Joint Corp (JYNT) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to The Joint core Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 financial results conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Ask a question. You may press star and then one on your touchtone telephone withdraw your questions, you may press star in two. Please also note today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Kirsten Chapman with LHA Investor Relations division of Alliance Advisors. Please go ahead.

大家下午好，歡迎參加 2023 年第四季和全年聯合核心財務業績電話會議。所有參與者將處於只聽模式。如果您需要協助，請按星號鍵然後按零來通知會議專家。今天的演講結束後，將有機會提問。提出問題。您可以按按鍵電話上的星號鍵，然後按 1 來撤回您的問題，或者您可以按兩個星號鍵。另請注意，今天的活動正在記錄。現在，我想把發言權交給 Alliance Advisors 的 LHA 投資者關係部門的 Kirsten Chapman。請繼續。

Thank you, Jamie, and good afternoon, everyone. This is Kirsten Chapman of LHA Investor Relations. The division of Alliance Advisors. Joining us on the call today are President and CEO, Peter Holt, and CFO, Jake Singleton. Please note, we are using a slide presentation that can be found our data join.com/today after the market closed joint issued its results for the quarter and year ended December 31st, 2023. You can find that press release on the Investor Relations section of the company's website as provided on Slide 2, please be advised that today's discussion includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be considered forward-looking. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can make no research and assurance as such, expectations or assumptions will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements due to various risks and uncertainty. As a result, we caution you against placing undue reliance on the forward looking for a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Please review the risk factors detailed in the company's reports and forms 10 K and 10 Q, as well as other reports the Company files from time to time with the SEC.

謝謝你，傑米，大家下午好。我是 LHA 投資者關係部門的 Kirsten Chapman。聯盟顧問部門。今天參加電話會議的有總裁兼執行長 Peter Holt 和財務長 Jake Singleton。請注意，我們使用的幻燈片簡報可以在市場收盤後聯合發布截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的季度和年度業績後在我們的數據 join.com/today 上找到。您可以在公司網站的「投資者關係」部分找到該新聞稿，如幻燈片 2 所示，請注意，今天的討論包括《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》安全港條款含義內的前瞻性陳述。除歷史事實陳述之外的所有陳述均可被視為前瞻性陳述。儘管公司認為這些前瞻性聲明中反映的預期和假設是合理的，但無法進行研究，也無法保證這些預期或假設將被證明是正確的。由於各種風險和不確定性，實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中表達或暗示的結果有重大差異。因此，我們提醒您不要過度依賴前瞻性陳述中的風險和不確定性，因為這些風險和不確定性可能會導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中表達或暗示的結果不同。請查看公司報告和 10K 和 10Q 表格中詳細列出的風險因素，以及公司不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他報告。

Finally, any forward-looking statements included in this call are made only as of the date of this call, and we do not undertake any obligation to revise our results or publicly release any updates to the forward-looking statements in light of any new information or future 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 the financial performance. Management believes they provide a more transparent view of the company's underlying operating performance and operating trends than GAAP measures. A reconciliation of the net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA is presented in the press release the Company defines EBITDA as net income or loss before debt, interest tax expense, depreciation and amortization. The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA before acquisition related expenses, which includes contract termination costs associated with reacquire regional developer rights, stock-based compensation expense, bargain purchase gain, net loss or gain on disposition of impairment costs related to restatement filings, restructuring costs and other income related to employee retention Management also uses commonly discussed performance metrics. System-wide sales includes revenues of all clinics, whether operated by the Company or by franchisees. While franchise sales are not recorded as revenues by the company. Management believes this information is important in the understanding of the Company's financial performance because the sales, our base in which the Company calculates and records royalty fees are indicative of the financial health of the franchisee base. System-wide comp sales include the revenue from both company-owned, our managed clinics and franchise clinics that, in each case have been opened at least 13 full months and exclude any clinics that have been closed.

最後，本次電話會議中包含的任何前瞻性陳述均僅在本次電話會議之日做出，我們不承擔根據任何新資訊或未來管理層使用 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA（非 GAAP 財務指標）修改我們的結果或公開發布前瞻性陳述的任何更新的任何義務。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 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 和調整後 EBITDA 的對賬，公司將 EBITDA 定義為扣除債務、利息稅費、折舊和攤銷前的淨收入或虧損。本公司將調整後的 EBITDA 定義為扣除收購相關費用前的 EBITDA，其中包括與重新獲得區域開發商權利相關的合約終止費用、股票薪酬費用、廉價購買收益、與重述文件相關的減值成本處置淨損失或收益、重組費用和與員工保留相關的其他收入。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。而特許經營銷售額並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，因為銷售額（公司計算和記錄特許權使用費的基礎）可以反映特許經營者的財務狀況。全系統可比銷售額包括公司自有診所、我們管理的診所和特許經營診所的收入，這些診所均已開業至少 13 個月，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。

Please go ahead, Peter Thank you, Kirsten, and I welcome everybody to the call. As we review 2023, I'd like to begin by acknowledging how proud I am of our whole team. Our doctors wellness coordinators, corporate employees, franchisees and regional developers for their steadfast commitment to supporting our patients in a market of ongoing uncertainty among our patient demographic, we delivered growth in system-wide sales revenue, adjusted EBITDA, the number of new patients and the number of patients treated. Also, we improved our patient conversion and existing patient attrition rates. I'm even more impressed as they embraced our enhanced marketing strategies targeted to increasing new patient count and improving existing patient engagement. Our efforts are beginning to gain traction and were augmented by our year end campaigns. The Joint is revolutionizing access to chiropractic care by providing affordable concierge style, membership-based services and convenient retail settings. And this franchise concept remains strong. In fact, there's been significant interest in our re-franchising strategy as we announced that the last at the end of last year, we put a thoughtful process in place to ensure that we are getting these clinics into the hands of our franchisees who can most effectively run them as we move into 2024, we've renewed our mission to improve quality of life through routine and affordable chiropractic care. And we've advanced our vision to be the champion of chiropractic, Jack and I will elaborate. But first, I'd like to review our 2023 operating metrics during the year. The doctors of chiropractic at the joint performed 13.6 million adjustments, up from 12.2 million patient visits in 2022. We treated 1.75 million unique patients from 1.6 million in 2022. And of those treated over 932,000 were new to patients new patients up from approximately 845,000 in 2022 of our new patients, 36% or approximately 336,000 people had never been to a chiropractor before visiting the joint Our model is literally expanding the market of chiropractic users.

請繼續，彼得。回顧 2023 年，首先我想說我為我們整個團隊感到自豪。我們的醫生、健康協調員、公司員工、特許經營商和區域開發商堅定地致力於在患者群體持續不確定的市場中支持我們的患者，我們實現了全系統銷售收入、調整後 EBITDA、新患者數量和治療患者數量的增長。此外，我們也提高了患者轉換率和現有患者流失率。令我印象更為深刻的是，他們接受了我們旨在增加新患者數量和提高現有患者參與度的增強行銷策略。我們的努力開始取得進展，並透過年底的活動得到了增強。The Joint 透過提供平價的禮賓服務、會員制服務和便利的零售環境，徹底改變了人們獲得脊椎矯正的方式。而這種特許經營理念依然強勁。事實上，人們對我們的重新特許經營策略產生了濃厚的興趣，因為我們在去年年底宣布了這一消息，我們制定了一個深思熟慮的流程，以確保將這些診所交到我們的特許經營商手中，以便他們能夠最有效地運營它們，隨著我們進入 2024 年，我們重新確立了我們的使命，即通過常規和負擔得起的脊椎治療來改善生活品質。我們已經提出了成為脊椎按摩療法領域冠軍的願景，傑克和我將詳細闡述。但首先，我想回顧一下我們 2023 年的營運指標。該診所的脊椎按摩治療師共進行了 1,360 萬次調整，高於 2022 年的 1,220 萬次患者就診。我們治療的患者數量從 2022 年的 160 萬增加到 175 萬人。在接受治療的患者中，超過 932,000 名是新患者，而 2022 年的新患者數量約為 845,000 名，其中 36% 或約 336,000 人之前從未去過脊椎按摩治療師。

Finally, during 2023, our monthly memberships contributed 85% of our system-wide gross sales, up from 84% in 2022.

最後，在 2023 年，我們的月度會員貢獻了我們全系統總銷售額的 85%，高於 2022 年的 84%。

Turning to Slide 4, I'll review our financial highlights for the full year 2023. System-wide sales grew to $488 million, increasing 12% compared to 2020 to comp sales for clinics that have been more opened more than 13 full months increased 4% compared to 2022. Revenue increased 16% compared to 2022. Adjusted EBITDA was $12.2 million for 2023, up 6% over last year. At December 31st, 2023, our unrestricted cash was $18.2 million compared to $9.7 million at December 31st, 2022.

前往投影片 4，我將回顧我們 2023 年全年的財務亮點。全系統銷售額成長至 4.88 億美元，與 2020 年相比成長 12%，開業超過 13 個月的診所的銷售額與 2022 年相比成長了 4%。與2022年相比，收入成長了16%。2023 年調整後 EBITDA 為 1,220 萬美元，較去年成長 6%。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的無限制現金為 1,820 萬美元，而 2022 年 12 月 31 日為 970 萬美元。

Turning to slide 5, I'll discuss our clinic metrics for 2023 we opened 114 clinics, 104 franchised and 10 greenfields. This compares to 2022 with 137 clinics, open 110 franchised and 20 greenfields, we closed 13 franchised and four corporate units, which is less than 2% of our portfolio. This reflects the fact that some of the market's condition changed. For example, a retail center may lose an anchor tenant or other demographic changes impact the viability of the site. Having said that, we're working on a number of profitability initiatives to improve financial performance of our clinics. We added three previously franchise clinics to our corporate portfolio. At December 31st, 2023, we had 935 clinics in operation consisting of a 800 franchise clinics and 130 Company-owned or managed clinics. Current portfolio mix shifted slightly to 86% franchise and 14% Company-owned or managed from 85% to 15% at the end of 2022. As we execute our refranchising strategy, the portfolio mix will shift more significantly regarding our corporate portfolio while I know of no longer proactively pursuing a greenfield expansion strategy, we're actively supporting the three greenfield clinics are in the process of being opened. We will uphold our various obligations related to their leases and build-outs.

轉到幻燈片 5，我將討論我們 2023 年的診所指標，我們開設了 114 家診所，其中 104 家為特許經營診所，10 家為綠地診所。相較之下，2022 年我們擁有 137 家診所，開設了 110 家特許經營店和 20 家綠地診所，關閉了 13 家特許經營店和 4 家公司單位，占我們投資組合的不到 2%。這反映出部分市場狀況發生了變化。例如，零售中心可能會失去主力租戶或其他人口變化影響該地點的生存力。話雖如此，我們正在進行一系列獲利舉措，以提高診所的財務表現。我們將三家先前的特許經營診所加入我們的公司投資組合中。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們擁有 935 家診所，其中包括 800 家特許經營診所和 130 家公司自有或管理的診所。目前的投資組合結構略有變化，到 2022 年底，特許經營權和公司所有或管理的投資組合比例將從 85% 降至 15%，分別為 86% 和 14%。隨著我們執行特許經營權再授權策略，投資組合將在我們的公司投資組合方面發生更顯著的變化，雖然我知道我們不再積極推行綠地擴張策略，但我們正在積極支持正在開業的三家綠地診所。我們將履行與其租賃和建設相關的各項義務。

Turning to slide 6 regarding our franchise restaurant, our refranchising strategy. As noted before, many of these clinics are quality assets of high value, and we will allow the necessary time to capture that best value. Our team has prepared the framework for the sale of the majority of our corporate clinics. We've organized units in clusters and generated comprehensive disclosure package for marketing efficiently. We gave initial preference to existing franchisees and have broadened the net to potential buyers outside the existing joint community. The majority of our corporate clinics are in various stages of sales negotiations. We intend to sell these clinics to our franchisees who can most effectively run them today. We've received significant interest with over 100 requests for information later this month, we'll be marketing at the multi-unit Franchise Conference in Las Vegas. Ultimately, our goal is to get these clinics in the hands of our best performing franchisees can generate capital that can be used for many purposes, such as reinvesting in the brand marketing, reacquiring RD territories and or repurchasing stock among other options.

前往投影片 6，了解有關我們的特許經營餐廳和我們的再特許經營策略。如前所述，許多診所都是高價值的優質資產，我們將留出必要的時間來獲得最佳價值。我們的團隊已經為大多數公司診所的出售準備好了框架。我們按集群組織單位並產生全面的揭露包，以便有效率地進行行銷。我們最初優先考慮現有的特許經營商，然後逐漸將網路擴展到現有聯合社區以外的潛在買家。我們的大多數企業診所正處於銷售談判的不同階段。我們打算將這些診所出售給目前能夠最有效地經營它們的特許經營商。我們收到了大量感興趣的訊息，本月晚些時候將收到 100 多份資訊請求，我們將在拉斯維加斯的多單位特許經營會議上進行行銷。最終，我們的目標是將這些診所交到表現最好的特許經營商手中，從而產生可用於多種用途的資本，例如再投資於品牌行銷、重新獲得研發區域和/或回購股票等。

Turning to slide 7, let's review our franchise license sales. As expected, when we announced our new franchise refranchising strategy, we experienced a slowdown in new franchise license sales. While there will be some franchisees that want to start with a brand new clinic and continue to purchase new licenses. We expect the speed of new franchise sales to be impacted while the refranchising is in full swing during Q4, we sold five franchise licenses, bringing the 2023 sales to 55 compared to 75 in 2022. The year-over-year change reflects the continued impact of the higher interest rates inflation, strong employment rates, in addition to our newly announced refranchising strategy of licenses sold, 58% were sold to existing franchisees who reinvested into joint reflecting their belief in our business. At year end, we had 172 licensed franchise licenses in active development. Our marketing efforts, which I'll detail more in a moment, our build to support our nationwide brand building efforts. Our regional developer strategy remains consistent. We have demonstrated over the past several years is the natural progression of territory development can lead to the reacquisition of certain RD. regions and will continue to execute as criteria is met. We do not plan to add additional RD territories and as such, over time, we'd expect our DE share of franchise royalty fees to decrease as we acquire.

翻到第 7 張投影片，讓我們回顧一下我們的特許經營許可證銷售情況。正如預期的那樣，當我們宣布新的特許經營再特許經營策略時，我們經歷了新特許經營許可證銷售的放緩。雖然有些特許經營商希望從全新的診所開始，並不斷購買新的許可證。我們預計新特許經營銷售速度將受到影響，而第四季度特許經營再行銷工作正在如火如荼地開展，我們出售了 5 個特許經營許可證，使 2023 年的銷售額達到 55 個，而 2022 年為 75 個。與去年同期相比，這項變更反映了利率上升、通貨膨脹、強勁的就業率的持續影響，加上我們新宣布的銷售特許經營權再特許經營策略，其中 58% 被出售給現有特許經營商，他們將其重新投資到聯合特許經營中，反映了他們對我們業務的信心。截至年底，我們共有 172 個特許經營許可證正在積極開發中。我們的行銷工作，我稍後將詳細介紹，我們的建設是為了支持我們的全國品牌建立工作。我們的區域開發商策略保持一致。過去幾年我們已經證明，領土發展的自然進程可以導致重新獲得某些研發成果。區域並將在滿足條件時繼續執行。我們不打算增加額外的研發區域，因此，隨著時間的推移，我們預計我們的 DE 特許經營特許權使用費份額會隨著收購而減少。

Those are the rights. We ended 2023 with an RD count of 17 and the aggregate 10-year minimum development schedule for the RD territories is 674.

這些就是權利。截至 2023 年，我們的 RD 數量為 17，RD 地區的 10 年最低開發總進度為 674。

Turning to slide 8, let's review our key performance indicators. We've taken great measures to increase our new patient conversion rates, grow new patient counts and lower patient attrition. In 2023 compared to 2022, we improved attrition by 20 basis points to 11%. Also, conversions rose 160 basis points to 52.1%, and we're continuing to work hard to increase our new patient counts. I'll review our marketing efforts related to that on slide 9, Black Friday and year end wellness sales were both strong promotions for us in 2023, resulting in a new record-breaking totals in several areas. Total sales for the Black Friday packages increased 31% compared to 2022. The annual the end-of-year wellness sale helps the patient start the new year with wellness in mind, this promotion enable their patients to purchase 10 months of membership and received two months free total end-of-year promotional sales increased 21% compared to 2022 and 2024 is shaping up to be an exciting year for marketing as our joint effort joint led by our new CMO.

翻到第 8 張投影片，讓我們回顧一下我們的關鍵績效指標。我們採取了重大措施來提高新患者的轉換率、增加新患者數量並降低患者流失率。2023 年與 2022 年相比，我們的員工流動率提高了 20 個基點，達到 11%。此外，轉換率上升了 160 個基點，達到 52.1%，我們將繼續努力增加新患者數量。我將在第 9 張投影片上回顧與此相關的行銷工作，黑色星期五和年終健康銷售都是我們 2023 年的強勁促銷活動，從而在多個領域創下了新的紀錄。與 2022 年相比，黑色星期五套餐的總銷售額成長了 31%。一年一度的年終健康促銷活動可幫助患者在新的一年裡注重健康，此次促銷活動使患者能夠購買 10 個月的會員資格並獲得兩個月的免費會員資格，與 2022 年相比，年終促銷總銷售額增長了 21%，在我們新任 CMO 的共同努力下，2024 年將成為令人興奮的營銷之年。

Lori, I do have the we focused on initiatives to drive new patients, including increasing our media efficiency by adjusting our channel mix and increasing our working media spend to reach even more prospective patients. This adjusted media mix pairs with our patient strategy to ensure that we're delivering the message of affordable, convenient chiropractic care to those most likely consumers. Additionally, we plan new promotions and offers aimed directly adding new patients to take advantage of our local differences. We're creating more robust local store marketing programs by providing proven tactics and more nuanced tools for our system. Finally, to ensure that we maximize convenience for our patients, we're testing an initiative to enable initial patient bookings, something that we're learning is important to a subset of our prospective patients. Additionally, we're putting a greater focus on existing and lapsed patient engagement, we will introduce new promotions aimed at reengaging former patients. Moreover, we'll apply our learnings about the patient lifecycle to automated automated messages to retain patients during the critical phases of their journey in partnership with our marketing co-op. We're testing new programs and channels to increase our club synergies and overall brand awareness. The marketing team has been working hard on expanding the brand architecture. We continue to evolve our brand positioning and defining the brand essence to deepen our competitive advantage. During Q4, we had several workshops to define current consumer perceptions. Our target consumers and unique benefits that we can offer as a brand. More recently, we had an opportunity to work with our franchisees to incorporate their feedback into the process were refining language and defining impact areas to leverage this new positioning. We expect these efforts to have a positive impact on performance in 2024.

洛里，我確實專注於吸引新患者的舉措，包括透過調整我們的管道組合來提高我們的媒體效率，並增加我們的工作媒體支出以接觸更多的潛在患者。這種調整後的媒體組合與我們的患者策略相結合，確保我們向最有可能的消費者傳遞經濟實惠、方便的脊椎按摩治療的訊息。此外，我們還計劃推出新的促銷和優惠活動，旨在利用我們的本地差異直接吸引新患者。我們正在為我們的系統提供經過驗證的策略和更細緻的工具，以創建更強大的本地商店行銷計劃。最後，為了確保最大限度地為患者提供便利，我們正在測試一項計劃，以實現初始患者預約，我們了解到這對我們的部分潛在患者來說很重要。此外，我們更加重視現有和已失去的患者參與度，我們將推出旨在重新吸引先前患者的新促銷活動。此外，我們將與行銷合作社合作，將有關患者生命週期的知識應用於自動訊息，以便在患者旅程的關鍵階段留住患者。我們正在測試新的計劃和管道，以增強我們的俱樂部協同效應和整體品牌知名度。行銷團隊一直在努力拓展品牌架構。我們不斷發展我們的品牌定位並定義品牌精髓，以深化我們的競爭優勢。在第四季度，我們舉辦了幾場研討會來確定當前消費者的看法。我們的目標消費者以及我們作為品牌所能提供的獨特優勢。最近，我們有機會與我們的特許經營商合作，將他們的回饋納入到流程中，完善語言並定義影響區域，以利用此新定位。我們預計這些努力將對 2024 年的業績產生正面影響。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jake.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給傑克。

Thanks, Peter. Let's turn to Slide 10. I'll review our clinic comps for Q4 23 compared to Q4 22. System-wide sales for all clinics open for any amount of time increased to $133.1 million, up 11%. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months increased 5%. System-wide comp sales for mature clinics opened 48 months or more decreased 1%. Revenue was $30.6 million, up $2.9 million or 11%. Revenue from franchised operations increased 14%, contributing $12.7 million. Company-owned or managed clinic revenue increased 9%, contributing $17.9 million. The increases represent continued year-over-year growth in both the franchise base and the corporate portfolio cost of revenues was $2.9 million, up 16% over the same period last year, reflecting the associated higher regional developer, royalty royalties and commissions, selling and marketing expenses were $3.4 million, up 2% year over year and down 22% compared to Q3 23. This reflects our Q4 cost management efforts to offset selling and marketing spending earlier in the year.

謝謝，彼得。讓我們翻到第 10 張投影片。我將對 23 年第四季與 22 年第四季的診所狀況進行比較回顧。所有營業時間診所的系統範圍內銷售額增至 1.331 億美元，成長 11%。所有開業 13 個月的診所的全系統同店銷售額成長了 5%。開業 48 個月或以上的成熟診所的系統範圍內同店銷售額下降了 1%。營收為 3,060 萬美元，成長 290 萬美元，增幅 11%。特許經營業務收入成長14%，貢獻1,270萬美元。該公司自有或管理的診所收入成長了 9%，貢獻了 1,790 萬美元。這些成長代表特許經營基礎和企業投資組合繼續同比增長，收入成本為 290 萬美元，比去年同期增長 16%，反映了相關區域開發商的增加、特許權使用費和佣金、銷售和營銷費用為 340 萬美元，比去年同期增長 2%，比 23 年第三季度下降 22%。這反映了我們在第四季度的成本管理努力，以抵消今年稍早的銷售和行銷支出。

Depreciation and amortization expenses decreased $379,000 or 18% compared to the prior year period, reflecting the corporate clinics that are being held for sale as part of the refranchising efforts.

折舊和攤銷費用與去年同期相比減少了 379,000 美元，即 18%，反映了作為特許經營再行銷工作的一部分而持有待售的公司診所。

General and administrative expenses were $21.3 million compared to $18.3 million, reflecting the cost to support the increased clinic count. These were partially offset by cost control initiatives such as hiring freezes, travel reductions and the elimination of non-core projects.

一般及行政開支為 2,130 萬美元，而去年同期為 1,830 萬美元，這反映了支持診所數量增加的成本。這些影響被凍結招聘、減少差旅和取消非核心項目等成本控制措施部分抵消。

Loss on disposition or impairment was $1.5 million compared to $50,000 in Q4 22. The increase is related to our refranchising efforts, which include those additional corporate clinics that were announced to be held for sale in November of 2023. Operating loss was $147,000 compared to operating income of $1.5 million in Q4 2022, reflecting the aforementioned impairment charges. During Q4, we recorded a non-cash valuation allowance of $10.8 million against our deferred tax assets.

處置或減損損失為 150 萬美元，而 22 年第四季為 5 萬美元。這一增長與我們的特許經營再授權努力有關，其中包括那些宣布將於 2023 年 11 月出售的其他企業診所。營業虧損為 147,000 美元，而 2022 年第四季的營業收入為 150 萬美元，反映了上述減損費用。在第四季度，我們針對遞延所得稅資產記錄了 1,080 萬美元的非現金估值準備金。

A valuation allowance is a non-cash accounting entry to record a reserve against existing deferred tax assets. As we mentioned earlier, there is uncertainty regarding the timing of our refranchising transactions. When you introduce uncertainty, the GAAP accounting guidance indicates you should review the potential realizability or our ability to benefit from those future tax assets. Until such time that those uncertainties are resolved, it's more prudent to record a valuation allowance at this time, it's important to know that we still maintain these tax assets that will be available to utilize in the future as we return to profitability. As a result Income tax expense was $10.9 million compared to $629,000 in Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. Net loss was $11.0 million or $0.75 per share compared to Q4 2022 net income of $763,000 or $0.05 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA was $4 million for both Q4 2023 and 2022. Franchise clinic adjusted EBITDA was up 11% at $6.6 million. Company owned or managed clinic adjusted EBITDA increased 15% to $1.8 million. Corporate expense as a component of adjusted EBITDA was $4.4 million $814,000 higher than Q4 2022 related to increased headcount to support the larger clinic count.

估價準備是一種非現金會計分錄，用於記錄現有遞延稅務資產的準備金。正如我們之前提到的，我們的再特許經營交易的時間存在不確定性。當引入不確定性時，GAAP 會計指南表明您應該審查潛在的可實現性或我們從這些未來稅收資產中受益的能力。在這些不確定性得到解決之前，此時記錄估值準備金是更謹慎的做法，重要的是要知道我們仍然保留這些稅務資產，這些資產將在我們恢復盈利能力時可供使用。結果，所得稅費用為 1,090 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季至 2023 年第四季為 629,000 美元。淨虧損為 1,100 萬美元或每股 0.75 美元，而 2022 年第四季淨收入為 763,000 美元或每股 0.05 美元。2023 年第四季和 2022 年調整後的 EBITDA 均為 400 萬美元。特許經營診所調整後的 EBITDA 上漲 11%，達到 660 萬美元。公司自有或管理的診所調整後的 EBITDA 成長 15%，達到 180 萬美元。作為調整後 EBITDA 一部分的企業費用為 440 萬美元，比 2022 年第四季高出 81.4 萬美元，這與增加員工人數以支持更大的診所數量有關。

On to Slide 11 for the year ended December 31st, 2023 compared to 2022 system-wide sales for all clinics opened for any amount of time increased 12%. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months or more increased 4%. System-wide comp sales for mature clinics opened 48 months or more decreased 1%. Revenue was $117.7 million, up $16.4 million or 16% 2023 net loss, including the non-cash valuation allowance was $9.8 million or $0.66 per basic share. This compares to 2022 net income of $627,000 or $0.04 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA was $12.2 million, up $691,000 or 6%.

截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的第 11 張幻燈片與 2022 年相比，所有開業時間較長的診所的全系統銷售額增長了 12%。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 4%。開業 48 個月或以上的成熟診所的系統範圍內同店銷售額下降了 1%。營收為 1.177 億美元，比 2023 年淨虧損增加 1,640 萬美元或 16%，其中非現金估值準備金為 980 萬美元或每股基本 0.66 美元。相比之下，2022 年的淨收入為 627,000 美元，即每股攤薄收入 0.04 美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,220 萬美元，增加 691,000 美元，即 6%。

On a review of our balance sheet and cash flow. At December 31st, 2023, our unrestricted cash was $18.2 million compared to $9.7 million at December 31st, 22. This reflects $14.7 million in cash from operations, including the receipt of employee retention credits of $4.8 million, net of $6.2 million investment in clinic acquisitions.

檢視我們的資產負債表和現金流。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的無限制現金為 1,820 萬美元，而 22 年 12 月 31 日為 970 萬美元。這反映了來自營運的1,470萬美元現金，包括收到的480萬美元的員工保留抵免額，扣除620萬美元的診所收購投資。

Yes, development of greenfield clinics and the improvement of existing clinics and corporate assets.

是的，開發綠地診所並改善現有診所和公司資產。

At December 31st, 2023, we had that we had $2 million drawn on our line of credit with JPMorgan Chase since year end. Based on our high closing cash balance and our projected proceeds from the refranchising strategy, we decided to reduce our interest expense and repaid the $2 million line of credit balance. We continue to have immediate access to $20 million of additional cash through this line of credit with JPMorgan Chase on slide 12 for a review of our guidance. As Peter discussed, we are well into our refranchising strategy because of the timing of the corporate clinic. Sales is uncertain and will impact the revenue and adjusted EBITDA in 2024, we have modified financial guidance to be system-wide gross sales and system-wide comp sales. We will continue to provide guidance on new franchise openings, excluding the impact of refranchise clinics system-wide sales are expected to be between $530 million and $545 million compared to $488 million in 2023. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months or more are expected to increase in the mid-single digits compared to an increase of 4% in 2023. New franchise clinic openings excluding the impact of refranchise clinics are expected to be between 60 and 75 compared to 104 in 2023. The difference reflects the impact of the refranchising effort. As we think about the financial impacts of the refranchising efforts, please note that our cost of sales is primarily related to regional developer fees, and we expect it to remain fairly static. We expect our sales and marketing expenses to decrease as we reduce the scale of our corporate portfolio. Currently, our corporate clinics spend about $3,000 per clinic per month in local advertising.

截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，自年底以來，我們從摩根大通提取的信用額度為 200 萬美元。根據我們較高的期末現金餘額和再特許經營策略預期的收益，我們決定減少利息支出並償還 200 萬美元的信用額度餘額。我們繼續透過摩根大通的這筆信貸額度立即獲得 2000 萬美元的額外現金（見第 12 頁），以審查我們的指導意見。正如彼得所討論的，由於企業診所的時機已到，我們已經很好地實施了再特許經營策略。銷售額不確定，將影響 2024 年的收入和調整後 EBITDA，我們已將財務指導修改為全系統總銷售額和全系統可比銷售額。我們將繼續為新特許經營店開業提供指導，不包括再特許經營診所的影響，全系統銷售額預計在 5.3 億美元至 5.45 億美元之間，而 2023 年為 4.88 億美元。預計所有開業 13 個月或更長時間的診所的全系統同店銷售額將以中等個位數增長，而 2023 年的增幅為 4%。不包括再特許經營診所的影響，新開業的特許經營診所數量預計將在 60 至 75 家之間，而 2023 年則為 104 家。這一差異體現了特許經營權再授予努力的影響。當我們考慮重新特許經營努力的財務影響時，請注意我們的銷售成本主要與區域開發商費用有關，我們預計它將保持相當穩定。我們預計，隨著我們公司投資組合規模的縮小，銷售和行銷費用將會減少。目前，我們的公司診所每月每家診所在本地廣告上的花費約為 3,000 美元。

Regarding general and administrative expenses, we expect to see significant reductions in our clinic level four, while operating expenses are outside the four-wall expenses and in our unallocated corporate overhead. These expenses will be reduced proportionately as we reduce the scale of our corporate portfolio. As such, the timing of these G&A reductions will be gradual and incremental overall while we reduced our top line revenue, we expect reductions in G&A to expand our operating margins and increase profitability in the long run.

至於一般及行政開支，我們預期四級診所的開支將大幅減少，而營運開支則不包括在一般及行政開支內，也包括我們未分配的公司間接費用。隨著我們公司投資組合規模的縮小，這些費用也會隨之減少。因此，整體而言，這些一般及行政費用削減的時間將是漸進的、增量的，雖然我們減少了營業收入，但我們預計一般及行政費用的削減將擴大我們的營業利潤率，並在長期內提高盈利能力。

Finally, it's important to note that while some of our underperforming clinic valuations may result in non-cash impairment charges, the better the clinic performs. However, the better clinic performs it will create higher sales proceeds and the opportunity for a gain on sale in the St. Peter, I will turn the call back over to you.

最後，值得注意的是，雖然我們的一些表現不佳的診所估值可能會導致非現金減損費用，但診所的表現越好。然而，診所的表現越好，它就會創造更高的銷售收益和在聖彼得獲得銷售收益的機會，我會把電話轉回給你。

Thank you, Jake. As I noted on the onset of this call, we've expanded our vision to be the champion of chiropractic care by providing consumers expanding access to chiropractic services that meet the demands and improve our strategic pillars, our brand, our people and our performance to elevate our brand equity and drive awareness. We'll strive to increase our active patient count by improving the intake process by testing book booking, new visit patient initial visits and by optimizing local clinic marketing. We plan to lengthen the time patient stay engaged with the joint and to reactivate lapsed patients by leveraging new content, automated messaging and additional promotions. Also, we intend to employ new media campaigns to increase our new patient leads. Our goal is to ensure we assemble and retain the strongest team. We are continually building our lead pipeline to our doctors of chiropractic to share with our whole franchise system by cultivating professional relationships and mentoring programs. We're evaluating and recommending enhanced incentives and benefits, including creating the joint first continuing education platform for doctors. Additionally, we're employing programs that better align staff with our patient experience division. These initiatives are being implemented to improve our performance. We expect to drive total system sales by increasing new patient counts and optimizing sales per patient. Additionally, we're evaluating the line extensions and ancillary products. Ultimately, we expect to foster our strong franchise base, improve unit economics increase productivity and expand margins at the clinic and company level.

謝謝你，傑克。正如我在本次電話會議開始時所指出的那樣，我們擴大了我們的願景，即成為脊椎按摩治療領域的佼佼者，為消費者提供更廣泛的脊椎按摩治療服務，以滿足需求並改善我們的戰略支柱、我們的品牌、我們的員工和我們的業績，以提升我們的品牌資產並提高知名度。我們將努力透過測試預約、新就診患者初次就診以及優化本地診所行銷來改善接診流程，從而增加活躍患者數量。我們計劃利用新內容、自動訊息傳遞和額外促銷來延長患者與關節的接觸時間並重新激活流失的患者。此外，我們打算利用新媒體活動來增加新患者的數量。我們的目標是確保組建並留住最強大的團隊。我們正透過培養專業關係和指導計劃，不斷建立我們的脊椎按摩治療師主要管道，並與我們的整個特許經營體系共享。我們正在評估和建議加強激勵措施和福利，包括為醫生創建聯合首個繼續教育平台。此外，我們正在實施一些計劃，使員工與我們的患者體驗部門更好地協調一致。我們正在實施這些措施以提高我們的績效。我們希望透過增加新患者數量和優化每位患者的銷售額來推動整個系統的銷售。此外，我們正在評估產品線擴展和輔助產品。最終，我們希望鞏固我們強大的特許經營基礎，提高單位經濟效益，提高生產力，並擴大診所和公司層面的利潤率。

Finally, the joint is consistently recognized for our excellence. Most recently, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked the joint number one franchise in chiropractic services number 61 for veterans number 83 of the top 500 franchise systems in the United States.

最後，我們的卓越表現始終得到認可。最近，《企業家》雜誌將該公司評為美國脊椎按摩治療服務領域排名第一的特許經營公司，為退伍軍人提供脊椎按摩治療服務方面排名第 61 位，在美國 500 強特許經營系統中排名第 83 位。

Before taking questions, I'd like to invite you to meet us at the Roth Annual Growth Conference later this month in Orange County.

在回答問題之前，我想邀請您本月稍後參加在橘郡舉行的羅斯年度增長會議。

And with that, Jamie, I'm ready to take the Q&A.

傑米，現在我準備好回答問題了。

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we'll begin the question and answer session to ask a question, you may press star and then one on your touchtone telephones. If you are using a speakerphone, we do ask that you please pick up your handset prior to pressing the keys to ensure the best sound quality. To withdraw your questions, you may press R&T. Once again, that is star and then one to join the question queue. And our first question today comes from George Kelly from ROTH MKM. Please go ahead with your question.

女士們，先生們，現在我們將開始問答環節，您可以提出一個問題，您可以在按鍵電話上按星號，然後按一號。如果您使用揚聲器，我們要求您在按下按鍵之前拿起聽筒，以確保最佳音質。要撤回您的問題，您可以按 R&T。再一次，那是明星，然後是加入提問隊列的人。我們今天的第一個問題來自 ROTH MKM 的喬治凱利 (George Kelly)。請繼續提問。

Everybody, thanks for taking my questions. Tom, maybe I'll start with trying to just get a feel for the process, the refranchising process underway. And there was a comment in your prepared remarks and in the slide deck as well, just about how you're sort of broadening the scope of potential and buyers of those businesses. And I'm just curious, is it fair to interpret that as like the initial interest has maybe lacked your previous expectation and for how should I interpret that a comment in the presentation? And then the second part of the question, same topic is on, do you have a better sense of timing when when this process should be complete, are you comfortable should it be a year-end thing or could this be several.

大家好，感謝你們回答我的問題。湯姆，也許我應該先試著了解這個過程，即正在進行的再特許經營過程。在您的準備好的演講和幻燈片中都有一條評論，是關於您如何擴大這些企業的潛在客戶和買家範圍。我只是好奇，這樣解釋是否公平，因為最初的興趣可能缺乏你之前的期望，我該如何解釋演示中的評論？然後是問題的第二部分，同樣的主題，您是否對這個過程應該在什麼時候完成有更好的把握，您是否覺得這應該是年底的事情，還是幾年的事情。

Two great questions. To answer your first question is that is somehow by the idea of broadening the people that could potentially be interested in our franchised clinics that we're selling a reflection of lower interest and expected of our franchise community Absolutely not. And what we've also recognized is the most important thing for us to get these clinics, not just off our balance of our off our books, but to get them in the hands of franchisees who can most effectively run it. And we recognize that it makes sense at the same time as working closely with the interest in our franchisees in terms of requiring that some of these clusters that we've created, but they also be open to some other alternatives.

兩個很好的問題。回答您的第一個問題是，我們出售的這種想法是否在某種程度上擴大了可能對我們的特許經營診所感興趣的人群，這反映了我們特許經營社區的興趣和期望較低，絕對不是。我們也意識到，對我們來說，最重要的是不僅要讓這些診所脫離我們的帳簿，還要將它們交到能夠最有效地運作的特許經營商手中。我們認識到，在與我們的特許經營商密切合作的同時，要求他們遵守我們已經創建的一些集群，同時也要對其他一些替代方案持開放態度，這是有意義的。

And so that was really the purpose. There is just to broaden the scope of what we're looking for to make sure that we're getting the best franchisees in the system.

這就是真正的目的。我們只是為了擴大尋找的範圍，以確保我們在系統中找到最好的特許經營商。

And your second question was, I'm getting a better sense of the timing of it. And I would say that we're still a little early in the process. As I said, we've got of our systems in place. We've done the clustering where you're in our conversations with our franchisees that though what we saw, I don't have an exact time line to give you. But I would expect you would say where you should see a significant amount of the screen. So by this year, but I would expect it to also go into 2025.

您的第二個問題是，我對它的時間安排有了更好的了解。我想說的是，我們目前處於這個過程的早期階段。正如我所說，我們的系統已經到位。我們已經完成了聚類分析，我們正在與我們的特許經營商進行對話，儘管我們看到了什麼，但我沒有確切的時間表可以給您。但我希望你會說出你應該在哪裡看到相當一部分螢幕。所以到今年為止，但我預計它也會持續到 2025 年。

Okay, thanks. And then just one other question for you, Tom wondering if you could I appreciate the guidance you gave. That's helpful. Just those key metrics for the year, but curious if you could just maybe give a little more on what you've seen so far and in this year, just in the couple of months on same-store sales growth and has it improved from what you just reported in Q4? Is it kind of consistent. Just any observations there would be helpful and that's all I had. Thank you.

好的，謝謝。還有一個問題要問你，湯姆，我想知道你是否可以感謝你給予的指導。這很有幫助。這些只是今年的關鍵指標，但我很好奇您是否可以再多介紹一下到目前為止以及今年幾個月的同店銷售額增長情況，與您剛剛報告的第四季度相比是否有所改善？是否一致？任何觀察都會有幫助，這就是我所知道的全部。謝謝。

As we look at the IO, typically, George, we do not guide outside of quarters but as we look in the first two months of 2024. Okay. We've And I kind of referenced in the call is that we're kind of seeing or turning the corner in our new patient counts. And so I think that we're seeing some improvement as we go look forward for this year and beyond.

當我們查看 IO 時，通常，喬治，我們不會指導季度之外的情況，而是指導 2024 年的前兩個月。我在電話中提到，我們已看到或被期望看到新患者數量的轉變。因此我認為，展望今年及以後，我們將看到一些進展。

That's correct. Thank you.

沒錯。謝謝。

And our next question comes from Ryan Meyers from Lake Street Capital. Please go ahead with your question.

下一個問題來自 Lake Street Capital 的 Ryan Meyers。請繼續提問。

Again, thanks for taking my questions. It's a little bit of a follow-up to the last question but as we look to the slide deck, it looks like the more mature clinics once greater opened greater than 48 months and saw a slight decline in same-store sales.

再次感謝您回答我的問題。這有點像上一個問題的後續，但當我們看幻燈片時，看起來較成熟的診所開業時間超過 48 個月，同店銷售額略有下降。

Just wondering if you could maybe unpack that a little bit if there's any more commentary. Bye there.

我只是想知道如果還有其他評論的話您是否可以稍微解釋一下。再見。

Yes. Consistent result to last quarter, Ryan, we have seen that trend for the last couple of quarters. And I think that's why you see the continued emphasis on our marketing efforts, not only trying to show the rebound in those new patient prospects, but also increasing our focus on our lapsed or in trying to increase engagement of our existing patient base as clinics mature in your markets become more dense, you have that you have a greater amount of prospects in order to kind of refill the bucket, if you will, from an attrition standpoint. So it has to remain a critical focus of ours. And I think you heard that in terms of our renewed interest and focus in some of those marketing initiatives.

是的。與上一季的結果一致，Ryan，我們已經看到了過去幾季的這種趨勢。我認為這就是為什麼我們繼續強調我們的行銷工作，不僅試圖展示這些新患者前景的反彈，而且還增加我們對失效患者的關注，或者試圖增加我們現有患者群的參與度，因為您所在市場的診所越來越成熟，密度也越來越大，從人員流失的角度來看，如果您願意的話，您將擁有更多的潛在客戶，以便重新填滿這個桶。因此它必須繼續成為我們關注的焦點。我想您已經聽說了我們對一些行銷舉措重新產生的興趣和關注。

Got it. And then just kind of as a brief follow-up to that question. Obviously, the marketing strategy remains kind of a priority like you just mentioned. You know, as this is a newer initiative, how have you seen some of those results Pehong? And are you seeing positive trends there?

知道了。然後只是對這個問題進行簡短的跟進。顯然，正如您剛才提到的，行銷策略仍然是優先事項。您知道，由於這是一項較新的舉措，您如何看待其中的一些成果？您看到那裡有正面的趨勢嗎？

Absolutely. As we've talked about at the one key metric, we look at three key metrics for our business, patient counts, conversion and attrition and no one metric that we've had the most challenge with and certainly in 23. And as I said, we're improving the new patient.

絕對地。正如我們討論的一個關鍵指標，我們關注的是業務的三個關鍵指標，即患者數量、轉換率和流失率，沒有一個指標是我們面臨的最大挑戰，當然在 23 個指標中也沒有一個是最大的。正如我所說，我們正在改善新病人的狀況。

And if we look at our new patient count for the full year of 2023, we were 6% below where we were in 22 and 22 compared to 21, it was 14%. So we had an improvement from a negative 6% in 22.

如果我們查看 2023 年全年的新患者數量，我們會發現它比 22 年低 6%，而與 21 年相比，22 年則下降了 14%。因此，我們從 22 年的-6% 有所改善。

In the last four months, our new patient counts were flat. So if we look at 2023 are we had 86 new patients per clinic per month compared to 91 in 2022. So we are seeing a flattening of that curve. I think we'll see that continue to improve as some of the marketing programs that our new CMO is putting in place really start taking effect.

在過去的四個月中，我們的新患者數量保持不變。因此，如果我們看一下 2023 年，我們每個診所每月有 86 名新患者，而 2022 年為 91 名。因此我們看到曲線趨於平緩。我認為，隨著我們的新任首席行銷長實施的一些行銷計劃開始真正發揮作用，我們將看到這種情況繼續改善。

We're also really looking more at a focus in a way we hadn't done before, not just simply a new patient focusing on making sure that we keep those patients in with us for a longer period. Right now, the average patient stays as a member a little over six months. And so my wife, Lori, has put in a new programs that will help extend that period.

我們也確實在以一種前所未有的方式關注焦點，而不僅僅是關注新患者，而是確保這些患者在我們這裡住院更長時間。目前，患者的平均會員期限為六個多月。因此，我的妻子洛里（Lori）實施了一項新計劃，以幫助延長這一期限。

And the final part of that is we're also really focused on our laps to patients because what we know is when those patients come, they stay with us that roughly that six months very often their pain goes away. So they and their membership. But we can see about 25% of them will come back in the next six months.

最後，我們也非常重視對患者的治療，因為我們知道，當這些患者來這裡治療後，他們會和我們在一起大約六個月，通常他們的疼痛就會消失。他們和他們的會員也是如此。但我們預計其中約有 25% 將在未來六個月內回來。

And so we've got programs that are being designed to really focus on that lapped lapsed patients to make sure that we're bringing them in sooner than they otherwise would. So I think we have some real opportunities there to develop in 2024.

因此，我們設計了一些項目，真正關注那些已經失效的病人，以確保我們能比原來更快地讓他們接受治療。因此我認為我們在 2024 年確實有一些發展機會。

Got it. Well, thank you for taking my questions.

知道了。好吧，感謝您回答我的問題。

Our next question comes from Jeff Van Sinderen from B. Riley. Please go ahead with your question.

下一個問題來自 B. Riley 的 Jeff Van Sinderen。請繼續提問。

As everyone I realize some of these questions may be a little tough due to the refranchising efforts, but all things considered on how many new licenses do you think you would sell or expect to sell this year, maybe a targeted range, there would be helpful.

和大家一樣，我意識到由於重新特許經營的努力，其中一些問題可能有點棘手，但考慮到所有因素，您認為今年您將銷售或預計銷售多少新許可證，也許有一個目標範圍，這將會有所幫助。

And Jeff, thanks for the question and that we do not guide on on franchise sales, as you know, and we talked about that. Let's say we had 55 sales for the full year 23. We know that some of the things that impacted those new sales is the economic environment to higher interest rates and the other just the high employment because there's always been kind of a relationship between unemployment and growth in franchise sales. And so there's a lot of factors there that that had impacted where we were in 2023 compared to 2022, we've sold 35 license. And so when we say that we're expecting there to be an impact on new license sales in 2024. And we had 25 we had 55 in 2023.

傑夫，謝謝你的提問。假設我們 23 年全年的銷售量為 55 筆。我們知道影響新銷售的一些因素是經濟環境、更高的利率以及高就業率，因為失業率和特許經營銷售成長之間一直存在著某種關係。因此，有許多因素影響了我們 2023 年的情況，與 2022 年相比，我們已經售出了 35 個許可證。因此，我們預計這將對 2024 年的新許可證銷售產生影響。

I should kind of triangulate kind of where we expect that to be. And so that that's kind of the way I would look at it.

我應該對我們預計的那個位置進行三角測量。這就是我看待此事的方式。

Okay. That's helpful. And then sort of along the same lines of guidance and again, realize this is a little bit of a moving target, but based on the refranchise cadence or work that you're doing there so far and the interest levels, and I know you said it will continue into 2025. But is there a way you can help us understand? I mean, I know you gave the system wide sales, but just I guess maybe trying to get to a you now reported sales line decline our rate for FY 24. Just maybe order of magnitude there and in helping give us a.

好的。這很有幫助。然後按照相同的指導思路，再次意識到這是一個移動的目標，但基於迄今為止您在那裡進行的再特許經營節奏或工作以及興趣水平，我知道您說過它將持續到 2025 年。但是您有什麼方法可以幫助我們理解嗎？我的意思是，我知道您給出了全系統的銷售額，但我猜可能是想了解一下您現在報告的 24 財年銷售線下降率。也許只是數量級在那裡，並幫助我們。

Yes, I mean that's the tough part, Jeff feel as the GAAP revenues are going to move from being 100% recognized for our corporate location to a royalty stream as we execute the transactions. And so the depth and the breadth of that GAAP revenue decline will really be predicated on the pace and the size of some of these early transactions, which made it really hard. I'm trying to determine from a guidance perspective for 2024. And so that's why you saw us change the guidance metrics to overall sales figures because that's where we have the predictability now. So we're not going to put out a target from a GAAP revenue basis because it's really so predicated on the timing of those transactions.

是的，我的意思是這是困難的部分，傑夫覺得隨著我們執行交易，GAAP 收入將從 100％ 確認為我們的公司所在地收入轉變為特許權使用費流。因此，GAAP 收入下降的深度和廣度實際上將取決於一些早期交易的速度和規模，這使得情況變得非常困難。我正嘗試從 2024 年的指導角度進行確定。這就是為什麼您會看到我們將指導指標更改為整體銷售數據，因為這是我們現在可預測的地方。因此，我們不會根據 GAAP 收入基礎來設定目標，因為這實際上是基於交易的時間表。

Okay. Sure enough.

好的。果然。

And as a consequence, we finished this. I think we can get back to go to the Trinity that has at least for us, the traditional metrics that we guide on.

結果，我們完成了這件事。我認為我們可以回到三位一體，至少對我們來說，它有指導我們的傳統指標。

But there's just a there's there's just too much uncertainty in terms of how this unfolds to be able to give you relevant guidance right now on EBITDA and revenue.

但對於事態如何發展，存在太多不確定性，因此現在我們無法就 EBITDA 和收入向您提供相關指導。

Understood. And then if we could shift to marketing for a minute, and I know you've you spoke to that, but I'm just wondering, is there any other color you can give us in terms of to the degree that you want to come, how you're shifting the marketing? I know you mentioned maybe new channels and just any other color you can give us there.

明白了。然後，如果我們可以暫時轉到行銷上，我知道您已經談過這個了，但我只是想知道，您是否可以給我們其他細節，說明您想要在多大程度上轉變行銷？我知道您提到也許有新管道以及您可以為我們提供的其他任何顏色。

Sure. And I think it's really exciting to see our currency. We have a strong CMO that's come into place, who is the CMO of Sonic, which also should bring fresh ACV interest programs and quite frankly, different disciplines.

當然。我認為看到我們的貨幣確實令人興奮。我們擁有一位強大的 CMO，他是 Sonic 的 CMO，他也將帶來新鮮的 ACV 興趣計劃，坦率地說，還有不同的學科。

So one of the first things she has done is to go in and do an audit of all of our media buys to make sure that we're getting them the full power of them. We'll be doing some RFPs on just some of those key vendors in marketing to make sure that we're working with a partner that can most effectively support our business that she's designed.

因此，她做的第一件事就是對我們所有的媒體購買進行審核，以確保我們能夠充分利用它們。我們將對行銷中的一些關鍵供應商進行一些 RFP，以確保我們與能夠最有效地支持她設計的業務的合作夥伴合作。

Some new program is putting out there. That is where we are going to be working more with influencers as I think she's really focused on the power of our co-ops. We have a lot of these great clusters and what they put their funds together that you can put an impact in that market that quite frankly, then computable compared to anybody else in all those independents in that local market.

一些新計劃正在推行。我們將在那裡與有影響力的人進行更多合作，因為我認為她真正關注的是我們合作社的力量。我們有許多這樣的優秀集群，他們將資金整合在一起，可以對該市場產生影響，坦白說，可以與該本地市場所有獨立公司中的任何其他人進行比較。

Because if you have 30 or 40 units, all contributing to that local marketing spend, what you can spend that on is very different than a pure sole practitioner trying to market to your clinic.

因為如果您有 30 或 40 個單位，全部用於本地行銷支出，那麼您將這些支出花在什麼地方與純粹的個體從業者試圖向您的診所行銷方面有很大不同。

So I think there's a lot of some really exciting things that will be coming down the pike, and we'll get more details as we go forward.

所以我認為很多真正令人興奮的事情即將發生，我們將在未來獲得更多細節。

And I also think it's just that focus on our last patients and focusing on making the patient experience better so that we can keep that patient longer could have huge implications for us.

我還認為，專注於我們的最後一位患者並致力於改善患者的治療體驗，以便我們能夠讓患者保留更長時間，這對我們有著巨大的影響。

I mean, if you think about the last seven or eight years. We've always been so focused on new patients and really haven't and the time we could have on that lapsed and on that on trying to extend the time for that patient to stay with it.

我的意思是，如果你想想過去七、八年。我們一直非常關注新患者，但實際上並沒有，我們本來可以花在新患者身上的時間都浪費了，我們只能試圖延長患者的治療時間。

So there's some real opportunities, I think, to really focus on the quite frankly, the improvement of the bottom line, what you should be hearing as we are highly focused on improving unit economics on that clinic level. We know we've had some challenges with higher costs on labor over the last several years.

因此，我認為，確實存在一些機會，可以真正關注坦率地說，底線的改善，您應該聽到的是，我們高度關注改善診所層面​​的單位經濟。我們知道，過去幾年我們面臨勞動成本上升的挑戰。

We know we've had some issues with new patients.

我們知道我們在處理新病人方面遇到了一些問題。

And so it's really incumbent upon us as a franchise or just a laser-like focus on improving those unit economics for our franchisees. And of course, our corporate units as well.

因此，作為一家特許經營商，我們真的有責任全神貫注地改善我們的特許經營商的單位經濟效益。當然，還有我們的公司單位。

Kash, I appreciate you taking my questions and best of luck. Thank you very much.

Kash，感謝您回答我的問題，祝您好運。非常感謝。

And our next question comes from CJD. Molino from Craig-Hallum Capital. Please go ahead with your question.

我們的下一個問題來自 CJD。 Craig-Hallum Capital 的 Molino。請繼續提問。

for Gus CJ, definitely no on for Jeremy Hamblin. I wanted to ask a quick question about sales and marketing. Looks like it was down about $1 million sequentially from Q3 to Q4. Could you give a little color on that drop and then maybe how we should think about it into the new year?

對 Gus CJ 來說，Jeremy Hamblin 肯定不行。我想問一個關於銷售和行銷的簡單問題。看起來從第三季到第四季連續下降了約 100 萬美元。您能否稍微解釋一下這種下降趨勢以及我們在新的一年裡應該如何看待它？

Sure. I think I think you'll see that normalize. As we see. We've tried to put it in the commentary a little bit through the first three quarters of 23. We were running a little bit hot in terms of our overall plans spend for the year in sales and marketing. So Q4, you just saw some of that normalize as we think about our national marketing fund. The goal is to really spend that entire pool each period. And so when you've kind of accelerated some of your expenses into the earlier parts of the year, you kind of see a natural step back in Q4. So really, I think you're just seeing the timing of that play out quarter to quarter through 2023.

當然。我想你會看到它變得正常化。正如我們所見。我們嘗試在 23 的前三節中將其稍微加入到評論中。就我們今年在銷售和行銷方面的整體計劃支出而言，我們的經營情況有點不佳。因此，在第四季度，當我們考慮國家行銷基金時，您剛剛看到其中一些變得正常化。目標是每個時期真正花完整個資金池。因此，當您在年初加速增加部分支出時，您將看到第四季度的自然回落。所以實際上，我認為您只是看到了 2023 年各個季度的進展。

So as we get back into 2024. I think you'll see that normalize again into the quarter-by-quarter cadence where that typically falls as Q2 and Q3 are usually a little bit heavier Q1 and Q4 are a little bit lighter.

因此，當我們回到 2024 年時，我認為您會看到這種情況再次正常化，進入逐季度的節奏，通常情況下，第二季度和第三季度通常會稍微重一些，而第一季度和第四季度則會稍微輕一些。

I think it's also important to always remember is the bulk of the marketing that takes place in the franchise system and certainly in our case is that local store marketing, which is completely off our P&L until yes, we have intimate that runs through the P&L, but it's really that local store marketing that each of those franchisees spending on average $3,000 or more a month is where you're seeing the real spend in our franchise is there as it relates to marketing.

我認為同樣重要的是要始終記住，特許經營系統中進行的大部分營銷，當然在我們的案例中是本地商店營銷，這完全不在我們的損益表中，直到我們有貫穿損益表的詳細內容，但實際上是本地商店營銷，每個特許經營商每月平均花費 3,000 美元或更多，這就是您看到我們的真正支出與特許經營中的地方支出。

Okay, very helpful. And then just one more on the P & L, I'm thinking about G&A moving forward. As it looks in 2023, it jumped up to about 69%, 70% of sales, how would you think about that moving forward in 24?

好的，很有幫助。然後關於損益表還有一件事，我正在考慮 G&A 的未來發展。從 2023 年來看，其銷售額將躍升至約 69%、70%，您認為 24 年這一數字將如何發展？

Yes. Again, I think the overall with the refranchising strategy, we expect to see the overall G&A burden reduce considerably for the consolidated organization. Again, the timing of when we can start to reduce that G&A is really predicated on the timing of those refranchising transactions. So as we move through 24 and 25, and we begin to execute on the refranchising will all of the clinic level. G&a costs will come off the books and then we'll begin to curtail that outside the four-wall overhead as well as the corporate unallocated overhead. We expect those to reduce as we move through. And that's really the critical focus of management, understanding that for that strategy to work. We'll have to curtail the G&A expenses accordingly, and we'll stay focused on that.

是的。再次，我認為，總體而言，透過重新特許經營策略，我們預計合併後組織的整體 G&A 負擔將大幅減輕。再次強調，我們開始減少 G&A 的時間實際上取決於這些再特許經營交易的時間。因此，當我們進入 24 和 25 歲時，我們開始在所有診所層級執行再特許經營。一般及行政費用將從帳簿上取消，然後我們將開始削減公司外部管理費用以及公司未分配管理費用。我們預計，隨著我們的進步，這些數字將會減少。這確實是管理階層關注的關鍵點，理解這一點才能使策略發揮作用。我們必須相應地削減一般行政費用 (G&A) 開支，並且我們將繼續專注於此。

Okay. Very helpful. Thanks, guys, and best of luck.

好的。非常有幫助。謝謝大家，祝你們好運。

Thank you, Raj, and our final question today comes from Thomas McGovern from Maxim Group.

謝謝 Raj，我們今天的最後一個問題來自 Maxim Group 的 Thomas McGovern。

Please go ahead with your question.

請繼續提問。

Hey, guys. So real quick, I wanted to touch back on some that employee retention so based, yes, fairly considerable reduction in skilled medical professions. It's over the coming years. So maybe you could just go into a little bit more color on some.

嘿，大家好。所以很快，我想回顧一下基於員工保留的一些問題，是的，熟練的醫療專業人員的減少相當大。這是未來幾年的事。所以也許你可以對一些內容做更多一些的闡述。

Yes, yes. No, it's a great question is there's no question it because our doctors are the core of our business without doctors of chiropractic deals. We have no business because that's obviously the core of what we do and that we are very much focused on working with the schools and working with associations to make them aware of the joint and why we are a good place for them to either become a franchisee if they have the resources or come and work for us.

是的，是的。不，這是一個很好的問題，毫無疑問，因為我們的醫生是我們業務的核心，沒有脊椎按摩治療師的交易。我們沒有生意，因為這顯然是我們工作的核心，而且我們非常注重與學校和協會的合作，讓他們了解我們的聯合體，以及為什麼我們是他們成為特許經營者（如果他們有資源的話）或來為我們工作的好地方。

If you just look at the overall market doctors of chiropractic, there's 16 accredited schools, the United States today that the graduate doctors of chiropractic is usually about a 3.5 year program. And those 16 schools graduate roughly between 2,400 and 2,500 doctors a year. If we come back to the joint with our 935 clinics at the end of the year, we had a little over 3,000 doctors who are under the umbrella of the joint, either full or part-time. And so does that suggest to us in addition to that, there's 40,000 odd actually the 70,000 licensed practitioners in the United States in the United States today, and they have to have to register that the license with this data they want to practice, not all of them are practicing. So we know there's roughly about 40,000 that are active. And so that if you look at it from the broadest scope there, is there enough doctors who have failed the growth of the joint in the United States today, absolutely. But are the doctors where we want them the high quality doctors and making sure that they stay with us not just be recruited. So this is a hugely important effort for us is to maintain and recruit to recruit and retain the best doctors in the world. But I think it's incumbent upon us to create those environment where they want to come work with us and they stay with us as opposed to they're just theoretically not enough LICENSE doctors to fulfill our growth.

如果您只看脊骨療法醫生的整體市場，您會發現美國有 16 所獲得認可的學校，脊骨療法醫生的研究生課程通常需要 3.5 年左右的時間。這 16 所學校每年畢業約 2,400 至 2,500 名醫生。如果我們回到聯合診所的現狀，年底時我們擁有 935 家診所，聯合診所旗下有 3,000 多名醫生，既有全職的，也有兼職的。那麼這是否意味著，除此之外，目前美國有 4 萬多名執業醫師，實際上有 7 萬名，他們必須使用這些數據來註冊執照才能行醫，但並不是所有人都在行醫。因此我們知道大約有 40,000 個是活躍的。所以，如果從最廣泛的角度來看，當今美國是否有足夠的醫生導致關節生長失敗，答案是肯定的。但是，我們想要的醫生是否是高素質的醫生，並確保他們留在我們這裡而不僅僅是被招募。因此，這對我們來說是一項非常重要的努力，旨在招募和留住世界上最優秀的醫生。但我認為，我們有責任創造這樣的環境，讓他們願意來和我們一起工作，並留在我們這裡，而不是從理論上來說，沒有足夠的持牌醫生來實現我們的成長。

Appreciate the color. I guess the last thing you guys mentioned on the call there, your portfolio slightly 14% of total clinic. Yes. You also mentioned that you expect that to logically, yes, more dramatically as you guys move through this refranchising initiative, I was just wondering if you guys have a maybe a targeted portfolio mix or what you when it does, where are you guys?

感謝色彩。我想你們在電話中提到的最後一件事是，你們的投資組合佔診所總投資組合的 14%。是的。您還提到，你們預計隨著你們推進這項特許經營計劃，這一點在邏輯上、是的、更具戲劇性，我只是想知道你們是否有一個有針對性的投資組合，或者當它實現時，你們在哪裡？

Certainly, we haven't had any way guidance on our expected percentage. But what's very clear is we've said the majority of our corporate portfolio we expect to refranchise. And so if we ended last year with 135, I would say to him by majority, we're talking about more than 51% we don't have a final number, but it's going to be the vast majority of those corporate units will impact ultimately be refranchised. So you can see that that number is going to be pretty significantly lower than it where it is today at 14%.

當然，我們還沒有任何關於預期百分比的指導。但非常清楚的是，我們已經表示，我們預計將重新授予我們公司投資組合中的大多數股權。因此，如果去年年底我們擁有 135 家特許經營店，那麼我會以多數票告訴他，我們談論的是超過 51％ 的特許經營店，我們還沒有最終的數字，但絕大多數企業單位最終都會獲得特許經營權。所以你可以看到，這個數字將比現在的 14% 低很多。

Appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my question. Thank you.

感謝你們花時間回答我的問題。謝謝。

And ladies and gentlemen, at this time, I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，現在，我想將發言權交還給管理階層，請他們做最後發言。

Saying, Jamie, in February, we ran our annual loved the joint campaign during which our patients share their comments of the joint on our social media. We receive thousands of posts each week, so it's hard to pick the best, but I'll read a few that highlight our patient value proposition. Casey noted, if I missed this session, I feel terrible my life revolves around the joint now it's helped me so much with my headaches.

傑米說，二月份，我們開展了一年一度的喜愛關節活動，在此期間，我們的患者在我們的社交媒體上分享了他們對關節的評論。我們每週都會收到數千條帖子，因此很難挑選最好的，但我會閱讀一些突出我們的患者價值主張的帖子。凱西說，如果我錯過了這次療程，我會感到很糟糕，我的生活都圍繞著關節，現在它對我的頭痛有很大幫助。

I sleep better.

我睡得更好了。

I feel better mentally and physically by doctors incredibly helpful and sending me home with stretches to do in ways to treat my body better. I could imagine my life without the joint, Julie said I like that no matter where you travel the chances are the joint will be there as well. This and I've been a member for six years, and I don't know how to manage my health wise and financially without the joint I'm 69 years old on a fixed budget and being a member that has truly improved my body. I'm certain it save me money and I have and I'll continue to promote the joy. There is nothing like the joint whoever thought up this and made it happen.

醫生非常樂於助人，並讓我回家做伸展運動，以更好地治療我的身體，這讓我在精神和身體上感覺好多了。我可以想像沒有這個大麻煙鬥我的生活會怎樣，​​朱莉說，我喜歡這種感覺，無論你去哪裡旅行，大麻煙鬥都有可能在那裡。我已經成為會員六年了，我不知道如何在沒有關節的情況下管理我的健康和財務，我今年 69 歲，預算固定，成為真正改善我身體狀況的會員。我確信它能幫我省錢，而且我已經這樣做了，而且我會繼續分享這種快樂。沒有什麼能比想到這一點並實現這一點的人更偉大。

I thank you and finally, Caleb reported the staff and my local joint Kirkpatrick facility are fantastic. They've always made me feel welcome and focus on the problems that I need them to. They've been a great help in my healing journey as the disabled veterans. Thank you and stay.

我感謝你，最後，Caleb 表示，工作人員和我當地的聯合柯克帕特里克設施都非常棒。他們總是讓我感到受歡迎並且專注於解決我需要他們解決的問題。作為一名殘疾退伍軍人，他們在我的康復之路上給了我很大的幫助。謝謝你，留下來。

Well, adjusted, ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's conference call and presentation, and we do thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your line.

好吧，女士們、先生們，調整完畢，我們將結束今天的電話會議和演示，非常感謝你們的加入。現在您可以斷開線路了。