Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc (DNB) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Dun & Bradstreet third quarter 2024, earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加鄧白氏 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Sean Anthony, Vice President of FP&A and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給 FP&A 和投資者關係副總裁 Sean Anthony。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Dun & Bradstreet's Financial Results Conference Call for the third quarter of 2024.

謝謝。大家早安，感謝您參加鄧白氏 2024 年第三季財務業績電話會議。

On the call today, we have Dun & Bradstreet CEO, Anthony Jabbour; and CFO, Bryan Hipsher. Anthony will begin with an overview of our third quarter results and then pass it over to Bryan for an in-depth financial review. We will then finish up with Q&A and a few closing remarks.

今天的電話會議有鄧白氏 (Dun & Bradstreet) 執行長安東尼賈布爾 (Anthony Jabbour) 主持。和財務長布萊恩希普舍爾。安東尼將首先概述我們第三季的業績，然後將其交給布萊恩進行深入的財務審查。然後我們將以問答和一些結束語結束。

Before we begin, allow me to provide a disclaimer regarding forward-looking statements. This call, including the Q&A portion of the call, may include forward-looking statements related to the expected future results for our company and are therefore forward-looking statements.

在開始之前，請允許我提供有關前瞻性陳述的免責聲明。本次電話會議（包括電話會議的問答部分）可能包括與本公司預期未來績效相關的前瞻性陳述，因此屬於前瞻性陳述。

Our actual results may differ materially from our projections due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that forward-looking statements are subject to are described in our earnings release and other SEC filings.

由於許多風險和不確定性，我們的實際結果可能與我們的預測有重大差異。我們的收益報告和其他 SEC 文件中描述了前瞻性陳述所面臨的風險和不確定性。

Today's remarks will also include references to non-GAAP financial measures. Additional information, including a reconciliation between non-GAAP financial information to the GAAP financial information, is provided in the press release and supplemental slide presentation.

今天的演講也將提及非公認會計準則財務指標。新聞稿和補充幻燈片簡報中提供了其他信息，包括非 GAAP 財務資訊與 GAAP 財務資訊之間的調整。

The conference call will be available for replay via webcast through Dun & Bradstreet's Investor Relations website at investor.dnb.com.

電話會議將透過鄧白氏投資者關係網站 Investor.dnb.com 進行網路直播重播。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Anthony.

現在，我將把電話轉給安東尼。

Thank you, Sean. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter earnings call.

謝謝你，肖恩。大家早安，感謝您參加我們的第三季財報電話會議。

Overall, we delivered another solid quarter on both the top and bottom lines. As we guided at the beginning of the year, there was some timing in North America between on-delivery and ratably recognized revenues in the third quarter, and I'm pleased to report that we delivered organic revenue growth of 3.4% overall, which is slightly above expectations.

總體而言，我們在營收和利潤方面都實現了另一個穩健的季度。正如我們年初所指導的那樣，北美第三季度的交付和公認收入之間存在一定的時間間隔，我很高興地報告，我們總體實現了 3.4% 的有機收入增長，這是略高於預期。

While International continued its consistent delivery of mid- to-high single-digit organic revenue growth of 5% this quarter, North America came in at 3%, largely due to the timing I mentioned upfront.

儘管國際業務本季繼續實現 5% 的中高個位數有機收入成長，但北美地區的成長率為 3%，這主要是由於我之前提到的時間安排。

On the profit side, we expanded margins 60 basis points and improved free cash flow conversion to nearly 50%. We also enacted our planned reduction in capitalized software development spend at the end of September. And through the actions taken and as a result, we expect to see lower capitalized software expenditures of around $15 million on an annualized basis.

在利潤方面，我們將利潤率提高了 60 個基點，並將自由現金流轉換率提高到近 50%。我們也於 9 月底制定了削減資本化軟體開發支出的計畫。透過採取的行動，我們預計每年資本化軟體支出將減少約 1500 萬美元。

We're coming off an elevated investment period and expect to move towards our medium-term target spend of 6% to 7% of revenues on an annual basis. And finally, before moving on to some exciting things happening with new innovation, strategic partnerships and client successes, I want to take a moment to update everyone on the inbound interest we received late this summer.

我們即將結束投資高峰期，預計將實現每年佔收入 6% 至 7% 的中期目標。最後，在繼續討論新創新、策略夥伴關係和客戶成功方面發生的一些令人興奮的事情之前，我想花點時間向大家通報我們今年夏末收到的入境興趣的最新情況。

We've been working with our adviser to evaluate inquiries from both strategic and financial acquirers. While we'll not comment on the status of any particular engagement, the team is spending a significant amount of time conducting in-person meetings, holding additional functional due diligence sessions, providing detailed responses to the interested parties and we'll continue to be responsive and thoughtful in all of our interactions on behalf of our shareholders.

我們一直在與我們的顧問合作，評估來自策略和財務收購方的詢問。雖然我們不會評論任何特定參與的狀態，但團隊正在花費大量時間進行面對面會議，舉行額外的職能盡職調查會議，向感興趣的各方提供詳細的答复，我們將繼續在代表股東的所有互動中積極響應並深思熟慮。

Our D&B team continues to impress me, and I would like to thank them for their focus on delivering the quarter, executing the capital reduction and being responsive to the interest we are currently receiving.

我們的 D&B 團隊繼續給我留下深刻的印象，我要感謝他們專注於交付季度業績、執行資本削減以及對我們目前收到的興趣做出反應。

And if all of that wasn't enough, we also continued to innovate for our clients. I'll start off with the release of Chat D&B, our patent-pending generative AI assistant. Chat D&B surfaces knowledge across the company's Data Blocks delivering actionable insights to its users, ranging from prospecting to company due diligence. Users can ask questions in conversational language and it has the intelligence to access and analyze the underlying data to deliver the most relevant and accurate output.

如果這還不夠，我們還繼續為客戶進行創新。我將從 Chat D&B 的發布開始，這是我們正在申請專利的生成人工智慧助理。聊天 D&B 展示公司資料區塊中的知識，為使用者提供從勘探到公司盡職調查等可操作的見解。使用者可以用對話語言提出問題，並且它具有存取和分析基礎資料的智能，以提供最相關和最準確的輸出。

Chat D&B is fueled by our Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud, which is renowned for the breadth, depth and quality of private company data it possesses. And it will also be able to incorporate additional client first-party data, creating the ability to accurately answer questions posed on both private and public companies within seconds.

Chat D&B 由我們的 Dun & Bradstreet 數據雲提供支持，該雲以其擁有的私人公司數據的廣度、深度和品質而聞名。它還將能夠納入額外的客戶第一方數據，從而能夠在幾秒鐘內準確回答私人和上市公司提出的問題。

Our autonomous GenAI agents show their work, the data sources and lineage and Chat D&B, allowing users to have confidence in the quality and accuracy of the information presented. With over 1,000 colleagues for testing and quality checks before releasing it to dozens of clients and partners in our early adopter program.

我們的自主 GenAI 代理展示他們的工作、資料來源和譜係以及聊天 D&B，讓使用者對所提供資訊的品質和準確性充滿信心。在將其發布給我們的早期採用者計畫中的數十個客戶和合作夥伴之前，有超過 1,000 名同事進行了測試和品質檢查。

These clients shared feedback and insights into how they are using Chat D&B and the benefits of this new assistant in their daily jobs. Results were encouraging and centered around the speed at which data can be accessed, the broad amount of information that is available to query and the summarization of vast amounts of information and trust.

這些客戶分享了關於他們如何使用 Chat D&B 以及這款新助理在日常工作中的好處的反饋和見解。結果令人鼓舞，主要圍繞著資料存取速度、可供查詢的大量資訊以及大量資訊和信任的匯總。

Chat D&B is an exciting evolution for our company, and we look forward to discussing its progress and expansion in the quarters to come.

Chat D&B 對我們公司來說是一次令人興奮的發展，我們期待在未來幾季討論其進展和擴展。

We announced two exciting partnerships this quarter, the first with London Stock Exchange Group or LSEG; and second, with Intercontinental Exchange or ICE. With LSEG, we are forming a strategic collaboration to broaden access to private market information.

本季我們宣布了兩項令人興奮的合作關係，第一個是與倫敦證券交易所集團（LSEG）；其次是洲際交易所或 ICE。我們正在與倫敦證券交易所集團建立策略合作，以擴大私人市場資訊的取得範圍。

The combination of LSEG's capital markets data including deals, private equity, news and research with our trusted private market data providing visibility on Officers and Directors, ownership insights and financial information for millions of companies globally will enable investment in capital market firms to drive better, data-driven financial assessments and decisions.

倫敦證券交易所集團的資本市場數據（包括交易、私募股權、新聞和研究）與我們值得信賴的私募市場數據相結合，為全球數百萬家公司提供高管和董事的可見性、所有權見解和財務訊息，這將使對資本市場公司的投資能夠更好地推動，數據驅動的財務評估和決策。

Our D-U-N-S Number will now be available to LSEG's Workspace's large customer community, and therefore, increase its reach into the capital markets as a new and expanding vertical. Using the D-U-N-S Number as the key to unlock data about a business, LSEG's Workspace users will be able to easily search for private company data and download the data to improve mapping, discoverability and interoperability of content on a global public and private companies.

我們的 D-U-N-S Number 現在將可供 LSEG 工作區的大型客戶社群使用，因此，將其作為一個新的、不斷擴展的垂直市場擴大到資本市場。使用 D-U-N-S 編號作為解鎖企業數據的鑰匙，LSEG 的工作區用戶將能夠輕鬆搜尋私人公司數據並下載數據，以改善全球上市和私人公司內容的映射、可發現性和互通性。

The D-U-N-S Number provides linkage across business relationships, employees and subsidiaries enabling users of LSEG Workspace to gain a better view of an enterprise's corporate structure, ownership and financial health.

鄧白氏編號提供了業務關係、員工和子公司之間的聯繫，使 LSEG 工作區的使用者能夠更好地了解企業的公司結構、所有權和財務狀況。

The collaboration with LSEG marks a new era in providing technology-powered transparency to private company analysis.

與倫敦證券交易所集團的合作標誌著為私人公司分析提供技術驅動的透明度的新時代。

With the exponential growth of private markets, Dun & Bradstreet plays a critical role providing clarity and insights to help investors manage risk and discover new investment opportunities.

隨著私募市場的指數級成長，鄧白氏發揮著至關重要的作用，提供清晰的資訊和見解，幫助投資者管理風險並發現新的投資機會。

We also partnered with ICE to launch a new climate risk data offering covering private and public companies globally. The new service will be designed to provide transition risk data, including greenhouse gas Scope 1, 2 and 3 and physical risk data on tens of millions of companies. This will be one of the broadest climate data offerings available on the market.

我們也與 ICE 合作推出了涵蓋全球私人和上市公司的新氣候風險數據產品。新服務旨在提供轉型風險數據，包括溫室氣體範圍1、2和3以及數千萬家公司的實體風險數據。這將是市場上最廣泛的氣候數據產品之一。

By combining our business intelligence, supply chain and asset location data with ICE's geospatial and climate capabilities and then leveraging ICE's distribution channels, this new service will offer the broader investment community a single source of climate data.

透過將我們的商業智慧、供應鏈和資產位置資料與 ICE 的地理空間和氣候功能結合，然後利用 ICE 的分銷管道，這項新服務將為更廣泛的投資界提供單一的氣候資料來源。

This new data solution will become part of ICE Climate, which provides data and analytics that help quantify investment impacts posed by transition and physical climate risks, such as extreme weather events. These are two great examples of how we are picking our spot and partnering with world-class organizations to bring incremental value to these markets.

這個新的數據解決方案將成為 ICE Climate 的一部分，ICE Climate 提供數據和分析，幫助量化轉型和自然氣候風險（例如極端天氣事件）的投資影響。這是兩個很好的例子，說明我們如何選擇自己的位置並與世界一流的組織合作，為這些市場帶來增量價值。

While each of our partnerships are limited in terms of the magnitude of data, scope and specificity of use case, we continue to balance our time to market and longer-term opportunities to drive maximum value creation.

雖然我們的每個合作夥伴在資料量、範圍和用例的特殊性方面都受到限制，但我們將繼續平衡上市時間和長期機會，以推動最大價值創造。

Before turning the call over to Bryan, I wanted to touch on a few updates on the commercial side. North America continued to deliver consistent revenue retention of 97%, while driving a 32% vitality index. Clients' and prospects' buying behaviors were generally consistent with the first two quarters of the year as businesses balance mixed macroeconomic signals and an impending presidential election. And while business spending remains disciplined more broadly and sales cycles have lengthened, there were some examples of wins in the quarter.

在將電話轉給布萊恩之前，我想談談商業方面的一些最新情況。北美地區繼續實現 97% 的持續收入保留，同時帶動 32% 的活力指數。由於企業平衡複雜的宏觀經濟訊號和即將到來的總統選舉，客戶和潛在客戶的購買行為與今年前兩季基本一致。儘管企業支出仍然受到更廣泛的約束，銷售週期也有所延長，但本季還是出現了一些成功的例子。

The first is with one of the largest banks in the world that expanded their relationship with us by double digits. The client leverages our data and analytics within their commercial card and business banking portfolio, two areas that are growing at a rapid clip for them.

第一個是與世界上最大的銀行之一的合作，該銀行與我們的關係擴大了兩位數。客戶在其商業卡和商業銀行業務組合中利用我們的數據和分析，這兩個領域對他們來說正在快速成長。

By leveraging our matching and SBFE attributes, the client is making more effective and efficient credit line decisioning, and we look forward to supporting them with their current efforts and their future strategies focused on the leveraging of generative AI solutions.

透過利用我們的配對和 SBFE 屬性，客戶正在做出更有效和高效的信貸額度決策，我們期待為他們當前的努力和未來的策略提供支持，重點是利用生成式人工智慧解決方案。

We also had a strong multiyear win with one of the world's largest life insurance companies. The continued improvements in our data and solutions earned us the right to extend a four-year agreement and implement a mid-single-digit pricing increase.

我們也與全球最大的人壽保險公司之一取得了多年的強勁勝利。我們的數據和解決方案的持續改進使我們有權延長四年協議並實施中個位數的定價上漲。

They use a bundled set of solutions that are heavily integrated into the customers' platforms and workflow, which allowed a new set of incoming stakeholders to realize the value we are providing across their organization.

他們使用一組捆綁的解決方案，這些解決方案高度整合到客戶的平台和工作流程中，這使得新的利害關係人能夠認識到我們在整個組織中提供的價值。

And before moving on to the International side, I wanted to mention our expanded relationship with Tamr. Our relationship with Tamr expanded through the leveraging of our newly launched consumer marketing data to analytically improve match outcomes for customer-focused data management solutions.

在談到國際方面之前，我想提一下我們與 Tamr 擴大的關係。透過利用我們新推出的消費者行銷數據，我們與 Tamr 的關係得以擴展，以分析方式改善以客戶為中心的數據管理解決方案的匹配結果。

Ultimately, we are working together to improve data stewardship and act as a front end for cleaner consumer data sets that drive better business outcomes and sales and marketing use cases related to consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-business matched records.

最終，我們正在共同努力改善資料管理，並充當更清潔的消費者資料集的前端，從而推動更好的業務成果以及與消費者對消費者和消費者對企業匹配記錄相關的銷售和行銷用例。

Turning to International. The team continued on with our strategy of winning with the largest and most strategic players in the regions. With a retention rate of 93% and vitality index of 35%, the team is focused on completing our legacy solution migration efforts while balancing upsell and the addition of new client logos.

轉向國際。團隊繼續實施我們的策略，即與該地區最大、最具戰略意義的參與者一起獲勝。該團隊的保留率為 93%，活力指數為 35%，專注於完成舊解決方案遷移工作，同時平衡追加銷售和添加新客戶徽標。

Beginning with IKEA, they expanded our existing relationship with our Data Block supplier risk solution by adding more markets to master their data supply chain. IKEA is a great example of our ability to land and expand the customer through the expansion of data elements, geographies and number of businesses covered.

從IKEA開始，他們透過增加更多市場來掌握其數據供應鏈，擴大了我們與 Data Block 供應商風險解決方案的現有關係。宜家是我們透過擴展資料元素、地理數量和業務數量來吸引和擴大客戶能力的一個很好的例子。

In the United Kingdom, we had our largest ever sale of Hoovers in our International segment. The cross-sell was a five-year multimillion dollar expansion, adding to numerous other finance and risk products being utilized by the client.

在英國，我們的國際部門實現了有史以來最大的胡佛銷售。此次交叉銷售是一項為期五年數百萬美元的擴張，增加了客戶使用的許多其他金融和風險產品。

And finally, in Germany, we secured a contract with the international distribution and service company, Jebsen & Jessen, to provide data and analytics to support their financial risk, master data management and compliance activities.

最後，在德國，我們與國際分銷和服務公司 Jebsen & Jessen 簽訂了一份合同，為其提供數據和分析以支援其財務風險、主數據管理和合規活動。

These renewals, expansions and new wins across our segments are just a handful of examples of how we continue to deliver increased value across our clients' most critical use cases.

我們各個細分市場的這些更新、擴展和新勝利只是我們如何繼續為客戶最關鍵的用例提供更高價值的幾個例子。

As I said earlier, I'm very proud of the team's execution this quarter and throughout 2024. We look forward to closing out the year and heading into 2025, with another year of significant progress under our belts.

正如我之前所說，我對團隊本季以及整個 2024 年的執行力感到非常自豪。我們期待這一年即將結束，進入 2025 年，我們將迎來另一個取得重大進展的一年。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Bryan to discuss our financials in more detail and give a quick update on our outlook for the remainder of the year.

我現在想把電話轉給布萊恩，更詳細地討論我們的財務狀況，並快速更新我們對今年剩餘時間的展望。

Thank you, Anthony, and good morning, everyone. Turning to Slide 1. On a GAAP basis, third quarter revenues were $609 million, an increase of 3.5% compared to the prior year quarter and an increase of 3.2% before the effect of foreign exchange.

謝謝你，安東尼，大家早安。轉到投影片 1。以 GAAP 計算，第三季營收為 6.09 億美元，較去年同期成長 3.5%，扣除外匯影響後成長 3.2%。

Net income for the third quarter was $3 million or a diluted earnings per share of $0.01 compared to net income of $4 million for the prior year quarter. The $1 million decrease in net earnings for the three months ended September 30, 2024, compared to the prior year quarter was primarily due to a lower tax benefit and higher amortization loss related to the interest rate swap amendment completed in the third quarter of 2023. This was partially offset by higher operating income and lower miscellaneous nonoperating expenses, primarily driven by lower fees related to our senior credit facility.

第三季淨利為 300 萬美元，攤薄後每股收益為 0.01 美元，而去年同期淨利為 400 萬美元。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的三個月淨利潤較上年同期減少 100 萬美元，主要是由於與 2023 年第三季完成的利率掉期修訂相關的稅收優惠減少和攤銷損失增加。這部分被較高的營業收入和較低的雜項非營業費用所抵消，這主要是由於與我們的高級信貸安排相關的費用較低。

Turning to Slide 2. I'll now discuss our adjusted results for the third quarter. Third quarter revenues for the total company were $609 million, an increase of 3.5% compared to the prior year quarter and an increase of 3.2% before the effect of foreign exchange.

轉到投影片 2。我現在將討論第三季的調整後業績。第三季公司總營收為 6.09 億美元，較去年同期成長 3.5%，未計外匯影響則成長 3.2%。

The increase was attributable to growth in the underlying business and the positive impact of foreign exchange, partially offset by the impact of the divestiture of the business-to-consumer business in Finland in the fourth quarter of 2023.

這一成長歸因於基礎業務的成長和外匯的正面影響，但部分被2023年第四季芬蘭企業對消費者業務剝離的影響所抵銷。

Excluding the impact of the divestiture and the positive impact of foreign exchange, total organic revenue increased 3.4%, reflecting growth across both of our segments.

剔除資產剝離的影響和外匯的正面影響，總有機收入成長了 3.4%，反映了我們兩個部門的成長。

Third quarter adjusted EBITDA for the total company was $247 million, an increase of $12 million or 5%. This was primarily due to revenue growth, partially offset by associated personnel and data acquisition costs. Third quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was 41%, an increase of 60 basis points compared to the prior year quarter.

第三季公司調整後 EBITDA 為 2.47 億美元，增加 1,200 萬美元，成長 5%。這主要是由於收入增長，但部分被相關人員和數據獲取成本所抵消。第三季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 41%，比去年同期成長 60 個基點。

Third quarter adjusted net income was $116 million or adjusted earnings per share of $0.27 compared to $116.2 million or $0.27 per share in the third quarter of 2023. The slight decrease in adjusted net income was primarily attributable to higher tax expense and higher depreciation and amortization, partially offset by higher adjusted EBITDA and lower interest expense in the current year quarter.

第三季調整後淨利為 1.16 億美元，調整後每股收益為 0.27 美元，而 2023 年第三季為 1.162 億美元，調整後每股收益為 0.27 美元。調整後淨利潤略有下降，主要是由於稅收費用增加以及折舊和攤銷增加，部分被本季度調整後 EBITDA 增加和利息費用減少所抵消。

Turning now to Slide 3. I'll now discuss the results for our two segments, North America and International. In North America, revenues for the third quarter were $433 million, an increase of 2.6% from prior year quarter and 2.7% on an organic constant currency basis.

現在轉到投影片 3。我現在將討論北美和國際兩個部門的結果。在北美，第三季營收為 4.33 億美元，比去年同期成長 2.6%，以有機固定匯率計算成長 2.7%。

In Finance and Risk, revenues were $238 million, an increase of $3 million or 1% due to a net increase in revenue across our third-party risk and supply chain management, partially offset by decreased revenues from our Finance Solutions due in part to the timing of revenues shifting from on delivery to ratable.

在財務和風險方面，收入為2.38 億美元，增加了300 萬美元或1%，這是由於我們的第三方風險和供應鏈管理收入淨增長，但部分被我們的財務解決方案收入減少所抵消，部分原因是收入從交付時轉變為可評稅的時間。

For Sales and Marketing, revenues were $195 million, an increase of $8 million or 5% before the effect of foreign exchange. Sales and Marketing growth was due to higher revenue from our Master Data Management solutions, partially offset by decreased revenues from our Digital Marketing solutions. And while the Digital Marketing solutions declined in the quarter, they improved sequentially, and as expected, versus the first half of 2024.

銷售和行銷部門的收入為 1.95 億美元，在外匯影響之前增加了 800 萬美元，即 5%。銷售和行銷的成長歸因於我們的主資料管理解決方案的收入增加，但部分被我們的數位行銷解決方案的收入減少所抵消。儘管數位行銷解決方案在本季度有所下降，但與 2024 年上半年相比，它們連續有所改善，正如預期的那樣。

North America third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $208 million, an increase of $12 million or 6%. And North America EBITDA margin was 48%, an increase of 160 basis points from the prior year quarter. This was primarily due to revenue growth and lower net personnel costs, partially offset by higher cloud infrastructure costs and data acquisition costs.

北美第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 2.08 億美元，增加 1,200 萬美元，成長 6%。北美 EBITDA 利潤率為 48%，比去年同期成長 160 個基點。這主要是由於收入成長和淨人員成本下降，但部分被雲端基礎設施成本和資料獲取成本上升所抵消。

Turning to Slide 4. In our International segment, third quarter revenues increased 5.7% -- an increase of 4.7% before the effect of foreign exchange and an increase of 5.1% on an organic constant currency basis.

轉到投影片 4。在我們的國際部門，第三季營收成長了 5.7%，扣除外匯影響後成長了 4.7%，以有機固定匯率計算成長了 5.1%。

Finance and Risk revenues were $122 million, an increase of 7% or an increase of 6% before the effect of foreign exchange. All markets contributed to the growth, including strong contributions from newer API solutions across our own markets and Third Party Risk & Compliance solutions in Europe. A Worldwide Network alliance has also had increased revenue due to higher product royalties.

財務和風險收入為 1.22 億美元，成長 7%，未考慮外匯影響則成長 6%。所有市場都對成長做出了貢獻，包括我們自己市場上較新的 API 解決方案以及歐洲第三方風險與合規解決方案的強勁貢獻。由於產品特許權使用費增加，全球網路聯盟的收入也有所增加。

Sales and Marketing revenues were $55 million, an increase of 3% or an increase of 1% before the effect of foreign exchange. On an organic basis, revenues grew 2.4%, primarily due to higher product royalty revenues from our Worldwide Network alliances and continued demand for our Master Data Management solution.

銷售和行銷收入為 5,500 萬美元，成長 3%，未考慮外匯影響則成長 1%。在有機基礎上，收入成長了 2.4%，主要是由於我們的全球網路聯盟的產品特許權收入增加以及對我們的主資料管理解決方案的持續需求。

International third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $59 million, an -- International adjusted EBITDA margin was 34%, an increase of 30 basis points from the prior year quarter. The increase in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to revenue growth from the underlying business, partially offset by higher personnel and data acquisition costs and foreign exchange loss.

國際第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 5,900 萬美元，國際調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 34%，比去年同期成長 30 個基點。調整後 EBITDA 的成長主要是由於基礎業務的收入成長，但部分被較高的人員和資料獲取成本以及外匯損失所抵消。

Turning to Slide 5. Slide 5 contains the details of our capital structure as of quarter end. At the end of September 30, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $289 million and total principal amount of debt of $3,681 million with a weighted average interest rate of 6.0%.

轉到投影片 5。投影片 5 包含截至季末我們的資本結構的詳細資訊。截至2024年9月30日，我們的現金及現金等價物為2.89億美元，債務本金總額為36.81億美元，加權平均利率為6.0%。

Currently, 87% of our debt is either fixed or hedged. And as of September 30, 2024, we had $717 million available on our $850 million revolving credit facility.

目前，我們 87% 的債務是固定的或對沖的。截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，我們的 8.5 億美元循環信貸額度中有 7.17 億美元可用。

Our leverage ratio was 3.7 times on a net basis. And the credit facility, senior secured net leverage ratio was 3.2 times. We continue to expect to be around 3.5 times on a net basis by the end of this year as we continue to migrate down towards our medium-term range of 3 times to 3.25 times in 2025.

我們的淨槓桿率為 3.7 倍。而信用額度、優先擔保淨槓桿率為3.2倍。我們繼續預計，到今年年底，淨值將達到 3.5 倍左右，同時我們將繼續向 2025 年 3 倍至 3.25 倍的中期範圍下調。

To manage our floating rate exposure, ahead of the $1.250 billion of swaps set to mature during the first quarter of 2025, we executed $600 million of forward-starting interest rate swaps, $350 million at 3.229% and $250 million at 3.24%. These become effective at the end of March of 2025, and mature in March of 2028.

為了管理我們的浮動利率敞口，在2025 年第一季到期的12.5 億美元掉期之前，我們執行了6 億美元的遠期起始利率掉期，其中3.5 億美元為3.229%，2.5 億美元為3.24%。這些將於2025年3月底生效，並於2028年3月到期。

Additionally, we terminated $1 billion in swaps with the maturity in February 2026, and entered into a new $1 billion swap with a March 2028, maturity at a rate of 3.2463%. In regards to our repurchase program, we did not execute any share repurchases in the third quarter due to the ongoing process related to the inbound interest we received earlier this year.

此外，我們終止了 2026 年 2 月到期的 10 億美元掉期，並簽訂了新的 10 億美元掉期，到期日為 2028 年 3 月，利率為 3.2463%。關於我們的回購計劃，由於與今年早些時候收到的入境利息相關的流程正在進行中，我們在第三季度沒有執行任何股票回購。

Year-to-date, we repurchased 961,360 shares of Dun & Bradstreet common stock for $9.3 million, net of accrued excise tax at an average price of $9.71 per share. We currently have over 9 million shares remaining under our existing buyback authorization.

年初至今，我們以 930 萬美元的價格回購了 961,360 股鄧白氏普通股（扣除應計消費稅），平均價格為每股 9.71 美元。目前，我們現有的回購授權中剩餘超過 900 萬股股票。

And now turning to Slide 6. Our outlook for 2024 is as follows. Total revenues after the effect of foreign currency continue to be expected at the low end of our previously communicated range of $2,400 million to $2,440 million or an increase of approximately 3.7% to 5.4%. This includes assumption of a modest tailwind in the fourth quarter due to the effect of foreign currency related to the expected variances between the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound and Swedish krona.

現在轉向幻燈片 6。我們對 2024 年的展望如下。預計受外匯影響後的總收入將繼續保持在我們先前公佈的 24 億美元至 24.4 億美元區間的低端，即成長約 3.7% 至 5.4%。這包括由於與美元、歐元、英鎊和瑞典克朗之間的預期差異相關的外匯影響，第四季度將出現溫和的順風的假設。

Revenues on an organic constant currency basis continue to be expected at the low end of our previously communicated range of 4.1% to 5.1% for the full year. Adjusted EBITDA continues to be expected in the range of $930 million to $950 million. And adjusted EPS is expected to continue to be in the range of $1 to $1.04.

以有機固定匯率計算的全年收入預計將繼續處於我們先前通報的 4.1% 至 5.1% 區間的低端。調整後 EBITDA 預計仍將在 9.3 億美元至 9.5 億美元之間。調整後每股收益預計將繼續在 1 美元至 1.04 美元之間。

Additional modeling details underlying our outlook are as follows. We now expect interest expense to be approximately $215 million. Depreciation and amortization expense is now expected to be in a range of $130 million to $140 million, resulting from purchase accounting.

我們的展望的其他建模細節如下。我們現在預計利息支出約為 2.15 億美元。根據採購會計計算，折舊和攤提費用目前預計在 1.3 億至 1.4 億美元之間。

Adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 22% to 23%. Weighted average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 436 million. And for CapEx, we continue to expect approximately $150 million to $160 million of internally developed software and $45 million of property, plant and equipment and purchased software as capitalized spend begins to moderate throughout the second half of the year.

調整後的有效稅率約為22%至23%。加權平均稀釋後流通股約4.36億股。對於資本支出，隨著下半年資本支出開始放緩，我們繼續預計內部開發的軟體約為 1.5 億至 1.6 億美元，財產、廠房和設備以及購買的軟體為 4,500 萬美元。

And finally, we continue to anticipate operating free cash flow conversion as a percentage of adjusted net income, excluding the impact of the AR securitization, to improve versus the prior year as previously discussed. The team is pushing hard to finish out the year as strong as possible and preparing for another year of improvement in 2025.

最後，我們繼續預期經營自由現金流轉換佔調整後淨利的百分比（排除 AR 證券化的影響）將比前一年有所改善，如前所述。團隊正在努力爭取盡可能強勁地結束這一年，並為 2025 年又一個進步的一年做好準備。

With that, we're now happy to open the call for questions. Operator?

至此，我們現在很高興開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Kyle Peterson, Needham.

（操作員說明）Kyle Peterson，Needham。

Great. Just wanted to start off on the Digital Marketing business, it does sound like there is some sequential improvement there, which is good to hear. I know there's some -- typically some seasonal benefit as kind of the year goes. But I just want to see how that's performed both relative to expectations and any expectations for that business that you can share for the fourth quarter would be really helpful.

偉大的。只是想開始數位行銷業務，聽起來確實有一些連續的改進，這很高興聽到。我知道有一些——通常是一年中一些季節性的好處。但我只是想看看相對於預期的表現如何，以及您可以分享的第四季度對該業務的任何預期都將非常有幫助。

Sure. Thanks, Kyle, for the question. It's Anthony. Yes, we saw that Digital Marketing was still a headwind in the quarter, but a much smaller headwind from the first two quarters of the year kind of as we expected. And I'd say throughout the quarter, saw strength -- it strengthening throughout the quarter.

當然。謝謝凱爾提出的問題。是安東尼。是的，我們看到數位行銷在本季度仍然是一個阻力，但與我們預期的一樣，今年前兩個季度的阻力要小得多。我想說，整個季度都看到了力量——整個季度都在加強。

So we feel good in terms of the progress that we're making as it lines up to our expectations. And as what I mentioned on the previous call, we're very focused, obviously, on Digital Marketing and Credibility in removing those headwinds from the business.

因此，我們對所取得的進展感到滿意，因為它符合我們的期望。正如我在上次電話會議中提到的，顯然，我們非常關注數位行銷和可信度，以消除業務中的這些不利因素。

Yeah, Kyle, if you look at it, this is a quarter that it had gone from kind of double-digit declines really starting late last year and throughout the early part of this year. As we get through some of those comps and especially as we head into Q4, (inaudible) saw in this quarter was in the low single digits, right, from a decline perspective. And again, expect that to continue to improvement into the fourth quarter.

是的，凱爾，如果你看一下，這個季度的業績已經從去年年底開始一直到今年年初出現了兩位數的下降。當我們完成其中一些比較時，特別是當我們進入第四季度時，（聽不清楚）看到本季度的業績處於低個位數，對吧，從下降的角度來看。再次，預計第四季這一情況將繼續改善。

Got it. That's very helpful. And I guess, just kind of switching gears a little bit in the balance sheet. I know kind of third quarter in a row net leverage has been about flat. It's probably coming down, but decimals and rounding and stuff.

知道了。這非常有幫助。我想，只是在資產負債表上做了一些調整。我知道淨槓桿率連續第三季基本持平。它可能會下降，但是小數和四捨五入之類的。

But just wanted to see, I think you guys had mentioned earlier this year kind of expectations to get 3.5 turns on a net basis by year-end. Is that still within sight based on the current guide? Or how are you guys kind of thinking about deleveraging the balance sheet from here?

但我只是想看看，我想你們今年早些時候曾提到過，預計到年底淨轉數將達到 3.5 倍。根據目前的指南，這仍然在可見範圍內嗎？或者你們如何考慮從這裡開始去槓桿化資產負債表？

Yeah. Kyle. You're exactly right. It's borderline, right, from a rounding perspective. But if you look forward to full year where we expect to be right around 3.5 times.

是的。凱爾.你說得完全正確。從四捨五入的角度來看，這是邊界，對吧。但如果你展望全年，我們預計這一數字約為 3.5 倍。

And then as we head into next year, obviously, we'll get formal guidance and plans and all that kind of shape out for our February call. But the intention is to drive down towards that 3 times, 3.5 times throughout 2025 and that's going to be a mix of, again, decreasing EBITDA but also beginning to bring down just the gross debt levels, too.

然後，當我們進入明年時，顯然，我們將為二月的電話會議提供正式的指導和計劃以及所有此類形式。但我們的目的是在 2025 年將這一數字降低 3 倍，即 3.5 倍，這將再次降低 EBITDA，但也開始降低總債務水準。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

Faiza Alwy，德意志銀行。

I wanted to ask about the strategic discussions that you've been having. Appreciated your commentary there. I'm curious if you're exploring -- if you can give us any more color around the Credibility business and sort of what are some of the factors around that and if you're considering sort of splitting that business separately? Or any other color there would be helpful.

我想問你們一直在進行的戰略討論。感謝您的評論。我很好奇您是否正在探索——是否可以給我們提供有關可信度業務的更多信息，以及圍繞該業務的一些因素是什麼，以及您是否正在考慮單獨拆分該業務？或任何其他顏色都會有幫助。

So Faiza, the question on the larger process and specifically on Credibility in terms of looking at how we would handle or divest it I think was the question.

因此，Faiza，關於更大流程的問題，特別是關於我們將如何處理或剝離它的可信度的問題，我認為是問題所在。

From a -- I'll answer the second part first. From a Credibility perspective, obviously, we're focused on the larger conversations around the full company and those conversations and meetings that are taking place, more so than a smaller divestiture. Like I said, it is something that we will do, but all of our energy is really going to the main transaction at the moment.

從——我將先回答第二部分。顯然，從可信度的角度來看，我們更關注整個公司周圍的大型對話以及正在進行的對話和會議，而不是較小的資產剝離。就像我說的，這是我們要做的事情，但目前我們所有的精力實際上都投入了主要交易。

Yeah. Faiza, to the point we made on the last call, certainly, I think we're getting further away from some of that direct impact from the consent order. This quarter actually Credibility showed some slight growth. So it's not out of the woods. It's not incremental to where we want to be from an organic perspective.

是的。Faiza，就我們上次通話中提出的觀點而言，當然，我認為我們正在遠離同意令的一些直接影響。本季可信度實際上出現了一些小幅增長。所以它還沒有脫離困境。從有機的角度來看，它並沒有達到我們想要的目標。

Again, if you look in that trailing 12 months of the 90% of the revenue streams, they're still right around that 6%. And that includes obviously the third quarter where it's certainly lower because of some of the timing that we discussed upfront.

同樣，如果您查看過去 12 個月的 90% 收入來源，您會發現它們仍然在 6% 左右。這顯然包括第三季度，由於我們預先討論的一些時間安排，該季度的價格肯定較低。

So I think we're in the same phase where we're continuing to monitor, continuing to look to improve the business, but again, committed to the evaluating and making some decisions later this year.

因此，我認為我們正處於同一階段，我們將繼續監控，繼續尋求改善業務，但再次致力於在今年稍後進行評估並做出一些決定。

Okay. That's really helpful. And then just you mentioned the collaborations with LSEG and ICE around the capital markets business. I'm curious if there's any numbers that you'd be willing to put around that? When might you start to see some benefits accrue there? And maybe some color on how the partnership works, sort of is it usage-based? Is it fixed fee-based? Again, more color there would be helpful.

好的。這真的很有幫助。剛才您提到了與 LSEG 和 ICE 圍繞資本市場業務的合作。我很好奇你是否願意提供任何數字？什麼時候可以開始看到那裡產生的一些好處？也許還有一些關於合作關係如何運作的顏色，有點基於使用情況？是固定收費的嗎？同樣，更多的顏色會有幫助。

Yeah. So I'll let Anthony talk a little bit about the partnership and how we think about capital markets and private company data in general. But if you think about these two, and Anthony mentioned it, we're very, I would say, mindful of selecting partners like an LSEG, like an ICE, building a very specific use case and really starting to monetize off of both of our capabilities.

是的。因此，我將讓安東尼談談我們的合作夥伴關係以及我們如何看待資本市場和私人公司數據。但如果你考慮這兩個，安東尼也提到過，我會說，我們非常注意選擇像LSEG、ICE 這樣的合作夥伴，建立一個非常具體的用例，並真正開始從我們的兩個專案中獲利。

We have long-standing commercial relationships actually the both of them. But in this case, if you think about the true power of this, it would be a rev share between these two entities as we move forward from that perspective.

事實上，我們和他們都有長期的商業關係。但在這種情況下，如果你考慮它的真正力量，當我們從這個角度前進時，這將是這兩個實體之間的收益份額。

So that's really the concept when we formed into like an alliance, in this case, would be to really generate the incremental upside from the selling up of the combined solution on (inaudible).

因此，當我們形成聯盟時，這確實是一個概念，在這種情況下，將透過銷售組合解決方案來真正產生增量優勢（聽不清楚）。

Yeah. And maybe what I'd add is it's serendipitous. The amount of time and money and effort that we spent enhancing the private company data assets for the traditional use cases here has really put us in an advantageous position, I'd say, for the coming wave of private market activity, same with generative AI.

是的。也許我要補充的是，它是偶然的。我想說，對於即將到來的私募市場活動浪潮，我們在增強傳統用例的私人公司資料資產方面所花費的時間、金錢和精力確實使我們處於有利地位，就像產生人工智慧一樣。

And as we look into capital markets or private markets, we really don't have any amazing private market solutions today for a large sales force focused on that space. So we'll build them over time, but in the short term we're picking select partners so we could really begin seeding the market with our D-U-N-S Number and our unique data.

當我們研究資本市場或私人市場時，我們現在確實沒有任何令人驚嘆的私人市場解決方案，可供專注於該領域的大型銷售人員使用。因此，我們將隨著時間的推移來建構它們，但在短期內，我們會選擇精選的合作夥伴，以便我們能夠真正開始利用我們的鄧白氏編號和獨特的數據來開拓市場。

And like I said, we're excited about these partnerships. They're great organizations and we're looking forward to a great product (inaudible) basis.

正如我所說，我們對這些合作關係感到興奮。他們是偉大的組織，我們期待著一個偉大的產品（聽不清楚）基礎。

Andrew Steinerman, JPMorgan.

安德魯‧史坦納曼，摩根大通。

This is Alex Hess on for Andrew. I want to start with the Finance Solutions call-out. And if you could give us some color on maybe how that business is trending from an underlying basis that would be helpful, ex the contract transitions?

我是亞歷克斯·赫斯 (Alex Hess) 替安德魯發言。我想從財務解決方案號召開始。如果您能給我們一些關於該業務從根本上的趨勢如何發展的信息，這將是有幫助的，例如合約過渡？

Yeah, Alex. Thanks for the question. The core Finance Solutions, I would say, it's a little bit split between North America and International. On the International side, really continues to perform well as we go through the transitions, the migrations from some of those legacy applications onto our modern FA and then our modern delivery mechanisms around our Data Blocks solutions. You've seen really nice kind of mid-single-digit growth within the International region on the Finance side of the equation.

是的，亞歷克斯。謝謝你的提問。我想說，核心財務解決方案在北美和國際之間存在一些分歧。在國際方面，當我們經歷過渡、從一些遺留應用程式遷移到我們的現代 FA 以及圍繞我們的資料塊解決方案的現代交付機制時，確實繼續表現良好。在國際地區的金融方面，您已經看到了非常好的中個位數成長。

In North America, that it's a big chunk of the revenue stream, very embedded within organizations, really sets the foundation for a lot of those relationships on the F&R side. And so we keep it as a springboard to really expand and upsell into those third-party Risk clients, which has been growing double digits.

在北美，它佔收入流的很大一部分，非常嵌入組織內部，這確實為 F&R 方面的許多關係奠定了基礎。因此，我們將其作為真正向第三方風險客戶進行擴張和追加銷售的跳板，這些客戶一直在成長兩位數。

And so while the core Finance Solutions that is kind of in that low single digit, consistent growth from that side to really act as a platform to really land and then expand off of it from that perspective. That's been our strategy in North America.

因此，雖然核心財務解決方案處於較低的個位數，但從該方面來看，持續成長確實可以作為一個平台，真正落地，然後從這個角度擴展。這就是我們在北美的戰略。

Yeah, that's super helpful. And then just a couple maintenance questions from us. When you say at -- when you indicate full year revenues at the low single digits --, at the low end of the guide, there's a large variation for what that might imply for 4Q. Do you still expect 4Q performance to be above the range? So I'm asking the exit year question -- the exit rate question.

是的，這非常有幫助。然後是我們提出的幾個維護問題。當你說——當你以較低的個位數表示全年收入時——在指南的低端時，這可能意味著第四季度存在很大的變化。您仍預期第四季的業績會高於預期範圍嗎？所以我問的是退出年份問題——退出率問題。

And then can you tell us what the receivables draw on the facility was in 4Q as well?

那麼您能否告訴我們第四季該設施的應收帳款情況是多少？

Sure. So I'll start with the kind of rate side of the equation. So what we saw, Alex, was the third quarter obviously came in a little bit better than expected. The same way where sometimes we have a little bit of timing go, against us, this time it actually was a little bit positive from that side. And so we were mindful into the fourth quarter, kind of balancing that in our expectations, right, for the year.

當然。所以我將從等式的利率方面開始。所以我們看到，亞歷克斯，第三季的表現顯然比預期好一些。就像有時我們的時機對我們不利一樣，這次實際上從這方面來說有點積極。因此，我們在第四季度保持了警惕，在我們的預期中平衡了這一點，對吧，今年。

So I would say, where originally we have laid out the cadence from that side of the equation to be a little bit above. If you're kind of doing the math towards the lower end, you're not necessarily above the high end of the range anymore.

所以我想說，最初我們已經將等式一邊的節奏安排得稍微高一點。如果您對低端進行數學計算，那麼您不一定會再高於該範圍的高端。

If we're looking at the AR securitization, we actually paid back, it was $9.6 million in the quarter.

如果我們看看 AR 證券化，我們實際上償還了，本季為 960 萬美元。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

馬納夫·帕特奈克，巴克萊銀行。

This is Brendan on for Manav. I also want to follow up and touch on the North America Finance Solutions and I just want to better understand the delivery timing impact. I mean, you called it out previously, but growth did seem to come in a little better than you expected. So given the fiscal year still at the low end, was it just that some of that revenue did end up shifting in the Q3 versus what you previously expected compared to Q4?

我是馬納夫的布倫丹。我還想跟進並觸及北美金融解決方案，我只是想更了解交付時間的影響。我的意思是，您之前就說過，但成長似乎確實比您預期的要好一些。因此，鑑於本財年仍處於低端，與您先前預期的第四季相比，是否只是部分收入最終在第三季發生了變化？

Yeah. So Brendan, thanks for the question. I mean, again, we're really kind of splitting hairs a little bit from that perspective. But what I would say is, if you think about that Finance Solutions, when we expanded to a new customer with a new solution, there are times where the delivery portion of that happens a little bit more upfront, especially when you're laying the baseline for an underwriting model or you're laying the baseline for a new analytic from that perspective, especially when you're doing risk underwriting on that side.

是的。布倫丹，謝謝你的提問。我的意思是，從這個角度來看，我們真的有點吹毛求疵。但我想說的是，如果你考慮一下財務解決方案，當我們用新的解決方案擴展到新客戶時，有時交付部分會提前發生一些，特別是當你鋪設承保模型的基線，或者您正在從此角度為新分析奠定基線，尤其是當您在這方面進行風險承保時。

And that has evolved, again, as we said. So the annual revenues, in some certain sense, don't shift that much. But it just how it gets recognized throughout the year and that was really the shift that we were discussing from that perspective.

正如我們所說，這種情況再次發生了變化。因此，從某種意義上來說，年收入並沒有太大變化。但這只是它如何在這一年中得到認可，這確實是我們從這個角度討論的轉變。

Again, when we look at specifically to that F&R group, a little bit better from that side. Again, we continue to see very strong growth in our Third Party Risk clients. So things like supply chain risk management, know your third party, those are very germane topics, I would say, both in North America and also drove a lot of nice growth on the International side. And so those are the types of things that ended up maybe a little bit better than what we had expected.

再次強調，當我們專門關注 F&R 團隊時，從這方面來看會好一點。我們再次看到第三方風險客戶的強勁成長。因此，我想說，供應鏈風險管理、了解第三方等都是非常密切的話題，無論是在北美，還是在國際方面都推動了許多良好的成長。因此，這些類型的事情最終可能比我們預期的要好一些。

Okay. And then just quick update on Credibility, just how that did during the quarter and --

好的。然後快速更新可信度，以及本季的表現--

Yeah. So we said that Credibility kind of improved from the back half of the year. We thought it would get closer to breakeven, it actually grew very slightly this quarter. So again, a positive, I would say, trajectory from that perspective.

是的。所以我們說可信度從今年下半年開始有所改善。我們認為它會更接近盈虧平衡，但實際上本季它略有成長。我想說，從這個角度來看，這是一個正面的軌跡。

So in line what I think where we thought it would be. And then maybe, Anthony, if you want to touch on some of the things we're doing that we'll continue to evolve that business and how we think about it on a go-forward basis.

所以這符合我的想法。然後，安東尼，如果你想談談我們正在做的一些事情，我們將繼續發展該業務以及我們如何在未來的基礎上思考它。

Yeah. Sure. So we talked before about launching what we just call money-back guarantee where, as we work with clients, say, if you give us one of four pieces of information, bank account, credit card statement, taxes, permission to pull consumer bureau, blend that score with our business bureau score, each of them has a significant increase in credit ratings based on the model that we've done in our labs.

是的。當然。因此，我們之前討論過推出所謂的退款保證，當我們與客戶合作時，比如說，如果您向我們提供四項資訊之一，銀行帳戶、信用卡對帳單、稅收、消費者局的許可，將該分數與我們的商業局分數相結合，根據我們在實驗室中所做的模型，他們每個人的信用評級都有顯著提高。

And so with that, we had launched that in mid-July, I think we talked about in the previous call, and we're seeing significant growth in that space. Because from a client perspective, it's a money-back guarantee. If we don't improve your credit, you don't pay -- or you get your money back, --. And also on a worst-case scenario where they didn't deserve to have the credit rating improved, we now have a lot more information and data about that private company.

因此，我們在 7 月中旬推出了這個項目，我想我們在之前的電話會議中談到過，我們看到該領域的顯著增長。因為從客戶的角度來看，這是退款保證。如果我們不改善您的信用，您就不會付款，或者您會拿回您的錢，--.而且在最壞的情況下，他們不值得提高信用評級，我們現在有更多關於該私人公司的資訊和數據。

And again, it's just an example. As we think about not only how to grow the business or how to take exhaust data and make it relevant to get more and more information on these private companies, which, as we see, is really mostly being lucky or serendipity, right. But building on the richness of this private company data is really, I think, beneficial to our future.

再說一次，這只是一個例子。當我們不僅考慮如何發展業務或如何利用耗盡的數據並使其與獲取越來越多的有關這些私人公司的信息相關時，正如我們所見，這實際上主要是幸運或機緣，對吧。但我認為，建立在這些豐富的私人公司數據上確實對我們的未來有益。

Craig Huber, Huber Research Partners.

克雷格·胡貝爾，胡貝爾研究夥伴。

Anthony, I wanted to ask you, what's your opinion right now of the macro environment in North America? How are you feeling about that right now versus how you were feeling, say, a year ago?

安東尼，我想問您，您對目前北美的宏觀環境有何看法？與一年前相比，您現在對此感覺如何？

Yeah. Thank you, Craig. I'd say, look, many of our peers have reported and I think the landscape is fairly similar across many of the peers. And we see that as well in terms of -- and compared to a year ago, I think it's pretty consistent with what we saw last year.

是的。謝謝你，克雷格。我想說，看，我們的許多同行都報告過，我認為許多同行的情況相當相似。我們也看到了這一點——與一年前相比，我認為這與我們去年看到的情況非常一致。

So quarter-to-quarter, we see a slight lengthening in the sales cycle right now. Is that because of just the market? Is it because we're in the middle of a process? That certainly doesn't help on your sales cycle when you're in the middle of a process, as you can imagine. And again, I'm really proud of the team to push through that.

因此，按季度計算，我們目前的銷售週期略有延長。難道只是因為市場的原因嗎？是因為我們正處於一個過程中嗎？正如您可以想像的那樣，當您處於流程中間時，這當然對您的銷售週期沒有幫助。再說一遍，我為團隊能夠實現這一目標感到非常自豪。

But I think it's fairly -- I'd say it's fairly consistent with what it's been. And I've always believed here we've got more ability to grow based on what we do and what we own versus what happens in the macro environment. So I think we've been able to weather it fairly well over this past year, and I feel the same going forward.

但我認為這是相當的——我想說這與過去的情況相當一致。我一直相信，與宏觀環境中發生的情況相比，我們有更大的能力根據我們所做的和我們所擁有的來實現成長。所以我認為我們在過去的一年裡已經能夠很好地度過難關，我對未來也有同樣的感覺。

Bryan, if I could just ask you, maybe I missed this, but what did you say how the revenues did with Credibility? I think you said prior quarters it was down roughly 10%, but I missed what you said there on the current quarter.

布萊恩，如果我可以問你的話，也許我錯過了這一點，但你說收入與可信度的關係如何？我想你說過前幾季下降了大約 10%，但我錯過了你在本季所說的內容。

And also curious, how is your patience, the executives, yourselves, with that business and the marketing business right now, given the problems you guys have been having for the last year plus your -- I mean, what's your patience level right now?

同時也很好奇，考慮到你們去年遇到的問題以及你們的——我的意思是，你們現在對這項業務和行銷業務的耐心程度如何？

A question was asked about this earlier, too. But I mean, just your patience here to keep that business as part of Dun & Bradstreet as opposed to selling or shutting down that and/or the marketing effort that you have?

早些時候也有人問過這個問題。但我的意思是，您是否有耐心將該業務保留為鄧白氏的一部分，而不是出售或關閉該業務和/或您擁有的營銷工作？

I'll answer, Craig. Bryan said it was low single-digit growth in Credibility in this quarter, which was obviously a positive.

我來回答，克雷格。布萊恩表示，本季可信度的成長僅為個位數，這顯然是正面的。

So the second part of your question in terms of what's our patience, on the second quarter call I talked about our patience. We've made a lot of changes in both businesses. We're going to monitor them through the year to see how they perform. Like I said, we've seen significant uptake in the Credibility. I talked about the money-back guarantee and our concierge service, the significant improvement there.

所以你問題的第二部分是我們的耐心，在第二季的電話會議上我談到了我們的耐心。我們在這兩項業務上都做出了很多改變。我們將全年監控他們，看看他們的表現如何。正如我所說，我們已經看到了可信度的顯著提升。我談到了退款保證和我們的禮賓服務，以及那裡的顯著改進。

On the Digital Marketing side, we're seeing that one is something that's more macro focused and we've seen a return of spend there in the market. And again, we're continuing to monitor it.

在數位行銷方面，我們看到更注重宏觀，並且我們已經看到市場上的支出有所回報。再說一遍，我們正在繼續監控它。

Our focus right now really is on the sale of the full company, right? Those are all the conversations that we're in and they're extremely time-consuming. And they're very -- like I said in my prepared remarks, we went through an FTE reduction related to our capitalized software, right? And that's always difficult no matter what organization you're in to do that.

我們現在的重點確實是出售整個公司，對吧？這些就是我們正在進行的所有對話，而且非常耗時。正如我在準備好的演講中所說，我們減少了與資本化軟體相關的 FTE，對吧？無論你在哪個組織，這總是很困難的。

And then the inquiries that are coming in from a number of companies, at the lower level, you've got the risk of water cooler-type conversation, which we don't see. And at the senior level, they're involved actually in the process, right, helping answer all the questions and all the diligence.

然後，來自許多公司的較低級別的詢問，你會面臨飲水機式談話的風險，這是我們看不到的。在高層，他們實際上參與了這個過程，對吧，幫助回答所有的問題和所有的努力。

And so again, I'm very proud of the team in terms of how they're staying focused on the task at hand and not giving into the distraction. So from our perspective, we have urgency in everything that we do here and we have urgency around remediating both of those businesses. But the overwhelming, I'd say, priority right now is the full process that we're in.

再說一遍，我為團隊感到非常自豪，因為他們專注於手邊的任務，不分心。因此，從我們的角度來看，我們在這裡所做的一切都具有緊迫性，而且我們也迫切需要修復這兩項業務。但我想說，目前最重要的是我們所處的整個過程。

Ashish Sabadra, RBC.

阿什什·薩巴德拉，加拿大皇家銀行。

This is Bill Qi on for Ashish Sabadra. Really great to hear kind of that early feedback on Chat D&B. Maybe a bit of a two-parter on that. How has the kind of early benefits been internally from kind of an operational efficiency standpoint that you guys are seeing?

我是阿希什·薩巴德拉 (Ashish Sabadra) 的比爾·齊 (Bill Qi)。很高興聽到有關 Chat D&B 的早期回饋。也許在這一點上有點兩方的關係。從你們所看到的營運效率的角度來看，早期的內部效益如何？

Then also externally, maybe if you could give some color, just the general pace of rollout that you're expecting for these types of initiatives. Is it relatively fast to market? Or more of a gradual kind of teaching/simulation-type cadence?

然後在外部，也許您可以提供一些顏色，只是您期望此類舉措的整體推出速度。上市速度相對較快嗎？還是更多的是漸進式的教學/模擬式節奏？

Yeah, that's a great question. I appreciate it. On Chat D&B, very excited about it, as I talked about, for a lot of reasons. The feedback that we've been receiving was just really overwhelming. Both -- one of my e-mails here from one of our clients, "It's a fantastic tool. It saves a lot of time. I use Chat D&B in my day-to-day tasks. The time it takes to summarize a small business goes from 10 to 15 minutes to seconds." We have other ones that -- they just go on and on with something normally taking hours that's done in minutes.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我很感激。正如我所說，在 Chat D&B 上，出於很多原因，我對此感到非常興奮。我們收到的回饋實在太多了。兩者都是——我的一位客戶發來的一封電子郵件，「這是一個很棒的工具。它節省了大量時間。我在日常任務中使用 Chat D&B。總結一家小型企業所需的時間從 10 到 15 分鐘縮短到幾秒鐘。我們還有其他的——他們只是不斷地做一些通常需要幾個小時而幾分鐘內就能完成的事情。

So it's a really big time-saver. It's very positive. We're seeing the benefits of it internally as well as we do or the part that -- so I'd say the response has been better than we expected from our, I'd say, our pilot. And then there's other aspects of it, which we really didn't see coming.

所以這確實節省了大量時間。這是非常積極的。我們在內部以及我們所做的或部分中看到了它的好處 - 所以我想說，我們的飛行員的反應比我們預期的要好。還有其他方面，我們確實沒有預見到。

And so many of the clients, like I said, we've been over a couple of dozen clients in a pilot, many of them are asking if they can give us their first-party client data. And so the power of that is we have, obviously, our data. We have their other first-party data that they add to it. And now with our hosting that data, we think three things happen.

正如我所說，很多客戶都參與了試點，其中許多客戶都在詢問是否可以向我們提供他們的第一方客戶資料。顯然，它的力量在於我們擁有我們的數據。我們有他們添加到其中的其他第一方數據。現在，透過託管這些數據，我們認為會發生三件事。

One, we have a much stickier relationship with that client. Two, we drive revenue, obviously. We drive more revenue from that relationship by hosting their data and working with them. And three, it drives more collaboration with that client, right, which we can create and innovate more and more new ideas.

第一，我們與該客戶的關係更加牢固。第二，顯然我們會增加收入。我們透過託管他們的數據並與他們合作，從這種關係中獲得更多收入。第三，它推動了與客戶的更多合作，對吧，我們可以創造和創新越來越多的新想法。

So it's really off to a great start. And like I said, we couldn't be more excited about it. So we'll see how things pan out. What we started with is really enabling our clients to use it without a charge. And so really what they'll do is they'll drive up their usage of data where we get paid.

所以這確實是一個很好的開始。正如我所說，我們對此感到非常興奮。所以我們會看看事情會如何發展。我們的出發點是真正讓我們的客戶能夠免費使用它。因此，他們實際上要做的是在我們獲得報酬的情況下提高數據的使用量。

Because what we want to do is really widen the net and get everyone in it and really understand all the possible things we can do. And then we'll figure out how specifically we want to charge, what's the most efficient way to do it or do you want to include it and have more aggressive price increases from the relationship in general.

因為我們想做的是真正擴大網絡，讓每個人都參與進來，真正了解我們可以做的所有可能的事情。然後我們將弄清楚我們想要收費的具體程度，最有效的方式是什麼，或者您是否想要將其包括在內，並從整體關係中獲得更積極的價格上漲。

But it's been a winner for us so far out of the gates. And I've been really proud of the team, and their ability to focus on this with so many other things that are going on.

但到目前為止，它對我們來說是一個勝利者。我為這個團隊感到非常自豪，他們有能力專注於這件事以及正在發生的許多其他事情。

(Operator Instructions) George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

（操作員指令）George Tong，高盛。

You mentioned that client spending remains disciplined and sales cycles have lengthened in the quarter. Can you discuss what internal initiatives or external market conditions you would need to see for these trends to begin to improve?

您提到本季客戶支出仍受到限制，銷售週期也有所延長。您能否討論您需要採取哪些內部舉措或外部市場條件才能使這些趨勢開始改善？

Sure, George. I'd say a couple of things. So -- and there could be different buckets. So I'd say one bucket, I think, is the process that we're in and some of the additional questions from clients, some wait and see as to what happens in this process.

當然，喬治。我想說幾件事。所以——可能會有不同的桶子。所以我想說，我認為，一個桶子是我們所處的過程以及客戶提出的一些其他問題，有些人等著看看這個過程中會發生什麼。

I'd say, internally, what we can do is really continue to drive our -- so if we think about Chat D&B as an example, there is real efficiency gain there. So at times of having a tighter budget, this is exactly the thing that you need and exactly -- I'd say we've priced it without an incremental charge initially, where our clients can adopt it and do more and engage more with us.

我想說，在內部，我們能做的就是繼續推動我們的業務——因此，如果我們以 Chat D&B 為例，那裡確實會提高效率。因此，在預算緊張的時候，這正是您所需要的，而且正是- 我想說，我們最初定價時沒有增加費用，我們的客戶可以採用它，做更多的事情，並與我們進行更多的互動。

The other is, as we look at clients that have many data providers, we're approaching them about consolidating all their vendors into one, one being us and saving money and having the best data that's available.

另一個是，當我們看到擁有許多數據提供者的客戶時，我們正在與他們接觸，將他們的所有供應商整合為一個，其中一個就是我們，這樣可以節省資金並擁有可用的最佳數據。

So there's a number of things that we're focused on doing here to help with the macro environment. And like I said, what I'm proud of the team is that they don't look at the macro as an excuse. We're always looking at ways to push through it. And so those will be the things I think that I'd focus on. Bryan, do you have anything?

因此，我們在這裡重點做很多事情來幫助改善宏觀環境。正如我所說，我為團隊感到自豪的是，他們不會將宏觀視為藉口。我們一直在尋找克服困難的方法。所以這些都會是我認為我應該關注的事情。布萊恩，你有什麼嗎？

Yeah. And George, I think, certainly, we talk about one thing. That fell into place, right, was the Fed took the first step, right, in the 50 bp rate cut, right, so that was definitely on the opposite side of a positive move, right, from that perspective.

是的。喬治，我想，當然，我們談論一件事。就這樣，聯準會邁出了第一步，降息了 50 個基點，所以從這個角度來看，這絕對是積極舉措的對立面。

So look, we're going to get through a presidential election, right? We're going to continue to see economic data come out. The Fed is going to continue to move towards, I think, a longer-term terminal that both (inaudible). And all those things as you get a little bit more clarity and less ambiguity. They help, I think, ease into better buying decisions, tightening up those sales cycles and...

所以看，我們將完成總統選舉，對嗎？我們將繼續看到經濟數據的公佈。我認為，聯準會將繼續朝著一個長期目標邁進，（聽不清楚）。當你變得更加清晰和更少歧義時，所有這些事情都會變得更加清晰。我認為，它們有助於輕鬆做出更好的購買決策，收緊銷售週期以及...

Got it. That's helpful. And then you're expecting organic revenue growth in 4Q to accelerate towards the high end of the full year guidance range, maybe not above the range, but towards the higher end. Can you talk about whether that 4Q growth rate is a reasonable starting point for organic growth in 2025, alter growth rate next year that might cause it to deviate from what you're going to expect in 4Q?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後，您預計第四季度的有機收入成長將加速向全年指導範圍的高端邁進，也許不會高於該範圍，但將向高端邁進。您能否談談第四季度的成長率是否是 2025 年有機成長的合理起點，明年改變成長率是否可能導致其偏離您對第四季的預期？

Yeah. So George, if you look at it, clearly we'll get through the end of the year. Q4 is always a time for us to close out, right, a lot of sales, a lot of renewals, et cetera, from that perspective. And so we'll clearly issue formal guidance in February as we go into the earnings call from that perspective.

是的。所以喬治，如果你看一下，顯然我們會度過今年年底。從這個角度來看，第四季始終是我們結束大量銷售、大量續約等的時候。因此，當我們從這個角度進入財報電話會議時，我們將在二月明確發布正式指導方針。

We've said it before, like the quarter is not always perfect. No quarter in the year is a perfect kind of jumping off point. But if you think about how we've talked about our progression, right, into our medium term guidance ranges, we've talked about getting things resolved around just some of the 10% of the business that hasn't been necessarily performing relative to the other 90%.

我們之前已經說過，這個季度並不總是完美的。一年中沒有哪個季度是完美的起點。但如果你想想我們如何談論我們的進展，對吧，進入我們的中期指導範圍，我們已經討論過如何解決 10% 的業務中的一些問題，這些業務的表現相對於其餘90%。

I mean, those are all the things that -- as we think about transitioning from '24 into '25 and continuing to improve the business, right, that's how we think about it versus any given quarter kind of being the jumping off point from that perspective.

我的意思是，這些都是——當我們考慮從 24 世紀過渡到 25 世紀並繼續改善業務時，這就是我們的想法，而不是以任何特定季度為起點看法。

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Anthony Jabbour for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回安東尼·賈布爾發表閉幕詞。請繼續。

Thank you. As always, I'd like to thank my Dun & Bradstreet colleagues for all their efforts in growing this great business, our great clients who help us with their partnership and guidance. And for all of you who are interested in Dun & Bradstreet. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

謝謝。一如既往，我要感謝我的鄧白氏同事為發展這項偉大的業務所做的一切努力，感謝我們偉大的客戶為我們提供的合作夥伴關係和指導。也獻給所有對鄧白氏有興趣的人。我希望您度過愉快的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。