H & R Block Inc (HRB) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to H&R Block's Year-End Fiscal 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 H&R Block 的 2022 財年年終收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to hand the call over to Vice President, Investor Relations, Michaella Gallina. Please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Michaella Gallina。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to H&R Block's Full Year Fiscal 2022 Financial Results Conference Call.

謝謝你，接線員。大家下午好，歡迎參加 H&R Block 的 2022 財年全年財務業績電話會議。

Joining me are Jeff Jones, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tony Bowen, our Chief Financial Officer.

加入我的還有我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Jeff Jones；和我們的首席財務官 Tony Bowen。

Earlier today, we issued a press release and presentation, which can be downloaded or viewed live on our website at investors.hrblock.com. Our call is being broadcast and webcast live, and a replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days.

今天早些時候，我們發布了新聞稿和演示文稿，可以在我們的網站 Investors.hrblock.com 上下載或實時查看。我們的電話正在廣播和網絡直播，網絡直播的重播將持續 90 天。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind listeners that comments made by management may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements involve material risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statement due to numerous factors. For a description of these risks and uncertainties, please see H&R Block's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as updated periodically with our other SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒聽眾，管理層的評論可能包括聯邦證券法意義上的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及重大風險和不確定性，由於眾多因素，實際結果可能與任何前瞻性陳述中預測的結果不同。有關這些風險和不確定性的描述，請參閱 H&R Block 的 10-K 表格年度報告和 10-Q 表格的季度報告，這些報告會隨著我們向 SEC 提交的其他文件定期更新。

Please note, some metrics we'll discuss today are presented on a non-GAAP basis. We reconcile the comparable GAAP and non-GAAP figures in the appendix of our press release and presentation.

請注意，我們今天將討論的一些指標是在非公認會計原則的基礎上提出的。我們在我們的新聞稿和演示文稿的附錄中對可比的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 數據進行了核對。

The content of this call contains time-sensitive information accurate only as of today, August 9, 2022. H&R Block undertakes no obligation to revise or otherwise update any statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call.

本次電話會議的內容包含截至今天 2022 年 8 月 9 日準確的時效信息。H&R Block 不承擔修改或以其他方式更新任何聲明以反映本次電話會議日期之後的事件或情況的義務。

With that, I will now turn it over to Jeff.

有了這個，我現在將把它交給傑夫。

Thank you, Michaella. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Fiscal 2022 marked another year of strong performance, continuing the multiyear trend of improved results. We delivered another great tax season and achieved meaningful milestones in our Block Horizons journey, including a record year in small business; launching our new mobile banking platform, Spruce; and more than tripling the use of virtual tools among tax clients. As a result of the strength in our business, we are pleased to also announce another increase to our dividend and a new share repurchase authorization.

謝謝你，邁克爾拉。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。 2022 財年又是強勁表現的一年，延續了多年業績改善的趨勢。我們在 Block Horizons 的旅程中實現了另一個重要的稅收季節，並取得了有意義的里程碑，包括小企業創紀錄的一年；推出我們新的移動銀行平台 Spruce；稅務客戶對虛擬工具的使用增加了兩倍多。由於我們業務的實力，我們很高興地宣布再次增加我們的股息和新的股票回購授權。

I'll begin, as usual, by discussing the progress we've made across our strategic imperatives, share more on the tax season, and then Tony will provide details on our results and discuss our fiscal 2023 outlook.

像往常一樣，我將首先討論我們在戰略要務方面取得的進展，分享更多關於稅收季節的信息，然後托尼將提供有關我們業績的詳細信息並討論我們的 2023 財年展望。

In Small Business tax, we are delivering exceptional results. We saw strong growth in both assisted and DIY clients as well as improved mix, which led to a double-digit revenue increase this tax season versus last year. Our various client acquisition and retention efforts are working, including enhanced marketing efforts and the introduction of an advanced certification for tax professionals. In addition, we're building out our bookkeeping and payroll offerings and testing new services. Overall, it was a record year, and we're focused on building upon the momentum we saw in fiscal '22.

在小企業稅方面，我們取得了非凡的成果。我們看到輔助和 DIY 客戶的強勁增長以及組合的改善，這導致本稅收季節與去年相比實現了兩位數的收入增長。我們的各種客戶獲取和保留工作正在發揮作用，包括加強營銷工作和為稅務專業人員引入高級認證。此外，我們正在構建我們的簿記和工資單產品並測試新服務。總體而言，這是創紀錄的一年，我們專注於鞏固我們在 22 財年看到的勢頭。

Turning to Wave. We had another solid year of performance. Revenue grew 28% over last year and average revenue per user, or ARPU, continue to accelerate on both a sequential and year-over-year basis. I'm excited about the ongoing innovation, including the development of a unified mobile experience that will strengthen Wave's product ecosystem.

轉向波。我們又經歷了穩健的一年。收入比去年增長了 28%，每用戶平均收入或 ARPU 繼續在環比和同比基礎上加速增長。我對正在進行的創新感到興奮，包括開發統一的移動體驗，這將加強 Wave 的產品生態系統。

We acquired Wave 3 years ago, and it has since achieved important financial and operational milestones. As such, Founder and CEO, Kirk Simpson, believed it was the right time to hand over the reins to a new leader to take Wave into its next phase of growth. I want to thank Kirk for his leadership and many accomplishments.

我們在 3 年前收購了 Wave，此後它實現了重要的財務和運營里程碑。因此，創始人兼首席執行官柯克·辛普森 (Kirk Simpson) 認為，現在正是將韁繩移交給新領導人以將 Wave 帶入下一增長階段的正確時機。我要感謝柯克的領導和許多成就。

Importantly, Kirk was instrumental in selecting our new leader, Zahir Khoja. Zahir was formerly the General Manager of North America for Afterpay, where he led the company's rapid market expansion. Previously, he was the Executive Vice President, Global Merchant Solutions and Partnerships at Mastercard. His significant fintech, management and product development experience make him an excellent fit to lead and scale the business, and I'm excited for this next chapter of Wave. Overall, Small Business continues to execute, and I'm pleased with the progress we made in fiscal '22.

重要的是，柯克在選擇我們的新領導人 Zahir Khoja 方面發揮了重要作用。 Zahir 曾任 Afterpay 北美總經理，領導公司快速拓展市場。此前，他是萬事達卡全球商戶解決方案和合作夥伴關係執行副總裁。他豐富的金融科技、管理和產品開發經驗使他非常適合領導和擴展業務，我對 Wave 的下一章感到興奮。總體而言，小型企業繼續執行，我對我們在 22 財年取得的進展感到高興。

Moving to Financial Products. We're focused on driving innovation within our mobile banking platform, Spruce. We've had 4 new app releases since the January launch, streamlined the sign-up process and made enhancements to the existing credit score feature to help clients understand how it's calculated and how they can improve it. As of June 30, we have 160,000 sign-ups and $83 million in customer deposits. As a reminder, we introduced clients to Spruce only in the DIY channel at launch to learn and gain customer insights.

轉向金融產品。我們專注於在我們的移動銀行平台 Spruce 中推動創新。自 1 月發布以來，我們已經發布了 4 個新的應用程序，簡化了註冊流程並增強了現有的信用評分功能，以幫助客戶了解它的計算方式以及他們如何改進它。截至 6 月 30 日，我們有 160,000 名註冊用戶和 8300 萬美元的客戶存款。提醒一下，我們在發佈時僅在 DIY 渠道向客戶介紹了 Spruce，以了解和獲得客戶見解。

Now that we're outside of tax season, we are continuing to innovate the feature set, test customer acquisition and prepare for the launch in the Assisted channel next tax season.

現在我們已經過了納稅季節，我們將繼續創新功能集，測試客戶獲取情況，並為下一個納稅季節在輔助渠道中的發布做準備。

Our Block Experience imperative, which is all about blending digital tools with human expertise, continues to drive a better experience for our clients. For example, our technology investments enable clients to be served fully virtually to fully in-person and everything in between.

我們的塊體驗勢在必行，將數字工具與人類專業知識相結合，繼續為我們的客戶帶來更好的體驗。例如，我們的技術投資使客戶能夠從虛擬到完全面對面以及介於兩者之間的一切服務。

During the 2022 tax season, virtual uptake from clients more than tripled. Embedded machine learning in the DIY user interface is producing a better experience for customers by streamlining the time to complete their return. And we are better anticipating when to offer a DIY user help from a tax pro, which adds expertise to maximize their outcome.

在 2022 年稅收季節，客戶的虛擬吸收量增加了兩倍多。 DIY 用戶界面中的嵌入式機器學習通過簡化完成退貨的時間為客戶提供更好的體驗。我們更好地預測何時向稅務專家提供 DIY 用戶幫助，這增加了專業知識以最大限度地提高他們的成果。

Our new innovative fulfillment network enables tax pros with capacity to process a return from anywhere in the country regardless of location, which results in our clients being more quickly served and better leverages our tax pro availability. This was one of the reasons we saw strong tax pro productivity this season.

我們新的創新履行網絡使稅務專業人士能夠處理來自該國任何地方的退貨，無論其位於何處，從而使我們的客戶得到更快的服務並更好地利用我們的稅務專業人士的可用性。這是我們本賽季看到強勁的稅收專業生產力的原因之一。

Our enhanced virtual technologies have the added benefit of providing efficiencies for the business. We have begun reducing our existing square footage without closing stores as most of our tax pro training is now online, and we no longer have a need for large conference rooms in many offices. We've also tested dropoff only locations this year to better leverage the fulfillment network, serve clients quickly and optimize staffing.

我們增強的虛擬技術具有為業務提供效率的額外好處。我們已經開始在不關閉商店的情況下減少現有的佔地面積，因為我們的大部分稅務專業培訓現在都在線進行，而且我們不再需要在許多辦公室設立大型會議室。今年我們還測試了僅下車地點，以更好地利用履行網絡、快速為客戶服務並優化人員配備。

Finally, robotic process automation, or RPA, have streamlined highly manual back-office processes, eliminating nearly 40,000 human labor hours in fiscal '22 alone. As you can see, we continue to achieve significant milestones in our Block Horizons journey, and I'm very pleased with our trajectory.

最後，機器人流程自動化 (RPA) 簡化了高度手動的後台流程，僅在 22 財年就減少了近 40,000 個人工工時。如您所見，我們在 Block Horizons 的旅程中繼續取得重要的里程碑，我對我們的發展軌跡感到非常滿意。

Turning now to results. We finished the year strong in both the Assisted and DIY channels, serving more clients than typical in the May and June period. We exceeded our guidance on both revenue and EBITDA and continued our multiyear trend of creating value for shareholders.

現在轉向結果。我們今年在輔助和 DIY 渠道上表現強勁，為 5 月和 6 月期間的客戶提供服務。我們超出了我們對收入和 EBITDA 的指導，並延續了我們為股東創造價值的多年趨勢。

Since 2019, the last normal year prior to the pandemic, our performance speaks for itself. We have grown total clients, grown Assisted market share, grown revenue and EBITDA more than 12% each and reduced shares outstanding by 21%, leading to adjusted EPS growth of nearly 50%, and we've grown the dividend.

自 2019 年以來，即大流行之前的最後一個正常年份，我們的表現不言而喻。我們的客戶總數增加了，輔助市場份額增加了，收入和 EBITDA 增長了 12% 以上，流通股減少了 21%，導致調整後的每股收益增長了近 50%，我們增加了股息。

Stepping back over double that time frame, since 2016, we have grown adjusted EPS by approximately 110%. We emerged from the pandemic much stronger as a company and are on a path of growth.

自 2016 年以來，我們的調整後每股收益增長了約 110%。作為一家公司，我們從大流行中脫穎而出，變得更加強大，並且正走在增長的道路上。

In summary, it was another great year for H&R Block, delivering on our purpose to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere. I'm excited about the momentum in the business, the strength of our capital allocation and where we are headed.

總之，對於 H&R Block 來說，這是又一個偉大的一年，實現了我們的目標，即為我們的客戶和社區提供幫助並激發他們的信心。我對業務的發展勢頭、我們資本配置的實力以及我們的發展方向感到興奮。

Tony will now share more on our financials and outlook.

托尼現在將更多地分享我們的財務和前景。

Thanks, Jeff, and good afternoon, everyone. Our results continue to be strong, and I'm happy to be here today to share more detail. I'll begin with a review of our fiscal year '22 results, provide an update on the ongoing strength of our capital allocation practice, discuss our outlook for fiscal year '23 and our thoughts on how we delivered total shareholder return over time.

謝謝，傑夫，大家下午好。我們的業績繼續強勁，我很高興今天能在這里分享更多細節。我將首先回顧我們 22 財年的業績，提供關於我們資本分配實踐的持續實力的最新信息，討論我們對 23 財年的展望以及我們對隨著時間的推移如何實現股東總回報的想法。

As a reminder, the prior year included the end of tax season '20, which was extended to July 15 of that year. That causes our results to decline when you compare fiscal year '22 to the prior year. In fiscal '22, we delivered $3.46 billion of revenue, which decreased 3.5% or $125 million over the prior year. When normalizing prior year results for the tax season impacts recognized in July of 2020 and the impacts of Emerald Card stimulus, total revenue increased by $165 million or 5%.

提醒一下，上一年包括 20 年稅收季節的結束，該季節延長至當年的 7 月 15 日。當您將 '22 財年與上一年進行比較時，這會導致我們的結果下降。在 22 財年，我們實現了 34.6 億美元的收入，比上一年減少了 3.5% 或 1.25 億美元。在將 2020 年 7 月確認的稅收季節影響和翡翠卡刺激的影響的上一年結果正常化時，總收入增加了 1.65 億美元或 5%。

Total operating expenses were approximately $2.7 billion, an increase of approximately 1% or about $21 million primarily due to higher marketing and technology costs, partially offset by lower depreciation and amortization and bad debt. We continued our efforts of identifying savings to fund our investments and our expense management remains strong.

總運營費用約為 27 億美元，增長約 1% 或約 2100 萬美元，主要是由於較高的營銷和技術成本，部分被較低的折舊和攤銷以及壞賬抵消。我們繼續努力尋找儲蓄來為我們的投資提供資金，我們的費用管理仍然很強勁。

EBITDA was approximately $890 million, a decrease of 15% or about $162 million. Compared to the normalized prior year, EBITDA increased by 9% or about $75 million. Interest expense was approximately $88 million, a decrease of about $11 million or 11%, driven by lower draws this year on our line of credit, partially offset by the $500 million of notes we issued last June.

EBITDA 約為 8.9 億美元，下降 15% 或約 1.62 億美元。與正常化的上一年相比，EBITDA 增加了 9% 或約 7500 萬美元。利息支出約為 8800 萬美元，減少了約 1100 萬美元或 11%，這是由於今年我們的信用額度提款減少，部分被我們去年 6 月發行的 5 億美元票據所抵消。

As planned, in the fourth quarter, we paid off the $500 million, 5.5% maturing notes that were originally due in November, which will result in material savings given the new notes we issued at a 2.5% interest rate. Pretax income was $659 million compared to $797 million in the prior year, and our effective tax rate was 14.9% compared to 13.4% last year. Compared to the normalized prior year, pretax income increased by $99 million or 18%.

按計劃，在第四季度，我們償還了原定於 11 月到期的 5 億美元、利率為 5.5% 的到期票據，鑑於我們以 2.5% 的利率發行新票據，這將節省大量資金。稅前收入為 6.59 億美元，而去年為 7.97 億美元，我們的有效稅率為 14.9%，而去年為 13.4%。與正常化的上一年相比，稅前收入增加了 9900 萬美元或 18%。

Turning to share repurchase. We bought a total of 23 million shares for $550 million this year at an average price of $23.84. This was 13% of our shares outstanding. And today, we announced another share repurchase authorization that I will share more about in a moment.

轉向股票回購。今年我們以 23.84 美元的平均價格以 5.5 億美元的價格共買入了 2300 萬股股票。這是我們流通股的 13%。今天，我們宣布了另一項股票回購授權，稍後我將分享更多信息。

Earnings per share from continuing operations decreased from $3.67 to $3.26, while adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations decreased from $3.94 to $3.51. Compared to the normalized prior year, adjusted earnings per share increased from $2.97 to $3.51 or 18%.

持續經營的每股收益從 3.67 美元降至 3.26 美元，而持續經營的調整後每股收益從 3.94 美元降至 3.51 美元。與正常化的上一年相比，調整後的每股收益從 2.97 美元增加到 3.51 美元或 18%。

In fiscal '22, we acquired 125 franchise locations. We view this as a good use of capital given that we were able to repurchase locations at attractive EBITDA multiples and integrate the businesses into our existing company operations. We believe we can continue to acquire franchise locations, which, as we previously shared, can contribute approximately 1 point of growth annually to our top line.

在 22 財年，我們收購了 125 個特許經營地點。鑑於我們能夠以有吸引力的 EBITDA 倍數回購位置並將業務整合到我們現有的公司運營中，我們認為這是對資本的良好利用。我們相信我們可以繼續收購特許經營地點，正如我們之前分享的那樣，這些地點每年可以為我們的收入貢獻大約 1 個百分點的增長。

Regarding Sand Canyon, 2 long outstanding litigation matters, which we refer to as the Homeward cases, were recently fully resolved in Sand Canyon's favor as reported in our Form 10-Q last quarter. We feel great about this outcome for Sand Canyon and do not plan on providing regular updates going forward outside of our disclosures in Forms 10-K and 10-Q and other SEC filings, unless there is material news to share.

關於 Sand Canyon，我們稱之為 Homeward 案件的 2 起長期懸而未決的訴訟事項最近在我們上季度的 10-Q 表格中得到了對 Sand Canyon 有利的完全解決。我們對 Sand Canyon 的這一結果感到滿意，並且不打算在我們在 10-K 和 10-Q 表格以及其他 SEC 文件中的披露之外提供定期更新，除非有重大新聞要分享。

Switching gears. We have a long track record of generating significant cash flow and returning value to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, which helped drive earnings per share growth. As we have shared, we believe free cash flow yield, defined as free cash flow divided by market capitalization, is an important metric for our company.

切換齒輪。我們在通過股息和股票回購產生大量現金流和向股東回報價值方面有著悠久的記錄，這有助於推動每股收益的增長。正如我們所分享的，我們認為自由現金流收益率（定義為自由現金流除以市值）是我們公司的一個重要指標。

Despite the increase in our market cap in recent months, our fiscal year '22 free cash flow yield remained strong at approximately 13%, which is more than double that of the S&P 500. Because of the momentum and strength in our business, we are pleased to further enhance our capital allocation by announcing another increase to the quarterly dividend to $0.29 per share or more than 7% growth and a new share repurchase authorization of $1.25 billion, which is effective through fiscal year 2025.

儘管最近幾個月我們的市值有所增加，但我們 22 財年的自由現金流收益率仍然保持強勁，約為 13%，是標準普爾 500 指數的兩倍多。由於我們業務的勢頭和實力，我們很高興通過宣布將季度股息再次增加至每股 0.29 美元或超過 7% 的增長以及 12.5 億美元的新股票回購授權來進一步增強我們的資本配置，該授權有效期至 2025 財年。

Since 2016, we have increased the dividend by 45% and retired nearly 1/3 of our shares outstanding. In total, we returned over $2.7 billion to shareholders in that time frame, and we will continue to drive ongoing value with these practices.

自 2016 年以來，我們已將股息提高了 45%，並退還了近 1/3 的流通股。在此期間，我們總共向股東返還了超過 27 億美元，我們將繼續通過這些做法推動持續的價值。

Let me now turn to our fiscal year '23 outlook. Given the rollback of the Child Tax Credit for this upcoming year and an expected increase in our effective tax rate from the mid-teens to the low 20s, we are pleased to provide an outlook with top line growth, EBITDA that outpaces revenue growth and EPS that grows even faster.

現在讓我談談我們的 23 財年展望。鑑於即將到來的一年兒童稅收抵免的回滾以及我們的有效稅率預計會從 10 多歲到 20 多歲的低點，我們很高興提供收入增長、EBITDA 超過收入增長和每股收益的前景增長得更快。

We expect revenue to be in the range of $3.535 billion to $3.585 billion. We expect to generate EBITDA of $915 million to $950 million from growing the top line and leveraging our fixed cost structure. As I just shared, our effective tax rate is expected to be approximately 22%. We are also adding EPS guidance, which more holistically captures the value we are creating. For fiscal year '23, we expect adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $3.70 to $3.95.

我們預計收入將在 35.35 億美元至 35.85 億美元之間。我們預計通過增加收入和利用我們的固定成本結構，將產生 9.15 億美元至 9.5 億美元的 EBITDA。正如我剛剛分享的，我們的有效稅率預計約為 22%。我們還添加了 EPS 指南，它更全面地捕捉了我們正在創造的價值。對於 23 財年，我們預計調整後的每股收益將在 3.70 美元至 3.95 美元之間。

On that note, let me share more about how we are driving EPS growth and how we think about total shareholder return. We believe we can grow revenue 3% to 6% annually over time, driven by the many levers we have in place, including about a point from the steady industry growth, a couple of points of modest, low single-digit price increases, a point from franchise buybacks and nearly a point from Wave. From there, we have additional upside with our Block Horizons imperatives.

在這方面，讓我分享更多關於我們如何推動每股收益增長以及我們如何看待股東總回報的信息。我們相信，隨著時間的推移，我們可以將收入每年增長 3% 到 6%，這得益於我們現有的許多槓桿，包括大約一個點來自穩定的行業增長、幾個點的適度、低個位數的價格上漲，以及來自特許經營權回購的點和幾乎來自 Wave 的點。從那裡開始，我們的 Block Horizons 勢在必行。

We then have the opportunity to grow EBITDA at a rate of nearly 1.5x that of revenue due to the leverage in our fixed cost structure. After layering on opportunistic share repurchases, we see a path to double-digit earnings per share growth annually through 2025.

然後，由於我們固定成本結構的槓桿作用，我們有機會以接近收入 1.5 倍的速度增長 EBITDA。在進行機會性股票回購之後，我們看到了到 2025 年每股收益每年兩位數增長的道路。

On top of the P&L expansion, we continue to grow our quarterly dividend, which we have paid since Block became public in 1962. As Jeff shared, over the last 6 years, we have grown adjusted EPS 110% or a CAGR of 13%. You can see that H&R Block has had multiple strong years of performance, and I'm more excited than ever about what is in front of us.

除了損益擴展之外，我們還繼續增加自 Block 於 1962 年上市以來支付的季度股息。正如 Jeff 所分享的，在過去 6 年中，我們的調整後每股收益增長了 110% 或 13% 的複合年增長率。你可以看到 H&R Block 多年來一直表現強勁，我對我們面前的一切感到比以往任何時候都更加興奮。

With that, I'll turn things back over to Jeff for closing remarks.

有了這個，我會把事情交還給 Jeff 做結束語。

Thanks, Tony. Before closing, I want to reiterate just how pleased I am with our performance in fiscal '22 and the path we are on. We had another great tax season, achieved significant Block Horizons milestones and continue to return value to shareholders through our capital allocation practice.

謝謝，托尼。在結束之前，我想重申我對我們在 22 財年的表現以及我們所走的道路感到多麼高興。我們又度過了一個偉大的稅收季節，實現了 Block Horizons 的重要里程碑，並通過我們的資本分配實踐繼續為股東回報價值。

Our success is made possible by the collaborative efforts of our entire organization. Thank you to our steadfast tax professionals, franchisees and associates who embody our purpose every day to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities as well as the team at Wave, who continue to execute and drive innovation.

我們的成功得益於我們整個組織的共同努力。感謝我們堅定的稅務專業人士、特許經營商和員工，他們每天都體現了我們的宗旨，即為我們的客戶和社區以及 Wave 的團隊提供幫助並激發他們的信心，他們將繼續執行和推動創新。

My sincere thanks go out to the team for another great year, and I look forward to all that lies ahead of us as we continue to build on this momentum in fiscal '23.

我衷心感謝團隊又一個偉大的一年，我期待著我們面前的一切，因為我們將在 23 財年繼續鞏固這一勢頭。

Now operator, we will open the line for questions.

現在接線員，我們將打開問題線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Scott Schneeberger of Oppenheimer & Co.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Oppenheimer & Co. 的 Scott Schneeberger。

Great job and excellent that you add to this long-term evergreen guidance. Very much appreciated. I think I'll start out, Tony or Jeff, just asking what is implicit in the 2023 guidance? Tony, I appreciate the breakdown of kind of the long-term revenue growth and then taking it down the P&L, but what are fundamentally the areas where you think you're really going to grow in this coming year specific to the year?

您在這個長期常青指導中添加了出色的工作和出色的工作。非常感謝。我想我會開始，托尼或傑夫，只是問一下 2023 年指南中隱含的內容是什麼？托尼，我很欣賞長期收入增長的細分，然後將其從損益表中扣除，但從根本上說，你認為你在未來一年中真正要增長的領域是什麼？

Yes, Scott, thanks for the question. I mean it really starts with strength in the tax business as the start. I mean we've talked about it's a healthy industry. It grows about 1% over time, and we expect that going into '23. We also expect to continue to take moderate price.

是的，斯科特，謝謝你的提問。我的意思是，這真的是從稅收業務的實力開始的。我的意思是我們已經討論過這是一個健康的行業。隨著時間的推移，它會增長約 1%，我們預計會持續到 23 年。我們也預計將繼續採取適中的價格。

Obviously, we're in a high inflationary environment, but we've talked about we think that we can take low single-digit price increases. We've earned that right based on customer feedback over the last several years. Franchise buybacks will continue to be a driver of revenue. We executed about 125 locations this year. We think we'll be in that ballpark going into next year.

顯然，我們處於高通脹環境中，但我們已經談到我們認為我們可以採取低個位數的價格上漲。根據過去幾年的客戶反饋，我們贏得了這項權利。特許經營回購將繼續成為收入的驅動力。今年我們執行了大約 125 個地點。我們認為我們將在明年進入那個球場。

Obviously, Wave growth will be additive as well. We're planning to launch Spruce in the Assisted side of the business, which will be additive to revenue. So all those pieces working together, continued performance in small business tax, which we've seen over the last several years, all those pieces working together obviously driving the revenue side and then leveraging our fixed cost structure, as we've talked about, obviously, variable costs will go up.

顯然，波浪增長也將是累加的。我們計劃在業務的輔助方面推出 Spruce，這將增加收入。因此，所有這些部分協同工作，小企業稅收的持續表現，我們在過去幾年中看到，所有這些協同工作顯然推動了收入方面，然後利用我們的固定成本結構，正如我們已經談到的，顯然，可變成本會上升。

We are offsetting inflation that's hitting us from a comp perspective, from a wage perspective. But overall doing a really good job of managing expenses, which is allowing us to grow EBITDA faster than revenue. And then EPS has obviously has the leverage as well as additional share repurchases. So all of those pieces together are the core components of our outlook.

我們正在抵消從薪酬的角度來看打擊我們的通貨膨脹。但總體而言，在管理費用方面做得非常好，這使我們能夠以比收入更快的速度增長 EBITDA。然後每股收益顯然具有槓桿作用以及額外的股票回購。因此，所有這些部分共同構成了我們展望的核心組成部分。

Great. Appreciate that. And then curious, you had good visibility back in May, the last time hosting a public conference call and providing a financial update. But it looks like there's going to be some activity after the tax season deadline this year. That was pretty elevated. I imagine we get it in your 10-K when that comes out, but could you speak a little bit to what you saw after the tax season deadline with regard to volumes and pricing across the Assisted and the DIY channel?

偉大的。感謝。然後很好奇，您在 5 月份的知名度很高，上次是召開公開電話會議並提供財務更新。但看起來在今年的稅收季節截止日期之後會有一些活動。那是相當高的。我想當它出來時我們會在你的 10-K 中得到它，但是你能否談談你在稅收季節截止日期後看到的關於輔助和 DIY 渠道的數量和定價的情況？

Yes, Scott, this is Jeff. You're absolutely right. And we did what we could to position ourselves given that business that remained. In the Assisted business, we kept more offices open. We had more tax professionals working. Obviously, that's a strength to be able to be open, obviously, to capture that volume. And we saw continued strength in our NAC trends.

是的，斯科特，這是傑夫。你是絕對正確的。鑑於仍然存在的業務，我們盡我們所能來定位自己。在輔助業務中，我們保留了更多的辦公室。我們有更多的稅務專業人士在工作。顯然，這是一種能夠開放的力量，很明顯，能夠捕捉到那個量。我們看到我們的 NAC 趨勢持續強勁。

We met last time. NAC was up about 8%, and that continued in that period following the tax season closing. In DIY, we saw some improved performance in the DIY business. We also saw a benefit from late season pricing in NAC. I think that moved from about 3% to 6%. So just really across the board, the team continued to execute well given the business that remained in the market, and that shows up in the strength of our results.

我們上次見面。 NAC 上漲了約 8%，並且在稅收季節結束後的那段時間內繼續上漲。在 DIY 方面，我們看到 DIY 業務的表現有所改善。我們還看到了 NAC 的季末定價帶來的好處。我認為這從大約 3% 上升到了 6%。因此，考慮到市場上仍然存在的業務，團隊繼續執行良好的全面工作，這體現在我們的業績實力上。

Our next question comes from the line of George Tong of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 George Tong。

In the 2022 tax season, net average charge in Assisted, as you mentioned, increased 8% and 2/3 of that was driven by complexity mix. Can you outline your NAC assumptions embedded in next year's guidance and? And the likelihood that complexity reverses next year given some of the factors that lifted 2022 complexity should taper, such as crypto and retail trading?

正如您所提到的，在 2022 年稅收季節，輔助服務的淨平均費用增加了 8%，其中 2/3 是由複雜性組合驅動的。您能否概述您在明年指南中的 NAC 假設？鑑於提升 2022 年復雜性的一些因素應該逐漸減少，例如加密和零售交易，明年復雜性逆轉的可能性？

Yes, George, absolutely. So we -- first of all, I would say we feel very good about our value proposition in the Assisted business. We're seeing that in multiple ways as we've spoken about. And you're exactly right, the NAC increases was about 1/3 price and 2/3 mix from complexity.

是的，喬治，絕對是。所以我們——首先，我想說我們對我們在輔助業務中的價值主張感覺非常好。正如我們所說，我們以多種方式看到了這一點。你說得對，NAC 的增長大約是價格的 1/3 和復雜性的 2/3。

That's -- think about that headwind as a couple of points of revenue, and that's real. The rest of our plans have been built around offsetting that. Again, we think we can offset some in price again with this low single-digit price increases, and then the growth in the other parts of the business that Tony just outlined.

那是 - 將逆風視為幾個收入點，這是真實的。我們的其餘計劃都是圍繞抵消這一點而製定的。同樣，我們認為我們可以通過這種低個位數的價格上漲再次抵消一些價格，然後托尼剛剛概述的其他業務部分的增長。

But that is the headwind, but we feel really good about the momentum in the business and the strength of our plans to be able to offset that.

但這就是逆風，但我們對業務的勢頭以及我們能夠抵消這種勢頭的計劃的實力感到非常滿意。

Got it. And you touched a little bit on this earlier, but can you explain in more detail your assumptions around industry growth for next year in Assisted and DIY? And how you expect market share to perform at H&R Block in both of those categories as it did in DIY?

知道了。您之前對此有所了解，但您能否更詳細地解釋您對明年輔助和 DIY 行業增長的假設？您預計 H&R Block 在這兩個類別中的市場份額將如何表現，就像在 DIY 中一樣？

Yes. Obviously, we're coming out of just some really crazy years in terms of industry performance and the ups and downs and all the things that we've been speaking about.

是的。顯然，就行業表現、起起落落以及我們一直在談論的所有事情而言，我們剛剛度過了非常瘋狂的幾年。

Sitting here today, we're not aware of any major changes in the tax code that's going to create some new piece of noise. And so when we look at the macro factors, we see the industry kind of going back to its historical CAGR of 1% to 1.5%. And for us, there are 2 things that we expect. One is continued strong performance in the Assisted business, and that means continuing to hold or grow market share.

今天坐在這裡，我們不知道稅法的任何重大變化會產生一些新的噪音。因此，當我們查看宏觀因素時，我們看到該行業正在回到其 1% 至 1.5% 的歷史複合年增長率。對我們來說，有兩件事是我們期望的。一是輔助業務的持續強勁表現，這意味著繼續保持或擴大市場份額。

Again, over the -- since '19, we've grown market share in Assisted about 40 basis points and feel really good about that performance. You may remember DIY on our last call was one area where we weren't pleased. Despite the fact that we've done a really nice job with pricing, meaningful revenue growth, we feel really good about the way we're driving more DIY clients to human health, but returning DIY to share growth is a top priority.

同樣，自 19 年以來，我們在 Assisted 的市場份額增加了約 40 個基點，並且對這種表現感覺非常好。您可能還記得我們上次通話中的 DIY 是我們不滿意的一個領域。儘管我們在定價、有意義的收入增長方面做得非常好，但我們對推動更多 DIY 客戶實現人類健康的方式感覺非常好，但讓 DIY 分享增長是重中之重。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Kartik Mehta of Northcoast Research.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Kartik Mehta。

Jeff, maybe just a little bit on Wave. I know that's been growing relatively well. And I know you had talked about, at some point, getting to profitability. As you look at FY '23, kind of what's your expectations as far as Wave maybe revenue growth goes and what that could mean from an EBITDA standpoint?

傑夫，也許只是一點點關於 Wave。我知道它的增長相對較好。我知道你曾在某個時候談到過盈利。當您查看 23 財年時，您對 Wave 收入增長的預期是什麼？從 EBITDA 的角度來看，這意味著什麼？

Yes. So a number of things in there, Kartik. So first of all, obviously, we feel good about Wave's growth. Since we bought the company, it's continued to perform very well every year. So on the top line, as we've said, that's contributing about 1 point of growth to Block.

是的。所以里面有很多東西，Kartik。因此，首先，顯然，我們對 Wave 的增長感覺良好。自從我們收購了這家公司，它每年都表現得非常好。因此，正如我們所說，最重要的是，這為 Block 貢獻了大約 1 個百分點的增長。

But it is still losing money despite improving its operating losses, which is hurting us on the EBITDA margin line. So the transition from Kirk to Zahir, this is at the top of his list is coming into the company, really understanding how we can accelerate growth and how we can accelerate our path to profitability.

但是，儘管運營虧損有所改善，但它仍然在虧損，這在 EBITDA 利潤率線上傷害了我們。因此，從柯克到查希爾的過渡，這是他的首要任務，正在進入公司，真正了解我們如何加速增長以及如何加速我們的盈利之路。

We still have not put a target date for him when that has to happen because we want to really continue to push growth, and that's what he's coming into the job focused on. So we'll have more to update as we continue to watch the business, but that's where we stand.

我們仍然沒有為他設定目標日期，因為我們希望真正繼續推動增長，這就是他進入工作的重點。因此，隨著我們繼續關注業務，我們將有更多更新，但這就是我們的立場。

And Jeff, I know you commented a little bit on real estate, at least in terms of shrinking some of the footprint -- at least square footage in an office. But I'm wondering if virtual grows, what's your outlook for the next 2, 3 years in terms of what could happen to office and if there's an opportunity there?

傑夫，我知道你對房地產發表了一些評論，至少在縮小一些佔地面積方面 - 至少是辦公室的平方英尺。但我想知道如果虛擬增長，你對未來 2、3 年辦公室可能發生的事情的展望是什麼，以及那裡是否有機會？

Yes. So I would connect 3 dots here. One is the consumer adoption of virtual tools, the second is the changes to operating model to be able to complete returns from any location, and the third is the reduction in real estate.

是的。所以我會在這裡連接3個點。一是消費者對虛擬工具的採用，二是運營模式的改變，能夠在任何地點完成回報，三是房地產的減少。

And so the -- what you've heard of us talk about real estate has been about locations. But because we're now testing operating models, where there are drop-off only locations, or there are locations serving people outside of that location, the focus on square footage, we think, is really important.

所以 - 你聽說我們談論的房地產一直是關於地點的。但是因為我們現在正在測試運營模式，那裡只有下車地點，或者有地點為該地點以外的人提供服務，所以我們認為關注平方英尺真的很重要。

And so the first steps we've started to take are to reduce the square footage where we know it's just simply not being utilized anymore, especially given our training model. For years, we've had large training rooms in offices. And now that we're delivering our training virtually, that's a low-hanging fruit and square footage, which obviously helps us on the rent line.

所以我們開始採取的第一步是減少我們知道它只是不再被使用的平方英尺，特別是考慮到我們的訓練模型。多年來，我們的辦公室都設有大型培訓室。現在我們正在虛擬地提供我們的培訓，這是一個容易實現的目標和平方英尺，這顯然有助於我們在租金線上。

So those 3 things really have to work together. And we're making great progress. But the thing I'd remind the team about all the time is this is a once-a-year purchase frequency. So we're increasing the adoption of the virtual tools, but we have to continue to make that habit for the consumer, while we perfect the operating model changes and we start tackling the low-hanging fruit in real estate. So we do see opportunity, but it will be over many years.

所以這三件事真的必須一起工作。我們正在取得很大進展。但我要一直提醒團隊的是，這是一年一次的購買頻率。因此，我們正在增加對虛擬工具的採用，但我們必須繼續為消費者養成這種習慣，同時完善運營模式的變化，並開始著手解決房地產領域唾手可得的成果。所以我們確實看到了機會，但這會持續很多年。

Yes. And Jeff said it, but just the opportunity is really on reducing square footage versus reducing points of presence. We think the points of presence are helpful. It allows for walk-in traffic. It allows for new client acquisition. But if we can reduce the number or the size of each of those offices, that's really where the savings will come to play.

是的。傑夫說過，但真正的機會在於減少平方英尺而不是減少存在點。我們認為存在點很有幫助。它允許步入式交通。它允許新客戶獲取。但是，如果我們可以減少每個辦公室的數量或規模，那真的是節省開支的地方。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call back over to Michaella Gallina for any closing remarks.

在這個時候，我想把電話轉回給 Michaella Gallina 做任何結束語。

Thanks, Latif, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.

謝謝 Latif，謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. 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。