Deluxe Corp (DLX) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Please standby. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Deluxe quarterly earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) And today's call is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to your host, Vice President of Strategy and Investor Relations, Brian Anderson. Please go ahead.

請稍候。女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎參加 Deluxe 季度收益電話會議。（操作員指示）今天的通話正在錄音。現在，我想將會議交給主持人、策略和投資者關係副總裁布萊恩安德森 (Brian Anderson)。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and welcome to the Deluxe first quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining me on today's call are Barry McCarthy, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chip Zint, our Chief Financial Officer. At the end of today's prepared remarks, we will take questions.

謝謝接線員，歡迎參加 Deluxe 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。參加今天電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Barry McCarthy 和我們的財務長 Chip Zint。在今天的準備好的演講結束時，我們將回答問題。

Before we begin and as seen on the current slide, I'd like to remind everyone that comments made today regarding management's intentions, projections, financial estimates and expectations about the company's future strategy or performance are forward-looking in nature as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在我們開始之前，正如當前幻燈片所示，我想提醒大家，今天就管理層的意圖、預測、財務估計和對公司未來戰略或業績的期望所發表的評論都是前瞻性的，正如 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的那樣。

Additional information about factors that may cause actual results to differ from projections is set forth in the press release we furnished today in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and in other company SEC filings.

有關可能導致實際結果與預測不同的因素的更多信息，請參閱我們今天在截至 2024 年 12 月 31 日的 10-K 表格中提供的新聞稿以及其他公司 SEC 文件中提供的新聞稿。

On the call today, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including comparable adjusted revenue, adjusted and comparable adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA margin, adjusted and comparable adjusted EPS and free cash flow. All comparable adjusted metrics reflect the removal of impacts from business exits.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將討論非公認會計準則財務指標，包括可比調整後收入、調整後和可比較調整後 EBITDA 和 EBITDA 利潤率、調整後和可比調整後 EPS 和自由現金流。所有可比較的調整指標均反映了業務退出影響的消除。

In our press release, today's presentation and our filings with the SEC, you'll find additional disclosures regarding the non-GAAP measures including reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable measures under US GAAP. Within the materials, we are also providing reconciliations of GAAP EPS to adjusted EPS, which may assist with your modeling.

在我們的新聞稿、今天的簡報以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中，您會發現有關非公認會計準則指標的額外揭露，包括這些指標與美國公認會計準則下最具可比性的指標的對帳。在資料中，我們還提供了 GAAP EPS 與調整後 EPS 的對賬，這可能有助於您的建模。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Barry.

說完這些，我就把麥克風交給巴瑞。

Thanks, Brian, and good evening, everyone. I'm pleased to report our solid start to 2025. In the first quarter, our results reflected organic growth across our key metrics, including revenue, adjusted EBITDA, EPS and margin.

謝謝，布萊恩，大家晚上好。我很高興地報告我們在 2025 年取得了良好的開端。第一季度，我們的業績反映了關鍵指標的有機成長，包括營收、調整後 EBITDA、每股盈餘和利潤率。

Our sustained expansion of earnings at a rate faster than revenue for the ninth consecutive quarter continues to demonstrate the operating leverage we have purposely built into the company via North Star. We also remain particularly pleased with our significant year-over-year expansion of operating cash flow.

我們的獲利連續第九個季度以高於營收的速度持續成長，這繼續證明了我們透過北極星有意為公司打造的經營槓桿。我們也對經營現金流的年比大幅成長感到特別高興。

This strong performance drove continued reduction of our net debt levels consistent with our commitment to this important capital allocation priority. These results contributed to our recent S&P ratings upgrade and positive ratings outlook, demonstrating our strong progress on balance sheet optimization.

這一強勁表現推動我們的淨債務水準持續下降，這與我們對這項重要資本配置優先事項的承諾一致。這些結果促成了我們最近的標準普爾評級上調和積極的評級前景，表明我們在資產負債表優化方面取得了重大進展。

You will recall accelerating our free cash flow and profit growth are the key tenets of our North Star execution strategy against which we remain on track toward our 2026 program targets. Before reviewing our first quarter highlights in more detail, I'd like to comment on four key factors. First, these are times of extraordinary volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty.

您會記得，加速我們的自由現金流和利潤成長是我們北極星執行策略的關鍵原則，我們以此為依據繼續朝著 2026 年計畫目標前進。在更詳細地回顧我們第一季的亮點之前，我想評論一下四個關鍵因素。首先，目前正處於極度動盪和宏觀經濟不確定的時期。

While change swirls around us, we are focused on controlling what we can control and executing strongly against our plan. Our first quarter results are a testament to our focus and execution discipline. We continue to monitor report some economic forecasters around consumer sentiment, discretionary spending and other indicators for potential impacts to our outlook.

儘管我們周圍發生著變化，但我們仍專注於控制我們能夠控制的事情，並堅決執行我們的計劃。我們第一季的業績證明了我們的專注和執行紀律。我們將繼續監測一些經濟預測機構關於消費者情緒、可自由支配支出和其他指標的報告，以了解這些指標對我們的前景可能產生的影響。

Second, tariffs. As we mentioned on our last call, we do not expect to have material direct tariff exposure within our supply chain. We rely upon in-market sourcing and production for the significant majority of our revenue. We do have some exposure across smaller promotional product areas, including lower-margin branded apparel and accessories. This represents a small percentage of company revenue, and we would intend to pass along applicable increased costs just as we always do. What we don't know is how this could impact demand.

第二，關稅。正如我們在上次電話會議上提到的那樣，我們預計我們的供應鏈中不會出現重大的直接關稅風險。我們的大部分收入都依賴市場採購和生產。我們確實在較小的促銷產品領域中有一些曝光，包括利潤率較低的品牌服裝和配件。這只占公司收入的一小部分，我們打算像往常一樣轉嫁適用的增加的成本。我們不知道這會對需求產生什麼影響。

Third, our business continues to benefit from our overall One Deluxe go-to-market approach and our growth during the first quarter included new customer wins across each of our reporting segments. And fourth, given this broader context, we are maintaining our overall guidance ranges for 2025 this evening. Chip will provide more detail in a moment.

第三，我們的業務繼續受益於我們的整體 One Deluxe 行銷策略，我們在第一季的成長包括我們每個報告部門的新客戶獲勝。第四，鑑於這更廣泛的背景，我們今晚將維持 2025 年的整體指導範圍。Chip 稍後將提供更多細節。

Now on to some additional detail about our first quarter performance. For the quarter, total revenue was just over $536 million, up 1.4% on a comparable adjusted basis year-over-year, combined growth across our payments businesses and a continuing double-digit growth trajectory across the data segment more than offset expected low single-digit secular declines within print, consistent with our strategy.

現在來了解我們第一季業績的更多細節。本季度，總收入略高於 5.36 億美元，按可比調整後計算同比增長 1.4%，支付業務的綜合增長和數據業務持續的兩位數增長軌跡足以抵消印刷業務預期的低個位數長期下滑，這與我們的戰略一致。

Total comparable adjusted EBITDA for the quarter finished at just over $100 million, increasing nearly 3.5% from 2024 and continuing to reflect robust operating leverage across our portfolio. Comparable adjusted EPS finished the quarter at $0.75, reflecting just over 4% expansion versus the prior year.

本季可比調整後總 EBITDA 略高於 1 億美元，較 2024 年成長近 3.5%，並持續反映我們整個產品組合的強勁經營槓桿。本季可比調整後每股收益為 0.75 美元，較上年同期成長 4% 以上。

We remain pleased with these results helping to demonstrate our progress towards optimization of our SG&A expense base and expansion of earnings and cash flow, as outlined within our North Star execution plans.

我們對這些結果感到滿意，這些結果有助於證明我們在優化銷售、一般和行政費用基礎以及擴大收益和現金流方面取得的進展，正如我們的北極星執行計劃中概述的那樣。

As I noted within my introductory comments, both revenue and our key earnings metrics grew organically aligned to our key strategic execution priorities across the enterprise. In addition, these results reflected our overall revenue mix shifting towards our payments and data offerings.

正如我在開場白中指出的那樣，收入和我們的關鍵獲利指標都是與整個企業的關鍵策略執行重點有機一致的。此外，這些結果反映了我們的整體收入結構轉向支付和數據產品。

When we shared the same data after the first quarter of last year, our revenue balance reflected roughly a 57:43 ratio of Print to Payments and Data segments. As you can see here, just one year later, the ratio is at 54:46, consistent with the progress we indicated at our December 2023 Investor Day.

當我們在去年第一季後分享相同的數據時，我們的收入平衡反映了列印、支付和數據部分的比例約為 57:43。正如您所看到的，僅僅一年後，該比例就達到了 54:46，與我們在 2023 年 12 月投資者日指出的進展一致。

Our payments and data segments expanded year-over-year by a blended rate just above 8.5%, led by another very strong growth quarter from the data segment. Data segment revenue grew 29% versus the prior year and significant demand from financial institutions. The data team added 17 new customer logos during the quarter, while also continuing to broaden its portfolio across high-value adjacent market verticals.

我們的支付和數據部門同比成長率略高於 8.5%，其中數據部門又一個季度實現了非常強勁的成長。數據部門收入較上年增長 29%，金融機構的需求也很大。數據團隊在本季增加了 17 個新客戶標識，同時也持續擴大其在高價值相鄰市場垂直領域的投資組合。

Within our payments segment, we benefited from new and expanded FI relationships during the quarter, a key component of our One Deluxe model across the merchant segment and our broader business. As another example of our ability to win larger scale FI partnerships, we were pleased to announce our partnership with TowneBank, a premier financial institution dedicated to exceptional service and community banking.

在我們的支付部門，我們受益於本季新的和擴展的 FI 關係，這是我們整個商家部門和更廣泛業務的 One Deluxe 模式的關鍵組成部分。作為我們有能力贏得更大規模金融機構合作夥伴關係的另一個例子，我們很高興宣布與 TowneBank 建立合作夥伴關係，TowneBank 是一家致力於提供卓越服務和社區銀行業務的頂級金融機構。

Through this partnership, TowneBank members will gain access to Deluxe Merchant Services suite of solutions, helping to streamline operations and their payment experience for their customers. Within B2B, we began processing new remittance volumes for a top 10 bank in the US and expect continued momentum as we grow market share across our lockbox footprint over the balance of the year.

透過此次合作，TowneBank 成員將獲得 Deluxe Merchant Services 解決方案套件的使用權，從而幫助簡化營運並改善客戶的支付體驗。在 B2B 領域，我們開始為美國排名前 10 位的銀行處理新的匯款量，隨著我們在今年餘下時間在整個鎖箱業務中的市場份額不斷增長，我們預計這種勢頭將持續下去。

Finally, in our print segment, we have continued to win new business and expand share across legacy check with small to midsize additions, helping to mitigate secular unit decline rates. This progress resulted in declines of under 2% for check revenue during the quarter, consistent with our ongoing strategy. Beyond our organic revenue results, we also continued to deliver robust year-to-year expansion of earnings metrics.

最後，在我們的印刷領域，我們繼續贏得新業務，並透過增加中小型業務來擴大傳統支票業務的份額，從而有助於緩解長期單位下降率。這一進展導致本季支票收入下降不到 2%，這與我們目前的策略一致。除了有機收入結果之外，我們的獲利指標也持續保持強勁的逐年成長。

Growth of both comparable adjusted EBITDA and EPS once again outpaced our rate of revenue expansion, driving adjusted EBITDA margins of 18.7%. This reflected an expansion of 40 basis points on a comparable adjusted basis as our sustained operating leverage further demonstrates progress executing against our core North Star initiatives across the organization.

可比調整後 EBITDA 和 EPS 的成長再次超過了我們的營收成長速度，推動調整後 EBITDA 利潤率達到 18.7%。這反映了可比較調整後基礎上 40 個基點的擴大，因為我們持續的經營槓桿進一步證明了我們在整個組織內執行核心北極星計畫的進展。

During the first quarter, total SG&A spend improved by 3.8% or just under $9 million, illustrating our ongoing focus on driving efficiencies across the business. This execution also contributed to our improved cash flow results during the period, which Chip will detail a bit more during his comments. To summarize, our overall first quarter results speak to our ongoing execution focus, payments and data growth potential and North Star progress.

第一季度，銷售、一般及行政開支總額改善了 3.8%，即略低於 900 萬美元，這表明我們持續致力於提高整個業務的效率。此次執行也促進了我們本期間現金流結果的改善，Chip 將在他的評論中對此進行更詳細的說明。總而言之，我們第一季的整體業績體現了我們持續的執行重點、支付和數據成長潛力以及北極星的進展。

While we continue to monitor macro level market developments for nearer-term impacts, our first quarter progress continues to support our path toward our 2025 revenue and EBITDA goals. Our ability to attract top talent at all levels signals additional support for our company's future in payments and data. Brian Mahani joined us in February as Merchant Services President after serving industry leader at Elavon as CFO, CRO and in various other roles.

雖然我們繼續監測宏觀市場發展以了解近期影響，但我們第一季的進展繼續支持我們實現 2025 年收入和 EBITDA 目標。我們吸引各個層級頂尖人才的能力為我們公司未來在支付和數據領域的發展提供了額外的支持。Brian Mahani 於今年 2 月加入我們，擔任商家服務總裁，此前他曾擔任 Elavon 的行業領導者，擔任財務長、首席風險長以及其他各種職務。

Beau Cummins until recently Vice Chair at Truist; and Mac Schuessle, CEO of Evertec, who recently elected to the Deluxe Board of Directors. Angela Brown, recently the CEO of Moneris, joined our Board last fall. Each of these individuals bring a serious depth of knowledge and experience across the payment space and financial institutions.

Beau Cummins 直到最近還擔任 Truist 的副主席；Evertec 的執行長 Mac Schuessle 最近被選為 Deluxe 董事會成員。安吉拉布朗 (Angela Brown) 最近擔任 Moneris 的首席執行官，去年秋天加入了我們的董事會。這些人中的每一個人都為支付領域和金融機構帶來了豐富的知識和經驗。

Finally, before passing this to Chip, I want to acknowledge and thank all my fellow Deluxers, who continue to work diligently each and every day to deliver these results for our customers and investors. With that, I'll turn it over to Chip.

最後，在將此傳遞給 Chip 之前，我想感謝所有 Deluxers 同事，他們每天都在繼續勤奮工作，為我們的客戶和投資者帶來這些成果。說完這些，我就把麥克風交給 Chip。

Thank you, Barry, and good evening, everyone. As Barry mentioned, we were pleased with our first quarter progress, particularly our better-than-anticipated cash flow generation and our continuing strong comparable adjusted EBITDA growth during the period.

謝謝你，巴里，大家晚上好。正如 Barry 所提到的，我們對第一季的進展感到滿意，特別是我們好於預期的現金流產生以及本期間持續強勁的可比調整後 EBITDA 增長。

As a reminder, our 2025 comparable adjusted reporting and related commentary, we'll continue to exclude impacts from conversions of our now fully exited payroll business over the course of the prior year. 2024 payroll results were reflected within exited businesses throughout the year, allowing for clean operating segment comparisons across the respective periods and should have a relatively immaterial impact on our enterprise level reporting comparisons.

提醒一下，在我們 2025 年的可比較調整報告和相關評論中，我們將繼續排除上一年現已完全退出的工資業務轉換的影響。 2024 年的薪資結果反映在全年已退出的業務中，從而可以在各個期間進行乾淨的營運分部比較，並且應該對我們的企業級報告比較產生相對不重要的影響。

I'll begin today with a bit of additional color around our consolidated highlights for the period before moving on to the segment results, our balance sheet and cash flow progress and our maintained guidance. For the quarter, we reported total revenue of $536.5 million, increasing 0.3% against prior year reported results while growing 1.4% on a comparable adjusted basis.

今天，我將首先對本期間的合併亮點進行一些補充介紹，然後再介紹分部業績、資產負債表和現金流進展以及我們維持的指引。本季度，我們的總營收為 5.365 億美元，比去年同期成長 0.3%，以可比調整後計算成長 1.4%。

We reported GAAP net income of $14 million or $0.31 per share, improving from $11 million or $0.24 per share in the first quarter of 2024. This increase was driven by improved operating results, including lower restructuring and overall SG&A expenses, net of a prior year gain related to business exits during the period.

我們報告的 GAAP 淨收入為 1,400 萬美元或每股 0.31 美元，高於 2024 年第一季的 1,100 萬美元或每股 0.24 美元。這一增長得益於經營業績的改善，包括重組和整體銷售、一般及行政費用的降低，扣除了去年同期與業務退出相關的收益。

Restructuring expense for the quarter totaled $8.4 million, down from $14.8 million in the prior year. While projects remain to be completed under North Star, the most material restructuring spending for the initiative has now been realized and should continue to decrease from this point forward on an LTM basis.

本季重組費用總計 840 萬美元，低於去年同期的 1,480 萬美元。雖然北極星計劃下仍有項目未完成，但該計劃的大部分實質重組支出現已實現，並且從現在起應在 LTM 基礎上繼續減少。

Adjusted EBITDA was $100.2 million, increasing 3.4% on a comparable adjusted basis versus the first quarter of last year. Adjusted EBITDA margins were 18.7%, improving 40 basis points on a comparable adjusted basis.

調整後 EBITDA 為 1.002 億美元，與去年第一季相比，以可比調整後基礎運算成長 3.4%。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 18.7%，較可比調整後利潤率提高了 40 個基點。

North Star efficiencies accompanying our revenue growth helped offset medical benefit cost headwinds reflected in corporate operations. These are anticipated to be mostly non-recurring in nature and representative of higher cost claims that would be expected from time to time as a self insurerf. Absent these period specific pressures comparable adjusted EBITDA would have expanded even faster. Q1 adjusted diluted EPS came in at $0.75, improving from $0.72 on a comparable adjusted basis primarily driven by our improved operating income, as previously noted.

伴隨收入成長而來的北極星效率幫助抵銷了公司營運中反映出的醫療福利成本阻力。預計這些索賠大多是非經常性的，並且代表著作為自我保險公司不時會出現的較高成本索賠。如果沒有這些特定時期的壓力，可比調整後的 EBITDA 將會擴張得更快。第一季調整後稀釋每股收益為 0.75 美元，較可比調整後的 0.72 美元有所改善，這主要得益於我們之前提到的營業收入的成長。

Now turning to our operating segment details, beginning with the Merchant Services business. The Merchant business grew first quarter revenue by 1.3% year-over-year to $97.8 million, aligned to the low single-digit growth expectation to start the year that we indicated within our guidance commentary on the last call.

現在轉向我們的營運部門細節，從商家服務業務開始。商家業務第一季營收年增 1.3% 至 9,780 萬美元，與我們在上次電話會議的指導評論中指出的年初低個位數成長預期一致。

Segment adjusted EBITDA finished at $21.4 million, remaining flat versus the prior year, mainly driven by customary channel and vertical mix dynamics. Our merchant portfolio remains well positioned across a diversified set of customer categories and verticals.

分部調整後的 EBITDA 為 2,140 萬美元，與上年持平，主要受傳統通路和垂直組合動態的推動。我們的商家組合在多元化的客戶類別和垂直領域中保持良好的地位。

We continue to monitor macroeconomic trends more broadly as they may impact volumes across these areas going forward, as Barry referenced. Reflective of our results to date and some of the recent trends surrounding overall consumer sentiment, we now expect revenue growth for merchant to potentially remain closer to a lower single-digit full year trajectory relative to our prior mid-single-digit outlook. We continue to anticipate a low 20% adjusted EBITDA margin profile consistent with our prior guidance.

正如巴里所提到的，我們將繼續更廣泛地監測宏觀經濟趨勢，因為它們可能會影響這些領域未來的發展。考慮到我們迄今為止的業績以及近期整體消費者情緒的一些趨勢，我們現在預計，相對於我們之前的中等個位數預測，商家的收入成長可能仍將接近較低的個位數全年軌跡。我們繼續預期調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將處於 20% 的低位，與我們先前的預期一致。

Turning to B2B payments. For the first quarter, B2B segment revenues finished at $70.2 million, increasing 1.2% versus 2024, consistent with our quarterly cadence expectations and growth guidance for the segment. Overall lockbox volumes benefited from the onboarding of incremental wins, as Barry mentioned, during the quarter, helping to offset overall secular declining remittance volume trends across this space.

轉向 B2B 付款。第一季度，B2B 部門營收達到 7,020 萬美元，較 2024 年成長 1.2%，與我們對該部門的季度節奏預期和成長指引一致。正如 Barry 所提到的，本季度，整體鎖箱交易量受益於增量勝利的加入，有助於抵消該領域整體長期匯款量下降的趨勢。

B2B adjusted EBITDA dollars remained flat versus the prior year, finishing Q1 at $13.3 million, reflecting an 18.9% margin as we continue to navigate the transition of the business to a more recurring software set of offerings.

B2B 調整後的 EBITDA 與上年持平，第一季結束時為 1,330 萬美元，利潤率為 18.9%，因為我們繼續引導業務轉型為更具經常性的軟體產品組合。

Within our B2B outlook, we anticipate a flat to low single-digit revenue growth trajectory through the first half with sequential improvement during the final two quarters of the year. This would equate to a full year growth expectation in the low to mid-single-digit range. Overall, EBITDA margins are expected to remain in the high teens to low 20% range over time.

在我們的 B2B 展望中，我們預計上半年營收成長軌跡將保持穩定至低個位數，而今年最後兩季的營收成長將持續改善。這相當於全年成長預期處於低至中等個位數範圍內。總體而言，預計 EBITDA 利潤率將長期維持在 15% 至 20% 左右的範圍內。

Moving on to Data Solutions. This segment continued its very strong year-over-year growth trajectory, extending from the fourth quarter results. Revenues finished at $77.2 million for the quarter, achieving overall growth of 29.3% versus Q1 of 2024 and posting record levels for the segment.

繼續討論數據解決方案。該部門延續了第四季度業績的強勁同比增長軌跡。本季營收達到 7,720 萬美元，與 2024 年第一季相比整體成長 29.3%，創下該部門的歷史新高。

As a reminder, the data business remains campaign-oriented. We continue to advocate averaging the three to four trailing quarters actual results for both revenue and EBITDA dollars as a good barometer for ongoing segment level financial performance over the balance of the year.

需要提醒的是，數據業務仍以活動為導向。我們繼續主張將過去三至四個季度的收入和 EBITDA 的實際結果平均起來，作為全年各部門持續財務表現的良好晴雨表。

We remain encouraged by the continuing strong performance of the segments and presently expect potential high single-digit to low double-digit full year data revenue growth. This expected increase helps to mitigate some of the macro-related risks within our updated outlook across our payments businesses.

我們仍然對各部門持續強勁的表現感到鼓舞，目前預計全年數據收入可能實現高個位數至低兩位數的成長。這項預期成長有助於減輕我們支付業務最新展望中的一些宏觀相關風險。

Data's adjusted EBITDA margins for the quarter improved 50 basis points to 25.5%, reflecting our robust Q1 campaign execution and overall strong revenues. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $19.7 million, up 32.2% from the prior year period. We continue to have strong confidence in our long-term low to mid-20% adjusted EBITDA rate guidance for the segment.

本季 Data 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 50 個基點，達到 25.5%，這反映了我們第一季強勁的活動執行和整體強勁的收入。本季調整後 EBITDA 為 1,970 萬美元，較去年同期成長 32.2%。我們對該部門長期低至 20% 至中 20% 的調整後 EBITDA 利率指引仍然充滿信心。

Turning now to our Print businesses. Print segment first quarter revenue finished at $291.3 million, declining 4% on a year-over-year basis, consistent with our expectations. Legacy check revenues declined at 1.8%, while the balance of the segment declined by 7%, indicative of some ongoing demand softness experienced within shorter-cycle discretionary branded promo products.

現在談談我們的印刷業務。印刷部門第一季營收為 2.913 億美元，年減 4%，符合我們的預期。遺留支票收入下降了 1.8%，而該部門的餘額下降了 7%，這表明短週期可自由支配的品牌促銷產品的需求持續疲軟。

We did see promo decline rates moderate slightly versus the rate of decline seen in the fourth quarter due in part to timing of some deals being pulled in from the second quarter. The timing of these deals, along with Barry's comments around both economic and tariff uncertainty drive our expectation for continued constrained demand across legacy promo products throughout the first half.

我們確實看到促銷下降率與第四季度的下降率相比略有緩和，部分原因是一些交易是從第二季度開始的。這些交易的時機，加上巴里對經濟和關稅不確定性的評論，促使我們預計上半年傳統促銷產品的需求將繼續受到限制。

As such, we anticipate a further accelerated rate of decline to impact the segment through the second quarter. Importantly, legacy check revenues are expected to continue the predictable and consistent lower single-digit decline rate.

因此，我們預計第二季該部門的下滑速度將進一步加快。重要的是，遺留支票收入預計將繼續保持可預測且持續的較低個位數下降率。

Adjusted EBITDA margins for Print improved 120 basis points year-over-year to 31.2%. This result is reflective of both the overall revenue mix weighted towards check within the quarter and continuation of our operating expense discipline driving efficiency across our operations. Consistent with our long-term outlook for full year 2025, we continue to expect to see low to mid-single-digit revenue declines across the Print segment, with adjusted EBITDA margins remaining in the low 30s.

印刷業務的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率年增 120 個基點，達到 31.2%。這一結果既反映了本季整體收入組合的權重，也反映了我們繼續嚴格執行營運費用紀律，從而提高整個營運的效率。與我們對 2025 年全年的長期展望一致，我們繼續預計整個印刷部門的收入將出現低至中等個位數的下降，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將保持在 30% 出頭。

Turning now to our balance sheet and cash flow. We ended the first quarter with a net debt level of $1.46 billion, down roughly $80 million from the $1.54 billion mark at the end of Q1 of the prior year, consistent with our ongoing commitment to debt reduction as a top capital allocation priority.

現在來看看我們的資產負債表和現金流。我們第一季的淨債務水準為 14.6 億美元，比去年同期的 15.4 億美元下降了約 8,000 萬美元，這與我們持續致力於將削減債務作為資本配置的首要任務的承諾一致。

As Barry noted in his comments, the sustained progress towards reduced leverage along with our overall operating trajectory and lowering restructuring expenses contributed to our recent S&P ratings upgrade. This upgrade improved our rating by one level across each of our outstanding debt instruments, improving the Deluxe corporate family rating from [B-] to single B, while maintaining our overall positive rating outlook. We were pleased to see acknowledgment of this progress from the agency and look forward to continuing this positive trajectory.

正如巴里在評論中指出的那樣，我們在降低槓桿率方面的持續進展以及我們的整體營運軌跡和降低重組費用促成了我們最近的標準普爾評級上調。此次升級使我們每項未償還債務工具的評級提高了一個級別，將 Deluxe 企業家族評級從 [B-] 提升至單 B，同時保持了我們整體正面的評級展望。我們很高興看到該機構對這一進展的認可，並期待繼續保持這一積極軌跡。

Our net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio remained 3.6 times at the end of the first quarter. As mentioned on our last call, we anticipate sequential improvement over the balance of the year and expect to end 2025 at roughly 3.3 times leverage. Our long-term strategic target remains 3 times leverage or better by the end of 2026.

第一季末，我們的淨負債與調整後 EBITDA 比率仍為 3.6 倍。正如我們上次電話會議中提到的那樣，我們預計今年餘下時間槓桿率將持續改善，預計 2025 年底槓桿率將達到約 3.3 倍。我們的長期策略目標仍是 2026 年底達到 3 倍或更高的槓桿率。

Free cash flow, defined as cash provided by operating activities, less capital expenditures, finished at $24.3 million for the quarter, improving by $18.1 million from the first quarter of 2024. This result was driven by continued strong operating results, reflective of improved restructuring spend, lower year-over-year cash incentive payments and continued strong working capital efficiency, net of increased year-over-year CapEx investment.

自由現金流（定義為經營活動提供的現金減去資本支出）本季為 2,430 萬美元，比 2024 年第一季增加了 1,810 萬美元。這一結果是由持續強勁的經營業績推動的，反映了重組支出的改善、同比現金獎勵支付的降低以及持續強勁的營運資本效率（扣除同比增加的資本支出投資）。

This continuation of strong operating cash flow generation remains a focus area for 2025, consistent with our increased year-to-year guidance for free cash flow. We continue to be positioned well from both a liquidity and go-forward capital structure, maintaining $368 million of available revolver capacity as of quarter end with no near-term maturities. Recent market volatility serves as further affirmation that we appropriately timed our refinancing late last year and took advantage of capital market conditions at an optimal time.

持續強勁的經營現金流產生仍然是 2025 年的重點領域，這與我們逐年增加的自由現金流指導一致。我們在流動性和未來資本結構方面繼續保持良好地位，截至季度末，我們維持著 3.68 億美元的可用循環信貸額度，且沒有短期到期信貸。最近的市場波動進一步證明，我們在去年年底適當地選擇了再融資時機，並在最佳時機利用了資本市場條件。

Consistent with past quarters, our Board approved a regular quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share on all outstanding shares. The dividend will be payable on June 2, 2025, to all shareholders of record as of market closing on May 19, 2025.

與過去幾季一致，我們的董事會批准對所有流通股派發每股 0.30 美元的定期季度股息。股利將於 2025 年 6 月 2 日支付給截至 2025 年 5 月 19 日收盤時登記在冊的所有股東。

As Barry noted within his opening macro commentary, we are maintaining our full year guidance. We also acknowledge the overall increased levels of near-term uncertainty within the economic environment, presenting challenges towards providing precision around the outlook for the balance of the year. For the second quarter, we believe these factors and our expectation for increased legacy promo pressure will lead to a slightly negative year-to-year revenue result.

正如巴里在開篇宏觀評論中指出的那樣，我們維持全年指導不變。我們也承認，經濟環境中的短期不確定性總體增加，這對準確預測今年餘下的前景構成了挑戰。對於第二季度，我們認為這些因素以及我們對遺留促銷壓力增加的預期將導致同比收入略有下降。

Despite this, we remain on track against our overall first half expectations. We remain very focused on the operating levers within our control, ensuring continued strong execution across our free cash flow, EBITDA and balance sheet optimization goals. With this as important context, we are maintaining our existing full year guidance ranges for 2025 as included in this evening's release and shown on the current slide.

儘管如此，我們仍然符合上半年的整體預期。我們仍然高度關注我們控制範圍內的營運槓桿，確保我們的自由現金流、EBITDA 和資產負債表優化目標繼續強勁執行。基於這一重要背景，我們將維持現有的 2025 年全年指導範圍，如今晚發布的內容和當前幻燈片所示。

To summarize, we were pleased with the first quarter 2025 performance. Despite some visibility challenges across the extended macro horizon, we remain focused on executing against our broad North Star initiatives and continuing our longer-term organic revenue growth, EBITDA expansion and deleveraging trajectory.

總而言之，我們對 2025 年第一季的表現感到滿意。儘管在宏觀層面上存在一些可見性挑戰，我們仍然專注於執行廣泛的北極星計劃，並繼續實現長期有機收入成長、EBITDA 擴張和去槓桿軌跡。

Operator, we are now ready to take questions.

接線員，我們現在可以回答問題了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Kartik Mehta, Northcoast Research.

Kartik Mehta，Northcoast Research。

Hey, good afternoon, gentlemen. Barry, I was hoping maybe get a little bit more detail on the merchant business, just from a fundamental standpoint, what you're seeing in the marketplace? And maybe what segments in the business are doing well and maybe what segments might be lagging a little bit because of where we are in the economy?

嘿，先生們，下午好。巴里，我希望能夠從基本角度更詳細地了解商家業務，您在市場上看到了什麼？也許由於我們所處的經濟狀況，業務中的哪些部分可能表現良好，哪些部分可能稍微落後？

First of all, glad to have you here, Kartik. What I would tell you about the Merchant business overall is that it continues to perform and deliver really through any market condition. It's a business that we get paid anytime commerce happens. So if a consumer is buying goods or service at point of sale, we have the opportunity to earn a fee whenever they use a credit card, debit card or other payment type.

首先，很高興你能來這裡，Kartik。關於商家業務，我想告訴大家的是，無論市場狀況如何，它都能持續表現並交付成果。這是一項業務，只要有商業發生，我們就會獲得報酬。因此，如果消費者在銷售點購買商品或服務，我們就有機會在他們使用信用卡、金融卡或其他付款方式時賺取費用。

And I don't think we have any particularly new insight versus the other things that you're seeing in the macroeconomic reporting, about what is happening with the consumers at retail. But what I can tell you is that we have a nicely diversified portfolio across a number of categories that provide not only strong retention but ongoing volume. As you know from previous conversations, we have particular strength in government, not-for-profit, auto repair and other market verticals, and we continue to see nice volume coming from each of them.

我認為，與宏觀經濟報告中看到的其他情況相比，我們對零售消費者的情況並沒有任何特別新的見解。但我可以告訴你的是，我們擁有涵蓋多個類別的多元化投資組合，不僅能提供強大的保留率，還能提供持續的交易量。正如您從先前的對話中了解到的，我們在政府、非營利組織、汽車維修和其他垂直市場方面具有特別的優勢，我們繼續看到每個市場都出現了不錯的銷售。

Sorry, Barry, I was on mute, I apologize. Maybe just your perspective, now you have a new leader in the business. Obviously, your strategy might change a little bit. I'm wondering, Barry, if you can just talk a little bit about now that Brian is on board some of the areas you might focus on or maybe strategic changes you would -- you're planning on in the business?

對不起，巴里，我靜音了，我很抱歉。也許只是你的觀點，現在你的業務有了新的領導者。顯然，你的策略可能會有一點改變。巴里，我想知道，現在布萊恩已經加入，您是否可以稍微談一談您可能會關注的一些領域，或者您計劃在業務中進行的戰略變革？

So first of all, we're very pleased to have Brian on our team. He comes with 20 years of experience in the industry. And I think in the early days, Brian would tell you that he can clearly see that we have a strong business that delivers great cash flow can deliver growth and is delivering growth.

首先，我們非常高興 Brian 加入我們的團隊。他在該行業擁有 20 年的經驗。我認為，在早期，布萊恩會告訴你，他可以清楚地看到，我們擁有強大的業務，可以帶來巨大的現金流，可以帶來成長，並且正在帶來成長。

But I think the opportunities for growth, I think, are really around delivering improving our partnership relationships, meaning that we are looking from our partners, which is why we are particularly pleased to have the announcement earlier this week about the relationship with TowneBank. It's an example of building our partnerships and having distribution built in.

但我認為，成長的機會實際上在於改善我們的合作關係，這意味著我們正在尋找合作夥伴，這就是為什麼我們特別高興在本週稍早宣布與 TowneBank 建立合作關係。這是我們建立合作夥伴關係和建立分銷體系的一個例子。

On the TowneBank deal, in particular, we think it's just a great -- another great example of our ability to move up market, where the business historically had been really more focused at the community or multi-branch banking.

特別是在 TowneBank 交易方面，我們認為這是一個很好的例子，證明了我們有能力進入高端市場，而我們的業務歷史上一直更專注於社區銀行或多分行銀行業務。

Clearly, with TowneBank and Fulton Bank a year ago, we're moving up into the middle market where there's much more volume. And this is another example of our ability to win in that space. And I would expect, and I think Brian expects to continue to make headway in the partner space as well as working to expand the channels of distribution and the markets and the verticals where we compete.

顯然，透過一年前 TowneBank 和 Fulton Bank 的加入，我們正在進入交易量更大的中端市場。這是我們在該領域獲勝能力的另一個例子。我希望，我認為布萊恩希望繼續在合作夥伴領域取得進展，並努力擴大分銷管道以及我們競爭的市場和垂直領域。

Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

非常感謝。我真的很感激。

Charlie Strauzer, CJS Securities.

Charlie Strauzer，CJS 證券公司。

Hi, good evening. First of all, thank you for the additional color on Q2. Maybe if you could expand a little bit more on that just in terms of -- from a segment basis, how we should think about modeling that, especially since you may see some decline year-over-year there?

嗨，晚上好。首先，感謝您對Q2的補充。也許您可以從細分角度進一步闡述這一點，我們應該如何考慮對此進行建模，特別是因為您可能會看到同比有所下降？

Yes. Good evening, Charlie. So first of all, I just want to acknowledge just what a solid start to the year Q1 represented. There were some puts and takes across the portfolio, but the net-net to us internally was a start ahead of plan. And so I mentioned a few dynamics that I think are clear to call out.

是的。晚上好，查理。首先，我想承認第一季的開局非常好。整個投資組合中存在一些看跌和看漲的情況，但對於我們內部而言，淨收益是提前於計劃開始的。因此，我提到了一些我認為值得明確指出的動態。

So on the data side, absolutely fantastic quarter for them. You know it's campaign-oriented. There can be shifts in and out. So obviously, we continue to guide to look at that rolling three quarter to four quarter average to get to kind of the trends they're at. We still see great momentum in that business.

因此從數據方面來看，這對他們來說絕對是一個美妙的季度。你知道它是以競選為導向的。可能會有進出變動。因此，顯然，我們將繼續引導人們專注於三個季度到四個季度的滾動平均值，以了解它們的趨勢。我們仍然看到該業務的強勁發展勢頭。

We don't anticipate them continuing to grow at 29%. But obviously, across the full year, starting to signal improvements for them in the upper single digits, low double digits. So we would expect them to continue to grow and advise you to look at that rolling three quarter to four quarter level to get to the absolute dollars.

我們預計它們不會繼續以 29% 的速度成長。但顯然，從全年來看，他們的業績開始呈現上個位數、下兩位數的改善。因此，我們預計它們將繼續增長，並建議您查看滾動的三個季度到四個季度的水平以獲得絕對美元數額。

The other comment I made was around Print specifically, and I don't want that to be over below. We're talking about a few million dollars worth of promo-related shifts that came into the quarter, nothing super material. But obviously, as a result of that and just the overall short-cycle demand trends we've seen in promo overall, the last few quarters, we would expect promo to be specifically where a little bit of the softness is in Print in Q2, Check continuing its lower single-digit decline.

我所作的另一條評論是專門針對印刷的，我不希望它在下面結束。我們談論的是本季價值數百萬美元的促銷相關變化，沒有什麼特別實質的內容。但顯然，由於這個原因，以及我們在過去幾季中看到的整體促銷短週期需求趨勢，我們預計促銷在第二季度會略微疲軟，而支票將繼續保持較低的個位數下降。

So it's really that print side where the rate of decline may be a little bit bigger in the second quarter. And then both B2B and merchant, very aligned with what we said on the last call and what we just reiterated, just continuing that lower single-digit improvement trend that we expected. And all that together will lead to what we believe is an on-plan start to the year. And obviously, based off that, we feel good about the guidance we set at the start of the year.

因此，第二季印刷業務的下降率可能會更大一些。然後，無論是 B2B 還是商家，都與我們上次電話會議上所說的以及我們剛剛重申的內容非常一致，只是延續了我們預期的較低個位數改善趨勢。我們相信，這一切將使今年的開局如計畫順利。顯然，基於此，我們對年初設定的指導感到滿意。

Great. Thank you. And then, Barry, maybe just if you could talk a little bit about the success of Data the last few quarters. What's kind of the secret sauce that's helping you guys win these campaigns. If you could expand on that a little bit, that would be great.

偉大的。謝謝。然後，巴里，也許你可以談談過去幾個季度 Data 的成功。幫助你們贏得這些活動的秘訣是什麼？如果您能稍微擴展一下這一點，那就太好了。

Sure. So Charlie, I just remind you on the journey we've been on as a company. We combined multiple assets to build what is our current business. And in that business, we have built what we believe is one of the largest, if not the largest, consumer and small business database or a data lake that combines for data to be used for marketing purposes that contains data from over 100 different sources.

當然。所以查理，我只是想提醒你我們作為一家公司所走過的歷程。我們整合了多種資產來建立我們目前的業務。在該業務中，我們建立了我們認為是最大的消費者和小型企業資料庫或資料湖之一，該資料庫或資料湖結合了來自 100 多個不同來源的數據，可用於行銷目的。

So that scale of data allows us to predict much more effectively than others in the marketplace when a customer is likely to buy any given product or service. We put together that great database with very advanced AI tools that get smarter and better with every campaign to help customers better target consumers or small businesses for any product or service.

因此，這種規模的數據使我們能夠比市場上的其他人更有效地預測客戶何時可能購買任何給定的產品或服務。我們將這個龐大的資料庫與非常先進的人工智慧工具結合在一起，這些工具在每次活動中都會變得更加智慧和完善，從而幫助客戶更好地針對任何產品或服務的消費者或小型企業。

Because of the work we've done on the database, we're able to shift very quickly now between different types of campaigns, different market verticals, different target markets because we have the tool set and the database now that is well architected to be able to move quickly.

由於我們在資料庫上所做的工作，我們現在能夠在不同類型的活動、不同的市場垂直領域、不同的目標市場之間快速轉換，因為我們現在擁有一套工具和經過良好架構的資料庫，能夠快速移動。

What we've seen most recently is great strength in our traditional FI channel with demand for a variety of different services, but particularly continuing demand around a look for low-cost deposits. But it's not just from the FI channel. We've also continued to expand into new market verticals that are adjacent but anywhere where there is a product that a company is trying to find new customers for that is a high lifetime value meaning it may be expensive to market to that customer to find that customer but that customer has a very, very high lifetime value. We have great success.

我們最近看到的是，我們的傳統金融機構管道實力雄厚，對各種不同的服務有需求，尤其是對低成本存款的需求持續成長。但這不僅僅來自 FI 頻道。我們也繼續擴展到相鄰的新市場垂直領域，但任何地方，只要有公司試圖尋找新客戶的產品，其終身價值就很高，這意味著向該客戶行銷以找到該客戶的成本可能很高，但該客戶的終身價值非常非常高。我們取得了巨大的成功。

And the team is quite remarkable and be able to go and do side-by-side test and control A/B testing to enable us to prove the quality of our modeling, the quality of the data, which then helps us win these campaigns that's delivering these terrific results.

這個團隊非常出色，能夠進行並行測試和控制 A/B 測試，使我們能夠證明我們的建模質量和數據質量，從而幫助我們贏得這些活動並取得出色的成果。

That's very helpful. Thank you.

這非常有幫助。謝謝。

Jonnathan Navarrete, TD Cowen.

喬納森·納瓦雷特，TD·考恩。

Thank you. Hey, guys. How would you assess the potential impact of recent commentary from the Trump administration regarding phasing out of physical checks by the end of September of this year. What's your exposure to government here? And do you think it could start a chain reaction amongst your larger customers?

謝謝。嘿，大家好。您如何評價川普政府最近關於在今年 9 月底前逐步取消體檢的評論的潛在影響。您對這裡的政府有何了解？您認為這會在您的大客戶中引發連鎖反應嗎？

So I really appreciate the question, Jonnathan. And I want to be really clear because I think this is important. The federal government is not our customer. We don't sell them checks. We don't process checks for them. We have no direct exposure from this announcement. That's point one.

所以我真的很感謝喬納森提出這個問題。我想把這個說清楚，因為我認為這很重要。聯邦政府不是我們的客戶。我們不向他們出售支票。我們不為他們處理支票。我們沒有直接受到該公告的影響。這是第一點。

Point number two, when you really dig into it, those payments that [Doge] was specifically addressing is somewhere around 1% of all the government transactions. So from a practical and direct impact little to no direct impact, I would say, no direct impact. To your second question, though, about any collateral impact. I would tell you, I don't anticipate that, and here's why I don't anticipate it.

第二點，當你深入研究時，你會發現 Doge 特別提到的那些支付約佔所有政府交易的 1%。因此，從實際直接影響來看，幾乎沒有直接影響，我想說，沒有直接影響。不過，對於你的第二個問題，關於任何附帶影響。我想告訴你，我沒有預料到這一點，以下是我為什麼沒有預料到這一點。

The significant majority of checks that remain today are checks that we need to travel or the payment needs to travel with remittance advice. And it's impossible for the biller and the recipient of the payer and the payee to settle if they can't pass that information between them in a way that the money can not only transfer effectively, but they can be posted appropriately to the general ledger.

如今保留下來的絕大多數支票都是需要旅行的支票，或是付款需要透過匯款通知進行旅行的支票。如果付款人和收款人之間無法以某種方式傳遞訊息，使資金不僅能有效轉移，而且能適當地過帳到總賬，那麼他們就不可能進行結算。

The transactions that had moved electronically have moved a long time ago. We're not talking about managing payments for P&G and Walmart paying for diapers between them. That's not where checks are today. Checks are still about 40% of all B2B payments today, and those payments need to travel with remittance advice.

電子化的交易早已發生。我們並不是討論管理寶潔和沃爾瑪之間的尿布付款。如今的支票已不再如此。如今，支票仍佔所有 B2B 支付的 40% 左右，而且這些支付需要附上匯款通知。

So could there be some impact perhaps but there really are no viable substitutes, which we have said for a long time, no viable substitutes and those viable substitutes are not -- we don't see them on the horizon, and we don't expect much impact, although we have certainly seen the headlines.

因此可能會有一些影響，但實際上沒有可行的替代品，我們早就說過，沒有可行的替代品，而且那些可行的替代品不是——我們沒有看到它們出現，我們也不認為它們會產生太大的影響，儘管我們確實看到了頭條新聞。

Got it. That's super helpful. Thank you. And just my last one is on tariffs. Have you observed any size of spending pull forward in April following the announcement of the tariffs, particularly in consumer or in SMBs facing verticals?

知道了。這非常有幫助。謝謝。我的最後一個問題是關於關稅的。您是否觀察到在關稅宣布之後，四月份支出出現任何規模的提前，特別是消費者或面向垂直行業的中小企業？

Yes. We mentioned we saw a very small amount of pull forward in promo, but I don't believe that, that really was about consumer pull forward or stocking. Certainly, we just don't have any evidence that within our business that there's much stocking that's happened.

是的。我們提到，我們在促銷中看到了非常少量的提前促銷，但我不相信，這真的與消費者提前促銷或庫存有關。當然，我們沒有任何證據表明在我們的業務中發生了大量的庫存問題。

And if you just, Jonnathan, think about the nature of our business, we get paid when commerce happens, it will be pretty hard to stockpile electronic transactions. So the volume of our business, the volume of our revenue really is around transactions. And we just don't we don't think we've seen really any stocking. Although we see those same headlines too, we just don't think that's materially present here.

喬納森，如果你想想我們業務的性質，我們在商業發生時獲得報酬，那麼儲存電子交易將非常困難。因此，我們的業務量、收入量其實都取決於交易量。但我們不認為我們真的見過任何長襪。儘管我們也看到了同樣的標題，但我們並不認為這實質上存在。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Marc Riddick, Sidoti.

馬克·里迪克、西多蒂。

Hi, good evening.

嗨，晚上好。

Hey, Marc.

嘿，馬克。

So I wanted to start with -- thank you for sort of already touching on the announcement with the partnership with Town Bank. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about some of the potential catalysts for driving additional partnerships that you're anticipating in the near term? And maybe as an aside to that, do you anticipate any potential economic disruptions to perhaps create opportunities to accelerate that path?

所以我想首先——感謝您已經談到與 Town Bank 合作的公告。我想知道您是否可以稍微談談您預計在短期內推動更多合作的一些潛在催化劑？除此之外，您是否預期任何潛在的經濟動盪可能會創造機會來加速這一進程？

Sure. I appreciate the question. So there's a couple of factors here that really play to our advantage to give us some really nice competitive advantage in the marketplace. First, the Deluxe brand the reach that our company has and the large number of financial institutions that already are doing business with us gives us a very, very large-scale opportunity to build new partnerships in the bank channel specifically.

當然。我很感謝你提出這個問題。因此，這裡有幾個因素確實對我們有利，使我們在市場上有非常好的競爭優勢。首先，Deluxe 品牌、我們公司的覆蓋範圍以及已經與我們有業務往來的大量金融機構為我們提供了非常大的機會，特別是在銀行管道中建立新的合作夥伴關係。

The two big deals that you've heard us talk about in the last year or so were Fulton Bank and TowneBank now, and both of them are regional banking companies, very successful in their markets. And Fulton had a very long relationship with Deluxe. Towne had a smaller relationship with Deluxe. But really, we were able to go in both circumstances and talk about the scale that our -- so that's number one. We have relationships. And a great brand and a lot of trust in the marketplace.

大家在過去一年左右聽到我們談論的兩筆大交易是富爾頓銀行 (Fulton Bank) 和 TowneBank，它們都是區域銀行公司，在各自的市場上都非常成功。富爾頓與 Deluxe 的合作關係持續了很長時間。Towne 與 Deluxe 的關係較小。但實際上，我們能夠在兩種情況下進行討論，並討論我們的規模——所以這是第一點。我們有關係。這是一個偉大的品牌，在市場上贏得了極大的信任。

Second is we can go to these institutions and talk to them about how we can serve them and their clients better than some of the larger providers where we're winning this business away from. So very specifically, our platform, and you heard us talk last time about how we continue to invest in our platform adding new features like the Deluxe Pay that we talked about last time that allows you to pay phone to phone, et cetera, as well as our Deluxe payment platform that enables us to expand more rapidly into multiple different omnichannel opportunities.

其次，我們可以去這些機構，與他們討論如何比一些我們正在贏得業務的大型供應商更好地為他們和他們的客戶提供服務。非常具體地說，我們的平台，您上次聽到我們談論我們如何繼續投資於我們的平台，添加新功能，例如我們上次談到的 Deluxe Pay，它允許您透過手機付費等等，以及我們的 Deluxe 支付平台，使我們能夠更快地擴展到多個不同的全通路機會。

Our product, our basic platform is very robust. It is more flexible than some of the others and that our customers can have -- customers on our platform have a bigger impact on having a vote, if you will, or a in our product road map to help them meet their needs.

我們的產品、我們的基礎平台非常強大。它比其他一些產品更靈活，我們的客戶可以——我們平台上的客戶可以對投票產生更大的影響，或在我們的產品路線圖中幫助他們滿足他們的需求。

But a huge differentiator is really this area of service. And so Marc, a lot of people will talk about their company being able to deliver quality service, but our company can actually prove it. There's something called ACSI, which is more or less the equivalent of a JD Powers award for customer service.

但真正的巨大差異在於服務領域。所以馬克，很多人都會談論他們的公司能夠提供優質服務，但我們公司實際上可以證明這一點。有一種叫做 ACSI 的東西，它或多或少相當於 JD Powers 客戶服務獎。

And we have been a top category winner for at least the last decade. And we're the only company in the space that can -- that has that legacy. So if you think about being a community bank or a regional bank, your point of differentiation against the giants that are competing with you in your home markets is that you have better service for your customer.

至少在過去十年裡，我們一直是該類別的頂級贏家。我們是這個領域唯一擁有這項傳統的公司。因此，如果您想成為社區銀行或地區銀行，那麼您與本土市場競爭對手的區別就在於您可以為客戶提供更好的服務。

Instead of working for what are banking with what might be perceived as a giant less personal bank, you choose the community bank or the regional bank because you are going to be known by your banker, you have more confidence about the quality of service. And what we can deliver on the merchant side of the equation is truly improvable best-in-class service, which really helps us win business.

您不必選擇那些可能被視為大型而非人性化的銀行，而是選擇社區銀行或地區銀行，因為銀行家會了解您，您對服務品質更有信心。而我們能夠為商家提供的是真正可改進的一流服務，這確實有助於我們贏得業務。

So we have great brand and great relationships in the marketplace. We have an excellent product that is competitive where we compete, and we have this notion of a superior service. And that -- those three factors really help us win business and we're very confident we'll win more business going forward. It's not every day that we have a large win like this to describe. But in every period, we have -- we have wins across the financial institutions, and I think you should expect to hear more from us in the coming quarters.

因此我們在市場上擁有優秀的品牌和良好的關係。我們擁有在競爭中具有競爭力的優質產品，並且我們擁有優質服務的理念。這三個因素確實幫助我們贏得了業務，我們非常有信心未來我們會贏得更多的業務。我們並不是每天都能取得如此巨大的勝利。但在每個時期，我們都在金融機構中取得了勝利，我想您應該會在接下來的幾季聽到我們更多的消息。

So very encouraging. Thank you for the color there. And then just a quick follow-up. Congratulations on the ratings improvement and the debt reduction that you've been embarked on. I think it was mentioned in the slides or prepared remarks or both free cash flow. And sort of can you talk a little bit about where we are with CapEx for this year, I think it's $90 million to $100 million. Is there anything timing-wise or lumpy is that we should be thinking about? Or how that flows throughout the year? Thanks.

非常令人鼓舞。感謝那裡的色彩。然後只是快速的跟進。恭喜你們的評級提高和債務削減。我認為幻燈片或準備好的評論或自由現金流都提到了這一點。您能否談談我們今年的資本支出情況，我認為是 9,000 萬到 1 億美元。我們應該考慮時間方面或棘手的問題嗎？或是全年的流程是怎麼樣的？謝謝。

First of all, Marc, thank you for the comments. We were extremely proud of the ratings upgrade. That's something we've been working on for a while with that team staying close with them on our progress, telling them our story, our journey and, of course, building confidence to the trajectory we're on. And again, thank you for acknowledging the strong free cash flow as well.

首先，馬克，謝謝你的評論。我們對評級升級感到非常自豪。這是我們與團隊一起努力了一段時間的事情，我們一直密切關注著他們的進展，告訴他們我們的故事、我們的歷程，當然，也為我們所走的軌跡建立了信心。再次感謝您對強勁的自由現金流的認可。

As you know, removing -- reducing restructuring spend, getting towards the end of the job on North Star are key elements to our execution plan in the year and why our guidance for free cash flow is so strong, sort of come out of the gate for the first quarter with such a really good post on the free cash flow side, just a great leading indicator to high expectations for what's to come and continues that progress of that multiyear journey we're on to improve free cash flow by that full run rate $100 million.

如您所知，消除——減少重組支出，接近北極星項目的結束是我們今年執行計劃的關鍵要素，也是我們對自由現金流的指導如此強勁的原因，第一季度我們在自由現金流方面取得瞭如此好的成績，這是一個很好的領先指標，表明人們對未來抱有很高的期望，並將繼續我們在多年的努力中取得進展，將自由現金流提高到全額 1 億美元的現金流量。

Specific to your question on CapEx, there's really no special science inside of there. It's never going to be perfectly linear. But we will just reiterate that we guided between $90 million and $100 million for the year. What you saw in the first quarter was aligned with our plan, and there's nothing really to anticipate.

具體到您關於資本支出的問題，這裡面其實沒有什麼特殊的科學。它永遠不會是完美的線性的。但我們只想重申，我們今年的預算為 9,000 萬至 1 億美元。您在第一季看到的情況與我們的計劃一致，並且沒有什麼值得期待的。

It's not going to be perfectly linear, but I wouldn't expect it to be bouncing around any material amount across the quarter. So we remain very confident about how we're managing our working capital, staying focused diligently on cash flow every single day. And obviously, I want to make sure it's not lost as well.

它不會是完全線性的，但我預計它不會在整個季度內出現任何實質的波動。因此，我們對如何管理營運資金仍然非常有信心，每天都密切關注現金流。顯然，我也想確保它不會丟失。

In the prepared remarks, I commented on the leverage trajectory we're on for the year. We referred to it as a very linear path last call, but I've gone as far this time to tell you, I'm expecting it to be roughly 3.3 times at the end of the year, which keeps us on a nice linear path all the way to get below 3 times by the end of next year. So pleased with that all around and looking forward to continuing that progress and potentially finding another upgrade down the road as we continue to execute.

在準備好的發言中，我評論了我們今年的槓桿軌跡。我們上次稱之為一條非常線性的路徑，但這次我已經盡量告訴你們了，我預計到今年年底它將達到大約 3.3 倍，這將使我們一直保持良好的線性路徑，到明年年底將達到 3 倍以下。對此我感到非常高興，並期待繼續取得進展，並在我們繼續執行的過程中有可能找到另一次升級。

Much appreciate. Thank you very much.

非常感謝。非常感謝。

And that does conclude the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the conference back over to Brian Anderson.

問答環節到此結束。現在我將會議交還給布萊恩·安德森。

Thanks, Justin. Before we conclude, I'd like to share that during the quarter, management will be participating at both the Needham Technology Media and Consumer Conference on May 13 and the TD Cowen Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on May 29, both in New York as well as the Virtual Wolfe Research Small and Mid-Cap Conference on June 3. Thank you again for joining us today, and we look forward to speaking with you all again in August when we share our second quarter results.

謝謝，賈斯汀。在我們結束之前，我想分享一下，在本季度，管理層將參加 5 月 13 日在紐約舉行的 Needham 技術媒體和消費者會議和 5 月 29 日在紐約舉行的 TD Cowen 技術、媒體和電信會議，以及 6 月 3 日舉行的虛擬股 Wolfe Research 中小型股會議。再次感謝您今天的加入我們，我們期待在八月分享第二季業績時再次與大家交談。

Thank you. That does conclude today's conference. We do thank you for your participation. Have an excellent day.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。我們非常感謝您的參與。祝您有個愉快的一天。