First Advantage Corp (FA) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone. My name is Chelsea, and I will be your conference operator today. I would like to welcome you to the First Advantage Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast.

今天是個好日子。我叫切爾西，今天我將擔任你們的會議運營商。歡迎大家參加 First Advantage 第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議和網絡直播。

Hosting the call today from First Advantage is Stephanie Gorman, Vice President of Investor Relations. (Operator Instructions) Please note, today's event is being recorded.

First Advantage 投資者關係副總裁 Stephanie Gorman 主持了今天的電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Stephanie Gorman. Please begin.

現在我很高興將電話轉給斯蒂芬妮戈爾曼。請開始。

Thank you, Chelsea. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to First Advantage's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝你，切爾西。各位早上好，歡迎來到 First Advantage 的第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。

In the Investors section of our website, you will find the earnings press release and slide presentation to accompany today's discussion. This webcast is being recorded and will be available for replay on our Investor Relations website.

在我們網站的“投資者”部分，您會找到伴隨今天討論的收益新聞稿和幻燈片演示。該網絡廣播正在錄製中，可在我們的投資者關係網站上重播。

Before we begin our prepared remarks, I need to remind everyone that our discussion today will include forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. These factors are discussed in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including our 2021 Form 10-K and our 2022 Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. Such factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

在我們開始準備好的發言之前，我需要提醒大家，我們今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。此類前瞻性陳述並非對未來業績的保證。由於多種因素，實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。我們在提交給 SEC 的文件中更詳細地討論了這些因素，包括我們將提交給 SEC 的 2021 年 10-K 表格和 2022 年 10-K 表格。這些因素可能會在我們定期向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中不時更新，我們不承擔任何更新前瞻性陳述的義務。

Throughout this conference call, we will also present and discuss non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of our non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to the extent available without unreasonable efforts appear in today's earnings press release and presentation, which are available on our Investor Relations website.

在整個電話會議中，我們還將介紹和討論非 GAAP 財務措施。我們的非 GAAP 財務措施與他們最直接可比的 GAAP 財務措施的調節在沒有不合理努力的情況下出現在今天的收益新聞稿和演示文稿中，可在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。

I'm joined on our call today by Scott Staples, First Advantage's Chief Executive Officer; and David Gamsey, our Chief Financial Officer. After our prepared remarks, we will take your questions.

今天 First Advantage 的首席執行官 Scott Staples 和我一起參加了我們的電話會議；和我們的首席財務官 David Gamsey。在我們準備好的發言之後，我們將回答您的問題。

I will now hand the call over to Scott.

我現在將把電話交給斯科特。

Thank you, Stephanie, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings conference call.

謝謝你，斯蒂芬妮，大家早上好。感謝您加入我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。

We are pleased with our full year 2022 results in which we set a number of new revenue and profitability records. We grew revenues for the year by nearly 14% and increased adjusted EBITDA by 10% compared to last year when we saw exceptionally high 40% revenue and 54% adjusted EBITDA year-over-year growth. We also generated record operating cash flow of $212.8 million in 2022, growing an impressive 43% versus the prior year.

我們對 2022 年的全年業績感到滿意，我們創造了多項新的收入和盈利記錄。與去年相比，我們今年的收入增長了近 14%，調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 10%，當時我們看到異常高的 40% 收入和 54% 的調整後 EBITDA 同比增長。我們還在 2022 年產生了創紀錄的 2.128 億美元的運營現金流，與上一年相比增長了 43%，令人印象深刻。

Our record year came despite a soft end to the fourth quarter that resulted from a slowdown in hiring demand in the U.S. that began in late November as our customers became more cautious in their hiring approach driven primarily by the macroeconomic headwinds of ongoing inflation and higher interest rates. The slowdown happened earlier and to a greater extent than we expected. International markets, particularly India and APAC remained sluggish, consistent with what we shared in Q3. However, strong new customer growth, continued upsell and cross-sell momentum and high customer retention rates offset some of this weakness.

儘管從 11 月下旬開始美國的招聘需求放緩導致第四季度結束疲軟，但我們創紀錄的一年還是來了費率。經濟放緩發生的時間比我們預期的要早，程度也比我們預期的要大。國際市場，尤其是印度和亞太地區仍然低迷，這與我們在第三季度分享的情況一致。然而，強勁的新客戶增長、持續的追加銷售和交叉銷售勢頭以及高客戶保留率部分抵消了這一弱點。

Sequentially, fourth quarter revenues exceeded third quarter revenues. Revenues flattened out on a year-over-year comparative basis as we cycled over an extremely strong fourth quarter 2021 growth rate of 36%. Despite this, we grew Q4 adjusted EBITDA, further growing from our record quarter in Q4 2021 as we expanded our adjusted EBITDA margins by 40 basis points to over 33% and we generated substantial operating cash flows.

隨後，第四季度的收入超過了第三季度的收入。隨著我們在 2021 年第四季度極其強勁的 36% 增長率上循環，收入同比持平。儘管如此，由於我們將調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 40 個基點，達到 33% 以上，而且我們產生了大量的經營現金流，因此我們第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 有所增長，比 2021 年第四季度創紀錄的季度進一步增長。

While job openings, quits and low unemployment remained favorable, we have seen a slowdown in hiring activity that leads us to expect a lower demand environment in the near term. As we have demonstrated in the past, we have a highly variable cost structure, and we have acted quickly to adjust cost.

雖然職位空缺、辭職和低失業率仍然有利，但我們已經看到招聘活動放緩，這導致我們預計短期內需求環境會下降。正如我們過去所證明的那樣，我們擁有高度可變的成本結構，並且我們已迅速採取行動調整成本。

As we have seen demand shift. We also continue to proactively strengthen our mission-critical solutions and product offerings through our thoughtful strategic investments in technology, machine learning and automation. These investments drive flexibility and agility in our operations, which in turn drives margin expansion and our ability to move quickly as labor markets change. Additionally, these actions have enhanced our capabilities to meet the needs of our customers by providing faster turnaround times, increased accuracy and a better overall customer and applicant experience.

正如我們所看到的需求變化。我們還通過對技術、機器學習和自動化的深思熟慮的戰略投資，繼續積極加強我們的關鍵任務解決方案和產品供應。這些投資推動了我們運營的靈活性和敏捷性，這反過來又推動了利潤率的增長和我們隨著勞動力市場變化而迅速行動的能力。此外，這些行動通過提供更快的周轉時間、更高的準確性以及更好的整體客戶和申請人體驗，增強了我們滿足客戶需求的能力。

These actions have also enabled us to add to our already robust and diverse customer base across the verticals we served. In 2022, we completed over 100 million screens on behalf of our approximately 33,000 active customers, which includes over half of the Fortune 100 companies and approximately 1/3 of the Fortune 500 companies. We ended the year with a total of 235 enterprise customers, up from 189 a year ago. In the fourth quarter, we booked 7 new enterprise customers, bringing us to a total of 27 new logo enterprise customer wins during 2022 compared to 20 in the prior year.

這些行動還使我們能夠在我們所服務的垂直領域增加我們已經強大和多樣化的客戶群。 2022年，我們代表約33,000家活躍客戶完成了超過1億的屏幕，其中包括超過一半的世界100強企業和約1/3的世界500強企業。到年底，我們共有 235 家企業客戶，高於一年前的 189 家。在第四季度，我們預訂了 7 家新企業客戶，使我們在 2022 年贏得了 27 家新標識企業客戶，而去年同期為 20 家。

Consistent with our strategic priorities, we are committed to continued investment in technology and automation to drive client satisfaction and new business, which will ultimately result in enhanced shareholder value. We remain highly confident in our ability to weather varying macroeconomic scenarios because of our focus on enterprise clients, our vertical strategy and our highly variable and lean cost structure.

根據我們的戰略重點，我們致力於持續投資於技術和自動化，以提高客戶滿意度和新業務，最終提高股東價值。由於我們專注於企業客戶、我們的垂直戰略以及高度可變且精益的成本結構，我們對我們經受住不斷變化的宏觀經濟情景的能力充滿信心。

Now turning to Slide 5. From a long-term perspective, we believe that fundamental changes in how people work and apply for jobs are here to stay and are expected to provide tailwinds for our business. These include more frequent job switching and higher churn, which we expect will continue to fuel our customers' hiring needs. These create long-term opportunities for our business and when combined with our product innovation and vertical strategy will continue to propel substantial, sustainable growth for First Advantage and support our long-term growth model.

現在轉到幻燈片 5。從長遠的角度來看，我們認為人們工作和求職方式的根本變化將持續下去，並有望為我們的業務提供助力。其中包括更頻繁的工作轉換和更高的流失率，我們預計這將繼續推動客戶的招聘需求。這些為我們的業務創造了長期機會，並與我們的產品創新和垂直戰略相結合，將繼續推動 First Advantage 實現實質性、可持續的增長，並支持我們的長期增長模式。

Our verticalized go-to-market approach is a competitive advantage and a key driver of our growth strategy. The majority of our revenues are derived from high-volume, high-velocity customer verticals where an increasingly greater importance is placed on speed and turnaround times, which we continue to deliver through our investments in automation. Our vertical approach and innovative technology offerings provide mission-critical solutions to align with these growing trends. Our vertical strategy further deepens our competitive advantage and differentiates us within our industry positioning First Advantage to meet the needs of the hiring market of the future.

我們的垂直化上市方法是一種競爭優勢，也是我們增長戰略的關鍵驅動力。我們的大部分收入來自大批量、高速的垂直客戶，在這些垂直客戶中，速度和周轉時間越來越受到重視，我們將繼續通過對自動化的投資來實現這一點。我們的垂直方法和創新技術產品提供關鍵任務解決方案，以適應這些不斷增長的趨勢。我們的垂直戰略進一步加深了我們的競爭優勢，並在我們的行業定位 First Advantage 中脫穎而出，以滿足未來招聘市場的需求。

Our sales and product teams are also aligned to our key verticals, which drives new logo, upsell, cross-sell opportunities, new product development and geographic customer expansion. This enables us to be subject-matter experts in these industry segments and to use industry-specific data to advise our customers on topics such as leading practices and product optimization. Given the importance of verticalization to our business, we have provided you with our revenue breakdown by vertical on Slide 5 to help you better understand how each contributes to our business.

我們的銷售和產品團隊也與我們的關鍵垂直行業保持一致，這推動了新標識、追加銷售、交叉銷售機會、新產品開發和地域客戶擴張。這使我們能夠成為這些行業領域的主題專家，並使用行業特定數據就領先實踐和產品優化等主題向我們的客戶提供建議。鑑於垂直化對我們業務的重要性，我們在幻燈片 5 上按垂直向您提供了收入明細，以幫助您更好地了解垂直化對我們業務的貢獻。

As I mentioned, we grew revenues nearly 14% during the year with broad-based growth across most verticals. Looking at Q4, we saw growth continue in verticals such as transportation and health care, while other verticals saw declines attributable to the macro impact on hiring volumes. We continue to execute well against our new logo, upsell, cross-sell and customer retention strategies and continue to deliver in line with our historical track record.

正如我所提到的，我們在這一年中的收入增長了近 14%，大多數垂直領域都有廣泛的增長。縱觀第四季度，我們看到交通和醫療保健等垂直行業繼續增長，而其他垂直行業則因對招聘量的宏觀影響而出現下滑。我們繼續很好地執行我們的新徽標、追加銷售、交叉銷售和客戶保留策略，並繼續按照我們的歷史記錄交付。

Overall, we feel we are well positioned to weather a variety of macroeconomic scenarios, due to our large number of high-volume hiring customers across diverse verticals, which we believe continue to maintain favorable growth prospects.

總體而言，由於我們在不同垂直領域擁有大量大量招聘客戶，我們認為我們有能力應對各種宏觀經濟情景，我們相信這些客戶將繼續保持良好的增長前景。

Before I turn the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, David Gamsey for more details on our financial results, I'd like to reiterate that I'm excited about the opportunities ahead for First Advantage. We are well positioned in our industry and have effectively executed our cost savings playbook to address the near-term demand environment. We will continue to focus on driving operational efficiencies, expanding the use of our proprietary databases and leveraging our G&A infrastructure. Our long-term focus remains on delivering outstanding service to our customers and long-term value to our shareholders.

在我將電話轉給我們的首席財務官 David Gamsey 以了解有關我們財務業績的更多詳細信息之前，我想重申，我對 First Advantage 未來的機會感到興奮。我們在我們的行業中處於有利地位，並有效地執行了我們的成本節約手冊，以應對近期的需求環境。我們將繼續專注於提高運營效率，擴大我們專有數據庫的使用，並利用我們的 G&A 基礎設施。我們的長期重點仍然是為我們的客戶提供卓越的服務，為我們的股東創造長期價值。

And with that, I will now turn the call over to David.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給大衛。

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝斯科特，大家早上好。

Let's begin on Slide 7. Our fourth quarter revenues were $212.6 million flat versus the prior year and up 1.8% to $216.3 million on a constant currency basis. This was compared to exceptionally strong revenue growth of approximately 36% in the fourth quarter of 2021. On a sequential basis, revenues grew approximately 3% compared to Q3 2022.

讓我們從幻燈片 7 開始。我們第四季度的收入為 2.126 億美元，與去年持平，按固定匯率計算增長 1.8% 至 2.163 億美元。相比之下，2021 年第四季度收入增長異常強勁，約為 36%。與 2022 年第三季度相比，收入環比增長約 3%。

In our Americas segment, revenues of $188 million were up 3% from Q4 2021 which is incremental to the strong Q4 of 2021, which was up 26.7%. We saw a slowdown in hiring begin in late November in the U.S. which was more pronounced and earlier than we anticipated. U.S.-based growth, which represents like-for-like hiring within our existing base went slightly negative though we were able to overcome and still achieve growth through our new logo and upsell performance. In total, Americas represented 88% of consolidated revenues in the quarter.

在我們的美洲分部，收入為 1.88 億美元，比 2021 年第四季度增長 3%，這是對 2021 年第四季度強勁增長 26.7% 的增量。我們看到美國的招聘放緩從 11 月下旬開始，比我們預期的更明顯、更早。美國的增長，代表我們現有基地內的同類招聘略有負數，儘管我們能夠克服並通過我們的新標識和追加銷售業績仍然實現增長。總的來說，美洲佔本季度綜合收入的 88%。

In our International segment, revenues of $26.2 million were down 17.6% from Q4 2021 as we cycled over a strong Q4 of '21, which had 83.8% year-over-year organic growth. On a constant currency basis, our Q4 revenues would have been $3.5 million higher or down only 6.6% year-over-year. Demand in our EMEA region continued offset by lower volumes and negative base growth in our APAC and India regions. Several countries within the APAC region continued to feel the impact of COVID-19 restrictions during the fourth quarter. Most of those restrictions have now been lifted, and as a result, we now expect to see some recovery in these regions, primarily Hong Kong and China in the next several months.

在我們的國際部門，收入為 2620 萬美元，比 2021 年第四季度下降了 17.6%，因為我們在 21 年的第四季度表現強勁，同比有機增長 83.8%。按固定匯率計算，我們第四季度的收入同比增長 350 萬美元或僅下降 6.6%。歐洲、中東和非洲地區的需求繼續被亞太地區和印度地區的銷量下降和負基數增長所抵消。亞太地區的幾個國家在第四季度繼續感受到 COVID-19 限制的影響。大多數限制現已取消，因此，我們現在預計未來幾個月這些地區將出現一些復甦，主要是香港和中國大陸。

In the fourth quarter, year-over-year revenue decline from existing customers was $13.7 million and can be attributed to both our Americas and International existing customer bases. Revenues from new customers contributed a positive $8.3 million or approximately 4% to our year-over-year growth. Upsell was also a positive contributor to our growth. Revenues from our acquisitions contributed $5.4 million during the quarter as we lapped our corporate screening and MultiLatin acquisitions from November 2021.

第四季度，來自現有客戶的收入同比下降 1370 萬美元，這可歸因於我們的美洲和國際現有客戶群。來自新客戶的收入為我們的同比增長貢獻了 830 萬美元或約 4%。追加銷售也對我們的增長做出了積極貢獻。我們的收購收入在本季度貢獻了 540 萬美元，因為我們從 2021 年 11 月開始完成了公司篩选和 MultiLatin 收購。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $70.3 million, an increase of 1.2% compared to Q4 of 2021, during which we grew adjusted EBITDA by over 55%. FX also had an impact on profitability and on a constant currency basis, our adjusted EBITDA would have been approximately $1.2 million higher or $71.5 million. On a sequential basis, adjusted EBITDA grew approximately 10% compared to Q3 2022. Flat year-over-year revenues in a difficult FX environment impacted our adjusted EBITDA growth rate. However, despite these factors, we were still able to expand our adjusted EBITDA margin by 40 basis points year-over-year to 33.1% and an impressive 190 basis points on a sequential basis. As Scott mentioned, we have effectively executed our cost savings playbook to address the near-term demand environment, leveraging our flexible cost structure and removing costs from the business as we saw demand shift.

本季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 7030 萬美元，比 2021 年第四季度增長 1.2%，在此期間我們調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 55% 以上。外匯也對盈利能力產生了影響，並且在固定匯率的基礎上，我們調整後的 EBITDA 將增加約 120 萬美元或 7150 萬美元。按順序計算，調整後的 EBITDA 與 2022 年第三季度相比增長了約 10%。在艱難的外匯環境中，收入同比持平影響了我們調整後的 EBITDA 增長率。然而，儘管存在這些因素，我們仍然能夠將調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率同比擴大 40 個基點至 33.1%，並且連續增長 190 個基點，令人印象深刻。正如 Scott 提到的那樣，我們已經有效地執行了我們的成本節約手冊來應對近期的需求環境，利用我們靈活的成本結構並在我們看到需求變化時從業務中消除成本。

Specifically, we began taking measures to reduce our overall cost structure including rationalization of facilities and selectively lowering headcount throughout the organization to match demand. Given our technology and automation efforts as well as our move to a hybrid working model for our employees, we do not anticipate these costs coming back into the business even as demand grows. Our cost savings approach enables us to continue to remain agile and responsive as the macroeconomic environment evolves in the coming months.

具體來說，我們開始採取措施降低我們的整體成本結構，包括設施合理化和有選擇地減少整個組織的員工人數以滿足需求。鑑於我們在技術和自動化方面的努力以及我們為員工轉向混合工作模式，我們預計即使需求增長，這些成本也不會重新回到業務中。隨著未來幾個月宏觀經濟環境的演變，我們的成本節約方法使我們能夠繼續保持敏捷和響應。

Additional headwinds which we had identified and discussed last quarter and which we were able to grow over included year-over-year increases in insurance premiums and third-party verification costs and the mix impact of integrating acquisitions with historically lower margins.

我們在上個季度已經確定和討論過的其他不利因素包括保險費和第三方驗證成本的同比增長，以及整合收購與歷史上較低的利潤率的混合影響。

Adjusted net income decreased 3.4% to $45 million from $46.5 million in Q4 2021. This was primarily attributable to higher interest expense and an increase in depreciation and amortization associated with investments in the development of our proprietary platform, partially mitigated by our interest-bearing deposits and our interest rate hedge.

調整後的淨收入從 2021 年第四季度的 4650 萬美元下降 3.4% 至 4500 萬美元。這主要是由於利息支出增加以及與我們專有平台開發投資相關的折舊和攤銷增加，部分被我們的生息存款所抵消和我們的利率對沖。

Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.30 for the quarter. The adjusted effective tax rate for the quarter was approximately 24.3%, consistent with prior periods.

本季度調整後的攤薄每股收益為 0.30 美元。本季度調整後的實際稅率約為 24.3%，與前期一致。

Now, turning to Slide 8. Versus the prior year, our full year 2022 revenue increased 13.7% to $810 million or 15.2% to $820.3 million on a constant currency basis. This was in addition to cycling over exceptionally strong revenue growth of 39.9% in full year 2021. In our Americas segment, revenues of $695 million were up 15% from full year 2021 driven by acquisitions and new business growth. In total, Americas represented 85% of consolidated revenues for the year.

現在，轉到幻燈片 8。與上一年相比，我們 2022 年全年收入增長 13.7% 至 8.1 億美元，或按固定匯率計算增長 15.2% 至 8.203 億美元。此外，2021 年全年收入增長異常強勁，達到 39.9%。在我們的美洲分部，在收購和新業務增長的推動下，我們的收入為 6.95 億美元，比 2021 年全年增長 15%。總的來說，美洲佔當年綜合收入的 85%。

In our International segment, revenues of $122.6 million were up 7.5% from full year 2021. On a constant currency basis, our International revenues would have been $9.8 million higher or 16.1% year-over-year. The increase in revenue was due to contributions from acquisitions and new customer growth offset by negative base growth in India and APAC in the second half of the year. In total, International represented 15% of consolidated revenues during the year.

在我們的國際業務中，收入為 1.226 億美元，比 2021 年全年增長 7.5%。按固定匯率計算，我們的國際收入將同比增長 980 萬美元或 16.1%。收入的增長是由於收購和新客戶增長的貢獻被下半年印度和亞太地區的負基數增長所抵消。總體而言，國際業務佔當年綜合收入的 15%。

For full year 2022, year-over-year revenue from existing customers increased by $25.3 million and can be attributed to strength across our Americas business in the first half of the year, offset by the impact of slower hiring and the effects of changes in foreign currencies. Revenues from existing customers in our Americas segment remained positive for the year, but declined in the fourth quarter. Revenues from new customers contributed $35.4 million or approximately 5% to our year-over-year growth. Revenues from acquisitions contributed $37 million during the year.

2022 年全年，來自現有客戶的收入同比增長 2530 萬美元，這可以歸因於上半年我們美洲業務的強勁表現，但被招聘放緩的影響和外國公司變化的影響所抵消貨幣。我們美洲分部現有客戶的收入全年保持正增長，但第四季度有所下降。來自新客戶的收入為我們的同比增長貢獻了 3540 萬美元或約 5%。年內收購收入貢獻了 3700 萬美元。

Adjusted EBITDA for full year 2022 was $248.9 million, an increase of 10% year-over-year. Overall revenue growth attributable to new and existing customers primarily during the first half of the year, selective price increases, cost reductions implemented primarily in the second half of the year, acquisitions and cost structure benefits due to increased automation, operational efficiencies and operating leverage were partially offset by those items previously discussed. On a constant currency basis, our adjusted EBITDA would have been approximately $3.4 million higher or $252.3 million. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was solid at 30.7% for the full year 2022.

2022 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.489 億美元，同比增長 10%。總體收入增長歸因於新客戶和現有客戶主要在上半年，選擇性提價，主要在下半年實施的成本削減，由於自動化、運營效率和運營槓桿的提高而帶來的收購和成本結構收益是被先前討論的那些項目部分抵消。按固定匯率計算，我們調整後的 EBITDA 將增加約 340 萬美元或 2.523 億美元。我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率在 2022 年全年穩定在 30.7%。

Adjusted net income increased 9.9% and to $156.5 million from $142.4 million in full year 2021. This was largely due to the drivers of our adjusted EBITDA growth offset in part by interest expense and an increase in depreciation and amortization.

調整後的淨收入從 2021 年全年的 1.424 億美元增長 9.9% 至 1.565 億美元。這主要是由於我們調整後的 EBITDA 增長的驅動因素部分被利息支出以及折舊和攤銷的增加所抵消。

Adjusted diluted EPS was $1.03 for the year, an increase of 2% year-over-year. Excluded from the adjusted net income calculation is the $11.4 million gain associated with our interest rate swap, which represents the difference between the fair value gains or losses and actual cash payments and receipts.

全年調整後攤薄每股收益為 1.03 美元，同比增長 2%。調整後的淨收入計算中不包括與我們的利率掉期相關的 1140 萬美元收益，它代表公允價值收益或損失與實際現金支付和收入之間的差額。

On a pretax basis, this represents $0.07 per share for the full year. We have excluded this positive gain from our adjusted net income from comparability purposes. The adjusted effective tax rate for the year was approximately 24.7%, consistent with prior periods.

按稅前計算，這相當於全年每股 0.07 美元。出於可比性目的，我們已將這一正收益從調整後的淨收入中排除。調整後的年度實際稅率約為 24.7%，與前期一致。

Slide 9 is included to demonstrate our track record of delivering growth across the business cycle. We are very pleased with our 3-year track record with a total compound annual revenue growth rate of 19%, illustrating the strength of our operating model.

包含幻燈片 9 以展示我們在整個商業周期實現增長的記錄。我們對我們 3 年的業績記錄感到非常滿意，總複合年收入增長率為 19%，這說明了我們運營模式的實力。

Turning to Slide 10. You can see our history of adjusted EBITDA growth and margin consistency. Over the last 3 years, our total compound annual adjusted EBITDA growth rate was 26% with a high quality of earnings. Despite the softening hiring environment in the fourth quarter of 2022 and flat revenues, we still expanded adjusted EBITDA margins 40 basis points to 33.1%, underscoring our ability to manage costs through our dynamic and flexible cost structure.

轉到幻燈片 10。您可以看到我們調整後的 EBITDA 增長和利潤率一致性的歷史記錄。在過去 3 年中，我們的複合年度調整後 EBITDA 總增長率為 26%，收益質量很高。儘管 2022 年第四季度招聘環境疲軟且收入持平，但我們仍將調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 40 個基點，達到 33.1%，這凸顯了我們通過動態靈活的成本結構管理成本的能力。

Turning now to cash flow, leverage and capital allocation on Slide 11. We ended 2022 with a record level of cash and cash flow from operations as well as a healthy balance sheet with very low leverage. We continue to prioritize deploying our capital in ways that create the most value for our shareholders, including returning a portion of our cash through our share repurchase program.

現在轉向幻燈片 11 上的現金流、槓桿和資本配置。到 2022 年，我們的現金和運營現金流達到創紀錄水平，資產負債表健康且槓桿率極低。我們繼續優先考慮以為股東創造最大價值的方式部署我們的資本，包括通過我們的股票回購計劃返還部分現金。

For full year 2022, cash flow from operations was a robust $212.8 million, up 43% year-over-year due to our strong cash flow conversion which we expect will continue going forward. During the year, we spent $28.5 million on purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs and $60.5 million under our share repurchase program.

2022 年全年，運營產生的現金流量為 2.128 億美元，同比增長 43%，這是由於我們預計未來將繼續強勁的現金流轉換。在這一年中，我們花費了 2850 萬美元用於購買財產和設備以及資本化的軟件開發成本，並在我們的股票回購計劃中花費了 6050 萬美元。

In the fourth quarter, operating cash flows increased 8% to $70 million. We spent $6.2 million on purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs and $58.3 million under our share repurchase program.

第四季度，經營現金流增長 8% 至 7000 萬美元。我們花費了 620 萬美元用於購買財產和設備以及將軟件開發成本資本化，並在我們的股票回購計劃中花費了 5830 萬美元。

We started and ended the year with total debt of $565 million and grew cash and cash equivalents to $392 million up $99 million year-over-year after funding the Form I-9 Compliance acquisition and after repurchasing approximately $61 million in stock. We also have $100 million in untapped borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility with no outstanding balances. Based on our full year 2022 adjusted EBITDA of $249 million, we had a net leverage ratio of 0.7x as of December 31. Over the last 12 months, net leverage has declined from 1.2x.

我們年初和年底的總債務為 5.65 億美元，在為 Form I-9 Compliance 收購提供資金並回購約 6100 萬美元的股票後，現金和現金等價物同比增長 9900 萬美元至 3.92 億美元。在我們的循環信貸安排下，我們還有 1 億美元的未開發借貸能力，沒有未清餘額。根據我們 2022 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 2.49 億美元，截至 12 月 31 日，我們的淨槓桿率為 0.7 倍。在過去 12 個月中，淨槓桿率從 1.2 倍下降。

Our debt structure has us well positioned for the rising interest rate environment. We have an interest rate collar with approximately 50% of the long-term debt capped at 1.5%, 1-month LIBOR rate through February 2024 and we have no principal payments due before 2027. We further hedged another approximately 20% of our long-term debt earlier this month. Our interest rate exposure on the unhedged amount of our debt is currently offset by our interest earnings on cash deposits.

我們的債務結構使我們能夠很好地應對利率上升的環境。我們有一個利率領子，大約 50% 的長期債務上限為 1.5%，1 個月 LIBOR 利率到 2024 年 2 月，我們沒有在 2027 年之前到期的本金支付。我們進一步對沖了另外大約 20% 的長期債務本月早些時候的定期債務。我們對未對沖債務金額的利率風險目前被我們的現金存款利息收入所抵消。

Our strong balance sheet, ample dry powder, low leverage and expectations for continued free cash flow generation enable us to flexibly deploy capital. We continue to evaluate M&A opportunities that align with our strategic priorities, which include adding or expanding vertical capabilities, expanding internationally and acquiring complementary solutions, data or technologies. Using a thoughtful and targeted approach, we will continue to selectively invest in technology, automation, product innovation and sales initiatives that drive organic growth.

我們強大的資產負債表、充足的干火藥、低杠桿率以及對持續產生自由現金流的預期使我們能夠靈活地部署資本。我們繼續評估符合我們戰略重點的併購機會，包括增加或擴大垂直能力、國際擴張和獲取互補解決方案、數據或技術。我們將採用深思熟慮和有針對性的方法，繼續有選擇地投資於推動有機增長的技術、自動化、產品創新和銷售計劃。

Additionally, today, we announced that our Board of Directors has increased our existing $150 million share buyback program by an additional $50 million. We believe that at the current stock valuation, share repurchases are an excellent use of our capital. As a reminder, we currently have $392 million of cash on our balance sheet and we generated operating cash flow of $213 million in 2022 and $70 million in Q4 alone. No shares under the existing plan will be purchased from Silver Lake or its affiliates.

此外，我們今天宣布，我們的董事會已將我們現有的 1.5 億美元股票回購計劃增加了 5000 萬美元。我們認為，按照目前的股票估值，股票回購是對我們資本的一種很好的利用。提醒一下，我們目前的資產負債表上有 3.92 億美元的現金，我們在 2022 年產生了 2.13 億美元的運營現金流，僅在第四季度就產生了 7000 萬美元。現有計劃下的任何股份都不會從 Silver Lake 或其附屬公司購買。

Through February 23, 2023, we have repurchased $75.7 million of common stock or approximately 5.8 million shares. Including the increased authorization, we have $124 million remaining under the program. Especially in today's environment, we believe it is important to maintain a healthy balance sheet, conservative capital structure and flexible leverage profile. With significant dry powder and consistently strong cash flow generation, we expect to fund future acquisitions from available cash on the balance sheet. We routinely evaluate our capital allocation priorities to achieve a balance between M&A, returning capital to our stockholders and investing in the continued growth of the company to maximize shareholder value.

到 2023 年 2 月 23 日，我們已經回購了 7570 萬美元的普通股或約 580 萬股。包括增加的授權在內，我們在該計劃下還有 1.24 億美元。特別是在當今環境下，我們認為保持健康的資產負債表、保守的資本結構和靈活的槓桿配置非常重要。憑藉大量的干火藥和持續強勁的現金流產生，我們預計將從資產負債表上的可用現金為未來的收購提供資金。我們定期評估我們的資本分配優先級，以在併購、向股東返還資本和投資於公司的持續增長以實現股東價值最大化之間取得平衡。

Slide 12 introduces our guidance for full year 2023. Based on the current environment and discussions with our customers, our 2023 guidance assumes that existing macroeconomic conditions, foreign currency headwinds and hiring trends that we are currently experiencing will continue through most of 2023 with modest improvement in the second half of the year, along with easier year-over-year comps.

幻燈片 12 介紹了我們對 2023 年全年的指導。根據當前環境和與客戶的討論，我們的 2023 年指導假設我們目前遇到的現有宏觀經濟狀況、外匯逆風和招聘趨勢將持續到 2023 年的大部分時間，並有適度改善在今年下半年，以及更容易的年度比較。

Specific to our existing customer base, our guidance assumes a continuation of the slower hiring environment we began to experience in late November. We expect customer retention to remain in line with our stellar historical performance of over 96% and successful execution of upsell and new logo additions consistent with prior years offsetting macro-driven base declines.

具體到我們現有的客戶群，我們的指導假設我們在 11 月下旬開始經歷的較慢的招聘環境將繼續存在。我們預計客戶保留率將與我們超過 96% 的出色歷史業績保持一致，並且成功執行與前幾年一致的追加銷售和新徽標添加，抵消了宏觀驅動的基數下降。

As a result of the above, we expect to generate full year 2023 revenues in the range of $770 million to $810 million resulting in flat to negative 5% year-over-year growth, all of which is organic. On a constant currency basis, we expect revenues of $774 million to $814 million, with the high end of the range exceeding prior year results.

由於上述原因，我們預計 2023 年全年收入將在 7.7 億美元至 8.1 億美元之間，從而實現 5% 的持平至負增長，所有這些都是有機的。在固定匯率基礎上，我們預計收入為 7.74 億美元至 8.14 億美元，該範圍的高端超過上一年的結果。

As a result of the cost savings actions taken in Q4, we anticipate full year 2023 adjusted EBITDA margin expansion to slightly over 31%. We expect 2023 adjusted EBITDA in the range of $240 million to $255 million, representing negative 4% to positive 2% year-over-year growth. This further demonstrates our commitment and ability to manage costs and maintain what we believe are industry-leading margins. We expect our 2023 adjusted net income to be between $145 million and $155 million, primarily due to the previously discussed factors.

由於第四季度採取的成本節約措施，我們預計 2023 年全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將擴大至略高於 31%。我們預計 2023 年調整後的 EBITDA 在 2.4 億美元至 2.55 億美元之間，同比增長負 4% 至正 2%。這進一步證明了我們管理成本和保持我們認為行業領先的利潤率的承諾和能力。我們預計 2023 年調整後的淨收入將在 1.45 億美元至 1.55 億美元之間，這主要是由於之前討論的因素。

This year, we are introducing adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to provide additional visibility into our business. We expect our 2023 adjusted diluted EPS to be between $1 and $1.07. This assumes the continued execution of our share buyback program. We have included a summary of these and other selected modeling assumptions on Slide 12.

今年，我們將引入調整後的稀釋每股收益指引，以提高我們業務的知名度。我們預計 2023 年調整後的攤薄每股收益將在 1 美元至 1.07 美元之間。這假設繼續執行我們的股票回購計劃。我們在幻燈片 12 中總結了這些和其他選定的建模假設。

Looking now at the quarterly phasing of our 2023 guidance. Based on actual financial results to date, we expect Q1 year-over-year consolidated revenues to decline 8% to 11% as the macroeconomic headwinds previously described continue and we cycle over Q1 2022, which saw exceptionally high revenue growth of 44%. We do have seasonality in our business. And historically, the first quarter has typically been our slowest quarter of each fiscal year.

現在看看我們 2023 年指南的季度階段。根據迄今為止的實際財務結果，我們預計第一季度的綜合收入將下降 8% 至 11%，因為之前描述的宏觀經濟逆風仍在繼續，我們將在 2022 年第一季度循環，收入增長率高達 44%。我們的業務確實有季節性。從歷史上看，第一季度通常是我們每個財政年度中表現最差的一個季度。

In Q2, we expect sequential revenue growth, though it will still be negative on a year-over-year basis. We will also be cycling over a double-digit revenue growth in Q2. We anticipate adjusted EBITDA growth rates to slightly exceed revenue growth rates for the full year. Regarding the phasing of adjusted EBITDA margins, we expect Q1 adjusted EBITDA margins to be between 27% and 28%, consistent with Q1 of the prior 2 years. Please keep in mind that Q1 typically represents their lowest margin quarter as a result of seasonality. Starting with Q2, we expect adjusted EBITDA margins above 30% and to improve in the second half of the year following a similar pattern to 2022.

在第二季度，我們預計收入將連續增長，但同比仍將是負增長。我們還將在第二季度實現兩位數的收入增長。我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 增長率將略高於全年的收入增長率。關於調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的分階段，我們預計第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將在 27% 至 28% 之間，與前兩年的第一季度一致。請記住，由於季節性原因，第一季度通常是他們利潤率最低的季度。從第二季度開始，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將超過 30%，並在下半年按照與 2022 年類似的模式有所改善。

We expect our full year adjusted EBITDA margins to be approximately 31%, additional evidence of our focus on managing the business for profitability and leveraging our flexible cost structure. We remain confident in our proven formula to grow above our underlying market and reiterate our long-term organic revenue growth target of 8% to 10%. We will remain vigilant on dynamically managing our cost base and focus intently on the things we can control.

我們預計全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率約為 31%，這進一步證明了我們專注於管理業務以實現盈利並利用我們靈活的成本結構。我們仍然相信我們經過驗證的公式能夠超越我們的基礎市場，並重申我們 8% 至 10% 的長期有機收入增長目標。我們將對動態管理我們的成本基礎保持警惕，並專注於我們可以控制的事情。

We have successfully managed through challenging times in the past, notably during the 2020 COVID-related downturn and have a strong operating discipline and proven track record around doing so. We remain confident in our resilient operating model.

我們過去曾成功度過充滿挑戰的時期，尤其是在 2020 年與 COVID 相關的低迷時期，並且在這方面擁有嚴格的運營紀律和可靠的業績記錄。我們對我們的彈性運營模式充滿信心。

Scott, I'll now turn the call back over to you.

斯科特，我現在把電話轉給你。

Thank you, David. I will conclude our prepared remarks today by reiterating my belief that First Advantage is well positioned to not only weather the current macroeconomic environment, but to continue to serve our customers with excellence and to create long-term value.

謝謝你，大衛。我將在今天結束我們準備好的發言時重申我的信念，即首優諮詢不僅能夠很好地應對當前的宏觀經濟環境，而且能夠繼續為我們的客戶提供卓越的服務並創造長期價值。

I would like to thank our First Advantage team members across the globe for your efforts in 2022 and for continuing to do an amazing job helping our customers hire smarter and onboard faster. I would also like to thank our investors for your ongoing support.

我要感謝我們全球各地的 First Advantage 團隊成員在 2022 年所做的努力，感謝你們繼續出色地幫助我們的客戶更聰明地招聘員工並更快地入職。我還要感謝我們的投資者一直以來的支持。

At this time, we will ask the operator to open the call for your questions.

這時，我們會要求接線員打開您的問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Ashish Sabadra。

You highlighted certain areas of strength, but in terms of weakness, I was wondering, are there any verticals or job rules where you saw any significant slowdown in hiring? And how should we think about that continuing particularly in the first quarter and the first half of the year?

你強調了某些優勢領域，但就弱點而言，我想知道，是否有任何垂直或工作規則讓你看到招聘顯著放緩？我們應該如何考慮這種情況，特別是在第一季度和上半年？

Yes. Ashish. Thanks for the question. Yes, I think like we said in the script, we continue to see sort of a mixed bag with our verticals. And we don't want to go vertical by vertical and give you projections, but I think consistent with what we said in the script is that we continue -- we expect to see continued demand in areas like transportation and health care, which are -- which did well in Q4, and we expect to do well in 2023. But certainly, other verticals are sluggish and some geographies are sluggish as well. But we don't think -- we don't want to go vertical by vertical because that would just gets a bit messy.

是的。阿希什。謝謝你的問題。是的，我認為就像我們在劇本中所說的那樣，我們繼續看到我們的垂直領域有點混亂。我們不想逐個垂直地進行預測，但我認為與我們在劇本中所說的一致，我們將繼續——我們希望看到交通和醫療保健等領域的持續需求，這些是—— - 在第四季度表現良好，我們預計在 2023 年表現良好。但可以肯定的是，其他垂直領域表現不佳，一些地區也表現不佳。但我們不認為——我們不想逐個垂直地進行，因為那樣會變得有點混亂。

Yes. No, understood. And that was very helpful color. And then, obviously, pretty good momentum on the new wins side, the new logos and upsells are helping offset a lot of the weakness, particularly in the fourth quarter. I was wondering if you could talk about the pipeline for new logos and upsell opportunities, particularly in 2023?

是的。不，明白。那是非常有用的顏色。然後，很明顯，新勝利方面的勢頭非常好，新標識和追加銷售有助於抵消很多疲軟，尤其是在第四季度。我想知道您是否可以談談新徽標和追加銷售機會的渠道，尤其是在 2023 年？

Yes, happy to do so. Our 2023 pipeline of new logos is the highest pipeline we've ever had in company history. So we expect new logo and upsell, cross-sell to continue to perform as they've done historically. We're especially bullish on the new logo pipeline in our EMEA markets, which is driven primarily by our new product offering, Digital Trust, which we announced last quarter is getting significant momentum. We have over 100 customers, which we have signed contracts with and 40 are now live on that product. So pipeline in EMEA is extremely strong and pipeline in the Americas, as I mentioned earlier, is the historically highest it's ever been.

是的，很高興這樣做。我們 2023 年的新徽標管道是我們公司歷史上最高的管道。因此，我們預計新標識和追加銷售、交叉銷售將繼續像以往一樣發揮作用。我們特別看好 EMEA 市場的新徽標管道，這主要是由我們上季度宣布的新產品 Digital Trust 推動的，該產品勢頭強勁。我們有超過 100 家客戶，我們已經與他們簽訂了合同，現在有 40 家客戶使用該產品。因此，正如我之前提到的，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的管道非常強大，美洲的管道是歷史上最高的。

Our next question will come from Kyle Peterson with Needham.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Kyle Peterson 和 Needham。

Just wanted to touch a little bit. I know you guys gave some really helpful color on kind of the year-to-date trends in 1Q expectations. But I guess just trying to parse out some of the seasonality versus what you guys kind of started seeing in November, December, as hiring and the macro gotten more challenging year-to-date? Or is what you guys are seeing so far at least when adjusting for seasonality, kind of similar to what you started to see later in 4Q?

只是想觸摸一點。我知道你們對 1Q 預期的年初至今趨勢給出了一些非常有用的顏色。但我想只是想分析一些季節性因素與你們在 11 月、12 月開始看到的情況，因為招聘和宏觀從年初至今變得更具挑戰性？或者你們到目前為止至少在調整季節性時所看到的，有點類似於你們在第四季度晚些時候開始看到的？

I would tell you that we definitely started to see some softness taking place around Thanksgiving. Historically, our seasonality peak in Q4 ran through around the middle of December -- December 10 to December 15. It stopped a little bit earlier this year. And we've been in constant conversation with our customers. And what they've said is really 2 things. One, we're taking a little bit of a short-term wait-and-see approach; and two, this is a great opportunity for pruning. And both of those are having somewhat of an impact on us in Q1. But we're in constant contact with our customers now, and we do believe and they believe that things could get better in the spring.

我會告訴你，我們肯定開始看到感恩節前後出現了一些疲軟。從歷史上看，我們在第四季度的季節性高峰期大約在 12 月中旬 - 12 月 10 日至 12 月 15 日。今年早些時候停止了一點。我們一直在與客戶進行持續對話。他們所說的實際上是兩件事。第一，我們正在採取一些短期的觀望態度；第二，這是修剪的好機會。這兩者都在第一季度對我們產生了一定的影響。但我們現在一直在與客戶保持聯繫，我們相信，他們也相信春天情況會好轉。

Okay. That is helpful, and it makes sense. And just a follow-up on capital allocation. You guys gave some good color on the buyback and been pretty active on that front. But I want to follow up on the M&A pipeline. It seems like there might be kind of some interesting opportunities, and you guys obviously have a really strong cash position but I guess, how have kind of some of those conversations been going and the valuations gotten even more attractive now that financing and the operating environment might be a little tougher for some of the smaller guys?

好的。這很有幫助，而且很有道理。只是資本配置的後續行動。你們在回購時給出了一些很好的顏色，並且在這方面非常活躍。但我想跟進併購管道。看起來可能會有一些有趣的機會，你們顯然擁有非常強大的現金頭寸，但我想，其中一些對話進行得如何，估值在融資和運營環境下變得更具吸引力對一些小個子來說可能會更難一些？

Well, I think number one is M&A remains our #1 top priority of capital allocation use. We would love to do deals and do more deals. We are definitely seeing a smaller pipeline of deals. It doesn't mean that there's no deals. There certainly are deals, but it's a little bit of a smaller pipeline as some companies have also taken a wait-and-see approach or sit back and kind of let this play out a little bit.

好吧，我認為第一是併購仍然是我們資本配置使用的第一要務。我們很樂意做交易，做更多的交易。我們肯定會看到較小的交易渠道。這並不意味著沒有交易。當然有交易，但它的管道有點小，因為一些公司也採取了觀望的態度，或者坐下來讓這件事發揮一點作用。

But I think the overarching issue that we still have in M&A is valuations. Valuations have not come down to where we feel they are realistic. And we're certainly just -- we're not going to overpay just to do M&A. It doesn't mean that there aren't deals out there that we can do, and we continue to talk with companies and we are definitely in the hunt on deals, looking for deals but the valuations just haven't come down to where we think they need to be. And so we'll see how M&A pans out this year, but it absolutely is our #1 priority.

但我認為我們在併購中仍然面臨的首要問題是估值。估值還沒有降到我們認為現實的水平。我們當然只是 - 我們不會僅僅為了進行併購而多付錢。這並不意味著沒有我們可以做的交易，我們繼續與公司交談，我們肯定在尋找交易，尋找交易，但估值還沒有下降到我們的水平認為他們需要。因此，我們將看到今年併購的結果如何，但這絕對是我們的第一要務。

Our next question comes from Stephanie Moore with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Stephanie Moore。

Thank you for the question. I just wanted to focus on the 2023 guidance and kind of the underlying assumption that there's some improvement kind of midyear. Maybe if you could provide a little bit more color on what you're seeing or what kind of gives you confidence in that recovery? Is it kind of new logo expectations in your pipeline, conversations with customers? Any color would be great.

感謝你的提問。我只想關注 2023 年的指導方針和一種基本假設，即年中會有一些改善。也許如果你能為你所看到的提供更多的顏色或者什麼樣的讓你對恢復有信心？在您的管道中，與客戶的對話中是否有某種新徽標期望？任何顏色都會很棒。

So there's several factors -- yes, go ahead, David.

所以有幾個因素——是的，繼續，戴維。

Okay. I'll start, and you can jump in, how about that? There are several factors that go into it. First of all, we're going to have a lot easier comps in the second half of the year, and we're still given very conservative guidance. So we do think there will be some modest improvement, and that's really going to come from International, we see that recovery taking place towards the end of Q2 and the beginning of Q3. We think most of the U.S. pruning, if you will, will be behind us. And we don't see any kind of hockey stick recovery, but we're not seeing, based on conversations with our clients, any kind of doom and gloom scenario in the second half either.

好的。我會開始，你可以跳進去，怎麼樣？其中有幾個因素。首先，我們將在今年下半年有更容易的組合，我們仍然得到非常保守的指導。所以我們確實認為會有一些適度的改善，這真的會來自國際，我們看到復蘇發生在第二季度末和第三季度初。我們認為美國的大部分修剪（如果您願意的話）將在我們身後。我們沒有看到任何形式的曲棍球棒復甦，但根據與客戶的對話，我們也沒有看到下半年出現任何厄運和悲觀的情況。

Yes. And I would just add, we're still seeing these overarching changes to the labor market. We're still seeing an amazing number of job openings, 11 million. We're still seeing 4 million quits per month, and that's been going on for like 19, 20 months straight. And we do have a really good mechanism for talking to our top customers. And we are in ongoing discussions with our customers about their businesses and about their hiring demands. And most of those discussions are all short term in nature. They themselves believe that, as David said, good opportunity to do some pruning right now and take a 60- to 90-day sort of wait-and-see approach, but their fundamental businesses haven't changed, and there's a strong demand for their products and services.

是的。我只想補充一點，我們仍然看到勞動力市場發生了這些總體變化。我們仍然看到驚人數量的職位空缺，1100 萬。我們仍然看到每月有 400 萬人退出，而且這種情況已經持續了 19、20 個月。我們確實有一個非常好的機制來與我們的頂級客戶交談。我們正在與客戶就他們的業務和招聘需求進行持續討論。大多數這些討論都是短期的。他們自己認為，正如 David 所說，現在是進行一些修剪並採取 60 到 90 天觀望的好機會，但他們的基本業務沒有改變，而且對他們的產品和服務。

And then we also -- are talking to and looking at what some of the economic analysts are saying and based on that, that's how we came up with our guidance for the year.

然後我們也 - 正在與一些經濟分析師交談並研究他們所說的話，並在此基礎上，這就是我們得出今年指導意見的方式。

Great. That's really helpful. And then just as my follow-up, First, I -- apologize if I didn't fully hear the number. I think you called out some rationalizing of facilities and selectively lowering headcount and kind of your views that you don't expect these costs to come back. Could you provide a little bit more of a quantification around that, just so we can kind of think about the go-forward benefit?

偉大的。這真的很有幫助。然後就像我的後續行動一樣，首先，如果我沒有完全聽到這個數字，我深表歉意。我認為你提出了一些設施合理化和有選擇地減少員工人數以及你不希望這些成本回來的觀點。你能否提供更多的量化數據，這樣我們就可以考慮一下未來的好處？

So as you know, when COVID-19 had changed the way the world operated and did business, we still had a number of facility leases and empty space, we decided to terminate a number of those leases and vacate a number of those premises, and that will contribute about $1.6 million in 2023. So we feel very good about that.

因此，如您所知，當 COVID-19 改變了世界運作和開展業務的方式時，我們仍然有許多設施租約和空地，我們決定終止其中一些租約並騰出其中一些場所，並且這將在 2023 年貢獻約 160 萬美元。因此我們對此感覺非常好。

We also continue to match headcount with demand. We have a very flexible operating structure. As we've previously noted, we can operate 5 days a week, 6 days, 7 days a week, 2 shifts, 3 shifts. We have overtime available to us. So as demand moderated, we scaled back on our shifts, we eliminated over time, and we matched headcount with demand. So we will continue to do that to manage our margins.

我們還繼續使員工人數與需求相匹配。我們擁有非常靈活的運營結構。正如我們之前提到的，我們可以每週工作 5 天、6 天、7 天，2 班，3 班。我們有加班時間。因此，隨著需求的放緩，我們縮減了班次，隨著時間的推移進行了裁員，並將員工人數與需求相匹配。因此，我們將繼續這樣做以管理我們的利潤率。

And Stephanie also you might see from the slides we are now well over 3,000 bots and all that automation that we do replaces headcount, and that headcount never needs to come back once those -- that automation in those bots are in place. So there's a lot of good signs in the business that we can grow without linearly adding headcount.

斯蒂芬妮你也可以從幻燈片中看到我們現在有超過 3,000 個機器人，我們所做的所有自動化都取代了員工人數，一旦這些機器人的自動化到位，員工人數就永遠不需要回來了。因此，業務中有很多好的跡象表明我們可以在不線性增加員工人數的情況下實現增長。

Our next question will come from Andrew Steinerman with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的 Andrew Steinerman。

This is Alex Hess on for Andrew Steinerman. I wanted to maybe ask about pricing and base growth. You mentioned sort of some selective price increases. Was that just sort of passing through third-party verification costs? And then maybe what was your base revenue growth exiting 4Q? And what are you assuming for '23?

我是 Alex Hess 代替 Andrew Steinerman。我想問問定價和基礎增長。你提到了一些選擇性的價格上漲。那隻是通過第三方驗證的費用嗎？然後也許您在第四季度退出的基本收入增長是多少？你對 23 年的假設是什麼？

So from a pricing perspective, keep in mind that we always pass through our third-party costs. And we also have the right to pass through any increases in our third-party costs. So we've always done that historically. We will continue to do that. We have been able to pass through some moderate and selective price increases in addition to that as well. From a base perspective, we do expect negative base growth particularly in the first half of 2023. We hope to overcome that through our new logo and our upsell, cross-sell. Our attrition has been very, very low. And so we think it will turn to slightly positive in the second half of the year.

因此，從定價的角度來看，請記住我們總是轉嫁第三方成本。我們也有權轉嫁第三方成本的任何增加。所以我們一直都是這麼做的。我們將繼續這樣做。除此之外，我們還能夠通過一些適度和選擇性的價格上漲。從基礎的角度來看，我們確實預計基礎會出現負增長，尤其是在 2023 年上半年。我們希望通過我們的新徽標和追加銷售、交叉銷售來克服這一問題。我們的流失率非常非常低。因此，我們認為它會在今年下半年轉為略微積極。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then on the margin improvement that you're expecting year-on-year, how much of that for the full year is some sort of realignment of third-party verification policies and maybe using alternative vendors versus how much is those actions that you've already spoken to around cost controls?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後關於您預期的同比利潤率改善，全年有多少是第三方驗證政策的某種重新調整以及可能使用替代供應商與您的那些行動有多少'已經談過成本控制？

The verification piece is a small portion of it. I mean, keep in mind, we have a very variable cost structure. About 37% of revenues are represented by third-party costs. So if we don't perform a search, we don't incur those costs. So those are 100% variable.

驗證片只是其中的一小部分。我的意思是，請記住，我們的成本結構非常可變。大約 37% 的收入來自第三方成本。因此，如果我們不執行搜索，就不會產生這些費用。所以這些是 100% 可變的。

Then we have the operations flexibility that I just talked about. Then we took out facilities. We've taken out some selective headcount. We're prioritizing investments. I mean we're basically running the entire cost savings playbook, and we're looking at everything.

然後我們有我剛才談到的操作靈活性。然後我們拿出設施。我們已經取消了一些選擇性的員工人數。我們正在優先考慮投資。我的意思是我們基本上正在運行整個成本節約手冊，我們正在研究所有內容。

Our next question will come from Manav Patnaik with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的 Manav Patnaik。

This is Ronan Kennedy on for Manav. As a follow-up to that question kind of on pricing and verification, et cetera. At a higher level, can you just confirm whether there have been changes to broader screening economics, such as the price per screen in the margins on the screen, et cetera? And then also your broader revenue mix in terms of pre higher screening post onboard monitoring, et cetera, what that is currently and how you expect that to trend?

這是 Manav 的 Ronan Kennedy。作為定價和驗證等問題的後續行動。在更高的層面上，您能否確認更廣泛的放映經濟學是否發生了變化，例如屏幕邊緣的每屏價格等？然後還有你更廣泛的收入組合，在預先更高的篩選後機載監控等方面，目前是什麼以及你期望它如何發展？

So pre onboard screening has historically run about 90%. It will continue to run at about 90%. We feel pretty confident that, that will be maintained. From a pricing perspective, everything is pretty consistent. There have not been any fundamental changes in the cost of background screening relative to the criminal side, most of that is coming from government databases. We've not seen any significant changes in pricing relative to those government databases since the state of New York did it about 3 years ago.

因此，從歷史上看，登機前篩查的運行率約為 90%。它將繼續以大約 90% 的速度運行。我們非常有信心，這將得到維持。從定價的角度來看，一切都非常一致。相對於犯罪方面的背景篩查成本沒有任何根本變化，其中大部分來自政府數據庫。自紐約州大約 3 年前這樣做以來，我們還沒有看到相對於這些政府數據庫的定價有任何重大變化。

So the cost of the criminal element of the background screen has remained the same. As you alluded to, verifications has gone up. We passed through all of those costs. And there are certain other elements that do change, but we do pass through all of those third-party costs. So it's a fairly stable pricing environment.

因此，背景屏幕的犯罪分子成本保持不變。正如你提到的，驗證已經上升。我們通過了所有這些成本。還有某些其他元素確實會發生變化，但我們確實會轉嫁所有這些第三方成本。所以這是一個相當穩定的定價環境。

Okay. And then could I just ask for your assessment of industry competitive dynamics in the current and expected environment for the remainder of '23, perhaps even few added years and highlight any emerging areas of differentiation between yourself and public peers. Obviously, there's a much greater distinction to the smaller players, the regionals and the mom and pops, but also how you think they will fare in a challenging macro environment and if that will kind of accelerate the pace of consolidation?

好的。然後，我能否要求您對 23 年剩餘時間（甚至可能增加幾年）的當前和預期環境中的行業競爭動態進行評估，並強調您與公眾同行之間任何新興的差異化領域。顯然，小型企業、地區性企業和夫妻店之間的區別更大，但您認為他們在充滿挑戰的宏觀環境中的表現如何，這是否會加快整合步伐？

Yes. So we haven't seen much change in competitive dynamics. We -- as we've mentioned before, there's really 3 buckets of competition. There's the 3 public companies. There's the midsized companies and the mom and pops, and we continue -- and I've mentioned this for the last couple of quarters, we continue to take market share almost equally from those 3 buckets, so 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 and so those competitive dynamics really haven't changed. And I think the big difference is technology. Technology continues to be the winning formula for us. So we continue to invest in product and sales, and that's always been a good model for us.

是的。所以我們沒有看到競爭動態有太大變化。我們——正如我們之前提到的，真的有 3 桶競爭。有3家上市公司。有中型公司和夫妻店，我們繼續 - 我在過去幾個季度提到過這一點，我們繼續從這 3 個桶中獲得幾乎平均的市場份額，所以 1/3，1/3， 1/3，所以那些競爭動態真的沒有改變。我認為最大的區別在於技術。技術仍然是我們的製勝法寶。所以我們繼續投資於產品和銷售，這對我們來說一直是一個很好的模式。

I think that the moves that we've made on verifications has really helped with our announcement of our Smart Hub technology last quarter. It's really helping us provide alternatives in the verification space that our peers and our competition don't have yet. And so that's giving us a little bit of a competitive advantage. But I think in general, this is a market that hasn't changed too much on the competitive landscape, and it really just comes down to good sales execution and continued investment in product.

我認為我們在驗證方面採取的舉措確實有助於我們在上個季度宣布我們的 Smart Hub 技術。它確實幫助我們在驗證領域提供了我們的同行和競爭對手還沒有的替代方案。所以這給了我們一點競爭優勢。但我認為，總的來說，這是一個競爭格局沒有太大變化的市場，這實際上歸結為良好的銷售執行和對產品的持續投資。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from Heather Balsky with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的 Heather Balsky。

On the topic of M&A, can you just remind us what your priorities are in terms of M&A targets, what you're looking for, especially given your -- how you prioritize that? And then in addition, given that we're going into a tougher market, how do you think about M&A versus taking -- accelerating share gains organically?

關於併購的話題，您能否提醒我們您在併購目標方面的優先事項是什麼，您正在尋找什麼，特別是考慮到您 - 您如何確定優先級？此外，鑑於我們將進入一個更加艱難的市場，您如何看待併購與收購——有機地加速份額增長？

Yes. So M&A for us, first of all, the #1 priority is strategic. If you look at the 4 acquisitions that we've done over the last 18 months or so, they've all been strategic and they all have exceeded expectations. They've been -- we've been 4 for 4 on M&A. They've been phenomenal acquisitions for us. So our first lens that we look at is strategic.

是的。所以併購對我們來說，首先，第一要務是戰略性的。如果你看看我們在過去 18 個月左右的時間裡進行的 4 次收購，它們都是戰略性的，而且都超出了預期。他們一直 - 我們在併購方面是 4 比 4。他們對我們來說是非凡的收購。所以我們看的第一個鏡頭是戰略性的。

And when I say strategic, it then also falls really into 3 buckets. One is we love international expansion. We'd love to increase our footprint around the globe. We do screens today in 200 countries and territories around the world, which basically covers the world but we'd love to have more feet on the ground in certain regions that we think are high-growth regions of the future, and that will be one bucket we continue to look at.

當我說戰略時，它實際上也分為 3 個類別。一是我們熱愛國際擴張。我們很樂意擴大我們在全球的足跡。我們今天在全球 200 個國家和地區放映，基本上覆蓋了全球，但我們希望在某些我們認為是未來高增長地區的地區有更多的腳踏實地，那將是一個鬥我們繼續看。

The second bucket we look at, and this is probably more for the Americas is we have -- we feel the biggest driver of our growth over the last 5, 6 years has been our vertical strategy. So we will continue to look for acquisitions that enhance that vertical message, get us deeper into those verticals or maybe even open up a new vertical for us that we don't want to build.

我們看的第二個桶，這可能更多是針對美洲的——我們認為過去 5、6 年我們增長的最大驅動力是我們的垂直戰略。因此，我們將繼續尋找能夠增強垂直信息的收購，讓我們更深入地進入這些垂直領域，甚至可能為我們開闢一個我們不想建立的新垂直領域。

And then the third view is product, anything that we could sell to same buyer. We really love that. So a great example of that is Form I-9 Compliance which we bought last January of 2022. That is a great add-on to our sales team to just be able to sell that. And that also has done extremely well.

然後第三個視圖是產品，我們可以賣給同一個買家的任何東西。我們真的很喜歡。因此，一個很好的例子就是我們在 2022 年 1 月購買的 I-9 合規表格。這對我們的銷售團隊來說是一個很好的附加組件，能夠將其出售。這也做得非常好。

So I mean, that -- we will continue to look at M&A through that lens. And it doesn't mean that there's also just some pure M&A deals out there that are synergy plays. And we continue to look at them as well, but those valuations have to work in order for those synergies to work. So we -- that's on our radar, but we'd love to look at strategic first, although we will look at synergy plays. And then we think we can do both, M&A and the share buyback because of our strong cash position. So we're not doing an either/or here.

所以我的意思是，我們將繼續通過這個視角來審視併購。這並不意味著那裡也只有一些純粹的併購交易是協同效應。我們也繼續關注它們，但這些估值必鬚髮揮作用才能使這些協同效應發揮作用。所以我們 - 這在我們的雷達上，但我們希望首先考慮戰略，儘管我們會考慮協同作用。然後我們認為我們可以同時進行併購和股票回購，因為我們擁有強大的現金狀況。所以我們不在這裡做非此即彼的事情。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question will come from Peter Christiansen with Citi.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題將來自花旗的 Peter Christiansen。

I really appreciate the vertical breakdown. Wondering if you can provide any commentary across firm size? I know you're high index to large enterprise, but curious to hear what you're seeing small business gig workers, that kind of activity there, that would be helpful?

我真的很欣賞垂直細分。想知道您是否可以針對公司規模提供任何評論？我知道你對大企業的評價很高，但很想知道你看到的小企業零工，那裡的那種活動，會有幫助嗎？

Yes. So keep in mind that only 4% of our revenue comes from SMB. We really are an enterprise play. We feel we've built our company to be an enterprise provider and specifically targeting verticals with high-volume hires. We love high volume, high turnover hires. So that's really our main focus. It doesn't mean we don't play in the SMB space, but at 4%. Obviously, it's not a huge thing for us.

是的。所以請記住，我們只有 4% 的收入來自 SMB。我們真的是一個企業遊戲。我們覺得我們已經將公司打造成一家企業提供商，並且專門針對具有大量僱員的垂直行業。我們喜歡高產量、高流動率的員工。所以這真的是我們的主要關注點。這並不意味著我們不在 SMB 領域開展業務，而是在 4%。顯然，這對我們來說不是什麼大事。

And also on the gig side, which we would lump in with tech, that's only 3% of our business as well. So these are small percentages. It may be an opportunity for us in the future. But as of right now, our main focus is verticals that are high volume, high turnover in the Fortune 2000 type of market. Those are ideal targets for us.

在零工方面，我們將與技術混為一談，這也只占我們業務的 3%。所以這些都是很小的百分比。這可能是我們未來的機會。但就目前而言，我們的主要關注點是財富 2000 強類型市場中高流量、高營業額的垂直市場。這些是我們的理想目標。

And then I was just curious, if you look at nonfarm payroll the data that's been coming through lately. And it's pretty consistent certainly with your comments of what happened in 4Q, then we saw this nice bounce back in the January numbers, about $500,000. I'm just curious to what degree do you think your performance is aligning with some of the nonfarm payroll data that's been coming out?

然後我很好奇，如果你看一下最近出現的非農就業數據。這肯定與您對第四季度發生的事情的評論非常一致，然後我們在 1 月份的數字中看到了這個不錯的反彈，大約 500,000 美元。我只是想知道您認為您的表現在多大程度上與已經發布的一些非農就業數據保持一致？

Yes. So we continue to look at JOLTS data and other labor market factors. But I think January nonfarm employment numbers, the gain that you mentioned -- the numbers that you're mentioning, the gain of $517,000 was a little misleading because those were seasonally adjusted. So primarily government hires and hospitality is what drove that.

是的。因此，我們繼續關注 JOLTS 數據和其他勞動力市場因素。但我認為 1 月份的非農就業數據，你提到的收益——你提到的 517,000 美元的收益有點誤導，因為這些是經過季節性調整的。因此，主要是政府僱員和招待是推動這一點的因素。

So if you take out the seasonal adjustment, do they actually -- U.S. actually lost 2.5 million jobs in January. So I think you really need to dig into those numbers, which we do on a consistent basis to see where that true growth is coming from. And I think it does align nicely to our vertical strategy. The main -- maybe the main area that we want to close the gap on a little bit is in the hospitality space, which you're seeing a lot of new jobs being added today. And that is only about 4% of our revenue today. So that's an area of opportunity for us to focus on.

因此，如果你剔除季節性調整，他們實際上 - 美國在 1 月份實際上失去了 250 萬個工作崗位。所以我認為你真的需要深入研究這些數字，我們一直在這樣做，以了解真正的增長來自何處。我認為它確實與我們的垂直戰略非常吻合。主要 - 也許我們想要縮小差距的主要領域是在酒店領域，你會看到今天增加了很多新工作。而這僅占我們今天收入的 4% 左右。所以這是我們關注的機會領域。

Our next question will come from Shlomo Rosenbaum with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Stifel 的 Shlomo Rosenbaum。

Adam Parrington for Shlomo. What should we expect for free cash flow in 2023? And is there a component to the working capital benefit this quarter that should reverse near term?

Shlomo 的亞當·帕靈頓。我們對 2023 年的自由現金流有何期待？本季度的營運資本收益是否有一部分應該在短期內逆轉？

So we expect to continue to have significant free cash flow. If you think about it in terms of start with adjusted back off CapEx, which we're estimating to be around $30 million that includes captive software. We'll have cash taxes that we'll have to pay in 2023 of around $40 million and then working capital should remain pretty consistent and/or it should be slightly positive depending on where we end up the year in revenues. So we'll still be throwing off a tremendous amount of cash.

因此，我們預計將繼續擁有可觀的自由現金流。如果您從調整後的資本支出開始考慮，我們估計約為 3000 萬美元，其中包括專屬軟件。我們將在 2023 年支付大約 4000 萬美元的現金稅，然後營運資金應該保持相當穩定和/或應該略微為正，具體取決於我們當年的收入情況。所以我們仍然會浪費大量現金。

Thank you. At this time, we have no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Staples for any additional or closing remarks.

謝謝。目前，隊列中沒有其他問題。我現在想將電話轉回給斯台普斯先生，以徵求任何補充意見或結束意見。

Thank you, Chelsea, and thanks, everyone, for your participation. Have a great day.

謝謝切爾西，也謝謝大家的參與。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude the First Advantage Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. Thank you for your participation. And at this time, you may disconnect your lines. Have a wonderful day.

謝謝你們，女士們，先生們。這確實結束了 First Advantage 第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議和網絡廣播。感謝您的參與。而此時，你可能會斷開你的線路。祝你有美好的一天。