stores as we look to further extend our position as an innovative leader in small box discount retail.

展望未來，我們的目標是到 2023 年底在超過 13,000 家商店提供自助結賬服務，包括在超過 2,000 家商店提供完全自助結賬選項，因為我們希望進一步擴大我們作為小型零售業創新領導者的地位盒裝折扣零售。

Moving forward, the next phase of Fast Track consist of increasing our utilization of emerging technology and data strategies, which includes putting new digital tools in the hands of our field leaders. When combined with our data-driven inventory management, we believe these efforts will drive greater efficiencies for our retail leaders and their teams while laying the foundation for additional phases of Fast Track in the future.

展望未來，Fast Track 的下一階段包括增加我們對新興技術和數據策略的利用，其中包括將新的數字工具交到我們的領域領導者手中。當與我們的數據驅動庫存管理相結合時，我們相信這些努力將為我們的零售領導者及其團隊帶來更高的效率，同時為未來 Fast Track 的其他階段奠定基礎。

We also continue to reduce costs through the expansion of our private tractor fleet, which is one of the largest private retail fleets in the U.S. Our fleet consisted of more than 1,600 tractors at the end of 2022 and accounted for more than 40% of our outbound transportation needs. Looking ahead, we plan to have more than 2,000 tractors in our private fleet by the end of 2023, which would account for more than 50% of our outbound transportation fleet.

我們還通過擴大我們的私人拖拉機車隊來繼續降低成本，這是美國最大的私人零售車隊之一。截至 2022 年底，我們的車隊擁有 1,600 多台拖拉機，占我們出境運輸量的 40% 以上運輸需求。展望未來，我們計劃到 2023 年底在我們的私人車隊中擁有超過 2,000 台拖拉機，這將占我們出境運輸車隊的 50% 以上。

Overall, our underlying principles are to keep the business simple, but move quickly to capture growth opportunities, while controlling expenses and always seeking to be a low-cost operator.

總的來說，我們的基本原則是保持業務簡單，但快速行動以抓住增長機會，同時控制開支並始終尋求成為低成本運營商。

Our fourth operating priority is investing in our diverse teams through development, empowerment and inclusion. As a growing retailer, we created more than 10,000 new jobs in 2022, while continuing to drive opportunities for personal and professional development and ultimately, career advancement. Our internal promotion pipeline remains robust as evidenced by internal placement rates of more than 70% at or above the lead sales associate position. Additionally, more than 10% of our growing private fleet team, which nearly doubled in size in 2022, began their careers with us in either a store or distribution center.

我們的第四個運營重點是通過發展、授權和包容來投資於我們的多元化團隊。作為一家成長中的零售商，我們在 2022 年創造了 10,000 多個新工作崗位，同時繼續為個人和職業發展以及最終的職業發展創造機會。我們的內部晉升渠道依然強勁，內部安置率達到或超過首席銷售助理職位的 70% 以上就證明了這一點。此外，在我們不斷壯大的私人車隊團隊中，超過 10% 的人在商店或配送中心開始了他們的職業生涯，他們在 2022 年的規模幾乎翻了一番。

We continue to have great success hiring the talent we need, and we are pleased with our staffing levels and applicant flow. Ultimately, we believe the opportunity to start and develop a career with a growing and purpose-driven company is what sets Dollar General apart from the competition and remains our greatest currency in attracting and retaining talent.

我們繼續在招聘所需人才方面取得巨大成功，我們對我們的人員配備水平和申請人流程感到滿意。歸根結底，我們相信有機會在一家不斷發展和以目標為導向的公司開始和發展職業生涯是 Dollar General 在競爭中脫穎而出的原因，並且仍然是我們吸引和留住人才的最大貨幣。

We added incredible individuals across the organization in 2022 as we grew teams in our stores, distribution centers, private fleet and at our store support center, while also adding a local team in Mexico to support our new customers in those communities.

2022 年，隨著我們在商店、配送中心、私人車隊和商店支持中心發展團隊，我們在整個組織中增加了令人難以置信的人員，同時還在墨西哥增加了一個本地團隊來支持我們在這些社區的新客戶。

In addition to new opportunities, we have made significant investments in our people, including raising average hourly retail wages by approximately 23% over the last 3 years and investing over 4 million training hours in 2022 to promote education and development. The people of Dollar General are our greatest strength and the driving force of this company.

除了新的機會，我們還對我們的員工進行了大量投資，包括在過去 3 年中將平均零售時薪提高了約 23%，並在 2022 年投資了超過 400 萬個培訓小時以促進教育和發展。 Dollar General 的員工是我們最大的力量，也是這家公司的推動力。

In closing, we made great progress against our operating priorities and strategic initiatives in 2022, while making a difference in the lives of our customers. As we enter 2023, we are excited about our robust plans for growth, which we believe will further enhance our ability to serve our customers in meaningful ways. We are the innovation leader in our space, and we are laser-focused on executing at a high level to continue driving long-term sustainable growth while delivering strong returns for our shareholders.

最後，我們在 2022 年的運營重點和戰略計劃方面取得了巨大進展，同時改變了客戶的生活。進入 2023 年，我們對穩健的增長計劃感到興奮，我們相信這將進一步增強我們以有意義的方式為客戶提供服務的能力。我們是我們所在領域的創新領導者，我們專注於高水平的執行，以繼續推動長期可持續增長，同時為我們的股東帶來豐厚的回報。

Finally, I want to thank more than 170,000 employees for their commitment to serving others every day, and I am looking forward to all we will accomplish together in 2023.

最後，我要感謝 170,000 多名員工每天致力於為他人服務，我期待著我們在 2023 年共同取得的成就。

With that, operator, we would now like to open the lines for questions.

有了這個，接線員，我們現在想打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Simeon Gutman。

Sorry about the noise. Open-ended question for you. So the business has executed well over a long period of time. Last couple of quarters, we've had some missteps or things that haven't gone to plan. Not all of that I think is clear to us for the Street. And yet all these growth initiatives are still happening at the same time. So the open-ended question is have you debated or is the debate the balance of sort of the growth against investments that's focusing on the core?

對不起噪音。給你的開放式問題。因此，該業務在很長一段時間內都表現良好。過去幾個季度，我們有一些失誤或沒有按計劃進行的事情。對於華爾街，我認為並非所有這些都清楚。然而，所有這些增長舉措仍在同時發生。因此，開放式問題是您是否辯論過，或者辯論的重點是增長與專注於核心的投資之間的平衡？

Well, Simeon, thank you for the question. I first want to say, certainly, the last 2 quarters have been challenging. And I can tell you, we're disappointed in our results. This team takes great pride in delivering on our commitments and we've been doing that for the almost 30 years I've been here. And that is something that is not changing. And I can tell you, we have a tremendously deep and outstanding team that's laser focused on executing and innovating over the long term.

好吧，西蒙，謝謝你的提問。我首先想說的是，過去兩個季度充滿挑戰。我可以告訴你，我們對結果感到失望。這個團隊為兌現我們的承諾而感到自豪，在我來這裡的近 30 年裡，我們一直在這樣做。這是沒有改變的。我可以告訴你，我們擁有一支非常有深度和傑出的團隊，他們專注於長期執行和創新。

And certainly, we have faced some challenges. But what we do here at Dollar General is we control what we can control, and that has allowed us to emerge even stronger as we move forward. So as I think about our balance between execution and innovation, one of the things I think it's important to remember is we have a long track record of execution, and this team will continue to deliver on that.

當然，我們面臨著一些挑戰。但我們在 Dollar General 所做的是控制我們能控制的東西，這讓我們在前進的過程中變得更加強大。因此，當我考慮我們在執行和創新之間的平衡時，我認為重要的一件事是要記住，我們有長期的執行記錄，這個團隊將繼續實現這一目標。

And on the innovation front, we don't do things on the side of our desks. And so as we do innovate, one of the things that our team does more than anything is, as you know, capital is not an issue for us. It's all about organizational capacity. And I think the team has done an excellent job of making sure that we've dedicated the resources, the focus and the time to be able to grow this foundation. And it certainly served us very well.

在創新方面，我們不會在辦公桌旁做事。因此，正如您所知，在我們進行創新時，我們團隊所做的最重要的事情之一就是，資本對我們來說不是問題。一切都與組織能力有關。我認為團隊在確保我們投入資源、重點和時間來發展這個基礎方面做得非常出色。它確實為我們提供了很好的服務。

If you think about these challenging times we're in right now, this company is in a much different place. And as our customer has gravitated towards more consumables, the investments we've made in our strategic initiatives have allowed us to serve her even better and more profitably.

如果您想想我們現在所處的這些充滿挑戰的時代，就會發現這家公司處在一個截然不同的地方。隨著我們的客戶越來越傾向於使用更多的消耗品，我們在戰略計劃中所做的投資使我們能夠更好地為她服務，並獲得更高的利潤。

And so as we look forward, we're excited about some of the investments we announced today, which will be on top of the strategic investments we've made previously, which has put us in a very, very enviable position of having a rock-solid foundation strategically and a laser-focused on execution. And this team is committed to delivering that as we look forward into '23 and beyond.

因此，展望未來，我們對今天宣布的一些投資感到興奮，這些投資將在我們之前進行的戰略投資之上，這使我們處於非常非常令人羨慕的地位- 堅實的戰略基礎和專注於執行的激光。這個團隊致力於實現這一目標，因為我們期待著進入 23 世紀及以後。

And the one follow-up to that is the $100 million in wages, I don't think it's a big surprise, but it was maybe in man hours and not rate. So can you talk about that trade-off or the balance between those two and where, I guess, you feel comfortable where you are on rates?

隨之而來的是 1 億美元的工資，我不認為這是一個大驚喜，但它可能是工時而不是費率。那麼你能談談這兩者之間的權衡或平衡嗎？我想，你對利率感到滿意的地方？

Yes. We absolutely do, Simeon, and that's one of the -- that's a great distinction. Here, at Dollar General, for the 85 years we've been around, the store has always been the company. And our ability to serve local communities is something that we do better than anybody and we take great pride in that.

是的。我們絕對這樣做，西蒙，這是其中之一——這是一個很大的區別。在這裡，在 Dollar General，我們已經存在 85 年了，商店一直是公司。我們為當地社區服務的能力是我們比任何人都做得更好的事情，我們為此感到非常自豪。

And so when you think about the investment that we're very excited about, the reason why it's in hours rather than wages is because we've been paying competitive wages for many years. And you heard in my prepared comments that our wages have increased 23% over the last 3 years. So our ability to attract and retain talent remains one of our core competencies.

所以當你想到我們非常興奮的投資時，之所以以小時而不是工資為單位，是因為我們多年來一直在支付有競爭力的工資。你在我準備好的評論中聽說我們的工資在過去 3 年裡增長了 23%。因此，我們吸引和留住人才的能力仍然是我們的核心競爭力之一。

And so I'm -- the other thing you got to remember is where our stores are located. They're located in rural communities. 75% are in communities at 20,000 or less. And we prevent -- we provide career growth opportunities that are unmatched in retail, which leads to our staffing levels being very robust, which we mentioned. And that gives us the opportunity because we're in such a good position to invest in the hours.

所以我 - 你要記住的另一件事是我們的商店所在的位置。他們位於農村社區。 75% 在 20,000 或更少的社區中。我們防止 - 我們提供零售業無與倫比的職業發展機會，這導致我們的員工水平非常穩健，我們提到了這一點。這給了我們機會，因為我們處於投資時間的有利位置。

And so as we think about hours, we're pleased at what we believe this will do to elevate our store standards and our consistency, which we believe the customer will benefit and the associate will benefit.

因此，當我們考慮時間時，我們很高興我們相信這將提高我們的商店標準和我們的一致性，我們相信客戶將從中受益，員工也會受益。

And so as you -- as we move throughout '23, when you combine the improvements we're making in our supply chain, which really gives us the timing to do this, and you combine that with the in-stock improvements, our customers will begin to see our standards improve, our on-shelf availability will improve, and we'll be ready to serve that growing customer base that we're really pleased that we're seeing.

因此，當您 - 當我們在整個 23 年移動時，當您將我們在供應鏈中所做的改進結合起來時，這確實給了我們這樣做的時間，並將其與庫存改進結合起來，我們的客戶將開始看到我們的標準提高，我們的貨架可用性將提高，我們將準備好為不斷增長的客戶群提供服務，我們真的很高興看到這一點。

And so that's what gives us the confidence in this. We feel this is the right level of investment. And the reason we feel that way is because we've been testing and learning this in 2022. You know Dollar General very well. We don't do things just on a whim. We test and learn. We've been doing that in '22. We liked what we saw. And we wanted to make sure our supply chain was in a position where we could take advantage of the ability to elevate the experience for the customer while we flow goods freely to the stores.

這就是讓我們對此充滿信心的原因。我們認為這是正確的投資水平。我們之所以有這種感覺，是因為我們在 2022 年一直在測試和學習這一點。你非常了解 Dollar General。我們不會一時興起做事。我們測試和學習。我們在 22 年一直這樣做。我們喜歡我們所看到的。我們希望確保我們的供應鏈處於能夠利用提升客戶體驗的能力的位置，同時我們可以自由地將貨物運送到商店。

And right now, we're in a good position to do that as we enter '23, and we're excited about what this is going to do for the customer and ultimately, the return we're going to see over time.

而現在，當我們進入 23 年時，我們處於一個很好的位置來做到這一點，我們很高興這將為客戶做些什麼，最終，隨著時間的推移，我們將看到回報。

Our next question is from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Matthew Boss。

So Jeff, could you speak to recent behavior that you're seeing from the low-income consumer? Or maybe any changes in the ranking of their priorities from those customer surveys that I know you run regularly?

那麼傑夫，你能談談你最近從低收入消費者那裡看到的行為嗎？或者我知道您定期進行的那些客戶調查可能會改變他們的優先級排名？

And John, help us to think about the cadence of comps as we think about the year? Or just any color on the first quarter same-store sales? Or any comments on business to date just relative to that 3% to 3.5% full year forecast?

約翰，請幫助我們在考慮這一年時考慮一下比賽的節奏？或者只是第一季度同店銷售額的任何顏色？或者對迄今為止 3% 至 3.5% 的全年預測的業務有何評論？

Well, thanks, Matt. I'll start, and then I'll kick it over to John. As you think about the customer, one of the good things about Dollar General is we're an all-weather brand. And we've shown over the last 3 decades how we can serve that customer in any economic environment.

好吧，謝謝，馬特。我會開始，然後我會把它踢給約翰。當您考慮客戶時，Dollar General 的優點之一就是我們是一個全天候品牌。在過去的 3 年裡，我們已經展示了我們如何在任何經濟環境中為該客戶提供服務。

But what we're seeing right now with our customer is the best news we have is that she's still employed. And as we've talked about for many years, that is the single most important factor to her economic health. But we are certainly, as we talk to our customers, and as you know, Matt, we do this very, very frequently, and our digital capabilities allow us to do it in many different ways, which we're pleased, we're seeing that she's worse off financially.

但我們現在看到我們的客戶的最好消息是她仍然有工作。正如我們多年來一直在談論的那樣，這是她經濟健康的最重要因素。但我們當然是，當我們與客戶交談時，正如你所知，馬特，我們非常非常頻繁地這樣做，我們的數字能力使我們能夠以許多不同的方式做到這一點，我們很高興，我們很高興看到她的經濟狀況更糟。

And it's primarily due to food inflation. And obviously, as you think about how that changes her behaviors, one of the things we're seeing is she's relying more on savings, credit cards, and also borrowing money, quite frankly, from friends. And as that shows up in the store, what we're seeing in the shopping behavior is that translates into our customer coming more often, she's buying fewer items on occasion.

這主要是由於食品通脹。顯然，當你考慮這如何改變她的行為時，我們看到的一件事是她更多地依賴儲蓄、信用卡，並且坦率地說，還從朋友那裡借錢。當它出現在商店中時，我們在購物行為中看到的是轉化為我們的顧客更頻繁地光顧，她偶爾會購買更少的商品。

And I got to tell you, one of the things we're very, very pleased with is the fact that we are still leaning hard into our dollar price point. And we're there for that customer. And as you saw in our prepared comments, that is resonating extremely well with her, as you saw from the comp sales we're seeing in that category. But also, we're seeing her lean into private brands, and we're seeing her shift her purchases more to consumables.

我必須告訴你，我們非常、非常高興的一件事是，我們仍然非常依賴我們的美元價格點。我們在那里為那個客戶服務。正如您在我們準備好的評論中看到的那樣，這與她產生了非常好的共鳴，正如您從我們在該類別中看到的競爭銷售中看到的那樣。而且，我們看到她傾向於自有品牌，而且我們看到她將購買更多地轉向消耗品。

But as you know, our core customer, she's the smartest customer, I believe, in retail, and she figures this out over time. And our box is more relevant than ever as a result of the investments we've made over the last several years. And that allows us to go where the customer wants us to go and do it more profitably. And that's a very enviable position for us, and I think our market share gains kind of show that.

但正如你所知，我們的核心客戶，我相信，她是零售業中最聰明的客戶，隨著時間的推移，她會明白這一點。由於我們在過去幾年中進行的投資，我們的盒子比以往任何時候都更重要。這使我們能夠去客戶希望我們去的地方，並以更高的利潤去做。這對我們來說是一個非常令人羨慕的位置，我認為我們的市場份額增加表明了這一點。

But that's kind of what we're seeing from the customer standpoint. And certainly, there's some near-term challenges that have just recently emerged. I'll let John talk about that in Q1.

但這就是我們從客戶的角度所看到的。當然，最近出現了一些近期挑戰。我會讓約翰在第一季度談論這個。

Yes. So in terms of the customer, as Jeff said, we're continuing to see an increasingly economically strained customer, and we're seeing shopping behaviors indicative of this environment.

是的。因此，就客戶而言，正如傑夫所說，我們繼續看到經濟壓力越來越大的客戶，我們看到的購物行為表明了這種環境。

The two recent events we're monitoring is the termination of SNAP benefits, the emergency waivers in the remaining states, coupled with lower tax refunds in recent weeks. It's possible this could further pressure the low-income customers somewhat in the near term remains to be seen. We didn't see an impact last year. Some rolled off, but the customer is in a different place now.

我們正在監測的最近兩個事件是 SNAP 福利的終止、其餘州的緊急豁免，以及最近幾週較低的退稅。這可能會在短期內進一步給低收入客戶帶來一定壓力，這還有待觀察。去年我們沒有看到影響。有些人滾了下來，但客戶現在在不同的地方。

So we'll carefully monitor that, but we continue to believe that the customer needs us even more in tough environments as history has shown, and our full year guidance is reflective of all we know today.

所以我們會仔細監控，但我們仍然相信，正如歷史所表明的那樣，客戶在艱難的環境中更加需要我們，我們的全年指導反映了我們今天所知道的一切。

In terms of the shape of the year, I'll kind of talk to first half, second half and then Q1, both in terms of sales as well as earnings. As you look at the shape of the year, as we indicated, it's really a back half story for EPS growth. Now we're expecting sales comp to be relatively even between the first half and the second half, slightly higher in the second half. But then we expect continued headwinds, as we mentioned, from sales mix pressure, higher interest expense and increased shrink and damages as we move through Q1 or rather the first half.

就今年的情況而言，我會先談談上半年、下半年和第一季度的銷售額和收益。當你看今年的情況時，正如我們所指出的，這實際上是每股收益增長的後半部分。現在我們預計上半年和下半年的銷售收入相對均衡，下半年略高。但是，正如我們提到的那樣，我們預計隨著我們進入第一季度或上半年，銷售組合壓力、更高的利息支出以及增加的收縮和損害會帶來持續的逆風。

And then in the second half, we anticipate a pretty sizable benefit from lapping the significant supply chain costs and winter storm impacts from the second half of 2022 as well as the benefit of the initiatives that we're driving.

然後在下半年，我們預計將從 2022 年下半年開始的巨大供應鏈成本和冬季風暴影響以及我們正在推動的舉措帶來的好處帶來相當大的好處。

Now as you look at Q1, we mentioned that we anticipate certain headwinds to be most pronounced in Q1. That includes the estimated year-over-year increase in interest expense, which we quantified as $40 million as well as inventory damages and then the residual impact of the storage capacity constraints and related supply chain efficiencies -- inefficiencies we've mentioned.

現在，當您查看第一季度時，我們提到我們預計某些不利因素將在第一季度最為明顯。這包括估計的利息支出同比增長，我們將其量化為 4000 萬美元以及庫存損失，然後是存儲容量限制和相關供應鏈效率的剩餘影響——我們已經提到過的低效率。

And then the other piece is with regard to the labor investment. We expect the year-over-year net impact -- pressure from that to be most significant in Q1. And that's because we don't begin lapping last year's smaller investments until Q2 and believe the benefits of the incremental labor will be more significant later in the year.

然後另一部分是關於勞動力投資。我們預計同比淨影響——壓力在第一季度最為顯著。那是因為我們直到第二季度才開始評估去年的較小投資，並且相信增量勞動力的好處將在今年晚些時候更加顯著。

Great. And then maybe just a follow-up, John, on the balance sheet. Could you just update us on free cash priorities? What is the multiyear debt leverage target? How best to think about CapEx as a percent of sales moving forward? And just share repurchase as a use of cash going forward?

偉大的。然後也許只是跟進，約翰，在資產負債表上。你能告訴我們自由現金的優先事項嗎？多年債務槓桿目標是多少？如何最好地將資本支出視為未來銷售額的百分比？只是股票回購作為未來現金的使用？

Sure. I'll start by saying that our capital allocation priorities have not changed. Our first priority remains investing in the business. When you have high return growth opportunities like new store growth, remodels and our strategic initiatives, that's where we focus our capital.

當然。我首先要說的是，我們的資本配置重點沒有改變。我們的首要任務仍然是投資業務。當您擁有新店增長、改造和我們的戰略計劃等高回報增長機會時，這就是我們集中資本的地方。

Then our second priority is then returning the excess cash to shareholders based on the excess cash and debt capacity, paying a competitive dividend as we increased this quarter, and then by buying back shares with the remaining excess cash and debt capacity. But we remain focused on protecting our current investment-grade credit rating by keeping our adjusted debt to EBITDA around 3.

然後我們的第二個優先事項是根據過剩現金和債務能力將過剩現金返還給股東，在本季度增加時支付有競爭力的股息，然後用剩餘的過剩現金和債務能力回購股票。但我們仍然專注於通過將調整後的債務與 EBITDA 保持在 3 左右來保護我們目前的投資級信用評級。

In terms of CapEx, that is up a bit this year. We guided to $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion. Really includes the impact of pretty significant inflation, particularly when you think of steel. As we accelerate the unit growth story here, the remodels as well as build, we're working on three distribution centers here, which is going to help our capacity. So it takes some capital to do that, but we see great returns in these.

就資本支出而言，今年有所上升。我們指導為 18 億美元至 19 億美元。確實包括相當大的通貨膨脹的影響，尤其是當你想到鋼鐵時。隨著我們在這裡加速單位增長故事、改造和建設，我們正在這裡建設三個配送中心，這將有助於我們的產能。所以這樣做需要一些資金，但我們看到了巨大的回報。

And as you look at the stores, not only are we doing more stores, we're doing bigger stores. And we love what we see with these bigger stores with more sales, more profit per store. So a little more CapEx but really like the return from these. So I think that's the way to think about our capital allocation priorities and the drivers.

當你看商店時，我們不僅在開更多的商店，而且還在開更大的商店。我們喜歡我們看到的這些更大的商店，它們的銷售額更高，每家商店的利潤更高。所以多一點資本支出，但真的很喜歡這些的回報。所以我認為這就是考慮我們的資本分配優先事項和驅動因素的方式。

Our next question is from Peter Keith with Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題來自 Peter Keith 和 Piper Sandler。

You had commented just on one of the last questions around tax refunds and SNAP as potential headwinds. I was hoping you could also address the social security cost of living increase that kicked in at the beginning of the year. Has that been any tailwind to your business that you've noted so far?

您剛剛就退稅和 SNAP 作為潛在阻力的最後一個問題發表了評論。我希望你也能解決年初開始出現的社會保障生活成本增加問題。到目前為止，這對您的業務有什麼幫助嗎？

Yes. I'll elaborate on SNAP a little bit, and then I can talk about tax refunds and then talk about COLA. In terms of SNAP, it's interesting. You had an increase -- a pretty good increase in the tender over the last few years since the pandemic, as states enacted the emergency allotment benefits. Over the last couple of years, we've seen about 18 states roll off -- some of our key states. And what we saw is with the elimination of this, we saw an offset in other tender methods. And we didn't see an overall impact to our sales.

是的。我會稍微詳細說明一下SNAP，然後我可以談談退稅，然後再談談COLA。就 SNAP 而言，它很有趣。自大流行以來的過去幾年中，由於各州頒布了緊急撥款福利，您的招標有所增加。在過去的幾年裡，我們已經看到大約 18 個州取消了——其中一些是我們的關鍵州。我們看到的是，隨著這一點的消除，我們看到了其他招標方法的抵消。而且我們沒有看到對我們銷售的整體影響。

What we are monitoring though, is that, coupled with the tax refunds, which are lower in general, they're a little bit ahead in terms of the number of returns filed. But per return, what we're seeing so far and everybody is seeing, is a lower return overall in terms of the dollars. And so we're monitoring the two. Too early to call, but monitoring if those two and where the customer is at right now has a different impact remains to be seen.

不過，我們正在監測的是，再加上總體上較低的退稅，就提交的退稅數量而言，它們略微領先。但就回報率而言，我們目前所看到的以及每個人都看到的是，以美元計算的總體回報率較低。所以我們正在監視這兩個。現在打電話還為時過早，但監控這兩者以及客戶現在所處的位置是否會產生不同的影響還有待觀察。

In terms of COLA, we did see some bump from COLA, particularly those consumers and those stores that over-index with that consumer that receives benefits based on COLA. However, I would say, while a benefit, we saw some bump, not a significant impact.

就 COLA 而言，我們確實看到了 COLA 帶來的一些衝擊，特別是那些消費者和那些與從 COLA 獲得利益的消費者過度索引的商店。但是，我要說的是，雖然有好處，但我們看到了一些顛簸，而不是重大影響。

Okay. And then I wanted to ask you a little bit about the LIFO impact. So $517 million in the full year is pretty meaningful headwind that you've experienced. I guess if the Fed's going to achieve their mission and moderate inflation here over the next year or 2, you should probably have less of a LIFO charge. Do you have any LIFO benefit or lower charge here factored in for 2023 at this point?

好的。然後我想問你一些關於 LIFO 影響的問題。因此，全年 5.17 億美元是您所經歷的非常有意義的逆風。我想如果美聯儲要在未來一兩年內實現他們的使命並適度通貨膨脹，你可能應該減少後進先出費用。此時，您是否考慮了 2023 年的後進先出法福利或更低的費用？

Yes. The way to think about this is very significant LIFO charge last year. We don't expect a deflationary environment this year, so we do expect a LIFO charge. But we are assuming a more moderate LIFO charge. So less of a headwind this year.

是的。考慮這一點的方式是去年非常重要的 LIFO 費用。我們預計今年不會出現通貨緊縮環境，因此我們預計會出現後進先出法。但我們假設後進先出收費更為溫和。所以今年的逆風較少。

I think one thing to just bear in mind as you think about the year-over-year, we did mitigate where we could, the LIFO charge by taking targeted pricing actions as we saw the market move. So that mitigated the impact of that. So I wouldn't consider this fully a tailwind, but certainly less of a headwind as we go into this year.

我認為當你考慮與去年同期相比時要記住一件事，我們確實在我們看到市場變化時通過採取有針對性的定價行動來減輕我們可能的後進先出費用。這樣就減輕了它的影響。所以我不會認為這完全是順風，但隨著我們進入今年，肯定不會是逆風。

Our next question is from Scot Ciccarelli with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Scot Ciccarelli。

First, can you just clarify, John, like are you expecting earnings to actually be down in the first half or just lower?

首先，約翰，你能不能澄清一下，比如你預計上半年的收益實際上會下降還是只會下降？

And then my main question is, we've seen a pretty significant decrease in payables to inventory over the last couple of quarters. This quarter, for example, inventory was actually up over $1 billion, payables were actually down year-over-year. Can you just provide any more color on what's happening there? And do you expect that to ramp up to -- kind of the payables inventory to ramp up to historical levels? Or is there some sort of structural change, whether it's mix or capacity changes, et cetera, that is influencing that?

然後我的主要問題是，在過去幾個季度中，我們看到應付庫存顯著減少。例如，本季度庫存實際上增加了 10 億美元，應付賬款實際上同比下降。你能提供更多關於那裡發生的事情的顏色嗎？你是否期望它會上升到 - 某種應付賬款庫存上升到歷史水平？或者是否存在某種結構性變化，無論是結構變化還是容量變化等，都會影響它？

Yes. So in terms of the cadence for the year, what we said is it really is a back-half story. You really are going to see the growth in the back half of the year. We're not anticipating a sizable drop in the first half. We're looking at it to be modestly up to flattish. But -- so then it's really a back-half story in terms of the earnings.

是的。所以就今年的節奏而言，我們所說的是它真的是一個後半段的故事。你真的會看到今年下半年的增長。我們預計上半年不會出現大幅下降。我們正在看著它謙虛地趨於平淡。但是——那麼就收益而言，這真的是一個後半部分的故事。

In terms of the AP to inventory, what we have seen is the driver of that is really higher inventory levels, coupled with the timing of payments. As you look at the timing of payments, one of the things, for instance, that impacts with the 53rd week, it then pulls in the week 1 rent payment.

就庫存應付賬款而言，我們所看到的驅動因素實際上是更高的庫存水平，以及付款時間。當您查看付款時間時，例如，其中一件事會影響第 53 週，然後它會在第 1 週支付租金。

So as we look further, we expect inventory levels to normalize. As you look at -- in Q4, we saw our inventory per store dropped in half. It went -- it was 14% on a per store basis, which was about half the growth rate we saw in the previous period -- or previous quarter. And again, it reflects the same drivers that's really the product cost inflation and a greater mix of higher-value products, particularly in NCI as we completed the rollout of that.

因此，當我們進一步觀察時，我們預計庫存水平將正常化。正如你所看到的——在第四季度，我們看到每家商店的庫存下降了一半。它去了——每家商店的增長率為 14%，大約是我們在上一時期或上一季度看到的增長率的一半。再一次，它反映了相同的驅動因素，這些驅動因素實際上是產品成本通脹和更高價值產品的更多組合，特別是在我們完成推出時在 NCI 中。

Important thing to note here is it is seasonal goods -- or it's early receipt of seasonal goods or was there other driver. But it's important to note that these are evergreen-type products, which aren't time-sensitive. So we feel really good about the quality of the inventory, the ability to move through that and expect this to continue to normalize as we move through the year.

這裡要注意的重要一點是它是季節性商品——或者是提前收到季節性商品，或者是否有其他司機。但重要的是要注意，這些是常青型產品，對時間不敏感。因此，我們對庫存質量、處理庫存的能力感到非常滿意，並希望隨著我們度過這一年，這種情況會繼續正常化。

Our next question comes from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自 Rupesh Parikh 和 Oppenheimer。

I also wanted to ask on CapEx. So historically, CapEx has been about 3% of sales. And last year and this year, it's about 4%. So just want to get a sense of where you think the normal level of spending could be in a normalized environment as a percent of sales or any other commentary?

我還想問一下資本支出。所以從歷史上看，資本支出一直約為銷售額的 3%。去年和今年，大約是 4%。所以只是想了解一下您認為在正常環境中正常支出水平可能佔銷售額的百分比或任何其他評論？

Sure. Again, getting back to the capital, a big driver of that was the inflation as well as the stepped up real estate and the number of projects we're doing in terms of DCs, working on three DCs in one quarter. So again, feel great about the returns of these.

當然。再次回到首都，其中一個主要驅動因素是通貨膨脹以及房地產的增加以及我們在 DC 方面所做的項目數量，一個季度在三個 DC 上工作。因此，再次對這些回報感到滿意。

I don't want to speculate on -- and give future guidance on CapEx. Could see an environment where with the inflation coming down, it would moderate that. But more to come in terms of the CapEx, but what we are really focused on is the returns of these and feel great about the returns and we'll see what's required to grow the business going forward, but more to come.

我不想推測——也不想就資本支出提供未來指導。可以看到隨著通貨膨脹下降的環境，它會緩和這種情況。但更多的是在資本支出方面，但我們真正關注的是這些回報，並對回報感到滿意，我們將看到未來發展業務需要什麼，但還會有更多。

Great. And then maybe just one follow-up question. So DG Media, the commentary is very positive there in terms of what you're seeing with your vendors. As you think about the dollars there, how do you think about reinvesting the business versus flowing that through the bottom line?

偉大的。然後可能只是一個後續問題。所以 DG Media，就您對供應商的看法而言，那裡的評論非常積極。當你考慮那裡的美元時，你如何看待對業務進行再投資與將其流經底線？

Rupesh, you're right. We are very excited about what we're seeing on our DG Media Network. And quite frankly, our digital acceleration in general. One of the things that we've learned over the last couple of years when we started this journey was how digitally savvy our customer is and how much it helps her to be more connected and more loyal to Dollar General and it shows up in her ability to spend with us.

魯佩什，你是對的。我們對在 DG 媒體網絡上看到的內容感到非常興奮。坦率地說，我們的數字加速一般。在過去幾年開始這一旅程時，我們學到的一件事是我們的客戶對數字技術的了解程度，以及這對她與 Dollar General 的聯繫和忠誠度有多大幫助，這體現在她的能力上和我們一起度過。

Certainly, as you think about the network and you think about what we're able to bring to the market, we're able to bring access to a segment of the population that's really difficult to connect with. And when you think about the rural population, 30% of the United States population, that's meaningful. And that's why our brand partners and our CPG partners are very excited to partner with DG, and we're excited about where the media network will go over time.

當然，當您考慮網絡並考慮我們能夠為市場帶來什麼時，我們能夠為真正難以聯繫的人群提供訪問權限。當你想到農村人口時，占美國人口的 30%，這很有意義。這就是為什麼我們的品牌合作夥伴和我們的 CPG 合作夥伴非常高興與 DG 合作，我們對媒體網絡的發展方向感到興奮。

In terms of kind of how we handle the dollars that we're receiving from that, obviously, one of the things that's great about this company is our ability to grow our operating profit and reinvest in the business. And this is one of the ways it allows us to do that. And so that's why we're all very excited about the strategic foundation we've built here, the muscle we've built. And we're excited about some of the initiatives that we're going to bring to the forefront as we look forward, especially in '23 and beyond.

就我們如何處理我們從中獲得的美元而言，顯然，這家公司的一大優點是我們有能力增加營業利潤和對業務進行再投資。這是它允許我們做到這一點的方式之一。這就是為什麼我們都對我們在這裡建立的戰略基礎、我們建立的力量感到非常興奮。我們很高興看到我們將在展望未來時將其帶到最前沿的一些舉措，尤其是在 23 世紀及以後。

Our next question comes from Karen Short with Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Karen Short。

And John, sad to see you go. It's been great working with you. I just wanted to go back to the overall algorithm for DG. Obviously, there's noise in '23, and we all appreciate that. But can you just maybe give a little bit of an update on what you think the long-term algorithm should be as we get beyond '23?

約翰，看到你離開很難過。和你一起工作很愉快。我只想回到 DG 的整體算法。顯然，'23 中有噪音，我們都很感激。但是，隨著我們超越 23 年，您能否稍微更新一下您認為長期算法應該是什麼？

And then I wanted to just clarify on the wage investment and/or wage. Can you just let us know what your average hourly wage rate is? And how you think about that as opposed to investing more in dollars, and I realize you need to invest in hours, but dollars?

然後我只想澄清工資投資和/或工資。你能告訴我們你的平均小時工資是多少嗎？與投資更多美元相比，你如何看待這一點，我意識到你需要投資時間，而不是美元？

Yes, it's Karen. I'll take the first part of that question, and then John, I'll kick it to you for the algorithm question. But Karen, we don't disclose our average hourly rate. But what I can tell you is, as I said earlier, is we have and we continue to pay very competitive wages. And I think the one nuance to Dollar General that I frankly believe is underappreciated is the ability to come into this company as a part-time sales associate and grow into a career. .

是的，是凱倫。我將回答該問題的第一部分，然後約翰，我將把算法問題交給你。但是 Karen，我們不會透露我們的平均時薪。但我可以告訴你的是，正如我之前所說，我們已經並將繼續支付極具競爭力的工資。而且我認為我坦率地認為 Dollar General 的一個細微差別被低估了，那就是能夠以兼職銷售助理的身份進入這家公司並發展成為職業。 .

And you can do it faster than you can in any other retailer because we're committed to internal development, and we have the opportunity to provide you with growth opportunities because of our dynamic growth.

而且您可以比任何其他零售商更快地做到這一點，因為我們致力於內部發展，並且由於我們的動態增長，我們有機會為您提供增長機會。

So I think those two things are the reason why we feel great about our staffing levels, our ability to attract and our ability to retain our talent. And so that's why we're investing in hours. And right now, we're very pleased to see that wage grow 23% over the last 3 years. So we're in a great position, and that's why we're able to put this investment more towards the hours in the store rather than having to catch up on wages. And John?

所以我認為這兩件事是我們對我們的員工水平、我們吸引人才的能力和留住人才的能力感到滿意的原因。因此，這就是我們投入時間的原因。現在，我們很高興看到工資在過去 3 年裡增長了 23%。所以我們處於有利地位，這就是為什麼我們能夠將這項投資更多地用於商店的營業時間，而不必追趕工資。約翰呢？

As you think of the algorithm and if you just step back and look over the last 3 years, while it's been up and down over the last 3 years in this environment, every element of that well in excess of the algorithm. If you look at sales comp, well in excess of the algorithm; expansion of gross margin and operating margin; operating income, EPS, well in excess of the algorithm. So we feel very good about the performance over this period of time, and we feel the model remains very strong and very resilient.

當你想到這個算法時，如果你只是退後一步，看看過去 3 年，雖然它在過去 3 年裡在這個環境中起伏不定，但算法的每個元素都超出了算法。如果您查看銷售補償，則遠遠超過算法；擴大毛利率和營業利潤率；營業收入，每股收益，遠遠超過算法。所以我們對這段時間的表現感覺非常好，我們覺得這個模型仍然非常強大，非常有彈性。

We continue to see ourselves as 10%-plus EPS growers over the long term, not every year. Some years, we see it prudent to invest to protect that growth over the long term. But if you look at the business model and fundamentals, they're very strong with the unique combination of value and convenience resonating as strong as ever. We continue to see very compelling store-level economics in new store returns and then significant bumps from the remodels. And we continue to see 16,000-plus new store opportunities for everybody in our space. But obviously, we've been getting an outsized share of that. So significant runway for growth.

從長遠來看，我們繼續將自己視為 10% 以上的 EPS 增長者，而不是每年。幾年來，我們認為投資以保護長期增長是謹慎的做法。但如果你看看商業模式和基本面，它們非常強大，價值和便利的獨特組合一如既往地引起共鳴。我們繼續在新店回報中看到非常引人注目的商店級經濟效益，然後從改造中看到顯著的顛簸。我們繼續為我們空間中的每個人看到 16,000 多家新店機會。但顯然，我們已經獲得了其中的很大一部分。如此重要的增長跑道。

The initiatives are performing very well, helping both the top line and bottom line. They're focused on both. And we see, as I mentioned, a lot of levers within gross margin to continue to expand that over the long term. And the business generates a lot of cash to then buy back shares and reinvest in the business. So we think top to bottom, the business model and fundamentals remain very strong.

這些舉措表現非常好，對收入和利潤都有幫助。他們專注於兩者。正如我所提到的，我們看到毛利率中有很多槓桿可以在長期內繼續擴大毛利率。並且該業務產生大量現金，然後回購股票並重新投資於該業務。因此，我們認為自上而下，商業模式和基本面仍然非常強勁。

So is it fair to say or reasonable to think that, that's more of a '24 return? I mean I know you haven't given guidance, but just some...

那麼可以公平地說或合理地認為，這更像是 24 年的回報嗎？我的意思是我知道你沒有給出指導，但只是一些......

I don't want to give specific guidance, but I would just say we feel very good about the future and the strength of the business.

我不想給出具體的指導，但我只想說我們對未來和業務實力感覺非常好。

Our final question is Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies.

我們的最後一個問題是 Jefferies 的 Corey Tarlowe。

And congrats, John, on your retirement announcement. It's been a pleasure to work with you. My first question for Jeff on market share. You talked in your prepared remarks about seeing customers trade in the Dollar General. You talked about higher income consumers trading down to Dollar General. So I think it's clear that Dollar General is gaining share across income cohorts and categories, and you talked about Value Valley as well, comping up over, I think it was 30%. So maybe could you talk a little bit more about where you think this market share is coming from? And where you see it likely to come from even more so as we look ahead?

約翰，恭喜你宣布退休。很高興與您合作。我要問 Jeff 關於市場份額的第一個問題。你在準備好的評論中談到看到客戶在 Dollar General 進行交易。你談到了高收入消費者會低估 Dollar General。所以我認為很明顯 Dollar General 在收入人群和類別中獲得了份額，你也談到了 Value Valley，我認為它是 30%。那麼也許你能多談談你認為這個市場份額來自哪裡？當我們展望未來時，您認為它可能來自哪裡？

Well, Corey, first of all, we are very pleased at the market share gains that we've been able to achieve, both on the consumable and on the nonconsumable segments of our business. And when you think about our customers as well, we're also incredibly pleased with the fact that we were able to increase our productivity with really all segments of our core customer.

好吧，科里，首先，我們對我們在消耗品和非消耗品業務領域取得的市場份額增長感到非常高興。當您也考慮我們的客戶時，我們也非常高興能夠提高核心客戶所有細分市場的生產力。

We increased our share of wallet, our share of trips. Those are all really encouraging signs and very pleased to see that. It's a credit to our team and their ability to connect with this customer, bring an assortment that she's looking for and delivered in a consistent fashion.

我們增加了我們的錢包份額，我們的旅行份額。這些都是非常令人鼓舞的跡象，並且很高興看到這一點。這是我們團隊的功勞，他們有能力與這位客戶建立聯繫，帶來她正在尋找的品種，並以一致的方式交付。

As you think about the donors, it's really the same donors we've had for quite some time, primarily drug is our biggest share donor. And so as we look forward to continuing to refine our assortment, our strategic initiatives, really allow us to really bring even more, we believe, relevant assortment to our customer. We think we're in the early to mid-innings on many of these initiatives when you think about our treasure hunt with NCI, when you think about DG Fresh and the relevance of the perishable and frozen offering, you think about produce.

當你想到捐助者時，它實際上是我們已經有一段時間的捐助者，主要是藥物是我們最大的份額捐助者。因此，當我們期待繼續完善我們的產品種類時，我們的戰略舉措確實使我們能夠真正為我們的客戶帶來更多相關產品。當你想到我們與 NCI 的尋寶時，當你想到 DG Fresh 以及易腐爛和冷凍產品的相關性時，你會想到農產品，我們認為我們在許多這些舉措中處於早期到中期階段。

And we're very pleased on our digital strategy that's allowing us to, quite frankly, through our first-party data, our ability to understand this customer on an even greater level than we ever have before, we'll be able to continue to bring the relevance she's looking for. And when you think about our growing store base, we continue to see our share opportunity very, very optimistically, and we would expect us to continue to take it from the same donors we've seen in previous.

我們對我們的數字戰略感到非常滿意，坦率地說，通過我們的第一方數據，我們能夠比以往任何時候都更深入地了解這個客戶，我們將能夠繼續帶來她正在尋找的相關性。當你想到我們不斷增長的商店基礎時，我們繼續非常非常樂觀地看到我們的分享機會，我們希望我們繼續從我們之前看到的相同捐贈者那裡獲得它。

Great. And then just a follow-up for John. So it sounds like there's a couple of moving parts in terms of the gross margin, specifically as you look out over this year, and I recognize it's a first half, second half story, but could you maybe stack rank the drivers that you anticipate from maybe most important to least important, to be affecting the gross margin line this year? I recognize mix shift is also a fairly prevailing factor in this. So how does that also factor into how you're thinking about the consumables mix shift as we look ahead for the next 12 months?

偉大的。然後只是約翰的後續行動。所以聽起來在毛利率方面有幾個變化的部分，特別是你對今年的展望，我認識到這是上半年和下半年的故事，但你能否對你預期的驅動因素進行排名也許最重要到最不重要，影響今年的毛利率？我認識到混合轉變也是一個相當普遍的因素。那麼，在我們展望未來 12 個月時，這又如何影響您對消耗品組合轉變的看法？

Yes. As you think of the headwinds and the tailwinds, I'll start with the headwinds, but then go to what we see as a pretty sizable tailwind -- tailwinds. The ones we talked about were one, sales mix, that pressure continuing. So we've assumed that. We've also assumed shrink and damages as we move through the first half, in particular. And then increased markdowns, and that's really just getting back to rates more in line with historical norms.

是的。當你想到逆風和順風時，我將從逆風開始，然後轉到我們認為相當大的順風——順風。我們談論的是一個，銷售組合，壓力持續存在。所以我們假設了。特別是在上半場，我們還假設了收縮和損壞。然後增加降價，這實際上只是回到更符合歷史規範的利率。

I wouldn't say of these one really stands out significantly over the others, but they all contribute as headwinds. And then, again, the shrink and damages more of a first half pressure than back half as we see it now. Damages, in particular, Q1 pressure as you look at the cadence of the year.

我不會說這些真的比其他的明顯突出，但它們都是不利因素。然後，再一次，上半場壓力的收縮和損壞比我們現在看到的後半場壓力更大。當您查看今年的節奏時，損害尤其是 Q1 壓力。

We mentioned the LIFO impact, and we do think that will provide some benefit, but I wouldn't flow the whole thing through because you had the pricing that went with that last year.

我們提到了 LIFO 的影響，我們確實認為這會帶來一些好處，但我不會把整個事情都講完，因為你有去年的定價。

But then as you think of the tailwinds, the biggest one I would point to and the biggest overall driver I would point to here is the supply chain. We expect a pretty material benefit from lapping the increased supply chain expenses in the second half of last year as well as the sizable benefits from greater distribution center capacity and productivity, lower carrier rates as well as the benefit of expanding our private tractor fleet, which we're growing from 1,600 tractors at the end of last year to over 2,000 by the end of next year.

但是當你想到順風時，我要指出的最大的順風和我在這裡要指出的最大的整體驅動力是供應鏈。我們預計去年下半年增加的供應鏈費用將帶來可觀的物質利益，以及更大的配送中心容量和生產力、更低的承運人費率以及擴大我們的私人拖拉機車隊的好處，這我們正在從去年底的 1,600 台拖拉機增加到明年年底的 2,000 多台。

And again, as we make those conversions, it's about a 20% savings in addition to other benefits that we expect as we optimize DG Fresh, NCI, and then expect a pretty sizable benefit from DG Media Network to name a few. And then obviously, we intend to leverage our scale as we have as a limited SKU operator, and that's another lever amongst the other levers we've mentioned in the past.

再一次，當我們進行這些轉換時，除了我們在優化 DG Fresh、NCI 時期望的其他好處之外，還節省了大約 20%，然後期望從 DG Media Network 獲得相當可觀的好處等等。然後很明顯，我們打算利用我們作為有限 SKU 運營商的規模，這是我們過去提到的其他槓桿中的另一個槓桿。

So again, as you look at the guide for the year, we gave the top line, the bottom line, we didn't give gross margin, but I think it implies a pretty healthy operating profit growth than rates overall despite pretty sizable investment in the business.

所以，再一次，當你看今年的指南時，我們給出了頂線，底線，我們沒有給出毛利率，但我認為這意味著儘管投資相當大，但與整體利率相比，營業利潤增長相當健康這生意。

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call over to Jeff Owen for closing comments.

我們已經結束了問答環節。我現在想把電話轉給 Jeff Owen 以徵求意見。

I'd like to thank you all for your questions and your interest in Dollar General. And while our operating environment is dynamic for our customer and business, we are staying focused on the things that we can control, which is continued innovation and execution in our business.

我要感謝大家提出的問題和對 Dollar General 的興趣。雖然我們的運營環境對我們的客戶和業務來說是動態的，但我們一直專注於我們可以控制的事情，這是我們業務的持續創新和執行。

If I could summarize our discussion today, I'd like to leave you with these three things. First, we have a powerful growth strategy. Second, we are investing in the future. And third, we are doing this while also planning to deliver strong results in 2023.

如果我可以總結我們今天的討論，我想把這三件事留給你們。首先，我們有強大的增長戰略。其次，我們正在投資未來。第三，我們正在這樣做，同時還計劃在 2023 年取得強勁成果。

We're excited about this business, and I am confident we are well positioned to serve our customers and also create value for our shareholders in the year ahead. Thank you for your listening today, and I hope you have a great day.

我們對這項業務感到興奮，我相信我們有能力為我們的客戶服務，並在來年為我們的股東創造價值。感謝您今天的收聽，希望您今天過得愉快。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。您此時可以斷開線路，我們感謝您的參與。