Golden Entertainment Inc (GDEN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Golden Entertainment, Inc. 2023 fourth-quarter results conference call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，午安。感謝您的耐心等待並歡迎參加 Golden Entertainment, Inc. 2023 年第四季業績電話會議。（操作員說明）

Please note that today's call is being recorded today, February 29, 2024.

請注意，今天的通話錄音日期為 2024 年 2 月 29 日。

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Joe Jaffoni, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係部的 Joe Jaffoni 先生。請繼續，先生。

Thank you very much, operator, and good afternoon to everyone. On the call today is Blake Sartini, the company's Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Charles Protell, the company's President and Chief Financial Officer.

非常感謝您，接線員，大家下午好。今天參加電話會議的是該公司創辦人、董事長兼執行長 Blake Sartini；以及公司總裁兼財務長 Charles Protell。

On today's call, we will make forward-looking statements under the Safe Harbor provision of the federal securities laws. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated in these statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from these forward-looking statements is contained in today's press release and our filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or otherwise.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將根據聯邦證券法的安全港條款發表前瞻性聲明。實際結果可能與這些陳述中預期的結果有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的因素的更多資​​訊包含在今天的新聞稿和我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。除法律要求外，我們不承擔因新資訊或其他原因而更新這些聲明的義務。

During today's call, we will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures and talking about our performance. You can find the reconciliation of GAAP financial measures in our press release, which is available on our website. We'll start the call with Charles reviewing details of the quarter and a business update. Following that, Blake and Charles will take your questions.

在今天的電話會議中，我們還將討論非公認會計準則財務指標並談論我們的績效。您可以在我們的新聞稿中找到 GAAP 財務指標的調整表，該新聞稿可在我們的網站上找到。我們將首先與查爾斯一起回顧本季的詳細資訊和業務更新。接下來，布萊克和查爾斯將回答你的問題。

With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Charles Protell. Charles, please go ahead.

至此，我很高興將電話轉給查爾斯·普羅泰爾。查爾斯，請繼續。

Thanks, Joe. The fourth quarter concluded a transformative year for Golden Entertainment. During the year, we streamlined the portfolio by divesting noncore businesses at attractive multiples, reduced leverage to favorably refinanced our credit facilities, and return capital to shareholders through a special dividend and opportunistic share repurchases.

謝謝，喬。第四季為 Golden Entertainment 帶來了變革性的一年。在這一年裡，我們透過以有吸引力的倍數剝離非核心業務來精簡投資組合，降低槓桿率以有利地為我們的信貸安排再融資，並透過特別股息和機會性股票回購向股東返還資本。

To begin 2024, we completed the sale of our Nevada distributed business in January and established a quarterly dividend to initiate regular returns of capital to shareholders. In the fourth quarter, our operations generated revenue of $231 million and EBITDA of $48.8 million, bringing our total annual revenue to $1.1 billion and annual EBITDA to $222.5 million.

2024 年伊始，我們於 1 月完成了內華達州分散式業務的出售，並設立了季度股息，以啟動向股東定期資本回報。第四季度，我們的業務收入為 2.31 億美元，EBITDA 為 4,880 萬美元，使我們的年度總收入達到 11 億美元，年度 EBITDA 達到 2.225 億美元。

Our fourth quarter excludes the operations of the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and the Montana distributed operations that we sold in the third quarter, which created the majority of our reported declines in consolidated revenue and EBITDA. Adjusting for these sales, revenue was down 1.6% and EBITDA was down 11% in the fourth quarter, with margins impacted by increases in labor and other costs over last year.

我們第四季不包括我們在第三季出售的洛基蓋普賭場度假村和蒙大拿州分散式業務的業務，這造成了我們報告的合併收入和 EBITDA 下降的大部分。根據這些銷售額進行調整後，第四季營收下降了 1.6%，EBITDA 下降了 11%，利潤率受到去年勞動力和其他成本增加的影響。

Moving to the results of our continuing operations. For the quarter, revenue at our Nevada casino resorts was up slightly to last year, while EBITDA declined 8.8%. Unfortunately, we did not see any benefit from the Formula One's initial race in Las Vegas with distressed November EBITDA down about $800,000 year over year.

轉向我們持續經營的成果。本季度，我們內華達州賭場度假村的營收比去年略有成長，而 EBITDA 下降 8.8%。不幸的是，我們沒有看到一級方程式賽車在拉斯維加斯的首場比賽帶來任何好處，11 月的 EBITDA 陷入困境，年減約 80 萬美元。

Despite the disappointing F1 experience for us, STRAT occupancy in Q4 was 79%, up 2% over last year with the weekends fall and mid-week occupancy improving, but still lower compared to 2019. We are still missing 125,000 room nights at The STRAT when compared to 2019, which we see gradually returning as we complete renovations and add amenities to the property.

儘管 F1 體驗令人失望，但第四季度 STRAT 入住率為 79%，比去年增長 2%，週末下降和周中入住率有所改善，但仍低於 2019 年。與 2019 年相比，The STRAT 仍缺少 125,000 個間夜，隨著我們完成翻修和增加設施，我們預計這一數字將逐漸恢復。

In October, we completed the renovation of STRAT's original 118-room tower, the last of our major upgrades to the property, bringing our total renovated rooms to 1,300. Recently, we saw tremendous pickup during Super Bowl, resulting in approximately $1 million in incremental room revenues over that weekend. After a few weeks of construction delays, Atomic Golf should be opened in March, and we are excited to welcome this new amenity to The STRAT.

10 月，我們完成了 STRAT 原有 118 間客房塔樓的翻修，這是我們對該酒店的最後一次重大升級，使翻修後的客房總數達到 1,300 間。最近，我們在超級盃期間看到了巨大的成長，導致該週末的客房收入增量約為 100 萬美元。經過幾週的施工延遲後，Atomic Golf 預計將於 3 月開業，我們很高興歡迎 The STRAT 推出這項新設施。

In Laughlin, fourth-quarter revenue was up slightly despite having one less major concert, while EBITDA declined 9%, primarily due to higher labor costs. In December, Laughlin revenue and EBITDA showed positive growth over the prior year, and we continue to see signs of margin stabilization to start 2024.

在勞克林，儘管少了一場大型音樂會，第四季度收入仍略有增長，而 EBITDA 下降 9%，主要是由於勞動力成本上升。12 月，勞克林的營收和 EBITDA 較前一年呈現正成長，我們繼續看到 2024 年開始利潤率穩定的跡象。

Entertainment is a big driver of performance for our Laughlin properties, and we are working to optimize our offerings to create more cost-effective traffic drivers to our venues over the coming year. In addition, our new bingo room, which caters to local residents, has been successful in growing midweek revenue at our Edgewater properties.

娛樂是我們勞克林酒店業績的一大推動力，我們正在努力優化我們的產品，以便在來年為我們的場館創造更具成本效益的交通驅動力。此外，我們面向當地居民的新賓果遊戲室已成功增加了我們 Edgewater 物業的周中收入。

Q4 revenue was down 4% and EBITDA was down 10% for Nevada locals casinos. The majority of the EBITDA decline was at our Arizona Charlie's Boulder property where we experienced reduced room nights due to the loss of a meaningful group contract relative to last year.

內華達州本地賭場第四季營收下降 4%，EBITDA 下降 10%。EBITDA 下降的主要原因是我們位於亞利桑那州查理博爾德的酒店，由於與去年相比失去了一份有意義的團體合同，我們的間夜數減少了。

This led to lower margins in the fourth quarter compared to last year. However, sequentially over Q3, the operating margin of our local casinos has improved.

這導致第四季的利潤率低於去年。然而，從第三季開始，我們當地賭場的營業利潤率有所改善。

For Nevada Taverns, fourth-quarter revenue was up 3% compared to last year and EBITDA was up 4% as we acquired four new taverns under a new brand and same-store performance remained stable. As of year end, we had 69 tavern locations in Nevada with 66 of them in Las Vegas. We believe it could create a portfolio of 90 to 100 taverns without meaningful increases in corporate overhead and have targeted three to four additional locations to be added in 2024.

對於內華達州酒館來說，第四季營收比去年成長了 3%，EBITDA 成長了 4%，因為我們以新品牌收購了四家新酒館，同店業績保持穩定。截至年底，我們在內華達州擁有 69 家酒館，其中 66 家位於拉斯維加斯。我們相信，它可以在不顯著增加公司管理費用的情況下創建一個由 90 到 100 家小酒館組成的投資組合，併計劃在 2024 年再增加 3 到 4 個小酒館。

The tavern model continues to generate attractive returns with the last eight taverns we have built or bought creating an average ROI of over 25%. In January of this year, we completed the sale of our Nevada distributed gaming business for approximately $240 million, including purchase cash.

酒館模式繼續產生有吸引力的回報，我們建造或購買的最後八家酒館創造了超過 25% 的平均投資回報率。今年 1 月，我們以約 2.4 億美元的價格完成了內華達州分散式遊戲業務的出售，其中包括購買現金。

In Q4, our total distributed operations are down meaningfully, given that our divested Montana distributed gaming operations are included in last year's results. Between the sale of our Nevada distributed operations this January and the third quarter sales of our Rocky Gap property and Montana distributed operations, we received total proceeds of over $600 million, generating over $500 million of liquidity after taxes and transaction expenses.

鑑於我們剝離的蒙大拿州分散式遊戲業務包含在去年的業績中，第四季度我們的分散式業務總量大幅下降。在今年1 月出售內華達州分散式業務以及第三季出售Rocky Gap 房地產和蒙大拿州分散式業務期間，我們獲得了超過6 億美元的總收益，在稅後和交易費用後產生了超過5億美元的流動性。

These proceeds have significantly improved our leverage profile and enhanced our strategic flexibility. We reduced our debt by over $60 million in Q4, bringing our total debt repayments to nearly $240 million for the year.

這些收益顯著改善了我們的槓桿狀況並增強了我們的策略靈活性。第四季我們減少了超過 6,000 萬美元的債務，使全年債務償還總額達到近 2.4 億美元。

Our outstanding debt at year end consisted primarily of $398 million floating rate term loan and a $276 million of fixed rate bonds. We will repay the outstanding bonds in April, leaving us with a simplified capital structure less than 2 times net leverage and full availability under our $240 million revolver.

截至年底，我們的未償債務主要包括 3.98 億美元的浮動利率定期貸款和 2.76 億美元的固定利率債券。我們將於 4 月償還未償還債券，從而使我們的資本結構簡化，淨槓桿率低於 2 倍，並在我們 2.4 億美元的左輪手槍下完全可用。

Given our low leverage and liquidity profile, we are establishing a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share, the first of which is payable on April 4. In addition, we have over $90 million remaining under our stock repurchase authorization that we will use opportunistically to further return capital to shareholders.

鑑於我們的槓桿率和流動性狀況較低，我們將確定每股 0.25 美元的季度現金股息，第一筆股息將於 4 月 4 日支付。此外，我們的股票回購授權還剩餘超過 9,000 萬美元，我們將利用這些資金進一步向股東返還資本。

Divesting our noncore businesses has concentrated our portfolio to wholly owned casinos and branded taverns in Southern Nevada, where we see some of the most favorable macro trends in the country. Going forward, our primary organic opportunities will come from improved performance at The STRAT and increased tavern footprint and the entire portfolio benefiting from the continued strength of Nevada's economy.

剝離我們的非核心業務使我們的投資組合集中到內華達州南部的全資賭場和品牌酒館，在那裡我們看到了該國一些最有利的宏觀趨勢。展望未來，我們的主要有機機會將來自於 The STRAT 業績的改善和酒館足跡的增加，以及受益於內華達州經濟持續強勁的整個投資組合。

That concludes our prepared remarks. Blake and I are now available for questions.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。布萊克和我現在可以回答問題。

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員說明）

Carlo Santarelli, Deutsche Bank.

卡洛桑塔雷利，德意志銀行。

Hey, Blake. Hey, Charles. So guys, you obviously have endured some of the labor costs through the back half of this year. As you look out to next year and all things considered speaking towards specifically Nevada casino, STRAT, et cetera, with the room refurbishments, with Atomic Golf coming on in March, with kind of lapping some of the labor expenses, is there a scenario where margins could be flattish with some of the revenue uplifts coupled with some of the presumably at least lapping of expenses? Hello.

嘿，布萊克。嘿，查爾斯。所以夥伴們，今年下半年你們顯然已經承受了一些勞動成本。當你展望明年時，考慮到所有的事情，特別是內華達州賭場、STRAT 等，隨著房間翻新，原子高爾夫將於 3 月份開業，以及一些人工費用，是否會出現以下情況：由於一些收入的增加而一些大概至少是費用的減少，利潤率可能會持平嗎？你好。

This is the operator (multiple speakers) --

這是營運商（多位發言者）——

Can you hear me?

你聽得到我嗎？

Yes, yes, I got your question, Carlo.

是的，是的，我收到你的問題了，卡洛。

I'm sorry. Everything went blank there, so I wasn't sure.

對不起。那裡一切都一片空白，所以我不確定。

Can you hear us?

你可以聽見我們嗎？

I do, yes.

我願意，是的。

Okay. Sorry. So your question, the answer is yes. We would anticipate the margin trend to be flat throughout the balance of '24. As you did reference, we did incur the renewal of the union contract at The STRAT towards the end of this year, which provides some unique challenges to that property. But I think generally speaking, your comment is accurate. We would expect flat margin trends going forward.

好的。對不起。所以你的問題，答案是肯定的。我們預計 24 年餘下的時間裡利潤率趨勢將持平。正如您所提到的，我們確實在今年年底更新了 The STRAT 的工會合同，這給該物業帶來了一些獨特的挑戰。但我認為總的來說，你的評論是準確的。我們預計未來利潤率將呈現持平趨勢。

Great. Thank you for that, Blake. And then if I could, obviously, putting it in the dividend, a nice touch. Just in terms of your thought process around uses of the incremental capital with the leverage where it is, was there anything else that you guys perhaps considered? Or do you feel like you're sacrificing any flexibility with the dividend policy?

偉大的。謝謝你，布萊克。然後，顯然，如果我可以將其放入股息中，那就太好了。就您關於使用增量資本及其槓桿的思考過程而言，您還考慮過其他什麼嗎？或者您覺得您犧牲了股利政策的彈性？

No. When we committed to the dividend, we did so with the expectation we could do the dividend as well as with our significant capacity remaining buyback stock. And ultimately, as we've repositioned the company with this deleveraging, we've repositioned for additional significant optionality.

不。當我們承諾派息時，我們這樣做是因為我們期望能夠派息，我們還有大量剩餘回購股票的能力。最終，當我們透過去槓桿化對公司進行重新定位時，我們也重新定位了額外的重要選擇。

So from our perspective, we did this with the very cognizant opinion that we can do both. And then the company is positioned with optionality for whatever may potentially come about in terms of M&A or other.

因此，從我們的角度來看，我們這樣做是出於非常有認識的觀點，即我們可以做到這兩點。然後，公司就可以選擇進行併購或其他方面可能發生的任何事情。

Got it. Thank you. Thank you very much.

知道了。謝謝。非常感謝。

Jordan Bender, Citizens JMP.

喬丹·本德，公民 JMP。

Great. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. In the slide deck, it says you guys are comfortable bringing the leverage up to 3 or you want to be under 3. Can you just maybe update us on the parameters around what you would look like -- or sorry, what you look for on the M&A front? Is it more single assets? Or would you go a small portfolio of assets? Thank you.

偉大的。午安.感謝您提出我的問題。在幻燈片中，它表示你們可以輕鬆地將槓桿提高到 3，或者希望低於 3。您能否向我們介紹一下您會是什麼樣子的參數——或者抱歉，您在併購方面尋找什麼？是不是單一資產比較多？或者你會選擇一個小的資產組合嗎？謝謝。

Yes, hey, Jordan. It's Charles. So yes, that's obviously our target is to remain under 3. I don't think we're going to take our leverage up just for the sake of taking our leverage up. We have to have obviously some capital opportunities that are in our mind, a return that's better than those alternatives and returning capital to shareholders.

是的，嘿，喬丹。是查爾斯。所以，是的，我們的目標顯然是保持在 3 以下。我認為我們不會僅僅為了提高槓桿率而提高槓桿率。顯然，我們必須有一些我們心中的資本機會，比那些替代方案更好的回報，並將資本回饋給股東。

But in that context, we do look at M&A. We have looked at M&A. I think we were not, for us, looking at something that's -- $50 million EBITDA north probably makes the most sense. We're not going to spend a lot of time with things that are smaller, just given the integration time and management effort and also in terms of moving the needle for the makeup of the company at this point.

但在這種情況下，我們確實會考慮併購。我們研究了併購。我認為，對我們來說，我們並不是在考慮 5000 萬美元的 EBITDA 北方可能是最有意義的。我們不會花很多時間在較小的事情上，只是考慮到整合時間和管理工作，以及目前公司結構的調整。

So our focus is going to be fairly narrow from an M&A lens. We will want to find opportunities that are either single assets or portfolios that are in the West where the properties own the underlying real estate.

因此，從併購角度來看，我們的關注點將相當狹窄。我們希望在西方尋找單一資產或投資組合的機會，這些資產擁有基礎房地產。

And so I think that that in general is where it is. But again, I think as Blake was saying, our view is we've set up the portfolio now with these divestitures that we can be focused on returning capital to shareholders while we continue to invest in our assets and have positioned ourselves, I think well to look at potential M&A opportunities that are accretive to us and fit within those parameters.

所以我認為這就是一般情況。但同樣，我認為正如布萊克所說，我們的觀點是，我們現在已經透過這些資產剝離建立了投資組合，我們可以專注於向股東返還資本，同時我們繼續投資我們的資產並為自己定位，我認為很好尋找對我們有利且符合這些參數的潛在併購機會。

Great. And then just on the back of the merger announced this morning from two of the suppliers, historically speaking, has there been any positive or negative impacts to your slot floor? Or you've been your purchasing budgets when M&A occurs in that space?

偉大的。然後，就在今天早上兩家供應商宣布合併之後，從歷史角度來看，對您的老虎機市場有任何積極或消極的影響嗎？或者當該領域發生併購時，您的採購預算是多少？

No, no. I think that's from our standpoint, stand alone on their end and no effect on our end.

不，不。我認為這是從我們的角度來看，對他們而言是獨立的，對我們而言沒有影響。

Understood. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

Chad Beynon, Macquarie.

查德貝農，麥格理。

Good afternoon, Blake and Charles. Thanks for taking my question. Congrats on simplifying the story and everything here. I wanted to start with The STRAT midweek opportunities. I feel like that's something we've been talking about for a couple of years. In the prepared remarks, you mentioned that again.

下午好，布萊克和查爾斯。感謝您提出我的問題。恭喜你簡化了故事和這裡的一切。我想從周中的 STRAT 機會開始。我覺得這是我們幾年來一直在談論的事情。你在準備好的發言中再次提到了這一點。

For '24, what's the convention calendar look like? Do you think that just overall visitation to the strip, which remains strong, we'll finally see kind of an inflection point for that midweek, which obviously leads to margin improvement. So any visibility into '24 midweek? Thanks.

24 年的大會日曆是什麼樣的？您是否認為，只要該地區的整體訪問量仍然強勁，我們最終會在周中看到一個拐點，這顯然會導致利潤率改善。那麼 24 週中有什麼可見性嗎？謝謝。

Yes, Chad. I think you're right. We have been talking about that. And we are beginning to see some green shoots in the fourth quarter of that midweek trend. Obviously, as I've talked about before, given 65% of our room occupancy comes from the OTA sites, we are dependent a lot on those citywides for some of that midweek. The calendar looks pretty robust for citywides.

是的，查德。我想你是對的。我們一直在談論這個。我們開始在第四季度看到周中趨勢的一些萌芽。顯然，正如我之前談到的，鑑於我們 65% 的客房入住率來自 OTA 網站，我們在周中的某些時間非常依賴全市範圍內的這些網站。對於全市範圍的人來說，日曆看起來相當穩健。

But as you know, some of these larger hotel casinos have added or increased size of their casino of their own convention areas, particularly some of the new properties that have just come on that may put some pressure on the citywides.

但如您所知，一些較大的酒店賭場已經增加或擴大了自己的會議區賭場的規模，特別是一些剛開業的新酒店可能會給全市範圍帶來一些壓力。

But as -- I would bring into this conversation, last year, we had significant disruption in the spring and fall from construction of the rooms. So I think we've said in the past that aggregated to around $5 million we felt in hotel revenue. That disruption has gone. And we have this $75 million Atomic. These are things we can control is what I'm getting at.

但正如我想在這次談話中提到的那樣，去年，我們在春季和秋季因房間建設而受到了嚴重干擾。因此，我認為我們過去曾說過，我們感受到的酒店收入總計約為 500 萬美元。這種幹擾已經消失了。我們擁有價值 7500 萬美元的 Atomic。這些是我們可以控制的事情，這就是我的意思。

There's Atomic Range Golf facility coming on which we believe will greatly enhance our ability to generate additional midweek traffic with that wholly owned facility outside of what these citywides are looking like.

原子靶場高爾夫設施即將投入使用，我們相信該設施將大大增強我們在周中利用該全資設施在全市範圍之外產生額外流量的能力。

But we remain bullish on our prospects for midweek. Weekends were full primarily. Our rate is getting better. And we believe this midweek begins to fill in, both through our own efforts, Atomic and other, as well as the robust citywide calendar.

但我們仍然看好周中的前景。週末基本上都是滿的。我們的利率越來越好。我們相信，透過我們自己、Atomic 和其他方面的努力，以及強大的全市日曆，周中的時間開始充實起來。

And Chad, I would just add to that, we have seen improvement. If you look over the course of all of 2023, our midweek occupancy was around 66% in our Q4 midweek occupancy, even despite F1 was at 72%. So we are seeing that improvement.

查德，我想補充一點，我們已經看到了進步。如果縱觀 2023 年全年，我們的第四季度周中入住率約為 66%，儘管 F1 的周中入住率為 72%。所以我們看到了這種改善。

That being said, in '19, our midweek occupancy was around 85%. And so that 125,000 missing room nights for The STRAT relative to '19, that's worth about $40 million in revenue to the property at just current spend levels that we are seeing.

話雖如此，19 年，我們周中的入住率約為 85%。因此，與 19 年相比，The STRAT 減少了 125,000 個間夜，按照我們目前看到的支出水平，該酒店的收入約為 4,000 萬美元。

And so that's about $20 million in EBITDA. So that's where we really see the opportunity of the property. That's the reason we're making the investments we are and forming the partnerships we are with folks like Atomic and others.

因此，EBITDA 約為 2000 萬美元。這就是我們真正看到該房產機會的地方。這就是我們進行投資並與 Atomic 等人建立合作關係的原因。

So we are excited now that we've got the bulk of construction behind us, Atomic opening, to really see what the property does as we go through this year.

因此，我們現在很興奮，因為我們已經完成了大部分建設工作，Atomic 開業，可以在今年真正看到該房產的作用。

Thank you. And then with respect to eventually getting to a goal of 90 to 100 taverns, we've heard of increased competition in the market. Charles, you talked about the returns. So it certainly sounds like a business. If you know how to do it well, it sounds like a good business to be in.

謝謝。然後，關於最終實現 90 到 100 家小酒館的目標，我們聽說市場競爭加劇。查爾斯，你談到了回報。所以這聽起來確實像是一門生意。如果你知道如何做好，這聽起來是一個不錯的行業。

But the new opportunities, the three to four in '24 and then beyond that, are these conversions from other operators that just don't have kind of the best practices that you have? Are you getting into new housing markets that are expanding in the Valley? Maybe just a little bit more color around the competition and kind of where these new opportunities can come from. Thanks.

但是新的機會，24 年的三到四個機會，以及其他機會，這些機會是來自其他運營商的轉換嗎？這些運營商只是沒有您所擁有的最佳實踐？您是否正在進入矽谷正在擴張的新房地產市場？也許只是在競爭方面多一點色彩，以及這些新機會的來源。謝謝。

Yes, Chad. We -- as we divested of, call it, the third-party route side of the business, we were continuing to focus on our wholly owned tavern business. And by virtue of that simplification, if you will, we are, I would say, pretty humbly at the top of the pyramid in terms of new sites that are coming about and what we would call AAA locations.

是的，查德。正如我們剝離的第三方路線業務一樣，我們繼續專注於我們全資擁有的酒館業務。憑藉這種簡化，如果你願意的話，我想說，就即將出現的新站點和我們所說的 AAA 站點而言，我們相當謙虛地位於金字塔的頂端。

We tend to get the first phone call on those sites because of our size, scale, scope and our success in operating taverns. So we are very dialed into new tavern sites around the Valley. These would be greenfield sites that we're very good at building. We're very good at building boxes that have solid returns, as Charles mentioned.

由於我們的規模、規模、範圍以及我們在經營酒館方面的成功，我們往往會在這些網站上接到第一通電話。所以我們非常喜歡山谷周圍的新酒館地點。這些將會是我們非常擅長建造的綠地。正如查爾斯所提到的，我們非常擅長打造能夠帶來豐厚回報的盒子。

We do see opportunity at times for acquisitions, which this year we have -- I think we have four coming on, [four in one] in the north that were prior owners that we felt locations met our criteria and that their demographic met our criteria.

我們有時確實看到了收購的機會，今年我們有——我想我們有四個即將到來的收購，[四合一]在北部，他們是我們認為地點符合我們的標準並且他們的人口結構符合我們的標準的先前所有者。

There are going to continue to be those opportunities. But we are focused on mostly new sites at this point going forward. And we believe that the landscape can provide the amount of sites over the years that will get us to that 90 to 100 number.

這些機會將會繼續存在。但目前我們主要關注的是新網站。我們相信，多年來，景觀可以提供一定數量的遺址，使我們達到 90 到 100 個的數量。

Thank you, both. Appreciate it.

謝謝你們倆。欣賞它。

Thanks, Chad.

謝謝，查德。

John DeCree, CBRE Securities.

約翰‧德克里 (John DeCree)，世邦魏理仕證券。

Good afternoon, Blake. Good afternoon, Charles. I wanted to revisit your comments about F1. I think it's fairly common. We've heard from a number of your peers, not on center strip who are positioned to the ultra high-end.

下午好，布萊克。下午好，查爾斯。我想重新審視你對 F1 的評論。我認為這很常見。我們從許多不在中心地帶的同行那裡聽說過，他們定位在超高端。

Curious your thoughts as to that event for next year and going forward, if there are some opportunities that you think could either change for the city overall or that you might be able to do differently to maybe maximize the contribution to The STRAT for next year and future periods.

想知道您對明年和未來的活動的想法，您認為是否有一些機會可以改變整個城市，或者您可以採取不同的做法，以最大限度地提高明年對 STRAT 的貢獻，以及未來時期。

Yes. It's a good question. We've had some discussions with other operators. We think there's, quite frankly, a lot of things that they could do to broaden the appeal in the audience for F1, not only to our customers but to local here in Las Vegas.

是的。這是一個好問題。我們與其他業者進行了一些討論。坦白說，我們認為他們可以做很多事情來擴大 F1 對觀眾的吸引力，不僅是對我們的客戶，而且是對拉斯維加斯當地人。

So things like selling individual day tickets instead of a package; potentially making the start times a little bit earlier; allowing for dedicated casino areas, so it's easier access for our guests. So those are just a few things that we shared with the folks at F1, and we've talked about with other operators. But I think there is a general acknowledgment that the event needs to appeal to more than just high-end properties at the center strip that are connected to the event to make it a real success for all of Las Vegas.

例如出售單日票而不是套票；可能會使開始時間提早一些；允許設立專門的賭場區域，以便我們的客人更容易進入。這些只是我們與 F1 人員分享的一些內容，我們也與其他業者討論過。但我認為，人們普遍認識到，該活動需要吸引的不僅僅是與該活動相關的中心地帶的高端酒店，這樣才能為整個拉斯維加斯帶來真正的成功。

Yes, there is an organized non-mid-strip co-op that is working together, if you will. There are significant numbers of people involved and operators involved working with F1 to do just what Charles said, trying to activate more of the city during the event.

是的，如果您願意的話，有一個有組織的非中帶合作社正在合作。有大量的人員和運營商與 F1 合作，按照查爾斯的說法，試圖在活動期間激活更多的城市。

Even though we didn't participate in what we expected to be the upside, I personally think it was a great event for the city, a worldwide event for the city, the way it was packaged on TV, particularly internationally.

儘管我們沒有參與我們預期的好處，但我個人認為這對這座城市來說是一次偉大的活動，對這座城市來說是一次世界性的活動，就像它在電視上的包裝方式一樣，尤其是在國際上。

So I think taking one for the team last year was probably something that knowing what we know now, we would do again. But going forward, we want to work with them to be more involved in the activities around that week or 10 days. It's not just the weekend. It's a week or 10 days. And this co-op of these non-mid-strip operators, I think, is going to be successful in gaining some traction, certainly better than last year.

所以我認為去年為球隊選一名球員可能是我們現在知道的事情，我們會再做一次。但展望未來，我們希望與他們合作，更多地參與那一週或 10 天左右的活動。這不僅僅是周末。這是一周或十天。我認為，這些非中帶業者的合作社將成功獲得一些吸引力，肯定比去年更好。

Great. That's good to hear. I think we've heard similar, Blake. I appreciate your thoughts on that as well.

偉大的。聽起來還不錯。我想我們也聽過類似的話，布萊克。我也很欣賞你對此的想法。

And then maybe as a follow-up question, bigger picture at The STRAT. So quite a bit of reinvestment. Lately, you've mentioned construction disruption last year. What's left in the near term to do at The STRAT? And then perhaps I ask that in a bigger context of some of the land that you have around, obviously, Atomic Golf is activating some of that.

然後也許作為一個後續問題，在 STRAT 中了解更大的情況。所以相當多的再投資。最近，您提到了去年的施工中斷。The STRAT 近期還可以做什麼？然後也許我會問，在你周圍的一些土地的更大背景下，顯然，原子高爾夫正在激活其中的一些。

But I think you've got quite a bit more that you could maybe utilize or monetize. You've talked in the past about maybe third-party partners. Curious if you've had any updated thoughts or further conversations on those opportunities since the last we kind of talked about it.

但我認為你還有很多可以利用或貨幣化的東西。您過去曾談論過第三方合作夥伴。很好奇自上次我們討論以來您是否對這些機會有任何更新的想法或進一步的對話。

Yes, we have. There's no major disruptive additional capital programs planned to The STRAT at this point. As Charles mentioned, we have 1,300 of our 2,400 room inventory pretty much brand new. The other 900 or 1,100, let's call it, rooms are within seven to nine years and in pretty good shape.

是的我們有。目前，The STRAT 尚未計劃任何重大的破壞性額外資本計劃。正如 Charles 所提到的，我們 2,400 間客房中有 1,300 間幾乎是全新的。其他 900 或 1,100 間（姑且稱之為）房間都已使用了七到九年，而且狀況相當良好。

So the hotel itself is situated pretty well. We are and we have embarked on a software upgrade, which is, we think will be meaningful this year, which we anticipate being done here by mid-March. And there are other projects, small bar design projects and things like that designed to capture more of that traffic coming through the casino. So in terms of disruption, I think we are pretty much done with that certainly this year.

所以飯店本身的位置非常好。我們正在並且已經開始進行軟體升級，我們認為這將在今年有意義，我們預計將在 3 月中旬完成。還有其他項目、小型酒吧設計項目以及類似的項目，旨在捕獲更多來自賭場的流量。因此，就顛覆而言，我認為今年我們已經基本完成了這項任務。

On the adjacent property, we own approximately 6 acres across the street that we've had significant conversations with many different types of uses that ultimately, we want to land on something that clearly brings more inertia to The STRAT in terms of whether it's a non-gaming hotel. We have apartment condo-type discussions, and frankly, some out-of-the-box entertainment-type discussion.

在相鄰的房產上，我們擁有街對面約 6 英畝的土地，我們與許多不同類型的用途進行了重要的對話，最終，我們希望土地能夠明顯給 STRAT 帶來更多慣性，無論它是否是非-博彩酒店。我們有公寓類型的討論，坦白說，還有一些開箱即用的娛樂類型的討論。

So we are very active in trying to activate that property in and around The STRAT. And in addition, by the way, we have property around our other facilities that we are having the same conversation about how we can energize our other properties with adjacent property that we currently own.

因此，我們非常積極地嘗試啟動 STRAT 及其周邊地區的房產。此外，順便說一句，我們在其他設施周圍擁有財產，我們正在進行同樣的對話，討論如何利用我們目前擁有的相鄰財產為我們的其他財產注入活力。

Fantastic. That sounds great, Blake. Thank you very much.

極好的。聽起來不錯，布萊克。非常感謝。

David Katz, Jefferies.

大衛‧卡茨，傑弗里斯。

Hi. Afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to go back to the M&A landscape and ask it a bit of a different way, which is the last time we talked about this 90 days ago, is just given how quickly the landscape has improved in a lot of areas for consumers, capital markets, et cetera. Is the market different today than it was 90 days ago and how so?

你好。下午。感謝您提出我的問題。我想回到併購領域，並以一種不同的方式提出問題，這是 90 天前我們最後一次談論這個問題，只是考慮到消費者、資本的許多領域的情況改善得有多快市場等。今天的市場與 90 天前有什麼不同嗎？有何不同？

I think improving is definitely the word to be using, and I think you'll see it continue to improve as the financing market gets better. So I think that's all predicated, obviously, on interest rates.

我認為「改善」這個詞絕對是要使用的，而且我認為隨著融資市場的好轉，你會看到它繼續改善。所以我認為這顯然都是以利率為基礎的。

And so as we see the spend rate coming in people's anticipation of that. And plus, I think once folks settle into somewhat of the new margin environment, it's easier to predict cash flows of the businesses that we all have and where the consumer demand is. And so as long as that is stable and rates starting to come down, I think ultimately, you'll see more consolidation not only in our industry but others.

因此，當我們看到支出率符合人們的預期時。另外，我認為一旦人們適應了新的利潤環境，就更容易預測我們所有企業的現金流量以及消費者需求在哪裡。因此，只要這種情況穩定且利率開始下降，我認為最終，您不僅會在我們的行業而且在其他行業中看到更多的整合。

Got it. So if I can follow-up a bit more specifically, are there more deals? Is the bid-ask different, narrower or the same? In what way would we note improvement?

知道了。那麼如果我可以更具體地跟進一下，是否還有更多交易？買賣價是不同的、更窄的還是一樣的？我們會以什麼方式註意到改進？

So I think it's certainly narrowing. But again, it's about the expectations. So we've had situations in the past where people are trying to market assets off of 2021 numbers and people are buying assets up of 2025 numbers.

所以我認為它肯定在縮小。但同樣，這與期望有關。因此，我們過去曾經遇到過這樣的情況：人們試圖出售 2021 年數字以上的資產，而人們則購買 2025 年數字以上的資產。

So that bid-ask is now narrowed in terms of the discussion. So I think again, it comes down to where are the financing markets, and I think those ultimately only get better. I think the REITs play a large part also in M&A. And so the extent that they're cost of capital improves as rates come down, I think that they will play a big part in advancing consolidation in the sector. And I'd anticipate that to happen over the course of this year.

因此，現在討論範圍已縮小。所以我再次認為，這取決於融資市場在哪裡，我認為這些最終只會變得更好。我認為房地產投資信託基金在併購中也扮演著重要角色。因此，隨著利率下降，資本成本有所改善，我認為它們將在推動該行業的整合方面發揮重要作用。我預計這將在今年發生。

Perfect. Thank you very much.

完美的。非常感謝。

At this time, we are showing no further questioners in the queue. And this does conclude both our question-and-answer session as well as our conference. Thank you for attending today's presentation, and you may now disconnect.

目前，我們在隊列中沒有顯示更多提問者。我們的問答環節和會議到此結束。感謝您參加今天的演示，您現在可以斷開連接了。