Healthcare Services Group Inc (HCSG) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Healthcare Service Group Inc.'s First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到 Healthcare Service Group Inc. 的 2023 年第一季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，正在錄製此電話會議。

The matters discussed on today's conference call include forward-looking statements about the business prospects of Healthcare Services Group, Inc. For Healthcare Services Group, Inc.'s most recent forward-looking statement notice, please refer to the press release issued this morning, which can be found on our website, www.hcsg.com.

今天電話會議討論的事項包括有關 Healthcare Services Group, Inc. 業務前景的前瞻性陳述。有關 Healthcare Services Group, Inc. 最新的前瞻性陳述通知，請參閱今天上午發布的新聞稿，可在我們的網站 www.hcsg.com 上找到。

Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks, uncertainties and important factors, including those discussed in the Risk Factors, MD&A and other sections of the annual report on Form 10-K and Healthcare Services Group Inc.'s other SEC filings, and as indicated in our most recent forward-looking statements notice. Additionally, management will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these items to U.S. GAAP can be found in this morning's press release.

由於各種風險、不確定性和重要因素，包括在風險因素、MD&A 和 10-K 表格和 Healthcare Services Group Inc. 年度報告的其他部分中討論的那些因素，實際結果可能與明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。 SEC 的其他備案文件，以及我們最近的前瞻性聲明通知中所述。此外，管理層將討論某些非 GAAP 財務措施。在今天上午的新聞稿中可以找到這些項目與美國公認會計原則的對賬。

I would now like to turn the call over to Ted Wahl, President and CEO. Thank you. Please go ahead, Mr. Wahl.

我現在想把電話轉給總裁兼首席執行官 Ted Wahl。謝謝。請繼續，Wahl 先生。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Matt McKee and I appreciate you joining us today. We released our first quarter results this morning and plan on filing our 10-Q by the end of the week.

謝謝大家，早上好。 Matt McKee 和我感謝你今天加入我們。我們今天早上發布了第一季度業績，併計劃在本週末之前提交我們的 10-Q。

For the 3 months ended March 31, 2023, we reported revenues of $417.2 million, GAAP net income of $12.7 million or $0.17 per share, and adjusted EBITDA of $27.5 million, an 18% increase over Q1 of last year. We also repurchased $2.2 million worth of our common stock as an opportunistic and tax-efficient way to return capital to shareholders.

截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日止三個月，我們報告的收入為 4.172 億美元，GAAP 淨收入為 1270 萬美元或每股 0.17 美元，調整後的 EBITDA 為 2750 萬美元，比去年第一季度增長 18%。我們還回購了價值 220 萬美元的普通股，作為向股東返還資本的機會主義和節稅方式。

Today, in my opening remarks, I will discuss our Q1 key accomplishments as well as our outlook for the rest of the year. I'll then turn the call over to Matt for a more detailed discussion on the quarter. We delivered strong operating results and service execution during the quarter as our relentless focus on customer experience, systems adherence and regulatory compliance led to high quality and consistent outcomes for our client partners.

今天，在我的開場白中，我將討論我們第一季度的主要成就以及我們對今年剩餘時間的展望。然後我會把電話轉給馬特，就本季度進行更詳細的討論。由於我們對客戶體驗、系統遵守和法規遵從性的不懈關注為我們的客戶合作夥伴帶來了高質量和一致的結果，因此我們在本季度實現了強勁的運營業績和服務執行。

The first key accomplishment I'd like to highlight is that for the second consecutive quarter, we achieved our cost of services target of 86%. This achievement underscores the strength of our customer relationships, our commitment to operational excellence and our enhanced value proposition.

我要強調的第一個關鍵成就是，我們連續第二個季度實現了 86% 的服務成本目標。這一成就凸顯了我們強大的客戶關係、我們對卓越運營的承諾以及我們增強的價值主張。

The second key accomplishment I'd like to highlight is the marked improvement in Q1 cash collections year-over-year, in what has historically been our most challenging collections quarter. This accomplishment follows our strong Q4 cash collections, further validates our overall collection strategy and provides a strong foundation and positive momentum heading into the rest of the year.

我要強調的第二個主要成就是第一季度現金收款同比顯著改善，這在歷史上是我們最具挑戰性的收款季度。這一成就是在我們第四季度強勁的現金收款之後取得的，進一步驗證了我們的整體收款戰略，並為進入今年剩餘時間奠定了堅實的基礎和積極的勢頭。

Lastly, I'd like to highlight the successful exit of the final tranche of facilities related to the completion of the contract modification initiative. This accomplishment not only marks the final action of our contract modification initiative, but underscores our disciplined approach to managing the business and our ability to simultaneously deliver in the short term and prepare for the long term.

最後，我想強調與完成合同修改計劃相關的最後一批設施的成功退出。這一成就不僅標誌著我們合同修改倡議的最終行動，而且強調了我們管理業務的紀律方法以及我們同時在短期內交付和為長期做好準備的能力。

As far as our outlook for the rest of the year, we expect industry fundamentals to continue to improve, as a stabilizing labor market and stronger reimbursement environment, especially at the state level, contribute to a gradual occupancy recovery. We will continue to closely monitor industry dynamics and remain confident that the industry is on a path towards recovery, albeit a prolonged one. We also expect to continue to build on the significant progress we made over the past 6 months in replenishing our new business pipeline. And although the timing of new business adds remains dynamic, we anticipate a flattish top line in Q2 and a return to growth in the back half of the year. In the months ahead, we shall remain confident in our ability to control the controllables, realistic about the ongoing challenges that remain within our industry and broader economy, and focused on executing on our strategic priorities to drive growth and deliver long-term value to our shareholders.

就我們今年剩餘時間的展望而言，我們預計行業基本面將繼續改善，因為穩定的勞動力市場和更強大的報銷環境，特別是在州一級，有助於逐步恢復入住率。我們將繼續密切關注行業動態，並對行業正在走向復甦的道路充滿信心，儘管這是一個漫長的過程。我們還希望繼續鞏固過去 6 個月在補充新業務渠道方面取得的重大進展。儘管新業務增加的時間仍然動態，但我們預計第二季度收入持平，下半年將恢復增長。在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將對我們控制可控因素的能力充滿信心，對我們行業和更廣泛經濟中持續存在的挑戰持現實態度，並專注於執行我們的戰略重點，以推動增長並為我們創造長期價值股東。

So with those introductory comments, I'll turn the call over to Matt for a more detailed discussion on our Q1 results.

因此，通過這些介紹性評論，我將把電話轉給馬特，以更詳細地討論我們第一季度的結果。

Thanks, Ted, and good morning, everyone. Revenue for the quarter was reported at $417.2 million, with housekeeping & laundry and dining & nutrition segment revenues of $193.4 (sic) [193.5] million and $224 (sic) [223.7] million, respectively. Housekeeping & laundry and dining & nutrition segment margins were 10.4% and 6.6%, respectively. Direct cost of services was reported at $361 million or 86.5%, and direct costs included a $6.9 million increase in our CECL AR reserves.

謝謝，泰德，大家早上好。本季度的收入為 4.172 億美元，家政和洗衣以及餐飲和營養部門的收入分別為 193.4（原文如此）[1.935] 億美元和 224（原文如此）[2.237] 億美元。家政與洗衣和餐飲與營養部門的利潤率分別為 10.4% 和 6.6%。據報告，直接服務成本為 3.61 億美元或 86.5%，直接成本包括我們的 CECL AR 儲備增加 690 萬美元。

As Ted highlighted in his opening remarks, we again met our goal of managing the business with cost of services in line with our historical target of 86%. SG&A was reported at $40 million. After adjusting for the $1.5 million increase in deferred compensation, actual SG&A was $38.5 million or 9.2%, and we expect 2023 SG&A between 8.5% to 9.5%.

正如泰德在開場白中強調的那樣，我們再次實現了管理業務的目標，即服務成本達到我們 86% 的歷史目標。據報導，SG&A 為 4000 萬美元。在調整遞延薪酬增加 150 萬美元後，實際 SG&A 為 3850 萬美元或 9.2%，我們預計 2023 年 SG&A 將在 8.5% 至 9.5% 之間。

The effective tax rate was 27.8%, which included discrete items specific to Q1. The company expects a 2023 tax rate of 24% to 26%.

有效稅率為 27.8%，其中包括特定於第一季度的離散項目。該公司預計 2023 年的稅率為 24% 至 26%。

For those of you who saw the press release this morning, you might have noticed the table introducing non-GAAP financial measure, specifically adjusted EBITDA. The rationale for introducing adjusted EBITDA as a new metric is to enhance transparency, increase period-to-period comparability and more closely align our reporting with how management views the business. Having said that, adjusted EBITDA for Q1 was $27.5 million or 6.6% of revenue. That compares with $23.3 million for the same period in Q1 of 2022, which was 5.5% of revenue. Cash flow used in operations for the quarter was $16.3 million and was impacted by a $21.2 million decrease in accrued payroll and a $20.6 million increase in accounts receivable related to the timing of cash collections. DSO for the quarter was 76 days. Also, we would point out that the Q2 payroll accrual will be 13 days. That compares to the 6 days that we had in Q1 of 2023 and the 12 days that we had in Q2 of 2022. But the payroll accrual only relates to timing, and the impact ultimately washes out through the full year.

對於今天早上看到新聞稿的人來說，您可能已經註意到介紹非 GAAP 財務指標的表格，特別是調整後的 EBITDA。將調整後的 EBITDA 作為新指標引入的理由是為了提高透明度，增加期間間的可比性，並使我們的報告與管理層對業務的看法更加一致。話雖如此，第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 2750 萬美元，佔收入的 6.6%。相比之下，2022 年第一季度同期為 2330 萬美元，佔收入的 5.5%。本季度用於運營的現金流量為 1630 萬美元，受到應計工資減少 2120 萬美元以及與現金收取時間相關的應收賬款增加 2060 萬美元的影響。本季度的 DSO 為 76 天。此外，我們要指出的是，第二季度的應計工資將為 13 天。相比之下，我們在 2023 年第一季度有 6 天，在 2022 年第二季度有 12 天。但應計工資只與時間有關，影響最終會在全年消失。

So with those opening remarks, we'd now like to open up the call for questions.

有了這些開場白，我們現在想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from A.J. Rice from Credit Suisse.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 A.J.來自瑞士信貸的大米。

Maybe I'll just ask a couple of quick ones here, hopefully. So when we think about the margins you're posting this quarter, the 10.4% for housekeeping and 6.6% for dining, your modifications are done. Are these sort of normalized? And do you think margins in this range for the rest of the year are going to be achievable? Or any reasons to think they would either trend a little better or a little worse as we progress through the rest of the year?

也許我會在這裡問幾個快速的問題，希望如此。因此，當我們考慮您本季度發布的利潤時，10.4% 的家政服務和 6.6% 的餐飲服務，您的修改就完成了。這些是規範化的嗎？您認為在今年剩餘時間裡這個範圍內的利潤率是否可以實現？或者有什麼理由認為隨著今年餘下時間的進展，它們的趨勢會好一點或壞一點？

Yes, A.J., it's a great question. I think specifically from a segment perspective, you're always going to see some movement month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter, largely due to execution, new business adds and other considerations that are happening each and every day out in our field-based operations. I think maybe to bring it back to our reported number, we're proud that our margins for the second quarter in a row, the second consecutive quarter, came out in that 86% target range, and we expect those positive trends to continue into Q2 of 2023 and feel confident in our ability to manage at those levels for the rest of the year.

是的，A.J.，這是一個很好的問題。我認為，特別是從細分市場的角度來看，您總是會看到每個月、每個季度都有一些變化，這主要是由於執行、新業務增加以及我們每天都在發生的其他考慮因素基於現場的操作。我想也許要回到我們報告的數字，我們很自豪我們的利潤率連續第二個季度，連續第二個季度達到 86% 的目標範圍，我們預計這些積極趨勢將持續到2023 年第二季度，並對我們在今年剩餘時間裡在這些級別上進行管理的能力充滿信心。

I alluded to it in my initial response, but there's always going to be execution risk. We don't talk about that enough, but managing this business is difficult. There's a lot that goes into it. The client experience, budget versus actual, regulatory and compliance reporting, so for us, execution is always the key to the business. We've talked about CECL in the past, which introduces a degree of variability as well. One of the reasons, it wasn't the catalyst for us, but I think now providing that adjusted EBITDA table will at least provide a bit of context to any sort of CECL adjustment quarter-to-quarter.

我在最初的回復中提到過，但執行風險總是存在的。我們談論的還不夠多，但管理這項業務很困難。裡面有很多內容。客戶體驗、預算與實際、監管和合規報告，因此對我們而言，執行始終是業務的關鍵。我們過去曾討論過 CECL，它也引入了一定程度的可變性。原因之一，它不是我們的催化劑，但我認為現在提供調整後的 EBITDA 表至少會為任何類型的 CECL 季度調整提供一些背景信息。

The only other variable to our ability to deliver on those margins as we see it would be growth, which would be a good thing. And as you know, that's always a factor because when we're starting new business and inheriting the existing payrolls and supply budgets, there's typically some initial margin compression as we work to implement our systems and staffing patterns. Typically, that lasts anywhere from 60 to 90 days, but that could be a temporary drag as well. I think overall, though, we feel very good about the underlying business and the KPIs and trends related to experience, systems adherence, regulatory compliance and budget discipline, all of which are factors in margin consistency.

正如我們所看到的，我們實現這些利潤率的能力的唯一其他變量是增長，這將是一件好事。正如你所知，這始終是一個因素，因為當我們開始新業務並繼承現有的工資單和供應預算時，在我們努力實施我們的系統和人員配置模式時，通常會出現一些初始利潤壓縮。通常，這會持續 60 到 90 天，但這也可能是暫時的拖累。不過，我認為總體而言，我們對基礎業務以及與經驗、系統遵守、法規遵從和預算紀律相關的 KPI 和趨勢感覺非常好，所有這些都是保證利潤率一致性的因素。

Okay. That's great. I know the CECL accrual gets volatile quarter-to-quarter. And I think you had an increase of 6.9% you're calling out this quarter. Anything about that, that says, hey, this is going to -- we're going to have an ongoing accrual of bad debts at a higher rate? Or is that sort of a onetime adjustment? Or how should we think about that? I know it's sort of formulaic, but any thought on that going forward?

好的。那太棒了。我知道 CECL 的應計利潤每季度都會波動。而且我認為你本季度的增幅為 6.9%。關於那件事的任何事情，那就是，嘿，這將 - 我們將以更高的速度持續增加壞賬？還是那種一次性的調整？或者我們應該如何考慮？我知道這有點公式化，但有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. I think we introduced adjusted EBITDA for a few reasons, primarily to really increase transparency and increase the comparability quarter to quarter, period to period. But more importantly, it's more closely aligned with how management views the business, including bad debt expense. CECL, as you alluded to, is very formulaic. In our adjusted EBITDA table, we show the difference between the CECL bad debt reserve and what our actual write-offs have been using the same look-back period. So that's another indicator, another way to look at, if past its prologue, what we could expect moving forward.

是的。我認為我們引入調整後的 EBITDA 有幾個原因，主要是為了真正提高透明度並提高季度與季度、期間與期間的可比性。但更重要的是，它更符合管理層對業務的看法，包括壞賬費用。正如您提到的，CECL 非常公式化。在我們調整後的 EBITDA 表中，我們顯示了 CECL 壞賬準備金與我們使用相同回顧期的實際註銷之間的差異。所以這是另一個指標，另一種方式來看待，如果過去了它的序幕，我們可以期待前進。

Okay. One last question. You had a $16 million use of cash this quarter. It looks like that was primarily driven by the volatility in the accrued payroll and so forth. And you said -- you pointed out how that's going to swing around in the second quarter. Can you just give us a sense of where you think a normalized cash flow run rate is for you? Do you have a target for the year or a range that you think is the right way to think about cash flow normalizing for the volatility in the payables?

好的。最後一個問題。本季度您使用了 1600 萬美元的現金。看起來這主要是由應計工資等的波動驅動的。你說 - 你指出了第二季度將如何擺動。你能告訴我們你認為標準化現金流運行率在哪裡適合你嗎？您是否有年度目標或範圍，您認為這是考慮應付賬款波動的現金流正常化的正確方法？

Yes, I'd say for any given year, the best proxy for free cash flow continues to be net income. Having said that, we are in a period where, as the industry is recovering, there's a bit more fits and starts with cash collections in any given quarter, specifically as we called out our expectations around the first half of the year.

是的，我想說對於任何一年，自由現金流的最佳代表仍然是淨收入。話雖如此，我們正處於一個時期，隨著行業的複蘇，在任何給定的季度都有更多的現金收款，特別是當我們在今年上半年提出我們的預期時。

But to your question, based on the timing and the impact of the Q2 payroll accrual, we would project a free cash flow range in that $15 million to $25 million territory. And then for the second half of the year, A.J., $20 million to $30 million. So net-net for the year, that gets you to about a $30 million free cash flow number, which will likely prove to be conservative, but it gives you at least a flavor for how we're thinking about the cadence for the balance of the year.

但對於你的問題，根據第二季度薪資應計的時間和影響，我們預計自由現金流範圍在 1500 萬至 2500 萬美元之間。然後是今年下半年，A.J.，2000 萬到 3000 萬美元。所以今年的淨額，這讓你得到大約 3000 萬美元的自由現金流數字，這可能會被證明是保守的，但它至少讓你了解我們如何考慮平衡的節奏那一年。

Our next question comes from Andy Wittmann from Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Andy Wittmann。

Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that I -- and maybe everybody else is on the same page -- about the AR definitions here in your adjusted EBITDA. So let me try to articulate it a different way and see if I've understood this correctly. So you took a total CECL AR reserve against bad debt of $6.9 million. That was -- the way you're thinking about that is that's actually just $4 million, I guess, higher than the way you think about it. And I guess the way you think about it is kind of the old methodology before CECL became the standard. Is that the right way of kind of thinking about what you're doing there with that reconciliation?

抱歉，我只是想確保我——也許其他人都在同一頁上——關於調整後的 EBITDA 中的 AR 定義。所以讓我試著用不同的方式來表達它，看看我是否理解正確。因此，您為 690 萬美元的壞賬提取了總計 CECL AR 準備金。那是——你想的方式實際上只是 400 萬美元，我猜，比你想的方式要高。我想您的想法是 CECL 成為標準之前的舊方法。這是思考你在那裡所做的和解的正確方式嗎？

Let me play it back a different way for you, Andy. I'd say CECL, and you're right, has showed $6.9 million this quarter. What we did is we used that same 7-year look-back period and compared actual write-offs against actual revenue in that 7-year look-back period. And then that was -- and then the resulting difference was the adjustment in the adjusted EBITDA table.

讓我用不同的方式給你回放一遍，安迪。我會說 CECL，你是對的，本季度已經展示了 690 萬美元。我們所做的是使用相同的 7 年回溯期，並將實際註銷與該 7 年回溯期內的實際收入進行比較。然後就是 - 然後產生的差異是調整後的 EBITDA 表中的調整。

Said another way, the $6.9 million -- the $6.9 million CECL reserve was about 1.6%, 1.7% of revenue. The write-off reserve would have been 70 basis points of revenue. So the difference of that is the adjustment in the table. It's just presenting what we actually wrote off over that 7-year period versus what is being reserved for, because write-off -- what we're reserving for within CECL is not necessarily indicative of what's going to be written off, because a lot of it just relates to timing, not necessarily risk profile.

換句話說，690 萬美元——690 萬美元的 CECL 儲備約佔收入的 1.6%，1.7%。註銷準備金將是收入的 70 個基點。因此，兩者的區別在於表中的調整。它只是展示我們在這 7 年期間實際註銷的內容與保留的內容，因為註銷 - 我們在 CECL 中保留的內容不一定表示將要註銷的內容，因為很多其中僅與時間有關，不一定與風險狀況有關。

And is it also -- is the adjustment here, I guess, conceptually reflective of the last 7 years, which is required under the GAAP, were obviously a tough 7 years in terms of the write-offs. But with the improvements that you've made over the last -- actually, more than just 1 year, 1.5 years, 2 years in this, the thought is that you'll be in a better position, and that those 7 past years are not indicative of the first of the coming years in the future? Is that part of the thought process in doing what you're doing here as well?

我想，這裡的調整是否也從概念上反映了 GAAP 要求的過去 7 年，在註銷方面顯然是艱難的 7 年。但是隨著你在過去所做的改進——實際上，不僅僅是 1 年、1.5 年、2 年，你的想法是你會處於一個更好的位置，過去的 7 年是不代表未來幾年的第一年？這也是你在這裡做的事情的思考過程的一部分嗎？

Well, it's just showing what we actually wrote off, right? I mean not what we're -- not as being -- not what necessarily what's being reserved, but what's being written off. But to your point, Andy, I mean, whether the past is necessarily indicative of the future, we're not willing to accept a single write-off. For us, any write-off is disappointing. We work hard for every single dollar we're able to earn as a company and which is why you highlighted it, I guess, in concept. But we've spent a lot of time, whether it's increasing payment frequency and the strategy that we've had around that, today still greater than 60% of our customers are paying us at a frequency of greater than monthly. In most cases, it's weekly. In some cases, it's biweekly. But we were sitting here a couple of years ago, we would have been able to count on one hand the number of customers that were paying us at a frequency greater than monthly.

好吧，它只是顯示了我們實際註銷的內容，對嗎？我的意思不是我們現在是什麼——也不是我們現在是什麼——不一定是保留的東西，而是被註銷的東西。但就你的觀點而言，安迪，我的意思是，無論過去是否必然預示著未來，我們都不願意接受一次註銷。對我們來說，任何註銷都是令人失望的。作為一家公司，我們為能夠賺取的每一美元都努力工作，這就是為什麼你強調它，我想，在概念上。但是我們花了很多時間，無論是增加付款頻率還是我們圍繞該頻率制定的策略，今天仍然有超過 60% 的客戶以超過每月的頻率向我們付款。在大多數情況下，它是每週一次。在某些情況下，它是每兩週一次。但幾年前我們坐在這裡，我們可以用一隻手數出以高於每月的頻率向我們付款的客戶數量。

We are more proactively than ever utilizing promissory notes as a critical tactic in our overall collection strategy, and we've been successful in that endeavor. And perhaps most importantly, remaining disciplined in our decision-making, not just for existing business but also for new business. So all of that are going to be focal points for us moving forward, and we believe will bear fruit in '23, but certainly in the years ahead.

我們比以往任何時候都更積極地將期票作為我們整體收款策略中的一項關鍵策略，並且我們在這方面取得了成功。也許最重要的是，在我們的決策制定中保持紀律，不僅針對現有業務，而且針對新業務。因此，所有這些都將成為我們前進的焦點，我們相信將在 23 年取得成果，但肯定會在未來幾年取得成果。

Got it. Okay. So just a couple more questions along that line then. Can you talk -- maybe Matt, you've got the number handy. What was -- how much was converted into promissory notes in the quarter? And is the bad debt -- can you just remind me, is that reflected in your COGS? Or is that in your SG&A line? I think it's in COGS, but I just wanted to verify.

知道了。好的。那麼接下來還有幾個問題。你能談談嗎——也許馬特，你手邊有電話號碼。什麼是 - 本季度有多少被轉換為期票？壞賬是什麼——你能提醒我一下，這反映在你的 COGS 中嗎？還是在您的 SG&A 系列中？我認為它在 COGS 中，但我只是想驗證一下。

Yes, Andy, it was about $14 million that was converted to promissory notes in the quarter, and that was both a combination of the final sort of cleanup and conclusion of the contract modification initiatives, and then just normal course, because as we've discussed previously, we increasingly view the promissory note as not simply a workout tool but really a favorable proactive tool by which we can really capture and secure receivable balances with our clients.

是的，安迪，本季度大約有 1400 萬美元被轉換為期票，這既是最後一次清理和合同修改計劃的結論的結合，也是正常過程，因為我們已經前面討論過，我們越來越多地將期票視為不僅僅是一種鍛煉工具，而是一種真正有利的主動工具，通過它我們可以真正獲取和確保與客戶的應收賬款餘額。

Got it. Okay. On the COGS question?

知道了。好的。關於 COGS 問題？

Sorry, could you repeat that one, Andy?

抱歉，安迪，你能重複一遍嗎？

The second half of my question was the bad debt. Is that reported in the gross margins or in the SG&A?

我問題的後半部分是壞賬。這是在毛利率或 SG&A 中報告的嗎？

Yes, that's in gross margin and cost of services.

是的，這是毛利率和服務成本。

Okay. And then sorry, last question here. Just more fundamentally, I guess Ted, now that the contract review process is done, I guess, how much of a benefit could that be to your top line, presuming that you'll have to walk away from fewer contracts here in '23 than you did in '22? In other words, your customer retention, I suspect, will be better this year than it was last year. How much help do you think that offers you to your top line growth rate this year?

好的。然後抱歉，這裡是最後一個問題。更根本的是，我猜特德，現在合同審查過程已經完成，我想，這對你的收入有多大好處，假設你在 23 年必須放棄的合同數量少於你在 22 年做的？換句話說，我懷疑今年你的客戶保留率會比去年好。您認為這對您今年的收入增長率有多大幫助？

Yes, Andy, I wouldn't be able to quantify the -- necessarily the puts and takes around your question other than to say we feel very confident in how solid our core customer base is today. I mean one of the benefits of the contract modification initiative, Andy, beyond making sure we were rightsizing the increases in a way where they could keep up with the significant inflation we've experienced, is the connectivity and the contact we had with our customers. I mean we've described it before, but it was bottoms up, all hands on deck. It wasn't done out of a home office with maps and pushpins. It was our field-based operators, our field-based leaders working with their counterparts, aligning on a future, what it could look like from a contract perspective, what some of the operational adjustments, maybe that we're aligning the operations more with their preferences. So it was very collaborative.

是的，安迪，除了說我們對今天的核心客戶群的穩固程度非常有信心之外，我無法量化 - 必然是看跌期權和接受你的問題。我的意思是，安迪，合同修改計劃的好處之一，除了確保我們以一種能夠跟上我們經歷過的嚴重通貨膨脹的方式合理調整增長之外，還有我們與客戶的聯繫和聯繫.我的意思是我們之前已經描述過它，但它是自下而上的，所有人都在甲板上。它不是在家庭辦公室裡用地圖和圖釘完成的。這是我們的現場運營商，我們的現場領導與他們的同行合作，調整未來，從合同的角度看它會是什麼樣子，一些運營調整，也許我們正在使運營更多地與他們的喜好。所以這是非常合作的。

We could have taken a different approach and sent Dear valued customer letters, that would have failed on day 1. So we were very pleased, aside from the financial outcome and maybe more importantly, the durability that it provides to these client partnerships, was the enhanced customer relationships we had moving forward. So I think that, although it doesn't necessarily answer your question quantitatively, I think will inure to the company's benefit for months and years to come.

我們本可以採取不同的方法並向尊敬的客戶發送信件，這在第一天就會失敗。所以我們非常高興，除了財務結果，也許更重要的是，它為這些客戶夥伴關係提供的持久性，是增強了我們向前發展的客戶關係。所以我認為，雖然它不一定能從數量上回答你的問題，但我認為它將在未來數月和數年內滿足公司的利益。

Our next question comes from Sean Dodge from RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Sean Dodge。

Just to start, I have one more on CECL and the reserving process just to make sure I'm clear there. If we kind of roll forward in your collections performance, if that stabilizes or improves, would there be additional CECL reserves in each quarter? Or is this kind of -- are you reserving kind of above or below some type of like baseline?

剛開始，我還有一個關於 CECL 和保留過程的信息，以確保我在那裡清楚。如果我們在您的收款性能方面有所提升，如果穩定或改善，每個季度是否會有額外的 CECL 儲備？或者是這種 - 你是否保留高於或低於某種類似基線的類型？

It's not a baseline. It's the CECL calculation essentially looking back over 7 years and assigning percentages to each aging bucket. And then that produces the reserve, and the difference quarter-to-quarter reserve, the resulting difference quarter-to-quarter is the bad debt expense. But to your point, Sean, as we -- depending on cash collections and the timing of cash collections, the way the formula has worked historically, the stronger the cash collections in any given quarter, the lower the CECL reserve. So we could end up at some point in the future, which we've had in the past, where we actually have a credit balance resulting in bad expense. If we have a couple of strong cash collection quarters depending on how that's applied to the reserve buckets and the clients within those buckets, we could have a pickup within bad debt expense, which I'll be honest with you, I don't believe that's appropriate either. So that's why we're anchoring it back to what have we historically written off. So in some quarters, as our cash collections improve and become stronger in the months and years ahead, as CECL becomes lower, we're still going to, in our adjusted EBITDA table, show what the actual write-offs have been. It's just to present a different context, and really more aligned with the way management views the result of the work that we do in our financial services department.

這不是基線。這是 CECL 計算，本質上是回顧 7 年，並為每個老化桶分配百分比。然後產生準備金，以及季度準備金的差異，由此產生的季度差異就是壞賬費用。但就你的觀點而言，肖恩，正如我們 - 根據現金收集和現金收集的時間，該公式在歷史上的運作方式，任何給定季度的現金收集越多，CECL 儲備就越低。因此，我們可能會在未來的某個時候結束，就像過去那樣，我們實際上有信貸餘額導致不良支出。如果我們有幾個強勁的現金回收季度，這取決於它如何應用於儲備桶和這些桶中的客戶，我們可能會在壞賬費用中有所增加，老實說，我不相信那也是合適的。所以這就是為什麼我們將其錨定回我們歷史上註銷的內容。因此，在某些季度，隨著我們的現金收集在未來幾個月和幾年內有所改善並變得更強大，隨著 CECL 變得更低，我們仍將在調整後的 EBITDA 表中顯示實際註銷的金額。這只是為了呈現不同的背景，並且更符合管理層對我們在金融服務部門所做工作結果的看法。

Okay. So there will likely always be some type of reserve in the quarter, but that reserve will get smaller as your performance improves?

好的。因此，本季度可能總會有某種類型的儲備金，但隨著您的績效提高，該儲備金會變小嗎？

I think that as our cash collections improve, I think that's a fair -- it's not a guarantee because, again, it depends on the aging of the buckets and the customers within those buckets. But yes, I think directionally, that is a fair statement.

我認為隨著我們現金收集的改善，我認為這是公平的——這不是保證，因為這再次取決於桶的老化和這些桶中的客戶。但是，是的，我認為方向性的，這是一個公平的聲明。

Okay. Okay. Good. And then you said the plan is still to return to growth in the back half of the year. Should we think about the kind of the first motion there being the dining cross-sell, so targeting existing housekeeping customers and adding in the dining services? And then I guess, maybe give us an update on where you are as far as reramping all of the manager recruiting and training efforts needed to feed that? Is that kind of all getting underway now?

好的。好的。好的。然後你說計劃仍然是下半年恢復增長。我們是否應該考慮餐飲交叉銷售的第一個動議，即針對現有的家政客戶並增加餐飲服務？然後我想，也許可以告訴我們您在重新調整所有經理招聘和培訓工作所需的最新情況？現在一切都在進行中嗎？

Yes. Absolutely, Sean. We've talked for quite some time, and with conviction, about the lowest-hanging fruit for us as an organization with respect to growth being that cross-sell opportunity, given that as we sit here, if we look at our existing customers from a housekeeping & laundry perspective, we're still with less than 50% penetration in also providing dining services.

是的。當然，肖恩。我們已經討論了很長一段時間，並且堅信，對於我們作為一個組織來說，在增長方面最容易實現的成果是交叉銷售機會，因為我們坐在這裡，如果我們從從客房服務和洗衣服務的角度來看，我們在提供餐飲服務方面的滲透率仍然不到 50%。

Now in this environment, obviously, we can make a more accurate and a higher level of conviction assessment of the financial help of that existing housekeeping and laundry customer, to determine if it's appropriate to then add dining services to the mix of services provided. That's compared to making that assessment with the greenfield opportunity for a prospective customer off the street. So without a doubt, that remains an appealing and attractive growth opportunity for us, is that cross-sell of dining services. Keeping in mind that we continue to view environmental services, housekeeping & laundry services as the greenfield sales lead opportunity, and then would view the cross-sell as secondary from there.

現在，在這種環境下，顯然，我們可以對現有家政和洗衣客戶的財務幫助進行更準確和更高水平的信念評估，以確定然後將餐飲服務添加到所提供的服務組合中是否合適。這與為街道外的潛在客戶進行綠地機會評估相比。所以毫無疑問，對我們來說，這仍然是一個有吸引力和有吸引力的增長機會，那就是餐飲服務的交叉銷售。請記住，我們繼續將環境服務、家政服務和洗衣服務視為全新的銷售機會，然後將交叉銷售視為次要機會。

There are instances in which we do initiate a relationship with a new customer and provide both services, but that's far less frequent than offering housekeeping & laundry services as the lead. Just to sort of digress and think about the bigger picture as to the growth prospects, we've certainly spoken previously about restocking our prospect pipeline, and we continue to see that pipeline grow. We're obviously focusing on growth, especially as we look to the back half of the year.

在某些情況下，我們確實會與新客戶建立關係並同時提供這兩種服務，但這種情況遠不如提供家政和洗衣服務作為主導。只是為了離題並考慮關於增長前景的更大圖景，我們之前肯定談到過補充我們的前景管道，我們繼續看到管道增長。我們顯然專注於增長，尤其是在我們展望今年下半年的時候。

And some of the other factors that contribute to that view, Sean, in addition to the cross-sell of dining services that you alluded to, would be, of course, the ongoing industry recovery, which puts both customers and prospects on firmer financial footing. And that's bolstered by some of the census recovery that we're seeing out there and some of the reimbursement wins that we're seeing really not only at the federal Medicare level, but state by state, some of the Medicaid improvements that we're seeing.

肖恩，除了你提到的餐飲服務交叉銷售之外，其他一些促成這種觀點的因素當然是持續的行業復甦，這使客戶和潛在客戶都處於更穩固的財務基礎上.這得到了我們在那裡看到的一些人口普查恢復以及我們不僅在聯邦醫療保險層面，而且在各州看到的一些報銷勝利的支持，我們正在看到。

The increased resonance of our value proposition, which affects not only our new business pipeline, but also our ability to retain the existing business, the continued build-out of our management capacity, as you noted, through recruiting efforts, hiring and training, and all of that being executed locally at our facilities, just as it always has been. And then another element that we've maybe not talked as much about previously is the fact that we're in an increasingly transactional environment as far as facility ownership changes.

我們價值主張的共鳴增加，這不僅會影響我們的新業務管道，還會影響我們保留現有業務的能力，正如您所指出的，通過招聘工作、招聘和培訓以及所有這些都在我們的工廠本地執行，一如既往。然後，我們之前可能沒有過多討論的另一個因素是，就設施所有權的變化而言，我們處於一個越來越多的交易環境中。

There are survey data, and our experience certainly mirrors this, that saw 2022 as a record year for deals within the skilled nursing space. The frequency of SNF deals accelerated in the last 4 months of 2022, and in a separate study, nearly 3/4 of owners, executive and administrators, predicted that their organization would likely be engaged in an acquisition, sale or merger in 2023. So in those instances, we continue to assess the new operating ownership and determine the course of action that's best for the company, specifically whether it makes sense to continue providing services or to exit the business.

有調查數據，我們的經驗肯定反映了這一點，即 2022 年是專業護理領域交易創紀錄的一年。 SNF 交易的頻率在 2022 年的最後 4 個月加速，在另一項研究中，近 3/4 的所有者、高管和管理人員預測他們的組織可能會在 2023 年進行收購、出售或合併。所以在這些情況下，我們會繼續評估新的運營所有權並確定最適合公司的行動方案，特別是繼續提供服務或退出業務是否有意義。

And on a net basis, Sean, we expect that this transactional environment should allow us to expand our partnerships with the strong acquiring operators. Now as always, we'll guard against engaging with distressed or unproven players, but overall, we're definitely building toward growth. And of course, we'll manage growth in a measured way so as to ensure that we're appropriately assessing new prospects and ensuring that we have the managerial wherewithal to deliver operationally. But I can tell you that there's a palpable enthusiasm within the organization for getting back into that growth cycle.

在淨基礎上，肖恩，我們預計這種交易環境應該允許我們擴大與強大的收購運營商的合作夥伴關係。現在一如既往，我們會避免與陷入困境或未經證實的玩家打交道，但總的來說，我們肯定會朝著成長的方向發展。當然，我們將以一種有節制的方式管理增長，以確保我們適當地評估新的前景，並確保我們有足夠的管理資金來實現運營。但我可以告訴你，組織內部對回到那個增長周期有著明顯的熱情。

Our next question comes from Tao Qiu from Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的邱濤。

We're seeing consistent market improvement in dining margin over the past 2 quarters, which has been a major contributor to the bottom line. I think the 6.6% margin number is higher than the averages pre-pandemic. And I believe some of that is the catch-up on food cost from contract modification, which ties your rate to some type of cost index. Is there any reason you think you can or can't be sustained at that level in the context of moderating CPI numbers? And second to that, I think in the past, you have been at a higher single-digit level of margin for that business. Is that still the case?

我們看到過去兩個季度餐飲利潤率的市場持續改善，這是利潤的主要貢獻者。我認為 6.6% 的保證金數字高於大流行前的平均水平。我相信其中一部分是合同修改對食品成本的追趕，它將您的費率與某種類型的成本指數聯繫起來。在緩和 CPI 數字的背景下，您是否有任何理由認為您可以或不能維持在該水平？其次，我認為在過去，該業務的利潤率一直處於較高的個位數水平。現在還是這樣嗎？

Yes. To speak specifically to your point about the food inflation, Tao, you're exactly right in that in the quarter, food at home inflation was 0.4%, and that was a sequential improvement from Q4, which was 1.1%. And then with respect to the pass-through mechanism, you're exactly right that the inflation that we experienced in the third quarter of 2022 would have been passed through in this first quarter. And the third quarter inflation was 2.7%. So you're exactly right in that we're getting a 2.7% increase, inflationary increase in Q1, and that compared to the actual inflation that we saw in the quarter of 0.4%.

是的。具體來說，陶先生，您關於食品通脹的觀點是正確的，本季度家庭食品通脹率為 0.4%，與第四季度的 1.1% 相比環比有所改善。然後關於傳遞機制，你是完全正確的，我們在 2022 年第三季度經歷的通貨膨脹將在第一季度傳遞。第三季度通脹率為2.7%。所以你完全正確，我們得到了 2.7% 的增長，第一季度的通貨膨脹率上升，與我們在本季度看到的 0.4% 的實際通貨膨脹率相比。

So definitely, if inflation continues to move in a favorable direction, that will be beneficial. As a matter of fact, it's worth noting that in March, we actually showed 30 basis points of deflation in that CPI food at home data. So definitely something to keep an eye on there, and that could be a favorable benefit if we continue to see food deflation.

所以可以肯定的是，如果通脹繼續朝著有利的方向發展，那將是有益的。事實上，值得注意的是，在 3 月份，我們實際上在家庭食品 CPI 數據中顯示了 30 個基點的通貨緊縮。所以絕對值得關注，如果我們繼續看到食品通貨緊縮，這可能是一個有利的好處。

And with respect to the dining margin, Tao, the target, as Ted alluded to in his opening remarks, is a little bit of a moving target with respect to not only operational execution, but new business adds as well. So for the time being, we continue to view an appropriate segment-level margin for dining in that sort of mid-single digit, mid- to high single digit.

至於餐飲利潤率，正如泰德在開場白中提到的，目標 Tao 是一個移動目標，不僅在運營執行方面，而且在新業務增加方面也是如此。因此，就目前而言，我們繼續以中個位數、中到高個位數的方式查看餐飲的適當細分級別利潤率。

Got you. I don't think we have talked about labor so far. I think a few health care services providers that have reported continue to see sequential improvement on labor conditions. Could you maybe shed more light on your experience this quarter in terms of hiring, open positions, turnovers, et cetera?

明白了我認為到目前為止我們還沒有討論過勞工問題。我認為一些已報告的醫療保健服務提供者繼續看到勞動條件的持續改善。您能否就本季度在招聘、空缺職位、人員流動等方面的經歷進行更多闡述？

Yes, Tao, I mean, broadly speaking, on a national level, the labor force participation rate continues to trend positive and has picked up 10 bps each of the past 3 months. Job openings and wage growth are all trending downward. I would probably use the word stabilization to describe our overall experience relative to the labor market.

是的，陶，我的意思是，從廣義上講，在全國范圍內，勞動力參與率繼續呈正趨勢，並且在過去 3 個月中每年都上升 10 個基點。職位空缺和工資增長都呈下降趨勢。我可能會用穩定這個詞來描述我們相對於勞動力市場的整體經歷。

However, one of the themes that we mentioned on our last call, as far as kind of the haves and have-nots, continues to bear out. And generally speaking, we've seen greater improvement in suburban and urban markets as compared to the rural markets. And there are definitely some markets that remain more challenging than others, but that offers HCSG really an opportunity to demonstrate one of the key components of our value prop, and that's the fact that we have more resources and are better equipped to manage through these challenges that an in-house managed operation or a would-be competitor. So overall, Tao, I would characterize our general environment as stable, with market improvement in certain markets.

然而，我們在上次電話會議中提到的主題之一，就富人和窮人而言，繼續得到證實。一般來說，與農村市場相比，我們看到郊區和城市市場的改善更大。肯定有一些市場比其他市場更具挑戰性，但這確實為 HCSG 提供了一個機會來展示我們價值支柱的關鍵組成部分之一，那就是我們擁有更多資源並且更有能力應對這些挑戰內部管理的業務或潛在的競爭對手。所以總的來說，陶，我認為我們的總體環境是穩定的，某些市場的市場有所改善。

Okay. Last question for me. I think the nursing home industry is anxiously waiting for the announcement of the federal minimum staffing to understanding that the regulation is focused on the clinical side of the labor force. I'm curious what is your perspective on how that might affect your business? Does it make it more likely or less likely that potential clients will be interested in outsourcing [HSG's] services?

好的。我的最後一個問題。我認為療養院行業正在焦急地等待聯邦最低人員配置的宣布，以了解該法規的重點是勞動力的臨床方面。我很好奇您對這可能如何影響您的業務有何看法？它是否會增加或減少潛在客戶對外包 [HSG] 服務感興趣的可能性？

Yes. I'd say overall, we're going to continue to monitor the industry recovery along with the reimbursement and regulatory dynamics, probably the most awaited one, Tao, you pointed out, very closely so we can make informed decisions along the way. I think just generally inclusive of the minimum staffing, the fact that there's uncertainty or when there is uncertainty, whether it's around the timing of recovery, reimbursement or any sort of regulation, it almost forces providers to find ways to create more certainty in their business. And when you think about it, the central theme of our value proposition is providing peace of mind, operational and financial peace of mind. So still too early to tell generally what impact, if any, that would have. You think if the mandate is -- has an appropriate pilot, it has a phase-in period, along with it a recognition of labor availability constraints. And -- and this is the big one -- and it's fully funded, I think the industry would lean into that type of framework. But an unfunded mandate obviously, not recognizing the realities on the ground, would not be well received. So stay tuned, all of us, right? We'll be able to react and adapt to whatever happens. But generally speaking, I think given our value proposition, if anything, it would only increase the demand for our services.

是的。我想說的是，總的來說，我們將繼續密切關注行業復甦以及報銷和監管動態，陶，你指出，這可能是最期待的，這樣我們才能在此過程中做出明智的決定。我認為僅包括最低限度的人員配置、存在不確定性的事實或何時存在不確定性，無論是圍繞恢復時間、報銷還是任何形式的監管，這幾乎迫使供應商想方設法在他們的業務中創造更多的確定性.當您考慮時，我們價值主張的中心主題是讓您高枕無憂，讓運營和財務安心。因此，總體上說這會產生什麼影響（如果有的話）還為時過早。你認為如果任務是——有一個適當的試點，它有一個逐步實施的時期，以及對勞動力可用性限制的認可。而且——這是一個大的——而且它資金充足，我認為這個行業會傾向於這種類型的框架。但顯然，一項沒有資金的任務，不承認當地的現實，不會受到歡迎。敬請期待，我們所有人，對嗎？我們將能夠對發生的任何事情做出反應和適應。但總的來說，我認為考慮到我們的價值主張，如果有的話，它只會增加對我們服務的需求。

Our next question comes from Ryan Daniels from William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Ryan Daniels。

Yes. This is Jack Melick on for Ryan. Quick question. With Q1 in the books, any update you'd like to give on the share repurchase program and maybe any highlights to a change in strategy on that front?

是的。這是瑞安的傑克梅利克。快速提問。隨著第 1 季度的到來，您想提供有關股票回購計劃的任何更新，以及這方面戰略變化的任何亮點嗎？

No change in strategy. We did purchase about $2.2 million worth of shares during the quarter, and we really view the buyback as opportunistic and as a tax-efficient way to return capital. Again, we'll be very opportunistic with respect to timing, and that timing will depend on a variety of factors, whether it's liquidity, expected cash flow, of course, our share price. We'll look at annual dilution rates and always alternative use analysis, where can we deliver the highest returns. But that was the quarterly activity, and we'll continue to evaluate it each and every week and each and every quarter.

策略沒有變化。我們在本季度確實購買了價值約 220 萬美元的股票，我們確實認為回購是機會主義的，也是一種節稅的資本返還方式。同樣，我們在時機方面會非常機會主義，而時機將取決於多種因素，無論是流動性、預期現金流，當然還有我們的股價。我們將查看年度稀釋率和始終替代用途分析，我們可以在哪些方面提供最高回報。但那是季度活動，我們將繼續每周和每個季度對其進行評估。

Okay. And if you could also provide a bit more color into what drove weaker top line performance this quarter, maybe a bit of detail on the mix between contract modification, price increases versus facility exits. I guess if I'm thinking about this correctly, was it more end market driven? Or is there something else to call out?

好的。而且，如果您還可以提供更多關於導致本季度業績疲軟的因素的顏色，也許可以提供一些關於合同修改、價格上漲與設施退出之間的組合的細節。我想如果我沒有想錯的話，它是否更受終端市場驅動？或者還有什麼可以叫出來的？

No, Jack, last quarter, we obviously estimated Q1 revenue would be in the $420 million to $425 million range, and we reported $417 million, just outside that estimated range, largely due to the fact that we pulled forward the final tranche of the contract modification-related exits, meaning we exited some of that business earlier than we had originally anticipated.

不，傑克，上個季度，我們顯然估計第一季度的收入將在 4.2 億美元至 4.25 億美元之間，我們報告的收入為 4.17 億美元，剛好超出該估計範圍，這主要是因為我們提前了合同的最後一部分與修改相關的退出，這意味著我們比我們最初預期的更早退出了一些業務。

So looking ahead, we'll continue to build on our work over the last 6 months in replenishing that business pipeline, as I alluded to earlier. Although the timing of some of the new business adds does remain dynamic, we anticipate flattish top line into Q2, with the contract modification work behind us and a return to growth in the back half of the year.

因此，展望未來，正如我之前提到的那樣，我們將繼續在過去 6 個月的工作基礎上補充該業務渠道。儘管一些新業務增加的時間確實保持動態，但我們預計第二季度收入持平，合同修改工作已經結束，下半年將恢復增長。

Our next question comes from Bill Sutherland from Benchmark.

我們的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 的 Bill Sutherland。

Good to see all the progress. I was curious, Ted, does the Medicaid redetermination issue have -- what are you hearing on that as far as any impact on the clients?

很高興看到所有的進步。泰德，我很好奇，醫療補助計劃的重新確定問題是否有——就對客戶的影響而言，你聽到了什麼？

What was that, Bill? I'm not sure I heard you.

那是什麼，比爾？我不確定我聽到了你的話。

This is not in the current period, but looking at what Medicaid -- what's being proposed -- or not proposed, but the redetermination process that's going on with the Medicaid beneficiaries?

這不是在當前時期，而是在看什麼醫療補助——正在提議的——或沒有提議，而是正在與醫療補助受益人一起進行的重新確定過程？

Yes, I think I would include that as part of the overall environment, Bill. Going line by line for each and every one of these items, it's all dependent on the market and the specific management companies and/or clients that any one piece of regulation or reimbursement impacts. When you think about -- a lot of these calls, we find ourself speaking at a higher level, kind of rolled up type reports and numbers. But to really think about the business and evaluate the business in a meaningful way, which is what we're doing each and every day, you really have to look not just within the state, but also within a local market and how the facts and circumstances, or again, any piece of reimbursement or regulatory pressure, may impact a given operator. So I would include that or any other executive order, regulation, reimbursement as part of our collective that we're evaluating in our assessment of the business and certainly informs -- could inform a decision that we may make.

是的，我想我會把它作為整體環境的一部分，Bill。對於這些項目中的每一項逐行進行，這都取決於市場和特定的管理公司和/或任何一項監管或報銷影響的客戶。當你想想——很多這樣的電話，我們發現自己在更高層次上說話，有點像匯總類型的報告和數字。但要真正以有意義的方式思考業務和評估業務，這就是我們每天都在做的事情，你真的不僅要看州內，還要看當地市場，以及事實和情況如何情況，或者再次，任何報銷或監管壓力，都可能影響給定的運營商。因此，我會將該命令或任何其他行政命令、法規、報銷作為我們集體的一部分，我們正在評估我們的業務，並且肯定會通知——可以通知我們可能做出的決定。

Okay. I was noticing that absent the CECL reserve, your core cost of goods was actually closer to 85%. So when you guys talk core, you're assuming a certain level of reserving, right?

好的。我注意到在沒有 CECL 儲備的情況下，你們的核心商品成本實際上接近 85%。所以當你們談論核心時，你們假設有一定程度的儲備，對嗎？

That's right.

這是正確的。

Okay. I just wanted to clarify that. And then education, can you give us any color on how that did in the quarter or how that's looking?

好的。我只是想澄清一下。然後是教育，你能告訴我們這個季度的表現如何嗎？

Yes. We've been at it for less than 2 years, and it's beyond the pilot stage at this point, Bill. And I would say it's formally into the start-up phase. The early returns have been remarkably positive, but it is still somewhat nascent. And to your question, it still makes up less than 5% of our revenues. That said, it's an opportunity that we're deeply committed to further exploring in 2023. There's many similarities between our core market and the education space, just the most similar being that they're both highly fragmented, largely in-sourced and vast.

是的。比爾，我們從事這項工作還不到 2 年，此時已經超出了試點階段。我會說它正式進入啟動階段。早期的回報非常積極，但仍處於初期階段。對於你的問題，它仍然占我們收入的不到 5%。也就是說，這是我們致力於在 2023 年進一步探索的機會。我們的核心市場和教育領域有很多相似之處，最相似的是它們都是高度分散的，主要是內包的，而且規模很大。

And I would say our value proposition very much resonates in this market where we're providing a similar product offering, and it has similar margin profiles and working capital profiles. So the early returns continue to be positive, and we have a strong commitment to exploring the opportunity further in the year ahead, more as a complement to our 2023 growth strategy. But beyond that, perhaps something more meaningful.

而且我會說我們的價值主張在我們提供類似產品的這個市場中非常共鳴，並且它具有相似的利潤率和營運資本狀況。因此，早期回報繼續為正，我們堅定地承諾在未來一年進一步探索機會，更多地作為對我們 2023 年增長戰略的補充。但除此之外，也許還有更有意義的事情。

Our last question will come from Brian Tanquilut from Jefferies.

我們的最後一個問題將來自 Jefferies 的 Brian Tanquilut。

Congrats on the quarter. I guess my question, as you mentioned improving occupancy trends for your end clients being a factor in the improvement of the business, how are the conversations changing? I mean in terms of inbound and how your clients are thinking about their business today that gives us maybe visibility into future growth or your ability to accelerate growth, let's just say beginning in the back half of this year?

祝賀這個季度。我想我的問題是，正如您提到的改善最終客戶的入住率趨勢是改善業務的一個因素，對話如何變化？我的意思是，在入站方面以及您的客戶如何看待他們今天的業務，這讓我們可以了解未來的增長或您加速增長的能力，讓我們說從今年下半年開始？

Yes. I think you touched on the biggest factor that relates to our assessment of prospective clients, and quite honestly, Brian, their willingness to engage an outsourcing partner from an operational capacity and availability perspective, in that occupancy, while not a panacea, is certainly a significant contributor to the overall financial health of a client. And that is, as we've discussed in a very much a cause and effect way, tied to the availability of professional nursing staff.

是的。我認為您談到了與我們對潛在客戶的評估相關的最大因素，老實說，布賴恩，他們願意從運營能力和可用性的角度聘請外包合作夥伴，在這種情況下，入住率雖然不是靈丹妙藥，但肯定是對客戶整體財務健康的重要貢獻者。也就是說，正如我們以因果關係的方式討論的那樣，這與專業護理人員的可用性有關。

And not to sort of beat the dead horse here on this theme of haves and have-nots, but that continues to bear out. I talked about the impact of, the sort of geographic impact of suburban and urban labor market as compared to rural labor market, and that has a direct effect on the ability to drive census. We're looking at, of course, national occupancy data. But when we look at our own internal data with respect to our clients' occupancy, there's a fairly significant delta between occupancy as a percentage of capacity in the urban and suburban facilities as compared to rural.

並不是要在這個有產者和無產者的主題上擊敗死馬，但這繼續得到證實。我談到了與農村勞動力市場相比，郊區和城市勞動力市場的地理影響，這對推動人口普查的能力有直接影響。當然，我們正在查看全國入住率數據。但是，當我們查看有關客戶入住率的內部數據時，與農村相比，城市和郊區設施的入住率佔容量的百分比存在相當大的差異。

So without a doubt, occupancy does have an impact. We are seeing this thematic have and have-not really kind of continues to bear out. So all of that is definitely something that we keep in mind and keep top of mind. It certainly flavors our view of not only the health of our existing customer base, but how we assess and consider prospective customer partners. But much more than any national level data or even our own existing sort of customer base data in assessing new prospects, is really to dig in and do that full financial assessment, not only of their current state as it relates to their financial wherewithal and well-being, but just as importantly, if not more so, is their go-forward prospects. And that's an assessment, not only of kind of their geographical positioning, what state they're operating in, what other states they may have exposure to in their portfolio and really the specific conditions within the 4 walls of that facility, in making our assessment as to determining a healthy prospect or a target that we would perhaps put on the shelf and reconsider when they find themselves in a more favorable financial position. So definitely, as I noted, not the panacea, occupancy, but certainly a significant driver of that assessment.

所以毫無疑問，入住率確實有影響。我們看到這個主題有和沒有真的在某種程度上繼續得到證實。因此，所有這些絕對是我們牢記並放在首位的事情。它不僅影響了我們對現有客戶群健康狀況的看法，而且影響了我們評估和考慮潛在客戶合作夥伴的方式。但是，在評估新前景時，比任何國家級數據甚至我們自己現有的客戶群數據更重要的是深入挖掘並進行全面的財務評估，而不僅僅是評估他們目前的狀況，因為這與他們的財務狀況和狀況有關-存在，但同樣重要的是，如果不是更重要的話，是他們的前進前景。在進行我們的評估時，這不僅是對他們的地理位置、他們在哪個州運營、他們的投資組合中可能接觸到的其他州以及該設施四壁內的具體條件的評估至於確定一個健康的前景或目標，我們可能會擱置並在他們發現自己處於更有利的財務狀況時重新考慮。所以，正如我所指出的，入住率肯定不是靈丹妙藥，但肯定是該評估的重要驅動因素。

Got you. No, that makes sense. And then I guess, as I think about DSOs, any thoughts that we need to be considering in our models for like seasonality of DSOs going forward?

明白了不，這是有道理的。然後我想，當我考慮 DSO 時，我們需要在我們的模型中考慮任何想法，比如未來 DSO 的季節性？

Not beyond, I'd say, the cash collection or cash flow estimates, Brian, I provided to A.J. earlier in the call. Meaning as we're -- our goal each and every quarter is to collect what we bill. And if we achieve that goal, when we achieve that goal, DSO is going to remain flattish with a downward trajectory in a quarter like Q1, which is traditionally our weakest quarter of the year, you typically would see a DSO uptick. And then if we're successful in executing on our strategy for the remainder of the year, you'd see a downtick. And that's what our goal would be. So it's a good indicator. It's not the only indicator when you think about underlying customer health and future prospects of collection, but it's an indicator and something we should all continue to monitor, and we certainly do going forward. But again, as our cash collections improve throughout the rest of the year, I would expect DSO to trend downward.

不超出，我會說，現金收集或現金流量估計，布賴恩，我提供給 A.J.早些時候在通話中。意思是我們 - 我們每個季度的目標都是收取我們的賬單。如果我們實現了這個目標，當我們實現這個目標時，DSO 將在像第一季度這樣的季度保持平穩下降趨勢，這通常是我們一年中最疲軟的季度，你通常會看到 DSO 上升。然後，如果我們在今年剩餘時間內成功執行我們的戰略，你會看到一個下降趨勢。這就是我們的目標。所以這是一個很好的指標。當你考慮潛在的客戶健康狀況和未來的收款前景時，這不是唯一的指標，但它是一個指標，我們都應該繼續監測，我們當然會繼續前進。但同樣，隨著我們今年餘下時間的現金收款情況有所改善，我預計 DSO 將呈下降趨勢。

We have no further questions in queue. I'd like to turn the call back over to Ted Wahl for closing remarks.

隊列中沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給 Ted Wahl 以作結束語。

Okay. Great. Thank you, Julianne. And in the months ahead, we remain committed to executing on our 2023 priorities. Operational excellence, with the goal of delivering on our operational imperative of customer experience, systems adherence, regulatory compliance and budget discipline, cash collections with the goal of collecting what we bill, and growth with the goal of opportunistically adding new business from our growing pipeline of future client partners.

好的。偉大的。謝謝你，朱麗安。在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將繼續致力於執行 2023 年的優先事項。卓越運營，目標是實現我們對客戶體驗、系統遵守、法規遵從和預算紀律的運營要求，現金收款目標是收取我們的賬單，增長目標是從我們不斷增長的管道中機會主義地增加新業務未來的客戶合作夥伴。

Longer term, we remain excited about our rebalanced capital allocation strategy which prioritizes more proactive, impactful and enduring ways to create shareholder value. Our future investments in organic growth drivers, inorganic growth opportunities and opportunistic share repurchases will not only accelerate value creation, but more importantly, best position the company to deliver sustainable, profitable growth over the long term.

從長遠來看，我們仍然對我們重新平衡的資本配置戰略感到興奮，該戰略優先考慮更積極、有影響力和持久的方式來創造股東價值。我們未來對有機增長動力、無機增長機會和機會性股票回購的投資不僅會加速價值創造，而且更重要的是，將使公司處於最佳位置，以實現長期可持續的盈利增長。

So on behalf of Matt and all of us at Healthcare Services Group, I wanted to thank Julianne for hosting the call today, and thank you again to everyone for participating.

因此，我代表馬特和醫療保健服務集團的所有人，感謝朱莉安今天主持電話會議，並再次感謝大家的參與。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。