Guess? Inc (GES) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Guess? Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call.

大家好，歡迎來到猜猜？ 2024 財年第四季財報電話會議。

I would like to turn the call over to Fabrice Benarouche, Senior Vice President of Finance, Investor Relations and Chief Accounting Officer.

我想將電話轉給財務、投資者關係高級副總裁兼首席會計官法布里斯·貝納魯什 (Fabrice Benarouche)。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. On the call today with me are Carlos Alberini, Chief Executive Officer; and Markus Neubrand, Chief Financial Officer.

大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。今天與我一起通話的是執行長 Carlos Alberini；和財務長馬庫斯‧諾伊布蘭德 (Markus Neubrand)。

During today's call, the company will be making forward-looking statements, including comments regarding future plans, strategic initiatives, capital allocation and short- and long-term outlooks. The company's actual results may differ materially from current expectations based on risk factors included in today's press release, and the company's quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC. Comments will also reference certain non-GAAP or adjusted measures. GAAP reconciliations and descriptions of these measures can be found in today's earnings release.

在今天的電話會議上，該公司將做出前瞻性聲明，包括有關未來計劃、戰略舉措、資本配置以及短期和長期前景的評論。根據今天的新聞稿以及公司向 SEC 提交的季度和年度報告中包含的風險因素，該公司的實際結果可能與當前預期有重大差異。評論也將參考某些非公認會計原則或調整後的衡量標準。公認會計原則（GAAP）調節和這些措施的描述可以在今天的收益報告中找到。

Now I will turn it over to Carlos.

現在我將把它交給卡洛斯。

Thank you, Fabrice. Good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today.

謝謝你，法布里斯。大家下午好。我們感謝您今天加入我們。

On behalf of Paul and myself, I'd like to begin by thanking all of our associates worldwide for their valuable contributions throughout the past year. Our teams performed very well, delivering solid top line growth, improved gross margins and disciplined expense performance. The results speak for themselves, and we couldn't be more proud of our team's accomplishments this year.

首先，我謹代表保羅和我本人，感謝我們全球所有同事在過去一年中所做的寶貴貢獻。我們的團隊表現非常出色，實現了穩健的營收成長、毛利率的提高和嚴格的費用績效。結果不言而喻，我們對我們團隊今年的成就感到非常自豪。

We closed our fiscal year with a very strong fourth quarter performance, resulting in adjusted earnings per share of $3.14 for the year. The last time that our company reached this level of EPS performance was 12 years ago in fiscal year 2012. Revenues for the year increased to $2.8 billion, up 3% in both U.S. dollars and constant currency and we delivered an adjusted operating margin of 9.2%. Our ability to deliver this performance was the result of our strong brand momentum around the world, the robust customer response to our great product assortment, and the amazing attitude and discipline our teams continue to demonstrate.

我們以非常強勁的第四季業績結束了本財年，全年調整後每股收益為 3.14 美元。我們公司上一次達到這一 EPS 業績水準是 12 年前的 2012 財年。我們能夠取得如此出色的業績，得益於我們在全球範圍內強大的品牌勢頭、客戶對我們優質產品種類的強烈反應，以及我們團隊不斷表現出的令人驚嘆的態度和紀律。

Our performance in both the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year shows the benefits of our unique diversified business model and how we are leveraging our powerful platform across multiple product categories, geographies and channels of distribution. We are at an inflection point in our company's development, and we couldn't be more excited about our future.

我們第四季和整個財年的業績顯示了我們獨特的多元化業務模式的優勢，以及我們如何利用我們跨多個產品類別、地理和分銷管道的強大平台。我們正處於公司發展的轉捩點，我們對未來感到無比興奮。

Before I turn to our fourth quarter performance, I want to touch on two exciting announcements. First, the special dividend. As you know, returning capital directly to our shareholders is a high priority for our Board. Over the past five years, we have returned nearly $840 million in capital to shareholders, either through share repurchases or quarterly dividend. In line with our commitment to reward our shareholders, our Board approved a special dividend of $2.25 per share in addition to the regularly quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share. Both of these dividends will be paid on May 3, 2024, to shareholders of record as of April 17, 2024. We are very pleased with this action and proud of our performance that enabled it.

在談論我們第四季度的業績之前，我想談談兩個令人興奮的公告。第一，特別股息。如您所知，直接向股東返還資本是我們董事會的首要任務。在過去的五年裡，我們透過股票回購或季度股利向股東返還了近 8.4 億美元的資本。根據我們回報股東的承諾，除了每股 0.30 美元的定期季度股息外，董事會還批准了每股 2.25 美元的特別股息。這兩筆股利將於 2024 年 5 月 3 日支付給截至 2024 年 4 月 17 日登記在冊的股東。

Next, I'd like to turn to our recently announced acquisition of rag & bone with a global management firm, WHP Global. This is the first acquisition in the 43-year history of Guess? and we are thrilled to add such an iconic brand to our portfolio. As Paul noted at the time of our acquisition announcement, rag & bone is a brand that is well known for its preeminence in American fashion that over the years has stayed true to its roots and founding values with an unwavering commitment to quality and authenticity. The brand is known for blending traditional craftsmanship with modern cultural references. And over the years, it has become synonymous with effortless quality clothing for men and women with an innovative yet understated New York aesthetic and a strong expertise in denim.

接下來，我想談談我們最近宣布的與全球管理公司 WHP Global 收購 rag＆bone 的事宜。這是Guess 43年歷史上的首次收購？我們很高興將這樣一個標誌性品牌添加到我們的產品組合中。正如 Paul 在我們宣布收購時指出的那樣，rag＆bone 是一個以其在美國時尚界的卓越地位而聞名的品牌，多年來一直忠於其根源和創始價值觀，堅定不移地致力於品質和真實性。該品牌以將傳統工藝與現代文化融為一體而聞名。多年來，它已成為輕鬆優質男女服裝的代名詞，具有創新而低調的紐約美學和深厚的牛仔專業知識。

The brand appeals to a very attractive customer base that is complementary to that of our Guess? and Marciano brand. Currently, rag & bone directly operates 34 stores in the U.S. and 2 stores in the U.K. The stores are highly productive and generate healthy forward contribution. The product is also distributed in high-end boutiques, select department stores and through e-commerce platforms globally. Last year, rag & bone generated sales of $252 million and adjusted EBITDA of $18 million. We are excited about the opportunities to grow this brand, and I'll speak more about those later on the call.

該品牌吸引了非常有吸引力的客戶群，這與我們的 Guess？和馬西亞諾品牌。目前，rag＆bone 在美國直接經營 34 家商店，在英國直接經營 2 家商店。該產品也在全球高端精品店、精選百貨公司和電子商務平台銷售。去年，rag＆bone 的銷售額為 2.52 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 1800 萬美元。我們對發展這個品牌的機會感到興奮，我將在稍後的電話會議上詳細討論這些機會。

Now moving to our fourth quarter results. We are very pleased with our performance as we deliver results ahead of our expectations for revenue and earnings growth. Revenues grew by 9% in the period, and adjusted earnings from operations reached $130 million, growing 21% versus last year. We achieved an adjusted operating margin of 14.6% in the quarter, which was 150 basis points ahead of last year.

現在轉向我們的第四季業績。我們對我們的業績感到非常滿意，因為我們的業績超出了我們對收入和獲利成長的預期。期內營收成長 9%，調整後營運利潤達到 1.3 億美元，較去年成長 21%。本季調整後營業利益率為 14.6%，比去年同期高出 150 個基點。

Our segment results were impressive this quarter as all of our five business segments grew revenues with Americas Wholesale, Asia, Licensing, and Europe posting the biggest increases to last year. All segments but Americas Retail posted operating earnings growth in the period and delivered operating margin expansion.

本季我們的部門業績令人印象深刻，我們的五個業務部門的收入均有所增長，其中美洲批發、亞洲、授權和歐洲的收入較去年增幅最大。除美洲零售業外，所有部門均實現了該期間營業利潤的成長，並實現了營業利潤率的擴張。

Regarding product performance, we continue to see different levels of performance across regions, with accessories, footwear and Marciano performing best during the quarter. We closed the year with a strong inventory position in spite of the ongoing supply chain challenges that we are facing due to the Red Sea crisis. Inventories were down 9% at the end of the year, and our inventory composition was in line with our plan. During the last few years, we have been able to rearchitect our business to optimize inventory productivity and cash flow generation. We believe that these changes represent a permanent improvement to our model.

在產品表現方面，我們繼續看到不同地區的表現水平不同，配件、鞋類和 Marciano 在本季度表現最佳。儘管我們因紅海危機而面臨持續的供應鏈挑戰，但我們以強勁的庫存狀況結束了這一年。年底庫存下降9%，庫存構成符合計畫。在過去幾年中，我們已經能夠重新建立我們的業務，以優化庫存生產力和現金流生成。我們相信這些變化代表了我們模型的永久性改進。

During our last earnings call, I spoke briefly about our strategic planning process and the six critical objectives that we are focused on going forward. Just to remind you, this relates to organization and talent, growth, brand relevancy, customer centricity and digital expansion, product excellence, and last optimization to drive efficiency, profitability and return on invested capital.

在我們上次的財報電話會議上，我簡要介紹了我們的策略規劃流程以及我們未來重點關注的六個關鍵目標。只是提醒您，這涉及組織和人才、成長、品牌相關性、以客戶為中心和數位化擴張、產品卓越性以及最終優化以提高效率、盈利能力和投資資本回報率。

I would like to provide an update on our ongoing work in connection with these objectives. Starting with our organization and talent objective, we have completed an organizational assessment and have identified key opportunities to improve our accountability and facilitate decision-making. We plan to act on this assessment and develop detailed plans in the next few weeks. In addition, we remain committed to building strong management capabilities across the organization to support growth and have launched three key searches for senior roles that will be based in Europe.

我想介紹一下我們為實現這些目標而正在進行的工作的最新情況。從我們的組織和人才目標開始，我們完成了組織評估，並確定了改善我們的問責制和促進決策的關鍵機會。我們計劃在接下來的幾週內根據此評估採取行動並制定詳細計劃。此外，我們仍然致力於在整個組織內建立強大的管理能力以支持成長，並啟動了三項關鍵的高階職位搜尋工作，這些職位將設在歐洲。

Regarding our growth objective, we made tremendous progress during the period. We have already completed the internalization of the G3 license businesses, finalized the design of all products including full new collections of outerwear and dresses, taken orders from our wholesale customers, and we are in production as we speak. With respect to our new Guess jeans brand, the first season's collection has been developed and offered to customers around the world. The first sales campaign for Guess Jeans has been completed, and the results were ahead of our initial expectations.

就我們的成長目標而言，我們在此期間取得了巨大進展。我們已經完成了G3許可業務的內部化，完成了所有產品的設計，包括全新的外套和連身裙系列，並接受了批發客戶的訂單，目前我們正在生產中。對於我們新的 Guess jeans 品牌，第一季的系列已經開發出來並提供給世界各地的客戶。 Guess Jeans 的第一次銷售活動已經完成，結果超出了我們最初的預期。

As part of the brand's launch, we have already secured a few locations to open new Guess Jeans stores in the U.S. and several key cities in European markets. We strongly believe that this brand and its products will serve Gen Z consumers around the world very, very well.

作為品牌推出的一部分，我們已經在美國和歐洲市場的幾個主要城市找到了一些地點開設新的 Guess Jeans 商店。我們堅信，這個品牌及其產品將為世界各地的 Z 世代消費者提供非常非常好的服務。

In connection with the launch of the Guess Jeans brand, Nicolai Marciano led two events to launch the brand worldwide. In October, Guess? teams launched exclusively to its top press and trade partners in Milan with a private exhibition hosted at Spazio Maiocchi. This was an exclusive immersive event showcasing history, innovation and sustainability of Guess genes.

與 Guess Jeans 品牌的推出相關，Nicolai Marciano 領導了兩場活動，在全球推出了該品牌。十月份，你猜？團隊在 Spazio Maiocchi 舉辦私人展覽，向米蘭的頂級媒體和貿易夥伴獨家推出。這是一場獨家的沉浸式活動，展示了 Guess 基因的歷史、創新和永續性。

Following Milan, Guess Jeans had its first public introduction at the January 2024 addition of Pitti Uomo in Florence. With over 3,000 people in attendance, it was a monumental event for the brand. The exhibition, which spanned across 4 days, featured a denim centric retrospective of the brand and showcased the first look of the next 40 years of denim with the introduction of GUESS AIRWASH a state-of-the-art sustainable alternative to stonewashing.

繼米蘭之後，Guess Jeans 於 2024 年 1 月在佛羅倫薩 Pitti Uomo 開業時首次公開亮相。超過 3,000 人出席，這對該品牌來說是一項具有里程碑意義的活動。展覽為期 4 天，以牛仔佈為中心的品牌回顧展，展示了未來 40 年牛仔布的第一面貌，並推出了 GUESS AIRWASH（一種最先進的可持續石洗替代品）。

Also during the quarter, we negotiated the purchase of the Guess? business in Chile and Peru, which was built over the last several years by our exclusive distributor in that market. The business consists of 15 Guess? stores, an e-commerce business and a wholesale business. This acquisition was executed a few weeks ago by a joint venture that we formed with Grupo Axo, our partners in our Mexico business for the last 18 years. The stores are well located, and they have the potential to deliver about $20 million in sales annually in the short term as we reposition and recapitalize the business, including strengthening inventory buys that have been insufficient for some time in the market compared to the potential of that market.

同樣在本季度，我們也就購買 Guess? 進行了談判。智利和秘魯的業務是我們在該市場的獨家經銷商在過去幾年中建立的。業務由 15 個猜猜？商店、電子商務業務和批發業務。這項收購是在幾週前由我們與 Grupo Axo 組成的合資企業執行的，Grupo Axo 是我們過去 18 年在墨西哥業務的合作夥伴。這些商店位置優越，隨著我們對業務進行重新定位和資本重組，包括加強市場上一段時間以來與市場潛力相比不足的庫存購買，它們有潛力在短期內實現約 2000 萬美元的銷售額。市場。

And speaking about growth, probably the most exciting news of all relates to our recently announced acquisition of rag & bone that I mentioned earlier on the call. Paul has jumped in with both feet to build on this dream. We have an ambitious vision for rag & bone, and we plan to expand its product offering through a combination of own product development and licensing specific categories that we believe has significant potential for growth.

說到成長，最令人興奮的消息可能與我們最近宣布的對 rag & Bon 的收購有關，我之前在電話會議中提到過。保羅全力以赴地實現這個夢想。我們對 rag＆bone 有著雄心勃勃的願景，我們計劃透過結合自己的產品開發和我們認為具有巨大成長潛力的特定類別的授權來擴大其產品供應。

We also plan to expand the brand's presence and distribution internationally. Guess? and WHP Global combined have an outstanding global distribution network and powerful licensees that will enable us to drive the growth of the rag & bone business globally, leading up to the signing of the agreement to acquire rag & bone, Paul and I had the opportunity to spend time with Andrew Rosen, Chair of the Board and the rag & bone management team, and we couldn't be more impressed with the quality, expertise and depth of the leadership and of the overall organization including store personnel. We can't wait to begin working there.

我們還計劃擴大該品牌的國際影響力和分銷範圍。猜測？和 WHP Global 合併後擁有出色的全球分銷網絡和強大的被許可人，這將使我們能夠推動 rag＆bone 業務在全球的增長，在簽署收購 rag＆bone 的協議之前，Paul 和我有機會當我們與董事會主席Andrew Rosen 和rag＆bone 管理團隊共度時光時，我們對領導層以及包括商店人員在內的整個組織的品質、專業知識和深度印象深刻。我們迫不及待地想開始在那裡工作。

Turning finally to optimization of our operations. We just launched a project to convert our distribution center operation in the U.S. to a third-party provider. We selected our logistics partners in Europe to run our facility located in Louisville, Kentucky. This company is the #1 global company in the business. Our Kentucky operation currently services our entire U.S. retail and wholesale businesses. We also plan to sell that facility and our partner will lease it back to operated. We are currently negotiating a self-transaction with several interested parties. This change should have a positive impact on our cost structure and the expected benefits have been incorporated into our guidance.

最後轉向優化我們的營運。我們剛剛啟動了一個項目，將我們在美國的配送中心業務轉換為第三方提供者。我們選擇了歐洲的物流合作夥伴來營運我們位於肯塔基州路易斯維爾的工廠。該公司是該行業排名第一的全球公司。我們的肯塔基州業務目前為我們整個美國零售和批發業務提供服務。我們還計劃出售該設施，我們的合作夥伴將把它租回營運。我們目前正在與幾個有興趣的各方就自行交易進行談判。這項變更應該會對我們的成本結構產生正面影響，並且預期收益已納入我們的指導中。

We look forward to further updating you on our strategic plan as the year progresses. This includes specific initiatives to address the observations our consultants have identified, together with other key initiatives and strategies that we have developed, such as plan to optimize our product assortments and pricing, grow our digital business, enhance customer engagement, and increase the use of data and technology, all with the goal to improve our decision-making and operations further.

我們期待著隨著時間的推移進一步向您通報我們的戰略計劃。這包括針對我們的顧問所發現的觀察結果採取的具體舉措，以及我們制定的其他關鍵舉措和策略，例如計劃優化我們的產品種類和定價、發展我們的數位業務、增強客戶參與度以及增加使用數據和技術，所有這些都是為了進一步改善我們的決策和營運。

Moving to our outlook for the new fiscal year. We expect to grow our top line between 11.5% and 13.5%, and deliver revenues of over $3 billion for the first time in our company's history. We also plan to generate adjusted operating margin between 7.5% and 8.5%, and adjusted earnings per share of $2.56 to $3. This outlook includes the benefits of the rag & bone acquisition, the growth of our core business and the other growth initiatives that I mentioned earlier. Markus will elaborate further about our guidance in just a minute.

轉向我們對新財年的展望。我們預計營收將成長 11.5% 至 13.5%，營收在公司歷史上首次超過 30 億美元。我們還計劃調整後營業利潤率在 7.5% 至 8.5% 之間，調整後每股收益在 2.56 美元至 3 美元之間。這一前景包括收購 rag & Bon 的好處、我們核心業務的成長以及我之前提到的其他成長舉措。馬庫斯將在一分鐘內進一步詳細闡述我們的指導。

In closing, we are very pleased with our results this year. I'm very proud of our team's accomplishments. The company's performance demonstrates how Paul's vision and our team's efforts over the last few years to elevate our brand and transform our business are paying off. We are enjoying strong momentum across the world with the Guess? and Marciano brand when customers are responding well to our product assortments across categories.

最後，我們對今年的成果感到非常滿意。我對我們團隊的成就感到非常自豪。該公司的業績證明了保羅的願景和我們團隊過去幾年為提升我們的品牌和轉變我們的業務所付出的努力正在取得回報。我們在全球範圍內享受著 Guess? 的強勁勢頭？當客戶對我們的跨類別產品組合反應良好時，我們將推出 Marciano 品牌。

We appeal to three distinct customer groups with our Guess?, Guess Jeans, and Marciano brands. And now by adding rag & bone to our portfolio, we are positioned to expand into a more affluent and very attractive customer base.

我們的 Guess?、Guess Jeans 和 Marciano 品牌吸引了三個不同的客戶群。現在，透過將 rag＆bone 添加到我們的產品組合中，我們能夠擴展到更富裕且更具吸引力的客戶群。

We have a strong and highly diversified business model and a solid capital structure. We have built a platform that can power a bigger business, generate synergistic growth and margin expansion and deliver significant value creation over time. We have expertise in virtually every distribution model in which our products have sold. We work with wholesale partners from large department stores to mom-and-pops. And we have developed a network of licensee partners that supports our portfolio of several different product categories.

我們擁有強大且高度多元化的業務模式和堅實的資本結構。我們建立了一個平台，可以推動更大的業務，產生協同成長和利潤擴張，並隨著時間的推移創造顯著的價值。我們對幾乎所有銷售我們產品的分銷模式都擁有專業知識。我們與從大型百貨公司到夫妻店的批發合作夥伴合作。我們還開發了一個被授權合作夥伴網絡，支援我們的多種不同產品類別的產品組合。

Over the past 43 years, those powerful capabilities have clearly served the Guess? brand well, bringing us to the precipice of a $3 billion company. The inflection point, the evolution for us is that we view these capabilities as a platform to drive outsized growth. A platform that gives us the power to do things that others simply cannot do, the power to take a smaller regional or national brands and make it global.

43年來，那些強大的能力顯然為Guess服務了？良好的品牌形象，將我們帶到了一家價值 30 億美元的公司的懸崖邊。對我們來說，拐點和演變是我們將這些能力視為推動超額成長的平台。這個平台使我們有能力做其他人根本無法做的事情，有能力將較小的區域或國家品牌推向全球。

The power to leverage our portfolio of product categories and build a mono category brand into a lifestyle brand. The power to make something exponentially bigger because we can grow it across multiple dimensions. That's not easy to do, but we feel that we have built the right platform to do it. This is why we are so excited about our future.

能夠利用我們的產品類別組合，將單一類別品牌打造成生活風格品牌。使事物呈指數級增長的力量，因為我們可以在多個維度上擴展它。這並不容易做到，但我們認為我們已經建立了合適的平台來做到這一點。這就是為什麼我們對我們的未來如此興奮。

As we build this bigger ecosystem, we will continue to be opportunistic with the use of capital to drive our performance and create value, including continuing to invest in the business and opportunistically consider strategic acquisitions as well as continuing to return capital to our shareholders.

在我們建立這個更大的生態系統的過程中，我們將繼續利用資本機會來推動我們的績效和創造價值，包括繼續投資業務、機會主義地考慮策略收購以及繼續向股東返還資本。

And with that, I conclude my remarks and pass the call to Markus. Thank you. Markus? Please go ahead.

至此，我結束了我的發言，並將電話轉給馬庫斯。謝謝。馬庫斯？請繼續。

Thank you, Carlos, and good afternoon, everyone. We surpassed our expectations for revenues, operating profit and earnings per share in the fourth quarter. We grew revenues by 9%, expanded gross margin and carefully managed costs all of which enabled us to deliver an adjusted operating profit growth of 21% compared to last year's fourth quarter.

謝謝你，卡洛斯，大家下午好。第四季的收入、營業利潤和每股收益超出了我們的預期。我們的收入成長了 9%，毛利率擴大並精心管理成本，所有這些使我們能夠實現與去年第四季相比調整後營業利潤成長 21%。

Let me take you through our fourth quarter results in more detail. Total company revenues in the fourth quarter were $891 million, with all segments exceeding expectations. The fourth quarter's extra week accounted for nearly 2/3 of the total revenue increase in the period.

讓我更詳細地向您介紹我們第四季的業績。第四季公司總營收為 8.91 億美元，所有部門均超出預期。第四季的額外一週收入佔該期間總收入增量的近2/3。

Turning to our segment performance, starting with Europe. In the fourth quarter, our European business growth continued, driven by the extra week and strong demand for our collections with revenues rising 9% in U.S. dollars and 10% in constant currencies. Fourth quarter retail comps, including e-commerce, increased 6% in U.S. dollars and 7% in constant currency. Our stores achieved a strong store comp growth of 12% in constant currency, which was mainly due to continued high AUR growth and higher conversion. Our e-commerce comps declined by 8% in constant currency compared to Q4 of last year with our own website performing better than marketplaces. Our revenues in European wholesale improved 6% to last year when adjusted for currency fluctuations.

談到我們的細分市場表現，首先是歐洲。第四季度，我們的歐洲業務繼續成長，這得益於額外的一周和對我們產品系列的強勁需求，以美元計算的收入增長了 9%，以固定貨幣計算的收入增長了 10%。第四季零售業（包括電子商務）以美元計算成長了 6%，以固定匯率計算成長了 7%。以固定匯率計算，我們的門市實現了 12% 的強勁門市業績成長，這主要歸功於持續的高 AUR 成長和更高的轉換率。與去年第四季相比，我們的電子商務比較以固定匯率計算下降了 8%，我們自己的網站表現優於市場。在根據貨幣波動進行調整後，我們在歐洲批發業務的收入比去年增長了 6%。

Supported by the Guess Jeans launch, our European wholesale orders for the fall winter 2024 collection have increased by mid-single digits in constant currencies. The operating margin in our European business increased by 200 basis points to 18%. Higher initial markups and higher revenues were partially offset by the unfavorable impact from currencies and higher markdowns. Americas Retail posted a 1% increase in revenues in U.S. dollars and was flat in constant currency, mainly driven by the benefit of the extra week.

在 Guess Jeans 推出的支持下，我們 2024 年秋冬系列的歐洲批發訂單以固定貨幣計算增長了中個位數。我們歐洲業務的營業利潤率成長了 200 個基點，達到 18%。較高的初始加價和較高的收入被貨幣和較高降價的不利影響部分抵消。美洲零售業公佈的以美元計算的收入增長了 1%，而以固定匯率計算的收入則持平，這主要是受到額外一周收益的推動。

American Retail comps, including e-commerce, declined 2% in constant currency. In our North American stores, comps also dropped by 2% in constant currency. While traffic remained under pressure, similar to third quarter trends, we are very pleased with the improved conversion and higher units per transaction.

以固定匯率計算，包括電子商務在內的美國零售業指數下跌 2%。在我們的北美商店，以固定匯率計算，比較也下降了 2%。儘管流量仍然面臨壓力，與第三季的趨勢類似，但我們對轉換率的提高和每筆交易的單位數增加感到非常滿意。

Our U.S. and Canada e-comm comparable revenues decreased by 3% compared to Q4 of last year. Lower traffic to our website was offset by business initiatives that drove a higher average order value and a higher conversion rate. Americas Retail posted a 15% operating margin compared to a 15.4% operating margin a year earlier. The 40 basis points decrease in operating margin was mainly driven by the unfavorable impact from negative stock comps, partially offset by the favorable impact of currency.

我們的美國和加拿大電子商務可比營收與去年第四季相比下降了 3%。我們網站流量的下降被推動平均訂單價值和轉換率提高的業務舉措所抵消。美洲零售業的營業利潤率為 15%，而去年同期為 15.4%。營業利益率下降 40 個基點，主要是因為負面股票比較的不利影響，部分被貨幣的有利影響所抵銷。

In American Wholesale, revenues increased by 44% in U.S. dollars and 39% in constant currency, mainly driven by higher shipments in the U.S. and continued strong momentum in Mexico. Operating margin reached 28.5%, a meaningful improvement of 7.6 points from Q4 of last year, mainly driven by improved product margins, the benefit of higher revenues and expense leverage.

美國批發業務的收入按美元計算增長了 44%，按固定匯率計算增長了 39%，這主要是由於美國出貨量增加以及墨西哥持續強勁的勢頭所推動。營業利潤率達到 28.5%，較去年第四季大幅提高 7.6 個百分點，主要得益於產品利潤率的提高、收入和費用槓桿提高的好處。

In Asia, revenue grew 18% in U.S. dollars and 19% in constant currency. Revenue growth was driven by the extra week, net new stores in Korea, e-commerce in Korea and China, and our new business in India. Retail comps, including e-commerce for the region decreased 1% in constant currency. Operating margin improved 200 basis points to 4.8%, driven by higher revenues and partially offset by lower product margins and higher expenses. We are very pleased to return Asia to a full year profit. We improved the full year earnings from operations by [$30 million] from $5 million to positive $8 million, mainly driven by Greater China and Korea.

在亞洲，以美元計算的收入成長了 18%，以固定匯率計算的收入成長了 19%。收入成長是由額外的一周、韓國的淨新店、韓國和中國的電子商務以及我們在印度的新業務推動的。以固定匯率計算，該地區的零售業（包括電子商務）下降了 1%。營業利潤率提高了 200 個基點，達到 4.8%，這主要得益於收入增加，但部分被產品利潤率下降和費用增加所抵消。我們很高興亞洲恢復全年獲利。我們將全年營運利潤提高了 [3000 萬美元]，從 500 萬美元增至正 800 萬美元，這主要是由大中華區和韓國推動的。

And finally, our Licensing segment had a strong quarter and exceeded our expectations with revenues increasing 15% in both U.S. dollars and constant currency. Handbags footwear and eyewear had a very strong performance during the quarter. Segment operating margin was 92.7% and operating profit increased by 21%. In Q4, total company gross margin reached 45.4%, up 120 basis points from a year earlier, improved IMUs and high revenues were partially offset by negative currency impact and higher markdowns.

最後，我們的授權業務季度表現強勁，超出了我們的預期，以美元和固定匯率計算的收入均成長了 15%。手袋、鞋類和眼鏡在本季表現非常強勁。分部營業利益率為 92.7%，營業利益成長 21%。第四季度，公司總毛利率達到 45.4%，年增 120 個基點，IMU 的改善和高收入部分被負面匯率影響和更高的降價所抵消。

Adjusted SG&A expense for the quarter increased 8% to $275 million from $254 million a year earlier. The 53rd week accounted for more than half of the increase in the adjusted SG&A expense. For the quarter, our adjusted SG&A rate improved 30 basis points to 30.8%. Improvement is due to leverage, partly offset by moderate inflationary pressures on our cost structure, investments in our infrastructure, especially in Europe and currency headwinds. On a constant currency basis, our adjusted SG&A increased 7%

本季調整後的 SG&A 費用從去年同期的 2.54 億美元成長 8% 至 2.75 億美元。第 53 週佔調整後 SG&A 費用成長的一半以上。本季度，我們調整後的 SG&A 率提高了 30 個基點，達到 30.8%。改善是由於槓桿作用，但部分被成本結構的溫和通膨壓力、基礎設施投資（尤其是歐洲基礎設施投資）以及貨幣逆風所抵消。以固定匯率計算，我們調整後的 SG&A 成長了 7%

We exceeded our expectations for adjusted operating profit as it rose to $130 million for the quarter, a 21% improvement compared with last year's fourth quarter. Our adjusted operating margin reached 14.6%, 150 basis points higher than last year's Q4, mainly driven by higher revenues and a high IMU, partially offset by the negative currency impact, higher expenses and higher markdowns.

我們對調整後營業利潤的預期超出了預期，本季營業利潤升至 1.3 億美元，比去年第四季提高了 21%。我們調整後的營業利潤率達到 14.6%，比去年第四季高 150 個基點，主要是因為收入增加和 IMU 高，部分被貨幣負面影響、費用增加和降價幅度增加所抵消。

In the quarter, we reported nonoperating net income of $30 million. The income was primarily due to an unrealized gain to mark our SERP and deferred compensation plan assets to market and a realized gain on the sale of other assets. And we recorded an adjusted effective tax rate of 17.5% in the fourth quarter.

本季度，我們公佈的非營業淨利潤為 3,000 萬美元。該收入主要來自將我們的 SERP 和遞延薪酬計劃資產推向市場的未實現收益以及出售其他資產的已實現收益。第四季調整後有效稅率為 17.5%。

For the fiscal year 2024, our adjusted effective tax rate was 22.2%, 3.5 points higher than last year as we recorded a discrete tax benefit in the prior year. Adjusted Q4 diluted earnings per share was ahead of our expectations at $2.01 compared to $1.74 of earnings per share in last year's fourth quarter.

2024 財年，我們調整後的有效稅率為 22.2%，比去年高 3.5 個百分點，因為我們在上一年記錄了離散稅收優惠。調整後第四季攤薄每股收益為 2.01 美元，高於我們的預期，而去年第四季每股收益為 1.74 美元。

Moving to the balance sheet. We delivered on our plan to reduce inventories across all regions. We ended the quarter with $466 million down 9% in U.S. dollars and 6% in constant currency compared to last year. Overall, we are pleased with our inventory composition and forward orders and feel we are well positioned to support our business. Our receivables were $315 million, an 8% decrease compared to last year's fourth quarter. On a constant currency basis, receivables decreased by 5%.

轉向資產負債表。我們實現了減少所有地區庫存的計劃。截至本季末，我們的營收為 4.66 億美元，以美元計算比去年下降 9%，以固定匯率計算比去年下降 6%。總體而言，我們對庫存組成和遠期訂單感到滿意，並認為我們有能力支持我們的業務。我們的應收帳款為 3.15 億美元，比去年第四季下降 8%。以固定匯率計算，應收帳款下降了 5%。

For the year, capital expenditures were $74 million, mainly driven by investments in store remodels, new stores and technology. This compared to $90 million last year. We ended the quarter with $360 million in cash, compared to $276 million a year ago. The most significant drivers of that $84 million cash build over the last 4 quarters include $248 million of free cash flow, offset by $63 million in dividends, debt repayments of $62 million and $31 million of net outflows related to the January exchange of convertible notes transaction.

本年度資本支出為 7,400 萬美元，主要由商店改造、新商店和技術投資推動。相比之下，去年為 9000 萬美元。本季結束時，我們的現金為 3.6 億美元，而去年同期為 2.76 億美元。過去4 季8,400 萬美元現金成長的最重要驅動因素包括2.48 億美元的自由現金流，被6,300 萬美元的股息、6,200 萬美元的債務償還以及與1 月份可轉換票據交換交易相關的3,100 萬美元的淨流出所抵消。

We ended the quarter with a total of $392 million of borrowing capacity on our various global facilities. So roughly $752 million of available liquidity.

截至本季末，我們全球各機構的借款能力總計為 3.92 億美元。可用流動資金約 7.52 億美元。

Our annual cash flow significantly exceeded our plans for the year. That performance resulted both from our careful working capital management as well as sizable cash infusions from nonrecurring events, including a litigation settlement and an investment sale.

我們的年度現金流量大大超出了我們的年度計劃。這一業績得益於我們謹慎的營運資金管理以及非經常性事件（包括訴訟和解和投資出售）帶來的大量現金注入。

Also, as we previously announced in January, we exchanged an additional tranche of our 2024 convertible notes which had been due next month, deferring $67 million of maturities into 2028. Again, we are pleased with the strength of our balance sheet that enable the Board's decision to improve a special dividend of $2.25 per share, in addition to the regular quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share.

此外，正如我們之前在1 月宣布的那樣，我們交換了下個月到期的另一批2024 年可轉換票據，將6,700 萬美元的到期期限推遲到2028 年。負債表實力感到滿意，這使得董事會能夠決定將特別股息提高至每股 2.25 美元，此外還包括每股 0.13 美元的常規季度股息。

Turning now to our outlook for fiscal year 2025. Overall, we expect to see a cautious consumer that is mindful of discretionary purchases in light of inflation and higher interest rates. Regardless of the external environment, we will remain focused and expect to make progress in executing against the critical strategic objectives that Carlos discussed.

現在轉向我們對 2025 財年的展望。無論外部環境如何，我們都將保持專注，並期望在執行卡洛斯討論的關鍵戰略目標方面取得進展。

We are expecting opportunities that will transform the direction of our core Guess? and Marciano businesses in fiscal year 2025 based on the growth drivers that Carlos mentioned in his remarks. Overall, we anticipate our core Guess? and Marciano businesses to increase revenues in the low to mid-single-digit range in fiscal year 2025.

我們期待有機會改變我們的核心猜猜方向？根據卡洛斯在演講中提到的成長動力，我們將在 2025 財年對馬西亞諾和馬西亞諾業務進行規劃。總的來說，我們預期我們的核心猜測？和 Marciano 業務的收入將在 2025 財年實現低至中個位數的成長。

We are very excited about the rag & bone acquisition and we expect to close this transaction in the latter part of the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. Therefore, we have included the benefit of this business in today's guidance. With the expectation that it will contribute roughly 2/3 of this year's total company revenue growth.

我們對 rag＆bone 的收購感到非常興奮，我們預計將在 2025 財年第一季下半年完成這筆交易。預計它將貢獻今年公司總收入成長的約2/3。

Based on these assumptions I've outlined for fiscal year 2025, we expect revenues will increase in the range of 11.5% to 13.5% in U.S. dollars and 12.5% to 14.5% in constant currency. This includes a net adverse impact of roughly 1.5 points on revenue growth from the loss of the 53rd reporting week in fiscal year 2024. Based on the prevailing environment, currencies will be a headwind on revenues in the first half of fiscal 2025.

根據我對 2025 財年概述的這些假設，我們預計營收將以美元計算將成長 11.5% 至 13.5%，以固定匯率計算將成長 12.5% 至 14.5%。這包括由於 2024 財年第 53 個報告週的損失而對收入增長產生約 1.5 個百分點的淨不利影響。

As we consider this year's profitability, we expect a headwind on inbound freight from the Red Sea crisis as roughly 2/3 of our global sourcing volume is impacted. We anticipate that the rate pressure will moderate in the second half of fiscal 2025 and have incorporated the development in our outlook provided today. Our expectation is that rag & bone will be modestly accretive to earnings this year. These assumptions reflect the fact that we will make investments into the brand and support the distribution expansion in the U.S. and internationally throughout this year.

當我們考慮今年的獲利能力時，我們預計紅海危機會對入境貨運帶來不利影響，因為我們約 2/3 的全球採購量受到影響。我們預計利率壓力將在 2025 財年下半年緩解，並將這項進展納入我們今天提供的展望中。我們的預期是，今年的獲利將小幅成長。這些假設反映了這樣一個事實，即我們今年將對該品牌進行投資並支持在美國和國際上的分銷擴張。

In addition to support our growth drivers outlined earlier, we continue investing into our infrastructure. Based on these assumptions for the full year, we expect an adjusted operating margin between 7.5% and 8.5% and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.56 to $3.

除了支持前面概述的成長動力外，我們還繼續投資於我們的基礎設施。根據全年的這些假設，我們預計調整後的營業利潤率將在 7.5% 至 8.5% 之間，調整後每股收益將在 2.56 美元至 3 美元之間。

Turning to the first quarter. There are a couple of factors to keep in mind as you model the revenue growth. The rag & bone acquisition is expected to close later in the first quarter. In European wholesale, the timing of our deliveries will be a headwind of roughly $15 million on revenues in the first quarter compared to last year. Overall, our wholesale business in Europe continues to be healthy, and our shipments in the second and third quarters should more than compensate for the lower volume in the first quarter.

轉向第一季。在對收入成長進行建模時，需要記住幾個因素。對 rag＆bone 的收購預計將在第一季稍後完成。在歐洲批發方面，與去年相比，我們第一季的交貨時間將帶來約 1500 萬美元的收入逆風。總體而言，我們在歐洲的批發業務持續保持健康，第二季和第三季的出貨量應該足以彌補第一季較低的銷售量。

As a result, for the first quarter, we expect revenues will increase in the range of 1% to 2% in U.S. dollars and 3% to 4% in constant currency. We expect an adjusted operating loss margin between 2.3% and 2.8%, and an adjusted loss per share between $0.37 and $0.41. Overall, we do expect revenue growth to accelerate in the next 2 quarters of the year as the second quarter will be the first quarter to fully benefit from the rag & bone acquisition and the first outerwear shipments in North America are planned to be delivered in the third quarter.

因此，我們預計第一季營收將以美元計算將成長 1% 至 2%，以固定匯率計算將成長 3% 至 4%。我們預計調整後的營業虧損率將在 2.3% 至 2.8% 之間，調整後每股虧損將在 0.37 美元至 0.41 美元之間。總體而言，我們確實預計今年未來兩個季度的收入成長將加速，因為第二季度將是第一個充分受益於 rag＆bone 收購的季度，並且北美的第一批外套發貨計劃於 2020 年交付。第三季。

Going into the fourth quarter, we expect that revenue growth will be impacted as we will anniversary last year's 53rd week.

進入第四季度，我們預計收入成長將受到影響，因為我們將迎來去年的第 53 週週年紀念日。

Turning to operating margin, we do expect an adjusted operating margin of 6% to 7% in the second quarter and a modest sequential improvement in the third quarter. The fourth quarter should represent an opportunity for adjusted operating margin expansion compared to last year.

至於營業利潤率，我們預計第二季調整後的營業利潤率為 6% 至 7%，第三季將略有改善。與去年相比，第四季應該是調整後營業利潤率擴張的機會。

We anticipate generating a free cash flow of roughly $160 million for the full year. With the expected closing of the rag & bone acquisition later in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, approximately $56.5 million of purchase price will become due. We are currently working with our bankers to include certain acquired assets from rag & bone in the borrowing base of our asset-based revolving credit facility in North America and increased our borrowing capacity.

我們預計全年產生約 1.6 億美元的自由現金流。隨著 rag＆bone 收購預計將於 2025 財年第一季稍後完成，約 5,650 萬美元的收購價將到期。我們目前正在與銀行家合作，將從 rag＆bone 收購的某些資產納入我們在北美的基於資產的循環信貸安排的借款基礎，並提高我們的借款能力。

Our priority is to invest in our brands and businesses to support sustainable growth. We will remain highly disciplined in the way we allocate capital across projects.

我們的首要任務是投資我們的品牌和業務以支持永續成長。我們將在專案之間分配資本的方式上保持嚴格的紀律。

In closing, our performance in the past fiscal year and our plans for fiscal 2025 demonstrate the strength of our diversified business model and talented global teams.

最後，我們上一財年的業績和 2025 財年的計畫展現了我們多元化業務模式和才華橫溢的全球團隊的實力。

And with that, we can now open the call up for questions.

至此，我們現在可以開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Corey Tarlowe。

I wanted to ask you about the idea of Guess? being a platform versus a brand. And I think that this is maybe not something that's necessarily new to you, but it's definitely a point that feels like you are putting greater emphasis on more recently given the announced acquisition of rag & bone.

我想問你關於Guess的想法？是一個平台而不是一個品牌。我認為這對您來說可能不一定是新鮮事，但考慮到最近宣布收購 rag＆bone，這絕對是您更加重視的一點。

So I wanted to maybe it would be really helpful if you could just dive into the aspects of Guess? that you believe position the business well from a platform perspective and the scalability of the enterprise to build other brands bigger and to become more profitable overall as opposed to just a specific brands.

所以我想如果你能深入了解 Guess 的各個方面，也許會很有幫助？您認為從平台角度和企業的可擴展性角度對業務進行了很好的定位，可以將其他品牌打造得更大，並在整體上獲得更高的利潤，而不僅僅是特定品牌。

So again, this idea of platform versus brand would be great to get your view on it.

再說一遍，平台與品牌的想法非常適合了解您的觀點。

Yes. No, I'd be happy. Thank you very much for the question. Frankly, we -- this is at the center of what we are calling this our inflection point for the company's development.

是的。不，我會很高興。非常感謝你的提問。坦白說，我們——這就是我們所說的公司發展拐點的中心。

Just as we have been reflecting and thinking and doing a lot of work on our strategic vision for the company, it became very obvious to us that over the last 43 years, Paul and his brothers, they have built a pretty incredible machine here. Where one brand benefited from multiple capabilities, including understanding how to run each and every one of the channels where we sell product with. So we have capabilities in retail, in e-commerce, and we know how to do wholesale business.

正如我們一直在反思、思考並為公司的戰略願景做了大量工作一樣，我們非常明顯地看到，在過去43 年裡，保羅和他的兄弟們在這裡建造了一台非常令人難以置信的機器。一個品牌受益於多種能力，包括了解如何經營我們銷售產品的每個管道。所以我們有零售、電子商務的能力，我們知道如何做批發業務。

We have probably every single product or business model that you can imagine in our industry is represented in our network, one way or the other, franchisees, distribution, distributors, licensees and so forth.

我們可能擁有您在我們行業中可以想像到的每一種產品或商業模式，都在我們的網絡中以一種或另一種方式代表，特許經營商、分銷商、分銷商、被許可人等等。

We happen to have a brand that has been expanded into a lifestyle, a very significant lifestyle for both women and men. And that incorporates over 25 different product categories that are part of this portfolio. So we have expertise in all those product categories, whether those are done internally or with the help of licensees that represent the brand for their respective products. And these relationships are very long term. We are talking about 20, 30 years plus in some cases. And that gives us tremendous strength and it's an ecosystem that is very difficult to replicate.

我們碰巧有一個品牌，它已經擴展到一種生活方式，一種對女性和男性都非常重要的生活方式。其中包含超過 25 種不同的產品類別，這些都是該產品組合的一部分。因此，我們在所有這些產品類別上都擁有專業知識，無論這些產品是在內部完成的，還是在代表各自產品品牌的被授權人的幫助下完成的。這些關係是非常長期的。在某些情況下，我們談論的是 20 年、30 年以上。這給了我們巨大的力量，這是一個很難複製的生態系統。

We happen to be in the international marketplace, not just in one area, but in -- we are currently in 100 countries. And we have representation locally in multiple markets with local management teams that really run those territories which is another incredible strength that the model has.

我們碰巧進入了國際市場，不僅僅是在一個地區，而是——我們目前在 100 個國家。我們在多個市場都有當地代表，並擁有真正管理這些地區的本地管理團隊，這是該模式的另一個令人難以置信的優勢。

So when you think about all this for all these 43 years, this whole ecosystem has serviced as the Guess? brand very well. But then we started thinking, well, why couldn't we just bring additional business through this platform and really give them access to all these capabilities, and also, just contribute to growing those different opportunities in different markets or different product categories.

那麼，當你思考這 43 年裡的所有這一切時，整個生態系統都扮演了猜測的角色嗎？品牌很好。但後來我們開始思考，為什麼我們不能透過這個平台帶來額外的業務，真正讓他們獲得所有這些功能，並且，為在不同市場或不同產品類別中增加這些不同的機會做出貢獻。

So when we put it all together and you think, well, so you think about an opportunity like rag & bone. rag & bone brings an incredible match to what we think this platform can offer. Just first, the customer base that rag & bone just worked with is very complementary to all the other customer bases that we have as part of our portfolio of brands. And we think that this brings a great opportunity to really capitalize on a new market that is very attractive, very affluent consumers. And of course, that is why -- and it's based on the price positioning that the brand has, which is very strong and very attractive.

因此，當我們將所有這些放在一起時，您會想到，好吧，您會想到像rag＆bone這樣的機會。 rag＆bone 為我們認為這個平台可以提供的功能提供了令人難以置信的匹配。首先，rag＆bone 剛剛合作的客戶群與我們品牌組合中的所有其他客戶群非常互補。我們認為，這帶來了一個很好的機會，可以真正利用一個非常有吸引力、非常富裕的消費者的新市場。當然，這就是原因 - 它基於該品牌的價格定位，非常強大且非常有吸引力。

So just at the same time, rag & bone is relatively concentrated in terms of the business in the U.S. just I believe that like about 90% of the business is in the U.S. And we think that this is a case where you have a very strong brand that the business doesn't represent the potential and size of the brand itself. So we feel that there is a big opportunity to really take that brand internationally and offer additional product categories that today, maybe they are represented, but very limitedly or they are not represented at all. And we have access to all those.

因此，與此同時，rag＆bone 的業務相對集中在美國。因此，我們認為，有一個很大的機會真正將品牌推向國際，並提供其他產品類別，這些產品類別今天可能有代表性，但非常有限，或者根本沒有代表性。我們可以訪問所有這些。

So we are just super excited about this opportunity to really bring those capabilities to bear to help the brand become significantly bigger, become present in multiple markets that they are -- it's not well known today. And into product categories that we think that those product categories belong with the lifestyle that the brand represents. But today, they are not representative.

因此，我們對這個機會感到非常興奮，能夠真正發揮這些能力，幫助品牌變得更大，進入多個市場——今天這還不為人所知。並進入我們認為這些產品類別屬於該品牌所代表的生活方式的產品類別。但今天，他們不具代表性。

That is just one example of the type of business that we think our platform can benefit. And for that reason, we call it a platform as opposed to a brand. This, of course, the Guess? brand will continue to benefit from this. And we think that there are other benefits that can come from it like just in the long term, using a vendor base that could be really very additive to what we are doing in -- with our brands internally today. I don't know, maybe some days, we are going to find synergies.

這只是我們認為我們的平台可以受益的業務類型的一個例子。因此，我們將其稱為平台而不是品牌。這當然是猜測？品牌將繼續受益於此。我們認為，從長遠來看，它還可以帶來其他好處，使用供應商基礎可以真正非常有益於我們今天在內部品牌中所做的事情。我不知道，也許有一天，我們會找到綜效。

But frankly, if you go back to rag & bone, that's not what motivated us to do this acquisition. And that is not a priority today. Our priority is to really invest in expanding the awareness of this brand, bringing the brand to other markets, bringing the brand or products into the brand to expand the region and the assortment that we offer to that consumer. Super exciting. Thank you.

但坦白說，如果你回到 rag＆bone，你會發現這並不是我們進行此次收購的動機。這不是今天的優先事項。我們的首要任務是真正投資於擴大該品牌的知名度，將該品牌帶入其他市場，將該品牌或產品帶入該品牌，以擴大我們為該消費者提供的區域和品種。超級刺激。謝謝。

Great. I did just have a follow-up on the outlook for this year. And obviously, the organic growth as well as the acquisitive growth that you have planned in there from a sales perspective is very attractive.

偉大的。我剛剛對今年的前景進行了跟進。顯然，從銷售角度來看，您在那裡計劃的有機成長和收購成長非常有吸引力。

I was just curious on the margin point, for the full year, operating margins in fiscal year 2024 were over 9%. And then at the midpoint, for the outlook, you're looking for about 8%. So a decline of a little over 100 basis points. Curious if you could talk through some of the puts and takes and headwinds and tailwinds that you're anticipating to impact the operating margin for the full year of fiscal 2025?

我只是對利潤率感到好奇，2024 財年全年的營業利潤率超過 9%。然後在中點，就前景而言，您期望的成長率約為 8%。因此下降了略高於100個基點。想知道您是否可以談談您預計會影響 2025 財年全年營業利潤率的一些看跌期權和逆風因素嗎？

I'm going to just say a couple of words and then just ask Markus to answer this. But just that we are looking at this year as a year of investment. And it's a year where we continue to build capability to support the growth. We talked a little bit about investing in people and some new roles.

我只想說幾句話，然後請馬庫斯回答這個問題。但我們只是將今年視為投資年。今年是我們繼續建立支持成長的能力的一年。我們討論了一些關於人員投資和一些新角色的問題。

We think that in this particular year, just investing in the brand will also take some marketing power and we think that it's absolutely the right thing to do not only for rag & bone but also for the new brand, Guess Jeans that we are launching. And all of that is embedded into our guidance. And we feel that maybe we are being conservative, but we think it's important that we anticipate the level of investment that is going to be required to really pursue the potential that our business and in particular, this new brand has. Over to you Markus?

我們認為，在這個特殊的年份，僅僅對品牌進行投資也需要一些行銷力量，我們認為這絕對是正確的事情，不僅對rag＆bone 來說，而且對我們正在推出的新品牌Guess Jeans 來說也是正確的。所有這些都已納入我們的指導中。我們覺得也許我們很保守，但我們認為重要的是，我們要預測真正發揮我們的業務（特別是這個新品牌）潛力所需的投資水準。交給你了，馬庫斯？

Thank you, Carlos. Hi, Corey. For the full year, as you've seen from the press release, and in the prepared remarks, as we project 11.5% to 13.5% revenue growth in total as it's a headwind for the full year of roughly 1 point. As you have seen in the prepared remarks, I talked about that rag & bone where we spend roughly 2/3 of that revenue growth, we are projecting for fiscal year '25. And Carlos, nothing talked about those several concrete initiatives that we have that will drive the growth in the core Guess? and Marciano business, like as teams, also like markets, also like India, Chile and Peru, also that Carlos touched on and the internalization of the outerwear and dress category in North America.

謝謝你，卡洛斯。嗨，科里。對於全年，正如您從新聞稿和準備好的評論中看到的那樣，我們預計總收入將增長 11.5% 至 13.5%，因為這對全年來說是大約 1 個百分點的阻力。正如您在準備好的發言中所看到的，我談到了我們預計 25 財年將大約 2/3 的收入成長支出。卡洛斯，沒有談到我們所採取的幾項具體舉措，這些舉措將推動核心業務的成長，猜猜？和馬西亞諾的業務一樣，就像團隊一樣，也像市場一樣，也像印度、智利和秘魯，卡洛斯也談到了北美外套和連身裙類別的內部化。

If we look at the -- it's all about puts and takes, I think FX, of course, is on the revenue side. I think as a headwind, on the revenue side, also the 53rd week represents a headwind, as we won't be comping 53rd week in the fourth quarter. When we put all of it together, and I think getting to the operating margin, Carlos touched on the investments in the infrastructure investments also in rag & bone as well.

如果我們看一下——這一切都與看跌期權和看跌期權有關，我認為外匯當然是在收入方面。我認為作為一個逆風，在收入方面，第 53 週也代表了逆風，因為我們不會在第四季度比較第 53 週。當我們把所有這些放在一起時，我想談到營業利潤率，卡洛斯也談到了基礎設施投資以及rag＆bone的投資。

Red Sea, I touched on it. I think then also the Red Sea crisis has an impact on our freight rates and on the inbound costs that we have incorporated in today's guidance where we expect increasing freight rates, especially in the first half of fiscal year '25 and then they were expected to be moderated in the second half of fiscal year '25.

紅海，我接觸過。我認為紅海危機也會對我們的運費和入境成本產生影響，我們已將這些成本納入今天的指導中，我們預計運費會增加，特別是在 25 財年的上半年，然後預計運費將增加'25財年下半年將有所緩和。

Rag & bone acquisition, we expect that it will be modestly accretive. So there will be some margin dilution from rag & bone. And there are some other benefits that we've incorporated in our guidance like the KY DC, Kentucky DC operations that have been outsourced to a logistics partner. All of this has been incorporated in the guidance we've been giving an operating margin that we see between 7.5% and 8.5% for fiscal year '25.

Rag & Bone 的收購，我們預計它將帶來適度的增值。因此，rag＆bone 將會稀釋一些利潤。我們還在我們的指南中納入了一些其他好處，例如已外包給物流合作夥伴的肯塔基州 DC 和肯塔基州 DC 營運。所有這些都已納入我們一直給出的 25 財年營業利潤率預期在 7.5% 至 8.5% 之間的指導中。

Then just I would add, there are -- I mean not everything is perfect here. We are also facing some challenging businesses in North America has been tough for us, especially in the U.S. And we are seeing negative traffic into our stores that continues to impact us, and we have to be prudent and careful we want to sell product at full price. So we have been very careful not to overpromote. And of course, just that is also having an impact on our top line in addition to the customer traffic issue.

然後我想補充一點，我的意思是，這裡並不是一切都是完美的。我們也面臨著一些具有挑戰性的業務，北美地區的業務對我們來說一直很艱難，尤其是在美國，我們看到商店的負客流量繼續對我們產生影響，我們必須謹慎小心，我們希望全力銷售產品價格。所以我們一直非常小心，不要過度宣傳。當然，除了客戶流量問題之外，這也對我們的營收產生了影響。

So we are incorporating this thought into our guidance as well. And I think as Markus talked about this in his prepared remarks, but just we expect that in the first quarter, we are going to have some timing in our wholesale European business that is impacting us in a negative way, $15 million. I think that is the number. The good news here is that this is not a reflection of the business contracting. This is only a timing issue.

因此，我們也將這個想法納入我們的指導中。我認為，正如馬庫斯在他準備好的演講中談到的那樣，但我們預計，在第一季度，我們的歐洲批發業務將會出現一些對我們產生負面影響的時機，即 1500 萬美元。我想就是這個數字。好消息是，這並不是業務承包的反映。這只是一個時間問題。

And we know, based on our order book and everything that we're seeing in terms of trends in our business that we have plenty of volume coming in the following 2 quarters that is definitely more than compensating the partial change in the first quarter because of the timing.

我們知道，根據我們的訂單簿和我們在業務趨勢方面看到的一切，我們在接下來的兩個季度中將有大量的銷量，這絕對超過了補償第一季的部分變化，因為時機。

So we feel good about that. We feel good about Europe, just as our business continues to be very healthy at -- in the direct-to-consumer business. We had some weakness in e-commerce, but has not been just something to be concerned about. And we are seeing that the stores continue to do very well. We had a great fourth quarter in Europe. And we think that this speaks loud and clear about not only our position in the marketplace as a brand, but it speaks loud and clear about how good the product is, and how the customers are embracing the product assortment that we have in the launch today. So it's a good moment for us.

所以我們對此感覺良好。我們對歐洲感覺很好，就像我們的直接面向消費者業務繼續非常健康一樣。我們在電子商務方面存在一些弱點，但這不僅僅是值得關注的問題。我們看到這些商店繼續表現出色。我們在歐洲的第四季表現出色。我們認為，這不僅清楚地表明了我們作為一個品牌在市場上的地位，而且清楚地表明了產品有多好，以及客戶如何接受我們今天推出的產品組合。所以這對我們來說是一個美好的時刻。

(Operator Instructions) It comes from the line of Mauricio Serna with UBS.

（操作員說明）它來自 Mauricio Serna 與 UBS 的線路。

I was hoping you could elaborate a little bit more -- yes, maybe if you could elaborate a little bit more on what you saw in the Americas region. It was pretty nice to see the comp sales improve. But then like the commentary just provided, it seems like things got a little bit slowed down a little bit in the Q1. So maybe a little bit more detail on that.

我希望你能詳細說明一下——是的，也許你能詳細說明一下你在美洲地區看到的情況。很高興看到比較銷售有所改善。但就像剛才提供的評論一樣，第一季的情況似乎有點放緩。所以也許對此有更多的細節。

And then it seems Europe is still performing very well, and should be the case (inaudible) year. Maybe just what do you think is driving that ongoing outperformance.

然後歐洲似乎仍然表現得很好，而且今年也應該如此（聽不清楚）。也許您認為是什麼推動了持續的優異表現。

And I don't know like if you could maybe give us an idea of if we just think about the core Guess? and Marciano businesses, by themselves, like what kind of operating margin were you thinking for them, like fiscal year '25, excluding rag & bone and maybe like any additional investments that you would be doing for that business?

我不知道你是否可以給我們一個想法，我們是否只考慮核心猜測？和 Marciano 業務本身，例如您為他們考慮的營業利潤率是多少，例如 25 財年，不包括碎布和骨頭，也許您會為該業務進行任何額外投資？

Okay, thank you, Mauricio. Well, so let me start. I was just talking a little bit about our Americas business, the challenges that we face with negative traffic. That in the fourth quarter got a little better versus the trends that we had experienced in the third quarter, and that helped us. And we ended that quarter with a plus 1, I believe, in terms of revenue growth, but that was impacted positively by the 53rd week. So it's not in our comps. We're still negative. And we do not anticipate that, that is going to change just in the next few months. And that is kind of like in line with what we are experiencing today, and that has been embedded into our guidance.

好的，謝謝你，毛里西奧。好吧，讓我開始吧。我只是談論了我們在美洲的業務，以及我們在負流量方面面臨的挑戰。與我們在第三季度經歷的趨勢相比，第四季度的情況有所好轉，這對我們有幫助。我相信，就收入成長而言，我們在該季度結束時獲得了+1，但這受到了第 53 週的積極影響。所以它不在我們的比較中。我們仍然持否定態度。我們預計這種情況不會在未來幾個月內改變。這有點類似於我們今天所經歷的情況，並且已納入我們的指導中。

We think it's clearly an issue with traffic. We don't know exactly what's happening in the industry at large. I think that in our case, this has been somewhat consistent. And for that reason, we have been predicting the business and anticipating inventory buys in just taking that into consideration.

我們認為這顯然是交通問題。我們並不確切知道整個行業正在發生什麼。我認為就我們的情況而言，這在某種程度上是一致的。出於這個原因，我們一直在預測業務並預測庫存購買時考慮到這一點。

Interestingly enough, in our business in the U.S. was the most difficult one, but we had a very good business in Canada. And we're talking about positive comps, improved profitability, just a good conversion there and kind of like a very different story than what we see in the U.S. So we think that just then if you look at the different pieces in the U.S., the tourist stores did better than the non-tourist stores. We don't know exactly what to read into that because of the strength of the dollar and how that is impacting the pockets of tourists. But that is the real numbers, and we are trying -- analyzing all this as much as we can to really make the right decisions.

有趣的是，我們在美國的業務是最困難的，但我們在加拿大的業務非常好。我們談論的是積極的競爭、提高的盈利能力、良好的轉化，這與我們在美國看到的情況非常不同。商店。由於美元的強勢以及這對遊客的錢包有何影響，我們不知道應該解讀什麼。但這是一個真實的數字，我們正在嘗試盡可能地分析所有這些，以真正做出正確的決定。

When you go to Europe, now on the other side, just -- this has been very, very strong. We had a great fourth quarter, as I said before, and positive comps have been now present there for quite some time. We're talking about several quarters. We think it has a lot to do with how good the product assortment is and how that customer is gravitating towards the brand.

當你去歐洲時，現在在另一邊，這非常非常強烈。正如我之前所說，我們在第四季度表現出色，並且積極的競爭已經存在相當長一段時間了。我們正在談論幾個季度。我們認為這與產品種類的好壞以及顧客對品牌的吸引力有很大關係。

We are seeing good traffic now, just those -- many of those markets have more than recovered from pre-COVID trends, and that's very significant. And also, when you talk about Europe, this is not just one mass of customers or one mass market, there is a lot of different just unique characteristics of each of those markets or countries.

我們現在看到了良好的客流量，其中許多市場已經從新冠疫情之前的趨勢中恢復過來，這是非常重要的。而且，當你談論歐洲時，這不僅僅是一群客戶或一個大眾市場，每個市場或國家都有許多不同的獨特特徵。

So we have some countries that have done incredibly well. I think Turkey we talked about, but there are many other examples like that. And there are some other countries that are more challenged, like Germany has been just in a more difficult place just we were very pleased with our business in the Mediterranean Basin during the fourth quarter. Italy had a very good quarter. Spain had a good quarter. I mean, there are a lot of good things happening too in spite of how challenging some of the markets may be. I think that is probably unique to us, again, because I think the brand is so strong. And so well embraced by the customer.

所以我們有一些國家做得非常好。我想我們談論的是土耳其，但還有很多其他類似的例子。還有其他一些國家面臨更大的挑戰，例如德國的處境更加困難，但我們對第四季在地中海盆地的業務感到非常滿意。義大利這個季度表現非常好。西班牙這個季度表現不錯。我的意思是，儘管某些市場可能面臨很大的挑戰，但也有很多好事發生。我認為這對我們來說可能是獨一無二的，因為我認為這個品牌非常強大。並因此受到客戶的歡迎。

And the great thing about Europe is that if that market is working for us, I mean that means that a lot of the company is working. Just that business last year represented $1.5 billion for us. So that's a pretty massive just as a business and a very big influence on how the company does. If Europe does well, we have a very good chance to do well as a company. And it's not just the volume, but it's also the profitability. The business is very healthy. We have a great wholesale business, the wholesale business. I think that during the last 4 years, has grown like 30% from about EUR 480 million to about 630 now.

歐洲的偉大之處在於，如果該市場對我們有利，我的意思是，這意味著公司的許多部門都在運作。光是去年的這項業務就為我們帶來了 15 億美元。因此，這就像企業一樣規模相當大，並且對公司的運作方式產生了很大的影響。如果歐洲做得好，我們公司就有很好的機會做得好。這不僅僅是數量，還有獲利能力。生意非常健康。我們有很大的批發業務，批發業務。我認為在過去 4 年裡，成長了 30%，從大約 4.8 億歐元成長到現在的約 630 歐元。

So just when you think about that, and this is with COVID in between, so just I think this speaks loud and clear about the strength of the business and the brands in those territories. And I think that's something that we did very well, and this is to credit to Paul also and the product teams is the expansion of key categories. Just we introduced at leisure as a new category to the assortment, and this happened during the COVID times. And that business went from zero, literally zero to representing about 7% of our apparel business in about 2 or 3 seasons. I mean it happened like so quickly.

因此，當你想到這一點時，這是在新冠疫情期間，我認為這清楚地說明了這些地區的業務和品牌的實力。我認為這是我們做得很好的事情，這也歸功於保羅和產品團隊對關鍵類別的擴展。我們剛剛在休閒品類中引入了一個新類別，而這發生在新冠疫情期間。在大約 2 到 3 季的時間裡，該業務從零（實際上是零）增加到占我們服裝業務的 7% 左右。我的意思是事情發生得太快了。

And then after COVID was behind us, we didn't know what to expect about this brand because people were changing their lifestyles and so forth. And -- but we are super pleased with that because we see huge strength from this category, as recently as the season we just closed. Just as leisure was one of the big growers within all the categories. So that's an example of just expanding categories can be very powerful for us to continue to grow our business.

在新冠疫情過去之後，我們不知道對這個品牌會有什麼期望，因為人們正在改變他們的生活方式等等。而且——但我們對此非常滿意，因為我們看到了這個類別的巨大優勢，就在我們剛結束的賽季中。正如休閒是所有類別中的主要增長者之一。因此，這是一個例子，說明僅僅擴大品類就可以非常有力地幫助我們繼續發展我們的業務。

[Corey] if I may take the last part of your question regarding the operating margin that we're expecting for the full year also for fiscal year '25. We talked about those opportunities for growth. I'm not going into them again, from a revenue perspective, the headwinds we had a 53rd week foreign currencies.

[Corey] 請容許我回答您關於我們對全年以及 25 財年營業利潤率的預期問題的最後一部分。我們討論了這些成長機會。我不會再討論它們，從收入的角度來看，我們已經連續第 53 週遭遇外匯不利因素。

From an operating margin perspective, rag & bone is modestly accretive. So meaning, in other words, it is a little bit of the margin dilution from rag & bone that we have incorporated in our today's guidance for the operating margin.

從營業利益率的角度來看，rag＆bone 的成長幅度不大。換句話說，這就是我們今天的營業利潤率指引中納入的一點 rag＆bone 的利潤稀釋。

If we -- Carlos talked about it before and we touched on it as well. We are making investments in our infrastructure. I think Carlos talked about several also about the key searches we're making. We talked about the platform earlier, I think that we are building, so this is all being incorporated in our today's guidance.

如果我們——卡洛斯之前談過這個問題，我們也談過它。我們正在對基礎設施進行投資。我認為卡洛斯也談到了我們正在進行的關鍵搜索。我們之前討論過該平台，我認為我們正在構建，所以這一切都納入了我們今天的指南中。

And on top of it, I think as mentioned before and also in the prepared remarks, we have the Red Sea impact on shipping costs incorporated on our total company guidance, and the 7.5% to 8.5% operating margin operates the core Guess? and Marciano business as well as also what we expect as a contribution from rag & bone.

最重要的是，我認為正如之前以及在準備好的評論中提到的，我們將紅海對運輸成本的影響納入了我們公司的總體指導中，並且7.5% 至8.5% 的營業利潤率運行著核心猜猜看？和 Marciano 業務，以及我們期望 rag＆bone 做出的貢獻。

And the investment in marketing, right?

還有行銷投資，對嗎？

Yes, exactly. Investment in marketing as growth in rag & bone.

對，就是這樣。行銷投資隨著rag＆bone的成長而成長。

Yes. So I think just it's fair to say that if you were looking at just the core business before rag & bone, you will be looking at a higher operating margin tiny, tiny, but higher operating margin. And we don't think that this should be the case forever because we see that there is tremendous potential in rag & bone to even be more profitable in the future. But for now and for this year, that's the way we are planning the business.

是的。因此，我認為可以公平地說，如果您只關注 rag＆bone 之前的核心業務，那麼您將看到更高的營業利潤率，雖然很小，但營業利潤率更高。我們認為這種情況不會永遠如此，因為我們看到 rag＆bone 具有巨大的潛力，甚至在未來可以獲得更多利潤。但就目前和今年而言，這就是我們規劃業務的方式。

And it comes from the line of Eric Beder with Small Cap Consumer Research.

它來自 Eric Beder 和 Small Cap Consumer Research 的團隊。

Two questions. One, Guess Jeans, when is that -- review the collection? So when is it going to start to roll out? And where is the focus in terms of where the product is going to be your own stores, the region? How should we be thinking about that rollout and how it impacts the guidance?

兩個問題。一，Guess Jeans，那是什麼時候──回顧一下這個系列？那麼什麼時候開始推出呢？就產品而言，您自己的商店的重點在哪裡，即區域？我們應該如何考慮這項推出以及它如何影響指南？

The second unrelated question, you guys did the special dividends, you've done a regular dividend. The stock repurchase program is completely used and getting to congratulations. Do you plan on revisiting that as we go forward in this year?

第二個不相關的問題，你們發放了特別股息，你們也發放了定期股息。股票回購計劃已完全使用，值得祝賀。當我們今年繼續前進時，您是否計劃重新審視這一點？

Well, so let me start with Guess Jeans. Guess Jeans, we're talking about a month from when the product is coming. So we're super excited about this. Initially, the whole brand has been offered as a wholesale opportunity. So just we have a big drive in Europe, just all our showrooms have presented the product to their customers and there is a tremendous campaign that is going on. Just -- we just finished and the initial results, I think I said it have been very just ahead of what we had expected. But it's primarily a wholesale business.

好吧，讓我從 Guess Jeans 開始。 Guess Jeans，我們談的是產品上市後一個月。所以我們對此感到非常興奮。最初，整個品牌作為批發機會提供。因此，我們在歐洲有很大的推動力，我們所有的展廳都向客戶展示了產品，並且正在進行一場巨大的活動。只是——我們剛剛完成了初步結果，我想我說過它非常超出了我們的預期。但它主要是批發業務。

That being said, we think that there is a big opportunity here to start exploring the presentation of the brand in its own environment. So for that reason, we have selected a few new locations to present the brand and one of them is in Melrose in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and it's an incredible location, great corner, it has tremendous traffic both cars and foot traffic. And we think that it's going to be a phenomenal presentation for the brand.

話雖這麼說，我們認為這裡有一個很大的機會開始探索品牌在自己的環境中的展示。因此，出於這個原因，我們選擇了幾個新地點來展示該品牌，其中之一是在好萊塢洛杉磯的梅爾羅斯，這是一個令人難以置信的位置，很棒的角落，擁有巨大的汽車和人流量。我們認為這將是該品牌的一次非凡的展示。

And so we are doing some -- selecting some other locations in key European cities where we think that the brand is going to be well represented and will represent what this whole lifestyle is for the brand to attract that younger consumer. But also, we don't see it as an exclusive young consumer type of product. We think that everybody will find what they are looking for in that store. So we -- this is not going to be a major expansion of stores, just that we are planning. But we will consider opening strategically as the brand continues to develop.

因此，我們正在做一些事情——在歐洲主要城市選擇其他一些地點，我們認為這些地點將很好地體現該品牌的特色，並將代表該品牌吸引年輕消費者的整個生活方式。但我們也不認為它是專屬年輕消費者的產品。我們認為每個人都會在那家商店找到他們想要的東西。所以我們——這不會是商店的大規模擴張，只是我們正在計劃而已。但隨著品牌的不斷發展，我們會考慮策略性地開業。

We are working on marketing, Nicolai is working very hard on the whole marketing campaign, how we think about presenting the brands and [can reduce] working on collaborations and so forth, and we'll keep you informed when we have more to say.

我們正在致力於行銷，Nicolai 在整個行銷活動中非常努力，我們如何考慮展示品牌以及[可以減少]合作工作等等，當我們有更多要說的時候，我們會隨時通知您。

But overall, it's just -- it's all happening. The initial numbers are very good. We think that the product is right on the reception from our wholesale customers has been very, very positive. And the two events that I mentioned during my prepared remarks that the Nicolai led have been incredible, and incredible, number one, to really make this story known also capitalizing on the history of our company and the experience that this company has on the denim category, which is remarkable and having discovered a strong washing at the time.

但總的來說，這一切都在發生。最初的數字非常好。我們認為產品是正確的，我們的批發客戶的反應非常非常正面。我在準備好的發言中提到的由Nicolai 領導的兩件事令人難以置信，令人難以置信，第一，利用我們公司的歷史和該公司在牛仔布類別上的經驗，真正讓這個故事廣為人知，這是值得注意的，並且在當時發現了強力洗滌。

So not only that, but just the creativity that was displayed into these two events, showing how the product is being treated. How -- what -- the major change in sustainability that these techniques are going to bring into the industry. Just it was really very compelling and people were just blown away with the level of innovation that was displayed during the two events.

不僅如此，這兩個活動也展現了創造力，並展示了產品是如何被對待的。這些技術將如何——什麼——為產業帶來永續發展的重大變化。這確實非常引人注目，人們對這兩次活動中所展示的創新水平感到震驚。

So all that is a big way to really tell the story. We've got tremendous coverage. I think that there were, I don't know, how many articles, but magazine, newspapers, TV programs, they all feature everything that was happening in both Milan and Florence. So I'll stop there.

所以這一切都是真正講述故事的重要方式。我們有大量的報道。我想，我不知道有多少文章，但雜誌、報紙、電視節目，它們都報導了米蘭和佛羅倫斯發生的一切。所以我就到此為止。

With respect to your second question on the special dividend, just I think that your question was more about share repurchases. And you're right. We don't have an open pool for share repurchase. We will continue to be opportunistic in the way we use capital. And I think that we have proven that during the last 5 years, a lot of funds have been used to really reward shareholders. And we believe strongly in that. And our Board is completely just at the forefront of this. And we think that so far, we have used the capital in a very smart way and strategic. And the great thing is that we have plenty of capacity.

關於你關於特別股利的第二個問題，我認為你的問題更多的是關於股票回購。你是對的。我們沒有開放的股票回購池。我們將繼續在使用資本的方式上保持機會主義。我認為我們已經證明，在過去的五年裡，大量的資金被用來真正回報股東。我們堅信這一點。我們的董事會完全處於這方面的最前線。我們認為到目前為止，我們以非常明智和策略性的方式使用了資金。最棒的是我們有足夠的能力。

So just because we have a very strong balance sheet. I think as Markus said, just when you think about our debt is even -- if you consider the convertible bonds that we just exchanged in the last few months, and you put that against our cash at the end of the year, as you're talking about nominal net debt. You're talking about less than $100 million of net debt. So the balance sheet is very strong, and that's why the Board was encouraged and excited about declaring the special dividend.

這只是因為我們擁有非常強大的資產負債表。我認為，正如馬庫斯所說，當你考慮我們的債務時，如果你考慮到我們在過去幾個月剛剛交換的可轉換債券，並且你在年底將其與我們的現金進行比較，就像你一樣我們談論的是名目淨債務。你說的是不到 1 億美元的淨債務。因此，資產負債表非常強勁，這就是董事會對宣布特別股息感到鼓舞和興奮的原因。

(Operator Instructions) It comes from the line of Jeff Lick with B. Riley Securities.

（操作員說明）它來自 Jeff Lick 和 B. Riley Securities 的線路。

Congrats on a stellar quarter and a great year. Maybe just, Markus, to maybe use Q1 to drill down a little bit on everyone's questions about the operating margin it would appear relative to last year where the adjusted operating margin was 30 bps. There's probably a 250 to 300 bp variance year-over-year. If you can maybe just give us anything about where that's coming from in terms of is it gross margin? Where the (inaudible)? It's probably like a $25 million, $30 million swing. So any help there would be appreciated.

恭喜您度過了出色的季度和美好的一年。馬庫斯，也許只是利用第一季來深入探討每個人對營業利潤率的疑問，去年調整後的營業利潤率為 30 個基點。同比可能存在 250 至 300 bp 的差異。您能否向我們提供有關毛利率來自何處的任何資訊？哪裡（聽不清楚）？這可能相當於 2500 萬美元、3000 萬美元的波動。因此，任何幫助將不勝感激。

Thanks for the question. The Q1 guidance, some of the key initiatives that we have talked about benefit the later part of the year. First of all, we have Guess Jeans and outerwear, I think they are -- will benefit mostly in the second half. The rag & bone transaction, as we talked about, it will close in the latter part of the Q1 and will have a relatively minimal impact compared to the rest of the year.

謝謝你的提問。第一季的指導，我們討論過的一些關鍵舉措將使今年下半年受益。首先，我們有 Guess Jeans 和外套，我認為它們將在下半年受益最多。正如我們所討論的，rag＆bone 交易將在第一季下半年完成，與今年剩餘時間相比，其影響相對較小。

Carlos, and I talked about it also in the prepared remarks, if you look at the timing of the shipments in Europe, there, we expect a headwind of roughly $50 million on revenues on the first quarter, moving from the first quarter into the second and third quarter mainly due to a delay of product deliveries, I think due to Red Sea impact, I think we talked about more importantly, also in general due to our delivery cadence that we have and how we plan to deliver the product to our customers for the start of our fall, winter products.

卡洛斯和我在準備好的發言中也談到了這一點，如果你看看歐洲的發貨時間，我們預計第一季的收入將面臨約 5000 萬美元的阻力，從第一季度進入第二季度第三季主要是由於產品交付的延遲，我認為由於紅海的影響，我認為我們討論的更重要，一般來說也是由於我們的交付節奏以及我們計劃如何向客戶交付產品為我們秋冬產品的開始。

If you look at the first quarter as well, and you've seen it also FX will be a headwind in the first quarter, but also in the second quarter as well. If we look at the operating margin, I think that you've seen we -- our guide to 2 point -- minus 2.3% to minus 2.8%. We've incorporated the impact of the timing of the wholesale shipments. And we talked about the Red Sea impact on freight costs as well that will impact especially the first and second quarter.

如果你也看看第一季度，你會發現外匯在第一季將是一個逆風，但在第二季度也是如此。如果我們看一下營業利潤率，我想你已經看到了我們的指導——2點——負2.3%到負2.8%。我們已經考慮了批發發貨時間的影響。我們也討論了紅海對貨運成本的影響，尤其是第一季和第二季的影響。

And thereafter, we expect that impact to moderate. And on top of it, also now rag & bone will close. But in terms of the (inaudible) expenses, I think that also, of course, will then impact the later part of the first quarter. and we've incorporated all of these aspects, all of these factors in our Q1 guidance.

此後，我們預計這種影響將會減弱。最重要的是，現在rag＆bone也將關閉。但就（聽不清楚）費用而言，我認為這當然也會影響第一季的後期。我們已將所有這些面向、所有這些因素納入我們的第一季指引中。

By the way, Sorry Jeff. I just wanted to say, I think that Markus hit all the key points. I think in the case of rag & bone, just we will pick up one month of their operation. And just that is a significant number when it comes to the increase in expenses relative to our expenses. And of course, the first quarter is a low productivity quarter for us. So that brings an additional level of pressure on the margin and profitability of that quarter. But that said -- (inaudible) as you go towards the end of the year, of course.

順便說一句，對不起，傑夫。我只是想說，我認為馬庫斯擊中了所有關鍵點。我認為對於 rag＆bone 來說，我們只需恢復他們一個月的運營即可。就支出相對於我們的支出而言，這個數字是相當大的。當然，第一季對我們來說是生產力低的季度。因此，這對該季度的利潤率和盈利能力帶來了額外的壓力。但這就是說——（聽不清楚）當然是在年底的時候。

So you're saying rag & bone will close here, probably in the next 10 days, and it's not -- it's going to close on April 25th. Because that explains the (inaudible).

所以你說 rag＆bone 可能會在接下來的 10 天內關門，但事實並非如此——它將於 4 月 25 日關門。因為這解釋了（聽不清楚）。

No. No, no. We -- these numbers and this -- our expectations assume that it closes reasonably quickly.

不不不。我們——這些數字和這個——我們的預期假設它會相當快地結束。

That makes more sense. And then in terms of (inaudible) there's going to be an expense drag without commensurate gross margin dollar pickup in Q1?

這更有意義。然後就（聽不清楚）而言，第一季毛利率沒有相應回升，會出現費用拖累嗎？

Yes. Exactly.

是的。確切地。

Thank you. And with that, I will close the Q&A and turn it back to Carlos Alberini for final remarks.

謝謝。至此，我將結束問答環節，並將其轉回卡洛斯·阿爾貝里尼進行最後評論。

Thank you. Well, thank you all for your interest in our company. We just closed a great year with a solid performance from our teams and very strong results. As we look at the new year, we are thrilled about our opportunities, really. And this includes our very exciting rag & bone acquisition. I'm sure you sense our excitement, and also the multiple growth initiatives that we have identified, including Guess Jeans and some of the others. We look forward to updating you on the progress that we make with our plans and we will do this as the year progresses.

謝謝。好的，謝謝大家對我們公司的關注。我們剛結束了美好的一年，我們的團隊表現出色，並取得了非常出色的成績。當我們展望新的一年時，我們真的對我們的機會感到興奮。這其中包括我們非常令人興奮的 rag＆bone 收購。我相信您一定能感受到我們的興奮，以及我們已經確定的多項成長計劃，包括 Guess Jeans 和其他一些計劃。我們期待向您通報我們計劃的最新進展，我們將隨著時間的推移而這樣做。

Thank you, and we'll speak with you soon.

謝謝您，我們很快就會與您聯絡。

Thank you. And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for participating, and you may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與，現在您可以斷開連線了。