Integer Holdings Corp (ITGR) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello and welcome to the Q4 2023 Integer Holdings Corporation earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎參加 Integer Holdings Corporation 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

I will now turn the conference over to Andrew Senn, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在將會議交給策略和業務發展及投資者關係高級副總裁安德魯·森 (Andrew Senn)。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to Integer's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. With me today are Joe Dziedzic, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Diron Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

大家，早安。感謝您加入我們，歡迎參加 Integer 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的有總裁兼執行長 Joe Dziedzic；執行副總裁兼財務長 Diron Smith。

As a reminder, the results and the data we discussed today reflect the consolidated results of Integer for the periods indicated. During our call, we will discuss some non-GAAP financial measures. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures, please refer to the appendix of today's presentation, today's earnings press release, and the trending schedules, which are all available on our website at Integer.net.

提醒一下，我們今天討論的結果和數據反映了 Integer 在所示期間的綜合結果。在電話會議中，我們將討論一些非公認會計準則財務指標。有關這些非 GAAP 財務指標的調整表，請參閱今天簡報的附錄、今天的收益新聞稿以及趨勢表，這些都可以在我們的網站 Integer.net 上找到。

Please note that today's presentation includes forward-looking statements. Please refer to the company's SEC filings for a discussion of the risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially.

請注意，今天的演示包含前瞻性陳述。請參閱該公司向 SEC 提交的文件，以了解可能導致我們的實際結果出現重大差異的風險因素的討論。

On today's call, Joe will provide his opening comments and an update on Integer's strategy, followed by an overview of how Integer will sustain above-market growth. Diron will then review our adjusted financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2023 and provide of our full-year 2024 outlook. Joe will come back to provide his closing remarks, and then we'll open the call for questions.

在今天的電話會議上，Joe 將發表開場評論和 Integer 戰略的最新信息，然後概述 Integer 將如何維持高於市場的成長。然後，Diron 將審查我們第四季度和 2023 年全年調整後的財務業績，並提供 2024 年全年展望。喬將回來發表結束語，然後我們將開始提問。

With that, I will turn the call over to Joe.

這樣，我就把電話轉給喬。

Thank you, Andrew, and thank you to everyone for joining the call today. We had a strong fourth quarter and an even stronger full year. 2023 sales were up 16% and adjusted operating income grew by 26% over 2022. We were able to grow sales at a rate significantly above the market rate while expanding operating margin by 117 basis points.

謝謝你，安德魯，也謝謝大家今天加入電話會議。我們的第四季表現強勁，全年表現更加強勁。 2023 年銷售額較 2022 年成長 16%，調整後營業收入成長 26%。我們能夠以遠高於市場水準的速度實現銷售額成長，同時將營業利潤率擴大 117 個基點。

Adjusted operating income grew at 1.6 times the rate of sales growth, approaching our strategic target of 2 times. We expect this strong performance to continue in 2024 with an outlook of 9% to 11% sales growth and adjusted operating income growth of 13% to 20%. We are confident in sustaining above-market sales growth in 2024 and beyond.

調整後營業收入成長率是銷售成長的1.6倍，接近我們2倍的策略目標。我們預計這種強勁表現將在 2024 年持續，銷售額將成長 9% 至 11%，調整後營業收入成長 13% 至 20%。我們有信心在 2024 年及以後保持高於市場水準的銷售成長。

We acquired Pulse Technologies on January 5, which deepens our precision micro-machining capabilities and further strengthens our pipeline in high-growth markets like electrophysiology, structural heart, and heart pumps.

我們於 1 月 5 日收購了 Pulse Technologies，這加深了我們的精密微加工能力，並進一步加強了我們在電生理學、結構心臟和心臟泵等高成長市場的產品線。

Integer continues to execute our strategy to deliver sustained outperformance. Our portfolio and product line strategies position us for sustained above-market growth as we continue to shift the mix of our business to higher-growth markets. The previously announced exit of our portable medical product line, which has limited technology differentiation and low growth, is proceeding as planned.

Integer 繼續執行我們的策略，以實現持續卓越的業績。隨著我們繼續將業務組合轉向更高成長的市場，我們的產品組合和產品線策略使我們能夠持續高於市場的成長。先前宣布的便攜式醫療產品線的退出正在按計劃進行，該產品線技術差異化有限且增長緩慢。

We continue to make targeted organic and inorganic investments in capabilities and capacity to enable our growth. The supply chain and labor environments have meaningfully improved, and we have refocused our organization to execute our operational strategy to expand margins.

我們繼續對能力和能力進行有針對性的有機和無機投資，以實現我們的成長。供應鏈和勞動力環境得到了顯著改善，我們重新調整了組織的重點，以執行擴大利潤的營運策略。

During the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference earlier this year, we publicly announced the acquisition of Pulse Technologies, our fourth tuck-in acquisition in 25 months. The acquisitions of Oscor, Aran Biomedical, InNeuroCo, and Pulse Technologies has strengthened Integer's position in high-growth markets while adding differentiated capabilities for our customers.

在今年稍早的摩根大通醫療保健會議上，我們公開宣布收購 Pulse Technologies，這是我們 25 個月內的第四次收購。對 Oscor、Aran Biomedical、InNeuroCo 和 Pulse Technologies 的收購鞏固了 Integer 在高成長市場中的地位，同時為我們的客戶增加了差異化能力。

Our acquisitions further our vertical integration strategy and help our customers consolidate and simplify their supply chains. In addition to the strategic benefits, these four acquisitions generate annualized sales of approximately $170 million with accretive margins. Oscor and Aran were meaningful contributors to our sales and profit growth in 2023, and I look forward to InNeuroCo and Pulse being equally as successful as we integrate these differentiated businesses.

我們的收購進一步推進了我們的垂直整​​合策略，並幫助我們的客戶整合和簡化他們的供應鏈。除了戰略效益外，這四次收購還帶來了約 1.7 億美元的年銷售額，並增加了利潤。Oscor 和 Aran 對我們 2023 年的銷售和利潤成長做出了有意義的貢獻，我期待 InNeuroCo 和 Pulse 在我們整合這些差異化業務時同樣成功。

Integer acquired Pulse Technologies on January 5, 2024, for approximately $140 million, with the potential for an additional earnout in 2025 based on revenue growth. We paid less than 13 times trailing adjusted EBITDA multiple or just over 11 times after considering the $15 million net present value tax benefit.

Integer 於 2024 年 1 月 5 日以約 1.4 億美元收購了 Pulse Technologies，並有可能根據營收成長在 2025 年獲得額外收益。考慮到 1500 萬美元的淨現值稅收優惠後，我們支付了不到 13 倍的追蹤調整 EBITDA 倍數，或略高於 11 倍。

Pulse deepens Integer's capabilities in precision micro-machining and further strengthens our pipeline in high-growth markets. We welcome the 250 talented associates in Quakertown, Pennsylvania to the Integer family.

Pulse 加深了 Integer 在精密微加工領域的能力，並進一步加強了我們在高成長市場的產品線。我們歡迎賓州奎克敦的 250 位才華橫溢的員工加入 Integer 大家庭。

Pulse has been a long-standing strategic supplier of critical components to leading medtech OEMs. Their focus on high-growth markets and products, along with excellent customer relationships, align perfectly with Integer strategy.

Pulse 一直是領先醫療技術原始設備製造商關鍵組件的長期策略供應商。他們對高成長市場和產品的關注以及良好的客戶關係與 Integer 策略完美契合。

We developed our portfolio strategy in 2017 and formed the growth teams in 2018. These market-focused teams have executed a structured and disciplined approach across the organization to shift our pipeline to high-growth products and markets, expand our capabilities, and ensure our investments are aligned to our strategy.

我們於 2017 年制定了投資組合策略，並於 2018 年組建了成長團隊。這些以市場為中心的團隊在整個組織內執行了結構化和規範的方法，將我們的產品線轉向高成長的產品和市場，擴大我們的能力，並確保我們的投資與我們的策略保持一致。

These product-line strategies have generated a strong product development pipeline that is delivering results and positions us for sustained above-market growth. This structured and disciplined process has been and will continue to be critical to Integer, achieving sustained outperformance.

這些產品線策略已經形成了強大的產品開發管道，正在交付成果，並使我們能夠實現持續高於市場的成長。這種結構化且規範的流程對於 Integer 實現持續卓越績效一直並將繼續至關重要。

We continue to invest in the highest-growth C&V markets, the same markets where our customers are investing, and the areas with the greatest unmet clinical need. Integer is uniquely positioned to serve our customers across all phases of the product life cycle because of our deep technology, breadth of capabilities and products, global manufacturing footprint, and vertical integration.

我們繼續投資成長最快的 C&V 市場、客戶投資的相同市場以及臨床需求未滿足的領域。由於我們深厚的技術、廣泛的能力和產品、全球製造足跡和垂直整合，Integer 處於獨特的地位，可以在產品生命週期的各個階段為我們的客戶提供服務。

The products on the bottom of the slide highlight areas of continued investment in capabilities and capacity. Our 2023 C&V growth and product development pipeline are concentrated in these high-growth end markets. We also continue to invest in the differentiated capabilities that serve both our traditional cardiac rhythm management and emerging neuromodulation products, including the high-growth subsegments within cardiac rhythm management.

幻燈片底部的產品突顯了在能力和產能方面持續投資的領域。我們的 2023 年 C&V 成長和產品開發通路集中在這些高成長的終端市場。我們也持續投資於服務傳統心律管理和新興神經調節產品的差異化能力，包括心律管理中的高成長細分市場。

Integer is uniquely positioned to be able to bring full-design, development, and high-volume manufacturing to these customers while also vertically integrating the most technologically advanced components with our own intellectual property from decades of innovation. Very few other companies have the breadth of design and development capabilities, and even fewer offer the depth of component technology that Integer offers to our neuromodulation customers.

Integer 擁有獨特的優勢，能夠為這些客戶提供全面的設計、開發和大量製造，同時也將技術最先進的組件與我們數十年創新的自有智慧財產權垂直整合。很少有其他公司擁有如此廣泛的設計和開發能力，能夠像 Integer 為我們的神經調節客戶提供如此深入的組件技術的公司就更少了。

The products on the bottom of the slide highlight the high-growth areas of CRM&N that contributed to our growth in 2023. Our product development pipeline is concentrated in these same high-growth end-markets. Integer partners with our customers to bring innovative medical technologies to market, and we are paid for this service throughout the product development cycle.

幻燈片底部的產品突顯了 CRM&N 的高成長領域，這些領域為我們 2023 年的成長做出了貢獻。我們的產品開發通路集中在這些高成長的終端市場。Integer 與我們的客戶合作，將創新的醫療技術推向市場，我們在整個產品開發週期中為此服務付費。

As life-saving and life-enhancing products are introduced to the market and into the manufacturing ramp phase, Integer benefits from accelerated sales growth. The amount of product development sales and the market growth rate of the products being developed are leading indicators for sustained above-market sales growth.

隨著拯救生命和增強生命的產品被引入市場並進入生產階段，Integer 受益於銷售的加速成長。產品開發銷售金額和正在開發的產品的市場成長率是持續高於市場銷售成長的先行指標。

Our product development sales have increased 230% since we developed our strategy in 2017, which means our pipeline of new programs has grown significantly, and we are being designed into our customers' novel products. We are confident that the current level of development revenue will continue to deliver sustained above-market growth.

自 2017 年制定策略以來，我們的產品開發銷售額成長了 230%，這意味著我們的新專案管道顯著成長，並且我們正在被設計成客戶的新穎產品。我們相信，目前的開發收入水準將繼續帶來持續高於市場的成長。

We have continued to strategically target product development opportunities in high-growth markets to accelerate our growth rate on a sustainable basis. 80% of our development sales are currently in high-growth markets with the remaining 20% in more mature markets. We continue to believe the mix of 80% high growth and 20% mature markets is the appropriate balance to accelerate our sales growth rate while sustaining our mature products for the benefits they deliver to our customers at Integer.

我們繼續策略性地瞄準高成長市場的產品開發機會，以可持續的方式加快我們的成長率。目前，我們 80% 的開發銷售來自高成長市場，其餘 20% 來自較成熟的市場。我們仍然相信，80% 的高成長和 20% 的成熟市場的組合是適當的平衡，可以加快我們的銷售成長率，同時維持我們的成熟產品，為 Integer 的客戶帶來好處。

The development cycle in our industry is relatively long, so it is a meaningful milestone for us to achieve the level of product development sales and program mix necessary to sustain above-market growth.

我們行業的開發週期相對較長，因此，達到維持高於市場成長所需的產品開發銷售和專案組合水平，對我們來說是一個有意義的里程碑。

We are excited to share our fourth annual update on emerging PMA customers. We presented this slide for the first time on our earnings call in the third quarter of 2020. These PMA customers are primarily single product, highly novel and innovative, and bring emerging neuromodulation therapies to market. We have been investing in this pipeline of PMA products for many years, and the advancement of these programs is a key contributor to our above-market sales growth.

我們很高興與大家分享有關新興 PMA 客戶的第四次年度更新。我們在 2020 年第三季的財報電話會議上首次展示了這張投影片。這些 PMA 客戶主要是單一產品，高度新穎和創新，並將新興的神經調節療法推向市場。多年來，我們一直在 PMA 產品系列上進行投資，這些項目的進步是我們高於市場銷售成長的關鍵因素。

The left-hand side of this slide shows the number of customers we are working with at each phase of the product development process. The right-hand side highlights the actual sales generated in 2018, 2020, and 2022 for the nine customers who are in either product introduction or launched since 2020.

這張投影片的左側顯示了我們在產品開發過程的每個階段與之合作的客戶數量。右側突出顯示了 2018 年、2020 年和 2022 年正在推出產品或自 2020 年以來推出的 9 個客戶的實際銷售額。

We are increasing our 2024 sales projection to a range of $100 million to $120 million, which is the second consecutive year we have done so. This is the result of the success in the market for these novel therapies and demonstrates our strong pipeline of high-growth products that contribute to sustained above-market growth. In addition to our organic pipeline, we have demonstrated that we can consistently execute tuck-in acquisitions that enhance our capabilities and are accretive to our sales growth rate and profit margins.

我們將 2024 年的銷售額預測提高到 1 億至 1.2 億美元，這是我們連續第二年這樣做。這是這些新療法在市場上取得成功的結果，並展示了我們強大的高成長產品系列，有助於持續高於市場的成長。除了我們的有機管道之外，我們還證明了我們可以持續執行補充性收購，以增強我們的能力並增加我們的銷售成長率和利潤率。

We are very targeted in the companies that we pursue and have remained disciplined relative to our acquisition criteria. We continue to cultivate relationships with a robust pipeline of founder-led and privately owned businesses. We are confident we can continue to add 200 to 400 basis points of inorganic sales growth on an annual basis by deploying $250 million to $300 million on acquisitions while maintaining a debt leverage of 2.5 to 3.5 times adjusted EBITDA.

我們對我們所追求的公司非常有針對性，並且相對於我們的收購標準保持嚴格的紀律。我們繼續與眾多創辦人領導的私人企業建立關係。我們有信心，透過部署 2.5 億至 3 億美元的收購，同時保持調整後 EBITDA 2.5 至 3.5 倍的債務槓桿，我們可以繼續每年增加 200 至 400 個基點的無機銷售成長。

Prior to the development and implementation of our strategy, Integer was growing at about the market growth rate of 5%. I have highlighted how growth starts with product development, which is our focus strategy to get designed into our customers' most strategic products in high-growth markets, which is demonstrated by our product development sales growth of 230%, and 80% of our development portfolio is in high-growth markets.

在製定和實施我們的策略之前，Integer 的市場成長率約為 5%。我強調了成長如何從產品開發開始，這是我們的重點策略，旨在為客戶在高成長市場中設計出最具策略性的產品，這可以從我們230% 的產品開發銷售成長和80% 的發展中得到證明。

These key metrics reinforce why we remain confident we have the organic pipeline to deliver sustained organic growth, 200 basis points above the market. Our acquisition strategy has added significant capability, depth and breadth so we can better serve our customers in high-growth markets. Our recent acquisitions have also added to our organic pipeline and provided sales and profit acceleration.

這些關鍵指標強化了我們對擁有有機管道來實現持續有機成長（比市場高出 200 個基點）充滿信心的原因。我們的收購策略顯著增加了能力、深度和廣度，使我們能夠更好地為高成長市場的客戶提供服務。我們最近的收購也增加了我們的有機管道，並提供了銷售和利潤加速。

Going forward, we expect to add 200 to 400 basis points of growth annually from acquisitions. Our focused strategy, combined with our organic and inorganic investments, have generated a strong product development pipeline and the most vertically integrated provider to our customers in the fastest-growing end markets. This gives us confidence we can sustainably grow sales high single digit to low double digit going forward.

展望未來，我們預計每年透過收購增加 200 至 400 個基點的成長。我們的重點策略，結合我們的有機和無機投資，已經形成了強大的產品開發管道，並為成長最快的終端市場的客戶提供了最垂直整合的供應商。這讓我們有信心未來能夠將銷售額從高個位數持續成長到低兩位數。

The strategy that we launched into 2018 is producing results and has helped Integer accomplish its vision of being our customers' partner of choice for innovative medical technologies and services.

我們在 2018 年推出的策略正在取得成果，並幫助 Integer 實現了成為客戶創新醫療技術和服務的首選合作夥伴的願景。

I'll now turn the call over to Diron.

我現在將把電話轉給 Diron。

Thank you, Joe. Good morning, everyone, and thank you again for joining today's discussion. I'll provide more details on the fourth quarter and full-year 2023 adjusted financial results and provide our 2024 outlook. It is important to note, fourth-quarter results are not impacted by our acquisition of Pulse Technologies, while the full-year 2024 outlook includes this acquisition.

謝謝你，喬。大家早安，再次感謝大家參加今天的討論。我將提供有關 2023 年第四季度和全年調整後財務業績的更多詳細信息，並提供我們的 2024 年展望。值得注意的是，第四季業績並未受到我們收購 Pulse Technologies 的影響，而 2024 年全年展望也包括此次收購。

We ended our year strong and delivered fourth-quarter results at the high end of our October 26, 2023, outlook. With sales of $413 million, Integer delivered 11% year-over-year sales growth on a reported basis and 9% on an organic basis, which excludes the impact of our fourth-quarter InNeuroCo acquisition, the strategic exit of the portable medical market, and foreign currency fluctuations. Our sales performance reflects the continued strong customer demand across our targeted growth markets and the ongoing improvements in the supply chain environment.

我們以強勁的業績結束了這一年，第四季業績達到了 2023 年 10 月 26 日展望的最高值。Integer 的銷售額為 4.13 億美元，報告銷售額年增 11%，有機銷售額增長 9%，不包括我們第四季度收購 InNeuroCo（便攜式醫療市場的戰略退出）的影響，和外幣波動。我們的銷售業績反映了我們目標成長市場中持續強勁的客戶需求以及供應鏈環境的持續改善。

We delivered $86 million of adjusted EBITDA, up $13 million compared to the prior year for an increase of 18%. Adjusted operating income also increased 18% versus last year. We continued to make progress on our year-over-year margin expansion. Compared to the prior year, adjusted operating income as a percent of sales increased to 16.4%, a 97-basis point improvement driven by gross margin expansion, volume leverage, and efficiency gains from the continued improvement in the supply chain.

我們實現了 8,600 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，比前一年增加 1,300 萬美元，成長 18%。調整後營業收入也比去年成長了 18%。我們在同比利潤率擴張方面繼續取得進展。與前一年相比，調整後營業收入佔銷售額的百分比上升至 16.4%，在毛利率擴張、銷售槓桿以及供應鏈持續改善帶來的效率提升的推動下，提高了 97 個基點。

With adjusted net income at $47 million, we delivered $1.39 of adjusted diluted earnings per share, up $0.28 or 25% from the fourth quarter of 2022. With our strong performance in the fourth quarter, our full year financial results were at the high end of our 2023 earnings outlook. Sales were $1.597 billion, which is a strong year-over-year increase of 16% or 15% organically.

調整後淨利潤為 4,700 萬美元，調整後稀釋每股收益為 1.39 美元，比 2022 年第四季成長 0.28 美元，即 25%。憑藉第四季度的強勁表現，我們的全年財務業績處於 2023 年盈利預期的高端。銷售額為 15.97 億美元，較去年同期強勁成長 16% 或 15%。

Adjusted EBITDA was $309 million, up 21% versus last year. And adjusted operating income was $241 million, up $50 million or 26% compared to the prior year. We delivered $158 million of adjusted net income and $4.67 of adjusted diluted earnings per share, up $0.79 or 20% from the prior year. I will touch on the year-over-year growth in adjusted net income in a few moments.

調整後 EBITDA 為 3.09 億美元，比去年成長 21%。調整後營業收入為 2.41 億美元，比上年增加 5,000 萬美元，成長 26%。我們實現了 1.58 億美元的調整後淨利潤和 4.67 美元的調整後稀釋每股收益，比上年增長 0.79 美元，即 20%。我稍後將討論調整後淨利的年增率。

Taking a closer look at our C&V and CRM&N product-line sales, we delivered strong year-over-year growth on a trailing four-quarter basis in the fourth quarter of 2023. For our cardio and vascular product line, trailing four-quarter sales increased 20% year over year with double-digit growth across all C&V markets. This was driven by strong demand, acquisition performance, and supply chain improvements.

仔細研究我們的 C&V 和 CRM&N 產品線銷售，我們在 2023 年第四季度實現了連續四個季度的強勁同比增長。對於我們的心血管產品線，過去四個季度的銷售額年增 20%，所有 C&V 市場均達到兩位數成長。這是由強勁需求、收購績效和供應鏈改善所推動的。

Cardiac rhythm management and neuromodulation's trailing four-quarter sales increased 15% year over year. This was driven by double-digit CRM&N growth from strong customer demand, double-digit neuromodulation growth from emerging customers, and supply chain improvements. Further product line details are included in the appendix of the presentation on our website at Integer.net.

心律管理和神經調節過去四個季度的銷售額年增 15%。這是由強勁的客戶需求帶來的兩位數的 CRM&N 成長、新興客戶帶來的兩位數的神經調節成長以及供應鏈的改進所推動的。更多產品線詳細資訊包含在我們網站 Integer.net 上簡報的附錄中。

To provide more color on our full-year 2023 performance, we increased adjusted net income by $28 million compared to 2022. Strong sales and operational improvements delivered $42 million, equivalent to $1.19 per share, which was partially offset by foreign exchange as well as higher interest and taxes.

為了讓 2023 年全年業績更加豐富多彩，我們將調整後淨利潤比 2022 年增加了 2,800 萬美元。強勁的銷售和營運改善帶來了 4,200 萬美元，相當於每股 1.19 美元，部分被外匯以及更高的利息和稅收所抵消。

We incurred adjusted total interest expense of approximately $10 million or $9 million tax effected, higher than last year. This is due to a combination of higher debt balance driven by $50 million in costs associated with the convertible notes issued in the first quarter of 2023 and overall higher effective interest rates.

我們產生的調整後總利息費用約為 1,000 萬美元或 900 萬美元的稅款，高於去年。這是由於與 2023 年第一季發行的可轉換票據相關的 5,000 萬美元成本導致債務餘額增加，以及整體實際利率上升。

Our adjusted effective tax rate was 17.7% for the full-year 2023 compared to 16.1% in the prior year. As described in last quarter's earnings call, the primary driver of our higher adjusted effective tax rate compared to the prior year is the expiration of the 10-year Malaysian tax holiday.

2023 年全年調整後的有效稅率為 17.7%，而前一年為 16.1%。如上季財報電話會議所述，與前一年相比，我們調整後的有效稅率較高的主要驅動力是馬來西亞十年免稅期的到期。

For 2024, we expect our adjusted effective tax rate to be between 19% to 21%. This increase is mostly driven by the recently enacted Pillar 2 legislation in Europe, establishing a minimum effective tax rate of 15% and the residual effect of the Malaysian tax holiday expiration.

2024 年，我們預計調整後的有效稅率將在 19% 至 21% 之間。這一增長主要是由歐洲最近頒布的第二支柱立法推動的，該立法規定了 15% 的最低有效稅率以及馬來西亞免稅期到期的剩餘影響。

We delivered another quarter of strong conversion of income to cash in the fourth quarter of 2023 with $56 million of cash flow from operations. This strong performance was driven by high sales volumes and improving margins.

2023 年第四季度，我們又實現了強勁的營收向現金轉化，營運現金流達 5,600 萬美元。這種強勁的業績是由高銷量和不斷提高的利潤率所推動的。

In the fourth quarter we generated $19 million in free cash flow, inclusive of $37 million of capital expenditures. On a full-year basis, this equates to $180 million in cash flow from operating activities, a 55% increase versus 2022. Our full-year free cash flow of $60 million reflects $120 million in capital expenditures, which is in line with our outlook throughout the year.

第四季度，我們產生了 1,900 萬美元的自由現金流，其中包括 3,700 萬美元的資本支出。以全年計算，這相當於經營活動產生的現金流量為 1.8 億美元，比 2022 年成長 55%。我們的全年自由現金流為 6,000 萬美元，反映出 1.2 億美元的資本支出，這與我們全年的預期相符。

Net total debt ended at $950 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of $26 million compared to the third-quarter ending balance. This reflects an increase in debt of $42 million to fund our fourth-quarter acquisition of InNeuroCo and another $8 million for earn-out payments on previous acquisitions, partially offset by other decreases of $24 million. Net total debt leverage at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 was 3.1 times trailing four-quarter adjusted EBITDA, which is within our strategic target range and down from 3.5 times at the end of 2022.

2023 年第四季的淨債務總額為 9.5 億美元，較第三季末餘額增加 2,600 萬美元。這反映了我們在第四季度收購 InNeuroCo 的債務增加了 4,200 萬美元，另外還有 800 萬美元用於先前收購的獲利付款，部分被其他減少的 2,400 萬美元所抵銷。2023 年第四季末的淨總負債槓桿率為 4 季調整後 EBITDA 的 3.1 倍，在我們的策略目標範圍內，低於 2022 年底的 3.5 倍。

We will now transition to providing more detail on our outlook for 2024 sales profit and cash. The full-year outlook, as summarized earlier, reflects our strategy to deliver sustained above-market growth with expanding margins.

我們現在將轉而提供有關 2024 年銷售利潤和現金前景的更多詳細資訊。如前所述，全年展望反映了我們透過擴大利潤率實現持續高於市場成長的策略。

We expect 2024 sales to be in the range of $1.735 billion to $1.770 billion, an increase of 9% to 11% versus last year. Our outlook reflects organic growth of 6% to 8%, which is 200 basis points above our underlying market growth rate estimate of 4% to 6%, plus 3% inorganic growth from our InNeuroCo and Pulse acquisitions, partially offset by the portable medical exit.

我們預計 2024 年銷售額將在 17.35 億美元至 17.70 億美元之間，較去年增長 9% 至 11%。我們的前景反映了6% 至8% 的有機成長，比我們4% 至6% 的基本市場成長率預期高出200 個基點，加上我們收購InNeuroCo 和Pulse 帶來的3% 無機成長，部分被便攜式醫療退出所抵消。

Our outlook for 2024r adjusted EBITDA is between $355 million and $375 million, which is 15% to 21% growth year over year. And we expect 2024 adjusted operating income to be between $272 million and $290 million, reflecting growth of 13% to 20%, which is 1.9 times our expected sales growth rate at the high end of our outlook.

我們對 2024 年調整後 EBITDA 的預期為 3.55 億至 3.75 億美元，年增 15% 至 21%。我們預計 2024 年調整後營業收入將在 2.72 億美元至 2.9 億美元之間，成長 13% 至 20%，是我們預期銷售成長率上限的 1.9 倍。

Adjusted net income is expected to be between $171 million to $185 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of 8% to 18%. This delivers an adjusted EPS outlook between $5.01 and $5.43, a growth of 7% to 16%. This assumes an adjusted effective tax rate between 19% and 21% and higher interest expense compared to 2023, primarily due to a higher debt balance to support the acquisitions of InNeuroCo and Pulse Technologies.

調整後淨利潤預計在 1.71 億美元至 1.85 億美元之間，年增 8% 至 18%。這使得調整後每股收益前景在 5.01 美元至 5.43 美元之間，成長 7% 至 16%。假設調整後的有效稅率在 19% 至 21% 之間，並且與 2023 年相比利息支出更高，這主要是由於支持收購 InNeuroCo 和 Pulse Technologies 的債務餘額更高。

We expect sales in the first quarter of 2024 to grow high single digit year over year with sequential sales acceleration in the second quarter through the fourth quarter from new product introductions and emerging TMA customer growth. We also anticipate our typical quarterly trend for product development revenue, which is generally at its lowest levels in the first quarter and at its highest levels in the fourth quarter.

我們預計 2024 年第一季的銷售額將年比出現高個位數成長，由於新產品的推出和新興 TMA 客戶的成長，第二季到第四季的銷售額將連續加速。我們也預期產品開發收入的典型季度趨勢，通常在第一季處於最低水平，在第四季度達到最高水平。

We expect adjusted operating income as a percent of sales to expand throughout 2024 from a significantly improved supply chain, direct labor attrition returning to pre-pandemic levels, and the typical quarterly trend for product development revenue.

我們預計，由於供應鏈顯著改善、直接勞動力流失恢復到大流行前的水平以及產品開發收入的典型季度趨勢，調整後的營業收入佔銷售額的百分比將在 2024 年持續擴大。

To close our financial discussion, I would like to summarize our cash flow generation and our net total debt projection for 2024. We expect cash flow from operations between $185 million to $205 million, which represents an 8% year-over-year increase at midpoint of outlook.

為了結束我們的財務討論，我想總結一下我們 2024 年的現金流量產生和淨總債務預測。我們預計營運現金流在 1.85 億美元至 2.05 億美元之間，展望中位數年增 8%。

Our outlook for capital expenditure is $90 million to $110 million as we continue to invest in organic capabilities and capacity. At midpoint, this is $15 million lower than 2023 capital expenditures as the spending on our Irish capacity investments was at its highest in 2023. As a result, we expect to generate free cash flow between $85 million and $105 million.

隨著我們繼續投資於有機能力和產能，我們的資本支出前景為 9,000 萬至 1.1 億美元。中點來看，這比 2023 年的資本支出減少了 1,500 萬美元，因為我們愛爾蘭產能投資的支出在 2023 年達到了最高水準。因此，我們預計將產生 8,500 萬至 1.05 億美元的自由現金流。

Inclusive of our approximate $140 million acquisition of Pulse Technologies in January of this year, we expect our 2024 year-end net total debt to be between $1.010 billion to $1.030 million, which is up $60 million to $80 million year over year. We expect to end the year with our leverage ratio within our target range of 2.5 and 3.5 times trailing four-quarter adjusted EBITDA.

包括今年 1 月斥資約 1.4 億美元收購 Pulse Technologies 在內，我們預計 2024 年底淨債務總額將在 10.1 億美元至 103 萬美元之間，年增 6,000 萬至 8,000 萬美元。我們預計到今年年底，我們的槓桿率將保持在第四季度調整後 EBITDA 的 2.5 至 3.5 倍的目標範圍內。

With that, I'll turn the call back to Joe. Thank you.

這樣，我會將電話轉回喬。謝謝。

Thanks, Diron. We delivered a very strong 2023 with full-year sales up 16% and adjusted operating income improving by 26% over 2022. We expect this strong performance to continue in 2024 with an outlook of 9% to 11% sales growth and a 13% to 20% increase in adjusted operating income. The execution of our strategy, both organically and inorganically, is producing results as we continue to demonstrate above-market sales growth with expanding margins. We remain focused on executing our strategy to create a premium valuation for our shareholders.

謝謝，迪隆。我們的 2023 年業績非常強勁，全年銷售額成長 16%，調整後營業收入比 2022 年成長 26%。我們預計這種強勁表現將在 2024 年持續，銷售額將成長 9% 至 11%，調整後營業收入成長 13% 至 20%。我們的策略執行，無論是有機的還是無機的，正在產生成果，我們繼續展示高於市場的銷售成長和不斷擴大的利潤。我們仍然專注於執行我們的策略，為股東創造溢價估值。

I will now turn the call over to the moderator for the Q&A portion of our call.

我現在將把電話轉交給主持人，以進行電話問答部分。

(Operator Instructions) Brett Fishbin, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

（操作員指令）Brett Fishbin，KeyBanc 資本市場。

Hey, guys. Thanks so much for taking the questions. Just wanted to start off quickly with one on the 2024 guidance. Maybe if you could just walk through a bit of the philosophy and then moving pieces around the 6% to 8% starting point for organic revenue growth? And then just how you're balancing the thinking around a really tough 2023 comparison, but in context of a still very elevated order book in the range of $1 billion exiting last year.

大家好。非常感謝您提出問題。只是想快速從 2024 年指南開始。也許您可以簡單介紹一下這個理念，然後圍繞有機收入成長 6% 到 8% 的起點進行調整？然後，你如何平衡對 2023 年非常艱難的比較的思考，但去年的訂單量仍然非常高，達到 10 億美元。

Great. Hey, Brett. Thanks for the question. So as we look at 2024 sales to the 6% to 8% organic is consistent with our product development pipeline. That gives us great visibility into new programs that are ramping in 2024. Some of the growth in '24 is from ramps that started in 2023 and '22, and they pick up as the year progresses. And so 6% to 8% organic growth for us is exactly what we've been talking about as our strategic objective, and we're confident in being able to do that.

偉大的。嘿，布雷特。謝謝你的提問。因此，當我們看到 2024 年有機銷售額達到 6% 至 8% 時，這與我們的產品開發管道是一致的。這讓我們能夠更了解 2024 年即將推出的新計畫。24 年的部分成長來自 2023 年和 22 年開始的成長，並且隨著時間的推移而加速。因此，我們 6% 到 8% 的有機成長正是我們一直在談論的策略目標，我們有信心能夠做到這一點。

Maybe to correlate that, we think the market in 2024 would be more similar to a longer-term outlook of 4% to 6%. We think 2023 was elevated. The end market growth in 2022 was below average. And so as we look at '24, we're assuming kind of a normal 4% to 6% industry growth, and that's the 6% to 8% of the new products that are ramping gives us confidence in being able to do that.

也許與此相關的是，我們認為 2024 年的市場將更類似於 4% 至 6% 的長期前景。我們認為 2023 年的價格有所上升。2022 年終端市場成長低於平均值。因此，當我們展望 24 年時，我們假設產業成長率為 4% 到 6%，而新產品的 6% 到 8% 的成長讓我們有信心做到這一點。

And to your question about the order book over $900 million of orders on hand with customers gives us tremendous visibility into what customers are requesting from us, both in the near term and out into the second half of the year. And that's on top of what they give us on a rolling 12-month basis kind of manufacturing plant -- the manufacturing plant, where they tell us what they're planning to produce for the next 12 months, which allows us to plan beyond that $900 million order book.

至於你關於訂單簿的問題，客戶手頭上超過 9 億美元的訂單使我們能夠清楚地了解客戶對我們的要求，無論是在短期內還是在今年下半年。除此之外，他們還為我們提供了滾動 12 個月的製造工廠——製造工廠，他們告訴我們他們計劃在未來 12 個月生產什麼，這使我們能夠制定超越這一目標的計劃訂單總額達9 億美元。

All right. Great. And then maybe following up on some of the comments around new product revenue, you did increase the outlook a little bit for this year, which was great to see, by approximately $20 million. Was just curious where you're seeing additional upside maybe in terms of product areas. A little extra color there would be really helpful. Thanks so much.

好的。偉大的。然後，也許根據有關新產品收入的一些評論，您確實將今年的前景提高了一點，這很高興看到，增加了約 2000 萬美元。只是好奇您在產品領域方面看到了哪些額外的優勢。一點額外的顏色會很有幫助。非常感謝。

Your question is specific to '23 or looking forward to '24?

您的問題是針對“23”還是期待“24”？

No, just looking at the 2024 estimate of $100 million to $120 million of new product revenue, just where you are seeing the additional upside relative to the prior year.

不，只要看看 2024 年新產品收入預計為 1 億至 1.2 億美元，您就可以看到相對於上一年的額外增長。

I'm sorry -- you're referring to the emerging customers with PMA products?

抱歉，您指的是使用 PMA 產品的新興客戶嗎？

Yeah, exactly.

是的，完全正確。

Okay, great. Yeah, so we delivered about 250 basis points of total Integer level of growth in '23 versus 2022 from this customer base. And so if you triangulate that, we had previously said we'd grow from $50 million in 2022 to $80 million to $100 million by 2024. And although it's not perfectly linear, we did see strong progression.

好的，太好了。是的，所以我們從這個客戶群中獲得了 23 年與 2022 年相比約 250 個基點的總整數成長水準。因此，如果你進行三角測量，我們之前曾說過，到 2024 年，我們的收入將從 2022 年的 5000 萬美元增長到 8000 萬美元至 1 億美元。雖然它不是完全線性的，但我們確實看到了強勁的進展。

We actually were ahead of kind of a linear progression towards that $80 million to $100 million. And based upon the demand from customers and the success of their products in the marketplace, it gives us confidence in increasing the 2024 by another $20 million.

事實上，我們已經領先 8,000 萬美元到 1 億美元的線性進程。根據客戶的需求及其產品在市場上的成功，我們有信心在 2024 年再增加 2,000 萬美元。

We increased it last year. You can see on the bottom right of that chart, we increased it last year from $60 million to $80 million to $80 million to $100 million. We're doing that again this year because we have confidence now, given the manufacturing ramps and the demand that customers are seeing in the marketplace.

我們去年增加了。您可以在該圖表的右下角看到，我們去年將其從 6000 萬美元增加到 8000 萬美元，再到 8000 萬美元到 1 億美元。我們今年會再次這樣做，因為考慮到生產的成長和客戶在市場上看到的需求，我們現在有信心。

So we're supporting their launch into the marketplace of these novel therapies that are making a difference for patients. And I'll just highlight, these are mostly not spinal cord stim. So these are other neuromodulation emerging therapies that are meeting a lot of unmet patient need. And so we're excited to support these customers and their success, and you see that in our sales growth.

因此，我們支持他們將這些為患者帶來改變的新型療法推向市場。我要強調的是，這些大多不是脊髓刺激。因此，這些是其他神經調節新興療法，可以滿足許多未滿足的患者需求。因此，我們很高興能夠支持這些客戶及其成功，您可以在我們的銷售成長中看到這一點。

All right, thank you.

好吧。

Thanks, Brett.

謝謝，布雷特。

Do you have any further questions, Brett?

布雷特，您還有其他問題嗎？

I can go back and see if there -- is anyone else waiting to ask questions? Otherwise I could ask one or two more.

我可以回去看看是否還有其他人在等待提問？否則我可以再問一兩個。

Go ahead.

前進。

All right, sure. I have just a quick follow up around the starting range for operating margin. I think I was calculating around 1.7 times or so at the midpoint compared to the sales growth rate, which seems a little bit better than last year but still a little bit below the long-term target.

好吧，當然。我只是對營業利潤率的起始範圍進行了快速跟進。我認為與銷售成長率相比，我計算的中間值約為 1.7 倍左右，這似乎比去年好一點，但仍低於長期目標。

So maybe just a little bit around the key headwinds you're still seeing, and then how you see those progressing as the year continues. And it might be a little early, but whether you see some opportunity to continue pushing toward that 2 times target into 2025?

因此，也許只是圍繞您仍然看到的主要不利因素進行一些介紹，然後您如何看待這些不利因素在這一年中的進展。現在可能有點早，但您是否認為有機會在 2025 年繼續實現 2 倍的目標？

Yeah, great question, Brett. Your math is correct. At midpoint, it is operating profit growing 1.7 times the growth rate of sales.

是的，很好的問題，布雷特。你的數學是正確的。中點時，營業利潤成長率是銷售額成長率的 1.7 倍。

The reason for that is we are just now getting back to the same level of direct labor turnover that we were at pre pandemic. We had talked about when the direct labor turnover improves and supply chain disruption improves, we felt like then we can work out the inefficiencies that we've experienced in manufacturing over the last three years driven by those disruptions.

原因是我們剛剛恢復到疫情前的直接勞動力流動率水準。我們談到，當直接勞動力流動率改善和供應鏈中斷改善時，我們覺得我們可以解決過去三年來製造業因這些中斷而導致的低效率問題。

And so I'm excited to say that our direct labor turnover is -- now in the first month of January, we're actually back to 2019 levels. The fourth quarter -- every quarter in '23 got better and better. And we exited the fourth quarter of '23 slightly above 2019.

因此，我很高興地說，我們的直接勞動力流動率現在是 1 月第一個月，實際上已回到 2019 年的水平。第四季—23 年的每個季度都變得越來越好。23 年第四季的業績略高於 2019 年。

That positive trend line has continued into 2024. And so that gives us confidence that we can work out the inefficiencies that we've experienced from direct labor turnover, but it will take us some time to work that out. It won't happen immediately.

這條正面趨勢線一直持續到 2024 年。因此，這讓我們有信心解決直接勞動力流動所帶來的低效率問題，但我們需要一些時間來解決這個問題。這不會立即發生。

We have a number of different initiatives in the manufacturing operations to deliver those efficiencies. But we expect that to continuously improve throughout the year, and that gives us momentum going into 2025. Our long-term objective absolutely remains the 2 times of operating profit growth, 2 times the sales growth rate.

我們在製造營運中採取了許多不同的措施來提高效率。但我們預計這一情況將在全年不斷改善，這為我們進入 2025 年提供了動力。我們的長期目標絕對是營業利益成長2倍，銷售額成長2倍。

The other thing I'll highlight is on supply chain. We saw continued improvement in supply chain throughout last year, and we entered 2024 with the lowest measure of disruption. The way we measure it, the lowest since we started measuring it in early or in mid 2022, so I would say watch throughout the year. We expect margins to improve throughout the year as we get those efficiencies. And our long-term objective remains getting profit growing at least twice as fast as sales.

我要強調的另一件事是供應鏈。去年我們看到供應鏈持續改善，進入 2024 年中斷程度最低。我們的衡量方式是自 2022 年初或中期開始衡量以來的最低水平，所以我想說全年都要觀察。我們預計，隨著效率的提高，全年利潤率將會提高。我們的長期目標仍然是利潤成長速度至少是銷售額成長速度的兩倍。

All right, makes a ton of sense. And then kind of along similar lines, you have some of these cost headwinds starting to subside a little bit. But then there's also the flip side around pricing, which I know is a little bit of a modest positive to growth in 2023, which was a little bit different than in the past.

好吧，很有道理。然後，類似地，其中一些成本阻力開始稍微消退。但定價也存在另一面，我知道這對 2023 年的成長有一定的正面作用，這與過去有點不同。

So just curious on your thoughts here for 2024 as some of those cost headwinds start to cool down a little bit, if pricing can still be a positive lever or at least continue to be more neutral than in the past?

那麼，隨著一些成本逆風開始降溫，您對 2024 年的想法感到好奇，定價是否仍然可以成為一個積極的槓桿，或者至少繼續比過去更加中性？

Sure. Our pricing was a slight positive in '23, which was really just sharing some of the material and wage inflation with our customers in a very collaborative partnership manner. As we look forward to 2024 and beyond, we expect pricing to be flattish, and that's what we're modeling and assuming in 2024 based upon our agreements with our customers.

當然。我們的定價在 23 年略有上漲，這實際上只是以一種非常協作的伙伴關係方式與我們的客戶分享一些材料和工資通膨。展望 2024 年及以後，我們預計定價將持平，這就是我們根據與客戶的協議在 2024 年建模和假設的情況。

All right. Got it, and then last one. I know you just completed the deal, the post acquisition. And it's a little bit early, but just how folks should be thinking about the integration process for that deal in context of InNeuroCo being pretty recent? Just how you're prioritizing that and the level of integration you're planning and maybe some of the key hurdles or just marks of success you're looking for this year? Thanks a lot for taking my questions.

好的。明白了，然後是最後一張。我知道你剛完成了收購後的交易。現在還為時過早，但在 InNeuroCo 剛成立的背景下，人們應該如何考慮交易的整合過程？您如何確定優先順序以及您計劃的整合水平，也許還有一些關鍵障礙或只是您今年尋求成功的標誌？非常感謝您回答我的問題。

So as soon as we closed, we immediately started talking to customers about commercial synergies and the capabilities and the capacity that we have with both of those acquisitions. We found great reception and very positive reaction from customers on those acquisitions because it enables us to do more for our customers. Those were smaller customer tuck-ins. They were excited to see us, Integer, by them to bring the scalability that we can and to integrate their capabilities into the programs we already have with those customers, and it gives us more capabilities to do even more for them.

因此，我們一結束，我們就立即開始與客戶討論商業協同效應以及我們在這兩次收購中所擁有的能力和能力。我們發現客戶對這些收購反應熱烈，反應非常積極，因為這使我們能夠為客戶做更多的事情。這些都是較小的顧客聚餐。他們很高興看到我們Integer 帶來了我們所能提供的可擴展性，並將他們的功能整合到我們已經為這些客戶提供的程式中，這使我們有更多的能力為他們做更多的事情。

And vertical integration is a key point of differentiation that we bring, and we already -- the sales team is already working on a number of commercial synergies, and our operating teams are already sharing best practices. The great thing about it is the best practices are shared both ways because these smaller entrepreneurial innovative companies also find great ways to be efficient and low cost.

垂直整合是我們帶來的差異化關鍵點，我們的銷售團隊已經在致力於實現許多商業協同效應，我們的營運團隊也已經在分享最佳實踐。其偉大之處在於，最佳實踐是雙向分享的，因為這些小型創業創新公司也找到了提高效率和低成本的好方法。

And so they're sharing some of their practices with us, which is great. It also -- our customers were excited because the four acquisitions in the last 25 months reduces the number of suppliers for them by four. And they're excited to see us continue to do that, and we're happy to help them consolidate and simplify their supply chain.

因此，他們與我們分享了他們的一些做法，這很棒。我們的客戶也很興奮，因為過去 25 個月的四次收購使他們的供應商數量減少了 4 個。他們很高興看到我們繼續這樣做，我們很高興幫助他們鞏固和簡化他們的供應鏈。

Matthew O'Brien, Piper Sandler.

馬修·奧布萊恩，派珀·桑德勒。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe, Joe, just as I look at the stock opening up down a little bit this morning, I'm thinking it's probably due to the organic growth outlook for the business.

早安.感謝您回答我的問題。喬，也許，就像我今天早上看到股價開盤小幅下跌一樣，我認為這可能是由於該業務的有機成長前景所致。

And to follow up on Brett's question a little bit, I'm curious what's built in in terms of buffer because you mentioned more of a normalized environment this year, although we're hearing volumes are still very good. I don't know if it's just because the comp was tough last year.

稍微跟進一下布雷特的問題，我很好奇緩衝方面內置了什麼，因為你提到了今年更多的標準化環境，儘管我們的聽力音量仍然非常好。我不知道這是否只是因為去年的比賽很艱難。

New product launches are some big ones in areas where you guys are really strong. And then obviously, supply has gotten better as well. So I'm just wondering just some of the buffers that you're building in on the top line where there potentially could be a little bit better organic performance versus how you've guided.

新產品的發布是你們真正擅長的領域的一些重大活動。顯然，供應也有所改善。因此，我只是想知道您在頂線上建立的一些緩衝區，與您指導的方式相比，這些緩衝區可能會帶來更好的有機性能。

Certainly. On the stock price, I'll let you figure that one out. We're just going to keep executing our strategy and delivering on our financial objectives.

當然。關於股票價格，我會讓你弄清楚這一點。我們將繼續執行我們的策略並實現我們的財務目標。

In terms of growth, we have great visibility to 2024 because of the $900 million order book, the success our customers are having with their novel therapies that they're bringing to the marketplace. And so we always come out with what we think is a balanced view that has the ability to ensure that we can deliver on this growth. We have rolling 12-month forecast from our customers.

就成長而言，我們對 2024 年有很大的預見性，因為訂單量高達 9 億美元，我們的客戶將他們的新穎療法推向市場並取得了成功。因此，我們總是提出我們認為平衡的觀點，有能力確保我們能夠實現這種成長。我們有客戶的 12 個月滾動預測。

And so as we look at 2024, we think this is higher than the market growth, which we think, again, will be 4% to 6%. So we think our organic growth is delivering at least 200 basis points above. And we're excited about the acquisitions and the additional commercial synergies that we can get when we get to later '24 and '25 and beyond. So we feel like this is a really balanced view of 2024, and we're excited to get into the year and execute in the first quarter.

因此，當我們展望 2024 年時，我們認為這高於市場成長率，我們再次認為市場成長率為 4% 至 6%。因此，我們認為我們的有機成長至少高於 200 個基點。我們對 24 年和 25 年稍後及以後能夠獲得的收購和額外的商業協同效應感到興奮。因此，我們認為這是對 2024 年的一個非常平衡的看法，我們很高興能夠進入這一年並在第一季執行。

Got it. And then from the acquisitions, are you able to get into new areas that you hadn't been in before, or are you just strengthening existing areas? And then specifically, (inaudible) have been getting some approvals there recently. Is this an area where you can participate if that were to expand over the next several years? And then I have one final question. Thanks.

知道了。然後透過收購，你是否能夠進入你以前沒有涉足的新領域，或者你只是加強現有領域？然後具體來說，（聽不清楚）最近在那裡獲得了一些批准。如果該領域在未來幾年內擴大，您可以參與嗎？我還有最後一個問題。謝謝。

Certainly. So one of the great synergies with these acquisitions is they're serving the leading medtech OEMs as well. So our customers know them and know them well and trust them for design and development, The ability for them to ramp and scale is an area that they're excited for Integer to own now.

當然。因此，這些收購的巨大協同效應之一是它們也為領先的醫療技術原始設備製造商提供服務。因此，我們的客戶非常了解他們，並且信任他們的設計和開發。 他們對 Integer 現在擁有的提升和擴展能力感到興奮。

It has gotten this exposure to maybe a couple of areas; moreso, heart pumps being one example with Pulse Technologies, where it deepens our position in that space. And the broader capabilities and capacity enables us to move faster with our customers. So we're excited about having both the InNeuroCo and Pulse Technologies on the team.

它可能已經接觸到了幾個領域；此外，心臟泵就是 Pulse Technologies 的一個例子，它加深了我們在該領域的地位。更廣泛的能力和能力使我們能夠與客戶更快地合作。因此，我們對 InNeuroCo 和 Pulse Technologies 加入團隊感到非常興奮。

Got it. And last question for Diron, and congrats onthe permanent title. Just the deleveraging that we're seeing on the income statement from top to bottom line, especially the low end of the range, can you just, maybe -- I don't know if that's interest expense specifically, but just talk about that.

知道了。最後一個問題問迪隆，祝賀你獲得永久冠軍頭銜。只是我們在損益表上看到的從上到下的去槓桿化，尤其是範圍的低端，你能不能，也許——我不知道這是否是具體的利息支出，但只是談談這一點。

And then it is a pretty broad range, which just makes sense early in the year, but just -- what gets you that low and what gets you to the high end of that range? Thanks.

這是一個相當廣泛的範圍，這在今年年初是有意義的，但是——是什麼讓你如此低，又是什麼讓你達到這個範圍的高端？謝謝。

And just to clarify, you're referring to the adjusted net income?

澄清一下，您指的是調整後的淨利？

That's right, the EPS number.

沒錯，就是 EPS 數字。

Okay, the EPS. I just wanted to confirm. Yeah, so interest expense, we're up about $9 million midpoint on interest expense, and that's primarily related to the acquisitions of InNeuroCo and Pulse. So that dropped about $13 million on the interest expense and then the reduction and some additional paydown in debt.

好的，每股收益。我只是想確認一下。是的，利息支出，我們的利息支出中位數增加了約 900 萬美元，這主要與收購 InNeuroCo 和 Pulse 有關。這樣一來，利息支出就減少了約 1300 萬美元，然後債務的減少和一些額外的償還也減少了。

And then when you look at the tax rate, we're up about 2 percentage points on our adjusted tax rate year over year. That's primarily 2 points. One is the global Pillar 2 minimum tax rate impact that's about 1 point-ish of tax rate, and then another -- just less than 1 point related to our Malaysian tax holiday expiration that expired in 2023. And so there's some residual carryover impact of that.

然後，當你查看稅率時，我們調整後的稅率比去年同期上升了約 2 個百分點。主要是2點。一是全球第二支柱最低稅率的影響，約為稅率的 1 個百分點，另一個是與 2023 年到期的馬來西亞免稅期到期相關的不到 1 個百分點。因此，這會產生一些殘餘的遺留影響。

And then the other kind of -- other points would be a little bit of jurisdictional mix on the tax rate. So those two points are the primary drivers related to the EPS.

然後另一種 - 其他點將是稅率上的一點管轄權組合。所以這兩點是與 EPS 相關的主要驅動因素。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Craig Bijou, Bank of America.

克雷格‧比茹，美國銀行。

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. So just wanted to start -- we spent a lot of '23 talking about customer inventory workdown. So I do apologize for asking this question again, but maybe we can kind of put it to rest. But it sounds like inventory order patterns at your customers are getting to a more normal level. So just wanted to hear your thoughts there and if that is, in fact, true and '24 is going to be a normal year from that perspective?

早上好傢伙。感謝您提出問題。所以我想開始——23 年我們花了很多時間討論客戶庫存的減少。所以我很抱歉再次問這個問題，但也許我們可以暫時解決這個問題。但聽起來您客戶的庫存訂單模式正在恢復到更正常的水平。所以只是想聽聽你的想法，如果這確實是真的，從這個角度來看，24 年會是正常的一年？

Yeah, Craig, it wouldn't be an earnings call without that question, so thank you. So maybe I'll start with this. Our view of the end market is 2022 was below average growth year because of hospital staffing shortages, and 2023 was higher than average. And if you look at the two years, it looks to us like it kind of averages out to maybe more normal over the two years.

是的，克雷格，如果沒有這個問題，就不會是財報電話會議，所以謝謝你。所以也許我會從這個開始。我們對終端市場的看法是，由於醫院人員短缺，2022 年的成長低於平均水平，而 2023 年則高於平均水平。如果你看看這兩年，在我們看來，這兩年的平均值可能會比較正常。

And we work closely with customers back in 2022 when orders were coming in fast and furious and high. We worked close with customers to allocate capacity in order to support medical procedure volumes. And that was our first question to customers when we saw orders that look like they were meaningfully above any pattern or trend that we could observe in the end markets.

早在 2022 年，我們就與客戶密切合作，當時訂單數量快速、猛烈、大量。我們與客戶密切合作，分配產能以支援醫療程序量。當我們看到訂單看起來明顯高於我們在終端市場觀察到的任何模式或趨勢時，這是我們向客戶提出的第一個問題。

And the nice thing is we're serving so many customers on so many different therapies and products, we can get a pretty good view of the overall market for different submarkets pretty comprehensively given our sole-source nature.

令人高興的是，我們為如此多的客戶提供如此多不同的療法和產品，鑑於我們的唯一來源性質，我們可以非常全面地了解不同子市場的整體市場。

And so we were able to talk to customers about what we were seeing more holistically. And we think, for the most part, the order patterns -- maybe ordering was not normal, but what we shipped was maybe more aligned to end markets.

因此，我們能夠與客戶更全面地討論我們所看到的情況。我們認為，在很大程度上，訂單模式——也許訂單不正常，但我們發貨的產品可能更符合終端市場。

I shared on the third-quarter earnings call, we saw some of the supplier adjustments that their supplier was adjusting inventory letters that the customers oftentimes send out when they do things en masse. We saw some of that last summer. I said on the third-quarter earnings call that we were seeing what we would characterize as kind of typical year-end inventory management in some locations, that we had incorporated both of those into our guidance.

我在第三季的財報電話會議上分享，我們看到了一些供應商的調整，他們的供應商正在調整客戶在集體做事時經常發出的庫存信件。去年夏天我們就看到了其中的一些。我在第三季財報電話會議上表示，我們在某些​​地區看到了典型的年終庫存管理，我們已將這兩者納入我們的指導中。

So it was in our third quarter. Those adjustments were in our fourth quarter. And I think given our order book, we've got really good visibility to the next, at least, six months and even beyond with some of the longer-term orders we have. So we baked all that in. We've got all that factored into our guidance, and we're confident in the guidance that we've provided, both for the full-year and the qualitative color that we provided on the first quarter.

這是我們第三季的情況。這些調整是在我們第四季進行的。我認為，考慮到我們的訂單簿，我們對未來、至少六個月甚至更長的一些長期訂單有很好的了解。所以我們把所有這些都放進去了。我們已將所有這些因素納入我們的指導中，並且我們對我們提供的指導充滿信心，無論是全年還是第一季度提供的定性色彩。

Got it. Thanks for the thorough answer. I wanted to follow up on the higher guidance for emerging customers. And sorry if I missed this, the specifics, but what's driving that raise to the $20 million? So was that outperformance versus what you were expecting through '23? Or is it a better -- higher expectations for '24 for those products?

知道了。感謝您的徹底回答。我想跟進針對新興客戶的更高指導。很抱歉，如果我錯過了這個細節，那麼是什麼推動融資達到 2000 萬美元？那麼，這個表現是否超出了您對 23 年的預期？還是對 24 世紀這些產品有更好、更高的期望？

It's a great question. I mean, the very nature of these customers is the success or failure in the marketplace will determine the success or failure. On the slide 17 in our presentation, it shows those -- the growth in those sales.

這是一個很好的問題。我的意思是，這些客戶的本質就是市場的成敗將決定成敗。在我們簡報的第 17 張幻燈片中，它顯示了這些銷售額的成長。

Look, we risk-adjust the forecast from our customers because we know that they're going to plan for the best they can do and make sure that they've got product to hit the most aggressive sales forecast that they have. Well, we risk adjust that because we've got 40-plus years of doing this kind of IPG and lead development for neuromodulation customers.

看，我們對客戶的預測進行風險調整，因為我們知道他們會盡最大努力進行計劃，並確保他們的產品能夠達到他們最積極的銷售預測。好吧，我們冒險調整這一點，因為我們有 40 多年從事此類 IPG 的經驗，並為神經調節客戶主導開發。

And so what you're seeing is you're seeing stronger success in the marketplace than what we risk adjust the growth pattern here. And quite frankly, you can look at it and see in fourth-quarter '21, we were saying 2024 was going to be $60 million to $80 million because when we did that, we were still two years away. We got one more year of knowledge. And at the end of fourth -- end of 2022, we said $80 million to $100 million, and that risk adjustment proved to be overly conservative. And so now, we're seeing those customers' success in the marketplace.

因此，您所看到的是，您在市場上看到的成功比我們在這裡冒險調整成長模式的成功更大。坦白說，你可以看看 21 年第四季度，我們說 2024 年將達到 6000 萬至 8000 萬美元，因為當我們這樣做時，距離我們還有兩年的時間。我們又獲得了一年的知識。在第四季末，也就是 2022 年底，我們說 8,000 萬至 1 億美元，事實證明風險調整過於保守。現在，我們看到這些客戶在市場上取得了成功。

We said -- I commented earlier that our '23 versus '22 growth for Integer was about 250 basis points from these customers. So you can do the math and extrapolate. We're ahead of the midpoint of $50 million to $100 million, which gave us confidence to raise the $100 million to $120 million. But ultimately, it's the success of the products in the marketplace, and our risk adjustment proved conservative.

我們說過－我之前評論過，我們的 Integer '23 與 '22 成長大約來自這些客戶 250 個基點。所以你可以進行數學計算和推論。我們領先 5,000 萬至 1 億美元的中點，這讓我們有信心籌集 1 億至 1.2 億美元。但最終，這是產品在市場上的成功，而我們的風險調整被證明是保守的。

Got it. That's helpful. And last one for me, it sounds like you guys are modeling in a decent amount of contribution from new acquisitions. So I wanted to get your sense for the end market in acquisitions for you guys, I guess. Are there that many smaller deals to be done? And how is the pricing or valuation expectations on some of those deals?

知道了。這很有幫助。對我來說最後一個，聽起來你們正在從新收購中做出相當大的貢獻來建模。所以我想了解你們對收購中終端市場的認識。還有那麼多小交易要做嗎？其中一些交易的定價或估值預期如何？

There is a very robust pipeline of acquisition -- tuck-in acquisitions for us. The team continues to do a phenomenal job of identifying opportunities. We think we're in a very unique position in the marketplace to be able to identify these tuck-in acquisitions. We are oftentimes a supplier to these targets, or we might actually be partnering or working on a product that they're working on as well.

我們有非常強大的收購管道——即收購。該團隊在尋找機會方面繼續表現出色。我們認為我們在市場上處於非常獨特的地位，能夠識別這些隱藏的收購。我們通常是這些目標的供應商，或者我們實際上可能正在合作或開發他們也在開發的產品。

Customers come to us and suggest to us acquisition opportunities where they may love the technology and the design development capability, but they look at them and say they're not big enough to scale or they don't want to take too much risk in some of the smaller customers on their most important high-growth programs.

客戶來找我們，向我們建議收購機會，他們可能喜歡這些機會的技術和設計開發能力，但他們看了之後說，這些機會還不夠大，無法擴展，或者他們不想在某些方面冒太大的風險。

Sometimes, we actually get calls from targets themselves who have seen what we've done with other acquisitions because they've heard and they know from that network of other entrepreneurs, founder-led companies that we invest and grow the business. We bring commercial synergies, so we accelerate the growth of their business. We invest in their business, and the vertical integration just helps them accelerate the impact they're having in the marketplace and with patients. So they're excited about that.

有時，我們實際上會接到目標公司本身的電話，他們看到了我們在其他收購中所做的事情，因為他們聽說過並且從其他企業家、創始人領導的公司的網絡中了解到我們投資和發展業務。我們帶來了商業協同效應，因此我們加速了他們的業務成長。我們投資他們的業務，垂直整合只是幫助他們加速對市場和患者的影響。所以他們對此感到興奮。

So we think we're in a unique position to be able to identify these tuck-in acquisitions relative to others in the market who are pursuing them.

因此，我們認為我們處於獨特的地位，能夠相對於市場上其他正在追求這些收購的公司來識別這些隱藏收購。

And on your question on pricing, well, of course, everybody wants the highest possible price. But these entrepreneurs and founder-led companies care about lots of things when they make those decisions, and we think we get to a fair price for them. And oftentimes, we'll put an earn-out in there if they outperform over the first couple of years of ownership. They can get more.

關於定價問題，當然，每個人都希望獲得盡可能高的價格。但這些企業家和創辦人領導的公司在做出這些決定時會關心很多事情，我們認為我們可以為他們提供一個公平的價格。通常情況下，如果他們在擁有所有權的頭幾年表現出色，我們就會在其中投入收益。他們可以獲得更多。

But we've been able to get these acquisitions, we think, at a fair price, a price that lets us then bring commercial and operational synergies and get a great return. And we built that muscle of [diligencing] and integrating.

但我們認為，我們已經能夠以公平的價格進行這些收購，這個價格可以讓我們帶來商業和營運協同效應並獲得豐厚的回報。我們建立了[勤奮]和整合的力量。

We're excited about the progress that we've already made with InNeuroCo and Pulse. We've already got commercial opportunities that are in process. And the operational synergies also, they start day one because they're doing a lot of the same work, serving the same customers, and so it's pretty quick and pretty easy.

我們對 InNeuroCo 和 Pulse 所取得的進展感到非常興奮。我們已經獲得了正在進行中的商業機會。還有營運綜效，他們從第一天就開始，因為他們做很多相同的工作，為相同的客戶提供服務，所以速度非常快而且非常容易。

Also, maybe your question, they're serving the same end markets. They're targeting the same higher-growth markets as us. So they're a great strategic fit, which is the discipline of following our criteria for acquisitions.

另外，也許你的問題是，他們服務於相同的終端市場。他們的目標是與我們相同的高成長市場。因此，它們是一個很好的策略契合點，這是遵循我們收購標準的紀律。

Great. Thanks, guys.

偉大的。多謝你們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Joanne Winch, Citi.

（操作員指示）Joanne Winch，花旗銀行。

Good morning and thank you very much for taking the question. As I'm running through my model, it looks like it was about somewhere between 50 and 70 basis points of operating margin expansion, mostly coming from gross margins. Just curious if I'm looking at this the right way. And if so, if we go back to sort of a pre-pandemic operating margin, is that the right way to think about the world? Or is it just the business and the model has changed so much since then?

早上好，非常感謝您提出問題。當我運行我的模型時，看起來營業利潤率擴張了大約 50 到 70 個基點，主要來自毛利率。只是好奇我是否以正確的方式看待這個問題。如果是這樣，如果我們回到疫情前的營業利潤率，這是思考世界的正確方式嗎？或者只是業務和模式從那時起發生瞭如此大的變化？

Good morning, Joanne. Your question was specific to fourth quarter or forecast?

早安，喬安妮。您的問題是針對第四季或預測的嗎？

No, for 2024. Sorry.

不，2024 年。對不起。

That's okay. 2024. So 2024 at midpoint on the adjusted operating income were up 91 basis points at midpoint. I think it was commented earlier that operating profit growing 1.7 times as fast as the sales growth rate, that's our 2024 guidance. We're still driving towards the profit growing twice as fast. And so this is above-market sales growth with margin expansion, and the 91 basis points is the midpoint of our guidance.

沒關係。2024 年。因此，2024 年調整後營業收入中點成長了 91 個基點。我認為之前有人評論說營業利潤成長速度是銷售成長率的 1.7 倍，這是我們 2024 年的指導。我們仍在努力實現利潤成長兩倍的目標。因此，這是高於市場水平的銷售成長和利潤率擴張，而 91 個基點是我們指導的中點。

And referencing back to kind of pre pandemic, that is still slightly below where we were pre pandemic and the biggest driver that has to do with the direct labor attrition and the supply chain disruptions that we experienced heavily in 2022 and even throughout 2023.

回到大流行前的情況，這仍略低於大流行前的水平，最大的驅動因素與我們在 2022 年甚至整個 2023 年經歷的直接勞動力流失和供應鏈中斷有關。

The good news is more than half of our sites now, their turnover is back to pre-pandemic levels or better. We're confident that we'll keep improving that throughout 2024. We'll work out those inefficiencies from before the pandemic, and we're confident that we're going to get back to and exceed the margins that we had pre pandemic.

好消息是，我們一半以上的網站現在營業額已恢復到疫情前的水平或更好。我們有信心在 2024 年繼續改進這一點。我們將解決大流行前的低效率問題，我們有信心我們將恢復並超過大流行前的利潤率。

Thank you for that. My second question has to do somewhat with looking at the two segments -- the two sections of CRM and neuromod. If I'm doing my math correctly, in the fourth quarter, one segment probably did better than the other. Is it a comp issue, or is it something else we should be thinking about? Thank you.

謝謝你。我的第二個問題與查看這兩個部分有關——CRM 和 Neuromod 的兩個部分。如果我計算正確的話，在第四季度，一個部分可能比另一個部分錶現得更好。這是一個補償問題，還是我們應該考慮的其他問題？謝謝。

Sure. So in cardiac rhythm management and neuromod, neuromod continues to grow very strongly, driven by the emerging PMA customers we've talked a little bit about on this call. Cardiac rhythm management is actually growing very strongly throughout 2023. And at some point, it's going to revert back to its more historical levels.

當然。因此，在心律管理和 Neuromod 領域，在我們在本次電話會議中討論過的新興 PMA 客戶的推動下，neuromod 繼續強勁成長。實際上，心律管理在 2023 年將成長非常強勁。在某個時候，它將會恢復到更歷史的水平。

Our view is that there were fewer procedures during the pandemic and the staffing shortages in hospitals in '22. We saw very strong growth in the early part of 2023. And we think what you're seeing with the fourth quarter is cardiac rhythm management reverting back to a more historical low single digit, while neuromodulation continues to grow at a very strong level, driven primarily by non-spinal cord stim, the other emerging therapies, and neuro with our emerging PMA customers.

我們的觀點是，22 年大流行期間手術量減少，醫院人員短缺。我們在 2023 年初看到了非常強勁的成長。我們認為，您在第四季度看到的是心律管理恢復到歷史較低的個位數，而神經調節繼續以非常強勁的水平增長，這主要是由非脊髓刺激（其他新興療法）推動的，以及神經與我們新興的PMA 客戶。

Terrific. Thank you very much. Have a great day.

了不起。非常感謝。祝你有美好的一天。

Great. Thanks, Joanne.

偉大的。謝謝，喬安妮。

There are no further questions at time. I will turn the call to Andrew for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我將把電話轉給安德魯，讓其致閉幕詞。

Great. Thank you, everyone, for joining the call today. As always, you can access the replay of this call on our website as well as the presentation that we just covered. Thank you for your interest in Integer. And that concludes our call today.

偉大的。謝謝大家今天加入電話會議。像往常一樣，您可以在我們的網站上觀看本次電話會議的重播以及我們剛剛介紹的簡報。感謝您對整數的興趣。我們今天的電話會議到此結束。

This concludes today's conference call. We thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。