Franklin Covey Co (FC) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Franklin Covey Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to Derek Hatch. Sir, you may begin.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加富蘭克林柯維 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）我現在想將會議交給德里克·哈奇。先生，您可以開始了。

Thank you. Hello, everyone. On behalf of Franklin Covey, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and hopes for a peaceful and prosperous 2024.

謝謝。大家好。我謹代表富蘭克林·柯維祝大家新年快樂，並祝福 2024 年和平繁榮。

Before we begin today's call festivities, I would like to remind everybody that this presentation contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在我們開始今天的電話會議之前，我想提醒大家，本簡報包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。

Forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the ability of the company to grow revenues, the acceptance of and renewal rates for our subscription offerings, including the All Access Pass and Leader in Me memberships, the ability of the company to hire productive sales and other client-facing professionals, general economic conditions, competition in the company's targeted marketplace, market acceptance of new offerings or services and marketing strategies, changes in the company's market share, changes in the size of the overall market for the company's products, changes in the training and spending policies of the company's clients and other factors identified and discussed in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

前瞻性聲明是基於管理層當前的預期，並受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，包括但不限於公司增加收入的能力、我們的訂閱產品（包括 All Access）的接受度和續訂率Pass 和Leader in Me 會員資格、公司聘請高效銷售人員和其他面向客戶的專業人員的能力、總體經濟狀況、公司目標市場的競爭、市場對新產品或服務和營銷策略的接受度、公司市場的變化份額、公司產品整體市場規模的變化、公司客戶培訓和支出政策的變化，以及公司最近的10-K 表格年度報告和其他定期報告中確定和討論的因素證券交易委員會。

Many of these conditions are beyond our control or influence, any one of which may cause future results to differ materially from the company's current expectations, and there can be no assurance the company's actual future performance will meet management's expectations. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of today's presentation, except as required by law.

其中許多條件超出了我們的控製或影響範圍，其中任何一項都可能導致未來結果與公司當前的預期存在重大差異，並且無法保證公司未來的實際業績將滿足管理層的預期。這些前瞻性陳述是基於管理階層目前的預期，我們沒有義務更新或修改這些前瞻性陳述以反映今天的簡報日期之後的事件或情況，除非法律要求。

With that out of the way, we'd like to turn the time over to Mr. Paul Walker, our CEO and President.

解決這個問題後，我們希望將時間交給我們的執行長兼總裁保羅沃克先生。

Thank you, Derek. Hello, everyone. Happy new year. Thanks for joining us today. We're glad to have the opportunity to talk to you, and we just want to start out by expressing our appreciation to you, and we're grateful to be with you today.

謝謝你，德里克。大家好。新年快樂。感謝您今天加入我們。我們很高興有機會與您交談，我們只想先向您表達我們的謝意，我們很高興今天能與您在一起。

Joining me on the call are Steve Young, our CFO; Jennifer Colosimo, President of the Enterprise Division; Sean Covey, President of the Education Division, as well as other members of our executive team.

與我一起參加電話會議的是我們的財務長 Steve Young； Jennifer Colosimo，企業部總裁；教育部門總裁 Sean Covey 以及我們執行團隊的其他成員。

We're pleased that though the results in the first quarter were essentially even with last year's first quarter, both revenue and adjusted EBITDA came in stronger than forecasted. Even though we also expect the second quarter revenue to again be about even with or slightly above prior year, we expect to achieve a significant growth in revenue in the back half of the year with a high flow-through of this revenue driving growth in adjusted EBITDA, to our target of between $54.5 million and $58 million.

我們很高興看到，儘管第一季的業績與去年第一季基本持平，但營收和調整後 EBITDA 均強於預期。儘管我們也預期第二季營收將再次與去年同期持平或略高於去年，但我們預計下半年營收將實現顯著成長，該營收的高流量將推動調整後的營收成長EBITDA，達到我們5,450 萬至5800 萬美元的目標。

We expect this growth in the back half to be driven by several key factors, including the following: first, that we're entering the back half of the year with a lot more billed and unbilled deferred revenue on our balance sheet than a year before. At the end of the first quarter, the sum of our billed and unbilled deferred revenue was $169.7 million, a level $18 million higher than at the same time last year. A meaningful portion of this will flow through into revenue in the back half of fiscal '24 and into fiscal '25.

我們預計下半年的成長將由幾個關鍵因素推動，包括以下因素：首先，進入今年下半年，我們的資產負債表上的已開票和未開票遞延收入比一年前多得多。截至第一季末，我們的已開立發票和未開票遞延收入總額為 1.697 億美元，比去年同期增加了 1,800 萬美元。其中很大一部分將流入 24 財年後半段和 25 財年的收入。

Second is that our invoiced subscription revenue is increasing. After flattish All Access Pass invoice subscription growth in the second and third quarters last year, which as I remind you, was flattish on top of significant double-digit growth the prior year, our invoiced All Access Pass subscription revenue grew significantly in the fourth quarter and again in Q1 this year. We expect this growth will continue in Q2 and for the remainder of this year and beyond, resulting in additional amounts of deferred revenue going on to the balance sheet and flowing through to revenue in fiscal '24 and beyond.

其次，我們的發票訂閱收入正在增加。去年第二季和第三季 All Access Pass 發票訂閱成長持平（我提醒您，在前一年兩位數的大幅成長之上），我們的發票 All Access Pass 訂閱收入在第四季度顯著增長今年第一季再次出現。我們預計這種成長將在第二季以及今年剩餘時間及以後持續下去，從而導致資產負債表上出現額外的遞延收入，並流向 24 財年及以後的收入。

Third is that we expect our subscription services attach rate to improve. We expect our subscription services attach rate, which declined from 66.5% to 61.5% in the back half of last year and through the first quarter of this year, we expect that it will return to its historic rate of around 66.5% in Q3 and Q4 of this year, driven by a combination of services delivered to new schools that were brought on late in last year's fourth quarter and by the impact of the launch of the 3.0 and 5.0 versions of the Speed of Trust and 7 Habits, 2 of our historic blockbuster solutions, as well as the launch of our new solution on difficult conversations.

第三，我們預期我們的訂閱服務附加率將會提高。我們預計我們的訂閱服務附加率從去年下半年的 66.5% 下降至 61.5%，到今年第一季度，我們預計第三季度和第四季度將恢復到 66.5% 左右的歷史水平今年的增長得益於去年第四季末向新學校提供的一系列服務以及3.0 和5.0 版本的「信任速度」和「7 個習慣」（我們的歷史性項目中的2 個）的推出的影響。重磅解決方案，以及針對困難對話推出的新解決方案。

I'd like to now provide a little bit of additional context about the first quarter itself. As shown on Slide 4, our total revenue for the quarter came in at a higher-than-expected $68.4 million. Revenue for the latest 12 months grew $8.6 million or 3% to $279.6 million, and our rolling 2-year growth is a very strong $42.4 million or 18%.

我現在想提供一些有關第一季本身的額外背景資訊。如投影片 4 所示，我們本季的總收入高於預期 6,840 萬美元。最近 12 個月的營收成長了 860 萬美元，即 3%，達到 2.796 億美元，我們的滾動 2 年成長非常強勁，達到 4,240 萬美元，即 18%。

Adjusted EBITDA also came in at a higher-than-expected $11 million. With this, adjusted EBITDA for the latest 12 months through this year's first quarter grew $3.8 million or 9% to $47.6 million. And again, our rolling 2-year growth in adjusted EBITDA is $13.4 million or 39%.

調整後 EBITDA 也高於預期 1,100 萬美元。至此，截至今年第一季的最近 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 成長了 380 萬美元，即 9%，達到 4,760 萬美元。同樣，我們調整後 EBITDA 的兩年滾動成長率為 1,340 萬美元，即 39%。

Our subscription and subscription services sales in the first quarter reached $54.8 million, a level 4% higher than prior year. Subscription and subscription services sales were $224.7 million for the latest 12 months ended Q1, which is $13.6 million or 6% higher than the same period of the prior year. And again, our rolling 2-year growth was an extraordinarily strong $56.7 million or 34%. And finally, our balance of billed and unbilled deferred revenue increased $18 million or 12%, to $169.7 million from the end of the first quarter last year, and grew $48.5 million or 40% over the last 2-year period.

第一季我們的訂閱和訂閱服務銷售額達到 5,480 萬美元，比去年同期成長 4%。截至第一季的最近 12 個月，訂閱和訂閱服務銷售額為 2.247 億美元，比上年同期增長 1,360 萬美元，即 6%。我們的兩年滾動成長再次達到了異常強勁的 5,670 萬美元，即 34%。最後，我們的已計費和未計費遞延收入餘額從去年第一季末增加了1800 萬美元，即12%，達到1.697 億美元，在過去2 年期間增長了4850 萬美元，即40% 。

Stepping up a level. Our results in the first quarter put an exclamation point on 3 key strengths we've been building for years. As you can see shown on Slide 5, the first of these is the strength of our unique strategic position in the marketplace. We focus on the most important, strategic and durable position in our space, specifically that of helping organizations achieve results that require the collective action of their people. And we help organizations achieve these results with a combination of best-in-class content delivered through a broad range of delivery modalities, and world-class coaching and facilitation that's very difficult to replicate.

更上一層樓。我們第一季的業績為我們多年來打造的 3 個關鍵優勢打上了感嘆號。如投影片 5 所示，首先是我們在市場中獨特戰略地位的優勢。我們專注於我們領域中最重要、最具戰略意義和最持久的地位，特別是幫助組織實現需要員工集體行動的成果。我們透過廣泛的交付方式提供一流的內容，以及難以複製的世界一流的指導和協助，幫助組織實現這些成果。

The most important thing on the minds and priority list of CEOs is achieving the type of results that require the collective action of their entire organization. It's the point I'd like to come back to in just a minute.

執行長們所考慮和優先考慮的最重要的事情是實現需要整個組織集體行動的結果。我想稍後再回到這一點。

Our second key strength, as you can see shown there on the slide, is the power of our revenue-generating engine. As previously noted, despite being up against some extremely strong post-pandemic accelerated comps over the past 4 quarters, which have impacted our reported year-over-year percentage growth in those quarters, the continued strength of our underlying revenue generating engine is reflected in the following 4 key metrics: first, growth in revenue on a rolling 2-year basis, again, to normalize; second, growth of revenue compared to our pre-pandemic high; third, growth of our strategically important subscription and subscription services revenue; and fourth, growth in our balances of deferred subscription revenue, both billed and unbilled.

正如您在幻燈片上看到的那樣，我們的第二個關鍵優勢是我們創收引擎的力量。如前所述，儘管在過去 4 個季度中遇到了一些極其強勁的大流行後加速比較，這影響了我們報告的這些季度的同比百分比增長，但我們的基礎創收引擎的持續實力反映在以下4個關鍵指標：第一，收入在兩年滾動基礎上的成長再次趨於正常化；第二，與大流行前的高點相比，收入的成長；第三，我們具有重要策略意義的訂閱和訂閱服務收入的成長；第四，我們的延期訂閱收入餘額（已計費和未計費）的成長。

The third key strength is that of our powerful business model, a model where a combination of increasing revenue per client, high revenue and client retention, high contribution margins, upfront invoicing, low capital intensity, and disciplined reinvestment for growth, all combined to drive significant growth in both adjusted EBITDA and free cash.

第三個關鍵優勢是我們強大的商業模式，結合了增加每個客戶的收入、高收入和客戶保留率、高貢獻率、預開票、低資本密集度和嚴格的再投資成長，所有這些結合起來推動調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金均顯著成長。

I'd like to address each of these 3 key strengths in just a bit more detail and with some data.

我想透過一些數據更詳細地闡述這三個關鍵優勢。

First is shown on Slide 6, the strength of our strategic position. As I just noted, the most important strategic and durable position in our space is that of helping organizations achieve the kind of seismic results that can result from mobilizing the large-scale collective action of their people. Why is this so strategically powerful? Because almost all of the key strategic and operational results on which CEOs are focused, require just that kind of collective action.

首先是幻燈片 6 所示，我們的戰略地位的優勢。正如我剛才指出的，我們領域最重要的戰略和持久地位是幫助組織透過動員其人民的大規模集體行動來取得巨大的成果。為什麼這在戰略上如此強大？因為執行長關注的幾乎所有關鍵策略和營運結果都需要這種集體行動。

As shown on Slide 7, each year, the conference board, the advisory board, McKinsey and others conduct surveys to identify the most important things on CEO's minds and priority lists. Excluding macroeconomic and geopolitical issues, the vast majority of CEO's top priorities are those areas that require the collective action of the entire organization. I'd like to give you just 3 examples of this where we're working with clients to support them today.

如投影片 7 所示，每年，世界大型企業聯合會、諮詢委員會、麥肯錫和其他機構都會進行調查，以確定執行長心目中最重要的事情和優先事項清單。排除宏觀經濟和地緣政治問題，絕大多數CEO的首要任務都是那些需要整個組織集體行動的領域。我只想給您舉 3 個例子，我們今天正在與客戶合作為他們提供支援。

The first is we're working with the CEO of a large and rapidly growing manufacturing company to develop their top 500 global leaders. They're partnering with us to help them build a high trust and agile culture that can support the rapid growth they've achieved in which they expect to continue to achieve in the future. They recognize that culture is established by the collective behavior of leaders, and they've chosen Franklin Covey as their sole leadership development partner. They've done this in large part due to the impact of our powerful principle-based content, its direct relevance to building the type of winning culture they desire and our ability to scale our solutions across their global population.

第一個是我們正在與一家快速發展的大型製造公司的執行長合作，培養他們的全球 500 強領導者。他們與我們合作，幫助他們建立高度信任和敏捷的文化，以支持他們已經實現的快速成長，並期望在未來繼續實現這一目標。他們認識到文化是由領導者的集體行為建立的，因此他們選擇富蘭克林柯維作為他們唯一的領導力發展夥伴。他們之所以能做到這一點，很大程度上是因為我們強大的基於原則的內容的影響，它與建立他們想要的獲勝文化類型的直接相關性，以及我們在全球人口中擴展我們的解決方案的能力。

A second example is where we're partnering with the Chief Human Resource Officer of a large 100,000-person firm to deploy multiple Franklin Covey solutions across the entire organization. They've chosen us as their partner because of the powerful way in which our content shifts mindsets and behaviors versus simply teaching people to check off to dos from a checklist. They want us to develop with our help, common mindset, skill sets and a consistent language across the entire organization, or what we refer to as collective action, and we're their partner in doing this.

第二個例子是，我們與一家擁有 10 萬名員工的大型公司的首席人力資源長合作，在整個組織中部署多個富蘭克林柯維解決方案。他們選擇我們作為合作夥伴，因為我們的內容能夠有效地改變思維方式和行為，而不是簡單地教導人們從清單上檢查要做的事情。他們希望我們在整個組織的幫助、共同的心態、技能和一致的語言，或我們所說的集體行動的幫助下發展，而我們是他們在這方面的合作夥伴。

And the third example is where we're partnering with a large transportation company that has a very clear strategy for winning in their chosen market. However, like so many organizations, they've had a difficult time translating that strategy from the boardroom to the actions of those in the front line of the organization. This client is engaging us to equip their leaders with the skills and tools to create a culture of execution where people at the front line are engaged to execute the critical priorities that will translate strategy into results.

第三個例子是我們與一家大型運輸公司合作，該公司有非常明確的策略來贏得他們所選擇的市場。然而，與許多組織一樣，他們很難將該策略從董事會轉化為組織第一線人員的行動。該客戶要求我們為他們的領導者提供技能和工具，以創造一種執行文化，讓第一線人員參與執行關鍵優先事項，將策略轉化為結果。

As shown on Slide 8, being our clients' partner of choice for addressing opportunities and challenges like those just noted, translates into a number of powerful outcomes for Franklin Covey, including consistently winning new logos or new clients, achieving a strong attachment of subscription services to help clients achieve performance breakthroughs, retaining substantially all of our subscription revenue, increasing our average contract size, increasing the percentage of logos and revenue under multiyear contracts and achieving a high and growing lifetime customer value.

如投影片 8 所示，作為我們的客戶選擇的合作夥伴來應對剛剛提到的機會和挑戰，富蘭克林柯維取得了許多重大成果，包括不斷贏得新徽標或新客戶、實現訂閱服務的牢固依附幫助客戶實現績效突破，保留我們幾乎所有的訂閱收入，增加我們的平均合約規模，增加多年合約下的徽標和收入的百分比，並實現高且不斷增長的終身客戶價值。

For the latest 12-month period through this year's first quarter, we're really pleased to have continued to achieve strong results on each of these key outcomes. In the sales of All Access Pass to new logos in the Enterprise Division and Leader in Me subscriptions to new schools in the Education Division remained strong in the first quarter and for the latest 12-month period.

在截至今年第一季的最近 12 個月期間，我們非常高興在每項關鍵成果上繼續取得強勁成果。企業部門新商標的 All Access Pass 銷售和教育部門新學校的 Leader in Me 訂閱在第一季和最近 12 個月期間保持強勁。

Our revenue retention levels remained very high in the first quarter and for the latest 12 months. In the Enterprise Division in North America, in the first quarter, we achieved All Access Pass subscription revenue retention levels greater than 90%, and in the Education Division, we continue to achieve high levels of school retention.

我們第一季和最近 12 個月的收入保留水準仍然很高。在北美的企業部門，第一季我們實現了 All Access Pass 訂閱收入保留率超過 90%，在教育部門，我們繼續實現高水準的學校保留率。

An increasing percentage of clients are also entering into multiyear contracts, as you can see, shown on Slide 9, the percentage of clients, All Access Pass clients entering into multiyear contracts increased even further from its already high levels. In the first quarter, 54% of All Access Pass clients entered into multiyear contracts of at least 2 years, up from 48% at the end of Q1 fiscal '23.

越來越多的客戶簽訂多年期合同，正如您所看到的，如幻燈片 9 所示，All Access Pass 客戶簽訂多年期合約的比例在已經很高的水平上進一步增加。第一季度，54% 的 All Access Pass 客戶簽訂了至少 2 年的多年期合同，高於 23 年第一財季末的 48%。

Importantly, an even higher 60% of All Access Pass subscription revenue is now under multiyear contracts of at least 2 years, up from 55% at the end of the first quarter last year. Our clients commit to these multiyear agreements because of the importance and the ongoing nature of the opportunities and challenges they face that require the collective action of their people, and because of the value they're receiving from a long-term partnership with Franklin Covey. These long-term contracts provide a tremendous foundation for both the predictability and acceleration of future revenue growth.

重要的是，現在 All Access Pass 訂閱收入中有 60% 是簽訂至少 2 年的多年期合同，高於去年第一季末的 55%。我們的客戶承諾簽署這些多年期協議，是因為他們面臨的機會和挑戰的重要性和持續性，需要其員工的集體行動，也因為他們從與富蘭克林柯維的長期合作夥伴關係中獲得的價值。這些長期合約為未來收入成長的可預測性和加速提供了巨大的基礎。

As shown on Slide 10, the second key strength I'd like to focus on today is the power of our revenue-generating engine. As noted, the strength of our underlying revenue generating engine is reflected in 4 key metrics, which we've summarized on Slide 11.

如投影片 10 所示，我今天要關注的第二個關鍵優勢是我們創收引擎的力量。如前所述，我們底層創收引擎的實力體現在 4 個關鍵指標中，我們在投影片 11 中對此進行了總結。

First, the tremendous growth in revenue achieved over the past 2 years. This 2-year look helped to normalize for periods which benefited from comping to pandemic-impacted quarters. As shown over the past 2 years, our latest 12 months revenue has grown a very strong $42.4 million or 18%.

首先，過去兩年收入實現了巨大成長。這種兩年期的展望有助於使受益於受大流行影響的季度的比較的時期正常化。正如過去 2 年所示，我們最近 12 個月的收入成長了 4,240 萬美元，即 18%。

Second is the significant growth of our revenue compared to our pre-pandemic high, our latest 12 months revenue through this year's first quarter increased to $279.6 million, which represents growth of $54.2 million or 24% compared to our pre-pandemic high in fiscal 2019.

其次，與大流行前的高點相比，我們的營收顯著成長，截至今年第一季度，我們最近12 個月的營收增至2.796 億美元，與2019 財年大流行前的高點相比，成長了5,420 萬美元，即24% 。

Third is the even more rapid growth of our strategically important subscription and subscription services revenue. For the latest 12-month period through this year's first quarter, our subscription and subscription services revenue grew $13.6 million or 6%. And importantly, our 2-year growth was $56.7 million or 34%, and subscription and subscription services growth remarkably is more than $100 million or 81% compared to our pre-pandemic high.

第三，我們具有重要策略意義的訂閱和訂閱服務收入的成長更加迅速。截至今年第一季的最近 12 個月內，我們的訂閱和訂閱服務收入成長了 1,360 萬美元，即 6%。重要的是，我們的兩年成長率為 5,670 萬美元，即 34%，與疫情前的最高水準相比，訂閱和訂閱服務的成長率顯著超過 1 億美元，即 81%。

And fourth is the tremendous growth in our balances of deferred subscription revenue, both billed and unbilled. In this year's first quarter, our balance of deferred subscription revenue, billed and unbilled, increased to $169.7 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of $18 million or 12%. Our 2-year growth of $48.5 million was 40%, and our balance of deferred subscription revenue, billed and unbilled, has grown by $81.5 million or 92.5% compared to our pre-pandemic level. This dramatic growth in deferred subscription revenue on both a dollar and percentage basis establishes a very strong foundation for continued strong revenue growth in the coming quarters and years.

第四是我們的延期訂閱收入餘額（已計費和未計費）的巨大增長。今年第一季度，我們的已計費和未計費遞延訂閱收入餘額增至 1.697 億美元，年增 1,800 萬美元，即 12%。我們的 2 年增長率為 4850 萬美元，增長了 40%，而我們的延期訂閱收入（已計費和未計費）餘額與大流行前的水平相比增長了 8150 萬美元，即 92.5%。遞延訂閱收入的大幅成長（以美元和百分比計算）為未來幾季和幾年的營收持續強勁成長奠定了堅實的基礎。

And finally, the third point, you can see as shown on Slide 12, the third key strength is the strength of our business model. As you know, our business model results in a significant portion of incremental revenue flowing through to increases in adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.

最後，第三點，你可以看到，如投影片 12 所示，第三個關鍵優勢是我們商業模式的優勢。如您所知，我們的業務模式導致增量收入的很大一部分流向調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流的增加。

I'd like to briefly review the key elements of our business model that drives this. As shown on Slide 13, these factors include increasing revenue per client, high revenue retention, high contribution margins, upfront invoicing, low capital intensity and disciplined reinvestment for growth. I'll briefly touch on each of these drivers to show how their interplay drives high and increasing adjusted EBITDA and cash flow.

我想簡要回顧一下推動這一目標的商業模式的關鍵要素。如投影片 13 所示，這些因素包括增加每位客戶的收入、高收入保留、高邊際貢獻、預付發票、低資本密集度和嚴格的再投資以促進成長。我將簡要介紹這些驅動因素中的每一個，以展示它們的相互作用如何推動高且不斷增加的調整後 EBITDA 和現金流。

First, as it relates to increasing revenue per client. As shown on Slide 14, our revenue per All Access Pass client has grown from $54,000 in fiscal 2018, to more than $83,000 in fiscal '23, compounded growth of 9%. This strong increase in average revenue per client results from a combination of continuing to increase the percent of total populations through which we serve inside a typical client, and the pricing power we gain as a result of the impact our solutions provide to our clients.

首先，因為它與增加每個客戶的收入有關。如投影片 14 所示，我們每位 All Access Pass 客戶的營收已從 2018 財年的 54,000 美元成長到 23 財年的超過 83,000 美元，複合成長率為 9%。每位客戶平均收入的強勁成長是由於我們為典型客戶提供服務的總人口百分比持續增加，以及我們的解決方案為客戶帶來的影響而獲得的定價能力。

The second point is our high revenue retention and client retention. In the Enterprise Division in North America, in Q1, All Access Pass subscription revenue, as I mentioned, exceeded 90%. In the Education Division, as we reported at the end of Q4 fiscal '23, Leader in Me retention remains at a remarkably high level of greater than 85%.

第二點是我們的高收入保留和客戶保留。在北美的企業部門，第一季度，All Access Pass 訂閱收入，正如我所提到的，超過了 90%。在教育部門，正如我們在 23 財年第四季末所報告的，Leader in Me 保留率仍然保持在 85% 以上的極高水準。

The third key element of our business model is our increasing adjusted EBITDA margins. As shown in Slide 15, the combination of strong gross margins and declining operating SG&A as a percent of sales has resulted in steadily increasing adjusted EBITDA margins, reaching 17% for the latest 12-month period.

我們業務模式的第三個關鍵要素是調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的不斷提高。如投影片 15 所示，強勁的毛利率和營業 SG&A 佔銷售額百分比的下降相結合，導致調整後 EBITDA 利潤率穩步上升，在最近 12 個月期間達到 17%。

Fourth is our upfront invoicing. With upfront invoicing, working capital is actually a source of cash for us. Subscription contracts are built at the start of the contract term, and cash is collected long before the subscription contract's full revenue is realized. Multiyear contracts are generally billed one year in advance and are noncancelable, and the timing of collections and cash outflows is a durable aspect of our business model.

第四是我們的預付發票。透過預先開立發票，營運資金實際上是我們的現金來源。認購合約是在合約期限開始時簽訂的，並且在認購合約的全部收入實現之前就已收取現金。多年期合約通常提前一年計費且不可取消，收款和現金流出的時間是我們業務模式的持久方面。

Fifth is our low capital intensity. Historically, as you know, our CapEx spending is a small percentage of our overall revenue and is primarily related to technology infrastructure and a small amount for real estate improvements.

五是資本密集度低。如您所知，從歷史上看，我們的資本支出僅佔總收入的一小部分，主要與技術基礎設施和少量房地產改善有關。

And finally, the sixth key element of our business model is disciplined reinvestment for growth. Our largest growth investments are in our sales force in order to capture our vast underpenetrated addressable market, all of which, by the way, is fully funded through our P&L, and investments in content and innovations, which is amortized and flows through the P&L in the form of cost of goods sold. We managed sales costs to grow about in line with revenue over time, offsetting wage inflation with pricing.

最後，我們商業模式的第六個關鍵要素是有紀律的再投資以促進成長。我們最大的成長投資是對我們的銷售團隊的投資，以佔領我們廣闊的未滲透的潛在市場，順便說一句，所有這些投資都是透過我們的損益表以及內容和創新方面的投資全額資助的，這些投資透過損益表進行攤提和流動銷售成本的形式。隨著時間的推移，我們管理銷售成本與收入的成長大致一致，透過定價抵消了薪資上漲。

As a result of this business model, we've generated significant growth in adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. In fact, as shown on Slide 16, in the 8 years since the beginning of our conversion to subscription in fiscal 2016, through this year's first quarter, we've generated cumulative adjusted EBITDA of $210.6 million and cumulative free cash flow of $204.3 million.

由於這種業務模式，我們在調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流方面實現了顯著成長。事實上，如幻燈片 16 所示，自 2016 財年開始轉為認購以來的 8 年裡，到今年第一季度，我們累計調整後 EBITDA 為 2.106 億美元，累計自由現金流為 2.043 億美元。

As also shown on Slide 16, we've invested approximately $32.7 million of this free cash flow for tuck-in acquisitions such as Jhana and Strive, which have broadened our ability to deliver our solutions flexibly and at scale and have returned a substantial amount of the remaining free cash flow to shareholders.

如投影片 16 所示，我們已將自由現金流中的約 3,270 萬美元投資於 Jhana 和 Strive 等收購，這些收購擴大了我們靈活、大規模地提供解決方案的能力，並帶來了大量回報。剩餘的自由現金流流向股東。

Specifically, during this 8-year period, we've returned more than $143.5 million or just over 70% of the free cash flow we generated. We've returned this to shareholders through the repurchase of more than 5.3 million shares of common stock, including more than $51 million over the past 12 months and $72 million over the past 24 months.

具體來說，在這 8 年期間，我們返還了超過 1.435 億美元，即我們產生的自由現金流的 70% 多一點。我們透過回購超過 530 萬股普通股將這筆錢返還給股東，其中過去 12 個月回購了超過 5,100 萬美元，過去 24 個月回購了 7,200 萬美元。

Importantly, this is on top of the $102.9 million we utilized to purchase shares prior to fiscal 2016. In total, since 2002, we've invested more than $246 million in purchasing shares and reduced the company's net share count outstanding, net of stock-based compensation by more than 14.1 million shares. This reduction in shares is more than the number of shares we currently have outstanding today. These shares have been purchased at a weighted average price per share of $17.43. We're really pleased that so many of you have been purchasing shares right along with the company and have achieved similarly attractive returns.

重要的是，這是我們在2016 財年之前用於購買股票的1.029 億美元的基礎上。總的來說，自2002 年以來，我們已投資超過2.46 億美元購買股票，並減少了公司的已發行淨股數（扣除股票）-基於超過1410萬股的補償。這次減持的股票數量超過了我們目前流通在外的股票數量。這些股票的購買價格為每股 17.43 美元的加權平均價。我們非常高興你們中的許多人與公司一起購買股票，並取得了同樣有吸引力的回報。

As we noted in last quarter's report, we expect to achieve continued growth in adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow in the years to come. In fact, in the coming years alone, we expect to generate in the neighborhood of approximately an additional $150 million of free cash flow. After making our normal ongoing growth investments in the business, we would expect to be able to return substantial portions of this cash flow in continued stock repurchases.

正如我們在上個季度報告中指出的那樣，我們預計未來幾年調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金流將持續成長。事實上，僅在未來幾年，我們預計就會額外產生約 1.5 億美元的自由現金流。在對業務進行正常的持續成長投資後，我們預計能夠透過持續的股票回購來返還大部分現金流。

Why do we have such high conviction in repurchasing our stock, something we know is shared by many of you as well. Two simple reasons. First, because we have high confidence in the market opportunity before us and our ability to execute it. And second, because we believe repurchasing our stock even at significantly higher than current prices has a very compelling investment thesis. That being first that we believe that we are and would be purchasing shares at a significant discount relative to the net present value of our expected cash flows.

為什麼我們對回購股票有如此強烈的信念，我們知道你們很多人也有同樣的想法。兩個簡單的原因。首先，因為我們對擺在我們面前的市場機會以及我們執行它的能力充滿信心。其次，因為我們相信，即使以遠高於當前價格的價格回購我們的股票，也是一個非常引人注目的投資論點。首先，我們相信我們正在並將以相對於我們預期現金流的淨現值大幅折扣的價格購買股票。

As just noted, we believe that both our recent purchases and our purchases over the years reflect this. And because we believe that a much smaller than typical percent of the net present value of our company's cash flows is attributable to reliance on the residual exit value of these cash flows. Because, one, purchasing shares at or near our current market cap provides a high free cash flow yield, and we expect free cash flow to grow substantially in the coming years. The combination of these factors gives us confidence in investing excess cash flow in the business and in share repurchases can generate significant additional value for shareholders in the coming years.

正如剛才所指出的，我們認為我們最近的購買和多年來的購買都反映了這一點。因為我們認為，我們公司現金流量淨現值的比例遠小於典型百分比，這歸因於對這些現金流量剩餘退出價值的依賴。因為，第一，購買等於或接近我們當前市值的股票可以提供較高的自由現金流收益率，並且我們預計自由現金流在未來幾年將大幅增長。這些因素的結合使我們有信心將多餘的現金流投資於業務和股票回購，可以在未來幾年為股東創造巨大的額外價值。

In conclusion, I would just say that we expect the combined power of these 3 key strengths: the strength of our strategic position, the strength of our revenue-generating engine and the strength of our business model to continue to generate strong and accelerating growth in revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. And specifically, as noted previously, we believe that the combination of having a lot more billed and unbilled revenue on our balance sheet than ever before, achieving accelerated growth in our subscription revenue and returning our subscription services attach rate to its historic average will result in adjusted EBITDA increasing to between $54.5 million and $58 million in fiscal '24.

總之，我只想說，我們期望這三個關鍵優勢的綜合力量：我們的策略地位的優勢、我們創收引擎的優勢和我們業務模式的優勢，將繼續在全球範圍內產生強勁和加速的成長。收入、調整後EBITDA 和自由現金流。具體來說，如前所述，我們相信，我們的資產負債表上的計費和未計費收入比以往任何時候都多得多，我們的訂閱收入加速增長，並將我們的訂閱服務附加率恢復到歷史平均水平，這三者相結合將導致2024 財年調整後 EBITDA 增至 5,450 萬美元至 5,800 萬美元。

I'd now like to turn some time over to Steve to discuss our results for the first quarter and the latest 12 months in a bit more detail, and Steve will also review our guidance. Steve?

我現在想請 Steve 更詳細地討論我們第一季和最近 12 個月的業績，Steve 也將審查我們的指導。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Paul. Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be with you today. I would like to briefly provide more detail on the factors underlying this performance, focusing on the results in 3 key areas of the company, specifically our Enterprise business in North America. The Enterprise business internationally in both our direct offices and licensees and our Education business which is also primarily in North America.

謝謝你，保羅。大家下午好。今天很高興和大家在一起。我想簡要提供有關這項業績背後因素的更多細節，重點關注公司 3 個關鍵領域的業績，特別是我們在北美的企業業務。企業業務在我們的直接辦事處和被授權者中開展國際業務，而我們的教育業務也主要在北美。

As shown on Slide 17, results in our Enterprise business in North America continued to be strong in the first quarter and the latest 12-month periods. Reported sales in North America, which account for 43% of total Enterprise Division sales were $38.4 million in the first quarter, a level almost equal to the prior year, and this on top of a strong 16% growth achieved in the first quarter of FY '23.

如投影片 17 所示，我們北美企業業務的業績在第一季和最近 12 個月期間持續保持強勁。佔企業部門總銷售額 43% 的北美第一季報告銷售額為 3,840 萬美元，幾乎與上年持平，而該財年第一季實現了 16% 的強勁增長'23。

For the latest 12 months, revenue grew 2%, on top of 17% growth in the prior year. And we are pleased with the results we have achieved in the Enterprise business in North America over the past 2 years. We expect the beginning in Q3 of FY '24, our year-over-year comparisons will normalize.

最近 12 個月，營收成長 2%，而上一年成長 17%。我們對過去兩年北美企業業務的成果感到滿意。我們預計從 24 財年第三季開始，我們的年比比較將正​​常化。

Subscription and subscription services sales in North America or even with prior year in the quarter, on top of the 20% growth achieved in last year's first quarter. For the latest 12 months, growth was 4% on top of 24% in the prior year, and we're pleased with these growth rates.

該季度北美地區的訂閱和訂閱服務銷售額與去年同期持平，去年第一季實現了 20% 的成長。最近 12 個月，成長率在去年 24%​​ 的基礎上成長了 4%，我們對這些成長率感到滿意。

Our balance of deferred revenue billed and unbilled in North America continued to be strong, growing 7% in the quarter on top of 25% in last year's first quarter, establishing, as Paul said, a strong foundation for next year's growth. And the percentage of North America's All Access Pass clients that were for multiyear periods, increased to 54% from 48% in the first quarter last year, and the percentage of invoice sales represented by multiyear contracts increased to 60% from 55% in the first quarter last year.

我們在北美的已開票和未開票遞延收入餘額繼續強勁，在去年第一季 25% 的基礎上增長了 7%，正如保羅所說，為明年的增長奠定了堅實的基礎。北美All Access Pass客戶中的多年期客戶比例從去年第一季的48%增至54%，多年期合約所代表的發票銷售比例從第一季的55%增至60%去年一個季度。

As shown on Slide 18, revenue from our international operations which account for approximately 17% of our total Enterprise Division revenue, decreased by $0.6 million or 7% in the quarter primarily due to declining Legacy, which is non-All Access Pass-related sales. Sales in these offices have grown 4% or $1.3 million in the latest 12 months.

如幻燈片 18 所示，我們的國際業務收入約占我們企業部門總收入的 17%，本季減少了 60 萬美元或 7%，主要是由於 Legacy（非 All Access Pass 相關銷售）的下降。過去 12 個月，這些辦公室的銷售額成長了 4%，即 130 萬美元。

Also on Slide 18, our international licensee partner sales increased 3% in the quarter on top of 9% in last year's first quarter, and for the latest 12 months, sales were up 8% on top of the 15% in the prior year.

同樣在投影片18 上，我們的國際授權合作夥伴銷售額在去年第一季9% 的基礎上成長了3%，而在最近12 個月中，銷售額在去年15% 的基礎上成長了8 %。

Finally, as shown on Slide 19, the results in our Education business, which accounts for approximately 25% of the total company sales, grew 3% for the quarter on top of the 23% growth achieved in the first quarter last year. Sales grew 9% for the latest 12 months on top of 21% latest 12-month growth in the previous year.

最後，如投影片 19 所示，占公司總銷售額約 25% 的教育業務業績在去年第一季 23% 的成長基礎上，本季成長了 3%。最近 12 個月銷售額成長 9%，而去年最近 12 個月銷售額成長 21%。

Education subscription and subscription services sales were flat in the quarter but strong in the latest 12 months, growing $4.6 million or 8% on top of $11.8 million or 25% last year. Education's balance of deferred subscription revenue billed and unbilled increased 29% in the quarter.

教育訂閱和訂閱服務銷售額本季持平，但最近 12 個月表現強勁，在去年 1,180 萬美元（即 25%）的基礎上增長了 460 萬美元（即 8%）。教育部門的已計費和未計費遞延訂閱收入餘額在本季增加了 29%。

Now just a little bit more about the Education Division. As you recall, not many years ago, the Education Division was small and had a traditional service and materials business model. We are pleased that as shown on Slide 20, since the launch of the Leader in Me subscription in Education Division, revenue has grown substantially from just over $3 million in its first year to more than $70 million over the latest 12 months. And the business model has transformed to closely mirror that of Enterprise, with approximately 90% of Education revenue now represented by subscription and subscription services revenue, a level that is very similar to that of Enterprise Division. We also expect that after years of accelerated investment, the Education Division's adjusted EBITDA margins will also expand in FY '24 and beyond.

現在簡單介紹一下教育部門。您還記得，幾年前，教育部門規模很小，並且採用傳統的服務和材料業務模式。我們很高興看到，如幻燈片 20 所示，自教育部門推出 Leader in Me 訂閱以來，收入已從第一年的略高於 300 萬美元大幅增長到最近 12 個月的超過 7000 萬美元。商業模式已轉變為與企業部門的業務模式非常相似，目前約 90% 的教育收入來自訂閱和訂閱服務收入，這一水準與企業部門非常相似。我們也預計，經過多年的加速投資，教育部門調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率也將在 24 財年及以後擴大。

Now a little bit more about cash flows and balance sheet. As shown on Slide 21, our cash flows from operating activities was $17.4 million at the end of the first quarter compared to $3 million in Q1 last year. Our free cash flow in the first quarter increased to $13.7 million compared with $0.8 million for the prior year, reflecting the changes in the elements of working capital were very favorable in Q1 this year compared to Q1 last year, particularly referring to accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and deferred revenue.

現在更多地了解現金流和資產負債表。如投影片 21 所示，第一季末我們的營運活動現金流量為 1,740 萬美元，而去年第一季末為 300 萬美元。我們第一季的自由現金流增加至1,370 萬美元，而上年同期為80 萬美元，反映出今年第一季營運資金要素的變化與去年第一季相比非常有利，特別是應收帳款、應收帳款應付帳款、應計負債及遞延收入。

In Q1, we invested $16.3 million to purchase 409,000 shares. Over the past 4 quarters, as Paul said, we've invested $51 million to purchase shares. We ended the quarter still with $96.5 million of total liquidity, including $34 million in cash and $62.5 million available under the revolving credit facility, even after investing this $16.3 million in stock purchases this quarter.

第一季度，我們投資 1,630 萬美元購買了 409,000 股股票。正如保羅所說，在過去的 4 個季度中，我們已投資 5,100 萬美元購買股票。截至本季末，我們的總流動資金仍為 9,650 萬美元，其中包括 3,400 萬美元現金和循環信貸安排下可用的 6,250 萬美元，即使在本季度投資了 1,630 萬美元購買股票之後也是如此。

Compared to Q1 of FY '23, the sum of billed and unbilled deferred subscription revenue increased 12% to almost $170 million, giving us increased visibility into future sales results. The deferred subscription revenue increased 14% to $87 million, while the unbilled deferred revenue increased 10% to $82.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter, as I said, was a strong $11 million.

與 23 財年第一季相比，已計費和未計費遞延訂閱收入的總和增加了 12%，達到近 1.7 億美元，使我們能夠更清楚地了解未來的銷售結果。遞延訂閱收入成長 14%，達到 8,700 萬美元，而未開票遞延收入成長 10%，達到 8,250 萬美元。正如我所說，本季調整後 EBITDA 高達 1100 萬美元。

Now guidance. As you know, Franklin Covey's financial strategy is to consistently grow revenue and at the same time, experience a high flow-through of that increased revenue to increased adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. Consistent with that strategy, we affirm our previously issued guidance for FY '24, that adjusted EBITDA will increase by approximately 17% at the midpoint of the range to between $54.5 million and $58 million, in constant currency, compared to the $48.1 million achieved in FY '23.

現在指導。如您所知，富蘭克林柯維的財務策略是持續增加收入，同時將增加的收入大量轉化為調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流。根據該策略，我們確認先前發布的24 財年指引，調整後的EBITDA 將在該範圍的中點增加約17%，按固定匯率計算達到5,450 萬美元至5,800 萬美元，而2018 年實現的4,810 萬美元為23 財年。

This guidance reflects our expectation of achieving low double-digit net sales growth in the back half of the year, stable or improving world economic conditions, strengthening results in our international operations, particularly strong financial results in Q4 in our Education Division and increased subscription add-on services. This FY '24 guidance reflects our expectation that we will achieve particularly strong results in Q3 and Q4 of FY '24.

該指引反映了我們對下半年實現兩位數淨銷售額低成長、穩定或改善世界經濟狀況、加強我們國際業務業績的預期，特別是我們教育部門第四季度強勁的財務業績以及增加的訂閱量- 服務。這項 24 財年指引反映了我們的預期，即我們將在 24 財年第三季和第四季取得特別強勁的業績。

Our second quarter guidance is that adjusted EBITDA will be between $6.2 million and $7.2 million, strong but lower than last year's very strong adjusted EBITDA of $8.2 million, particularly reflecting a lower services attach rate during the second quarter that is expected to increase during the third and fourth quarters.

我們第二季的指導是，調整後EBITDA 將在620 萬美元至720 萬美元之間，強勁，但低於去年非常強勁的調整後EBITDA 820 萬美元，特別是反映了第二季服務附加率較低，預計第三季服務附加率將上升和第四季。

In as much as we expect to achieve strong revenue and gross margin, the expectation that the second quarter's adjusted EBITDA performance will be slightly lower than last year is due primarily to our investment in growth this year and benefits in certain accruals last year, like accounts receivable provision. We expect our second quarter revenue to be at least even with or to increase slightly over the prior year and could be our highest second quarter revenue ever achieved.

儘管我們預計將實現強勁的收入和毛利率，但預計第二季度調整後的 EBITDA 業績將略低於去年，這主要是由於我們今年對增長的投資以及去年某些應計項目的收益，例如賬戶應收帳款準備金。我們預計第二季的收入將至少與去年持平或略有成長，並且可能是我們有史以來最高的第二季收入。

As discussed, this guidance obviously reflects the fact that we expect net sales growth rate to accelerate significantly in Q3 and Q4, as I mentioned. While many economic and other factors could impact these expectations, we're excited about our future financial position. So back to Paul.

正如所討論的，這一指導顯然反映了這樣一個事實，即我們預計第三季和第四季的淨銷售額成長率將顯著加快，正如我所提到的。儘管許多經濟和其他因素可能會影響這些預期，但我們對未來的財務狀況感到興奮。回到保羅。

Thank you, Steve. Thanks for going through that. And again, we feel quite good about the first quarter and about what we see out ahead. And with that, we'd like to ask the operator to open up the line for your questions.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。感謝您經歷過這一切。再說一次，我們對第一季以及我們對未來的展望感覺非常好。因此，我們想請接線生開通電話詢問您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Dave Storms with Stonegate.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Dave Storms 和 Stonegate 的路線。

Good afternoon. Happy new year, everyone.

午安.祝大家新年快樂。

Yes, you too. Thanks, Dave.

你也是。謝謝，戴夫。

Appreciate it. So it looked like calendar year 2023 turned out to be the year without a recession, but just curious how you see clients reacting after a lot of aggressive belt-tightening in the majority of 2023? And if you see any additional bump in demand during calendar '24?

欣賞它。因此，看起來 2023 年是沒有經濟衰退的一年，但我只是好奇，在 2023 年的大部分時間裡，客戶都在大力緊縮開支之後，他們有何反應？如果您發現 24 個日曆年期間需求有任何額外增長？

Yes, it's a great question. I would say it did turn out to be the year without a recession, it's interesting times for sure. I would say that what we're seeing right now has been pretty consistent for the last number of months in that our clients, they -- their budget, they have their budgets, they know their budgets, they're moving forward, they've got their plans. And we feel relatively good about the environment that we're selling into right now.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。我想說，今年確實是沒有經濟衰退的一年，這肯定是個有趣的時期。我想說的是，我們現在看到的情況在過去幾個月裡非常一致，我們的客戶，他們——他們的預算，他們有他們的預算，他們知道他們的預算，他們正在前進，他們”我們已經有了他們的計劃。我們對目前銷售的環境感覺相對良好。

I think there's a -- feels like there's more certainty in the fact that clients do have budgets and are -- and do have plans they're moving forward with, which you recall we reported in Q2 last year, there was some of our clients that were a little bit more uncertain at that time, and that seems to have subsided for the most part. And I think behind all of that though, is the driver that in all times, particularly times that are may be uncertain or where there's -- where growth is more difficult for companies, they're looking for solutions like those that we provide, right?

我認為，感覺更確定的是，客戶確實有預算，而且確實有他們正在推進的計劃，你還記得我們去年第二季度報道過的，我們的一些客戶當時的情況比較不確定，但現在似乎已經大部分平息了。我認為這一切背後的驅動力是，在任何時候，特別是在可能不確定的時候，或者在公司成長更加困難的地方，他們都在尋找像我們提供的解決方案，對吧？

Right now, people are very focused on, do I have the leadership capability inside my organization to execute what it is we're trying to execute? Is our culture such that we can attract and retain in a tighter labor market, the kind of talent we're going to need? Do we know how to engage people and can we, is our organization adaptable and change-ready and can it thrive? And so those types of challenges that are on the minds of CEOs and leaders inside our clients. And so we're fortunate to have the kinds of solutions to those problems. And I think that gives us confidence as we move forward here.

現在，人們非常關注，我的組織內部是否有領導能力來執行我們正在嘗試執行的任務？我們的文化是否能夠在勞動市場趨緊的情況下吸引和留住我們所需要的人才？我們是否知道如何與員工互動？我們的組織是否具有適應力、準備好改變、能否蓬勃發展？因此，我們客戶的執行長和領導者所考慮的這些類型的挑戰。因此，我們很幸運能夠擁有解決這些問題的各種解決方案。我認為這給了我們前進的信心。

Understood. Very helpful. And then just one more, and this might be more for Sean. If I remember correctly, there was some funding that need to be renewed at the end of 2023 for the education business. Just wondering if we could get a quick status update on how that all shook out.

明白了。很有幫助。然後再多一個，這對肖恩來說可能會更多。如果我沒記錯的話，到 2023 年底，教育事業需要更新一些資金。只是想知道我們是否可以快速了解這一切是如何發生的。

Yes. Can you -- I'm not exactly sure what funding you're referring to?

是的。我不太清楚你指的是什麼資金？

I believe it was the ESSER funding that you mentioned (inaudible).

我相信這是您提到的 ESSER 資金（聽不清楚）。

Sure. Okay, sure. Yes. Well, the ESSER funding, which is the emergency relief funding the government gave out during COVID, that is -- that's been out since COVID began and it's been out and it goes until the end of this year. And about 2/3 of it has been spent. So about 1/3 is remaining. So there's still a lot of spending going on right now and will be for this year. We have a lot of our schools and districts that have signed up with multiyear contracts using some of this funding. But as we look to next year and when this funding runs out, we fall back on Title I and Title II grants, which had been there for decades and will remain -- and we also, as I shared before, we have a large foundation that's dedicated to starting up Leader in Me districts in schools. That's actually funding and helping schools get started with millions of dollars, and there will be hundreds of schools that will be funded through them. So yes, so that's where that stands. Is that responsive to your question?

當然。好吧，當然。是的。嗯，ESSER 資金，即政府在新冠疫情期間發放的緊急救濟資金，自新冠疫情開始以來就一直發放，一直持續到今年年底。其中大約2/3已經被花掉了。所以大約還剩下1/3。因此，現在和今年仍然有大量支出。我們的許多學校和學區都使用其中的部分資金簽訂了多年合約。但當我們展望明年，當這筆資金用完時，我們會依靠第一章和第二章的撥款，這些撥款已經存在了幾十年，並將繼續存在——而且，正如我之前分享的，我們擁有一個龐大的基金會該組織致力於在學校中啟動“Leader in Me”區。這實際上是為學校提供數百萬美元的資助和幫助，並且將有數百所學校透過它們獲得資助。所以是的，這就是情況。這能回答你的問題嗎？

Absolutely, that's very helpful. I appreciate you shedding some light on that. Good luck in the next quarter.

當然，這非常有幫助。我很感激你對此有所了解。祝下個季度好運。

Thanks, Dave.

謝謝，戴夫。

Our next question comes from the line of Nehal Chokshi with Northland Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 Nehal Chokshi 與 Northland Capital Markets 的對話。

Yes. Thank you for the question, and good to hear that you're seeing an inflection, I believe you talked about in, what was it, subscription invoice bookings, I think. But look, the key thing that I want to key on here is free cash flow. So in the quarter, you had a -- it looks like a pretty strong cash from operations, but I just want to make sure that how did that actually perform relative to the expectations at the prior earnings call that you had for this same quarter here, for the November quarter, I'm sorry.

是的。謝謝您提出的問題，很高興聽到您看到了變化，我相信您在訂閱發票預訂中談到了這一點。但看，我想在這裡強調的關鍵是自由現金流。因此，在本季度，您的營運現金看起來相當強勁，但我只想確定相對於您在同一季度之前的財報電話會議上的預期，實際表現如何，對於 11 月季度，我很抱歉。

You want to...

你想要...

Yes. So Nehal, as you know, our free cash flow in the first quarter last year was a lot lower than it was this year. When -- during the first part, we did talk in prior quarters about the fact that we expected our free cash flow to rebound significantly and it did. And the areas where free cash flow improved was not only related to operations, but also in the working capital balances, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and deferred revenue had a very positive change in this year's first quarter compared to last year's first quarter.

是的。因此，內哈爾，如你所知，我們去年第一季的自由現金流比今年低很多。在第一部分中，我們確實在前幾個季度談到了這樣一個事實：我們預計我們的自由現金流將大幅反彈，而且確實如此。而自由現金流改善的領域不僅與營運有關，今年第一季的營運資金餘額、應收帳款、應付帳款、應計負債和遞延收入方面與去年第一季相比都有非常積極的變化。

So we were very pleased with our free cash flow in the first quarter, and it was good, and it was even more than we expected because all of those working capital elements that impact cash flow at the end of Q1 were positive in our direction and all went positive quite a bit. So we thought it was a very good free cash flow quarter.

因此，我們對第一季的自由現金流非常滿意，這很好，甚至超出了我們的預期，因為所有影響第一季末現金流的營運資本因素都對我們的方向產生了積極的影響，並且一切都變得積極起來。所以我們認為這是一個非常好的自由現金流季度。

Okay. Great. That's helpful. And then fiscal 4Q was a poor free cash flow quarter. And so I believe that benefited your fiscal 1Q, but do you expect these working capital accounts to continue to tilt back favorably as we work through the remainder of fiscal year '24 and therefore, help us think about modeling free cash flow relative to your EBITDA guidance for fiscal year '24.

好的。偉大的。這很有幫助。然後，第四財季的自由現金流季度表現不佳。因此，我相信這對您的第一財季有利，但您是否期望這些營運資金帳戶在我們完成24 財年剩餘時間時繼續有利地傾斜，因此，幫助我們考慮相對於您的EBITDA 的自由現金流建模'24 財年的指導。

Yes. So we haven't really, as you know, given free cash flow guidance. The changes in the elements of working capital that were significant in Q1, we expect those changes to remain, but not necessarily change again at those same rates each quarter. We do expect to have a significant amount of additional key free cash flow this year compared to last year based upon the operations of the business, the cash that comes in from our subscription business and these elements of working capital behaving meaningfully. We expect to have a good free cash flow for the year.

是的。所以，正如你所知，我們並沒有真正給出自由現金流指導。第一季營運資本要素的變化非常顯著，我們預期這些變化將繼續存在，但不一定每季都會以相同的速度再次變化。與去年相比，我們確實預計今年將有大量額外的關鍵自由現金流，具體取決於業務運營、來自我們訂閱業務的現金以及這些有意義的營運資本要素。我們預計今年將有良好的自由現金流。

Now Nehal, I'm sure you remember that last year, our second half of the year as we predicted through -- after Q2, was significantly more than Qs 1 and 2. And we wouldn't expect that amount of increase in the second half of this year compared to the first half, because the first half is going to be a good free cash flow half. But overall, it will be significantly safe in saying without giving an actual forecast that it will be significantly higher than last year.

現在，Nehal，我相信你還記得去年，我們在第二季度之後預測的下半年，明顯多於第一季和第二季。我們預計第二季的成長量不會如此今年上半年與上半年相比，因為上半年將是自由現金流良好的一半。但總體而言，在沒有給出實際預測的情況下，可以肯定地說，這一數字將顯著高於去年。

Okay. I mean when I look at fiscal year '19 and fiscal year '22, your free cash flow has systemically been above your adjusted EBITDA. I think what you're trying to signal here while fiscal year '23 was a clear deviation from that fiscal year '19 to fiscal year '22 trend, do you expect an improvement from that fiscal year '23 level, but perhaps not quite to the free cash flow to EBITDA ratios that you're achieving in fiscal year '19 to fiscal year '22. Is that correct?

好的。我的意思是，當我查看 19 財年和 22 財年時，您的自由現金流量系統性地高於調整後的 EBITDA。我認為，雖然 23 財年與 19 財年到 22 財年的趨勢存在明顯偏差，但您在這裡試圖傳達的信號是，您是否預計 23 財年的水平會有所改善，但可能不會完全改善您在第19 財年到第22 財年實現的自由現金流量與EBITDA 的比率。那是對的嗎？

Yes. I think in our future years, we will reestablish a clear relationship between adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow that will generally be maintained. But yes, we would model out free cash flow to be a bit lower than adjusted EBITDA.

是的。我認為在未來幾年，我們將在調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金流之間重新建立明確的關係，這種關係通常會得到維持。但是，是的，我們將自由現金流建模為略低於調整後的 EBITDA。

For fiscal year '24, specifically?

具體是 24 財年嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Yes. And then how would you think about beyond fiscal year '24 then?

是的。那麼您會如何看待 24 財年之後的情況呢？

Again, I think and if you look at the elements of adjusted EBITDA versus the elements of free cash flow, will always be -- well, not always because of the elements of working capital move around. But the relationship between adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow will be that free cash flow will be modeled at a lower level than adjusted EBITDA.

再說一次，我認為，如果你看看調整後 EBITDA 的要素與自由現金流的要素，就會發現，嗯，並不總是因為營運資本的要素在流動。但調整後的 EBITDA 與自由現金流之間的關係是，自由現金流的建模水準將低於調整後的 EBITDA。

Is that largely because you expect to be saturating on the percent of customers that are going to be paying upfront?

這主要是因為您預期預付款的客戶百分比會飽和嗎？

No. I think the percentage paying upfront will be maintained. It's more like if you just model it out, if you look at adjusted EBITDA and compared to adjusted -- compared to the amounts that are included in adjusted EBITDA compared to free cash flow, you have investment, CapEx and CAPD spending as an example.

不會。我認為預付款的百分比將保持不變。更像是如果你只是建模，如果你看看調整後的EBITDA 並與調整後的EBITDA 進行比較——與調整後的EBITDA 中包含的金額相比，與自由現金流相比，你有投資、資本支出和CAPD 支出作為例子。

So while the expense for CAPD, our CapEx is in depreciation. The expense for CAPD is in cost of sales, but has a delay to it. So an increase in our spending and the amount we're spending in CapEx and CAPD, our amounts that are on the income statement are below adjusted EBITDA. So those are the kind of things that just create the theoretical or mathematical difference between them.

因此，儘管 CAPD 費用較高，但我們的資本支出卻在折舊。 CAPD 的費用包含在銷售成本中，但有延遲。因此，我們的支出以及資本支出和 CAPD 支出的增加，損益表上的金額低於調整後的 EBITDA。所以這些只是造成它們之間理論上或數學上的差異。

Yes. Understood. Moving to a different topic, and then I'll let someone else speak. But why are you expecting the services attached to remain depressed in Q2? And then what will drive that improvement in Q3 and Q4?

是的。明白了。換個話題，然後我會讓其他人發言。但您為何預期第二季附加服務仍將低迷？那麼什麼會推動第三季和第四季的改善呢？

Yes. Great question. So as far as what will drive the improvement in Q3 and Q4, as I mentioned earlier, primarily a couple of factors. One, the delivery of services of coaching and delivery days to schools that signed up late in Q4. Last year, we talked about that last quarter as those roll through and we're able to get those scheduled and delivered. Much of that delivery happens later in the year with the timing of schools and when they're out for the summer, et cetera. So that's why it would shift into the back half of the year.

是的。很好的問題。正如我之前提到的，就推動第三季和第四季改善的因素而言，主要有幾個因素。一是向第四季度較晚簽約的學校提供輔導和交付日服務。去年，我們在上個季度討論了這些問題，我們能夠按計劃並交付這些內容。大部分交付都發生在今年晚些時候，與學校開學時間和暑假放假等時間有關。這就是為什麼它會轉移到今年下半年。

And then second, we're bringing -- we're excited about 3 new solutions that are coming out. We typically see bumps in services, delivery for new solutions, and we've launched Leading and Working at the Speed of Trust that launched last month in the end of November, and then 7 Habits 5.0 is coming out late Q3 and early Q4 and then Difficult Conversations, which we think is one that our clients will want to utilize a lot of services for, that will be coming out here in the next month or so.

其次，我們對即將推出的 3 個新解決方案感到興奮。我們通常會看到服務和新解決方案的交付出現波動，我們已經推出了上個月在11 月底推出的“以信任的速度領導和工作”，然後7 個習慣5.0 將在第三季度末和第四季初發布，然後困難對話，我們認為我們的客戶會希望利用大量服務來解決這一問題，該服務將在下個月左右推出。

So I think that's what helps shift it in the back half. As related to the first half, why have they been down? Why were they down a little bit towards the end of last year and the first quarter of this year? One is that we launched a solution a couple of years ago called Unconscious Bias. It's a great solution. We launched it actually prior to some of the events that unfolded in the U.S. that drove a lot of big DEI initiatives, and we rode a wave for a while there and had a bit of a tailwind because our solution was really good. It was in high demand by our clients, and it was a solution that our clients didn't feel comfortable delivering on that topic themselves. They wanted the expertise.

所以我認為這有助於將其轉移到後半場。與上半年相關，為什麼他們會下跌？為什麼去年底和今年第一季略有下降？一是我們幾年前推出了一個名為「無意識偏見」的解決方案。這是一個很好的解決方案。實際上，我們在美國發生的一些事件之前就推出了它，這些事件推動了許多大型 DEI 計劃，我們在那裡乘風破浪了一段時間，並獲得了一些順風，因為我們的解決方案非常好。我們的客戶對它的需求很高，但我們的客戶不願意自己就該主題提供這種解決方案。他們想要專業知識。

So Franklin Covey, somebody coming in from the outside to facilitate that inside the organization for them. The solution is still great today, but the environment has changed quite substantially in the country around that topic. And that has happened late -- started to happen kind of late last year for us and into the first part of this year, and so as we talked about that service attach rate going down, a portion of that is related to the demand for that particular solution, which we still love the solution. It's just not quite as in demand. And so that's driven a bit of that. And we kind of anniversary against that here coming out of Q2, which is why Q1 and Q2 were depressed a bit.

因此，富蘭克林·柯維（Franklin Covey）從外部進來，在組織內部為他們提供便利。這個解決方案在今天仍然很棒，但圍繞該主題的國家環境已經發生了相當大的變化。這種情況發生得很晚——對我們來說，從去年年底開始，一直到今年上半年，所以當我們談到服務附加率下降時，其中一部分與對該服務的需求有關。特定的解決方案，我們仍然喜歡這個解決方案。只是不太符合需求。這在一定程度上推動了這一點。我們對第二季的情況進行了周年紀念，這就是為什麼第一季和第二季有點沮喪。

Fortunately, because we look at the rest of our portfolio, we don't really have any other solutions like that. That was something we built. We weren't thinking actually we were building it for -- we thought we'd just have it as a general offering. We didn't think it would perform like it performed. And like I said, unfortunately, there were some circumstances that happened that caused that solution to be in quite high demand and now that demand has come back down. The rest of our solutions around leadership development and trust and strategy execution, we think there's a lot of durability there and great demand for those. So that Nehal, a little bit about why we're positive about Q3, Q4 and a little bit of an explanation for why Q1, Q2 have been a bit soft and Q4 was a bit soft as well.

幸運的是，因為我們查看了產品組合的其餘部分，所以我們實際上沒有其他類似的解決方案。那是我們建造的東西。我們實際上並沒有想到我們建造它的目的 - 我們認為我們只是將它作為一般產品。我們不認為它會像它那樣表現。正如我所說，不幸的是，發生了一些情況導致對該解決方案的需求相當高，而現在需求已經回落。我們的其餘解決方案圍繞著領導力發展、信任和策略執行，我們認為這些解決方案具有很大的耐用性且需求很大。 Nehal 解釋了為什麼我們對第三季、第四季持樂觀態度，並解釋了為什麼第一季、第二季有點疲軟，第四季也有點疲軟。

Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Martin with ROTH MKM.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jeff Martin 和 ROTH MKM 的對話。

So Paul, I wanted to drill down a little bit. There's -- on Slide 28 of your presentation, there's a total contract signed figure, $51.6 million. I was curious if you could give a little bit of insight there. It looks like it was down 23.6% year-over-year.

保羅，我想深入了解一下。在您簡報的第 28 張投影片上，有簽署的合約總額，5,160 萬美元。我很好奇你能否提供一些見解。看起來比去年同期下降了23.6%。

Looking back over time, it looks like that's the first time it's really declined. So trying to dig in a little bit and understand what's going on there? Do you think it's more macro environment? Is it something else? Is it that DEI-related headwind? Maybe just help shed some light there.

回想起來，這似乎是第一次真正的衰落。那麼嘗試深入了解並了解那裡發生了什麼？您認為更多的是宏觀環境嗎？難道是別的什麼？這是與 DEI 相關的逆風嗎？也許只是幫助闡明一些情況。

Yes. Thanks. Great question. So not macro-related, not related to the DEI thing I just talked about. It's related to a contract. So contract -- so we signed a contract in the first quarter of last year. That was -- it was a fantastic contract. It was a large contract for multiple years. It was a 5-year contract for around $10 million that had a lot of services embedded in it as well. And of course, it's contracted, so we only get to count that one time in the contracted number. And then we'll, of course, that will flow into our invoice and our reported revenue annually over the next 5 years.

是的。謝謝。很好的問題。所以與宏觀無關，與我剛才談到的DEI無關。這和合約有關。所以合約——所以我們在去年第一季簽署了一份合約。那是——這是一份很棒的合約。這是一份持續多年的大合約。這是一份為期 5 年、價值約 1000 萬美元的合同，其中還包含許多服務。當然，它是合約規定的，所以我們只能在合約規定的數量中計入一次。當然，在接下來的 5 年裡，我們每年都會將這些收入計入我們的發票和報告的收入中。

So we're thrilled to have gotten the contract. This quarter, we didn't sign another $10 million contract. However, the base of contracts that we did sign this quarter was like what we would have expected and very consistent with what a normal quarter, a normal Q1 would look like. So the base, if you'll think of it that way, was very stable and just like what we would have always expected. And last year, we're just comping against this one large contract that was contracted in the first quarter last year. We don't have anything like that, that we're up against in Q2, Q3 or Q4 that I can think of. And so I think it is kind of a onetime thing that therefore shows up as a decline here.

因此，我們很高興獲得合約。本季度，我們沒有再簽署 1000 萬美元的合約。然而，我們本季簽署的合約基礎與我們的預期一致，並且與正常季度、正常第一季的情況非常一致。所以，如果你這樣想的話，基地非常穩定，就像我們一直期望的那樣。去年，我們只是與去年第一季簽訂的一份大合約進行比較。我能想到，我們在第二季、第三季或第四季中都沒有遇到類似的情況。所以我認為這是一次性的事情，因此在這裡表現為下降。

Okay. And then I was just curious if you could characterize kind of the sales environment in terms of lead flow, pipeline, conversion, et cetera?

好的。然後我很好奇您是否可以從銷售線索、管道、轉換等方面來描述銷售環境？

Yes. Dave asked a similar question a minute ago. I would say the environment is pretty good. I mean it's -- our clients are -- our solutions are in demand. They're looking to address and wanting to address the types of challenges we're focused on. We're seeing, as we do during these times where our execution business, clients, CEOs and C-level leaders are looking to figure out how to execute their strategies as effectively as they can. We're seeing good demand there. We've just launched a new sales performance solution this fiscal year, an upgrade to the one we had. We're excited about that and the initial interest there.

是的。戴夫一分鐘前問了類似的問題。我想說環境還是不錯的。我的意思是，我們的客戶需要我們的解決方案。他們正在尋求並希望解決我們關注的挑戰類型。正如我們在這些時期所做的那樣，我們看到，我們的執行業務、客戶、執行長和 C 級領導者都在尋求如何盡可能有效地執行他們的策略。我們看到那裡的需求良好。本財年我們剛推出了新的銷售績效解決方案，是我們現有解決方案的升級。我們對此以及最初的興趣感到興奮。

We just, as I mentioned, launched the 3.0 version of Leading at the Speed of Trust, and we created a companion version of that called Working at the Speed of Trust. We never had a solution -- a trust solution that was geared to the nonmanagement population, and yet trust is one of these topics that you need to run through the entire organization. There's been really good demand for that new solution. And so I would say we're having great attendance at our marketing events. You'll recall that we were all live in-person marketing event, pre-pandemic. We shifted all the way to live online. And now we're enjoying kind of a dual marketing event structure where we do live -- we do online ones, and we do in-person events. They're very well attended. Client -- people love -- people that are working at home love to get out of their office, come to these live in-person events. There's been great interest there.

正如我所提到的，我們剛剛推出了《以信任的速度領導》的 3.0 版本，並創建了一個名為「以信任的速度工作」的配套版本。我們從來沒有一個解決方案——一個適合非管理人員的信任解決方案，但信任是您需要貫穿整個組織的主題之一。人們對這個新解決方案的需求非常大。所以我想說我們的行銷活動出席人數很多。您會記得，在疫情大流行之前，我們都是現場現場行銷活動。我們一路轉向網路生活。現在，我們正在享受雙重行銷活動結構——我們進行線上活動，我們進行現場活動。他們的出席人數非常多。客戶——人們喜歡——在家工作的人們喜歡走出辦公室，參加這些現場現場活動。那裡有很大的興趣。

So pipeline, pipeline conversion continues to be strong. I think what's supporting that point is what we've seen here in Q4 and then in Q1 is this growing invoice subscription amounts I talked to a few minutes ago that we're seeing that pick back up after Q2 and Q3 were a bit flattish. Again, on top of big comps the year before, but even Q4 and Q1, Q4 of this last year and Q1 of this year are also on top of pretty good comps as well, and we've seen nice growth in that invoice subscription business. So we feel good about the general environment and what we're seeing out here and what we're hearing from our clients.

因此，管道、管道轉換持續強勁。我認為支持這一點的是我們在第四季和第一季看到的情況是幾分鐘前我談到的發票訂閱量不斷增長，我們看到第二季和第三季之後的回升有點平淡。同樣，除了前一年的大型比較之外，即使是第四季度和第一季度，去年的第四季度和今年的第一季度也都處於相當不錯的比較之上，而且我們已經看到發票訂閱業務的良好成長。因此，我們對整體環境以及我們在這裡看到的情況以及我們從客戶那裡聽到的情況感覺良好。

Great. And then just one thing that I discussed with your team earlier in December, was penetration into lower areas of an organization and how that might affect future subscription services related services attach rates? And maybe you could just give us your view there. It seems like you are seeing demand there from clients at levels lower in the organization?

偉大的。然後，我在 12 月初與您的團隊討論的一件事是滲透到組織的較低區域，以及這可能會如何影響未來訂閱服務相關服務的附加費率？也許您可以向我們提出您的看法。您似乎看到了組織中較低階客戶的需求？

Yes, it's a great question. So we -- a couple of thoughts I would just say. One, we do talk about the attach rate as a percentage. I think that percentage could go up or down a little bit over time. And what might cause -- but the dollars themselves will continue to go up, right? The percentage could go down if we -- as we expand to larger and larger populations and they choose to, at the front line, deploy some of our solutions in asynchronous modality ways.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。所以我們——我只想說一些想法。第一，我們確實以百分比的形式談論附加率。我認為隨著時間的推移，這個百分比可能會略有上升或下降。可能會導致什麼——但美元本身會繼續上漲，對嗎？如果我們擴展到越來越多的人群，並且他們選擇在第一線以非同步方式部署我們的一些解決方案，那麼這個百分比可能會下降。

At the same time, the percentage could go up as we do a better job of addressing the leader populations. Again, we've talked before about our penetration rates inside the average customer, we're still 10%, 15%, 20% of the way penetrated even within the leadership population inside the organizations that we face. And so I think the attach rate will continue to be strong. I think whether the attach rate, the percentage goes up or not, the dollars will continue to go up because I suspect we'll continue to attach at about the same rate. And I think the rate will be higher in the back half of this year, but that rate will be on an increasing base of subscription. And we are excited about some of these solutions that we're bringing to market that are built to scale even more broadly across organizations.

同時，隨著我們更好地解決領導者群體的問題，這一比例可能會上升。同樣，我們之前已經討論過我們在普通客戶中的滲透率，即使在我們面對的組織內的領導層人群中，我們的滲透率仍然是 10%、15%、20%。因此，我認為附加率將繼續保持強勁。我認為無論附加率、百分比是否上升，美元都將繼續上漲，因為我懷疑我們將繼續以大致相同的比率附加。我認為今年下半年的比率會更高，但該比率將基於訂閱基礎的不斷增加。我們對向市場推出的一些解決方案感到興奮，這些解決方案旨在跨組織更廣泛地擴展。

Again, we're the collective action company trying to create common language, introduce common ways of thinking and behaving and leaders need that. They need to drive that down through the organization. And so as we develop these solutions, we want to make sure that we have solutions that are built to do that. But I think services will continue to be an important part and the dollars will continue to increase. I imagine the rates probably stay about where it has been but that could go up too. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at the multiyear contracts, and that rate continues to increase year after year.

再說一遍，我們是一家集體行動公司，試圖創造共同語言，引入共同的思維和行為方式，而領導者需要這些。他們需要透過組織推動這一點。因此，當我們開發這些解決方案時，我們希望確保我們擁有為此而建構的解決方案。但我認為服務將繼續成為重要組成部分，並且美元將繼續增加。我想利率可能會保持在原來的水平，但也可能會上升。我仍然對多年期合約感到驚喜，而且這一比例還在逐年增加。

Our next question comes from the line of Alex Paris with Barrington Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Barrington Research 的 Alex Paris。

Can you hear me?

你聽得到我嗎？

Yes, Alex.

是的，亞歷克斯。

Congrats on the strong quarter. I'll be quick, we're late in the call here, and I just have a few cats and dogs to follow up on. First of all, in your prepared comments, you didn't speak to China and Japan. That's been a topic of conversation. It's roughly 50%, as I recall, of international sales. There has been an improving trend in China coming out of COVID for the third time, I suppose. I just wondered for a little update there.

恭喜季度表現強勁。我會很快的，我們打電話晚了，我只有幾隻貓和狗需要跟進。首先，在你準備好的評論中，你沒有談到中國和日本。這一直是個話題。據我記得，這大約佔國際銷售額的 50%。我認為，中國第三次從新冠疫情中恢復過來後，出現了改善的趨勢。我只是想知道那裡有一點更新。

Yes. Great. Great question. So in -- things continue to improve there. In Japan, Japan had a relatively nice quarter. As you -- first of all, stepping back, as you know, both these areas as they come back out of COVID, we're putting a big focus on making sure that what they're selling is subscription. So these are kind of the last 2 parts of the world to convert their businesses from the legacy model to the subscription model. And so -- and that's going well in both of those countries.

是的。偉大的。很好的問題。所以，事情在繼續改善。在日本，日本的季度表現相對較好。首先，如您所知，當這兩個領域從新冠疫情中恢復過來時，我們將重點放在確保他們銷售的產品是訂閱。因此，這些地區是世界上最後兩個將業務從傳統模式轉變為訂閱模式的地區。所以——這在這兩個國家都進展順利。

As that occurs, of course, that depresses reported revenues slightly as more of that revenue goes out on the balance sheet in the form of subscription. But we are intently working on that with them as they return. Japan almost got back last year to its pre-pandemic high, and we expect that it will get back above that this year. So that's been a long time coming. China has been up and down when they've been in and out of COVID, and that business is coming back as well. I think we feel relatively generally good about what's happening in both those countries.

當然，當這種情況發生時，報告的收入會略有下降，因為更多的收入以訂閱的形式出現在資產負債表上。但當他們回來時，我們正在專心與他們合作。日本去年幾乎回到了大流行前的高點，我們預計今年將回到這一水平之上。所以這已經是很長一段時間了。中國在疫情期間經歷了起起落落，而這項業務也在復甦。我認為我們對這兩個國家正在發生的事情總體感覺良好。

Great. And then looking back at Q2 of 2023, deep snow, renewals were not quite -- well, I guess the renewal rate was good. The retention rate was consistent with prior quarters. But you did not sign a couple of large clients. I'm wondering about those large clients that didn't renew on a timely basis. And I know it's your expectation that they come back at some point. Have they come back yet? And what are you doing to increase the odds that they will come back?

偉大的。然後回顧 2023 年第二季度，積雪很深，續訂情況不太好——嗯，我想續訂率還不錯。保留率與前幾季一致。但你並沒有簽下幾個大客戶。我想知道那些沒有及時續約的大客戶。我知道你期望他們在某個時候回來。他們回來了嗎？你正在做什麼來增加他們回來的幾率？

Good question, good memory. Yes. So we have -- to that point, one of them has, one of them hasn't come back. And there were a handful. I don't know if I can give you an exact answer on the hand -- the full handful. We do have -- we have a category of clients we call win-backs. And so when a client doesn't renew on time, they go into a category of win-backs. We have a special effort that we put in place on those clients. And so we're -- fortunately, we don't have a lot of those, but when we do, we have a process we run because our mantra around here, we throw around is clients for life. We don't ever want to lose the clients. And so we take the approach that, well, if we lost them, it's a temporary thing. We're going to get them back. And so we're doing that on those clients from Q2, and we'll continue to do so.

好問題，好記憶。是的。所以我們——到目前為止，其中一個已經回來了，其中一個還沒有回來。而且有少數。我不知道能否給你一個確切的答案——手上的一整把。我們確實有一類客戶，我們稱之為贏回客戶。因此，當客戶沒有按時續約時，他們就會進入贏回類別。我們對這些客戶做出了特別的努力。所以我們——幸運的是，我們沒有很多這樣的人，但當我們這樣做時，我們有一個運行的流程，因為我們的口號是，我們拋棄的是終身客戶。我們永遠不想失去客戶。所以我們採取的方法是，如果我們失去了他們，那隻是暫時的。我們要把他們找回來。因此，我們正在對第二季度的客戶這樣做，並且我們將繼續這樣做。

Great. That's helpful. And then this was probably for Sean. You had a record year in signing new schools of fiscal 2023. One of the issues in the fourth quarter that contributed to the revenue shortfall was the inability to deliver the services, the onboarding services associated with it. And then when you miss it in the summer, when do you get it back based on earlier questions, it sounds like you don't get it back until next summer. Is that right?

偉大的。這很有幫助。這可能是給肖恩的。 2023 財年，您在簽署新學校方面創下了創紀錄的成績。第四季度導致收入短缺的問題之一是無法提供服務以及與之相關的入職服務。然後當你在夏天錯過它時，根據之前的問題，你什麼時候能拿回來，聽起來好像要到明年夏天才能拿回來。是對的嗎？

Yes. Yes, that's typically what happens because professional development usually takes place. Most of it takes place during the summer. So a new school comes on, there's usually 2 or 3 days of professional development per school, right? And if it's too late in the year, then they say, well, we'll do coaching throughout the year as we start the school year, but the professional development that goes deeper with everyone in the same room at the same time, we'll have to delay until next summer.

是的。是的，這通常會發生，因為通常會發生專業發展。大部分發生在夏季。所以一所新學校來了，每所學校通常有 2 到 3 天的專業發展，對吧？如果今年為時已晚，那麼他們會說，好吧，我們將在學年開始時進行全年輔導，但是與每個人同時在同一個房間裡進行更深入的專業發展，我們'得推遲到明年夏天。

So that will -- it hurt us last year, it will help us this year. And the momentum across the board is really good. We've got lots of large new contracts in the pipeline. We've got 3 states talking to us right now about some big deals. So we expect that services will have a nice second half of the year for the reason of last year coming in late as well as a really nice building pipeline for this year.

因此，去年它傷害了我們，但今年它將幫助我們。而且整體勢頭確實很好。我們有很多大型新合約正在醞釀中。現在有 3 個州正在與我們討論一些重大交易。因此，我們預計服務業將在今年下半年表現良好，因為去年的進展較晚，而今年的建設管道也非常好。

Excellent. Yes. So not only was there a shortfall because of that last year, there'll be a little bit of a doubling up on some of those onboarding activities this coming summer?

出色的。是的。那麼，不僅去年出現了短缺，今年夏天的一些入職活動還會增加一倍嗎？

Yes, I think so. And we're also pushing everyone hard to get in early this year. Nice to (inaudible) schools as we can. It's always better to bring them on sooner than later.

是的，我想是這樣。我們也努力推動每個人在今年年初加入。盡我們所能對（聽不清楚）學校很好。早點帶上它們總是比晚點帶上來好。

For sure. Okay. Great. And then 2 last ones. I think the target for this year, Paul, is 40 new client partners and other support roles. How many did you hire in the first quarter? And is it going to be level loaded? Or is it more back half loaded?

一定。好的。偉大的。然後是最後兩個。 Paul，我認為今年的目標是 40 個新客戶合作夥伴和其他支援角色。第一季你僱用了多少人？它會是水平加載的嗎？還是更多的後半負載？

Yes. It will be a bit back half loaded. So we ended the first quarter with 300 client partners and then roughly 150 or so of the other client-facing roles, so about the same 450 that we reported on at the end of Q4. And we are still committed to adding the number for the year, and those will be back loaded, but not all at the very end, they'll come back more towards back half of the year.

是的。半載時會有點後退。因此，第一季結束時，我們有 300 個客戶合作夥伴，然後是大約 150 個左右的其他面向客戶的角色，所以與我們在第四季度末報告的 450 個左右相同。我們仍然致力於增加今年的數字，這些數字將被回載，但不是全部在最後，它們將在今年下半年更多地回來。

Okay. And then maybe this one is for Jen. The Impact Platform at the end of -- I think it was end of Q4, you said the vast majority of English-speaking clients are on the platform, but you're in the process of rolling out additional languages. Where are we in that process? And how penetrated are you with clients now?

好的。也許這個是給 Jen 的。我認為是第四季度末的影響力平台，您說絕大多數英語客戶都在該平台上，但您正在推出其他語言。我們在這個過程中處於什麼位置？您現在對客戶的滲透程度如何？

Alex, we are thrilled that as of October, we had launched in all of our, what we call core languages and about 25 languages have launched the Impact Platform. It was a really effective launch, and we're seeing more and more of our clients globally move to the Impact Platform. Obviously, it makes a big difference to our client base in the U.S. as well, because they can deploy scalably in multiple languages. So deployment went extremely well. There's a couple of our more -- our less used languages that haven't yet deployed but the majority in what was targeted happened in October.

Alex，我們很高興截至 10 月份，我們已經推出了所有我們所謂的核心語言，大約 25 種語言已經推出了 Impact Platform。這是一次非常有效的發布，我們看到全球越來越多的客戶轉向影響力平台。顯然，這對我們在美國的客戶群也有很大的影響，因為他們可以以多種語言進行可擴展部署。因此部署進行得非常順利。還有一些我們較少使用的語言尚未部署，但大部分目標發生在 10 月。

Great. And what can we hope for or expect from the rollout of Impact Platform? Is it a higher initial selling price? Is it higher retention rates? Both?

偉大的。我們對影響力平台的推出有何期望或期待？初始售價是否更高？留存率是否更高？兩個都？

The primary benefit, I think, is the value proposition that we are changing -- we're driving collective behavior change. So in terms of the Impact Platform, we always had great content. We always have the modalities, but having the seamlessness to be able to bring this to an enterprise at scale, particularly as many of our buyers don't have a lot of people in the department, and this makes it much more scalable. What we're seeing with those that have deployed is we're better able to track that behavior change, we can track pre and post, the skills, the movement.

我認為，主要的好處是我們正在改變的價值主張——我們正在推動集體行為的改變。因此，就影響力平台而言，我們總是擁有很棒的內容。我們總是有各種模式，但具有無縫性，能夠將其大規模地引入企業，特別是因為我們的許多買家在該部門沒有很多人，這使得它更具可擴展性。我們在那些已經部署的人身上看到的是，我們能夠更好地追蹤行為變化，我們可以追蹤事前和事後、技能和動作。

One of our latest case studies, the primary thing that the buyers love is the metrics and the ability to scale with lower staff.

在我們最新的案例研究之一中，買家最喜歡的是指標和以更少的員工擴展的能力。

We have a follow-up question from the line of Nehal with Northland Capital Markets.

Nehal 向 Northland Capital Markets 提出了一個後續問題。

Yes. Paul, at the beginning of your prepared remarks, you talked about how invoice subscription value was flattish in fiscal 3Q and 4Q, but (inaudible) in fiscal 1Q. What was actually the precise level in fiscal 1Q? And do you expect that to continue to influx up in fiscal 2Q?

是的。保羅，在您準備好的發言開始時，您談到了第三財季和第四財季的發票訂閱價值持平，但在第一財季（聽不清楚）。第一財季的具體水準實際上是多少？您預計第二財季這數字會繼續增加嗎？

So your question -- just to make sure I've got your question there because I cut out just for a second at the end. Could you just repeat it one more time. I think it's about invoice subscription levels Q2, Q3 versus Q4, Q1. Is that your question?

所以你的問題——只是為了確保我已經得到了你的問題，因為我在最後只中斷了一秒鐘。你能再重複一遍嗎？我認為這與第二季、第三季與第四季、第一季的發票訂閱水準有關。這是你的問題嗎？

Yes. Well, and into Q2 of this fiscal year '24.

是的。好吧，進入本財年的第二季'24。

Yes. Great. Okay. So invoice subscription levels, U.S./Canada (inaudible) were flattish in Q2 and Q3, if memory serves, they were up about 8% in Q4 and then up around 13% in Q1. And then we expect that they'll continue to be good in Q2.

是的。偉大的。好的。因此，美國/加拿大（聽不清楚）的發票訂閱水準在第二季和第三季持平，如果沒記錯的話，第四季成長了約 8%，然後第一季成長了約 13%。然後我們預計他們在第二季將繼續表現出色。

Okay. Great. And then Steve, real quickly, do you have thoughts on EBITDA for the February quarter?

好的。偉大的。然後史蒂夫，很快，你對二月季度的 EBITDA 有什麼想法嗎？

EBITDA, I'm sorry, again?

EBITDA，對不起，再說一次？

EBITDA for this quarter.

本季的 EBITDA。

Yes. So we talked about adjusted EBITDA being between $6.2 million and $7.2 million.

是的。因此，我們討論了調整後的 EBITDA 在 620 萬美元至 720 萬美元之間。

Okay. (inaudible). And what about the currency headwind for the full year on EBITDA?

好的。 （聽不清楚）。那麼全年 EBITDA 面臨的貨幣逆風又如何呢？

Well, our constant -- our impact of currency was insignificant in Q1. If we stayed exact -- if the rates stayed exactly what they are now, we would have some impact through the remainder of the year, but we don't know what's going to happen with the exchange rate, so we don't know what that would be. That might impact revenue like $1 million if rates stayed exactly as they are now. But there was no -- there was an insignificant impact on adjusted EBITDA and an insignificant impact on sales in Q1.

嗯，我們的常數 - 我們的貨幣影響在第一季微不足道。如果我們保持準確——如果匯率保持現在的水平，我們將在今年剩餘時間內產生一些影響，但我們不知道匯率會發生什麼，所以我們不知道會發生什麼就是這樣。如果費率保持不變，這可能會影響 100 萬美元的收入。但事實並非如此——對調整後 EBITDA 的影響微乎其微，對第一季的銷售額也沒有顯著影響。

I'm showing no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to Paul for closing remarks.

我在隊列中沒有顯示任何其他問題。現在我想將電話轉回給保羅，讓他發表結束語。

Okay. Well, thank you, everyone, for joining. Thanks for your great question. Thanks for your time that you take to understand the business and for the thoughts you shared with us. We appreciate you and hope you have a wonderful evening and a great start to 2024.

好的。好的，謝謝大家的加入。謝謝你的好問題。感謝您花時間了解業務以及與我們分享的想法。我們感謝您，並希望您度過一個美好的夜晚，並為 2024 年開啟一個美好的開始。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。