Global Business Travel Group Inc (GBTG) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to the American Express Global Business Travel fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings conference call. As a reminder, please note today's call is being recorded. I will now turn over the call to the Vice President of Finance, George Anderson Brown. Please go ahead.

早安，歡迎參加美國運通全球商務旅行 2024 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。提醒一下，請注意今天的通話正在錄音。現在我將把電話轉給財務副總裁喬治·安德森·布朗。請繼續。

Hello and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. This morning, we issued earnings press release which is available on SEC.gov and on our website at investors.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com. A slide presentation which accompanies today's prepared remarks is also available on the Amex GBT Investor relations webpage.

大家好，早安。感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。今天上午，我們發布了收益新聞稿，可在 SEC.gov 和我們的網站 investors.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com 上查閱。今天的準備好的發言稿附帶的幻燈片演示也可以在美國運通 GBT 投資者關係網頁上找到。

We would like to advise you that our comments contain forward-looking statements that represent our beliefs or expectations about future events, including industry and macroeconomic trends, cost savings, acquisitions, and acquisition synergies amongst others. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results that differ materially from the statements made on today's conference call.

我們想告知您，我們的評論包含前瞻性陳述，代表我們對未來事件的信念或期望，包括行業和宏觀經濟趨勢、成本節約、收購和收購協同效應等。所有前瞻性陳述都涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與今天電話會議上的陳述有重大差異。

More information on these and other risks and uncertainty is contained in our earnings release issued this morning and our other SEC filings. Throughout today's call, we will also be presenting certain non-gap financial measures such as EBITDA.

有關這些風險和其他風險及不確定性的更多資訊包含在我們今天上午發布的收益報告和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中。在今天的電話會議中，我們還將介紹某些非差距財務指標，例如 EBITDA。

Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted operating expenses, free cash flow, and net debt. All references during today's call to such non-GAAP financial measures have been adjusted to exclude certain items. Definition of these terms and the most directly comparable GAAP measures and reconciliations for non-gap measures are available in the supplementary materials of this presentation and in the earnings release.

調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率、調整後的營運費用、自由現金流和淨債務。今天電話會議中對此類非公認會計準則財務指標的所有引用均已進行調整，以排除某些項目。這些術語的定義以及最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標和非差距指標的對帳可在本簡報的補充資料和收益報告中找到。

Participating on the call today are Paul Abbott, our Chief Executive Officer, and Karen Williams, our Chief Financial Officer. Also joining for the Q&A session today is Eric Bock, our Chief Legal Officer and Global Head of M&A. With that, I will now turn the call over to Paul.

今天參加電話會議的有我們的執行長 Paul Abbott 和財務長凱倫威廉斯 (Karen Williams)。我們的首席法律長兼全球併購主管 Eric Bock 也參加了今天的問答環節。說完這些，我現在將電話轉給保羅。

Thank you, George. Welcome everyone and thank you for joining our fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. We executed a strong quarter to finish 2024, delivering on our financial targets and setting up continued attractive earnings growth in 2025.

謝謝你，喬治。歡迎大家，感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。我們在 2024 年最後一個季度表現強勁，實現了我們的財務目標，並為 2025 年持續實現可觀的獲利成長奠定了基礎。

Our goal every year is to deliver earnings growth well ahead of revenue growth driven by technology enabled productivity gains and a scalable cost base, all while generating strong free cash flow and investing in our future growth.

我們每年的目標都是透過科技推動的生產力提高和可擴展的成本基礎，實現獲利成長遠超收入成長，同時產生強勁的自由現金流並投資於未來的成長。

And that's exactly what we did in 2024. This was a record year for adjusted EBITDA and revenue for the company. Adjusted EBITDA exceeded the midpoint of our original guidance range, up 26% year over year. 2024 highlights our powerful financial model with impressive growth on the bottom line as we drove adoption of our software solutions and automated our processes. Adjusted our margin expansion was over 300 basis points, reaching 20%.

這正是我們在 2024 年所做的。這是該公司調整後 EBITDA 和營收創紀錄的一年。調整後的 EBITDA 超過了我們最初指導範圍的中點，年增 26%。 2024 年凸顯了我們強大的財務模式，隨著我們推動軟體解決方案的採用和流程的自動化，我們的獲利實現了令人矚目的成長。調整後我們的利潤率擴大了300多個基點，達到了20%。

Investments in our software and services are delivering top line growth as we continue to win new customers and importantly maintain very high customer attention. 2024 was a record year for GMN customer attention at an impressive 99%.

隨著我們不斷贏得新客戶，更重要的是保持極高的客戶關注度，我們對軟體和服務的投資正在帶來收入成長。 2024 年是 GMN 客戶關注度創紀錄的一年，達到了令人印象深刻的 99%。

We also reached important milestones strengthening our balance sheet, accelerating free cash flow, investing in growth, and returning cash to shareholders. We more than tripled free cash flow in 2024, ending well above our original guidance for the year. We have lowered our leverage ratio below 2 times, and we continue to lower our interest costs with a repricing completed after the fourth quarter closed.

我們也達到了重要的里程碑，加強了資產負債表，加速了自由現金流，投資於成長，並向股東返還現金。2024 年，我們的自由現金流增加了兩倍多，遠高於我們最初對年度的預期。我們已將槓桿率降至 2 倍以下，並在第四季結束後完成重新定價，繼續降低利息成本。

Our increasing flexibility with capital allocation allowed us to make our first share repurchase in a private transaction in the third quarter followed by a $300 million buyback authorization.

我們在資本配置方面日益增強的靈活性使我們能夠在第三季度透過私人交易首次回購股票，隨後又獲得了 3 億美元的回購授權。

I'm pleased to say we are starting off 2025 with good momentum to achieve another year of double-digit earnings growth, and our strategy and investments provide us with a long runway to continue this level of attractive growth. And I really want to take a moment here to thank all of our colleagues across Amex GBT for their exceptional commitment to serving our customers and the strong results that they have delivered.

我很高興地說，我們以良好的勢頭開啟了 2025 年，實現了又一年兩位數的盈利增長，我們的戰略和投資為我們繼續保持這一有吸引力的增長水平提供了長期的跑道。我真的想花點時間感謝 Amex GBT 的所有同事，感謝他們為客戶服務的卓越奉獻以及他們所取得的出色成果。

In 2024, we continued to execute on our strategy and deliver outstanding financial results. The momentum is evident in our financial metrics. Starting with transaction growth for the year 2024, transaction volumes were up 5%, driven by increased demand for business travel and share gains.

2024年，我們繼續執行策略並取得了出色的財務表現。我們的財務指標明顯體現了這一勢頭。從 2024 年的交易成長開始，受商務旅行需求增加和份額成長的推動，交易量將成長 5%。

TTV increased 8%, driven by transaction growth plus increases in average ticket price and hotel rates. Revenues increased 6% to reach $2.42 billion, driven by solid growth in transactions and CTV in addition to demand for our products and our professional services.

TTV 成長了 8%，這得益於交易量的成長以及平均票價和飯店價格的上漲。營收成長 6%，達到 24.2 億美元，這得益於交易量和 CTV 的穩健成長以及對我們的產品和專業服務的需求。

Our focus on cost control and operating leverage drove strong adjusted EBITDA margin expansion with an increase of 310 basis points for the full year. This all translates into impressive, adjusted EBITDA growth of 39% for the fourth quarter, to end the year with $478 million, an increase of 26%.

我們對成本控制和營運槓桿的關注推動了調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的強勁成長，全年成長了 310 個基點。這一切意味著第四季度調整後的 EBITDA 成長令人印象深刻，成長了 39%，年底達到 4.78 億美元，成長了 26%。

Drilling down into full year transaction trends in more detail. As a reminder here, for organizational purposes, we divide our customer base into two general categories global, multinational, and small and medium enterprises.

更詳細地了解全年交易趨勢。這裡提醒一下，出於組織目的，我們將客戶群分為兩大類：全球企業、跨國企業和中小型企業。

We generally use expected annual TTV to divide customers into these two categories, although this measure can vary by country and by customer need, and we do not have. Products or services that are offered solely to one size.

我們通常使用預期年度 TTV 將客戶分為這兩類，儘管這項衡量標準可能因國家和客戶需求而異，而且我們沒有。僅提供一種尺寸的產品或服務。

As you can see, growth was stronger this year with global multinational customers, an 8% increase compared to 2% for SME customers. SME transaction growth has been muted but stable for several quarters, reflecting tightened spending controls driven by higher prices and lower macroeconomic growth.

如您所見，今年全球跨國客戶的成長更為強勁，增幅達 8%，而中小企業客戶則為 2%。中小企業交易成長幾季以來一直保持低迷但穩定，反映出價格上漲和宏觀經濟成長放緩導致支出控制收緊。

This is a trend that we can clearly see with SME businesses beyond travel. Air transaction growth was 4% in 2024, including 4% for domestic, 3% for regional and international, factoring in higher ticket prices, our total TTV growth for air was 8%.

我們在旅遊業以外的中小企業中也能清楚地看到這一趨勢。2024 年航空交易量成長率為 4%，其中國內交易量成長率為 4%，地區和國際交易量成長率為 3%，考慮到機票價格上漲，我們的航空總 TTV 成長率為 8%。

Growth in hotel transactions was 6%. This reflects our efforts to increase hotel bookings by strengthening our content and providing customers with more hotel value and choice. And finally, on a regional basis, transaction growth was up 5% in the Americas, 2% in EMEA, and 12% in APEC.

酒店交易量增加了6%。這體現了我們透過加強內容和為客戶提供更多飯店價值和選擇來增加飯店預訂量的努力。最後，從地區來看，美洲地區的交易量增加了 5%，歐洲、中東和非洲地區的交易量增加了 2%，亞太經合組織的交易量增加了 12%。

Now let's turn to the commercial highlights. By offering customers more value and more choice, we continue to win new business and gain share. The total estimated value of our new winds signed during 2024 is $2.8 billion. This is down slightly versus the trailing 12 month number that we shared last quarter, as we did see some global multinational prospects delay decisions into 2025.

現在讓我們來看看商業亮點。透過為客戶提供更多價值和更多選擇，我們不斷贏得新業務並增加市場份額。我們在 2024 年簽署的新風電合約總價值估計為 28 億美元。與我們上個季度分享的過去 12 個月的數據相比，這一數字略有下降，因為我們確實看到一些全球跨國公司將決策推遲到 2025 年。

The majority of our new wins continue to come from SME customers, and new SME wins increased to 2.2 billion for the trailing 12 months. SME also remains our biggest growth opportunity with $950 billion of total travel spend and 70% of that currently unmanaged. 25% of our SME new wins in 2024 were previously unmanaged customers, reflecting increased demand for the savings, service, and control of a managed travel program with MHGBT.

我們的大部分新勝利仍然來自中小企業客戶，過去 12 個月中小企業新勝利增加到 22 億。中小企業仍然是我們最大的成長機會，其旅遊總支出達 9,500 億美元，其中 70% 目前尚未管理。 2024 年，我們新贏得的中小企業客戶中有 25% 是之前未管理的客戶，這反映出對 MHGBT 管理旅行計劃的節省、服務和控制的需求不斷增加。

We are also off to a good start in Q1 and the overall sales pipeline remains strong. Customer attention was an impressive 97% of TTV for 2024 and 99% for global multinational. Our commercial success is underpinned by the value of the GBT marketplace for customers and suppliers. Delivering the most comprehensive content and the most competitive prices for customers and the most valuable distribution platform for suppliers.

我們第一季的開局也很好，整體銷售管道依然強勁。2024 年顧客關注度達到 TTV 的 97%，而全球跨國企業的 TTV 則達到 99%。我們的商業成功以 GBT 市場對客戶和供應商的價值為基礎。為客戶提供最全面的內容、最具競爭力的價格，為供應商提供最有價值的經銷平台。

And we continue to enable NDC content at scale with our airline partners. We recently announced an enhanced agreement to expand the availability of NDC fares with Lufthansa. We are now working with more than 20 airlines in our NDC program, with NDC content available to more than 15,000 customers, and we have processed almost 1 million NDC tickets.

我們將繼續與航空合作夥伴大規模地支持 NDC 內容。我們最近宣布了一項與漢莎航空達成的增強協議，以擴大 NDC 票價的供應。目前，我們的 NDC 計劃已與 20 多家航空公司合作，為超過 15,000 名客戶提供 NDC 內容，並且我們已經處理了近 100 萬張 NDC 機票。

Our development capacity in NDC now allows us to deploy a new airline or a new country connection every 2 weeks. We continue to be recognized as a leader in software solutions and for making business travel more sustainable.

我們在 NDC 方面的開發能力現在使我們能夠每兩週部署一個新的航空公司或一個新的國家連接。我們繼續被公認為軟體解決方案領域的領導者，並使商務旅行更加永續。

Amex GBT Egencia was recognized as a leader with 19 badges in the G2 2024 awards, and we recently launched emissions-based carbon pricing to enable companies to influence traveler decisions and to generate investment funds for low carbon solutions like sustainable aviation fuel.

Amex GBT Egencia 在 G2 2024 獎項中被評為領導者，獲得 19 枚徽章，我們最近推出了基於排放的碳定價，使公司能夠影響旅行者的決策，並為可持續航空燃料等低碳解決​​方案籌集投資資金。

We are embracing AI and automation to improve the customer experience and improve productivity. In 2024 we have continued to invest in our proprietary AI architecture. A secure, privately hosted platform to scale AI initiatives with the appropriate data privacy and governance.

我們正在採用人工智慧和自動化來改善客戶體驗並提高生產力。2024年，我們繼續投資於我們的專有AI架構。一個安全的、私人託管的平台，透過適當的資料隱私和治理來擴展人工智慧計畫。

We launched new generative AI use cases in finance, product engineering, and servicing, including large language model, chat functionality for Amex GBT Egencia in 18 countries. Before I hand it off to Karen, I want to comment on the status of the CWT acquisition.

我們在金融、產品工程和服務領域推出了新的生成式人工智慧用例，包括大型語言模型、18 個國家的 Amex GBT Egencia 的聊天功能。在將其交給 Karen 之前，我想對 CWT 收購的現狀進行評論。

We have now cleared a significant milestone towards approval of the transaction with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority having now provisionally concluded that it has not identified any competition concerns with GBT's proposed acquisition of CWT.

目前，我們已取得英國競爭與市場管理局批准此交易的重要里程碑，並初步得出結論，該機構尚未發現 GBT 擬收購 CWT 有任何競爭問題。

The CMA's final decision is required to be made by March 9. Although we are disappointed by the US Department of Justice's decision to challenge the merger, the CMA's findings reinforce the company's belief that the DOJ's lawsuit is fundamentally flawed.

CMA 的最終決定必須在 3 月 9 日之前做出。儘管我們對美國司法部挑戰該合併案的決定感到失望，但 CMA 的調查結果強化了該公司的信念，即司法部的訴訟存在根本缺陷。

And we expect to prove that in court if required. As we've previously stated, if approved, this transaction will accelerate investment and innovation in business travel. It will create more choice and more value for customers and suppliers, and more opportunities for CWT employees.

如果需要的話，我們希望在法庭上證明這一點。正如我們之前所說，如果獲得批准，這項交易將加速商務旅行的投資和創新。它將為客戶和供應商創造更多選擇和更多價值，並為CWT員工創造更多機會。

In the meantime, we remain laser focused on executing our strategy and delivering another year of strong results in 2025. And now I'll hand it off to Karen to discuss our results in more detail.

同時，我們將繼續專注於執行我們的策略，並在 2025 年再次取得強勁業績。現在我將交給 Karen 來更詳細地討論我們的結果。

Thank you, Paul, and hello, everyone. Before I get into the numbers, I want to repeat my three key priorities when it comes to managing our financial performance.

謝謝你，保羅，大家好。在討論數字之前，我想重申一下管理財務績效的三個主要優先事項。

Accelerating cash flow generation, driving operating leverage and continued margin expansion, and creating capacity to invest and drive long-term sustained growth, both organically and through strategic M&A.

加速現金流生成，推動營運槓桿和持續的利潤率擴張，並透過有機成長和策略併購創造投資能力並推動長期持續成長。

Once again in the fourth quarter, I am happy to report continued momentum and progress in all three of these areas. We are delivering on what we can control. So now let's turn to our financial performance in more detail.

在第四季度，我再次高興地報告這三個領域繼續保持強勁勢頭並取得進展。我們正在盡我們所能地實現目標。現在讓我們更詳細地了解我們的財務表現。

Revenue reached $591 million in the fourth quarter, up 8% year over year, which was in line with our expectations. Revenue yield, which we define as revenue divided by TTV was 8.6% in line with the expectations we shared last quarter.

第四季營收達到 5.91 億美元，年增 8%，符合我們的預期。收入收益率（我們將其定義為收入除以 TTV）為 8.6%，與我們上個季度的預期一致。

This was down 15 basis points year-over-year, but consistent with prior quarters driven by our shift to online and the fixed component of our revenue. But still importantly, our seasonally highest quarter for this metric.

與去年同期相比，這一數字下降了 15 個基點，但與前幾季持平，這得益於我們向線上業務的轉變以及收入的固定部分。但仍然重要的是，這是我們這個指標季節性最高的一個季度。

And as a reminder, our revenue model is driven by 50% transaction volume, 30% TTV, and 20% product and professional services revenue. So the meaningful air and hotel pricing increases, driving a majority of the TTV growth flows through to only 30% of our revenue, therefore lowering the yield metrics.

提醒一下，我們的收入模式由 50% 的交易量、30% 的 TTV 和 20% 的產品和專業服務收入所驅動。因此，機票和飯店價格的大幅上漲，推動了大部分 TTV 成長，但僅占我們收入的 30%，從而降低了收益率指標。

So turning to expenses, in 2024, we achieved our target of more than $100 million in cost savings, which enabled us to realize attractive margin expansion while also freeing up resources to reinvest in future growth.

談到費用，到 2024 年，我們實現了節省超過 1 億美元的成本的目標，這使我們能夠實現可觀的利潤率擴張，同時釋放資源以重新投資於未來的成長。

Our disciplined focused on cost control and productivity enhancements constrained the increase in our adjusted operating expenses to just 3% in the fourth quarter, driving significant leverage compared to revenue growth of 8%.

我們嚴格控製成本並提高生產力，將第四季度調整後營運費用的增幅限制在 3% 左右，與 8% 的收入成長相比，產生了顯著的槓桿作用。

Fourth quarter at Just to Leave It Dark was also within our guidance range at $110 million up 39% year over year with an impressive margin expansion of 420 basis points. We generated $33 million in free cash flow in the fourth quarter, which was above our guidance.

Just to Leave It Dark 第四季的營收也在我們的預期範圍內，達到 1.1 億美元，年成長 39%，利潤率大幅擴大了 420 個基點。我們在第四季產生了 3300 萬美元的自由現金流，高於我們的預期。

And so the continued momentum in our performance and the strong fourth quarter results led to four-year revenue of $2.42 billion up 6% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA of $478 million up 26% year over year. Not only was this an all-time high for GBT as a company, but full year also adjust to leave it there was above the midpoint guidance for the year.

因此，我們業績的持續成長和第四季的強勁業績使得四年營收達到 24.2 億美元，年成長 6%，調整後 EBITDA 達到 4.78 億美元，年成長 26%。這不僅是 GBT 公司的歷史最高水平，而且全年業績也經過調整，高於全年中點指引。

And our continued focus throughout the year on expenses and productivity drove operating leverage up. An impressive 310 basis points margin improvement as operating expense growth was just 2% compared to revenue growth of 6%.

我們全年持續關注費用和生產力，從而提高了營運槓桿率。由於營業費用成長僅為 2%，而收入成長為 6%，因此利潤率提高了 310 個基點，令人印象深刻。

We generated $165 million in free cash flow, up 235%. This was more than 3 times our free cash flow in 2023, reflecting cost savings and the Agencia Working Capital Initiative. This was well above our original guidance floor for the year of $100 million.

我們產生了 1.65 億美元的自由現金流，成長了 235%。這是我們 2023 年自由現金流的 3 倍多，反映了成本節約和 Agencia 營運資金計畫。這遠高於我們最初設定的 1 億美元年度指導底線。

Our leverage ratio or net debt divided by the last 12 months of just leave it are now stands at 1.8 times at the close of 2024. This represents a step down from 2.3 times a year ago and nearly 9 times two years ago. So turning to cash flow and capital allocation, we laid out these priorities last year, and I am incredibly proud of our accomplishments and once again, we are delivering on what we can control.

我們的槓桿率或淨債務除以過去 12 個月的餘額，截至 2024 年底為 1.8 倍。比一年前下降了 2.3 倍，比兩年前下降了近 9 倍。因此，談到現金流和資本配置，我們去年列出了這些優先事項，我對我們的成就感到無比自豪，我們再次實現了我們能夠控制的目標。

I am particularly happy with the momentum in our free cash flow, which turned positive as planned in 2023 and then nearly tripled in 2024. As previously mentioned, we generated $165 million in free cash flow.

我對我們的自由現金流的成長勢頭感到特別高興，它按計劃在 2023 年轉為正值，並在 2024 年增長了近兩倍。如前所述，我們產生了 1.65 億美元的自由現金流。

This represents a conversion ratio of approximately 35% of our just a bit data versus our original target of 25% and compared to 13% in 2023. So our second priority is the leveraging and maintaining a strong balance sheet.

這意味著我們的 Just-Abit 資料的轉換率約為 35%，而我們最初的目標是 25%，而 2023 年的轉換率則為 13%。因此，我們的第二要務是利用槓桿並維持強勁的資產負債表。

Our leverage ratio now stands at 1.8 times at the close of 2024. This is tracking towards the lower end of our targeted leverage range of 1.5 times to 2.5 times, giving a significant balance sheet flexibility. As Paul mentioned, we refinanced the entirety of our debt again after the quarter closed.

截至 2024 年底，我們的槓桿率為 1.8 倍。這與我們目標槓桿率範圍的下限（1.5 倍至 2.5 倍）相符，從而提供了顯著的資產負債表彈性。正如保羅所提到的，我們在本季結束後再次對全部債務進行了再融資。

This refinancing lowers our interest rate margin by 50 basis points with the new term loan facility priced at SOFR+ 2.5%. It's important to note that our refinancing was once again oversubscribed, which speaks to the confidence in GBT and the momentum we continue to drive in terms of our performance. I am incredibly happy with this outcome.

此次再融資將我們的利率差降低了 50 個基點，新的定期貸款利率為 SOFR+ 2.5%。值得注意的是，我們的再融資再次獲得超額認購，這表明了對 GBT 的信心以及我們在業績方面繼續推動的勢頭。我對這個結果非常滿意。

So combining this with the previous refinancing in July plus savings tied to our lowered leverage ratio, we have significantly reduced our run rate net interest costs by a total of $60 million which is nearly 40% lower than our interest cost in 2023 on about the same level of debt.

因此，將此與 7 月之前的再融資以及與我們降低的槓桿率相關的節省相結合，我們已將運行率淨利息成本大幅降低了總計 6000 萬美元，這比 2023 年在相同債務水平下的利息成本低了近 40％。

And so third, our higher cash flow and lower leverage has provided us with optionality to reinvest in our business, including our people, software platforms, SME sales and marketing engine, and AI in order to drive organic growth, productivity, and marginal expansion. We invested an incremental $35 million in 2024.

第三，更高的現金流和更低的槓桿率為我們提供了對業務進行再投資的選擇，包括我們的員工、軟體平台、中小企業銷售和行銷引擎以及人工智慧，以推動有機成長、生產力和邊際擴張。我們在 2024 年增加了 3500 萬美元的投資。

Fourth, with respect to M&A, the strength of our balance sheet and level of liquidity within the business creates the flexibility for us to pursue M&A. The industry remains highly fragmented, so we see plenty of M&A opportunity ahead.

第四，關於併購，我們資產負債表的強勁和業務的流動性水準為我們進行併購創造了靈活性。該行業仍然高度分散，因此我們認為未來有大量的併購機會。

And lastly, our strong cash flow puts us in a position to have flexibility to return cash to shareholders after our other priorities are met. We made our first buyback in the third quarter, repurchasing 8 million shares in a private transaction for $55 million.

最後，我們強勁的現金流使我們能夠在滿足其他優先事項後靈活地向股東返還現金。我們在第三季進行了首次回購，以 5,500 萬美元的私人交易回購了 800 萬股。

Additionally, we have the full $300 million worth of buybacks available under the new board authorization, which expires in 3 years. We clearly executed on our capital allocation priorities in 2024, and they will continue to guide us this year.

此外，根據新的董事會授權，我們可以進行價值 3 億美元的全部回購，該授權將在 3 年內到期。我們明確執行了 2024 年的資本配置優先事項，這些優先事項將在今年繼續指導我們。

Now I will hand that to Paul to set the stage for our 2025 outlook.

現在我將把這個交給保羅，讓他為我們的 2025 年展望奠定基礎。

Thank you, Karen. Looking ahead to 2025, the demand outlook remains solid. We see muted but stable GDP growth, which remains below historical norms, and we also see a strengthening US dollar. A survey of our TOP100 customers indicates 80% expect their travel spend to be flat or up in 2025. And 66% of respondents said their budgets for meetings and events are increasing in 2025.

謝謝你，凱倫。展望2025年，需求前景依然穩固。我們看到 GDP 成長緩慢但穩定，仍低於歷史正常水平，而且我們也看到美元走強。我們對 TOP100 客戶的調查顯示，80% 的客戶預計他們的旅行支出將在 2025 年持平或上升。66% 的受訪者表示，到 2025 年，他們的會議和活動預算將會增加。

And other third-party surveys paint a similar picture of solid business travel growth which supports our 2025 outlook. As I said earlier, our goal every year is to deliver earnings growth well ahead of revenue growth driven by technology enabled productivity gains and a scalable cost base.

其他第三方調查也描繪了類似的商務旅行穩健成長的景象，這支持了我們對 2025 年的展望。正如我之前所說，我們每年的目標都是透過技術支援的生產力提高和可擴展的成本基礎，實現獲利成長遠高於收入成長。

All while generating strong free cash flow and investing in our future. We are starting the year with strong commercial momentum. New wins in 2024 were 2.8 billion, of which 2.2 billion is from SME.

同時產生強勁的自由現金流並投資於我們的未來。我們以強勁的商業勢頭開啟新的一年。2024 年新增收益為 28 億，其中 22 億來自中小企業。

Our retention rate was 97% overall, including 99% in global multinational. We are accelerating our investments in software and services, and our digital transformation enables us to advance our automation and AI initiatives. Putting it all together, we have a powerful financial model that can deliver consistent, hyper efficient growth.

我們的整體保留率為 97%，其中全球跨國公司的保留率為 99%。我們正在加快對軟體和服務的投資，數位轉型使我們能夠推進自動化和人工智慧計劃。總而言之，我們擁有一個強大的財務模型，可以實現持續、高效的成長。

This model drove our strong results in 2024 and is also the foundation for our 2025 outlook. We expect the business travel industry to continue to grow at or above GDP as it historically has. And we expect to continue to grow faster than the industry with our net new wins and share gains driven by our differentiated value proposition.

此模式推動了我們在 2024 年取得的強勁業績，也是我們 2025 年展望的基礎。我們預期商務旅行產業將繼續像歷史上一樣維持或超過 GDP 的成長速度。我們預計，憑藉差異化價值主張帶來的淨新客戶和份額成長，我們將繼續以高於產業的速度成長。

The third driver is our relentless focus on cost control and margin expansion. We continue to invest in automation and AI to boost the scalability of our cost base and drive productivity while also improving the customer experience.

第三個驅動因素是我們對成本控制和利潤率擴大的不懈關注。我們繼續投資自動化和人工智慧，以提高成本基礎的可擴展性並提高生產力，同時改善客戶體驗。

In 2025 we expect to leverage mid single digit constant currency revenue growth and deliver double digit adjusted Ear growth. On top of this earnings growth, our acceleration in free cash flow this year creates incremental opportunities to boost shareholder returns through investing in future growth, accretive M&A, and buying back shares.

到 2025 年，我們預計收入將實現中等個位數的固定匯率成長，並實現調整後兩位數的年度成長。除了獲利成長之外，我們今年自由現金流的加速還創造了增量機會，透過投資未來成長、增值性併購和回購股票來提高股東回報。

As we scale our business, we can scale efficiently, growing our margins and our investment capacity. We are consistently expanding margins whilst also investing more in our products and our services to create more value for customers.

隨著業務規模的擴大，我們可以有效地擴大規模，從而提高利潤率和投資能力。我們不斷擴大利潤率，同時也增加對產品和服務的投資，為客戶創造更多價值。

This year we expect to achieve gross cost savings of $95 million from process improvement, expanding shared services, and location optimization, and of course, supported by our AI and automation initiatives. $95 million in savings represents over 300 basis points in potential margin improvement if we decided to drop it all to the bottom line.

今年，我們預計透過流程改進、擴展共享服務和位置優化，以及人工智慧和自動化計劃的支持，實現 9,500 萬美元的總成本節約。如果我們決定將全部成本都計入利潤，那麼 9,500 萬美元的節省就意味著潛在的利潤率提高 300 個基點以上。

But it also gives us the capacity to make investments that create more value for customers and drive longer term growth. We are reinvesting $65 million of the savings this year on top of our prior investment run rate. While the remainder drives approximately 150 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion at the midpoint of our 2025 guidance.

但它也使我們有能力進行投資，為客戶創造更多價值並推動長期成長。我們今年將在先前投資運行率的基礎上，再投資 6,500 萬美元的儲蓄。其餘部分則推動調整後 EBITDA 利潤率在我們 2025 年指引的中點擴大約 150 個基點。

Broadly speaking, these investments will be made across three areas. Firstly, improving the customer experience, including expanding chat with automation, enhancing the UX for Agencia, NIO and mobile, and rolling out carbon pricing.

總體而言，這些投資將涉及三個領域。首先，改善客戶體驗，包括擴展自動化聊天、增強 Agencia、NIO 和行動裝置的使用者體驗以及推出碳定價。

Second is delivering more value for customers and suppliers from our marketplace, investing in more content from more sources, expanding NDC content, improving rail content, and integrating our content platform into more third party solutions.

第二是透過我們的市場為客戶和供應商提供更多價值，從更多來源投資更多內容，擴展 NDC 內容，改善鐵路內容，並將我們的內容平台整合到更多第三方解決方案中。

And finally, driving growth, investing in increasing demand generation, scaling our sales channels and driving sales efficiency. As you can see, we are making investments to drive revenue growth and improve productivity.

最後，推動成長，投資增加需求，擴大我們的銷售管道並提高銷售效率。正如您所看到的，我們正在進行投資以推動收入成長並提高生產力。

But the power of our model is that many of our investments achieve both of these objectives. For example, expanding the content in our marketplace. Improving the digital experience, leveraging AI. All of these investments increase the number of transactions on our software solutions. They also create a better customer experience, and they reduce our operating costs. A very powerful combination. And now I'll hand it back to Karen to walk through our 2025 guidance.

但我們模型的強大之處在於，我們的許多投資都實現了這兩個目標。例如，擴大我們市場的內容。利用人工智慧改善數位體驗。所有這些投資都增加了我們軟體解決方案的交易數量。它們還創造了更好的客戶體驗，並降低了我們的營運成本。非常強大的組合。現在我將把話題交還給凱倫，讓她來介紹一下我們的 2025 年指導方針。

Thank you, Paul. Our strong financial algorithm allows us to generate double digit profit growth with solid single digit revenue growth while accelerating free cash flow conversion.

謝謝你，保羅。我們強大的財務演算法使我們能夠實現兩位數的利潤成長和穩健的個位數的收入成長，同時加速自由現金流轉換。

Our guidance prudently takes into account the continued environment of muted but stable growth, and we are not making any assumptions about potential broad macroeconomic impacts from tariffs or other policy speculation. We will adjust the environment as necessary and execute on what is within our control just as we did in 2024.

我們的指導方針審慎地考慮到持續低迷但穩定的成長環境，並且我們不對關稅或其他政策猜測可能造成的廣泛宏觀經濟影響做出任何假設。我們將根據需要調整環境，並執行我們所能控制的措施，就像我們在 2024 年所做的那樣。

Our revenue outlook in 2025 calls for constant currency growth of 5% to 7%, consistent with what we experienced in 2024 and again reflecting steady industry growth above GDP plus our continued share gains. We expect a 15basis points to 20 basis points revenue yield decline, which again, consistent with the trend we saw through 2024. Given the recurring elements of our revenue and the continued shift to digital transactions.

我們對 2025 年收入的展望是，以固定貨幣計算，增長率為 5% 至 7%，與我們 2024 年的情況一致，並再次反映出行業增長穩定高於 GDP，加上我們份額的持續增長。我們預計收益率將下降 15 個基點至 20 個基點，這與我們看到的 2024 年趨勢一致。考慮到我們收入的經常性要素以及向數位交易的持續轉變。

We remain focused on driving continued operating leverage. We expect continued productivity gains and our scalable technology to continue to drive marginal expansion, while also increasing our investment level in future growth.

我們將繼續致力於推動持續的營運槓桿。我們預期生產力的持續提高和可擴展技術的持續推動邊際擴張，同時也增加我們對未來成長的投資水準。

As a result, we expect limited adjusted operating expense growth of just 3% to 4% on a constant currency basis. Our 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance is $530 to $560 million an impressive increase of 11 to 17% over 2024.

因此，我們預計調整後的營業費用成長率將僅為 3% 至 4%（以固定匯率計算）。我們 2025 年調整後的 EBITDA 預期為 5.3 億美元至 5.6 億美元，比 2024 年大幅成長 11% 至 17%。

This continued strong double digit growth demonstrates the power of our financial models to leverage high returns in a stable growth industry environment. And this represents margin expansion of 120basis to 190 basis points on a constant currency basis.

持續強勁的兩位數成長證明了我們的財務模型在穩定成長的產業環境中實現高回報的強大能力。這意味著以固定匯率計算，利潤率將擴大 120 個基點至 190 個基點。

We expect to continue to drive underlying momentum in cash generation in 2025, driven by the strong adjusted EBITDA growth plus lower net interest expense. Underlying free cash flow is expected to be approximately $210 million.

我們預計，在強勁的調整後 EBITDA 成長和較低的淨利息支出的推動下，2025 年現金創造的潛在勢頭將繼續保持。預計基礎自由現金流約 2.1 億美元。

However, I do want to flag some one-time costs in 2025 which are non-recurring in nature and associated specifically with M&A. And so factoring this in on a reported basis, we expect to hold free cash flow relatively flat this year versus 2024.

不過，我確實想指出 2025 年的一些一次性成本，這些成本本質上是非經常性的，並且與併購特別相關。因此，考慮到這一點，我們預計今年的自由現金流與 2024 年相比將保持相對穩定。

On currency exchange rates, the headline to take away is that FX does not affect our adjusted EIA. We have a natural hedge because the currencies of our revenues and expenses are approximately matched. Even though the recent rise in the US dollar and any future fluctuations in exchange rates may impact our reported revenue numbers, there will be an offset on expenses and therefore the adjusted it data impact will be neutral.

關於貨幣匯率，需要注意的是，外匯不會影響我們調整後的 EIA。由於我們的收入和支出的貨幣大致匹配，因此我們擁有自然的對沖。儘管近期美元的升值以及未來匯率的任何波動都可能影響我們報告的收入數字，但費用將會得到抵消，因此調整後的數據影響將是中性的。

We also have hedges that neutralize the impact of rate changes on cash held in euros on our balance sheets.

我們也採取對沖措施來抵消利率變動對我們資產負債表上歐元現金的影響。

And so based on exchange rates, as at the end of January 2025, FX would be a 2% headwind for revenue this year, which would lower underlying 5% to 7% constant currency growth to 3 to 5% on a reported basis, and this is factored in to our revenue guidance range of $2.5billion to $2.55 billion.

因此，根據匯率，截至 2025 年 1 月底，外匯將對今年的收入造成 2% 的阻力，這將使報告基礎上的 5% 至 7% 的恆定貨幣增長率降低至 3% 至 5%，這已計入我們的收入預測範圍 25 億美元至 25.5 億美元。

Our adjusted our guidance range is $530 million to $560 million and does not change between constant currency and latest FX rates. More detail of our revenue and adjusted operating expenses is included within the appendix.

我們調整後的指引範圍為 5.3 億美元至 5.6 億美元，在固定匯率和最新外匯匯率之間不會發生變化。有關我們收入和調整後營運費用的更多詳細信息，請參閱附錄。

As we look forward to closing the first quarter, we expect our revenue and earnings profile across the quarters in 2025 to be consistent with the 2024 phasing. Now it's important to note that from a growth perspective, there will be a 1% point impact on revenue from 1 less working day in the quarter, and on a reported basis, assuming current FX rates, we expect a 2% point impact from the strong dollar.

展望第一季的結束，我們預計 2025 年各季度的營收和獲利狀況將與 2024 年的階段保持一致。現在值得注意的是，從成長角度來看，本季減少 1 個工作日將對收入產生 1% 的影響，而根據報告，假設當前的外匯匯率，我們預計強勢美元將對收入產生 2% 的影響。

But as previously discussed, adjusted EBITDA will not be impacted given the natural hedges we have between revenue and expense. On a reported basis in the first quarter, we expect revenue growth of approximately 3%.

但正如之前所討論的，考慮到收入和支出之間的自然對沖，調整後的 EBITDA 不會受到影響。根據第一季的報告，我們預計營收成長約為 3%。

6% on a constant currency and workday adjusted basis and approximately 25% of full year 2025 adjusted EBITDA. We expect free cash flow seasonality to have greater weighting to H2, with the first quarter broadly in line for an absolute dollar perspective with cash generation from the first quarter of 2024. And so as I've already highlighted, we expect to continue to drive underlying momentum in cash generation in 2025.

以固定匯率和工作日調整後計算為 6%，約佔 2025 年全年調整後 EBITDA 的 25%。我們預計自由現金流的季節性將在下半年佔據更大的比重，第一季的絕對美元前景與 2024 年第一季的現金產生大致相符。正如我已經強調的那樣，我們預計到 2025 年我們將繼續推動現金創造的潛在勢頭。

We are controlling what we can control, and on an underlying basis, free cash flow is expected to be approximately $210 million. But with the specific one-time M&A expenses in 2025 on a reported basis, we expect free cash flow relatively flat to 2024 and to be in excess of $160 million.

我們正在控制我們能夠控制的事情，從根本上講，自由現金流預計約為 2.1 億美元。但考慮到 2025 年報告的具體一次性併購費用，我們預計到 2024 年自由現金流將相對持平，並將超過 1.6 億美元。

The lime free cash flow generation continues, and we are confident in the future path to approximately 50% free cash flow conversion over the medium term. We will continue to execute on our capital allocation priorities in 2025 to maximize our long-term growth and optimize shareholder returns.

石灰自由現金流的產生仍在繼續，我們有信心在中期內實現約 50% 的自由現金流轉換。我們將在 2025 年繼續執行我們的資本配置重點，以最大限度地實現我們的長期成長並優化股東回報。

We expect to continue to drive underlying momentum in cash generation in 2025. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet and expect a leverage ratio without M&A at the low end of our 1.5times to 2.5 times target range and have benefited from the refinancing actions we've taken where we expect net interest expense of approximately $80million to $85 million.

我們預計 2025 年將繼續推動現金創造的潛在動能。我們繼續保持強勁的資產負債表，預計不進行併購的槓桿率將處於我們 1.5 倍至 2.5 倍目標範圍的低端，並受益於我們採取的再融資行動，我們預計淨利息支出約為 8000 萬至 8500 萬美元。

We're also able to increase our investment in technology and organic growth. Our guidance includes incremental investments of $65 million as Paul mentioned. The strength of our balance sheet and level of liquidity within the business creates the flexibility for us to pursue M&A. And our strong cash flow puts us in a position to have flexibility to return cash to shareholders after our other priorities are met.

我們也能夠增加對技術和有機成長的投資。正如保羅所提到的，我們的指導包括 6500 萬美元的增量投資。我們的資產負債表實力和業務流動性水準為我們進行併購創造了靈活性。我們強勁的現金流使我們能夠在滿足其他優先事項後靈活地向股東返還現金。

Before closing, I would like to add to the comments that Paul made on the status of the CWT acquisition. We have cleared a significant milestone towards the confirmation of the transaction with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

在結束之前，我想補充保羅對 CWT 收購現狀的評論。我們在與英國競爭與市場管理局確認交易的道路上邁出了重要的一步。

And so it's important to understand that we have capital allocation capacity and flexibility in any scenario. Because the CWT acquisition finances primarily stock, we expect to remain within our target leverage range following the transaction close.

因此，重要的是要了解我們在任何情況下都具有資本配置能力和靈活性。由於 CWT 收購主要以股票融資，我們預期交易結束後仍將維持在目標槓桿範圍內。

So in closing, We successfully delivered on our financial targets and priorities in 2024. And we are looking forward to another strong year in 2025 of significant margin expansion. Double digit earnings growth, and underlying free cash flow acceleration.

總而言之，我們成功實現了 2024 年的財務目標和優先事項。我們期待 2025 年再創輝煌，利潤率大幅提升。獲利達到兩位數成長，自由現金流加速成長。

Now we can move into Q&A. Paul and I are joined by Eric Bock, who is our Chief Legal Officer and global head of M&A. Operator, please go ahead and open up the line.

現在我們可以進入問答環節。和我一起的還有我們的首席法律長兼全球併購主管 Eric Bock。接線員，請繼續接通線路。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) First question comes from Tony Kaplan with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open, please go ahead.

謝謝。（操作員指示）第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的東尼卡普蘭。您的線路已開通，請繼續。

Hi, good morning. This is Yehuda Silverman on the line for Tony Kaplan. So can you expand on the slight downtick in new business when What were some of the reasons that companies pushed that some of their wins out their business out to 2025 and when can we expect to see that in terms of cadence for the year?

嗨，早安。我是 Yehuda Silverman，接聽 Tony Kaplan 的電話。那麼，您能否詳細說明新業務略有下滑的原因？哪些公司將部分業務延後到 2025 年？就年度節奏而言，我們何時可以預期看到這種情況？

Yeah, I wouldn't read too much into that. As you can see, the majority of our wins come from SME customers, and we actually saw a slight uptick in SME wins in the quarter. The nature of the sort of very large customer wins is that, one win in a particular quarter can make a difference up or down, and you've seen that in previous quarters.

是的，我不會對此進行過多的解讀。如您所見，我們的大部分勝利來自中小企業客戶，而且我們實際上在本季度看到中小企業勝利略有上升。贏得大客戶的特點是，某個特定季度的一次勝利可能會帶來或多或少的影響，這一點在前幾個季度已經看到過。

So I'm not really pointing to a spend here, I would expect some of those decisions that are pushed into Q1 to. Enable us to have a faster start to '25.

所以我並不是真的在這裡指出支出，我預計其中一些決定會被推遲到第一季。讓我們能夠更快地開始25年。

Thank you. And just a follow up, so you've mentioned that you've seen some of the smaller midsize businesses feeling the pressure of higher interest rates that sort of continued.

謝謝。再問一下，您提到一些中小型企業感受到了持續的利率上升的壓力。

There's been a couple of recent hotter than expected economic prints, especially on the consumer side. Have you seen any recent sentiments or budget changes into the new year, particularly in the small midsize business?

最近有幾份經濟數據超出預期，特別是在消費方面。您是否注意到新年期間的情緒或預算有任何變化，特別是在中小型企業中？

Well, I think if you go back to sort of Q4 of 2023, we did see a sort of reduction in the growth rates, Q4 and then Q1, Q2. So for the last couple of quarters we've seen stable growth in SME, and we are expecting that to improve moderately as we go through 2025.

嗯，我認為如果你回顧 2023 年第四季度，我們確實看到成長率下降，第四季度，然後是第一季、第二季。在過去的幾個季度中，我們看到中小企業穩定成長，我們預計到 2025 年，這一情況將會適度改善。

So you know I think we are expecting that growth rate to go from being sort of fairly stable at the moment to a slight improvement as you go through the second half of 2025. But I still think that the trends that we're seeing from SME customers is consistent, your average.

所以，我認為我們預計成長率將從目前相當穩定狀態轉變為 2025 年下半年略有改善。但我仍然認為，我們從中小企業客戶身上看到的趨勢是一致的，是平均值。

US domestic airfare is over 20% more expensive than it was two years ago, and obviously that combined with other pressures in terms of interest costs and inflation across the supply chain for small to mid-size businesses definitely creates some dampening of demand.

美國國內機票價格比兩年前上漲了 20% 以上，顯然，再加上利息成本和中小型企業供應鏈通膨等其他壓力，肯定會抑制需求。

And as I said in my remarks, it's a trend that we see, beyond travel. If you look at the payments data and the procurement data across a range of spend categories, it's a consistent trend that you see.

正如我在發言中所說，這是我們看到的超越旅遊業的趨勢。如果您查看一系列支出類別的支付數據和採購數據，您會看到一個一致的趨勢。

Thank you.

謝謝。

We now turn to Dwayne Pfeningwerth with Evercore ISI. Your line is open, please go ahead.

現在我們來談談 Evercore ISI 的 Dwayne Pfeningwerth。您的線路已開通，請繼續。

Hey, good morning. This is Jake Gunning on for Dwayne. Understand the uncertainty, but do you have an expected closing quarter for CWT, and then you alluded to capital allocation priorities, but while you wait for that transaction to close and build free cash this year, would you look to hold on to that, accelerate the buyback, or even maybe complete other tuck.

嘿，早安。傑克甘寧 (Jake Gunning) 代替德韋恩 (Dwayne)。理解不確定性，但您是否有 CWT 的預期結束季度，然後您提到了資本配置優先事項，但是在等待該交易結束並在今年建立自由現金的同時，您是否會堅持下去，加速回購，甚至可能完成其他交易。

Acquisitions? Yeah, Eric will take the first part of that, and then Karen will take the second part.

收購？是的，埃里克將負責第一部分，然後凱倫將負責第二部分。

Right, thanks for the question. The trial is scheduled to start September 8. So you're looking at, third or fourth quarter closing at this point due to more likely the fourth quarter, if it goes to trial. There are a number of other different scenarios, but I think for planning purposes assume a trial on September 8, and the trial lasts two to three weeks, and a judge will render a decision thereafter which probably gets you into the October time.

好的，謝謝你的提問。審判定於 9 月 8 日開始。因此，您現在看到的是第三季或第四季的收盤，因為如果進入審判階段，更有可能在第四季收盤。還有許多其他不同的情況，但我認為，出於規劃目的，假設審判在 9 月 8 日進行，審判持續兩到三週，法官隨後將作出裁決，這可能會持續到 10 月。

And from in terms of the second part of your question in terms of capital allocation, we've laid out those priorities and as you think about it, we're really happy with the momentum that we have created and that the underlying performance that continues and our priority is around investing in organic growth and so we have an incremental $65 million this year.

從您問題的第二部分，即資本配置方面來看，我們已經列出了這些優先事項，正如您所想，我們對所創造的勢頭和持續的基本表現感到非常高興，我們的優先事項是投資於有機增長，因此我們今年的增量為 6500 萬美元。

Additionally, we will look at other M&A opportunities as they come up and from a share buyback perspective, again, we will look at the timing of that as the situation is right. So we certainly have opportunities ahead of us and continue to look at that in terms of what is optimal from a return perspective.

此外，我們將關注其他出現的併購機會，並從股票回購的角度來看，我們將再次考慮合適的時機。因此，我們肯定還有機會，並將繼續從回報的角度來審視什麼是最佳的。

Okay, thank you, and then not sure how relevant government travel is to your business, but have you disclosed that maybe as a percentage of total transactions in the past and are there any notable trends you're seeing in that segment?

好的，謝謝，然後不確定政府旅行與您的業務有多大關係，但您是否披露過它在過去佔總交易量的百分比，以及您在該部分中看到的任何值得注意的趨勢？

It's not a large part of our business, and no, we don't disclose it. So I can't really provide any specific insights, and if your question is more related, I would imagine to the US government travel trends, we don't have any material exposure to US government travel.

這不是我們業務的很大一部分，而且我們不會透露它。因此，我實際上無法提供任何具體的見解，如果您的問題與美國政府的旅行趨勢更相關，我會想像我們對美國政府旅行沒有任何實質性的了解。

It was okay, thank you.

沒關係，謝謝你。

My next question comes from Lee Horowitz with Deutsche Bank. Your line is open, please go ahead.

我的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Lee Horowitz。您的線路已開通，請繼續。

Great, thanks. Maybe just one on the CWT deal. The CMA news is obviously a positive and presumably should help the case in the US but are there sort of any President cases that you may be able to point us to where you had this kind of dynamic where sort of the UK or Europe was positive on a deal.

太好了，謝謝。也許只是關於 CWT 交易的一個。CMA 的消息顯然是積極的，大概會對美國的局勢有所幫助，但您能否向我們指出總統的某些案例，在這些案例中，英國或歐洲對達成協議持積極態度。

The US was trying to block a deal, but ultimately you have a company is able to leverage a decision out of the CMA to strengthen the case in the US and then maybe just general business travel, business growth enthusiasm coming out of the US election.

美國曾試圖阻止一項交易，但最終，一家公司能夠利用 CMA 的決定來加強在美國的立場，然後也許只是一般的商務旅行，美國大選帶來的業務成長熱情。

There's been a lot said about US businesses being more enthusiastic about overall growth as you look at '25 and '26, given some perceived policy changes from the new administration. Have you seen that show up in, any of your surveys as it relates to expectations for business travel and how that may be factored or not factored into the guide for 2025?

鑑於新政府的一些政策變化，許多人認為美國企業對 25 年和 26 年的整體成長將更加熱情。您是否在任何與商務旅行期望相關的調查中看到過這種情況，以及在 2025 年指南中是否會考慮這種情況？

So thanks for your first question, no specific press on the dynamic we're in I can point to. Obviously it is a positive factor in the in the facts of the case. We have a regulatory body that has provisionally found that on a global basis there is a lot of credible competitors in the space today. So certainly it is positive and indicative of what our belief in the marketplace is, so. That is good, should ultimately in the in the totality of things be helpful to us.

感謝您提出的第一個問題，目前沒有具體的新聞可以指出我們所處的動態。顯然，這對案件事實來說是一個正面因素。我們有一個監管機構，該機構初步發現，從全球範圍來看，當今該領域有許多可靠的競爭對手。所以這當然是正面的，顯示了我們對市場的信心。這很好，最終從總體上應該對我們有幫助。

So we'll continue to press our case where we can and we'll continue to have dialogue with the DOJ before and during this whole process before we get to trial on September 8th, and we still are very, we're confident that we are on the right side of this argument.

因此，我們將繼續盡我們所能地堅持我們的主張，並且在 9 月 8 日開庭審理之前的整個過程中，我們將繼續與司法部進行對話，我們仍然非常有信心，我們站在這一論點的正確一邊。

And the second part of your question, we did see an increase in the growth rates after the US election. In fact, our growth rates in November and December were 2% points higher than they were for the full quarter. So we did see that that dynamic that you referenced in your question.

關於你問題的第二部分，我們確實看到美國大選後成長率上升。事實上，我們 11 月和 12 月的成長率比整個季度高出 2%。所以我們確實看到了您在問題中提到的動態。

In terms of how that's translating to sort of forward-looking trends. I think it was certainly encouraging to see that uptick in November and December, but of course, there is still a fair amount of uncertainty in terms of the geopolitical environment, and I think businesses in order to plan longer term stability is very important. And so I think you know in a number of areas there is still a higher degree of uncertainty. And so I think that that, balances some of the optimism that also exists.

就其如何轉化為某種前瞻性趨勢而言。我認為看到 11 月和 12 月的上漲確實令人鼓舞，但當然，地緣政治環境仍然存在相當大的不確定性，我認為企業為了規劃長期穩定非常重要。所以我認為在許多領域仍然存在著較高程度的不確定性。所以我認為這平衡了一些現有的樂觀情緒。

And I think your question is how does that feed into our '25 outlooks. We're essentially assuming a sort of continuation of the current conditions that the GDP growth in all regions actually is below historical norms, and we have assumed that the current levels of GDP growth in really all three regions, continue at their current levels and that the industry grows at or slightly above those growth rates.

我認為你的問題是這對我們的 25 年展望有何影響。我們基本上假設當前的情況會持續下去，即所有地區的 GDP 增長實際上都低於歷史標準，並且我們假設所有三個地區的當前 GDP 增長水平都會繼續保持目前的水平，並且行業增長率將達到或略高於這些增長率。

And that on top of that, we have obviously our share gains and that's what gets us to the constant currency, range that that Karen share earlier. So hopefully that's helpful.

除此之外，我們的份額顯然也有所增長，這就是我們達到 Karen 之前分享的恆定貨幣範圍的原因。希望這會有所幫助。

Thank you both. We now turn to Peter Christiansen with City. Your line is open, please go ahead.

謝謝你們兩位。現在我們來談談曼城的彼得·克里斯蒂安森。您的線路已開通，請繼續。

Good morning. Thanks for the question. Great results, solid outlook here. First question, I guess for Eric on the CWT situation. It sounds, it's a little peculiar I guess this time because the challenge was issued under the previous administration.

早安.謝謝你的提問。成果顯著，前景光明。第一個問題，我想問一下 Eric 關於 CWT 的情況。我想，這次聽起來有點奇怪，因為這個挑戰是在上一屆政府時期提出的。

Just wondering if there's any dynamics that you could speak to now and then also is Was the original complaint was that using the similar facts that I think the CMA was originally using in their initial contestation?

我只是想知道現在是否有任何動態您可以談論，最初的投訴是否使用了我認為 CMA 在最初的爭論中最初使用的類似事實？

Yes, hi, thanks for the question. Yes, the arguments are very similar. The, arguments that for the lessing competition on both regulatory fronts are very similar.

是的，你好，謝謝你的提問。是的，論點非常相似。關於在兩個監管領域減少競爭的論點非常相似。

So we know now we have the CMA and its finding and we'll continue to work with the DOJ, as I mentioned. Yes, with the change of administration, I mean that our case was brought and literally the final days of the Biden administration. We do have the Trump administration is now in place.

所以我們現在知道我們有了 CMA 及其調查結果，並且我們將繼續與 DOJ 合作，正如我所提到的。是的，隨著政府的更迭，我的意思是我們的案件被提起，而且實際上是拜登政府的最後幾天。我們確實有川普政府現在就職了。

They may have a different point of view on this. We don't know, we can't speculate, but we'll continue to talk to. To the US government about this case and move forward as appropriate.

他們對此可能有不同的看法。我們不知道，我們無法推測，但我們會繼續討論。向美國政府通報此案並酌情推進。

That that's helpful. And then Karen, as we think about the free cash flow guide, I understand that you're provisioning a bit for M&A, is that primarily, potential legal costs associated with the case and would that be the primary reason for the flat year over year free cash flow or is there another component perhaps CapEx?

這很有幫助。然後，凱倫，當我們考慮自由現金流指南時，我了解到您正在為併購做一些準備，這主要是與案件相關的潛在法律成本嗎？這是否是自由現金流較去年同期持平的主要原因？或者還有其他因素，也許是資本支出？

No, I mean, yeah, there are puts and takes as you look year over year you think about lower interest expense, obviously higher profit, but then investing in CapEx, but you know.

不，我的意思是，是的，當你逐年觀察時，你會想到更低的利息支出，顯然更高的利潤，但隨後投資於資本支出，但你知道。

Underlying we're seeing, $210 million, a 39% cash conversion which is up, but we've called out specifically that M&A component and it's exactly as you spell it out. It's, it is in relation to that and it's very one time in nature, so we just want to be transparent, quite H1stly.

我們看到的基本面是 2.1 億美元，現金轉換率上升了 39%，但我們特別提到了併購部分，它和你所說的完全一樣。它與此相關，本質上是一次性的，所以我們只是希望保持透明，非常透明。

That that that is helpful. I I'm going to TRY to sneak 11 last one in.

那那那很有幫助。我要試著偷偷把最後一個放進去。

So if I can just add 11 to that, just that that is, there are a range of different scenarios, frankly, that could play out and that that number is our best estimate at this point in time.

因此，如果我可以將這個數字加上 11，那麼坦白說，可能會出現一系列不同的情況，而這個數字是我們目前的最佳估計。

Thank you, Paul. I was just going to sneak one last one in on SME, just curious, if you're seeing any of the dynamics in terms of retention, or demand on the SME side, are you seeing any, I don't know, underlying, green shoots there just curious on some of, the underlying trends that that you might be seeing there.

謝謝你，保羅。我只是想偷偷地問最後一個關於中小企業的問題，只是好奇，如果你看到中小企業方面的保留或需求方面的任何動態，你是否看到了任何，我不知道，潛在的，綠芽，只是對你可能在那裡看到的一些潛在趨勢感到好奇。

Thank you.

謝謝。

I mean, look, we did see, a kind of a point, kick up in the SME growth rates in November and December, obviously, as I mentioned before, we're expecting sort of moderate improvement as we go through 2025. I don't know if I'd go as far as to say it's green shoots at this point, I think we have to see a few more months of data.

我的意思是，你看，我們確實看到，11 月和 12 月中小企業成長率有所上升，顯然，正如我之前提到的，我們預計到 2025 年會出現適度改善。我不知道我是否會說這是現在的復甦跡象，我認為我們必須看到更多幾個月的數據。

Come through, but I'm optimistic that as we go through 2025 we'll see the impact of our new winds start to have a greater impact on the overall growth rates. Retention is very stable on SMEs, so it really is the orgaic growth rate that was really 2points or 3 points lower than we anticipated at the beginning of 2024. New winds are on track, retentions on track. So, as I said, we are optimistic that we'll see some gradual improvement as we go through '25.

但我樂觀地認為，到 2025 年，我們將看到新風對整體成長率產生更大的影響。中小企業的留存率非常穩定，因此有機成長率實際上比我們在 2024 年初預期的要低 2 到 3 個百分點。新風在正軌，留存也在正軌。因此，正如我所說，我們樂觀地認為，隨著 2025 年的到來，我們將看到一些逐步的改善。

That that's super helpful. Great execution, guys. Good core. Thank you.

這非常有幫助。執行得非常好，夥計們。好核心。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And our final question comes from Steven Chuu with UBS. Your line is open, please go ahead.

我們的最後一個問題來自瑞銀的 Steven Chuu。您的線路已開通，請繼續。

Hi, good morning. This is Vanessa on for Steven. So, Paul, just looking at your new win value, from SME, those have been picking up and, they're accounting for a greater portion of your aggregate new win. So I just wanted to ask about the pace at which that is showing up in, transaction value, just given their travel budget are probably more volatile than, the larger companies. Thank you.

嗨，早安。我是 Vanessa，代替 Steven 發言。所以，保羅，只要看一下你的新勝利價值，從中小企業來看，這些價值一直在上升，而且它們佔了你的總新勝利的更大一部分。因此，我只是想問一下這種現像在交易價值中反映出來的速度，因為他們的旅行預算可能比大公司更不穩定。謝謝。

Yeah, look, it's encouraging to see the new winds, are steadily improving, and it is becoming a larger share of our overall new wins and we're seeing, I think, 25% of those SME new wins, coming from unmanaged customers, which just as a reminder, that's by far the biggest opportunity for us. SMEs are $950 billion opportunity and the largest share of that is still customers that don't have a professionally managed travel program.

是的，看，看到新風正在穩步改善，這令人鼓舞，它在我們的整體新勝利中所佔的份額越來越大，而且我認為，我們看到 25% 的中小企業新勝利來自非管理客戶，這提醒我們，這是迄今為止我們最大的機會。中小企業擁有 9500 億美元的商機，其中最大份額的仍然是沒有專業管理的旅行計劃的客戶。

So we like those trends. But yes, I think the key thing for us is to make sure that we're translating those wins, into growth and that we're implementing those wins faster and as I said, we are optimistic that we're going to see some impact from that as we go through the balance of 2025.

所以我們喜歡這些趨勢。但是的，我認為對我們來說關鍵是確保我們將這些勝利轉化為成長，並且我們正在更快地實現這些勝利，正如我所說的，我們樂觀地認為，在 2025 年的平衡過程中，我們將看到它帶來的影響。

This concludes our Q&A on a hand back to Paul Abbott, the CEO, for any final remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束，請執行長 Paul Abbott 做最後的評論。

Well, yes, in closing, I just want to thank all of our teams around the world for their hard work and dedication in 24 and providing industry leading service and experiences to our customers. It's really enabled us to deliver the strong financial results that we shared with you today.

嗯，是的，最後，我只想感謝我們在世界各地的所有團隊在 24 年間所做的努力和奉獻，為我們的客戶提供行業領先的服務和體驗。它確實使我們能夠實現今天與大家分享的強勁財務業績。

We are confident that the momentum that we've driven in 2024 is going to continue into 2025 and result in another year of share gains, of continued margin expansion, strong free cash flow. And capital allocation that also drives shareholder returns. So thank you very much for joining us today and your continued interest in American Express global business travel. Thank you everyone.

我們相信，我們在 2024 年推動的勢頭將持續到 2025 年，並​​帶來另一年的份額成長、利潤率的持續擴大和強勁的自由現金流。資本配置也會推動股東回報。非常感謝您今天加入我們，並持續關注美國運通全球商務旅行。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, today's call is now concluded. We'd like to thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路了。