Exlservice Holdings Inc (EXLS) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q4 2022 ExlService Holdings, Inc. Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to our speaker today, John Kristoff, Vice President of Investor Relations. The floor is yours, John.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎參加 2022 年第四季度 ExlService Holdings, Inc. 電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想把會議交給我們今天的發言人，投資者關係副總裁 John Kristoff。地板是你的，約翰。

Thank you, [Gerald]. Hello, and thank you for joining EXL's 2022 Fourth Quarter and Year-end Financial Results Conference Call. On the call with me today are Rohit Kapoor, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Maurizio Nicolelli, Chief Financial Officer. We hope that you've had an opportunity to review the fourth quarter earnings release we issued this morning. We have also posted an earnings slide deck and investor fact sheet in the Investor section of EXL's website.

謝謝你，[杰拉德]。您好，感謝您參加 EXL 的 2022 年第四季度和年終財務業績電話會議。今天與我通電話的是副董事長兼首席執行官 Rohit Kapoor；首席財務官 Maurizio Nicolelli。我們希望您有機會閱讀我們今天上午發布的第四季度收益報告。我們還在 EXL 網站的投資者部分發布了收益幻燈片和投資者情況說明書。

As a reminder, some of the information we'll discuss this morning is forward-looking. Please keep in mind that these forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, those factors set forth in today's press release, discussed in the company's periodic reports or other documents filed with the SEC from time to time. EXL assumes no obligation to update the information presented on this conference call today. During our call, we may reference certain non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe provide useful information for investors. Reconciliation of those measures to GAAP can be found in our press release, slide deck and investor fact sheet.

提醒一下，我們今天上午要討論的一些信息是前瞻性的。請記住，這些前瞻性陳述受已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與此類陳述明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。此類風險和不確定性包括但不限於一般經濟狀況、今天新聞稿中闡述的、公司定期報告或不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中討論的那些因素。 EXL 不承擔更新今天電話會議上提供的信息的義務。在我們的電話會議中，我們可能會參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，我們認為這些指標為投資者提供了有用的信息。在我們的新聞稿、幻燈片和投資者情況說明書中可以找到這些措施與 GAAP 的對賬。

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

有了這個，我現在將電話轉給 Rohit。

Thanks, John. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the EXL Fourth Quarter and 2022 Year-end Earnings Call. I'm pleased to be with you this morning reporting another great quarter. We finished the year strong with great momentum as we enter 2023. Our fourth quarter revenue was $375 million, an increase of 27% year-over-year and 29% on a constant currency basis. And we grew fourth quarter adjusted EPS 29% to $1.56 per share.

謝謝，約翰。大家，早安。歡迎來到 EXL 第四季度和 2022 年年終收益電話會議。我很高興今天早上能和你們一起報告另一個偉大的季度。進入 2023 年，我們以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年。我們第四季度的收入為 3.75 億美元，同比增長 27%，按固定匯率計算增長 29%。第四季度調整後每股收益增長 29% 至 1.56 美元。

We generated strong growth across both analytics and digital operations and solutions. In analytics, we delivered revenue of $171 million for the quarter, up 3% sequentially and 35% year-over-year. For the full year, our analytics business grew 41% and now represents 46% of our total revenue. Our Digital Operations & Solutions business generated revenue of $204 million with year-over-year growth accelerating to 21% in the quarter and nearly 5% sequentially from the third quarter. This growth was driven by 23% year-over-year growth in our insurance business, and 31% year-over-year growth in our emerging business. Our growth was fueled by an expansion of existing client relationships and new client wins in '22.

我們在分析和數字運營及解決方案方面實現了強勁增長。在分析方面，我們本季度實現收入 1.71 億美元，環比增長 3%，同比增長 35%。全年，我們的分析業務增長了 41%，目前占我們總收入的 46%。我們的數字運營和解決方案業務產生了 2.04 億美元的收入，本季度同比增長加速至 21%，比第三季度環比增長近 5%。這一增長是由我們保險業務同比增長 23% 和新興業務同比增長 31% 推動的。我們的增長得益於現有客戶關係的擴展和 22 年贏得的新客戶。

These impressive results demonstrate that EXL has created 2 strong growth engines by leveraging data across both our analytics and digital operations and solutions businesses. This focus on data-led digital transformation, coupled with our strong domain expertise in key industries is positioning us well for the future.

這些令人印象深刻的結果表明，EXL 通過在我們的分析和數字運營和解決方案業務中利用數據創造了兩個強大的增長引擎。這種對數據主導的數字化轉型的關注，加上我們在關鍵行業的強大領域專業知識，使我們為未來做好了準備。

Our data-led strategy is helping our clients to use data to improve their operations through digital transformation, enable better decisions through advanced analytics and embed intelligence in their workflows to increase speed to insights and outcomes. EXL is using data to connect back office operations with front-end customer platforms to remove friction points and latencies. We generate value for our clients by enabling savings through operational efficiency and business insights to offer a faster, more engaged customer experience. Our mastery of data, combined with our technical expertise and deep domain knowledge enables us to develop industry-specific AI use cases and sets us apart from our competitors. These capabilities and skills have been built over a long period of time and are difficult to replicate providing us with a sustainable competitive advantage.

我們以數據為主導的戰略正在幫助我們的客戶使用數據通過數字化轉型改善運營，通過高級分析做出更好的決策，並將智能嵌入到他們的工作流程中以加快獲得洞察力和成果的速度。 EXL 使用數據將後台操作與前端客戶平台連接起來，以消除摩擦點和延遲。我們通過提高運營效率和業務洞察力實現成本節約，從而為客戶創造價值，從而提供更快、參與度更高的客戶體驗。我們對數據的掌握，加上我們的技術專長和深厚的領域知識，使我們能夠開發特定於行業的人工智能用例，並使我們從競爭對手中脫穎而出。這些能力和技能是在很長一段時間內建立起來的，難以復制，為我們提供了可持續的競爭優勢。

Our data-led strategy has also significantly expanded our total addressable market across 4 dimensions. First, we are going deeper into our core industry verticals. For example, in insurance, we historically focused on property and casualty and life and annuity clients. Today, we are winning new logos in reinsurance, brokerage, third-party administrators and retirement and group benefits, and we continue to expand our geographic reach.

我們以數據為主導的戰略還在 4 個維度上顯著擴大了我們的總目標市場。首先，我們正在深入我們的核心垂直行業。例如，在保險領域，我們歷來專注於財產和傷亡以及人壽和年金客戶。今天，我們在再保險、經紀業務、第三方管理人以及退休和團體福利領域贏得了新標識，並且我們繼續擴大我們的地理覆蓋範圍。

Second, we are also finding success beyond our traditional markets of insurance, banking and health care into adjacent industries. While we have been quite successful in doing this, we are just scratching the surface with an enormous amount of runway for growth in the coming years. An illustration of the growth potential is the 35% full year revenue growth we delivered in our emerging business on an organic constant currency basis in 2022.

其次，我們還在保險、銀行和醫療保健等傳統市場以外的鄰近行業取得成功。雖然我們在這方面取得了相當的成功，但我們只是在為未來幾年的增長提供大量的跑道。增長潛力的一個例證是，我們在 2022 年以有機固定貨幣為基礎在新興業務中實現了 35% 的全年收入增長。

Third, we are pursuing new opportunities across buying centers within our existing client base. In the past, our primary focus was on the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Today, we work with the Chief Information Officer, Chief Data Officer, Chief Analytics Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Risk Officer and others across the C-suite.

第三，我們正在現有客戶群中尋找跨採購中心的新機會。過去，我們主要關注首席運營官和首席財務官。今天，我們與首席信息官、首席數據官、首席分析官、首席營銷官、首席風險官和其他高級管理人員一起工作。

Finally, we have expanded our scope of solutions and moved upstream with our competencies. We are now operating end-to-end and taking on the entire process as opposed to just a portion of work within the process. In other words, we have the ability to do larger deals across an enterprise, work with larger clients and grow our business. This also allows us to deliver better business outcomes to our clients.

最後，我們擴大了解決方案的範圍，並憑藉我們的能力向上游發展。我們現在是端到端的運作，並承擔整個流程，而不是流程中的一部分工作。換句話說，我們有能力在整個企業內進行更大規模的交易，與更大的客戶合作並發展我們的業務。這也使我們能夠為客戶提供更好的業務成果。

I'd like to share a few of examples that exemplify how our data-led strategy and digital capabilities uniquely position EXL to win in the marketplace. We began a multiyear digital transformation journey with one of the largest multinational brokerage firms in the world with a presence in over 100 countries. We are helping them achieve their goals of driving efficiency while at the same time, redesigning and improving their processes to enhance the customer experience. We are doing this by using AI-powered data extraction and analytics solutions to better understand the customer journey and identify friction points where internal workflows and end customer experience can be improved. This work is being rolled out enterprise-wide and will be the foundation for digital centers of excellence to accelerate quantum improvements to their business model.

我想分享幾個例子，說明我們以數據為主導的戰略和數字能力如何獨特地定位 EXL 在市場上取勝。我們與世界上最大的跨國經紀公司之一開始了多年的數字化轉型之旅，業務遍及 100 多個國家。我們正在幫助他們實現提高效率的目標，同時重新設計和改進他們的流程以增強客戶體驗。為此，我們使用 AI 支持的數據提取和分析解決方案來更好地了解客戶旅程並確定可以改善內部工作流程和最終客戶體驗的摩擦點。這項工作正在整個企業範圍內推廣，並將成為數字卓越中心加速對其業務模型進行量子改進的基礎。

Another example is with one of the top 5 disability insurers in the U.S. They operate a large disability intake contact center and wanted to improve efficiency and elevate customer experience. We deployed a conversational AI solution on top of their existing technology stack with 100% of integrated disability claims intake going through our system as the first touch point. This enables instant extraction and analysis of unstructured claims data for straight-through processing of fast and routine claims. Through this large-scale deployment, we were able to improve intake efficiency by 20%. Based on the results of this initiative, the client awarded us downstream processes to transform the end-to-end claims experience for the customer. This is a good illustration of the tangible value we deliver to our clients and how that often leads to expansion of scope.

另一個例子是美國排名前 5 位的殘疾保險公司之一。他們經營著一個大型殘疾接待聯絡中心，希望提高效率並提升客戶體驗。我們在他們現有的技術堆棧之上部署了一個對話式人工智能解決方案，將 100% 的綜合殘疾索賠受理作為第一個接觸點通過我們的系統。這使得能夠即時提取和分析非結構化索賠數據，以直接處理快速和常規索賠。通過這次大規模部署，我們能夠將進氣效率提高 20%。基於這一舉措的結果，客戶授予我們下游流程，以改變客戶的端到端索賠體驗。這很好地說明了我們為客戶提供的有形價值，以及這通常如何導致範圍擴大。

These are just 2 examples of how our data-led strategy are helping us win in the marketplace. EXL has emerged as a strategic partner to drive large-scale end-to-end digital transformation, which are increasing in frequency and complexity across our client base.

這些只是我們以數據為主導的戰略如何幫助我們贏得市場的兩個例子。 EXL 已成為推動大規模端到端數字化轉型的戰略合作夥伴，這種轉型在我們客戶群中的頻率和復雜性都在增加。

In addition to having a successful strategy, we continue to deliver on execution as well. I want to recognize our people who have brought our data-led vision to life. We recruit and develop the best talent in the industry, and this continues to help fuel our growth. The combination of interesting work and attractive growth opportunities has led to EXL becoming an employer of choice. I want to thank our global team of more than 45,000 employees for their hard work and relentless pursuit of delivering value to our clients. I am incredibly proud of our employees and feel fortunate to be part of this team.

除了擁有成功的戰略外，我們還繼續執行。我想表彰我們的員工，他們將我們以數據為主導的願景變為現實。我們招募和培養業內最優秀的人才，這將繼續推動我們的發展。有趣的工作和有吸引力的發展機會相結合，使 EXL 成為首選雇主。我要感謝我們由 45,000 多名員工組成的全球團隊，感謝他們的辛勤工作和為客戶提供價值的不懈追求。我為我們的員工感到無比自豪，並為成為這個團隊的一員感到幸運。

As we look to 2023, we have solid momentum with the new wins and large deals as well as a robust pipeline of opportunities. Maurizio will review the specifics of our 2023 guidance, but I wanted to provide some color on the general demand environment. We continue to see strong demand in our Analytics business and our overall view has not materially changed from the third quarter. Our clients view their analytics function as a significant driver of growth, profitability and differentiation and continue to invest in analytics in leveraging these capabilities.

展望 2023 年，我們在新的勝利和大宗交易以及大量機會方面擁有強勁勢頭。 Maurizio 將審查我們 2023 年指南的具體細節，但我想為一般需求環境提供一些色彩。我們繼續看到分析業務的強勁需求，我們的總體看法與第三季度相比沒有發生重大變化。我們的客戶將他們的分析功能視為增長、盈利和差異化的重要驅動力，並繼續投資於分析以利用這些功能。

In Digital Operations & Solutions, we are seeing steady demand as more clients focus on digital transformation and cost reduction. Deal sizes in our pipeline have been increasing. One of the macro demand trends we are beginning to see is clients shifting towards integrating analytics and digital operations to gain greater value and drive more accountability with their partners. This plays extremely well to our strengths and in the adoption of our unique business model.

在數字運營和解決方案方面，隨著越來越多的客戶關注數字化轉型和降低成本，我們看到了穩定的需求。我們管道中的交易規模一直在增加。我們開始看到的宏觀需求趨勢之一是客戶轉向整合分析和數字運營，以獲得更大的價值並推動與合作夥伴的更多責任。這對我們的優勢和採用我們獨特的商業模式非常有用。

In summary, our data-led strategy is working. We delivered exceptional financial results in 2022, and we are well positioned for 2023 and beyond. We have sustainable growth fundamentals with a large and growing total addressable market, and we operate in a very resilient industry. We remain confident in our ability to deliver double-digit revenue and EPS growth in 2023. Our confidence is rooted in EXL's winning strategy, unique data capabilities, competitive positioning and our exceptionally talented and dedicated team.

總之，我們以數據為主導的戰略正在奏效。我們在 2022 年取得了出色的財務業績，我們為 2023 年及以後做好了準備。我們擁有可持續增長的基本面，擁有龐大且不斷增長的總目標市場，並且我們在一個非常有彈性的行業中運營。我們對我們在 2023 年實現兩位數收入和每股收益增長的能力充滿信心。我們的信心植根於 EXL 的製勝戰略、獨特的數據能力、競爭定位以及我們才華橫溢且敬業的團隊。

With that, I'll turn it over to Maurizio to cover our financial performance in detail.

有了這個，我將把它交給 Maurizio 來詳細介紹我們的財務業績。

Thank you, Rohit, and thanks, everyone, for joining us this morning. I will provide insights into our financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year 2022, followed by our outlook for 2023. We delivered a strong fourth quarter with revenue of $374.7 million, up 26.8% year-over-year on a reported basis. On a constant currency basis, we grew revenue 28.6% year-over-year and 3.7% sequentially. Adjusted EPS was $1.56, an increase of 28.9% year-over-year.

謝謝 Rohit，也謝謝大家今天早上加入我們。我將深入分析我們 2022 年第四季度和全年的財務業績，然後是我們對 2023 年的展望。我們第四季度表現強勁，收入為 3.747 億美元，同比增長 26.8%。按固定匯率計算，我們的收入同比增長 28.6%，環比增長 3.7%。調整後每股收益為 1.56 美元，同比增長 28.9%。

All revenue growth numbers mentioned hereafter are on an organic constant currency basis. Revenue from our digital operations and solutions businesses as defined by 3 reportable segments, excluding Analytics, was $204 million, which represents year-over-year growth of 23%. Sequentially from the third quarter, we grew revenue 4.6%. In the Insurance segment, we generated revenue of $120.7 million, an increase of 24.6% year-over-year, driven by expansion and existing client relationships and new client wins in 2022. The insurance vertical consisting of both our digital operations and solutions and analytics businesses grew 23.5% year-over-year with revenue of $155.9 million. Emerging reported revenue of $58 million, up 35.8% year-over-year. This growth was driven by new client wins earlier in the year, higher volumes in travel and transportation and expansion in other existing client relationships. The emerging vertical consisting of both our digital operations and solutions and analytics businesses grew 35.5% year-over-year on an organic constant currency basis with revenue of $142 million.

以下提到的所有收入增長數字均以有機固定貨幣為基礎。我們的數字運營和解決方案業務收入為 2.04 億美元，按 3 個可報告分部定義，不包括分析，同比增長 23%。從第三季度開始，我們的收入增長了 4.6%。在保險部門，我們的收入為 1.207 億美元，同比增長 24.6%，這得益於擴張和現有客戶關係以及 2022 年贏得的新客戶。保險垂直領域包括我們的數字運營、解決方案和分析業務同比增長 23.5%，收入為 1.559 億美元。新興市場報告收入為 5800 萬美元，同比增長 35.8%。這一增長是由今年早些時候贏得的新客戶、旅行和運輸量的增加以及其他現有客戶關係的擴展推動的。由我們的數字運營和解決方案以及分析業務組成的新興垂直行業按有機固定貨幣計算同比增長 35.5%，收入為 1.42 億美元。

Healthcare reported revenue of $25.3 million down 4.4% year-over-year, driven by lower volume in the clinical services business. The Healthcare segment grew 11% sequentially from the third quarter. The health care vertical consisting of our digital operations and solutions and analytics businesses grew 13.6% year-over-year with revenue of $76.8 million. In the Analytics segment, we generated revenue of $170.7 million, up 25.6% year-over-year on an organic constant currency basis. Growth in the fourth quarter was driven by expansion in existing client relationships in banking and financial services, health care and retail. Clairvoyant contributed $15.1 million of revenue in the fourth quarter. Including Clairvoyant, we grew analytics 36.2% year-over-year. Sequentially from the third quarter of 2022, analytics revenue grew [2.6%].

醫療保健報告的收入為 2530 萬美元，同比下降 4.4%，這是受臨床服務業務量下降的推動。醫療保健部門從第三季度開始環比增長 11%。由我們的數字運營和解決方案以及分析業務組成的醫療保健垂直行業同比增長 13.6%，收入為 7680 萬美元。在分析部門，我們創造了 1.707 億美元的收入，按有機固定貨幣計算同比增長 25.6%。第四季度的增長受到銀行和金融服務、醫療保健和零售領域現有客戶關係擴展的推動。 Clairvoyant 在第四季度貢獻了 1510 萬美元的收入。包括千里眼在內，我們的分析同比增長了 36.2%。從 2022 年第三季度開始，分析收入增長 [2.6%]。

We reduced SG&A expenses by 220 basis points year-over-year to 19.2%, driven by operating leverage and continued cost discipline. Our adjusted operating margin for the quarter was 18.0%, up 100 basis points year-over-year, driven by operating leverage and partially offset by investments to support the ramp-up of new client wins. Our adjusted EPS for the quarter was $1.56, a 28.9% increase year-over-year on a reported basis.

在運營槓桿和持續的成本控制的推動下，我們將 SG&A 費用同比減少 220 個基點至 19.2%。我們本季度調整後的營業利潤率為 18.0%，同比增長 100 個基點，這主要受經營槓桿的推動，部分被支持增加新客戶的投資所抵消。我們調整後的本季度每股收益為 1.56 美元，同比增長 28.9%。

Now turning to our full year 2022 performance. We grew full year revenue to $1.41 billion, an increase of 27.3% year-over-year on a constant currency basis and 23.1% on an organic constant currency basis. This growth was driven by all our verticals in our digital operations and solutions and analytics businesses. Revenue from our digital operations and solutions businesses was $764.7 million, growing 17.4% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Our analytics business generated $647.4 million of revenue, an increase of 41.6% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Analytics represented 46% of total revenue, up 5 percentage points year-over-year. Clairvoyant contributed $48.9 [billion] in 2022.

現在轉向我們 2022 年的全年業績。我們全年收入增長至 14.1 億美元，按固定匯率計算同比增長 27.3%，按有機固定匯率計算增長 23.1%。這種增長是由我們在數字運營、解決方案和分析業務中的所有垂直行業推動的。我們的數字運營和解決方案業務收入為 7.647 億美元，按固定匯率計算同比增長 17.4%。我們的分析業務產生了 6.474 億美元的收入，按固定匯率計算同比增長 41.6%。分析佔總收入的 46%，同比增長 5 個百分點。千里眼在 2022 年貢獻了 489 [十億美元]。

Our adjusted operating margin for the year was 18.3%, down 30 basis points year-over-year driven by investments to support the ramp-up of new business and higher operating expenses associated with a return to the office. Our effective tax rate for the year was 23.2%, up 10 basis points year-over-year. We grew full year adjusted EPS 24.6% year-over-year to $6.02 on a reported basis. Our balance sheet remains strong. Our cash, including short-term and long-term investments on December 31 was $329 million, and our revolver debt was $250 million, for a net cash position of $79 million. We generated cash flow from operations in 2022 of $166 million compared with $184 million in 2021 due to increased accounts receivables driven by higher revenues. During the year, we spent $45 million on capital expenditures and repurchased 68.5 million of our shares at an average cost of $136 per share.

我們今年調整後的營業利潤率為 18.3%，同比下降 30 個基點，原因是為支持新業務的增長而進行的投資以及與重返辦公室相關的更高運營費用。我們全年的有效稅率為 23.2%，同比上升 10 個基點。根據報告，我們全年調整後每股收益同比增長 24.6% 至 6.02 美元。我們的資產負債表依然強勁。截至 12 月 31 日，我們的現金（包括短期和長期投資）為 3.29 億美元，我們的循環債務為 2.5 億美元，淨現金頭寸為 7900 萬美元。由於收入增加導致應收賬款增加，我們 2022 年的運營現金流為 1.66 億美元，而 2021 年為 1.84 億美元。年內，我們花費了 4500 萬美元用於資本支出，並以每股 136 美元的平均成本回購了 6850 萬股股票。

Moving on to our outlook for 2023. We are entering the year with strong momentum across both our digital operations and solutions and analytics businesses. While we have good visibility into the first half of 2023, we are conscious of the macroeconomic uncertainty that remains further into the future. Despite this uncertainty, we are confident in our ability to once again deliver double-digit growth in both revenue and adjusted EPS in 2023 and the outlook ranges we are providing today are consistent with the medium-term targets we presented at our recent Investor Day.

繼續我們對 2023 年的展望。進入新的一年，我們的數字運營、解決方案和分析業務都保持著強勁勢頭。雖然我們對 2023 年上半年有很好的預見性，但我們意識到未來宏觀經濟的不確定性依然存在。儘管存在這種不確定性，但我們相信我們有能力在 2023 年再次實現收入和調整後每股收益的兩位數增長，並且我們今天提供的展望範圍與我們在最近的投資者日提出的中期目標一致。

We anticipate revenue in the range of $1.56 billion to $1.6 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 11% to 13% on a reported basis and 11% to 14% on a constant currency basis. We expect to drill operations and solutions to grow 8% to 10% and analytics to grow in the range of 15% to 18% on a constant currency basis. We expect a foreign exchange gain between $4 million and $6 million, net interest expense between $1 million and $2 million and our effective tax rate to be in the range of 22% to 23%. We anticipate adjusted EPS to be in the range of $6.60 to $6.80, representing growth of 10% to 13%. We expect capital expenditures to be in the range of $47 million to $52 million. We believe these guidance ranges are achievable even considering the possibility of macroeconomic headwinds in 2023. Given the successful execution of our data-led growth strategy, the continued expansion of our total addressable market and our talent advantage, we are well positioned to grow our double-digit growth momentum.

我們預計收入在 15.6 億美元至 16 億美元之間，按報告計算同比增長 11% 至 13%，按固定匯率計算增長 11% 至 14%。我們預計鑽探業務和解決方案將增長 8% 至 10%，而分析將在固定匯率基礎上增長 15% 至 18%。我們預計外匯收益在 400 萬至 600 萬美元之間，淨利息支出在 100 萬至 200 萬美元之間，我們的有效稅率將在 22% 至 23% 之間。我們預計調整後的每股收益將在 6.60 美元至 6.80 美元之間，增長 10% 至 13%。我們預計資本支出將在 4700 萬至 5200 萬美元之間。我們相信，即使考慮到 2023 年宏觀經濟逆風的可能性，這些指導範圍也是可以實現的。鑑於我們以數據為主導的增長戰略的成功執行、我們總目標市場的持續擴張以及我們的人才優勢，我們有能力實現我們的雙重增長——數字增長勢頭。

With that, Rohit and I will be happy to take your questions.

這樣，Rohit 和我將很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Maggie Nolan of William Blair.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自威廉布萊爾的瑪吉諾蘭。

Nice quarter. Can you talk a little bit about the level of investment in new client ramp-ups in the quarter and how that compares to recent quarters past in 2022 and maybe what that would look like over the next several quarters?

不錯的季度。您能否談談本季度對新客戶增長的投資水平，以及與 2022 年過去的最近幾個季度相比如何，以及未來幾個季度的情況如何？

Sure, Maggie. So we've won a substantial amount of business in 2022 from new clients, and that's reflected in the number of new clients that we signed up which was particularly strong. The new client ramp-ups, there is certainly an increase in investment in people as well as in terms of our infrastructure. And we continue to make sure that we can execute and deliver to our customer expectations and requirements. Some of this implementation and execution of the new client wins will spill over into '23. And we expect that we will continue to execute that, particularly strongly in the first half of the year.

當然，瑪姬。因此，我們在 2022 年從新客戶那裡贏得了大量業務，這反映在我們簽約的新客戶數量上特別強勁。新客戶的增加，對人員以及我們的基礎設施的投資肯定會增加。我們將繼續確保我們能夠執行並滿足客戶的期望和要求。新客戶勝利的一些實施和執行將延續到 23 年。我們預計我們將繼續執行此操作，尤其是在今年上半年。

The investment that we make in new client revenue ramp-up generally does have a margin eroding impact because the margin of that new business is at a lower gross margin, while we are ramping up. But we expect that to continue to normalize as we -- as the ramp-ups stabilize for us.

我們在增加新客戶收入方面所做的投資通常確實會產生利潤率侵蝕的影響，因為在我們正在增加的同時，新業務的毛利率較低。但我們希望隨著我們的增長穩定下來，這種情況會繼續正常化。

And then could you discuss the balance of kind of more project-based versus annuity type analytics work that you saw in 2022? And whether you expect that mix to change from here?

然後，您能否討論一下您在 2022 年看到的更多基於項目的分析工作與年金類型的分析工作之間的平衡？您是否希望這種組合從這裡開始發生變化？

Right. So when we had provided guidance for Q4 2022, we weren't very sure about the project-based revenue and some of the discretionary spend that our clients might have had in Q4, particularly as they looked towards tightening some of the spend that they had. Actually, the work that we do for clients came in pretty much as we had seen in the previous 3 quarters. And so we haven't really seen any shift in change in terms of the work that we're getting. The balance between annuity-based work and project-based work continues to remain pretty steady. And for us, the fourth quarter ended up being a slightly stronger quarter than as compared to our expectations, and we haven't really seen any shifts in that trend right now.

正確的。因此，當我們為 2022 年第四季度提供指導時，我們不太確定我們的客戶在第四季度可能擁有的基於項目的收入和一些可自由支配的支出，特別是當他們希望收緊他們的一些支出時.實際上，我們為客戶所做的工作與我們在前三個季度所看到的差不多。因此，就我們所從事的工作而言，我們還沒有真正看到任何變化的轉變。基於年金的工作和基於項目的工作之間的平衡繼續保持相當穩定。對我們來說，第四季度最終比我們的預期略強，而且我們目前還沒有真正看到這種趨勢有任何變化。

Our next question comes from Bryan Bergin of Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Bryan Bergin。

I wanted to start on margin here. So can you talk a bit about what you're embedding in the '23 outlook as it relates to adjusted operating margin. And also give us a sense of how you see the underlying digital ops and analytics gross margin trending up. I'm curious -- I hear you on the large deal ramps. I'm also curious if you have fully left headwinds related to travel and (inaudible) or not.

我想從保證金開始。那麼你能談談你在 23 年展望中嵌入的與調整後的營業利潤率相關的內容嗎？並且讓我們了解您如何看待潛在的數字操作和分析毛利率呈上升趨勢。我很好奇——我聽說你在大宗交易的坡道上。我也很好奇您是否完全擺脫了與旅行相關的逆風和（聽不清）。

Sure. Why don't I tackle your margin question there. So when you look at margins for 2022, we ended the year at 18.3%. And right in line with where we thought we would end up for the year. If you look at it by quarterly, there's always going to be a little bit of ups and downs on a quarterly basis. But for the full year, we ended right around [at 18.3%] .

當然。我為什麼不在那裡解決你的保證金問題。因此，當您查看 2022 年的利潤率時，我們年底的利潤率為 18.3%。並且與我們認為今年結束的位置一致。如果按季度來看，每個季度總會有一些起伏。但就全年而言，我們的收盤率正好在 [18.3%] 左右。

Going into next year, we have a couple of -- we had a couple of headwinds that we did have in 2022. That will give us a little bit of uplift going into 2023. We did have the transitioning clients within health care that hurt our gross margin within health care. And you see that with the numbers during the year that pushed down our (inaudible) during the year. We also -- particularly in Q3 and then in Q4, we have a number of ramp-ups that we are getting ready for in terms of that revenue being more fully realized in 2023. And -- so we're taking on additional cost to ramp up clients beginning in 2023 in 2022.

進入明年，我們有幾個 - 我們在 2022 年確實遇到了一些不利因素。這將使我們在進入 2023 年時有所提升。我們確實有醫療保健領域的過渡客戶傷害了我們醫療保健領域的毛利率。你會看到這一年的數字壓低了我們的（聽不清）。我們還——特別是在第三季度和第四季度，我們已經準備好進行一些增加，以便在 2023 年更充分地實現收入。而且——所以我們正在承擔額外的成本來從 2023 年到 2022 年開始增加客戶。

And then going into 2023, we do expect a certain level of leverage as we continue to grow. When you put that all together, we do see margins within our guidance, growing modestly another 10 to 20 basis points from where we ended 2022. And we're pretty confident with those margins, even giving a potential macro uncertainty going into the back end of the year in H2. And also assuming a certain level of wage inflation remains constant from 2022.

然後進入 2023 年，隨著我們的持續增長，我們確實預計會有一定程度的槓桿作用。當你把所有這些放在一起時，我們確實看到我們的指導範圍內的利潤率，比我們 2022 年結束時的水平再小幅增長 10 到 20 個基點。我們對這些利潤率非常有信心，甚至給後端帶來潛在的宏觀不確定性H2 年度最佳。並假設一定水平的工資通脹從 2022 年起保持不變。

Okay. That's helpful. And then I guess just on the growth outlook for the year. Can you dig in a little bit more on the underlying macro assumptions you're making? I hear you on calling out the uncertainty. I'm curious kind of what level of visibility you've built this guide to versus years past, particularly on that second half? And how you thought about potential prudence here in building that growth forecast?

好的。這很有幫助。然後我想只是關於今年的增長前景。您能否更深入地了解您所做的基本宏觀假設？我聽到你在呼喚不確定性。我很好奇，與過去幾年相比，您在本指南中建立了什麼樣的可見度水平，尤其是在下半年？在建立增長預測時，您如何考慮潛在的謹慎性？

I'll address that, Bryan. So when you look at our guidance for revenue, it's 11% to 14% on a constant currency basis. And we are assuming a certain level of uncertainty second half of the year. And that assumes a slowdown in the second half of the year. We are -- as Rohit mentioned in his opening remarks, we are seeing very good momentum going into 2023, and that continues. If we do not see that uncertainty or that potential slowdown in the second half of the year, then yes, that does give us a little bit of upside from our guidance from where we are today. But we've taken a little bit of a prudent approach and assumed a bit of a slowdown towards the -- within the second half of the year.

我來解決這個問題，布萊恩。因此，當您查看我們的收入指導時，按固定匯率計算，收入為 11% 至 14%。我們假設今年下半年存在一定程度的不確定性。並且假設今年下半年經濟放緩。我們——正如羅希特在開場白中提到的那樣，我們看到進入 2023 年的勢頭非常好，而且這種勢頭還在繼續。如果我們在今年下半年看不到這種不確定性或潛在的放緩，那麼是的，這確實給了我們今天的指導帶來一點好處。但我們採取了一些謹慎的方法，並假設在今年下半年內會有所放緩。

Our next question comes from Moshe Katri of Wedbush.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wedbush 的 Moshe Katri。

Nice quarter. Just a couple of model-related kind of assumptions for calendar '23. How should we think about the quarterly progression in terms of revenues Q1, Q2 and then the second half? That's my first question.

不錯的季度。日曆 '23 的一些與模型相關的假設。我們應該如何考慮第一季度、第二季度和下半年收入的季度進展？這是我的第一個問題。

Sure. So when you think about revenue for 2023, I think it's fairly -- when we look at it, it's fairly consistent what we've seen in '22 and prior. It's a gradual increase throughout the year. We don't see any one quarter being significantly higher in terms of percentage growth than any other quarter. So for modeling purposes, I would assume a fairly gradual increase throughout the year.

當然。因此，當你考慮 2023 年的收入時，我認為這是公平的——當我們看它時，它與我們在 22 年及之前所看到的相當一致。全年都是逐漸增加的。我們沒有看到任何一個季度的百分比增長率明顯高於任何其他季度。因此，出於建模目的，我假設全年增長相當緩慢。

So like I think last quarter, you had about 10% sequential growth from Q4 to Q1. I think that was the number. Is that still what we should be looking for now?

所以就像我認為上個季度一樣，從第四季度到第一季度，你有大約 10% 的環比增長。我認為那是數字。這仍然是我們現在應該尋找的嗎？

That seems a little bit high to be quite honest, Moshe. I think separately, we can help you with your modeling.

老實說，這似乎有點高，Moshe。我單獨認為，我們可以幫助您進行建模。

Yes. Moshe, I think the best way to think about it is we provided our revenue guidance to you. And you can take a look at the annual revenue guidance for '23 over '22 and model out a steady gradual increase in quarterly revenues.

是的。 Moshe，我認為最好的思考方式是我們向您提供了收入指導。您可以查看 '23 over '22 的年度收入指導，並模擬季度收入穩步逐漸增長的模型。

Understood. And stock-based comp assumptions for the year?

明白了。以及今年的基於股票的補償假設？

They're going to be very similar to 2022 with a modest increase in the single digits.

它們將與 2022 年非常相似，只有個位數的適度增長。

Okay. Great. And then a big picture question, you spoke about visibility in demand. One of your peers is talking about sales cycle is kind of shrinking given the fact that it seems that some of the clients are looking for cost optimization solutions in this environment. Maybe you could talk a bit about sales cycles and what you're seeing out there? And then maybe the nature of the pipeline is shifting in terms of the pivot towards more cost optimization. Are you seeing that as well?

好的。偉大的。然後是一個大問題，你談到了需求的可見性。您的一位同行正在談論銷售週期正在縮短，因為一些客戶似乎正在這種環境中尋找成本優化解決方案。也許您可以談談銷售週期以及您在那裡看到的情況？然後，管道的性質可能正在轉向更多的成本優化。你也看到了嗎？

Sure. I'm happy to take that and address that. And this is something which we've spoken about in the past. So first of all, the overall demand environment for our services and solutions continues to remain strong, and there's really been no change over the last quarter or 2 quarters that we are seeing. However, to your point, we do see shifts within that demand environment. There are some elements where we are seeing a softness of demand and there are other elements where we are seeing a much stronger growth and much stronger demand elements coming in.

當然。我很高興接受並解決這個問題。這是我們過去談過的事情。因此，首先，我們的服務和解決方案的整體需求環境繼續保持強勁，而且我們看到的上個季度或兩個季度確實沒有變化。但是，就您的觀點而言，我們確實看到了需求環境的變化。在某些因素中我們看到需求疲軟，在其他因素中我們看到更強勁的增長和更強勁的需求因素。

There certainly seems to be a shift towards cost reduction and getting a lot more efficiency and productivity. So clients are certainly trending in that direction. The places where we're seeing softness is around marketing analytics. And there, it tends to be discretionary expenses that can be pushed out. So we're seeing some of that. But at the same time, we are also seeing increased strength in risk analytics and in -- managing fraud and managing abuse of risk. And therefore, we're seeing a greater amount of momentum out there.

似乎確實有向降低成本和獲得更高效率和生產力的轉變。因此，客戶肯定會朝著這個方向發展。我們看到疲軟的地方是營銷分析。在那裡，它往往是可以被推遲的可自由支配的費用。所以我們看到了其中的一些。但與此同時，我們也看到了風險分析以及欺詐管理和風險濫用管理方面的實力增強。因此，我們看到了更大的勢頭。

In terms of deal sizes, we are seeing pretty large deals in the pipeline. So as such, the demand environment for us on an overall basis continues to be quite healthy and strong. We haven't really seen any conversations with our clients where things are slowing down. The urgency on cost reduction tends to be a much more immediate and much quicker. So that certainly is a trend that we would also be seeing in terms of our pipeline and our activity with clients. But also keep in mind that we signed up a fair amount of client wins in '22 that we are implementing and executing. And so we're going to continue to focus on that.

就交易規模而言，我們看到相當大的交易正在進行中。因此，總體而言，我們的需求環境仍然非常健康和強勁。我們還沒有真正看到與我們的客戶進行任何對話，其中事情正在放緩。降低成本的緊迫性往往更加直接和迅速。因此，就我們的渠道和與客戶的活動而言，這肯定是我們也會看到的趨勢。但也請記住，我們在 22 年簽署了我們正在實施和執行的相當數量的客戶勝利。因此，我們將繼續關注這一點。

Our next question comes from Ashwin Shirvaikar of Citibank.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Ashwin Shirvaikar。

Yes. I want to follow up on kind of demand related questions. You may kind of looking at it -- based on your comments. There is obviously some [security] that you've taken into account as we head into the back half of the year from an economic standpoint. I guess I wanted to differentiates between (inaudible) of the tough comp part of the early strength of digital ops that you saw in the second half of ['22].

是的。我想跟進與需求相關的問題。您可能會根據您的評論查看它。從經濟角度來看，當我們進入今年下半年時，您顯然已經考慮到了一些[安全]。我想我想區分（聽不清）您在 ['22] 的後半部分看到的數字操作早期強度的艱難補償部分。

And I guess the more pointed question is, is the caution you're expressing something that we're actually seeing from (inaudible) in terms of decision pushouts, in terms of lower volumes, so on so forth, is it something that you kind of feel obligated to put in your outlook because it feels like in the current environment right thing to do?

我想更尖銳的問題是，你表達的謹慎是我們在決策推出、交易量減少等方面實際看到的（聽不清），這是你想要的嗎感覺有義務提出您的觀點，因為在當前環境下感覺是正確的做法？

Sure, Ashwin. I think your voice coming a little bit muffled. So I hope we've got your questions perfectly. So first off, from a demand environment standpoint and the client activity that we are seeing at this point of time, we're seeing no discernible difference as compared to previous quarters or, let's say, be the 6 months of '22. So that remains very active, very healthy, and we feel very good about the conversations that we're having with our clients and prospects both on digital operations and solutions as well as on analytics.

當然，阿什溫。我覺得你的聲音有點低沉。所以我希望我們已經完美地回答了你的問題。因此，首先，從需求環境的角度和我們此時看到的客戶活動來看，與前幾個季度或者比方說 22 年的 6 個月相比，我們沒有看到明顯的差異。因此，這仍然非常活躍，非常健康，我們對與客戶和潛在客戶就數字運營和解決方案以及分析進行的對話感到非常滿意。

In terms of the guidance and factoring in the economic headwind that might be there. Yes, there is a cautionary stance that we've taken in terms of our guidance because this is the beginning of the year. Certainly, this has to play out over the next 4 quarters. There is a fair amount of uncertainty in the economic environment. There is definitely a much heightened discussion about a slowdown as well as interest rates remaining high and wage inflation continuing to be at the same level as what it was in '22.

在指導和考慮可能存在的經濟逆風方面。是的，我們在指導方面採取了謹慎的立場，因為這是今年年初。當然，這必須在接下來的 4 個季度內完成。經濟環境存在相當大的不確定性。關於經濟放緩以及利率居高不下以及工資通脹繼續與 22 世紀處於同一水平的討論肯定會更加激烈。

Now, while we have not seen anything in the conversations with our set of clients, we want to be a bit careful and prudent about how that might shape up in the second half of the year. And therefore, we have factored that in, in terms of the guidance that we have provided. It may turn out to be better or worse than expected, and that we don't know. And as we go through the quarters, we'll continue to provide updated guidance in terms of what we'll be able to deliver. I hope that addresses the question that you were seeking because we couldn't hear you quite well in your question.

現在，雖然我們在與我們的客戶群的對話中沒有看到任何東西，但我們希望對下半年的情況保持謹慎和謹慎。因此，根據我們提供的指導，我們已經考慮到了這一點。結果可能比預期更好或更壞，而我們不知道。在我們經歷這些季度時，我們將繼續就我們能夠交付的內容提供更新的指導。我希望這能解決您正在尋找的問題，因為我們在您的問題中聽不太清楚。

Yes. Sorry about that. No, that's perfect. I think the follow-up, I want to kind of pick up on what you just said, Rohit with regards to the comment on wage inflation because that is a bit counter to what we've heard from most others who have seen sort of the supply side pressures, whether it's attrition, whether it's wage inflation, whether it's availability of talent has eased for pretty much everyone else that I've kind of spoken with. So could you go into the supply side challenges that you're kind of potentially alluding to and maybe challenge is too stronger word. But could you talk about that?

是的。對於那個很抱歉。不，那是完美的。我想接下來，我想听聽你剛才說的話，Rohit 關於工資通脹的評論，因為這與我們從大多數其他看到過類似情況的人那裡聽到的有點相反供應方面的壓力，無論是人員流失，工資上漲，還是人才供應，對於我與之交談過的幾乎所有其他人來說，都得到了緩解。那麼你能否進入你可能暗示的供應方面的挑戰，也許挑戰這個詞太強了。但你能談談嗎？

Sure, sure. Absolutely. So I think on the attrition side, and as we've shared with you, our fourth quarter attrition has dropped down very significantly, and we are certainly seeing a reduction in attrition rates to take place. And we would expect that there will be much more stability in the workforce going forward in 2023.

一定一定。絕對地。因此，我認為在減員方面，正如我們與您分享的那樣，我們第四季度的減員率已經大幅下降，而且我們肯定會看到減員率正在下降。我們預計 2023 年勞動力將更加穩定。

In terms of wage inflation, I think the difference in the commentary between us and other players might be, one, 46% of our revenue comes from analytics. Two, we have a much higher proportion of digital in our revenue even in operations management. So the places where we are seeing very rapid growth is a place where there is highly skilled talent that we need to bring on and retain so that we can continue to provide them with attractive career opportunities within EXL. And I think it's around the analytics, digital and high complexity subject matter expert positions and roles where we would anticipate that the wage inflation would be similar to what we saw in '22, and that might be a big difference between us and other players.

在工資通脹方面，我認為我們和其他參與者之間的評論差異可能是，我們 46% 的收入來自分析。第二，即使在運營管理方面，我們的收入中數字化的比例也要高得多。因此，我們看到快速增長的地方是我們需要培養和留住高技能人才的地方，這樣我們才能繼續在 EXL 為他們提供有吸引力的職業機會。我認為圍繞分析、數字和高度複雜的主題專家職位和角色，我們預計工資上漲將與我們在 22 世紀看到的相似，這可能是我們和其他參與者之間的一個很大差異。

Our next question comes from Puneet Jain of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Puneet Jain。

Nice quarter. Question on long term. So I understand like near term, you are seeing clients willing to outsource more to be able to cut cost, but do you expect this upside or this trend to continue when macro improves when that need to cut cost may not be as significant as it is now?

不錯的季度。長期的問題。所以我知道短期內，你會看到客戶願意外包更多以削減成本，但你是否預計這種上升趨勢或這種趨勢會在宏觀經濟改善時持續下去，因為削減成本的需求可能不像現在那麼重要現在？

Thanks, Puneet. So I want to reiterate that our business model is a very resilient business model. It's based on a data-led strategy. It's based on helping our clients modernize their existing technology platforms and continue to deliver much more efficiency, but at the same time, also enhance the end customer experience.

謝謝，普尼特。所以我想重申，我們的商業模式是一個非常有彈性的商業模式。它基於以數據為主導的策略。它基於幫助我們的客戶對其現有技術平台進行現代化改造並繼續提供更高的效率，但同時也增強了最終客戶的體驗。

So our sense is when there is an economic slowdown, there is a focus that shifts towards cost reduction, and we can help our clients very significantly with that. When things normalize, and there is strong growth, we can actually help our clients in terms of the fulfillment of those growth strategies and the focus shifts towards customer acquisition and the ability to grow and differentiate and create a much better customer experience. So frankly, being able to play on both sides of the spectrum, helping our clients increase their revenue and at the same time, reduce their costs is a very, very resilient business model that we have with our clients. And we think that's what makes this business model very, very attractive.

所以我們的感覺是，當經濟放緩時，重點就會轉向降低成本，我們可以在這方面為我們的客戶提供非常大的幫助。當事情正常化並且出現強勁增長時，我們實際上可以在實現這些增長戰略方面幫助我們的客戶，並將重點轉移到客戶獲取以及增長和差異化的能力以及創造更好的客戶體驗上。坦率地說，能夠在頻譜的兩端發揮作用，幫助我們的客戶增加收入，同時降低成本，這是我們與客戶之間的一種非常非常有彈性的商業模式。我們認為這就是使這種商業模式非常非常有吸引力的原因。

Got it. And excuse me if you already commented on this. Can you talk about pricing trends you expect given wage inflation might remain high? And how should we think about analytics growth in the first half of this year versus in the second half?

知道了。如果您已經對此發表評論，請原諒。鑑於工資通脹可能保持高位，您能否談談您預期的定價趨勢？我們應該如何看待今年上半年與下半年的分析增長？

Sure. So on pricing, Puneet, we started to talk to our clients last year about changes to the pricing environment. And certainly, as wage inflation went up and as the value that we were delivering to our clients had significantly been enhanced, our clients who are very comfortable talking to us and making appropriate changes to the pricing and the commercial arrangements that we have with them. That process was instituted for the first time, literally in '21, '22.

當然。因此，關於定價，Puneet，我們去年開始與客戶討論定價環境的變化。當然，隨著工資上漲以及我們為客戶提供的價值顯著提高，我們的客戶非常樂意與我們交談，並對我們與他們的定價和商業安排做出適當的改變。該流程是在 21 年和 22 年首次設立的。

We think that, that trend will continue in '23 and beyond. And we are having very good conversations with our clients regarding pricing. So we think as long as we continue to deliver great value to our lines, our clients think of us as strategic partners and the sensitivity to pricing is much lower on higher complexity work and higher value work that we deliver to our clients. And maybe we end up differentiating ourselves from competitors on that basis.

我們認為，這種趨勢將在 23 世紀及以後繼續。我們正在與客戶就定價進行很好的對話。因此，我們認為，只要我們繼續為我們的產品線提供巨大價值，我們的客戶就會將我們視為戰略合作夥伴，並且對於我們向客戶提供的更複雜的工作和更高價值的工作，對定價的敏感度要低得多。也許我們最終會以此為基礎將自己與競爭對手區分開來。

On analytics, we see continued investment by our clients. Every single customer is trying to leverage data and get insights from that data and translate those insights into outcomes and our analytics business helps them manage their data, help them generate insights from that data and convert those insights into outcome. So frankly, we're seeing very, very good traction on our analytics business. We don't really see any differentiation between the first half and the second half of the year. As we provided commentary earlier, we would expect a steady growth to take place for our business in 2023.

在分析方面，我們看到客戶持續投資。每個客戶都在嘗試利用數據並從數據中獲得洞察力，並將這些洞察力轉化為結果，而我們的分析業務幫助他們管理數據，幫助他們從數據中產生洞察力並將這些洞察力轉化為結果。所以坦率地說，我們看到我們的分析業務非常非常好的牽引力。我們真的看不到上半年和下半年之間有任何區別。正如我們之前提供的評論一樣，我們預計我們的業務將在 2023 年穩步增長。

Our next question comes from Mayank Tandon of Needham & Co.

我們的下一個問題來自 Needham & Co 的 Mayank Tandon。

Sorry, I didn't catch the first part there. Rohit and Maurizio, congrats on the quarter. Most of my questions have been answered, but I did want to just delve into the outsized growth, Rohit, on the operations piece in the fourth quarter, that's certainly well above trend. Was there something one-off there and if not, if the macro remains healthy or doesn't turn out to be worse and where we are today, is there a potential for that to be growing above your medium-term targets given that we saw this acceleration in the fourth quarter?

對不起，我沒聽懂第一部分。 Rohit 和 Maurizio，祝賀這個季度。我的大部分問題都已得到解答，但我確實想深入研究第四季度運營部分的超大增長，Rohit，這肯定遠高於趨勢。那裡有一次性的東西嗎？如果沒有，如果宏觀經濟保持健康或沒有變得更糟，我們今天所處的位置，鑑於我們看到的，它是否有可能超過你的中期目標第四季度的這種加速？

Sure, Mayank. So our operations management and solutions business grew at a pretty healthy pace in all of '22. There was certainly an acceleration of that growth rate in the third quarter and the fourth quarter. And our Operations Management & Solutions business in the fourth quarter grew at 21%, which is very, very high, and we're very pleased with that.

當然，Mayank。因此，我們的運營管理和解決方案業務在整個 22 年都以相當健康的速度增長。第三季度和第四季度的增長率肯定會加快。我們的運營管理和解決方案業務在第四季度增長了 21%，這是非常非常高的，我們對此感到非常高興。

There are 2 fundamental reasons why we think there is strength in our operations management and solutions business. Number one is we are seeing more and more clients come to us and say that they'd like to see an integration of analytics and our digital operations and digital solutions business because that provides them with much greater value, much higher certainty of that value and much easier accountability of us as their partner to deliver that value. So this is a great trend that we are seeing. We are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this and combining analytics and our digital operations and solutions is resonating very, very well in the marketplace.

我們認為我們的運營管理和解決方案業務具有實力有兩個根本原因。第一，我們看到越來越多的客戶來找我們，說他們希望看到分析與我們的數字運營和數字解決方案業務的整合，因為這為他們提供了更大的價值，更高的價值確定性和作為他們的合作夥伴，我們更容易對交付該價值負責。所以這是我們看到的一個大趨勢。我們處於獨特的位置，可以利用這一優勢，並將分析與我們的數字運營和解決方案相結合，在市場上產生非常非常好的共鳴。

The second reason for that strength is our capabilities around digital and digital transformation have become very well accepted, and they are delivering terrific outcomes to our clients at speed and at scale. And our clients are giving us much larger mandates after they've seen the initial proof of concepts play out for them, and that's resulting in larger deals and a much faster growth rate. So we're very pleased with both of these 2 fundamental reasons, which are very strategic, much more long term, and we'd expect this to continue to play out.

這種優勢的第二個原因是我們在數字化和數字化轉型方面的能力已被廣泛接受，並且它們正在快速、大規模地為我們的客戶帶來驚人的成果。我們的客戶在看到最初的概念證明為他們發揮作用後，給了我們更大的授權，這導致了更大的交易和更快的增長率。因此，我們對這兩個基本原因感到非常滿意，這些原因非常具有戰略意義，而且更長期，我們希望這種情況會繼續發揮作用。

Now how this kind of shapes up in '23 and how it evolves is something which we'll have to wait and watch. There is definitely a cautionary sense that might be taken by some clients and prospects, and we'll see how this thing progresses. And we'll provide you with updated commentary and guidance on that.

現在，這種類型在 23 年如何形成以及如何演變是我們必須等待和觀察的事情。一些客戶和潛在客戶肯定會有一種謹慎的感覺，我們將看到這件事的進展情況。我們將為您提供最新的評論和指導。

That's very helpful. And then just a quick follow-up on the capital allocation side. Obviously, you bought back stock. Just how are you thinking in terms of for the share repurchases versus potential for M&A? Any thoughts around that?

這很有幫助。然後只是在資本配置方面進行快速跟進。顯然，你回購了股票。您如何看待股票回購與併購的潛力？有什麼想法嗎？

Yes, sure, Mayank. So when we think about capital allocation for 2023, I think you would see it fairly similar to our thinking in 2022. In terms of buying back shares, we would look to buy back shares very comparably to what we did in 2022, and that's primarily offsetting the dilution from our stock grants that we issued throughout the year.

是的，當然，Mayank。因此，當我們考慮 2023 年的資本配置時，我認為您會發現它與我們在 2022 年的想法非常相似。在回購股票方面，我們希望回購股票的方式與我們在 2022 年所做的非常相似，這主要是抵消了我們全年發行的股票贈款的稀釋。

Then we would look also to a certain extent to pay down a little bit of debt as interest rates rise to really contain that interest expense. And the remainder, we would look to use for internal investments and potential M&A that would arise throughout the year if those opportunities come about.

然後我們也會在一定程度上考慮在利率上升時償還一點債務以真正控制利息支出。其餘的，如果這些機會出現，我們將尋求用於全年可能出現的內部投資和潛在併購。

Our next question comes from Vincent Colicchio of Barrington Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Barrington Research 的 Vincent Colicchio。

Rohit, a question on the health care vertical, had very nice sequential growth overall in Digital and Operation Solutions. Just curious if -- what you would call out there? I know it's been fairly weak sequentially throughout the year. I know you lost that client. Is this one big client or a number of clients? What's driving that? And do you expect the momentum to continue?

Rohit 是一個關於醫療保健垂直領域的問題，在數字和運營解決方案方面的總體連續增長非常好。只是好奇——你會在那裡叫什麼？我知道全年的順序相當疲軟。我知道你失去了那個客戶。這是一個大客戶還是許多客戶？是什麼推動了它？您預計這種勢頭會持續下去嗎？

Right. So Vincent, you're absolutely right. The decline in the health care clinical part of our business was because of the one client transitioning. That is now pretty much done and complete. So the health care business has stabilized. As we embed more digital into the health care operations, we would expect our digital operations and solutions business to continue to grow and gain traction. The sharp trend that you saw in Q4 over Q3 with 11% sequential growth is one-off. That's not something which we would extrapolate to the full year. But I do think we're going to see steady growth from here on associated with our health care digital operations and solutions business.

正確的。所以文森特，你是完全正確的。我們業務的醫療保健臨床部分的下降是因為一個客戶的轉變。現在已經差不多完成了。因此，醫療保健業務已經穩定下來。隨著我們將更多數字技術嵌入到醫療保健運營中，我們預計我們的數字運營和解決方案業務將繼續增長並獲得牽引力。您在第 4 季度看到的比第 3 季度連續增長 11% 的急劇趨勢是一次性的。這不是我們可以推斷到全年的事情。但我確實認為，從現在開始，我們將看到與我們的醫療保健數字運營和解決方案業務相關的穩步增長。

And then just one more for me. Is there any difference in client sentiment among your geographies that you would point out?

然後再給我一個。您會指出您所在地區的客戶情緒有什麼不同嗎？

None that we are seeing, Vincent, we're seeing actually the same level of demand in U.K. and Europe as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It seems like clients are all across the globe are focused on how do they manage their data, how do they get insights from data and drive greater outcomes. And everybody is trying to be a data-led business. And so for us, that fits in very well with our strategy, and we are seeing strength across the board across geographies.

文森特，我們沒有看到，我們實際上看到英國和歐洲以及澳大利亞和新西蘭的需求水平相同。似乎全球各地的客戶都在關注他們如何管理數據，如何從數據中獲得洞察力並取得更大的成果。每個人都在努力成為一家以數據為主導的企業。所以對我們來說，這非常符合我們的戰略，我們看到了各個地區的全面實力。

Our next question comes from David Koning of Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 David Koning。

Guys, is this for Dave Koning?

伙計們，這是給戴夫·科寧的嗎？

It is.

這是。

Okay. Yes. It cuts out. So it's hard to hear. But yes, I guess on attrition, you talked a little bit about it's -- you recently were at a pretty high level, higher than usual attrition. You're now down to around the lowest in 10 years. So kind of generationally low attrition. Is that going to help wage inflation? Like are you actually at a point where pricing might actually go up at the same time as wages could be pretty stable for a while, just like a nice little margin lever coming up?

好的。是的。它切斷了。所以很難聽。但是，是的，我想關於減員，你談到了一點——你最近處於相當高的水平，高於平時的減員。您現在已降至 10 年來的最低水平。所以這種世代相傳的低損耗。這會有助於工資通脹嗎？就像你實際上處於價格實際上可能上漲的地步，同時工資可能會相當穩定一段時間，就像一個不錯的小利潤槓桿出現一樣？

Right. So for us, in '22, the attrition rate was high in the first half of the year, primarily because the attrition in the Philippines was pretty high and that impacted us. We are very, very happy with the attrition rate coming down in the fourth quarter. And sequentially, for us, we think the first quarter tends to be a much lower attrition rate cycle from a seasonality standpoint. So things should be stable out here.

正確的。所以對我們來說，在 22 年上半年，流失率很高，主要是因為菲律賓的流失率很高，這對我們產生了影響。我們對第四季度的減員率下降感到非常非常高興。隨後，對我們來說，我們認為從季節性的角度來看，第一季度的流失率週期往往要低得多。所以這裡的情況應該是穩定的。

But as far as wage inflation is concerned, the way in which we'd like to think about it is not so much linking it to the attrition rate, but rather looking at it from a market competitiveness standpoint, and a skill set and an ability to be competitive. So for us, we do see skills in digital, in analytics, in consulting, in subject matter experts as being value-added skills. And therefore, we want to make sure that we can compensate our employees appropriately and be very, very competitive out there. So we would delink the attrition rate from the wage inflation rate, and we would much rather have the wage inflation tied to market competitiveness rather than the attrition.

但就工資通脹而言，我們想考慮的方式與其說是將其與員工流失率聯繫起來，不如說是從市場競爭力、技能組合和能力的角度來看待它具有競爭力。因此，對我們而言，我們確實將數字、分析、諮詢、主題專家方面的技能視為增值技能。因此，我們希望確保我們能夠適當地補償我們的員工，並在那裡非常非常有競爭力。因此，我們會將離職率與工資通脹率脫鉤，而且我們寧願將工資通脹與市場競爭力掛鉤，而不是與員工離職掛鉤。

Okay. No, that sounds good. And then I guess on the analytics business, just like a higher level question, I would say 3, 4, 5 years ago, we thought of that as being a little less recurring. And I think you've convinced this over the years that, hey, this is pretty steady and maybe even more so than you expected it to be, but is this now as recurring as the digital ops business? And do you kind of see it going forward at very high levels of recurring revenue?

好的。不，這聽起來不錯。然後我想在分析業務上，就像一個更高層次的問題，我會說 3、4、5 年前，我們認為它的出現頻率要低一些。而且我認為多年來你已經確信這一點，嘿，這非常穩定，甚至可能比你預期的還要穩定，但現在這是否像數字運營業務一樣反復出現？您是否認為它會以非常高的經常性收入水平向前發展？

Yes, David. There are a couple of things why we think this is very stable, very recurring and very high growth, right? One, everybody is trying to invest more and more in analytics and in data. And that's become a pretty large and substantial piece of any client business. So if you take a look at the total number of employees that any client has and see the number of them that might be dedicated to analytics, those numbers in the past used to be a few in 100. Now they're in the thousands and tens of thousands and it's become pretty much a shift that's taken place where this marketplace has become very sizable, very meaningful and it's likely to continue to grow, particularly as -- there is a greater use of AI. There's a greater use of technology and automation. There's a greater use and linkage between data, process and outcome.

是的，大衛。有幾件事為什麼我們認為這是非常穩定的、經常發生的和非常高的增長，對吧？第一，每個人都在嘗試越來越多地投資於分析和數據。這已成為任何客戶業務中相當大且重要的一部分。因此，如果您查看任何客戶擁有的員工總數，並查看其中可能專用於分析的員工人數，過去這些數字曾經是 100 人中的幾人。現在他們以數千人為單位數以萬計，這幾乎已經成為一個轉變，這個市場已經變得非常龐大，非常有意義，而且它可能會繼續增長，特別是因為 - 人工智能的使用越來越廣泛。人們更多地使用技術和自動化。數據、過程和結果之間有更多的用途和聯繫。

So frankly, we think this analytics spend is going to continue to increase going forward. There continues to be a huge scarcity of talent in this space and leveraging a global delivery model for analytics, is absolutely critical for our clients because they just cannot deal with this with only onshore resources. So we end up being very well positioned for helping our clients on this. And frankly, this is certainly playing to our advantage. And it's an investment that we made several years ago, and it's folding out to be a really great story for us.

坦率地說，我們認為這種分析支出將繼續增加。這個領域的人才仍然非常稀缺，利用全球交付模型進行分析對我們的客戶來說絕對至關重要，因為他們無法僅使用陸上資源來應對這一問題。所以我們最終在幫助我們的客戶這方面處於非常有利的地位。坦率地說，這無疑對我們有利。這是我們幾年前進行的一項投資，它對我們來說是一個非常棒的故事。

At this time, I would like to turn it back to the -- to [Tim] Kristoff, Vice President Marketing Relations for closing comments.

在這個時候，我想把它轉回 - 營銷關係副總裁 [Tim] Kristoff 結束評論。

Thanks, Gerald. Thank you all for joining us on our call this morning. And as always, if you have additional questions regarding the quarter financials, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly. Thank you again, and goodbye.

謝謝，杰拉德。感謝大家今天早上加入我們的電話會議。與往常一樣，如果您對本季度的財務狀況有其他疑問，請隨時直接與我聯繫。再次感謝你，再見。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。您現在可以斷開連接。