Joint Corp (JYNT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to The Joint Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this event is being recorded. Now I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. David Barnard, LHA Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

您好，歡迎參加 2022 年第四季聯合財務業績電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，該事件正在被記錄。現在，我想將會議交給 LHA 投資者關係部的 David Barnard 先生。請繼續。

Thank you, Nick. Good afternoon, everyone. This is David Barnard of LHA Investor Relations. On the call today, President and CEO, Peter Holt, will review our fourth quarter and year-end 2022 performance metrics and provide an update on the business. CFO, Jake Singleton, will detail our financial results and guidance. Then Peter will close with a summary and open the call for questions. Please note, we are using a slide presentation that can be found at https://ir.thejoint.com under Events.

謝謝你，尼克。大家下午好。我是 LHA 投資者關係部的 David Barnard。在今天的電話會議上，總裁兼執行長 Peter Holt 將回顧我們第四季和 2022 年年末的績效指標並提供業務最新進展。財務長傑克辛格頓 (Jake Singleton) 將詳細介紹我們的財務表現和指導。然後，彼得將做總結並開始提問。請注意，我們正在使用幻燈片演示，可以在 https://ir.thejoint.com 的「活動」下找到。

Today, after the close of the market, The Joint Corporation issued its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. If you have not received a copy of the press release, it can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

今天，收盤後，聯合公司發布了截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的季度財務業績。

As provided on Slide 2, please be advised today's discussion includes forward-looking statements, including statements concerning our strategy, future operations, future financial position and plans and objectives of management. Throughout today's discussion, we will present some important factors relating to our business that could affect these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are made based on our current projections, expectations, estimates and assumptions and are also subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements we make today.

如投影片 2 所示，請注意，今天的討論包括前瞻性陳述，包括有關我們的策略、未來營運、未來財務狀況以及管理計畫和目標的陳述。在今天的討論中，我們將提出一些與我們的業務有關的可能影響這些前瞻性陳述的重要因素。前瞻性陳述是基於我們目前的預測、預期、估計和假設做出的，同時也受風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與我們今天所做的陳述有重大差異。

Factors that could contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, our inability to identify and recruit enough qualified chiropractors and other personnel to staff our clinics, due in part to the nationwide labor shortage and an increase in operating expenses due to measures we may need to take to address such shortage; inflation, exacerbated by COVID-19 and the current war in Ukraine, which has increased our costs and which could otherwise negatively impact our business; the potential for future disruption to our operations and the unpredictable impact of our business of the COVID-19 outbreak and outbreaks of other contagious diseases; our failure to develop or acquire company-owned or managed clinics as rapidly as we intend; our failure to profitably operate company-owned or managed clinics; short-selling strategies and negative opinions posted on the Internet, which could drive down the market price for our common stock and result in class action lawsuits; our failure to remediate future material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, which could negatively impact our ability to accurately report our financial results, prevent fraud or maintain investor confidence and other factors described in our filings with the SEC, including the section entitled Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is expected to be filed with the SEC on March 10, 2023, and subsequently filed current and quarterly reports.

導致這些差異的因素包括但不限於：我們無法識別和招募足夠的合格脊椎按摩師和其他人員來配備我們的診所，部分原因是全國範圍內的勞動力短缺，以及由於我們可能需要採取措施解決這種短缺而導致的運營費用增加；通貨膨脹因 COVID-19 和當前烏克蘭戰爭而加劇，增加了我們的成本，並可能對我們的業務產生負面影響； COVID-19 疫情和其他傳染病疫情可能對我們未來的營運造成乾擾，並對我們的業務造成不可預測的影響；我們未能如預期迅速開發或收購公司擁有或管理的診所；我們未能獲利地經營公司擁有或管理的診所；網路上發布的賣空策略和負面意見，這可能會壓低我們普通股的市場價格並導致集體訴訟；我們未能糾正未來財務報告內部控制中的重大缺陷，這可能會對我們準確報告財務結果、防止欺詐或維護投資者信心的能力產生負面影響，以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中所述的其他因素，包括我們截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的年度報告中 10-K 表上標題為「風險因素」的部分，該報告隨後將提交給美國證券委員會的 2023 月 10 月 2023 月 2023 月 3 月證券委員會的部分，該報告

As a result, we caution you against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and encourage you to review our filings with the SEC for a discussion of these factors and other risks that may affect our future results or the market price of our stock. Finally, we are not obligating ourselves to revise our results or publicly release any updates to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

因此，我們提醒您不要過度依賴這些前瞻性陳述，並鼓勵您查看我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，以討論這些因素以及可能影響我們未來業績或股票市場價格的其他風險。最後，我們沒有義務根據新資訊或未來事件修改我們的結果或公開發布這些前瞻性陳述的任何更新。

Management uses EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures. These are presented because they are important measures used by management to assess financial performance. Management believes they provide a more transparent view of the company's underlying operating performance and operating trends than GAAP measures alone. Reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA is presented in the press release. The company defines EBITDA as net income or loss before net interest, tax expense, depreciation and amortization expenses. The company defines adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA before acquisition-related expenses, bargain purchase gain, net gain or loss on disposition or impairment and stock-based compensation expenses.

管理層使用 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA，它們是非 GAAP 財務指標。之所以呈現這些指標，是因為它們是管理階層用來評估財務表現的重要指標。管理層認為，與單獨的 GAAP 指標相比，它們可以更透明地反映公司的基本經營業績和經營趨勢。新聞稿中介紹了淨收入與 EBITDA 以及調整後 EBITDA 的對帳情況。該公司將EBITDA定義為扣除淨利息、稅金費用、折舊及攤銷費用前的淨收入或虧損。該公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為扣除收購相關費用、廉價購買收益、處置或減損淨損益以及股票薪酬費用前的 EBITDA。

Management also includes commonly discussed performance metrics. System-wide sales include revenues at all clinics, whether operated by the company or by franchisees, where franchise sales are not recorded as revenues by the company. Management believes the information is important in understanding the company's financial performance because these sales are the basis on which the company calculates and records royalty fees and are indicative of the financial health of the franchisee base. Comp sales include the revenues from both company-owned or managed clinics and franchise clinics that in each case have been open at least 13 full months and exclude any clinics that have closed.

管理也包括常見的績效指標。全系統銷售額包括所有診所的收入，無論是由公司經營還是由特許經營商經營，其中特許經營銷售額不被公司記錄為收入。管理階層認為這些資訊對於了解公司的財務表現非常重要，因為這些銷售額是公司計算和記錄特許權使用費的基礎，並且能反映特許經營者的財務狀況。可比銷售額包括公司自有或管理的診所以及特許經營診所的收入，這些診所均已開業至少 13 個月，並且不包括已關閉的診所。

Turning to Slide 3, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Peter Holt.

翻到幻燈片 3，我很高興將電話轉給 Peter Holt。

Thank you, David, and welcome to the call. I'm delighted to speak with you today to review our strong close to 2022 and our solid positioning for long-term growth. Throughout 2022, we effectively managed economic challenges, which accumulated and accelerated comps in the fourth quarter. This fortified our foundation as we entered 2023. For those investors who are new to our company, The Joint is revolutionizing access to chiropractic care by providing affordable concierge-style membership-based service in convenient retail settings. Our robust underlying business model and unit economics are the basis for our long-term profitable growth and continue to fuel our clinic expansion.

謝謝你，大衛，歡迎參加電話會議。我很高興今天與大家交談，回顧我們在 2022 年取得的強勁成績以及我們長期成長的堅實定位。在整個 2022 年，我們有效地應對了經濟挑戰，這些挑戰在第四季度不斷累積並加速了同店銷售額的成長。這在我們進入 2023 年時鞏固了我們的基礎。我們強大的底層商業模式和單位經濟學是我們長期獲利成長的基礎，並繼續推動我們的診所擴張。

Turning to Slide 4, I'll review our operating metrics that demonstrate the growth across the board. During 2022, our doctors of chiropractic at The Joint performed 12.2 million adjustments, up from 10.9 million in 2021. During the year, we treated 1.6 million unique patients, up from 1.4 million in 2021. Of those treated, 845,000 were new patients, up from 807,000 in 2021.

轉到投影片 4，我將回顧我們的營運指標，這些指標體現了全面的成長。 2022 年，The Joint 的脊椎按摩治療師共進行了 1,220 萬次調整，高於 2021 年的 1,090 萬次。

Now to review our financial metrics for 2022 compared to 2021. Turning to Slide 5, system-wide sales grew to $435.3 million, increasing 21%. Our comp sales for clinics that have been opened for at least 13 full months grew 9%. Revenue increased 26%. Adjusted EBITDA was $11.5 million. And at December 31, 2022, our unrestricted cash was $9.7 million compared to $10.3 million at September 30, 2022.

現在回顧 2022 年與 2021 年相比的財務指標。我們開業至少 13 個月的診所的同店銷售額成長了 9%。收入增加26%。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1150 萬美元。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們的無限現金為 970 萬美元，而 2022 年 9 月 30 日為 1,030 萬美元。

Turning to Slide 6, I'll discuss our clinic metrics. During 2022, we opened a record 137 total clinics, 121 franchised and 16 greenfield. This increased from 130 in 2021, which consisted of 110 franchised and 20 greenfields. During Q4 2022, we opened 34 clinics, 30 franchised and 4 greenfields. This compares to 2021 with 43 clinics, 34 franchised and 9 greenfields. Regarding franchised clinic closures, there was 1 during the fourth quarter for a total of 5 for the full year compared to 3 for both fourth quarter and full year of 2021. Thus, our annual closure rate remains low, less than 1% and continues to lead the franchise community.

轉到幻燈片 6，我將討論我們的診所指標。 2022 年，我們共開設了 137 家診所，其中特許經營診所 121 家，新建診所 16 家。這一數字比 2021 年的 130 家有所增加，其中包括 110 家特許經營店和 20 家綠地店。 2022 年第四季度，我們開設了 34 家診所、30 家特許經營店和 4 家綠地診所。相較之下，2021 年共有 43 家診所，其中特許經營診所 34 家，新建診所 9 家。至於特許經營診所關閉情況，第四季關閉 1 家，全年關閉總數為 5 家，而 2021 年第四季和全年均為 3 家。

In Q4, we acquired 8 previously franchised clinics, 6 in Northern California and 2 in North Carolina and sold a company-managed clinic in California to a franchisee. For 2022, we acquired 16 clinics and sold 2 clinics for a net of 14, which compares to 12 acquisitions and no dispositions in 2021. As noted, we opened 4 greenfields in the fourth quarter, bringing our total for 2022 to 16 compared to 20 in 2021, reflecting a heavy investment in greenfields over the past 2 years. In 2023, we plan to moderate the pace to allow greenfield clinic portfolio to mature. We strategically locate our greenfield clinics where they can capture pent-up demand and in new markets where we can rapidly build a solid presence. In 2022, we entered into Kansas City with 4 clinics and added to our Army and Air Force Exchange Service in 2 locations, 1 in Texas and Florida and augmented our existing clinic clusters in California, Arizona and Virginia.

在第四季度，我們收購了 8 家先前特許經營的診所，其中 6 家在北加州，2 家在北卡羅來納州，並將加州一家公司管理的診所出售給了一家特許經營商。 2022 年，我們收購了 16 家診所，出售了 2 家診所，淨利潤為 14 家，而 2021 年收購了 12 家，沒有出售。 2023 年，我們計劃放慢步伐，讓綠地診所組合走向成熟。我們策略性地將我們的新建診所設在可以滿足被壓抑的需求的地方，以及我們可以迅速建立穩固業務的新市場。 2022 年，我們進入堪薩斯城，開設了 4 家診所，並在 2 個地點增加了陸軍和空軍交換服務，1 個位於德克薩斯州，1 個位於佛羅裡達州，並擴大了我們在加利福尼亞州、亞利桑那州和維吉尼亞州的現有診所集群。

In summary, at December 31, 2022, we had 838 clinics in operation, consisting of 712 franchised clinics and 126 company-owned or managed clinics. The portfolio mix was 85% franchised clinics and 15% corporate clinics. At year-end, we had 235 franchise licenses in active development. This metric continues to demonstrate the strong pipeline for franchised clinic openings. Since the beginning of 2023 and through today, we've opened 2 new greenfields in existing clusters of Georgia and North Carolina.

總而言之，截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們擁有 838 家診所投入運營，其中包括 712 家特許經營診所和 126 家公司自有或管理的診所。投資組合中 85% 為特許經營診所，15% 為企業診所。截至年底，我們共有 235 個特許經營許可證正在積極開發中。該指標繼續證明特許經營診所開業前景強勁。自 2023 年初至今，我們已經在喬治亞州和北卡羅來納州現有的集群中開闢了 2 個新的綠地。

Turning to Slide 7. In Q4 2022, we sold 17 franchise licenses, up from 12 in Q3 2022 and compared to 44 in Q4 2021. For 2022, we sold 75 licenses compared to the company record of 156 sold in 2021, which reflected the pent-up demand related to COVID. That said, given the economic headwinds of 2022, we're pleased with our 75 license sales, which is quite high compared to other franchise systems. Further, approximately 60% of our franchise licenses were to existing franchisees reinvesting in the brand in 2022, up from 50% in 2019 through 2021. This demonstrates the health and viability of our franchise system and is a validation of our franchise belief in the strength of our business model.

轉到幻燈片 7。2022 年第四季度，我們出售了 17 個特許經營許可證，高於 2022 年第三季度的 12 個，而 2021 年第四季度為 44 個。儘管如此，考慮到 2022 年的經濟逆風，我們對 75 個許可證的銷售感到滿意，與其他特許經營系統相比，這個數字相當高。此外，我們約 60% 的特許經營許可證是發給 2022 年對品牌進行再投資的現有特許經營商，高於 2019 年至 2021 年的 50%。

Regarding regional developers, in October 2022, we repurchased the RD rights for Philadelphia. This put our RD count to 18, [were] remained at December 31, 2022. Throughout the year, RD sold 67% of our franchise licenses and support 69% of our clinics. Our aggregate 10-year minimum development schedule for new RD territories established since 2017 was 626 clinics as of December 31.

關於區域開發商，2022年10月，我們回購了費城的研發權。這使得我們的 RD 數量達到 18 個，截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日仍保持不變。自 2017 年以來，我們建立的新 RD 區域的整體 10 年最低開發計畫為截至 12 月 31 日的 626 家診所。

Turning to Slide 8, our industry-leading franchise performance continues to be acknowledged. For 2023, Entrepreneur Magazine named The Joint top franchise in the chiropractic service category and top 10% in the Franchise 500. Franchise Business Review identified us as the Top Franchise for 2023 and one of the most profitable franchises and the top franchise for veterans. And for the eighth year running, Franchise Times recognized The Joint as experienced rapid yet sustainable growth on its 2023 Fast and Serious List. Additionally, FRANdata, which provides Franchise Business Intelligence, similar to a FICO score for consumers, rated The Joint FUND Score at 910 out of 950 compared to the average of 593. They also presented us with a Top FUND award for the second year in a row.

轉到第 8 張投影片，我們業界領先的特許經營業績繼續得到認可。 2023 年，《企業家》雜誌將 The Joint 評為脊椎按摩服務類別的頂級特許經營商，並在特許經營 500 強中位列前 10%。 《特許經營時報》連續第八年將 The Joint 評為“經歷了快速而可持續的增長”企業，併入選 2023 年“快速而嚴肅企業榜單”。此外，提供特許經營商業智慧（類似於消費者的 FICO 評分）的 FRANdata 將聯合 FUND 評分評為 910（滿分為 950），而平均分為 593。

Turning to Slide 9, let's review our marketing efforts. In Q4, we kicked off our promotion season with our new "Give Thanks, Give Back" social campaign sweepstakes. This is our strongest social campaign in our history with over a 2,700% increase in engagements from our patients and followers. We leveraged the surge of the momentum surrounding this campaign and shortly thereafter launched our annual holiday promotions, both of which topped last year's performance. Compared to 2021, Black Friday grew 32% and end-of-year promotions increased 44%.

翻到第 9 張投影片，讓我們回顧一下我們的行銷工作。在第四季度，我們透過新的「感恩，回饋」社會活動抽獎活動拉開了促銷季的序幕。這是我們歷史上最強大的社交活動，患者和粉絲的參與度增加了 2,700% 以上。我們藉助這次活動的勢頭，不久後又推出了年度假期促銷活動，這兩項促銷活動的表現都超過了去年。與 2021 年相比，黑色星期五成長了 32%，年終促銷活動成長了 44%。

We continue to enhance our media campaigns in a variety of our sophisticated digital marketing programs. Digital leaves grew to 62% of all new patients in 2022, a record high for The Joint, which further validates the importance of our digital program in patient journey to chiropractic. In terms of our organic search engine traffic, we improved our website structure and responsiveness to optimize search engine readability in order to rank more favorably. As a result, we're demonstrating year-over-year growth in our web traffic.

我們繼續在各種先進的數位行銷計劃中加強我們的媒體宣傳活動。 2022 年，數位化治療佔所有新患者的 62%，創下了 The Joint 的最高紀錄，這進一步驗證了我們的數位化計畫在患者接受脊椎矯正治療過程中的重要性。就我們的自然搜尋引擎流量而言，我們改進了網站結構和回應能力，以優化搜尋引擎的可讀性，從而獲得更有利的排名。因此，我們的網路流量呈現逐年成長的趨勢。

Finally, in 2022, utilizing our public relation efforts, we continue to educate and create awareness around the chiropractic care and its benefits, thereby building value and equity in the brand with almost 900 million earned media impressions throughout the year.

最後，在 2022 年，我們將利用公關力量，繼續宣傳和提高人們對脊椎按摩治療及其益處的認識，從而透過全年近 9 億次媒體曝光為品牌打造價值和公平性。

Before I turn it over to Jake, I would like to introduce our new Chief Human Resource Officer, Krischelle Tennessen. In today's competitive job market, recruiting, developing and retaining top talent is crucial. Krischelle's nearly 30 years of experience and cross-functional focus and successful performance delivery will be instrumental in fostering our expansion and attracting the right people to join us in our mission to improve quality of life through routine and affordable chiropractic care.

在將麥克風交給傑克之前，我想先介紹一下我們的新任首席人力資源官克里斯切爾·田納森 (Krischelle Tennessen)。在當今競爭激烈的就業市場中，招募、培養和留住頂尖人才至關重要。 Krischelle 擁有近 30 年的經驗、跨職能關注和成功的績效交付，這將有助於促進我們的擴張並吸引合適的人才加入我們，共同完成透過常規且經濟實惠的脊椎按摩治療來改善生活品質的使命。

And with that, Jake, I turn over to you.

現在，傑克，我把麥克風交給你了。

Thank you, Peter. Turning to Slide 10, I'll review the financial results for Q4 2022 compared to Q4 of 2021. System-wide sales for all clinics opened for any amount of time increased to $120.1 million, up 18%. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months or more were 8%, up from 6% in Q3, bolstered by sequential improvements in both corporate and franchised clinics, with corporate achieving low double-digit comps. System-wide comp sales for mature clinics opened 48 months or more were 2%.

謝謝你，彼得。轉到投影片 10，我將回顧 2022 年第四季與 2021 年第四季相比的財務表現。所有開業 13 個月或以上的診所的系統內同店銷售額同比增長 8%，高於第三季度的 6%，這得益於公司診所和特許經營診所的連續改善，其中公司診所的同店銷售額達到了低兩位數。開業 48 個月或以上的成熟診所的系統範圍內同店銷售額增長了 2%。

Revenue was $27.8 million, up $5.7 million or 26%. Company-owned or managed clinic revenue increased 39%, contributing $16.5 million. Our revenue from franchised operations increased 10%, contributing $11.3 million. The increases represent continued growth in both the corporate portfolio and the franchise base. On March 1, 2022, we implemented a price increase in approximately 75% of our clinics. However, existing patient memberships were grandfathered at their original price. Therefore, the revenue impact from the price adjustment will be gradual and incremental. At December 31, 2022, about 56% of our active members were on the new price structure, reflecting improved attrition.

營收為 2,780 萬美元，成長 570 萬美元，增幅 26%。該公司自有或管理的診所收入成長了 39%，貢獻了 1,650 萬美元。我們的特許經營業務收入成長了 10%，貢獻了 1,130 萬美元。這些成長顯示公司投資組合和特許經營基礎持續成長。 2022 年 3 月 1 日，我們對大約 75% 的診所實施了價格上漲。不過，現有患者的會員資格仍可維持原價。因此，價格調整對收入的影響將是漸進的、增量的。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們約有 56% 的活躍會員採用新的價格結構，這反映出流失率有所改善。

Cost of revenues was $2.6 million, up 8% over the same period last year, reflecting the associated higher regional developer royalties and commissions. Selling and marketing expenses were $3.3 million, up 13% over the same period last year, driven by an increase in advertising fund expenditures from a larger franchise base and an increase in local marketing expenditures by our company-owned or managed clinics. Depreciation and amortization expenses increased compared to the prior year period, primarily due to the continued greenfield development and acquired clinics.

收入成本為 260 萬美元，比去年同期增長 8%，反映了相關區域開發商特許權使用費和佣金的增加。銷售和行銷費用為 330 萬美元，比去年同期成長 13%，這主要是由於特許經營基礎擴大導致的廣告基金支出增加，以及我們公司自有或管理的診所的本地行銷支出增加。折舊和攤提費用與去年同期相比有所增加，主要原因是持續的綠地開發和收購診所。

G&A expenses were $18.3 million compared to $14.9 million, up 23%, reflecting the cost to support total clinic and revenue growth and higher payroll to remain competitive in the tight labor market, partially offset by the fact that bonuses were not paid in 2022. Operating income was $1.3 million compared to $7,000 in Q4 2021. The improvement was driven by margin expansion in the franchises and lower legal expenses as compared to Q4 2021. This was partially offset by continued corporate margin compression, reflecting the newer greenfields and continued wage pressure.

一般及行政費用為 1,830 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,490 萬美元，增長 23%，反映了支持診所總收入和收入增長的成本以及為在緊張的勞動力市場中保持競爭力而增加的工資，部分抵消了 2022 年未支付獎金這一事實。經營利潤率的擴大和法律費用的降低。

Income tax expense was $660,000 compared to $351,000 in Q4 2021. Net income was $547,000 or $0.04 per diluted share compared to a net loss of $360,000 or $0.02 per diluted share in Q4 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was $4 million compared to $2.1 million for the same period last year. Franchised clinic adjusted EBITDA increased 20% to $6 million. Company-owned or managed clinic adjusted EBITDA was $1.6 million, flat compared to Q4 of last year, reflecting margin compression related to greenfield development, continued wage pressure and overhead investment outside of the clinic's 4 walls. Corporate expense as a component of adjusted EBITDA loss was $3.6 million, improving $924,000 from Q4 2021.

所得稅費用為 660,000 美元，而 2021 年第四季為 351,000 美元。特許經營診所調整後 EBITDA 成長 20%，達到 600 萬美元。該公司自有或管理診所的調整後 EBITDA 為 160 萬美元，與去年第四季度持平，反映出與綠地開發相關的利潤率壓縮、持續的工資壓力以及診所外部的間接投資。調整後 EBITDA 虧損的部分企業費用為 360 萬美元，較 2021 年第四季改善了 924,000 美元。

On to our balance sheet and cash flow review. At December 31, 2022, our unrestricted cash was $9.7 million compared to $19.5 million at December 31, 2021. This reflects our $20.9 million investment in the reacquisition of 16 previously franchised clinics and the rights to 3 regional developer territories as well as the development of 16 greenfield clinics. Cash flow from operations was $11.1 million, which supported our investments. We continue to have access to additional cash through our line of credit with JPMorgan. Today, we have drawn $2 million and have $18 million remaining available.

繼續審查我們的資產負債表和現金流量。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們的無限制現金為 970 萬美元，而 2021 年 12 月 31 日為 1,950 萬美元。這反映了我們在重新收購 16 家之前特許經營的診所和 3 個區域開發商領土的權利以及開發 16 家綠地診所方面的 200 萬美元。經營活動現金流為 1,110 萬美元，支持了我們的投資。我們繼續透過摩根大通的信用額度獲得額外現金。今天，我們已經提取了 200 萬美元，剩餘 1800 萬美元可用。

On to Slide 11, I'll review our results for the full year of 2022 compared to 2021. System-wide sales for all clinics opened for any amount of time increased 21%. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months or more were 9%. System-wide comp sales for mature clinics opened 48 months or more were 4%. Revenue increased 26% to $101.9 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $11.5 million compared to $12.6 million, reflecting the compression of earnings by the influx of 36 new greenfield clinics in the past 2 years and higher payroll expenses associated with the tight labor market.

在第 11 張投影片中，我將回顧我們 2022 年全年與 2021 年的業績。所有開業 13 個月或以上的診所的全系統同店銷售額成長了 9%。開業 48 個月或以上的成熟診所的系統範圍內同店銷售額增長了 4%。營收成長 26% 至 1.019 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 1,150 萬美元，而先前為 1,260 萬美元，這反映了過去 2 年內 36 家新的綠地診所的湧入以及勞動力市場緊張導致的工資支出增加對收益造成的壓縮。

On to Slide 12 for a review of our guidance for 2023. We expect to grow revenue to be between $123 million and $128 million compared to $101.9 million in 2022. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $12.5 million and $14 million compared to $11.5 million in 2022. This reflects our continued investment in people with higher expected labor costs to attract and retain doctors and team members. We expect franchised clinic openings to be between 100 and 120 compared to 121 in 2022. Historically, company-owned or managed clinic openings included a combination of both greenfields and acquisitions. We will continue to acquire previously franchised clinics. However, as these transactions are opportunistic, we will no longer include the acquired clinic estimate in our guidance.

轉到投影片 12，回顧我們對 2023 年的指引。留住醫生和團隊成員。我們預計特許經營診所的開業數量將在 100 至 120 家之間，而 2022 年則為 121 家。我們將繼續收購以前的特許經營診所。然而，由於這些交易是機會性的，我們將不再在我們的指導中包含收購的診所估計。

To provide greater clarity, the 2023 company-owned or managed guidance includes greenfield clinic openings only. We plan to open between 8 and 12 greenfield clinics compared to 16 in 2022. We are approaching our near-term target of 1,000 clinics. Based on our current patient demographics, we are well on our way to our long-term goal of nearly 2,000 clinics. As we further develop our model with rural, urban and international clinics, we broaden our long-term market potential.

為了提供更大的清晰度，2023 年公司擁有或管理的指導僅包括綠地診所的開幕。我們計劃開設 8 至 12 家綠地診所，而 2022 年將開設 16 家。根據我們目前的患者人口統計數據，我們正在順利實現近 2,000 家診所的長期目標。隨著我們在農村、城市和國際診所進一步發展我們的模式，我們擴大了我們的長期市場潛力。

And with that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Peter.

說完這些，我將把電話轉回給你，彼得。

Thanks, Jake. Turning to Slide 13. Approaching these milestones is quite an achievement as less than 3% of franchise systems have achieved more than 1,000 units. Since 2016, we've been driving clinic expansion with transformational changes, including an improved grand opening process, new standard operating procedures, additional digital marketing strategies, sustainable focused procurement, improved IT and more. Our efforts to manage economic headwinds in 2022 were fruitful as we closed the year with improving our core KPI metrics such as conversion and attrition.

謝謝，傑克。翻到第 13 張投影片。自 2016 年以來，我們一直透過變革推動診所擴張，包括改進開業流程、新的標準作業程序、額外的數位行銷策略、可持續的重點採購、改進 IT 等等。 2022 年，我們應對經濟逆風的努力取得了卓有成效，在年末，我們改善了轉換率和流失率等核心 KPI 指標。

While the macro economy still has uncertainty, the chiropractic care market has solid growth drivers, and The Joint has even more positive catalysts. In addition to The Joint attracting patients from other practitioners, 34% of our new patients in 2022 were completely new to chiropractic care. This means The Joint continues to expand the entire market for chiropractic care. In fact, our 12-year compounded annual growth rate of 62% dwarfs the industry's CAGR of 4.3%, which is respectable on its own.

雖然宏觀經濟仍存在不確定性，但脊椎矯正護理市場擁有穩健的成長動力，而 The Joint 則擁有更多積極的催化劑。除了 The Joint 吸引其他從業者的患者外，2022 年我們 34% 的新患者都是脊椎矯正治療的新手。這意味著 The Joint 將繼續擴大整個脊椎矯正治療市場。事實上，我們 12 年的複合年增長率為 62%，遠遠超過行業 4.3% 的複合年增長率，這本身就已經很可觀了。

Our growth is fueled by a combination of our patients' referrals and our successful marketing programs. Digital marketing continues to be ever-increasing growth driver with the majority of our new patients having interacted with one of our digital platforms. We believe they also attract a younger population. Our patients come from all walks of life and the median age is 37.6 years. This compares to the traditional chiropractic provider whose typical patient demographic weighs heavily toward those using insurance who are older, female and affluent. The marked distinction is increasingly important because the younger generations don't typically carry a stigma toward chiropractic and are proactively looking for more natural holistic ways to address their pain.

我們的成長得益於患者的推薦和我們成功的行銷計劃。數位行銷繼續成為不斷增長的成長動力，我們的大多數新患者都與我們的一個數位平台進行互動。我們相信它們還會吸引更年輕的群體。我們的患者來自各行各業，平均年齡為37.6歲。相較之下，傳統的脊椎矯正治療師的典型患者群體主要是年齡較大、女性且富裕且使用保險的患者。這種明顯的區別變得越來越重要，因為年輕一代通常不會對脊椎矯正有偏見，而是積極尋找更自然的整體方法來解決他們的疼痛。

To leverage these differences, we'll continue to invest in marketing that effectively reaches consumers of all aspects of their patient journey. In doing so, we expect to capture greater portions of that $19.5 billion spend on chiropractic care in the United States annually as well as to continue to expand the market.

為了充分利用這些差異，我們將繼續投資行銷，有效地涵蓋消費者在就診過程中的各個方面。透過這樣做，我們希望能夠佔據美國每年脊椎按摩治療支出 195 億美元中的更大份額，並繼續擴大市場。

Turning to Slide 14. We intend to do this by continuing to execute our corporate initiatives. First, in forging the chiropractic dream in 2022, we increased our attractiveness by improving our employer branding, our social media engagement, our school partnerships and events and our continuing education platform. Looking ahead, we continue to focus on recruiting and retaining the finest doctors of chiropractic to fuel our growth.

翻到第 14 張投影片。首先，在 2022 年打造脊椎按摩療法夢想的過程中，我們透過改善雇主品牌、社交媒體參與度、學校合作夥伴關係和活動以及繼續教育平台來提高我們的吸引力。展望未來，我們將繼續專注於招募和留住最優秀的脊椎按摩治療師，以推動我們的發展。

Regarding the harnessing the power of our data, we've increased the speed of our system updates and launched the first version of our business intelligence and analytical reporting tool. Looking ahead, we plan to create an automated marketing program, and later in the year, launch a patient portal. Lastly, in accelerating the pace of our clinic growth in 2022, we accomplished several milestones. Throughout the year, we entered new markets and opening clinics in Alaska, Montana, Washington, D.C. and Kansas City as well as signing leases for clinics in New York City. By December 31, 2022, we reached 838 clinics in operation.

在利用數據力量方面，我們加快了系統更新速度，並推出了商業智慧和分析報告工具的第一個版本。展望未來，我們計劃創建一個自動化行銷計劃，並在今年稍後推出一個患者入口網站。最後，在 2022 年加快診所發展步伐的過程中，我們實現了幾個里程碑。在這一年中，我們進入了新的市場，在阿拉斯加、蒙大拿、華盛頓特區和堪薩斯城開設了診所，同時也簽署了紐約市診所的租約。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們營運的診所數量已達 838 家。

Regarding their development, we've been testing proof of concepts in smaller markets and pedestrian-driven highly urbanized sites as well as evaluating expansion to Canada. Overall, we remain focused on driving long-term growth and stakeholder value. And with that, Nick, I'm ready to begin the Q&A.

關於它們的發展，我們一直在較小的市場和步行驅動的高度城市化的地點測試概念證明，並評估向加拿大的擴張。總體而言，我們仍然專注於推動長期成長和利害關係人價值。尼克，我現在可以開始問答環節了。

(Operator Instructions) First question will be from Jeff Van Sinderen of B. Riley.

（操作員指示）第一個問題來自 B. Riley 的 Jeff Van Sinderen。

Congratulations on a strong finish to the year. Just wanted to see if there's anything you tell us, I guess, about what you're seeing so far in 2023. Anything around retention, new patient add metrics so far? And then maybe if you could just touch on the corporate clinic performance that you saw in Q4 versus franchised clinic performance. And then also as kind of a dovetail to that, if you could just touch on maybe how you're evolving marketing plan. It sounds like you're really leaning into digital because you're getting great traction there. Just any thoughts on that for 2023?

恭喜您順利結束這一年。我只是想看看您是否能告訴我們有關 2023 年目前情況的任何信息。然後，您是否可以談談第四季度的企業診所表現與特許經營診所表現的對比。然後，為了與此相契合，如果您可以談談您如何發展行銷計劃。聽起來你確實傾向於數位化，因為你在該領域取得了巨大的進步。您對於 2023 年有什麼想法嗎？

Well, Jeff, again, thank you for the compliment. That was a lot of parts of that 1 question. And so speaking to -- historically, we don't really talk about the upcoming quarter on our fourth quarter full year performance. But what I would say is that we are seeing that continued momentum, as I mentioned in my call, as we globally finished the year, and we're seeing that momentum carry us into Q1 or at least into the first several weeks of this year. So that gives us, obviously, a positive view of where we're going.

好吧，傑夫，再次感謝你的讚美。這涵蓋了該問題的許多部分。所以從歷史上看，我們實際上並不會談論第四季度的全年業績。但我想說的是，正如我在電話會議中提到的那樣，隨著全球範圍內今年的結束，我們看到這種勢頭持續存在，並且我們看到這種勢頭將帶我們進入第一季度，或者至少是今年頭幾週。所以這顯然讓我們對我們的未來方向有了正面的看法。

We also have to remember that in 2023, there's just a lot of potential headwinds that none of us can anticipate, whether it's inflation, whatever happens to the war in Ukraine, increasing rising of interest rates. I mean, so there's a lot of factors there that we're trying to manage through as we did through 2022 without really knowing how it's going to work. As it relates to the overall corporate performance, I'm going to turn that 1 over to you, Jake.

我們還必須記住，2023 年，有許多我們無法預料的潛在阻力，無論是通貨膨脹、烏克蘭戰爭的進展，還是利率的不斷上升。我的意思是，有很多因素我們正試圖解決，就像我們在 2022 年所做的那樣，但實際上我們並不知道它會如何發展。由於它與整體公司業績相關，所以我將把這個責任交給你，傑克。

Yes. I think as we think about corporate versus franchise, a lot of expansion in the 2022 period. By the end of the fourth quarter, our corporate performance has actually reached back to double-digit comps. So we're really pleased with how that portfolio performed in the back half of the year and again, looking for that momentum to continue for the full year. So total system was around 9%, still predominantly dominated by those 700-plus franchised clinics. So again, strong comp performance from the franchise base, but we are really pleased with our corporate clinic portfolio and especially how they performed around our 2 core promotions in the fourth quarter.

是的。我認為，當我們考慮企業與特許經營時，2022 年期間將有大量擴張。到第四季末，我們的公司業績實際上已回升至兩位數。因此，我們對該投資組合在下半年的表現感到非常滿意，並期待這種勢頭能夠在全年繼續保持。因此，整個系統的比例約為 9%，仍然主要由 700 多家特許經營診所主導。因此，特許經營基礎再次表現出色，但我們對我們的企業診所組合感到非常滿意，尤其是它們在第四季度圍繞我們的兩項核心促銷活動的表現。

And then your final first question on talking about digital marketing is absolutely, we see that as only becoming more and more relevant and important in that whole lead generation process for new patients. In our system, typically, there's 3 sources for new patients. One is in probably most -- historically is most important, and that's referral. So that's getting good service to our patients, and those patients then referring their friends and family to come to The Joint. And we have probably around a 30% referral rate right now systemwide.

然後，關於數位行銷的最後一個問題是，我們認為這在新患者的整個潛在客戶生成過程中變得越來越相關和重要。在我們的系統中，新患者通常有 3 個來源。從歷史上看，其中最重要的一個可能是推薦。這樣，我們的患者就能得到良好的服務，這些患者隨後會推薦他們的朋友和家人來 The Joint。目前我們全系統的推薦率大概是 30% 左右。

As I mentioned on the call, those we can identify, that 60% of those new patients are coming from our digital activity. Sometimes, there's a little bit of overlap. Patient attribution is kind of tricky because we have all kinds of different ways that we're approaching, educating a consumer about The Joint. But we know we can identify that -- of that new patient count, at least 60% of them, at 1 point, touch one of our digital assets. And we see that as only more important, especially in younger generations, okay, maybe like myself as the baby boomer. I'm going to talk to friends and families. I decide who's going to be my medical provider or chiropractor or dentist. Younger generations are doing that same process but it's online. And so it's important that you have a strong digital presence to be able to be where they are when they're looking for that relief from their pain.

正如我在電話中提到的，我們可以確定，60% 的新患者來自我們的數位活動。有時，會有一點重疊。病患歸因有點棘手，因為我們有各種不同的方式來教育消費者關於 The Joint 的知識。但我們知道，我們可以識別出，在這些新患者中，至少有 60% 的人曾經接觸過我們的一項數位資產。我們認為這更為重要，尤其是對於年輕一代，好吧，也許就像我一樣，是嬰兒潮世代。我要去和朋友家人談談。我決定誰來擔任我的醫療服務提供者、脊椎按摩師或牙醫。年輕一代也在做同樣的事，只不過是在網路上。因此，當患者需要緩解疼痛時，擁有強大的數位影響力能夠出現在他們身邊，這一點很重要。

And then the third aspect of our patient counts really comes from that very traditional, what I'll call, grow marketing activities in a small box retail environment. So it's a coupon drop. It's reaching out to the schools, the gyms, the hospitals, again, everything that you can to educate those consumers who are working, traveling around that 5- to 15-minute of that box or that clinic but you're there when they need your service.

然後，我們患者數量的第三個方面實際上來自於非常傳統的，我稱之為在小型零售環境中發展行銷活動。所以這是一張優惠券。它會聯繫學校、健身房、醫院，再說一遍，盡一切可能去教育那些在職的消費者，他們在距離那個盒子或診所 5 到 15 分鐘的車程內出行，但當他們需要你的服務時，你就在那裡。

Okay, that's really helpful. And then just 1 follow-up, if I could. Just wondering kind of your latest take or outlook regarding what you're experiencing in retaining chiropractors.

好的，這確實很有幫助。如果可以的話，我只需進行 1 次跟進。只是想知道您對聘請脊椎按摩師的最新看法或觀點。

Well, I think that we are increasingly improving our retention rate of our doctors. And so if I look at the full -- the full year 2022, that our turnover rate with our doctors was 34%. Now I compare that to 2021, it was 56%. And that's a result of a lot of effort in terms of improving compensation, and we talked about that in earlier calls, improving our onboarding process, doing all the things that we can do to make that environment as attractive to doctors, not just to recruit them but to retain them. And so I'd say we've seen really positive results in that area.

嗯，我認為我們正在不斷提高醫生的保留率。因此，如果我看一下 2022 年全年，我們的醫生的流動率為 34%。現在我將其與 2021 年進行比較，這一比例為 56%。這是我們在提高薪酬方面付出大量努力的結果，我們在之前的電話會議中也談到了這一點，我們改進了入職流程，盡我們所能使環境對醫生更具吸引力，不僅是為了招募他們，也是為了留住他們。所以我想說我們在該領域看到了非常積極的成果。

We also focused on the WC or that wellness coordinator. There's not a lot of people in our clinics. And we, again, have increased compensation, increased onboarding process, trying to make sure there's paths for them to continue to grow within the organization so that we can improve their turnover rate. And so while we haven't seen us dramatically improve as we've seen with the doctors, we have seen significant improvement from the WC turnover. So we're really pleased with that direction.

我們也關注衛生間或健康協調員。我們的診所裡人不多。我們再次提高了薪酬，改善了入職流程，試圖確保員工在組織內有繼續成長的道路，這樣我們就可以提高他們的離職率。因此，儘管我們沒有看到我們自己像醫生那樣取得顯著進步，但我們看到 WC 營業額有了顯著改善。所以我們對這個方向非常滿意。

Okay, great to hear. Continued success.

好的，很高興聽到這個消息。持續的成功。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Our next question will be from Anthony Vendetti, Maxim Group.

下一個問題來自 Maxim Group 的 Anthony Vendetti。

I was wondering if you could just talk about the greenfield opportunities and the goal for 2023. Has that changed at all in terms of the end of the year goal based on your guidance for now?

我想知道您是否可以談談綠地機會和 2023 年的目標。

Yes, I think the way I would characterize that, Anthony, is that the strategy remains the same. We'll continue to grow this brand through a mix of franchise and corporate development. I would say the change is that we've somewhat moderated the pace, so moving from 16 greenfields in 2022 to an estimate of between 8 and 12 for 2023. And so I think you're seeing that pace moderate but we're still continuing the strategy. We're still continuing to develop that portion of the portfolio just at a more moderated pace.

是的，安東尼，我想我對此的定義是，策略保持不變。我們將透過特許經營和企業發展相結合的方式繼續發展該品牌。我想說的變化是我們在某種程度上放慢了步伐，從 2022 年的 16 個綠地減少到 2023 年的 8 到 12 個。 所以我認為你看到步伐放慢了，但我們仍在繼續這一戰略。我們仍將繼續以更溫和的速度開發該部分投資組合。

Okay. So I guess, the question is -- the follow-up to that would be that there's still a goal of having 1,000 clinics by the end of '23. Is that still a reasonable goal is just how you get there?

好的。所以我想，問題是──後續行動仍然是 23 年底擁有 1,000 家診所的目標。這仍然是一個合理的目標嗎？

What I would say is that the goal is still there. If you just look at where we are at the end of the year with 838 clinics and that the guidance we just provided in terms of greenfields and corporate -- our franchise units, it suggests that we are going to be a little short. And we've said all along is that while that's an important goal, it's not a goal that we would compromise the quality of the franchisee or the quality of the site just to hit a number. Obviously in 2022, we had some of the headwinds that slowed down a little bit some of the franchise sales, for example. But we are anticipating that we'll be -- we will still be able to achieve that goal but more likely it's going to be not at the end of 2023 but closer to early '24.

我想說的是，目標仍然在那裡。如果你只看我們截至年底的 838 家診所的情況，以及我們剛剛在綠地和企業（我們的特許經營單位）方面提供的指導，這表明我們的業務將稍微短缺。我們一直說，雖然這是一個重要的目標，但我們不會為了達到一個數字而損害特許經營商的品質或網站的品質。顯然，在 2022 年，我們遇到了一些不利因素，例如，一些特許經營權的銷售有所放緩。但我們預計我們仍然能夠實現這一目標，但更有可能不是在 2023 年底，而是在 2024 年初。

Okay, that's helpful. And then is there anything on the macroeconomic landscape or any other headwinds that you see or that you're facing in terms of opening up these clinics?

好的，這很有幫助。那麼，在開設這些診所方面，您是否看到宏觀經濟狀況或其他任何不利因素？

Well, I'd say nothing that's new that what we're seeing is with landlords, that they seem to be slower in negotiating and finalizing leases, even though -- I don't know, are we in this post-COVID environment, we are still experiencing slowdowns, we get the permitting process. We have a really simple build-out so we are not hugely impacted by supply chain issues, but from time to time, there's issues around that. But this is -- none of that is new in -- I'm anticipating any different in '23 that we experienced in 2022.

嗯，我想說的並不是什麼新鮮事，我們看到房東的情況是，他們在談判和敲定租約方面似乎變慢了，儘管——我不知道，我們是否處於後疫情時代的環境中，我們仍然經歷著速度放緩，我們獲得了許可流程。我們的架構非常簡單，因此不會受到供應鏈問題的太大影響，但有時也會出現一些問題。但這並不是什麼新鮮事，我預計 2023 年的情況將與我們在 2022 年經歷的情況有所不同。

Next question will be from George Kelly, ROTH MKM.

下一個問題來自 ROTH MKM 的 George Kelly。

So first one, I'm kind of confused. So throughout 2022, there was very steady EBITDA margin expansion ending, I think it was 14% in Q4. And if I just play through your guidance, it looks like you're calling for a stepdown year-over-year. And sequentially, it would reflect a pretty steep stepdown. So just curious what's changed. And are you just seeing a lot of pressure in 1Q or what's led to that?

第一個，我有點困惑。因此，在整個 2022 年，EBITDA 利潤率擴張非常穩定，我認為第四季為 14%。如果我只是照你的指導去做，看起來你是在要求逐年降級。並且依次類推，它將反映出相當急劇的下降。所以只是好奇有什麼變化。您是否發現第一季面臨很大壓力或是什麼導致了這種情況？

Yes. I wouldn't categorize it as pressure in the first quarter. I think a lot of the guide reflects some of the uncertainties that are out there. So as we look at the potential impact to top line performance, our continued investment in our people, whether that be our doctors or our corporate support staff, it's a tight labor market across the board, and we're making those investments in people to make sure that we're growing in the right way.

是的。我不會將其歸類為第一季的壓力。我認為該指南的大部分內容反映了存在的一些不確定性。因此，當我們考慮對營收表現的潛在影響時，我們會繼續投資於我們的員工，無論是我們的醫生還是我們的企業支援人員，目前的勞動力市場非常緊張，我們對員工進行投資是為了確保我們以正確的方式發展。

And so I think all of those things are kind of factored into the guide. I would really more categorize it as holding steady. In 2022, you saw that significant compression related to the investing cycle. When you do 36 new corporate clinics and their drag on the consolidated performance, you're going to see that overall step back. I think I would categorize '23 as more of a steadying of that. We are moderating the pace of those greenfields. And then in doing so, that should allow for that margin expansion as those units continue to grow and mature.

所以我認為所有這些因素都被考慮到了指南中。我更傾向於將其歸類為保持穩定。 2022 年，您會看到與投資週期相關的顯著壓縮。當你開設 36 家新的企業診所，並且它們對綜合業績造成拖累時，你會看到整體業績的倒退。我認為，23 年更應該被歸類為較穩定的年份。我們正在減緩那些綠地的步伐。然後，這樣一來，隨著這些部門的不斷成長和成熟，利潤率就會擴大。

Okay. And then second question. I don't know if you're going to want to say much, but can you just, high level, say anything about your expectations for comp growth in '23? And what do you bake into your guidance? What helps form your full year revenue guidance?

好的。然後是第二個問題。我不知道您是否想說很多，但您能否從高層次談談您對 23 年公司成長的期望？您在您的指導中融入了什麼內容？什麼幫助您形成全年收入預期？

Yes. We don't guide on comps so I probably won't go into that level of detail. The build is fairly sophisticated, both on our corporate clinics and our franchise segment and that's KPI-driven in terms of building those things from the ground up is really -- as well as recognizing some of the macro pressures that are out there, which creates some of the ranges within the guide.

是的。我們不提供關於補償的指導，所以我可能不會講得那麼詳細。無論是在我們的企業診所還是特許經營部門，建造過程都相當複雜，而且從頭開始構建這些東西時，都是以 KPI 為驅動的——同時也認識到存在的一些宏觀壓力，這創造了指南中的一些範圍。

And so as we progress, we continue to see great momentum as we mentioned at the end of 2022, really seeing that corporate portfolio especially get back into those low double-digit comps. So we're hoping that those trends continue. As I look at the core KPIs that build, we're still seeing great traction in the conversion metric, getting people onto our subscription model. We're retaining our patients. We're seeing improvement in the length of membership, and we're still having some headwinds as it relates to new patients, and that's a critical focus of ours. So all those things factor into the model and the guide, and we're trying to just make sure we remain conservative in the '23 period that has some uncertainty.

因此，隨著我們的進步，我們繼續看到巨大的發展勢頭，正如我們在 2022 年底提到的那樣，真正看到企業投資組合特別回到了那些低兩位數的可比值。所以我們希望這些趨勢能夠持續下去。當我查看構建的核心 KPI 時，我們仍然看到轉換指標具有很大的吸引力，吸引人們採用我們的訂閱模式。我們正在留住我們的病人。我們看到會員年齡有所改善，但在新患者方面我們仍然面臨一些阻力，這是我們關注的重點。因此，所有這些因素都會被納入模型和指南中，我們只是試圖確保在存在一些不確定性的 23 年期間保持保守。

Next question will come from Brooks O'Neil, Lake Street Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 Lake Street Capital Markets 的布魯克斯奧尼爾 (Brooks O’Neil)。

Thanks for providing all the detail you do. We really appreciate it. I'm hoping you could just talk a little bit about what you're seeing in terms of strength or weakness in new store opening performance, particularly the second half of '22 compared to historical performance.

感謝您提供所有詳細資訊。我們非常感激。我希望您能稍微談談您看到的新店開幕表現的優勢或劣勢，特別是與歷史表現相比，22年下半年的表現如何。

Yes, great question, Brooks. As I look at the openings, we continue to see strength in the top line performance, and so some of that aided by the price increase that went into effect. So year-over-year, year-by-year cohort, we continue to see strengthening in that top line performance. What I will tell you is that, we've probably seen a slight step back in our time to breakeven, and that's really driven by those continued wage pressures that we talk about.

是的，布魯克斯，這個問題問得很好。當我回顧開業情況時，我們繼續看到營業額表現強勁，而這在一定程度上得益於生效的價格上漲。因此，與去年同期相比，我們持續看到營收表現的增強。我要告訴你的是，我們實現收支平衡的時間可能已經略微倒退，而這實際上是由我們談論的持續的工資壓力所致。

So when you have labor that's 40% to 45% now of your overall cost of your clinics, those continued wage pressures really have an impact into your overall time to breakeven. So I would say, historically, you were talking breakevens in the $25,000 to $28,000 range, that's probably $30,000 to $33,000 per month now in monthly costs that you have to overcome in order to turn that corner. And so what that creates is maybe, while we were breaking even in 6 months or less historically, now you're probably in that 6- to 9-month range as you reach that time to breakeven.

因此，當勞動成本佔診所總成本的 40% 到 45% 時，持續的薪資壓力確實會對您的整體收支平衡時間產生影響。因此我想說，從歷史上看，你談論的盈虧平衡點在 25,000 美元到 28,000 美元之間，而現在你可能要克服每月 30,000 美元到 33,000 美元的成本才能實現這一目標。因此，這可能導致，雖然我們歷史上可以在 6 個月或更短的時間內實現收支平衡，但現在可能要花 6 到 9 個月的時間才能達到收支平衡。

And so just like you're seeing in our corporate portfolio performance, we're seeing those wage pressures impact our margins along with all those new clinics. But really, as I think about the top line and how these clinics are ramping out the gate, our grand opening marketing program continues to be a success. And we've got franchisees and our corporate units that are really continuing to break records in terms of how quickly some of these units can open. And that's the beauty of a franchise system as we can take those best practices and continue to roll those out and further improve the whole network. So we still see strength in terms of our top line revenue performance.

因此，就像您在我們的公司投資組合表現中看到的那樣，我們看到薪資壓力和所有這些新診所都影響著我們的利潤率。但實際上，當我想到營業額以及這些診所如何快速發展時，我們的盛大開幕行銷計劃繼續取得成功。我們的特許經營商和企業單位在某些單位的開業速度方面不斷打破紀錄。這就是特許經營體系的魅力所在，因為我們可以採用這些最佳實踐，繼續推廣，進一步改善整個網路。因此，我們仍然看到我們的營收表現強勁。

Great. I appreciate all that detail, Jake. So I'll ask 1 more. I think you mentioned in your prepared remarks that you're seeing some improvement in attrition, which I think is a key metric. And I'm curious if you can pinpoint anything you're doing. Or do you think it's just overall solid execution at both the corporate clinics and the franchised?

偉大的。我很感謝你提供的所有細節，傑克。因此我再問 1 個。我想您在準備好的發言中提到過，您看到人員流失率有所改善，我認為這是一個關鍵指標。我很好奇您是否能指出您正在做的任何事情。還是您認為這只是公司診所和特許經營診所整體的穩健執行？

Brooks, it's a great question. I think it's a combination of things. Again, it's a focus for us on the clinical level is to help make sure that patient continues to stay on their membership and come in on a regular basis. And we have a whole series of activities on the clinic level to reach out to those patients that seem to be slowing down in the use of their adjustments per month, for example, and making those phone calls and making them aware, just bring to their attention to stay in.

布魯克斯，這是一個很好的問題。我認為這是多種因素的綜合作用。再次強調，我們在臨床層面的重點是幫助確保患者繼續保持會員資格並定期就診。我們在診所層級進行了一系列活動，以便接觸那些似乎每個月在使用調整措施方面有所放緩的患者，例如，打電話告知他們，提醒他們注意留在診所。

I think also that we're seeing -- talked -- Jake mentioned that 56% of our patient base right now is on that new price list and that we've seen that improvement in attrition. I think part of that is drawn by -- is caused by those patients on those lower rates are staying on longer because they know if they drop off and come back, and that's such a traditional experience in our network. We've talked about this before. So if the average patient stays with us for 6 months, that -- and then they use us, let's say, a little under 3 times a month in that period, that we know that at least 25% of them will come back within the next 6 months.

我還認為，我們看到——正如我們所討論的——傑克提到，目前我們 56% 的患者都在新的價格表上，而且我們已經看到了流失率的改善。我認為部分原因是，那些費用較低的患者會停留更長時間，因為他們知道如果他們退出並且還會回來，這在我們的網路中是一種傳統的體驗。我們之前討論過這個問題。因此，如果平均每位患者在我們這裡停留 6 個月，並且在此期間他們每月使用我們的服務不到 3 次，那麼我們知道至少有 25% 的患者會在接下來的 6 個月內再次光臨。

And I think with that price changes that's given a little pause of, okay, do I really want to let go of that lower price rate, knowing that I'm going to probably come back in the future. So I think that's one of the factors that's helping improve that retention rate. And I do think we're getting better at -- on a clinic level of educating our patients about the value of the ongoing chiropractic care and not simply the pain remediation but to truly as a part of a health and wellness program.

我認為，隨著價格的變化，我會稍微停下來想一想，好吧，我是否真的想放棄那個較低的價格，因為我知道我將來可能會回來。所以我認為這是幫助提高保留率的因素之一。我確實認為我們在臨床層面上做得越來越好，我們向患者宣傳了持續脊椎按摩治療的價值，而不僅僅是緩解疼痛，而真正將其作為健康和保健計劃的一部分。

Next question will come from Jeremy Hamblin, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

下一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum Capital Group 的 Jeremy Hamblin。

I wanted to start with the EBITDA guide for '23. I think it implies about a 75 basis point decline versus the '22 results. And in terms of understanding the interplay there, whether it's your gross margins, the franchise cost of revenues, sales and marketing and G&A just as your kind of your key line items driving that, I wanted to get a sense for that decline. Is that coming like exclusively from G&A ramping further? Because it does look like your gross margins were still pretty solid in Q4 and your franchise cost of revenue was actually lower than it's been in the past couple of years. So just wanted to understand that your sales and marketing cost controls also look like they're pretty solid. So any color you can share?

我想從'23年的EBITDA指南開始。我認為這意味著與 22 年的結果相比下降了約 75 個基點。為了理解其中的相互作用，無論是您的毛利率、特許經營成本、銷售和行銷以及一般行政費用，還是推動這一趨勢的關鍵項目，我都想了解這種下降的原因。這是否完全來自於 G&A 的進一步增加？因為看起來您的第四季的毛利率仍然相當穩定，而且您的特許經營收入成本實際上比過去幾年要低。所以只是想了解你們的銷售和行銷成本控制看起來也相當可靠。那您可以分享什麼顏色嗎？

Absolutely, Jeremy. Thanks for the question. The way I would categorize the growth is really it's going to be rolled into that G&A line item. For us, all of our clinic level costs flow through G&A. And so cost of revenue or our gross margin is relatively predictable, and we expect that to be in that 90%-plus range again. And so that -- up and through that of the P&L, we expect to be relatively predictable.

當然，傑里米。謝謝你的提問。我對成長進行分類的方式實際上是將其納入 G&A 項目中。對我們來說，所有診所等級的成本都流向 G&A。因此，收入成本或毛利率相對可預測，我們預計它將再次達到 90％ 以上的範圍。因此，我們預期損益表的上升和下降將是相對可預測的。

Where you're seeing the cost come into play is, again, the continued investment in our people. Our corporate segment, while I do expect margin expansion, we are continuing to invest in that outside the 4-wall overhead and making sure that we have the correct infrastructure in place to continue to allow these units to ramp as we know they can. Really where you're going to see a big year-over-year step-up for us is in that corporate unallocated bucket.

您看到成本發揮作用的地方再次是對我們的員工的持續投資。我們的公司部門，雖然我確實預計利潤率會擴大，但我們仍將繼續在公司管理費用之外進行投資，並確保我們擁有正確的基礎設施，以繼續讓這些部門按照我們所知的方式實現成長。您實際上將會看到我們同比大幅成長的地方是企業未分配部分。

And so that, again, is an investment in the people here at our corporate office, tight labor markets, continued wage pressure on that side as well, and then again, our continued investment in the IT space. It's a critical component of our growth, and that's where a lot of our IT costs eventually flow through is in that corporate unallocated bucket. And so I think all of those things combined, I think you'll see the uptick in the G&A line item probably more heavily weighted towards that corporate unallocated for the '23 period.

所以，這又是對我們公司辦公室人員的投資，緊張的勞動市場，持續的薪資壓力，以及我們對 IT 領域的持續投資。這是我們成長的關鍵組成部分，我們的許多 IT 成本最終都流經企業未分配的部分。因此，我認為，綜合所有這些因素，您會看到 G&A 專案的上升可能更偏向於 23 年期間的企業未分配部分。

Got it. That's helpful. And then if I could ask also about like your segment results. You had actually pretty nice improvement both in revenue growth in '22 but also your segment level franchise operations saw profitability growth. But you saw a pretty big step back, like about a $5.5 million decline in profitability to a loss for the year at your corporate clinics. So leaving the unallocated corporate side, can you just help me understand a little bit of why your -- it looks like your franchisees are in a solid position but the corporate clinics definitely took a step back on profitability. Is that -- is that more related to the newer clinics? Or is it some of the acquired clinics that are not maybe as profitable as legacy corporate clinics?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後我是否也可以詢問一下您的細分結果。實際上，你們在22年的收入成長方面都取得了相當大的進步，而且你們的細分特許經營業務的盈利能力也實現了增長。但您看到了相當大的倒退，例如，您公司診所的盈利能力下降，全年虧損約 550 萬美元。因此，除了未分配的公司方面，您能否幫助我理解為什麼您的——看起來您的加盟商地位穩固，但公司診所的盈利能力卻確實退步了。這是否與較新的診所更相關？或者是一些被收購的診所可能不像傳統的企業診所那樣獲利？

Yes. The way I would break down the corporate clinic performance year-over-year, I think it has 3 driving factors. The first, as you mentioned, is just the greenfield clinics relatively staying on plan. Again, higher wage costs without the full benefit of the price increase. But for the most part, that was a planned investing cycle, and you're going to feel that compression in the overall segment margin related to those greenfields.

是的。如果我將企業診所的表現按年變化趨勢進行分析，我認為有 3 個驅動因素。首先，正如您所提到的，新建診所相對而言仍按計劃進行。再一次，工資成本上升，卻沒有充分享受到價格上漲的益處。但在大多數情況下，這是一個有計劃的投資週期，您會感受到與這些綠地相關的整體細分利潤率的壓縮。

The second piece of that is our continued investment in outside the 4-wall overhead. So again, increasing the infrastructure that we have in place to support a portfolio that really increased by 30-plus units in a very rapid period of time, 1 year time frame in over a 2-year time frame, you're almost doubling the size of that portfolio. And so with that comes some infrastructure investment. And again, people are just more expensive these days. And so making headcount investment and seeing wage pressures, you're going to see those costs flow through as additional outside the 4-wall overhead. And that's traditionally for us, about right now in 2022, about an 8% drag between our 4-wall margin and our overall segment margin in that space.

第二部分是我們對四面牆外的持續投資。因此，我們再次增加現有的基礎設施來支持投資組合，該投資組合在很短的時間內增加了 30 多個單位，在 1 年的時間範圍內，在 2 年的時間範圍內，該投資組合的規模幾乎翻了一番。隨之而來的是一些基礎設施投資。而且，現在的人均成本越來越高了。因此，當您進行人員投資和看到工資壓力時，您會看到這些成本作為四面牆之外的額外開銷流入。對我們來說，這通常是這樣的，大約在 2022 年，我們的四牆利潤率和該領域的整體細分利潤率之間會出現約 8% 的拖累。

And so again, that's something that we know will lever with us over time as we embark in new markets. We don't have the full density of units to fully lever the headcount that we've put in place at a time when we only have 2, 3 units in a particular market. We still have the full headcount sitting there. So all of those have been designed to lever with us over time. But in the '22 period, you're just not feeling that level of leverage yet.

所以，我們知道，隨著我們進入新市場，這一點將隨著時間的推移對我們產生影響。由於我們在特定市場只有 2、3 個單位，因此我們的單位密度不足以充分利用我們所安排的員工數量。我們仍有全部員工在那裡。所以所有這些都是為了隨著時間的推移對我們起到槓桿作用而設計的。但在 22 時期，你還沒有感受到那種程度的槓桿作用。

And then the third would just be some softness in what I'll call the legacy performance, and that includes both the clinics that we've built or bought in the historical periods. We had some same-store sales softness that we talked about and the continued wage pressure there is across the board, we've seen increases in both the doctor and the WC salaries. So I really think it's those 3 things that have contributed to that impact. But we should see expansion in that corporate margin within the '23 period as I look at the overall expectation.

第三個就是我所說的遺留表現中的一些疲軟，這包括我們在歷史時期建造或購買的診所。我們談到了同店銷售疲軟的情況，以及持續的全方面工資壓力，我們看到醫生和工傷賠償人員的工資都在增加。所以我確實認為這三件事造成了這種影響。但從整體預期來看，我們應該會看到企業利潤率在 23 年期間有所擴大。

And the last thing I'd add to that, Jake, is that of those 16 acquisitions in 2022, 8 of them, and they all -- happened in December. And so just there's obviously not a lot of time for that performance, but certainly, they were accretive. So it's time for that to perform as well.

傑克，我要補充的最後一點是，在 2022 年的 16 次收購中，有 8 次都發生在 12 月。因此，顯然他們沒有太多的時間進行那場演出，但可以肯定的是，他們的成就增加。因此現在也該進行這項操作了。

Got it. Last 1 for me is really more of like a cash flow balance sheet management question. So you ended the year with about $10 million in cash. Usage last year was $11 million of -- provided by operating activities offset by about $21 million of investing activities inclusive of the acquisitions and CapEx.

知道了。對我來說，最後一個其實更像是現金流資產負債表管理問題。因此，到年底時您擁有約 1,000 萬美元的現金。去年的使用額為 1,100 萬美元，由營運活動提供，抵銷了包括收購和資本支出在內的投資活動的約 2,100 萬美元。

In terms of thinking about managing that, you noted you have $20 million revolver, $2 million drawn on that. How does that potentially change or impact your investment opportunities for this year? Obviously, you are going to have lower greenfield openings this year. Does it also impact just the thought of how many corporate clinic acquisitions that you might be willing to make because you want to not dip too far into that revolver?

在考慮如何管理這一點上，您注意到您有 2000 萬美元的循環信貸，其中已提取 200 萬美元。這可能會改變或影響您今年的投資機會嗎？顯然，今年的綠地開幕數量將會減少。這是否也會影響您考慮願意進行多少家企業診所收購，因為您不想陷入過多的困境？

No. I mean, I think we have signaled that we're moderating the pace of greenfield development. So if you do some simple math, $300,000-ish cash flow to build a greenfield unit, we're going to do between 8 and 12. You can kind of get a sense for the planned CapEx as it relates to greenfields. Again, we generated over $11 million in cash flow from operations with continued expansion. You would assume that, that number is hopefully going to trend in the right direction, meaning we have more resources to deploy on top of the $10 million that we have remaining on the balance sheet as well as the $18 million remaining on the line.

不。 我的意思是，我認為我們已經發出信號，表示我們正在減緩綠地開發的步伐。因此，如果你做一些簡單的數學計算，300,000 美元左右的現金流用於建設一個綠地單位，我們將建造 8 到 12 個。再次，隨著業務不斷擴張，我們從營運中產生了超過 1,100 萬美元的現金流。您可能會認為，該數字有望朝著正確的方向發展，這意味著除了資產負債表上剩餘的 1000 萬美元以及剩餘的 1800 萬美元之外，我們還有更多的資源可以部署。

So as I think about the cash that we generate, which is this is a cash-generative business plus the liquidity we have, either with cash on hand or through the revolver, I don't see us having -- I don't see us -- those levels impacting our decision-making at all.

因此，當我想到我們產生的現金，也就是一項現金產生業務加上我們擁有的流動性（無論是手頭現金還是透過循環信貸），我認為這些水平根本不會對我們的決策產生影響。

(Operator Instructions) Next question will be from Linda Bolton Weiser, D.A. Davidson.

（操作員指示）下一個問題來自 Linda Bolton Weiser 地區檢察官。戴維森。

Yes. So I just wanted to explore a little bit the trend here of franchise licenses sold. So 75 in 2022, I think that's below the pre-pandemic levels. It was like 99 in 2018 and 126 in 2019. So I'm just trying to understand, is it that your model is maturing and you've penetrated your markets adequately? Or I'm just trying to understand why the pace of franchise licenses sold would not be continuing to be pretty high.

是的。所以我只是想稍微探討一下這裡特許經營許可證銷售的趨勢。因此，到 2022 年，這一數字將達到 75，我認為這低於疫情前的水平。 2018 年是 99 個，2019 年是 126 個。 所以我只是想了解，是不是您的模型已經成熟並且您已經充分滲透到您的市場了？或者我只是想知道為什麼特許經營許可證的銷售速度不會持續保持很高的速度。

That's a great question, and there's a number of factors there. And certainly, there is the headwinds we've been talking about in 2022, particularly uncertainty in the market, consumer confidence, interest rates increasing. What's interesting to me when you look at those 75, 60% of them were existing franchisees who know the business, understand how to operate it and still believe that it's a good time to invest.

這是一個很好的問題，其中有很多因素。當然，我們一直在談論 2022 年的不利因素，尤其是市場不確定性、消費者信心、利率上升。令我感興趣的是，當你看到這 75 家店時，其中 60％ 是現有的特許經營商，他們了解業務，知道如何運營，並且仍然相信現在是投資的好時機。

And I think that those franchisees, the potential franchisees new to The Joint, it's -- with all of this uncertainty out there, it does give them a pause in terms of, okay, is this the right time to invest in a franchise, whether it's us or anybody else? And so I think if you look across the industry, there's been a softness in franchise sales across 2022, and it will be interesting to see where that goes in 2023. So there is that factor.

我認為，對於那些特許經營者，那些剛加入 The Joint 的潛在特許經營者來說，鑑於目前存在的所有這些不確定性，他們確實會停下來思考，現在是投資特許經營的正確時機嗎？因此，我認為，如果縱觀整個行業，就會發現 2022 年的特許經營銷售一直疲軟，而 2023 年的情況將會如何，這將會很有趣。

You mentioned that is it slowing down because you're just getting more mature? And I would say I don't want to make it too much of a factor, but that is correct, is that, we've got a lot of major markets where we've sold a lot of clinics and are continuing to open them that are full. Now that doesn't mean we still don't have a lot of green -- white space out there. So we know that we have huge opportunities in the Northeast and in the Midwest. But in some of our more mature markets in the Southeast and in the Southwest, there is. When we're putting new clinics in the Scottsdale, Arizona market, you're tucking them in here and there because that's a major market that absolutely are already developed. So there is an element to that.

您提到速度放慢是因為您變得更成熟了嗎？我想說的是，我不想讓它成為太大的因素，但這是正確的，我們有很多主要市場，我們已經在這些市場出售了很多診所，並且正在繼續開設這些診所，這些診所都客滿了。但這並不意味著我們仍然沒有大量的綠色——白色空間。因此我們知道我們在東北部和中西部有巨大的機會。但在我們東南部和西南部一些比較成熟的市場，情況確實如此。當我們在亞利桑那州斯科茨代爾市場開設新診所時，我們會把它們塞進這裡和那裡，因為那是一個已經開發的主要市場。因此，這其中有一定的因素。

But I think overall, it's really that consumer sentiment that does have such an influence on what's going to happen with franchise sales. The other factor that hugely are tied to that consumer sentiment is unemployment rate, is that there's no question when you see typically in a recession, we see franchise sales increase, people being laid off, they need to do something. And that while we continue to be experiencing these record high -- record low unemployment rate, I think that is another factor that influences -- you're seeing another job, okay, maybe you don't like it that much but you are not feeling like, oh my gosh, I've got to go do something different or if I do something different, it's a lot safer to go to another job as opposed to take my life savings and buy a franchise.

但我認為整體而言，消費者情緒確實對特許經營銷售的走向產生了很大的影響。與消費者情緒密切相關的另一個因素是失業率，毫無疑問，在經濟衰退時期，特許經營銷售額會增加，人們被解僱，他們需要做點什麼。雖然我們繼續經歷這些創紀錄的高 - 低失業率，但我認為這是另一個影響因素 - 你看到了另一份工作，好吧，也許你不那麼喜歡它，但你不會覺得，哦，天哪，我必須去做一些不同的事情，或者如果我要做不同的事情，那麼去另一份工作比拿出我所有的積蓄去購買特許經營權要安全得多。

So I think those are elements that are influencing the number of franchise sales that we are experiencing. I think there's still a lot of growth in this market. You see in our numbers that we see a potential for nearly 2,000 units. And so I think as we continue to build out this market as more and more people discover the efficacy of chiropractic, all that does is make it easy, more able to dense pack our clinics in existing markets and open up new markets just because more and more people are finding chiropractic care to help alleviate their pain.

所以我認為這些是影響我們特許經營銷售數量的因素。我認為這個市場還有很大的成長空間。從我們的數據中可以看出，我們有近 2,000 個單位的潛力。因此我認為，隨著我們繼續拓展這個市場，越來越多的人發現脊椎按摩療法的功效，這一切都將使事情變得更加容易，能夠在現有市場中密集佈局我們的診所，並開拓新的市場，因為越來越多的人發現脊椎按摩療法可以幫助緩解他們的疼痛。

Okay. And then I guess I was also wondering, too, we've seen with some other franchise models that some of the franchisees developed ahead of contract requirements pre-pandemic just because costs were low and the environment was good, and so they developed ahead of schedule. And now there's like debts contributing to slowing of development. Are you seeing that too or not so much with your model?

好的。然後我想我也想知道，我們已經看到其他一些特許經營模式，一些特許經營商在疫情前就提前完成了合約要求的發展，只是因為成本低、環境好，所以他們提前發展了。現在債務問題導致發展放緩。在您的模型中，您是否也看到了這一點？

I'm not seeing so much of that with our model, but I think there is an element of impact there. And it is -- there's no question, let's say that you've signed a multipack agreement so you're going to open up a number of units in a relatively short period of time. And when you sign that agreement, let's say, interest rates were half of what they are today. And so does that give that franchisee a little pause and kind of slow down or make sure that those other clinics are getting past their breakeven before I break down for the next clinic? I think there's a little bit of that.

在我們的模型中我沒有看到太多這樣的情況，但我認為其中存在一些影響因素。確實如此——毫無疑問，假設您簽署了多件裝協議，那麼您將在相對較短的時間內開設多個單位。當你簽署該協議時，假設利率是今天的一半。那麼，這是否會讓加盟商稍作停頓，放慢速度，或者確保在我開始開設下一家診所之前，其他診所已經實現收支平衡？我認為有一點這樣的。

But I would say, overall, when I think of the experience here at The Joint is what we have is really a remarkable [date] of getting clinics open. I mean, there's a lot of franchise systems out there that end up selling a lot of units that ultimately don't get opened. And I think we -- if you look at us compared to other franchise systems is that we have a very effective rate of getting clinics open over time.

但我想說，總的來說，當我想起 The Joint 的經歷時，我們會發現我們擁有的診所開業日期確實非常了不起。我的意思是，目前有很多特許經營系統，最終都會銷售出許多最終都沒有開業的單位。而且我認為，如果將我們與其他特許經營體系進行比較，就會發現我們在一段時間內開設診所的速度非常有效。

Okay. And then just 1 final question. I think we were all a little surprised to hear from Planet Fitness that one of their largest franchisees have to kind of stop development because of their capital structure. Can you just remind us, I know you're a whole lot different, but one of your biggest franchisees, like how many units do they have? And do you require financial statements of your franchisees to be submitted to the corporate office?

好的。最後只剩一個問題。我想我們都對 Planet Fitness 的消息感到有些驚訝，他們最大的特許經營商之一因為資本結構而不得不停止發展。你能提醒我們嗎，我知道你們有很大的不同，但是作為你們最大的特許經營商之一，他們有多少個單位？您是否要求您的加盟商向公司辦公室提交財務報表？

Absolutely. In terms of the part of the process of due diligence for a potential franchisee coming in is that one of the many factors they go through is they have to submit complete financials and prove that they have the resources to take on whatever the number of units that they're considering. So that's absolutely part of our due diligence.

絕對地。對於潛在加盟商而言，盡職調查過程的一部分是他們要經歷的眾多因素之一，就是他們必須提交完整的財務報表，並證明他們有足夠的資源來承接他們正在考慮的任何數量的單位。所以這絕對是我們盡職調查的一部分。

And yes, our contract requires our franchisees to submit their P&Ls on an annual basis. That like many franchisors, we probably need to be better at that. But obviously, we did quite a number of them, and you'll see that in our FDD when we're putting in those full financials of our franchisees based on those submittals. And that's an area that we'll continue we're going to focus on and make sure those franchisees are, in fact, getting those in on a timely basis. And there's some other vendors that we're going to work with that really makes it easier and easier for that franchisee to be able to do that.

是的，我們的合約要求我們的特許經營者每年提交他們的損益表。與許多特許經營商一樣，我們可能需要在這方面做得更好。但顯然，我們做了很多工作，當我們根據這些提交的內容輸入我們的特許經營商的完整財務狀況時，您會在我們的 FDD 中看到這一點。我們將繼續關注這個領域，並確保這些特許經營商能夠及時獲得這些。而且我們還將與其他一些供應商合作，這將使特許經營商能夠越來越輕鬆地做到這一點。

Because it's a really powerful tool to understand clinical performance that when we talk about us versus Planet Fitness, there's a huge difference in terms of just the makeup of our franchisees because as you know, that their strategy for growth is very much tied to private equity. And that in our circumstances, while we have a little bit of interest in private equity, I think there's 1 small private equity group that has bought out one of our, I think, 11 clinics or 8 clinics, that we don't have that same level of private equity participating as a large holder of clinics in this market.

因為它是了解臨床表現的一個非常強大的工具，當我們談論我們與 Planet Fitness 時，我們的特許經營商的組成就有很大差異，因為如你所知，他們的成長策略與私募股權密切相關。在我們的情況下，雖然我們對私募股權有一點興趣，但我認為有一個小型私募股權集團已經收購了我們的 11 家診所中的 8 家，而我們並沒有像在這個市場上成為診所大股東那樣擁有同等水平的私募股權參與。

Now if you look at the overall number of the 700-plus or 712 operating franchise units that we have, our largest single franchisee has a little -- has around 60 units operate in 5 states. And that is not, in any way, private equity-backed. The second 1 would be 40 units, and that is, again, an investor or a very successful business plan that is not in any way related to private equity. After that, you'll see a pretty big drop in what -- the number of units -- or the next biggest 1 is, I don't know, half -- a dozen, 9. If you look at that total number, we have probably a little under 3 units per franchisee. We have roughly around 230 franchises that are operating at 712 units.

現在，如果您看我們擁有的 700 多個或 712 個特許經營單位的總數，我們最大的單一特許經營商在 5 個州擁有大約 60 個單位。而這絕不是私募股權支持的。第二個 1 是 40 個單位，同樣，這也是一個投資者或一個非常成功的商業計劃，與私募股權沒有任何關係。在這之後，你會看到單位數量會大幅下降，或者下一個最大的 1 是，我不知道，6 個，9 個。我們大約有 230 家特許經營店，共 712 個單位。

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Peter Holt for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給彼得·霍爾特先生，請他作最後發言。

Thank you, Nick. Before I close, I'd like to note that we'll be at the ROTH Annual Conference next week participating in the fireside chat as well as conducting one-on-one meetings. Now I'm going to share with you a few comments from patients. As you may know, each December, we run our end-of-year promotion, enabling patients to extend their membership by paying for a full year at a discounted rate. And several of our long-term patients recently wrote in our social media.

謝謝你，尼克。最後，我想指出的是，我們下週將參加 ROTH 年度會議，參加爐邊談話以及進行一對一會議。現在我想和大家分享一些病人的評論。您可能知道，每年 12 月，我們都會推出年終促銷活動，患者可以以折扣價支付一整年的費用來延長會員資格。我們的幾位長期患者最近在我們的社群媒體上寫道。

Martha notes: "My daughter introduced me to The Joint when I was visiting here in Texas a few years ago. I found 1 close to me at the beginning of 2020 and I've not looked back since. In my first visit, the doctor evened up my legs and even got my hips back in alignment. No other chiropractor that I've ever seen has done that for me. I was having a lot of hip pain before that. So I thank you." They added, "I've been with The Joint chiropractic since 2020. Traveling around the United States and getting chiropractic care in different locations. Each time, I received incredible service from the knowledgeable chiropractors that care about their work and their clients. I always recommend The Joint to those I know who can greatly benefit from adjustments." Thank you and stay well adjusted.

瑪莎說：「幾年前我來德克薩斯州旅遊時，我女兒向我介紹了 The Joint。2020 年初，我在附近找到了一家這樣的診所，從那以後我就再也沒有離開過。第一次就診時，醫生就幫我矯正了雙腿，甚至還讓我的臀部恢復了平衡。第一次就診時，醫生就幫我矯正了雙腿，甚至還讓我的臀部恢復了平衡。我見過的其他脊椎疼痛。他們補充說：「我從 2020 年開始在 The Joint 脊椎按摩診所工作。我在美國各地旅行，在不同的地方接受脊椎按摩治療。每次，我都能從知識淵博的脊椎按摩師那裡得到令人難以置信的服務，他們關心自己的工作和客戶。我總是向那些我認識的可以從調整中受益匪淺的人推薦 The Joint。」謝謝您並保持良好狀態。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。