Joint Corp (JYNT) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to The Joint Corp first quarter 2024 financial results conference call. All participants are in listen only mode seeking 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. You may press star, then one on your touchtone phone and to withdraw your question, please press star and Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to David Bernard with LHA Investor Relations, please go ahead.

您好，歡迎您參加 The Joint Corp 2024 年第一季財務業績電話會議。所有參與者都處於只聽模式以尋求協助，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。您可以在按鍵電話上按星號，然後按一，若要撤回您的問題，請按星號，請注意此事件正在被記錄。現在，我想將會議交給 LHA 投資者關係部的 David Bernard，請繼續。

Thank you, Carrie. Good afternoon, everyone is David Barnard of LHA Investor Relations. Joining us on the call today are President and CEO, Peter Holt, and CFO, Jake Singleton. Please note we're using a slide presentation that can be found at h. t. t. p. s. Ir dot joint.com under Events today, after the close of market, The Joint Corporation issued its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. If you not already have a copy of the press release, it can be found in 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 statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can make no assurances that 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 uncertainties. As a result, we caution you against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. 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 on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, as well as other reports that the Company files from time to time with the SEC. Finally, any forward-looking statements included in this earnings call are made only as of the date of this call and we do not take any obligation to revise our results or publicly release any updates to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.

謝謝你，嘉莉。大家下午好，我是 LHA 投資人關係部的 David Barnard。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，我們正在使用可以在 h 找到的幻燈片簡報。噸。噸。頁秒。今天，在事件下訪問 Ir dot joint.com，市場收盤後，聯合公司發布了截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日的季度業績。如果您還沒有新聞稿的副本，您可以在公司網站的「投資者關係」部分找到，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，我們警告您不要過度依賴這些前瞻性陳述。討論可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中表達或暗示的結果不同的風險和不確定性。請查看公司 10-K 表和 10-Q 表報告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。最後，本次收益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的義務。

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, a 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, which includes contract termination costs associated with re-acquired regional developer rights, stock-based compensation, bargain purchase gain, net gain or loss on disposition or impairment costs related to restatement filings, restructuring costs and other income related to the employee retention, credit management also includes commonly discussed performance metrics. System-wide sales include revenues at all clinics, whether operated by the Company or by franchisees. While 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. System-wide comp sales include the revenues from both company-owned or managed clinics and franchise clinics, and in each case have been open at least 13 full months and exclude any clinics that have closed.

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 和調整後 EBITDA 的對帳。該公司將EBITDA定義為扣除淨利息稅項費用、折舊及攤銷費用前的淨利或虧損。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的區域開發商權利相關的合約終止成本、股票薪酬、廉價購買收益、處置淨損益或損失或與重述文件相關的減損成本、重組成本和與員工保留相關的其他收入，信貸管理還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。雖然公司管理層不將特許經營銷售額記錄為收入，但認為這些資訊對於了解公司的財務業績非常重要，因為這些銷售額是公司計算和記錄特許權使用費的基礎，並且表明了特許經營商的財務狀況。全系統可比銷售額包括公司自有或管理的診所和特許經營診所的收入，每種診所均已開業至少 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 I welcome everybody to the call. The Joint is revolutionizing access to chiropractic care by providing affordable concierge style, membership-based services and convenient retail settings. We began 2024 with a vision to be the champions of chiropractic. And we focused on increasing new patient counts, improving existing patient engagement and positioning to refranchise the vast majority of our corporate portfolio, and we're making solid progress.

謝謝你，大衛，我歡迎大家參加電話會議。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。我們以成為脊椎矯正療法領域的冠軍為願景，開啟了 2024 年。我們專注於增加新患者數量，提高現有患者的參與度和定位，以重新特許經營我們絕大多數的公司投資組合，並且我們正在取得穩步進展。

Additionally, during the first quarter, we grew revenue, improve the bottom line and tripled our franchise sales look sequentially.

此外，在第一季度，我們的收入增加了，利潤提高了，特許經營銷售額環比增長了兩倍。

Turning to Slide 4, I'll review the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period 2023. System-wide sales grew to $126.3 million, increasing 9% system-wide comp sales for clinics that have been opened for at least a full 13 months increased 3%, revenue increased 5%. Adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 million for Q1 2024, up 74% over the same over the same period last year. On March 31, 2024, our unrestricted cash was $18.7 million compared to $18.2 million at December 31, 2023.

轉到投影片 4，我將回顧 2024 年第一季與 2023 年同期的比較。全系統銷售額成長至 1.263 億美元，成長 9%，開業至少 13 個月的診所的全系統銷售額成長 3%，營收成長 5%。2024 年第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 350 萬美元，較去年同期成長 74%。2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們的無限現金為 1,870 萬美元，而 2023 年 12 月 31 日為 1,820 萬美元。

Turning to slide 5, I'll discuss our clinic metrics. We opened 23 franchise clinics and closed four in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 29 franchise clinics opened and one closed in the first quarter of 2023. At March 31, 2024, our total clinic count reached 954 units, consisting of 819 franchised and 135 corporate, up from 935 opened clinics, 800 of which were franchised at the end of the year 2023 credit portfolio mix remains 86% franchised and 14% Company-owned or managed. And although it's expected to shift during the year as we execute our refranchising strategy.

翻到第 5 張投影片，我將討論我們的診所指標。我們在 2024 年第一季開設了 23 家特許經營診所，關閉了 4 家，而 2023 年第一季開設了 29 家特許經營診所，關閉了 1 家。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們的診所總數達到 954 家，其中包括 819 家特許經營診所和 135 家公司診所，高於 2023 年底開業診所 935 家（其中 800 家為特許經營診所），信貸組合仍為 86% 診所經營診所和所有 14% 經營診所和所有 14% 公司。儘管隨著我們實施特許經營策略，預計年內這種情況會改變。

Turning to slide 6, we're focused on refranchising strategy as our primary initiative in 2024. As discussed, we received over 100 requests for information have been vetting opportunities to identify the most effective franchisee. We're going through a structured process to continue to conduct negotiations with multiple qualified franchisees, and we are in with regards to the sales of our corporate clinics. There's been a strong interest in larger transactions as these more comps. As these are more complex, we've identified an investment bank specializing in refranchising to help us working together, we expect to ensure we refranchise through the rest of our franchisees, accelerate their process and create value for all of our stakeholders. We are well on our way to generating capital to be reinvested in brand marketing, RD territory acquisitions and our stock repurchases among other options.

轉到第 6 張投影片，我們將重點放在再特許經營策略，這是我們 2024 年的主要舉措。如上所述，我們收到了超過 100 份資訊請求，一直在審查機會以確定最有效的特許經營者。我們正在按照結構化流程繼續與多個合格的特許經營商進行談判，並討論我們公司診所的銷售事宜。隨著這些同類交易的增多，人們對更大規模交易的興趣也越來越濃厚。由於這些問題更加複雜，我們已經找到了一家專門從事再特許經營的投資銀行來幫助我們合作，我們希望確保透過我們其餘的特許經營商進行再特許經營，加快他們的進程並為我們所有的利益相關者創造價值。我們正在順利籌集資本，用於品牌行銷、研發區域收購和股票回購等多種選擇。

Turning to Slide 7, I'll review our franchise license sales. During Q1, we sold 15 franchise licenses compared to 17. In Q1 2023 of the licenses sold, 87% of the franchisees were new to the joint. This reflects investment and validation of our franchise content, Q1 2024 tripled sales compared to Q4 2023, a solid increase given its ongoing given the ongoing high interest rates, inflation and strong employment. I do want to note that franchise sales may also be in part impacted by our refranchising strategy. On March 31, 2024, we had 166 live franchise licenses in active development as well as 17 regional developers with an aggregate 10 minimum 10-year minimum development schedule for 674 clinics. We do not plan to establish any new additional regional territories, and we'll consider opportunities to require territories as the RD territories mature.

前往投影片 7，我將回顧我們的特許經營許可銷售情況。第一季度，我們出售的特許經營許可證數量為 15 個，而去年同期為 17 個。在 2023 年第一季出售的許可證中，87% 的特許經營商都是新加入的。這反映了我們對特許經營內容的投資和驗證，2024 年第一季的銷售額與 2023 年第四季度相比增長了兩倍，考慮到持續的高利率、通貨膨脹和強勁的就業，這是一個穩健的增長。我確實想指出，特許經營銷售可能也在一定程度上受到我們的再特許經營策略的影響。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們擁有 166 個正在積極開發中的特許經營許可證，同時擁有 17 個區域開發商，共 10 個，為 674 家診所提供至少 10 年的最低開發計劃。我們不打算建立任何新的額外區域領地，我們會在 RD 領地成熟時考慮要求領地的機會。

Turning to slide 8, I'll review our marketing efforts. In Q1, we conducted our annual patient survey, which provided great insights into our brand perception. We're proud of the results of the survey, and we remain committed to doing even better. First to join continues to demonstrate our ability to grow the market with 36% of our patients being new to chiropractic in 2023.

翻到第 8 張投影片，我將回顧我們的行銷工作。在第一季度，我們進行了年度患者調查，這為我們的品牌認知度提供了很好的見解。我們對調查結果感到自豪，並將繼續致力於做得更好。率先加入繼續證明了我們擴大市場的能力，到 2023 年，我們的 36% 的患者都是脊椎矯正療法的新患者。

Next, patients gave the joint strong Net Promoter Score of 64% and an amazing 92% of patients with prior Hyprotech experience where the joint is better or as equal to the previous care that we see. Additionally, research led us to redirect some of our marketing resources from older campaigns to new social media influencer efforts with strong positive reception from consumers, new and not new to chiropractic as well as our existing patient data indicates that the biggest opportunity is to drive awareness of chiropractic care in general and consideration of the joint in particular, in light of this data, we've made a strategic decision to forego our in-clinic new patient contest this past March to invest in driving consideration in April. We're doing that through evolving our to-go MARKETS approach at all levels of the marketing funnel at the top of the funnel, we've introduced social media influencers last month. Our lineup features both health and wellness as well as athlete influencers, including cherry Hopkins US track and field Olympian. We're partnering with these influences to develop to reach their broad audiences as well as to showcase the benefits of chiropractic care in a relevant way In addition, several clubs will feature regional influencers influencers to support the national campaign, driving consideration in their local markets by leveraging relevant personalities. We're also testing a variety of new promotions, channels and tactics in our clubs to better optimize our promotions and media mix based upon the market and the patient base.

其次，患者對關節的淨建議值高達 64%，而令人驚訝的是，92% 接受過 Hyprotech 治療的患者表示，他們的關節比我們之前看到的治療更好或相同。此外，研究促使我們將部分行銷資源從舊的活動轉移到新的社交媒體影響者活動上，這些活動受到了消費者的強烈積極歡迎，無論是新接觸還是熟悉脊椎按摩療法的消費者，並且我們現有的患者數據表明，最大的機會是提高人們對脊椎按摩護理的認識，特別是對關節的考慮，根據這些數據，我們做出了一項考慮，4 月份參加的活動。我們透過改進行銷漏斗各個層面的行銷方法來實現這一目標，上個月我們在行銷漏斗的頂端引入了社群媒體影響者。我們的陣容既包括健康與保健人士，也包括運動員影響者，其中包括美國田徑奧運選手櫻桃霍普金斯。我們正在與這些有影響力的人合作，以接觸廣泛的受眾，並以相關的方式展示脊椎按摩治療的好處。我們還在俱樂部中測試各種新的促銷、管道和策略，以便根據市場和患者群更好地優化我們的促銷和媒體組合。

In Q1, we continued testing digital initiatives with our patient experience roadmap. We're seeing success in driving new patients in our initial visit bookings test by providing the opportunity for new patients to book an appointment to complete their initial exam and visit patients who have participated indicated that the booking was a positive experience and important to their choosing the joint. We've also made progress in replacing our patient paper intake forms with an enhanced digital intake process and are now in the next phase of rollout before the next phase of testing before our rollout.

在第一季度，我們繼續根據患者體驗路線圖測試數位化計劃。透過為新患者提供預約完成初次檢查的機會並進行就診，我們在初次就診預約測試中成功吸引了新患者，參與的患者表示預約是一次積極的體驗，對他們選擇就診至關重要。我們還在用增強的數位接收流程取代患者紙本接收表格方面取得了進展，目前正處於推出前的下一階段測試之前。

Finally, the team is hard at work and creating stronger local store marketing tools, working with the development team and leveraging the wealth of data that we have about as patients. We're implementing a clinical segmentation strategy to provide more effective local store marketing program.

最後，團隊正在努力工作並創建更強大的本地商店行銷工具，與開發團隊合作並利用我們作為患者的豐富數據。我們正在實施臨床細分策略，以提供更有效的本地商店行銷計劃。

And with that, Jake, I'll turn it over to you.

說完這些，傑克，我就把麥克風交給你了。

Thanks, Peter. And let's turn to Slide 9. I'll review our clinic comps for Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023, system-wide sales for all clinics opened for any amount of time increased to $126.3 million, up 9%. System-wide comp sales for all clinics opened 13 months increased 3%. System-wide comp sales for mature clinics opened 48 months or more decreased 3% and revenue was $29.7 million, up $1.4 million or 5%. Revenue from franchised operations increased 9%, contributing contributing $12.2 million. Company owned or managed clinic revenue increased 2%, contributing $17.5 million. The increases represent continued year-over-year growth in both the franchise base and the corporate portfolio. Cost of revenues was $2.7 million, up 10% over the same period last year, reflecting the associated higher regional developer royalties and commissions.

謝謝，彼得。讓我們翻到第 9 張投影片。我將回顧我們 2024 年第一季與 2023 年第一季的診所情況，所有開業時間的診所的系統範圍內銷售額增加至 1.263 億美元，增長 9%。所有開業 13 個月的診所的全系統同店銷售額成長了 3%。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 3%，收入為 2,970 萬美元，成長 140 萬美元，即 5%。特許經營收入成長9%，貢獻1,220萬美元。該公司自有或管理的診所收入成長了 2%，貢獻了 1,750 萬美元。這一增長表明特許經營基礎和公司投資組合均持續同比增長。收入成本為 270 萬美元，比去年同期增長 10%，反映了相關區域開發商特許權使用費和佣金的增加。

Selling and marketing expenses were $3.9 million, down 7% year over year, reflecting the timing of the advertising spend.

銷售和行銷費用為 390 萬美元，年減 7%，反映了廣告支出的時間安排。

Depreciation and amortization amortization expenses decreased $811,000 or 37% compared to the prior year period, reflecting the accounting for corporate clinics that are being held for sale as part of the refranchising efforts.

折舊和攤銷攤銷費用與去年同期相比減少了 811,000 美元，即 37%，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的會計處理。

G&a expenses were $20.3 million, up only 1% compared to the same period last year, reflecting the lower rent for corporate clinics held for sale, as well as the continued cost control initiatives, offsetting the majority of increased expense to support more clinic.

一般及行政開支為 2,030 萬美元，較去年同期僅增長 1%，反映出持有待售的公司診所租金較低，以及持續的成本控制舉措，抵消了支持更多診所而增加的大部分開支。

Loss on disposition or impairment was $362,000 related to the ongoing quarterly impairment analysis of clinics held for sale as part of the refranchising efforts as compared to $65,000 in Q1 2023, operating income was $1.1 million compared to operating loss of $653,000 in Q1 2023. Other income was $35,000 compared to $3.8 million in Q1 23, which reflected the receipt of employee retention credits in the year ago period. Income tax expense was $179,000 compared to $841,000 in Q1 '23. Net income was $947,000 or $0.06 per diluted share compared to net income of $2.3 million, including the aforementioned employee retention credits received in Q1 2023 or $0.16 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 million, up 74% from $2 million in Q1 2023. Franchise clinic adjusted EBITDA was up 15% at $5.6 million. Company owned or managed clinic adjusted EBITDA, reflecting the aforementioned accounting for rent expense related to the clinics held for sale increased 94% to $3.1 million. Corporate expense as a component of adjusted EBITDA was $5.1 million $738,000 higher than Q1 '23 related to higher legal and accounting and greater professional services related to our refranchising efforts and IT maintenance.

處置或減損損失為 362,000 美元，與作為再特許經營工作的一部分持有待售診所的持續季度減值分析有關，而 2023 年第一季為 65,000 美元，營業收入為 110 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季的營業虧損為 653,000 美元。其他收入為 35,000 美元，而 23 年第一季為 380 萬美元，反映了去年同期收到的員工保留積分。所得稅費用為 179,000 美元，而 23 年第一季為 841,000 美元。淨收入為 947,000 美元，即每股攤薄收益 0.06 美元，而去年淨收入為 230 萬美元，其中包括上述 2023 年第一季收到的員工保留積分，即每股攤薄收益 0.16 美元。調整後的 EBITDA 為 350 萬美元，較 2023 年第一季的 200 萬美元成長 74%。特許經營診所調整後的 EBITDA 上漲 15%，達到 560 萬美元。該公司自有或管理的診所調整後的 EBITDA（反映上述與持有待售診所相關的租金費用核算）增加了 94%，達到 310 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 的一個組成部分——企業費用為 510 萬美元，比 23 年第一季度高出 738,000 美元，這與我們的再特許經營工作和 IT 維護相關的法律和會計費用增加以及專業服務費用增加有關。

On to review of our balance sheet and cash flow at March 31, 2024, our unrestricted cash was $18.7 million compared to $18.2 million at December 31, 2023. Cash flow from operations was partially offset by the $2 million repayment of the line of credit to JPMorgan Chase through this facility, we retain immediate access to $20 million through February 2027.

檢視我們 2024 年 3 月 31 日的資產負債表和現金流量，我們的無限現金為 1870 萬美元，而 2023 年 12 月 31 日為 1820 萬美元。透過此項融資，我們向摩根大通償還了 200 萬美元的信用額度，從而部分抵消了經營活動產生的現金流。

On to Slide 10, we are reiterating all elements of our guidance. 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 open 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 and 2023. The difference reflecting the impact of our refranchising efforts.

在第 10 張投影片上，我們重申了我們指導的所有內容。預計全系統銷售額將在 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。這一差異反映了我們重新特許經營努力的影響。

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 11, at this point, a joint We're committed to continually improving our brand, our people and our performance to truly be the champion of chiropractic care.

謝謝，傑克。轉到幻燈片 11，此時，我們致力於不斷改善我們的品牌、我們的員工和我們的表現，真正成為脊椎按摩治療領域的冠軍。

As I discussed earlier, our revitalized co-ops and digital marketing programs have positioned to drive brand awareness as well as enhance our performance by furthering our objectives to increase new patient counts and improve existing care patient engagement. Additionally, we continue to identify potential agent products and services that patients want and have a viable business case. Our goal is to build brand equity and generate incremental revenue streams for all of our clinics.

正如我之前所討論的，我們振興的合作社和數位行銷計劃已經定位於提高品牌知名度，並透過進一步實現我們的目標來提高我們的業績，以增加新患者數量並改善現有護理患者的參與度。此外，我們繼續尋找患者想要的、且具有可行商業案例的潛在代理產品和服務。我們的目標是為所有診所建立品牌資產並創造增量收入來源。

Regarding people, one of the ways in which we support our existing team of doctors of chiropractic is by providing continuing education. We also empower the next generation of DCs in a variety of ways as a part of our ongoing effort to educate the chiropractic community about the advantages of the joint offers patients. We've increased our interactions with the chiropractic University in addition to participating and job fairs We supported the schools with scholarships and donations to key chiropractic colleges such as life Palmer, Parker, Sherman, Texas, chiropractic college and life.

對於人員來說，我們支持現有脊椎按摩治療師團隊的方式之一是提供繼續教育。我們也透過各種方式為下一代 DC 提供支持，這是我們持續努力的一部分，旨在讓脊椎矯正療法界了解關節為患者帶來的優勢。除了參加招聘會之外，我們還增加了與脊骨醫學院的互動，並透過獎學金和捐款支持學校，向帕爾默生命學院、帕克生命學院、謝爾曼生命學院、德克薩斯脊骨醫學院和生命學院等主要的脊骨醫學院提供捐助。

Additionally, last month, we announced our first endowment, the Joint Chiropractic endowed scholarship for Logan University. This is another way to support the profession and the greater community enhance our relationships with the schools, invest in the future of graduating doctors of chiropractic and fueled the growth of our future pool of DC. Cordova down scholarship will provide much-needed tuition assistance for generations of students or $10,000 annually to a student who demonstrates academic achievement and a passion for chiropractic and quality patient care. We also have our preceptorship program. We found that most car protect students and new graduates want to learn more about owning and operating the practice, we developed a learning path, which combines real patient and business experience to our students are building their clinical skills. The program has two components, patient care completed under the supervision of joint receptors in the clinics and 18 online training modules covering advanced clinical business, self-development topics such as goal-setting business planning and creating enhanced patient experiences. These classes are presented by joint subject matter experts as well as clinical experts in the car project field.

此外，上個月，我們宣布了第一筆捐贈，即為洛根大學設立的聯合脊骨療法捐贈獎學金。這是支持該行業和更大社區的另一種方式，增強我們與學校的關係，投資於脊椎按摩治療師畢業醫生的未來，並促進我們未來 DC 人才隊伍的成長。科爾多瓦獎學金將為一代又一代的學生提供急需的學費援助，或每年向在學業上取得成就並對脊椎按摩療法和優質病人護理充滿熱情的學生提供 10,000 美元的獎學金。我們也有自己的導師指導計畫。我們發現大多數汽車保護學生和新畢業生希望更多地了解如何擁有和運營實踐，我們開發了一條學習路徑，將真實的患者和商業經驗結合起來，以幫助我們的學生建立他們的臨床技能。該計劃包括兩部分：在診所聯合受體的監督下完成的患者護理和 18 個線上培訓模組，涵蓋高級臨床業務、自我發展主題（如目標設定業務規劃和創造增強的患者體驗）。這些課程由聯合主題專家以及汽車專案領域的臨床專家講授。

In summary, in 2024, we stay focused on the re-franchising of our corporate portfolio, fostering our strong franchise base and improving clinic economics and increasing productivity.

總而言之，2024 年，我們將繼續專注於重新特許經營我們的公司組合，鞏固我們強大的特許經營基礎，改善診所經濟並提高生產力。

Before I begin questions, I'd like to invite you to meet to meet with us at B. Riley 24th Annual Institutional Investor Conference later this month and the Oppenheimer 24 Annual Consumer growth and e-commerce conference in June. And with that, Kelly, I'm ready to begin the Q&A.

在我開始提問之前，我想邀請您參加本月稍後舉行的 B. Riley 第 24 屆年度機構投資者會議以及 6 月份舉行的 Oppenheimer 第 24 屆年度消費者成長和電子商務會議。凱利，現在我可以開始問答環節了。

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session to ask a question. You may press star then one on your touch tone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then to your first question comes from George Kelly with ROTH.

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節來問一個問題。您可以在按鍵電話上按星號，然後按一。如果您使用擴音器電話，請拿起聽筒提出問題。如果您的問題已得到解答，而您想撤回您的問題，請按星號鍵，然後您的第一個問題來自 ROTH 的喬治凱利 (George Kelly)。

Thanks for taking my question.

感謝您回答我的問題。

Hi, George.

你好，喬治。

Hi, Peter. So maybe if we could start on comp growth, a couple of questions on that topic. I was curious what you've seen so far in Q2? And then secondly, what gives you confidence that you can achieve a mid-single digit percent on comp growth rate in that year you mentioned as your target for this fiscal year?

你好，彼得。因此，如果我們可以開始討論公司成長問題，我可以就該主題提出幾個問題。我很好奇您到目前為止在第二季看到了什麼？其次，您有什麼信心能夠實現您所提到的本財年目標中的中等個位數百分比的複合成長率？

Sure. I think that the answer to the first part of that question is yes, and how the first part of that question was

當然。我認為這個問題第一部分的答案是肯定的，而這個問題第一部分的答案是如何

what do we see in Q2

我們在第二季看到了什麼

We've seen in Q2? And I would say that you typically would not comment too much on future clinics, but we obviously had a 3% in Q1. We have been talking about that. We're cautiously optimistic as we reflect on 2024 performance. And I would say that we're seeing a continued improvement in that number. As we think as we look forward, that's certainly what we're expecting.

我們在第二季看到過嗎？我想說的是，你通常不會對未來的診所發表太多評論，但我們在第一季顯然取得了 3% 的成長。我們一直在談論這件事。當我們回顧 2024 年的表現時，我們持謹慎樂觀的態度。我想說，我們看到這個數字持續改善。正如我們所想，展望未來，這確實是我們所期待的。

And the second part of that question is why would you expect that and I think that's that's really because we're continually focusing on the biggest challenge I think we faced in the last couple years is that new patient count drop. And I think we've got some great programs taking place will really help us address that issue to bring those new patients in than we would look at those three metrics that device that govern our concept or the new patient count, the conversion in Nutrition, we're continually seeing positive results on our conversion and our attrition. Our patients are staying with us longer. If you look at our new patient count for Q1, it was down 3% compared to the same period last period. So I think that was also related to just the challenges of March March had five Sundays in it, one of those Sundays with Easter. And we also stopped our new patient program or promotion that we ran last year that we did not run this year. So I think that hit that number a little bit for that last month. But I think looking at what we have, these programs that we're putting in place are influencers I think I feel very good and then we'll be able to see an improvement in that new patient count, which is so important for us for our comps.

問題的第二部分是，您為什麼會預期這一點，我認為這是因為我們一直在關注過去幾年我們面臨的最大挑戰，即新患者數量的下降。我認為我們正在實施的一些很棒的項目將真正幫助我們解決這個問題，從而吸引這些新患者，而不是看控制我們的概念或新患者數量、營養轉化的那三個指標，我們不斷看到轉化率和人員流失方面的積極成果。我們的病人與我們在一起的時間更長了。如果你看看我們第一季的新病患數量，你會發現與去年同期相比下降了 3%。所以我認為這也與三月的挑戰有關，三月有五個星期天，其中一個星期天是復活節。我們也停止了去年開展但今年不再進行的新患者計畫和促銷活動。所以我認為上個月這個數字略有上升。但我認為，看看我們所擁有的，我們正在實施的這些項目是有影響的，我覺得非常好，然後我們將能夠看到新患者數量的改善，這對我們公司來說非常重要。

Okay. That's helpful. And then, Peter, you mentioned in your prepared remarks and that you are sort of assessing different products or services that might potentially work with the model.

好的。這很有幫助。然後，彼得，您在準備好的演講中提到，您正在評估可能與該模型相容的不同產品或服務。

In the past. You've talked about and perhaps taking a little pricing on some of your oldest legacy and members that are in a much lower price points. I'm curious if either of those initiatives are contemplated in that mid-single digit comp guidance? And are there things that if they're not even still are there things you might do you might put in place later this year?

在過去。您已經討論過，也許會對一些最古老的遺產和價格低得多的成員進行一些定價。我很好奇，這兩項舉措是否都在中等個位數的薪酬指引範圍內？如果這些事情還沒有完成，您是否會在今年稍後採取一些措施？

The answer is yes, that we could get some of them put in place this year, probably towards end of the year because if we're talking about any kind of Graham changing our grandfathering policy or any price increases, there's going to be some testing involved with that before. We were to implement a program like that, but that is possible and the same with our idea of any kind of an ancillary product or services that we would add to the clinics. And we certainly are looking for ways to do that. We want to be very thoughtful about that. We want to make sure that what we're adding is accretive to the bottom line and not creating complexity in the business model that is not necessary. So we're still in those early stages of identifying the different programs that we can put in place to increase those sales through those additional products and services. So more to come on that as we are, it's we've designed our kind of a committee that's looking through that to help us make those those good decisions.

答案是肯定的，我們可以在今年實施其中一些措施，可能在年底，因為如果我們談論任何形式的格雷厄姆改變我們的祖父政策或任何價格上漲，那麼之前都會進行一些測試。我們要實施這樣的計劃，但這是可能的，而且我們對為診所添加的任何輔助產品或服務的想法也是一樣的。我們確實在尋找實現這一目標的方法。我們希望對此進行深思熟慮。我們希望確保我們增加的內容能夠增加底線利潤，而不會在商業模式中產生不必要的複雜性。因此，我們仍處於確定可實施的不同計劃的早期階段，以透過這些額外的產品和服務來增加銷售額。我們也將繼續討論這個問題，我們已經設計了一個委員會來審查這些問題，以幫助我們做出正確的決定。

And the final part of the answer is no and our guidance on the on the comps did not and did not include or take into account any change in the pricing structure or additional products or services that would be sold in the clinic in 2024.

答案的最後一部分是否定的，我們對可比較公司的指導沒有包括或考慮到 2024 年將在診所銷售的定價結構或附加產品或服務的任何變化。

Okay. I appreciate it. I'll hop back in the queue.

好的。我很感激。我將重新回到隊列中。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Qinnan comes from Anthony Vendetti with Maxim.

秦南與馬克西姆均來自 Anthony Vendetti。

Thank you. So just a couple of quick questions here. So the clinics you same-store sales at 13 months, those are up around 3%, but the ones open about four years are down. What what do you think that's attributed to? Is that done sort of a leveling off? And then maybe just a little bit into the reasoning in general for the for the closures, I mean, this quarter you had for this quarter last year was one or do you wait to see how with the ones that are down? Are you looking at at revenue trends and profitability or just profitability, how do you look at those in terms of in terms of the closures?

謝謝。這裡只想問幾個簡單的問題。因此，開業 13 個月的診所同店銷售額成長了約 3%，但開業約 4 年的診所同店銷售額則下降。您認為這應歸因於什麼？這是否達到了某種平衡？然後也許可以稍微談談關閉這些門市的整體原因，我的意思是，去年這個季度您關閉的門市數量是第一家，還是您要等著看那些關閉門市的門市數量會怎樣？您是否關注收入趨勢和盈利能力，還是僅關注盈利能力，您如何從關閉的角度看待這些？

middle of, I have a couple of follow-ups.

中間，我還有一些後續事宜。

Okay. To specifically speak to the closures that yes, we have foreclosures this year and that again for a system of our size, nearly 1,000 units from foreclosure during one quarter, still unbelievably low number closer to what's going to happen is your system matures. You've had situations where the market itself is changing, so they may lose an anchor where they've been located or you have demographics of that market fundamentally change, which just does not justify that clinic staying open. And from time to time, you also have just some personal issues that come up that route that forced the franchise to call the clinic. So I'm not concerned if I compare Okay, one unit closed in Q3 20 -- our Q1 2023 compared to the foreclosures in two one 2024, but it's something that we look at very carefully. And certainly the other part of that question is looking at our boat or what's what is our concern is the top line revenue that profitability the clinic. And the answer, of course, is both that we wanted to make sure that we are continuing looking at ways to increase that profitability of that unit because what I can tell you in any system I have ever worked with and franchisee unit economics is one of the most important things that you have to stay focused and you have a couple of things you can do to influence that one increased revenue and the other is to reduce costs. So those are the areas that we're focused focusing on right now. Now we know that and we've talked a lot about this in the past that when we look at the margins of our clinics, is that one of the challenges we've been facing is the increased cost of our labor and specifically our doctors and that suppress the margin. And so now we're looking at ways to increase that margin. One of the things we did in March of '22 is do a price increase across the board. And one of the reasons the main reason for that was to help address this issue of the increased top line. We're now looking at ways to be more streamlined on the clinic experience itself. And so we spent a lot of time focusing on that new patient count. But what we're recognizing is that we can do this with our new CMO is that we can also focus on our existing patients in our last patients. And so with our existing patients to make sure they're staying with us longer and with our last patient to make sure they come in earlier because what we do know that average patient stays with us for roughly six months and then they drop. We also see that 25% of them on average will come back within the next six months because they're paying comes back until we feel there's some opportunities there with some of the marketing materials we're having and some automated marketing programs that we can influence those those those decisions about how long our franchisee our patients stay with us and how quickly that can come back.

好的。具體來說，說到關閉房屋的情況，是的，今年我們確實有一些房屋被取消贖回權，而且對於我們這種規模的系統來說，一個季度內就有近 1,000 個單位被取消贖回權，這個數字仍然低得令人難以置信，更接近於系統成熟時將要發生的情況。你曾經遇到過這樣的情況：市場本身正在發生變化，因此他們可能會失去原來的立足點，或者市場的人口結構發生了根本性的變化，而這並不能成為診所繼續營業的理由。有時，您也會遇到一些個人問題，迫使特許經營者打電話給診所。因此，我並不擔心，如果我比較 2023 年第一季關閉的一個單位與 2024 年兩個季度的止贖數量，但這是我們非常仔細研究的事情。當然，這個問題的另一部分是看我們的船，或者我們關心的是診所的盈利能力的頂線收入。答案當然是，我們希望確保我們繼續尋找提高該單位盈利能力的方法，因為我可以告訴你，在我曾經合作過的任何系統中，特許經營單位經濟學是最重要的事情之一，你必須保持專注，你可以做幾件事來影響它，一個是增加收入，另一個是降低成本。這些就是我們現在重點關注的領域。現在我們知道了這一點，而且我們過去也討論過很多次，當我們看診所的利潤時，我們面臨的一個挑戰是勞動力成本的增加，特別是醫生的成本增加，這抑制了利潤。所以現在我們正在尋找增加該利潤的方法。我們在 2022 年 3 月做的一件事就是全面提高價格。其中一個主要原因是為了幫助解決營收成長的問題。我們現在正在尋找更簡化診所體驗的方法。因此我們花了很多時間關注新患者的數量。但我們認識到，我們可以透過新的 CMO 來做到這一點，我們也可以將重點放在最後一批患者上。因此，對於我們現有的患者，我們要確保他們能在我們這裡停留更長時間，對於我們的最後一位患者，我們要確保他們能早點來，因為我們知道，平均而言，患者在我們這裡停留的時間大約為六個月，然後就會減少。我們還發現，平均有 25％ 的患者會在未來六個月內再次光顧，因為他們會繼續付費，直到我們覺得透過我們提供的一些行銷材料和一些自動化行銷計劃，我們可以影響這些決定，決定我們的加盟商、患者會與我們在一起多久，以及他們回來的速度有多快。

Okay. And just on the 48 month peer, um, how many how many of your clinics are or four years or older? And then the in aggregate, I guess they're down 3% in terms of revenue. What do you attribute that to?

好的。就 48 個月的同行而言，嗯，你們有多少家診所的開業時間是四年或四年以上？總體來說，我猜他們的收入下降了 3%。您認為這是什麼原因造成的？

Well, I think part of it is a maturing of the system, a part of that. I think I directly attributed to the the new patient count and so are the new patient counts that are in those more mature clinics we had where they've got, they've been established and they've gotten they've drawn the core of patients that are in that area. It's harder to get newer new newer patients to come in into that territory or into that into that clinic. So I think that's one of the reasons you're seeing kind of a drop in those clinics opened more than 48 months compared to a clinic that's open. That's no less than that. I think that that's probably the main thing I would look at right now.

嗯，我認為部分原因是系統的成熟。我認為我直接將其歸因於新患者數量，以及我們那些更成熟的診所的新患者數量，這些診所已經建立，並且已經吸引了該地區的核心患者。讓新的患者進入該地區或進入該診所更加困難。所以我認為這就是為什麼開業超過 48 個月的診所與開業時間較長的診所相比數量有所下降的原因之一。那也不少。我認為這可能是我現在要關注的主要問題。

I know Jake. If you --

我認識傑克。如果你--

Okay. Yes, I would say you think about '23, we did a 4% comp for the full year and the mature stores did negative one, 3% to 5% spread there because of rounding, it was a 6% spread here in Q1. And but I think I would just point to because we're on a fiscal calendar in March, just having the Sundays with Easter and us not rolling over what was a long-standing new patient contest and allocating those dollars to some marketing efforts in the April-May timeframe, I think had an impact on that, that March period in particular, that drove down the comp for the quarter, but the spread was relatively close.

好的。是的，我想說，想想 23 年，我們全年的銷售額同比增長 4%，而成熟商店的銷售額則為負 1%，由於四捨五入，利潤差額為 3% 到 5%，而第一季的利潤差額為 6%。但我想我只想指出，因為我們的財政日曆是三月份，正好是復活節的周日，我們沒有延續長期的新患者競賽，而是將這些資金分配給四月至五月期間的一些營銷工作，我認為這對此產生了影響，特別是在三月份期間，這拉低了本季度的銷售額，但差距相對接近。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just lastly, very big picture. Obviously, we saw Starbucks come in very late in terms of sales. And they were saying the occasional customer harm has not frequent at Starbucks as often as they used to do you think the economy in general is having some negative impact in terms of are getting getting new patients to come in the door? Maybe just to the extent that you're able to measure that, is that is that something you're seeing? Because I see it's not just Starbucks. We're seeing that across other franchise as well. This quarter?

好的。這很有幫助。最後，是一幅非常大的圖景。顯然，我們發現星巴克的銷售額進入得很晚。他們說，星巴克偶爾發生的傷害顧客事件並不像以前那麼頻繁了，您認為這對整個經濟而言是否對吸引新顧客產生了一些負面影響？也許只是就您能夠衡量的程度而言，這就是您所看到的嗎？因為我發現這不只是星巴克。我們也在其他特許經營中看到了這種情況。本季？

Yes, no, no, I'm saying I think that the real issue is that we know that.

是的，不，不，我說的是我認為真正的問題是我們知道這一點。

Okay. If you go back to fourth quarter GPV growth, I think was the old what 4.3%. And this quarter is still like 2.3% of GDP and toward we're not in a recession, that's very clear, but you still have half the American people saying that, you know, I am personally that I'm paying more of the grocery store and pay more to fill up your car with gas and pay more if I might my interest rate on my credit card or my mortgage rents are going up. And so I think that if you look at the demographics of the economic demographics of our patient base, the average income is somewhere between [50,000] and 105,000. And so that group is, in fact being hit by these increasing costs and feeling more uncertain about the economy and that they are back to our patient base. And I have talked about this before on some of the other calls that we do think one of the factors that we've seen in our lower patient count, it is the fact that they are feeling that it was that economic uncertainty, they're holding back so that there's going to always kind of medicine before they come in and not coming in at all. For those that do come in, they're converting at a higher rate. Those that do come in are staying longer as a member. So I think that there's still great value and importance of the service that we're offering. But I just think in this kind of economic uncertainty that it does impact specifically the demographics of our patients are the economics --

好的。如果回顧第四季的 GPV 成長，我認為還是 4.3%。本季的稅收仍佔 GDP 的 2.3%，而且我們並沒有陷入衰退，這是非常明顯的，但是仍然有一半的美國人表示，就我個人而言，我在雜貨店支付的費用更多了，為汽車加油支付的費用更多了，如果我的信用卡利率或抵押貸款租金上漲的話，我會支付更多。因此我認為，如果你看看我們患者群的經濟人口統計數據，平均收入在 [50,000] 到 105,000 之間。因此，該群體實際上受到了這些成本增加的打擊，對經濟感到更加不確定，他們又回到了我們的患者群。我之前在其他一些電話會議中談到過這個問題，我們確實認為導致患者數量減少的一個因素是，他們認為這是由於經濟的不確定性，所以他們有所保留，因此在他們來醫院之前總會有某種藥物，但最終他們還是沒有來醫院。對於那些確實進來的人來說，他們的轉換率更高。加入的人會作為會員停留更長時間。所以我認為我們提供的服務仍然具有巨大的價值和重要性。但我認為，在這種經濟不確定性的情況下，它確實會對我們的患者的人口統計產生影響，也就是經濟--

That are very helpful for sure, that makes sense.

這肯定非常有幫助，而且很有道理。

I'll hop back in the queue. Thank you. Appreciate it.

我將重新回到隊列中。謝謝。非常感謝。

Your next question comes from C.J Dipollino with Craig-Hallum Group.

您的下一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum Group 的 C.J Dipollino。

Everyone. I'm on now for Jeremy Hamblin. I had a couple of questions for you. Wanted to start with the refranchising effort. Seems like you're still fairly early on the process, but just curious if you have a time line on when you start to see those transactions go through and anything you can share on kind of expected deal economics would be would be really helpful.

每個人。我現在為傑里米·漢布林 (Jeremy Hamblin) 效力。我想問您幾個問題。想要從重新特許經營的努力開始。看來您還處於這個過程的早期階段，但我好奇您是否有一個時間表，說明何時開始看到這些交易進行，如果您能分享有關預期交易經濟學的任何信息，那將非常有幫助。

Sure, and I will both answer this, but I would say that we're well into the process. And as I said on the call that we have with a lot of interest from our franchisees. We've also opened this up to franchisees outside the joint world. And so we've been looking at hiring an investment banker who specializes in refranchising effort because of what I've talked about this before. This is not a fire sale. We're not just trying to get these off our books. These are valuable assets that we want to put them in the hands of the franchisees who can most effectively run and I don't need to trade problems. And so we are, in fact, going through a very structured process to make sure that we have in hands of the right franchisees. But we're also looking at some of the some of the interest. It's been out, especially as we've opened this outside of the group, the joint franchisees from some very sophisticated groups who are interested in larger territory of our clinics. We've got 135 corporate clinics. We've talked about them the vast majority being up for sale. So I think that we have some real opportunities to look at those transactions and so those transactions a quarter a little more take a little more due diligence, take a little more time to put together. But what I would say is that we're certainly pleased with the interest in this refranchising effort and that from our perspective, having said all that, I just said we'd like to get this done as quickly as possible. So it does take a toll on continuing to run these units when they know that they are your employees are outside the four wall employed for those units. It creates uncertainty and people don't like uncertainty. And so we would expect that the majority of those employees will be hired by the new owners, but it creates that uncertainty that you just don't want to minimize as we go through this effort.

當然，我會回答這個問題，但我想說我們已經進入了這個過程。正如我在電話中所說，我們的特許經營商對我們很感興趣。我們也向聯合世界之外的特許經營商開放了這個市場。因此，根據我之前談過的內容，我們一直在考慮聘請一位專門從事再特許經營工作的投資銀行家。這並不是一次賤賣。我們不只是想把這些從我們的書中剔除。這些都是寶貴的資產，我們希望將它們交到能夠最有效經營的特許經營商手中，而我不需要交易問題。因此，事實上，我們正​​在經歷一個非常結構化的過程，以確保我們擁有合適的特許經營者。但我們也在關註一些興趣。它已經出現，特別是當我們在集團之外開設這家診所時，一些非常成熟的集團的聯合特許經營商對我們診所的更大範圍感興趣。我們有 135 家企業診所。我們已經討論過其中絕大多數都會出售。因此，我認為我們有一些真正的機會來審視這些交易，因此這些交易每季需要多一點的盡職調查，多一點的時間來整理。但我想說的是，我們對於這次特許經營權再授權的努力感到非常高興，而且從我們的角度來看，說了這麼多，我只是說我們希望盡快完成這項工作。因此，當他們知道你的員工不在這些單位工作時，繼續運作這些單位確實會受到影響。它造成了不確定性，而人們不喜歡不確定性。因此，我們預計大多數員工將被新東家聘用，但這也帶來了不確定性，而我們在進行這項努力時肯定不想將這種不確定性最小化。

I know, Jake, if you had anything more to add.

我知道，傑克，如果你還有什麼要補充的話。

I think there was a part of the question there on on valuation and we are in active negotiations. So I probably don't want to give too much out there, but we've done a historical look-back analysis and we were purchasers of clinics for a lot of years. And we also see all the franchisee to franchisee transfers that happen within our system because we do hold that right of first refusal. So we have a pretty good sense for historical multiples of EBITDA that these trade for. And we'll continue to you'll partner with the right groups that can maximize that value and generate the proceeds that these quality assets deserve.

我認為其中的一部分問題涉及估值，我們正在積極談判。所以我可能不想透露太多，但我們做了歷史回顧分析，我們多年來一直是診所的購買者。我們也可以看到系統內發生的所有特許經營商對特許經營商的轉讓，因為我們確實擁有優先購買權。因此，我們對這些交易的 EBITDA 歷史倍數有相當好的了解。我們將繼續與合適的團體合作，最大限度地提高價值，並為這些優質資產創造應有的收益。

Okay, understood. Thank you. And then moving on to the P&L, it looks like general and administrative was up year over year on an absolute basis. Curious how you guys are thinking about G&A moving forward? And if we should expect some more and more absolute increases year over year?

好的，明白了。謝謝。然後再轉到損益表，看起來一般及行政開支在絕對基礎上同比增長。好奇你們對 G&A 未來的發展有何看法？那麼我們是否應該預期逐年會有越來越多的絕對成長呢？

Yes. I think Q1 last year was $20.3 million or $20 million. I think it was $20.3 million for this quarter, so up slightly. We did have some accounting and legal and professional service costs associated with some of the refranchising effort and we do have a year's worth of of additional headcount that's that's rolling over on a 100 plus unit increase base. I think the critical piece of that question is we understand that for the refranchising strategy to work, we have to be critically focused on on cutting the necessary G&A to reach those profitability targets that we have. So that will be something that we consistently monitor as you gleaned from the call. We have not executed through March 31st a ton of those deals yet, and you'll expect to see that G&A begin to taper as we continue our progress through that refranchising effort. So it'll really be dependent on when the refranchising transactions, how large they are and then we'll be able to shed the associated G&A, but that will be a critical focus of management as we continue this process.

是的。我認為去年第一季的數字是 2,030 萬美元或 2,000 萬美元。我認為本季的數字是 2030 萬美元，略有上升。我們確實產生了一些與特許經營再授權工作相關的會計、法律和專業服務成本，而且我們確實增加了一年的員工人數，這是在 100 多個單位增加的基礎上進行的。我認為這個問題的關鍵部分是，我們明白，要使再特許經營策略發揮作用，我們必須高度集中精力削減必要的一般行政費用，以實現我們的獲利目標。因此，正如您從通話中了解到的情況一樣，這將是我們持續監控的事情。截至 3 月 31 日，我們尚未執行大量交易，隨著我們繼續推動特許經營權再授權工作，您將會看到 G&A 費用開始減少。因此，這實際上取決於特許經營交易的時間、規模，然後我們才能擺脫相關的一般及行政費用，但隨著我們繼續這一過程，這將是管理層關注的重點。

Okay, cool. Thank you. And then out one more. And so the FAST Act came into place about a month ago. I'm curious, especially with the California stores, curious, are you seeing any attrition of labor of maybe some of the lower-paying jobs going on funding funding work elsewhere?

好的，很酷。謝謝。然後再出一個。《FAST法案》大約一個月前開始實施。我很好奇，尤其是加州的商店，好奇的是，你是否看到一些薪水較低的工作崗位出現勞動力流失，而這些工作又轉移到為其他地方的工作提供資金？

Yes, I think I think from our perspective, that had been rumored for a long time. So I think we start to see we started to see the wage pressures on that?

是的，我認為從我們的角度來看，這個傳言已經流傳很久了。所以我認為我們開始看到我們開始看到這方面的薪資壓力？

Certainly before the bill was officially executed, we haven't seen really an uptick in turnover as it relates to our roles, knowing that they now have kind of a competitive benchmark out there for some other QSR type concepts, something that we'll continue to monitor. But we haven't really felt a direct and immediate impact so far as it relates to our our wage levels because I think we have largely absorbed a lot of that pressure kind of leading up to the actual finalization, I mean, through impacting the market but Jessica Lao specifically to QSR.

當然，在法案正式實施之前，我們並沒有看到與我們的角色相關的營業額真正上升，因為我們知道他們現在對其他一些 QSR 類型概念有某種競爭基準，我們會繼續監控這一點。但就我們的薪資水平而言，我們還沒有真正感受到直接和立即的影響，因為我認為，在最終敲定之前，我們在很大程度上已經吸收了這種壓力，我的意思是，透過影響市場，但 Jessica Lao 特別提到了 QSR。

Okay, right. Thank you. I'll hop back in the queue.

好的，對的。謝謝。我將重新回到隊列中。

It does conclude our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Peter for any closing remarks.

它確實結束了我們的問答環節。我想將會議交還給彼得，請他作最後發言。

Thank you, Carrie, and thank you all for attending the call today. I'd like to share I know from our VP of chiropractic and compliance he received from a prior student who went through a Precept or ship program at the joint and is now a full-time employee. And I'm quoting my preceptorship with the Joint Chiropractic was an enriching experience that provided invaluable hands-on practice and deepen my understanding of patient care. The mentorship I received was top notch with so many different doctors providing helpful input and my technique and flow the opportunity to work with a diverse patient population, allow me a home, my adjusting skills and tailor my treatment plans to individual needs. This preceptorship bolstered my confidence and my chiropractic abilities and reinforce my commitment to this healing profession, and we're so pleased to have had that Dr. join our team. You say, well, adjusted.

謝謝你，Carrie，也謝謝大家今天的電話會議。我想分享我從我們的脊椎按摩和合規副總裁那裡了解到的情況，他從一位之前的學生那裡得到了指導，這位學生在聯合體參加了 Precept 或 Ship 計劃，現在是一名全職員工。我想說的是，我在聯合脊椎按摩治療中心的指導經歷是一次豐富的經歷，它提供了寶貴的實踐機會，加深了我對病人護理的理解。我獲得的指導是一流的，許多不同的醫生都提供了很有幫助的意見，我的技術和流程讓我有機會與不同的患者群體一起工作，讓我有一個家，我的調整技巧以及根據個人需要製定治療計劃。這次指導增強了我的信心和脊椎按摩治療能力，並加強了我對這個治療職業的承諾，我們很高興這位醫生能加入我們的團隊。你說，嗯，調整好了。

That does conclude our conference for today, and thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的會議就到此結束，感謝大家的參加。您現在可以斷開連線。