Kyndryl Holdings Inc (KD) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Kyndryl Fiscal Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Lori Chaitman, Global Head of Investor Relations at Kyndryl. You may begin.

早上好，歡迎參加 Kyndryl 2023 年第二季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的通話正在錄音中。我現在將把電話轉給 Kyndryl 投資者關係全球主管 Lori Chaitman。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Kyndryl's earnings call for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, the second quarter of our fiscal year. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risk factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied, and these statements speak only to our expectations as of today. For more details on some of these risks, please see the Risk Factors section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Kyndryl does not update forward-looking statements and disclaims any obligation to do so. In today's remarks, we'll also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Corresponding GAAP measures and a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to GAAP measures for historical periods are provided in the presentation materials for today's event, which are available on our website at investors.Kyndryl.com. With me here today are Kyndryl's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Martin Schroeter; and Kyndryl's Chief Financial Officer, David Wyshner. Following our prepared remarks, we will hold a Q&A session. I'd like to now turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Martin Schroeter. Martin?

大家早上好，歡迎參加 Kyndryl 在截至 2022 年 9 月 30 日的季度（即我們財政年度的第二季度）的財報電話會議。在開始之前，我想提醒您，我們今天的發言將包括前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受風險因素的影響，可能導致我們的實際結果與明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異，這些陳述僅代表我們今天的預期。有關其中一些風險的更多詳細信息，請參閱我們截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格年度報告的風險因素部分。Kyndryl 不更新前瞻性陳述，也不承擔任何更新的義務。在今天的評論中，我們還將提及某些非公認會計準則財務指標。今天活動的演示材料中提供了相應的 GAAP 措施以及非 GAAP 措施與歷史時期 GAAP 措施的對賬，這些材料可在我們的網站 Investors.Kyndryl.com 上找到。今天與我同在的還有 Kyndryl 的董事長兼首席執行官 Martin Schroeter；和 Kyndryl 的首席財務官 David Wyshner。在我們準備好的發言之後，我們將舉行問答環節。我現在想把電話轉給我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Martin Schroeter。馬丁?

Thank you, Lori, and thanks to each of you for joining us today. This is an exciting week for Kyndryl. It's the 1-year anniversary since we separated from IBM to become the world's largest IT infrastructure services company. Designing, managing and modernizing complex mission-critical systems at scale for some of the world's largest organizations. Our transformation is well underway. We're executing on our strategy to drive profitable growth, and I'm even more enthusiastic about the opportunity today than I was a year ago. We understand that the macro environment is top of mind for many people, and we recognize the market uncertainties, currency headwinds and inflation pressures that multinational corporations, including Kyndryl, are facing today.

謝謝你，Lori，也感謝你們每一個人今天加入我們。對於 Kyndryl 來說，這是激動人心的一周。這是我們從 IBM 分離成為全球最大的 IT 基礎設施服務公司一周年。為一些世界上最大的組織大規模設計、管理和現代化複雜的關鍵任務系統。我們的轉型正在順利進行。我們正在執行推動盈利增長的戰略，與一年前相比，今天我對這個機會更加熱情。我們了解宏觀環境是許多人的頭等大事，我們認識到包括 Kyndryl 在內的跨國公司今天面臨的市場不確定性、貨幣逆風和通脹壓力。

For Kyndryl, the essential nondiscretionary nature of our business provides our revenue streams with some natural insulation to macro factors. Equally important, our execution on our 3 As initiatives: Alliances, Advanced delivery and Accounts will deliver benefits we need to strengthen our overall business performance independent of the broader economy. On today's call, I'll update you on our strategy and how we're executing on our 3 As. Then David will share details on our quarterly results link our recent progress to our financial goals and update our fiscal 2023 outlook to reflect currency headwinds and higher energy costs. As the world's largest IT infrastructure services company, building on 30-plus years of mission-critical experience, we entered our independence with expert people, long-standing customer relationships and a ton of intellectual capital.

對於 Kyndryl，我們業務的基本非自由裁量性質為我們的收入流提供了與宏觀因素的天然隔離。同樣重要的是，我們對 3 As 計劃的執行：聯盟、高級交付和客戶將提供我們需要的好處，以加強我們獨立於更廣泛經濟的整體業務績效。在今天的電話會議上，我將向您介紹我們的策略以及我們如何執行 3 As。然後大衛將分享我們季度業績的詳細信息，將我們最近的進展與我們的財務目標聯繫起來，並更新我們的 2023 財年展望，以反映貨幣逆風和更高的能源成本。作為全球最大的 IT 基礎設施服務公司，憑藉 30 多年的關鍵任務經驗，我們憑藉專家人才、長期客戶關係和大量智力資本進入了我們的獨立領域。

We serve thousands of customers and operate in over 60 countries. Many of our customers have been working with Kyndryl for decades, and we have top-tier customer satisfaction scores as measured by Net Promoter Score. With our independence, we doubled the size of our addressable market, formed meaningful alliances with nearly 2 dozen leading technology companies and have expanded both the scale and scope of our capabilities. We have unmatched expertise in managing hybrid on- and off-premise complex IT environments and have strengthened our capabilities through our 6 global practices. The combination of our expertise and our multi-vendor strategy enables us to expand the scope of our customer relationships and accelerate their digital journeys in cloud, security, data and intelligent automation. We launched our 3 As initiatives back in February. These initiatives are critical to our future success, and I'm encouraged by the significant progress we've made to date.

我們為成千上萬的客戶提供服務，並在 60 多個國家/地區開展業務。我們的許多客戶已經與 Kyndryl 合作了幾十年，我們擁有頂級的客戶滿意度得分，以淨推薦值衡量。憑藉我們的獨立性，我們的目標市場規模擴大了一倍，與近 2 家領先的技術公司建立了有意義的聯盟，並擴大了我們能力的規模和範圍。我們在管理混合的內部和外部複雜 IT 環境方面擁有無與倫比的專業知識，並通過我們的 6 個全球實踐增強了我們的能力。我們的專業知識和多供應商戰略相結合，使我們能夠擴大客戶關係的範圍，加速他們在雲、安全、數據和智能自動化方面的數字化旅程。早在 2 月，我們就啟動了 3 As 計劃。這些舉措對我們未來的成功至關重要，我對我們迄今為止取得的重大進展感到鼓舞。

We are tirelessly executing on our 3 As to drive the progress and earnings contributions we've targeted. As a reminder, we provided targets of $1 billion in signings tied to hyperscaler alliances this fiscal year, $200 million in annualized cost savings from advanced delivery by fiscal year-end and $200 million of annualized pretax benefit from our accounts initiative.

我們正在不知疲倦地執行我們的 3 As 以推動我們所針對的進展和收益貢獻。提醒一下，我們在本財年提供了與超大規模聯盟相關的 10 億美元簽約目標，到財年末提前交付可節省 2 億美元的年度成本，並從我們的賬戶計劃中獲得 2 億美元的年度稅前收益。

We are on track to deliver on our fiscal 2023 milestones for each of these initiatives. And keep in mind, our transformation work will not be done after this fiscal year. Over the medium term, these initiatives are expected to generate $1.6 billion in annual benefits plus another $400 million that we're driving through growth in advisory services, our 6 practices and expense management. In the first 6 months of this fiscal year, we generated $425 million of hyperscaler signings, putting us on track to achieve our $1 billion annual target for our alliances initiative with a solid pipeline heading into our fiscal year-end. Since the beginning of the year, we've continued to develop our cloud-related capabilities with a 63% increase in hyperscaler certifications to now more than 26,000 on top of our existing IBM Cloud certifications.

我們正在按計劃實現每一項舉措的 2023 財年里程碑。請記住，我們的轉型工作將不會在本財年之後完成。從中期來看，這些舉措預計將產生 16 億美元的年度收益以及另外 4 億美元，我們正在通過諮詢服務、我們的 6 項實踐和費用管理的增長來推動這些收益。在本財年的前 6 個月，我們產生了 4.25 億美元的超大規模簽約，使我們有望實現我們聯盟計劃的 10 億美元年度目標，並在我們的財年末擁有穩固的管道。自今年年初以來，我們繼續開發與雲相關的功能，在我們現有的 IBM Cloud 認證的基礎上，超大規模認證增加了 63%，目前已超過 26,000 個。

Another proof point of how we're leveraging our new alliances is the growth we're experiencing in our advisory services signings, which were up 43% so far this year. We recently branded our advisory services as Kyndryl Consult to reflect the evolution of how we're delivering customer value by reducing business risk and supporting digital transformations. With our advanced delivery initiative, we're investing in intelligent automation, transforming the way we deliver services and increasing our productivity.

我們如何利用新聯盟的另一個證據是我們在諮詢服務簽約方面所經歷的增長，今年迄今為止增長了 43%。我們最近將我們的諮詢服務命名為 Kyndryl Consult，以反映我們如何通過降低業務風險和支持數字化轉型來提供客戶價值的演變。通過我們先進的交付計劃，我們正在投資於智能自動化，改變我們提供服務的方式並提高我們的生產力。

This program is making our customers' infrastructures more secure and more resilient. To date, we freed up 3,000 delivery professionals to backfill attrition or to be upskilled and redeployed to new opportunities. At the same time, it generated annualized savings of $150 million as of quarter end on track to achieve or perhaps exceed our $200 million fiscal 2023 year-end objective. In our accounts initiative, we're addressing elements of our business with substandard margins.

該計劃使我們客戶的基礎設施更安全、更有彈性。迄今為止，我們已騰出 3,000 名交付專業人員來填補減員或提高技能並重新部署到新的機會。與此同時，截至季度末，它每年節省 1.5 億美元，有望實現或超過我們 2023 財年年底的 2 億美元目標。在我們的帳戶計劃中，我們正在處理利潤率低於標準的業務要素。

Our customers have been responding positively and in many cases, we're driving margin growth by expanding the scope of work with higher value services and optimizing our cost base through automation and greater standardization. Our engagement efforts so far have resulted in a meaningful increase in the projected margins associated with these accounts.

我們的客戶一直積極響應，在許多情況下，我們通過提供更高價值的服務來擴大工作範圍，並通過自動化和更高的標準化來優化我們的成本基礎，從而推動利潤增長。迄今為止，我們的參與努力已導致與這些賬戶相關的預計利潤顯著增加。

In the September quarter, we're realizing pretax benefits at a rate of roughly $80 million a year and progressing toward our $200 million year-end run rate goal. To make our 3 As more tangible, I want to share a handful of customer success stories that demonstrate our team's execution. There's a theme among these and other examples is that the combination of our broader technology ecosystem and our expanded capabilities through our 6 practices is resonating with customers and providing Kyndryl with margin opportunity.

在 9 月季度，我們以每年大約 8000 萬美元的速度實現稅前收益，並朝著我們 2 億美元的年終運行率目標邁進。為了讓我們的 3 As 更加具體，我想分享一些展示我們團隊執行力的客戶成功案例。在這些和其他示例中，有一個主題是，我們更廣泛的技術生態系統和我們通過 6 種實踐擴展的能力的結合正在引起客戶的共鳴，並為 Kyndryl 提供了利潤機會。

Through our alliances and initiative, we're winning assignments in a larger addressable market. For instance, for a long time, European-based telecommunication services customer, we've begun a multiyear project to migrate from private cloud to a hyperscaler, ensuring a secure and resilient hybrid IT environment. With a European-based media company who's been a customer for more than a decade, we've expanded our scope of work to modernize this digital experience and ensure a seamless migration to Microsoft Azure. And the multinational consumer goods company, we're implementing an automation platform with a hyperscaler.

通過我們的聯盟和倡議，我們在更大的潛在市場中贏得了任務。例如，長期以來，總部位於歐洲的電信服務客戶，我們已經開始了一個多年項目，從私有云遷移到超大規模，以確保安全和彈性的混合 IT 環境。與一家擁有十多年客戶歷史的歐洲媒體公司合作，我們擴大了工作範圍，以實現這種數字體驗的現代化，並確保無縫遷移到 Microsoft Azure。跨國消費品公司，我們正在實施一個帶有超大規模的自動化平台。

In advanced delivery through automation and standardization, we're seeing more and more opportunity to increase service levels and systems resiliency. For example, we reduced high-impact incidents by 90% for a global industrial company. For a European professional services firm, we've nearly doubled the monthly automations to 700,000. That check and protect their systems. And by transforming the way we deliver our services to a European manufacturer, we freed up about 16% of that delivery team to drive increased system stability while also increasing our labor productivity. In accounts, we're expanding our profitability profile. For a European financial services firm, we leveraged our hyperscaler relationships and advanced delivery initiative to shift the scope of work toward higher value services and optimize the cost base.

在通過自動化和標準化實現的高級交付中，我們看到了越來越多的機會來提高服務水平和系統彈性。例如，我們為一家全球工業公司減少了 90% 的高影響事件。對於一家歐洲專業服務公司，我們將每月自動化次數幾乎翻了一番，達到 700,000 次。檢查並保護他們的系統。通過改變我們向歐洲製造商提供服務的方式，我們騰出了大約 16% 的交付團隊來提高系統穩定性，同時提高我們的勞動生產率。在帳戶方面，我們正在擴大我們的盈利能力。對於一家歐洲金融服務公司，我們利用我們的超大規模關係和先進的交付計劃將工作範圍轉向更高價值的服務並優化成本基礎。

For another large global financial services company, we had the opportunity to expand our scope of work and further optimize our resources to increase productivity. In both cases, these changes are delivering roughly 10-point increases in gross margin. And for a banking software provider, we've been able to renegotiate the terms of our existing contract by leveraging our expanded capabilities enhance our delivery and cost structure through automation and grow the scope to include data application and AI work.

對於另一家大型全球金融服務公司，我們有機會擴大我們的工作範圍並進一步優化我們的資源以提高生產力。在這兩種情況下，這些變化都使毛利率提高了大約 10 個百分點。對於一家銀行軟件提供商，我們已經能夠通過利用我們擴展的能力通過自動化增強我們的交付和成本結構並擴大範圍以包括數據應用程序和人工智能工作來重新談判我們現有合同的條款。

In the process, we're realizing a $3 million annual increase in gross profit with that account. In a nutshell, our 3 As initiatives are favorably impacting how we go to market and the economics associated with our business. As I mentioned, our alliances are an important element of our transformation and execution of our 3 As initiatives. We've focused on building relationships that really matter to our customers and have a sizable impact on their business.

在此過程中，我們通過該賬戶實現了每年 300 萬美元的毛利潤增長。簡而言之，我們的 3 As 計劃正在積極影響我們進入市場的方式以及與我們業務相關的經濟性。正如我所提到的，我們的聯盟是我們轉型和執行 3 As 計劃的重要組成部分。我們專注於建立對我們的客戶真正重要並對其業務產生重大影響的關係。

Together through our practices, we are co-creating co-investing and co-selling new and enhanced services. It's a win for our alliance partners, it's win for our customers and obviously a win for Kyndryl. With Microsoft Azure, we recently announced an exciting new joint mainframe modernization offering that will allow our customers to better access and use data across a hybrid environment. Our financial services and other mainframe Reliant customers will be able to capitalize on the AI innovations and scalability of Microsoft Azure while still counting on the reliability and security of the mainframe platform. We also introduced an integrated hybrid cloud solution with Microsoft and Dell Technologies to help customers accelerate cloud transformation projects. And with Google Cloud, we're delivering managed services for their new dual run offering that provides customers a safer approach to moving legacy mainframe workloads to the cloud.

通過我們的實踐，我們共同創造共同投資和共同銷售新的和增強的服務。這是我們聯盟合作夥伴的勝利，也是我們客戶的勝利，顯然是 Kyndryl 的勝利。借助 Microsoft Azure，我們最近宣布了一項激動人心的新聯合大型機現代化改造產品，這將使我們的客戶能夠更好地訪問和使用混合環境中的數據。我們的金融服務和其他大型機依賴客戶將能夠利用 Microsoft Azure 的 AI 創新和可擴展性，同時仍然依靠大型機平台的可靠性和安全性。我們還與 Microsoft 和 Dell Technologies 合作推出了集成混合雲解決方案，以幫助客戶加速雲轉型項目。借助 Google Cloud，我們正在為其新的雙運行產品提供託管服務，為客戶提供更安全的方法將傳統大型機工作負載遷移到雲端。

This past quarter, we also added Citrix, elastic, EY, Five9 and Teradata to our list of alliance partners. We see Kyndryl operating at the heart of progress. Our alliances and our unparalleled ability to integrate great technologies from multiple sources into complex IT stacks or would allow us to play this role for our customers in today's digital economy. To fully leverage these partnerships, in September, we launched Kyndryl Bridge, a new open integration platform that reflects our commitment to transforming how we deliver sophisticated services.

在上個季度，我們還將 Citrix、elastic、EY、Five9 和 Teradata 添加到我們的聯盟合作夥伴名單中。我們看到 Kyndryl 是進步的核心。我們的聯盟和我們無與倫比的能力將來自多個來源的偉大技術集成到復雜的 IT 堆棧中，或者將使我們能夠在當今的數字經濟中為我們的客戶扮演這個角色。為了充分利用這些合作夥伴關係，我們於 9 月推出了 Kyndryl Bridge，這是一個新的開放式集成平台，體現了我們致力於轉變我們提供複雜服務的方式的承諾。

Kyndryl Bridge gives our delivery teams more automation and gives our customers more visibility and control into their complex IT estates. Our digital platform integrates existing tools, intellectual property, processes and partnerships into a single operating environment. Over time, Kyndryl Bridge will expand and grow and will move from observability going from how to navigate our services and enhance IT operations to self-service capabilities and even the ability to digitally subscribe to provision and manage services, including services based on partners' technologies.

Kyndryl Bridge 為我們的交付團隊提供了更高的自動化程度，並為我們的客戶提供了對其複雜 IT 資產的更多可見性和控制權。我們的數字平台將現有工具、知識產權、流程和合作夥伴關係整合到一個單一的操作環境中。隨著時間的推移，Kyndryl Bridge 將擴展和發展，並將從可觀察性轉變為從如何導航我們的服務和增強 IT 運營到自助服務能力，甚至以數字方式訂閱提供和管理服務的能力，包括基於合作夥伴技術的服務.

Fundamentally, Kyndryl Bridge offers our customers access to a 24/7 digital Kyndryl that provides greater systems resiliency. And to align with our 3 As, it strengthens our advanced delivery efforts and opens the door for us to capture new higher-value revenue opportunities that will expand our margins over time.

從根本上說，Kyndryl Bridge 為我們的客戶提供了 24/7 數字 Kyndryl 的訪問權限，從而提供了更大的系統彈性。為了與我們的 3 As 保持一致，它加強了我們先進的交付工作，並為我們打開了捕捉新的更高價值收入機會的大門，這將隨著時間的推移擴大我們的利潤。

So a year into our independents, we're operating and going to market differently with a new mission and value proposition. We've entered a broader technology ecosystem. Our business transformation has gained momentum, and we're executing on a clearly defined set of key initiatives, our 3 As. We continue to focus on driving our business toward a return to revenue growth in calendar 2025 and significant margin expansion. There is significant value to be created at Kyndryl. Based on what we have seen internally and heard from our customers so far, we have the right strategy in place and are confident in our ability to execute and transform our business. Now with that, I'll hand over to David to take you through our results and our outlook.

因此，在我們獨立成立一年後，我們以新的使命和價值主張以不同的方式運營和進入市場。我們已經進入了更廣泛的技術生態系統。我們的業務轉型勢頭強勁，我們正在執行一組明確定義的關鍵計劃，即我們的 3 As。我們將繼續專注於推動我們的業務在 2025 年恢復收入增長並顯著擴大利潤率。在 Kyndryl 可以創造巨大的價值。根據迄今為止我們在內部看到的情況和從客戶那裡聽到的情況，我們制定了正確的戰略，並對我們執行和轉變業務的能力充滿信心。現在，我將交給大衛，帶您了解我們的結果和展望。

Thanks, Martin, and hello, everyone. Today, I'd like to discuss our quarterly results, our balance sheet and liquidity while our 3 As initiatives are so important to us and our outlook. Our financial results for the quarter ended September 30, our fiscal second quarter reflect progress on our top line growth efforts as well as external factors such as currency movements and higher energy costs.

謝謝，馬丁，大家好。今天，我想討論我們的季度業績、資產負債表和流動性，而我們的 3 As 計劃對我們和我們的前景非常重要。我們截至 9 月 30 日的季度財務業績和第二財季的財務業績反映了我們在收入增長方面取得的進展，以及貨幣變動和能源成本上升等外部因素。

In the quarter, we generated revenue of $4.2 billion which represents a 2% increase in constant currency from our pro forma results a year ago. If you exclude 2 points of pass-through revenue from our former parent, our Q2 revenues were consistent with the prior year quarters, demonstrating the progress we're making to strengthen our revenue trajectory. An important component of this progress is the sequential revenue growth we've been driving in our advisory services, which today are approximately 11% of our revenue and 19% of our total signings.

在本季度，我們創造了 42 億美元的收入，與一年前的備考結果相比，按固定匯率計算增長了 2%。如果排除我們前母公司的 2 個直通收入點，我們的第二季度收入與去年同期一致，表明我們在加強收入軌跡方面取得的進展。這一進展的一個重要組成部分是我們一直在推動我們的諮詢服務的收入連續增長，今天約占我們收入的 11% 和我們總簽約的 19%。

These signings translate into revenue at a faster pace, given that there are more in-year project-based work compared to our long-term managed services activities. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $428 million. This represents an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.2%. The year-over-year decline in our adjusted EBITDA margin compared to pro forma 2021 results was primarily due to a number of exogenous and spin-related items.

鑑於與我們的長期託管服務活動相比，基於項目的年度工作更多，這些簽約以更快的速度轉化為收入。本季度調整後的 EBITDA 為 4.28 億美元。這代表調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 10.2%。與 2021 年的備考結果相比，我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率同比下降主要是由於一些外生和與旋轉相關的項目。

Exogenous factors impacted margins by more than 4 points year-over-year and includes some software licenses being treated as a subscription rather than an amortized expense an asset sale gain and accrual reversal in last year's September quarter, a dilutive impact from IBM-related pass-throughs and revenue timing, higher energy costs and currency. Adjusted pretax loss was $102 million, which is roughly 1 margin point softer than our March quarter and June quarter results and down year-over-year primarily due to $69 million in currency headwinds.

外部因素對利潤率的影響同比超過 4 個百分點，其中包括一些軟件許可證被視為訂閱而非攤銷費用、去年 9 月季度的資產銷售收益和應計沖銷，IBM 相關通行證的攤薄影響-通過和收入時機，更高的能源成本和貨幣。調整後的稅前虧損為 1.02 億美元，比我們 3 月季度和 6 月季度的業績低約 1 個百分點，同比下降主要是由於 6900 萬美元的貨幣逆風。

Here's why, we have dollar-denominated costs throughout our global operations as well as international earnings and our earnings hedges and various contractual protections have not fully offset the effects of this year's unprecedented dollar strengthening. Energy cost moves, which in Europe are being measured in multiples of last year rather than percentage increases aren't helping either.

這就是為什麼，我們在全球業務和國際收益中都有以美元計價的成本，而我們的收益對沖和各種合同保護並沒有完全抵消今年前所未有的美元走強的影響。能源成本變動（在歐洲以去年的倍數而非百分比增長來衡量）也無濟於事。

As a result, our constant currency revenue growth, cost reduction efforts and 3As progress are being overshadowed by external factors. This is occurring even though demand for our infrastructure services has remained resilient amid increased global macro uncertainty. Among our geographic segments, we delivered year-over-year constant currency pro forma revenue growth in 3 out of 4 segments.

因此，我們的恆定貨幣收入增長、降低成本的努力和 3A 進展被外部因素所掩蓋。即使在全球宏觀不確定性增加的情況下，對我們的基礎設施服務的需求保持彈性，這種情況仍在發生。在我們的地理細分市場中，我們在 4 個細分市場中的 3 個實現了同比不變的貨幣備考收入增長。

And our strongest margins were again in Japan and the United States. Changes in how various IBM-related costs are hitting each of our segments under our new commercial agreement with IBM, complicate year-over-year margin comparisons by segment. We address our customers' needs not only through our geographic operating segments, but also through our 6 global practices: cloud, applications, data and AI; security and resiliency, network and edge, digital workplace and core enterprise.

我們最強勁的利潤再次出現在日本和美國。根據我們與 IBM 的新商業協議，各種 IBM 相關成本如何影響我們每個細分市場的變化使按細分市場進行的同比利潤率比較變得複雜。我們不僅通過我們的地理運營部門，還通過我們的 6 大全球實踐來滿足客戶的需求：雲、應用程序、數據和人工智能；安全性和彈性、網絡和邊緣、數字工作場所和核心企業。

Our business mix is evolving to reflect demand with most of our signings again coming from cloud, apps, data and AI; security and other growth areas. The Kyndryl Consult or Advisory Services revenue growth I mentioned has been particularly strong in our cloud, apps, data and AI; and security practices.

我們的業務組合正在發展以反映需求，我們的大部分簽約再次來自云、應用程序、數據和人工智能；安全和其他增長領域。我提到的 Kyndryl 諮詢或諮詢服務收入增長在我們的雲、應用程序、數據和人工智能方面特別強勁；和安全實踐。

In short, is that weren't for currency movements and higher energy costs this quarter, we'd be reporting year-over-year revenue growth and pretax margins within a point of breakeven. On a reported basis, however, currency and energy cost impacts are superseding the operational progress we're making. And while the risk of a global recession has clearly increased we continue to see broad-based demand for digital transformation and infrastructure services.

簡而言之，如果不是因為本季度的匯率變動和能源成本上升，我們將在盈虧平衡點內報告同比收入增長和稅前利潤率。然而，據報導，貨幣和能源成本的影響正在取代我們正在取得的運營進展。儘管全球衰退的風險明顯增加，但我們繼續看到對數字化轉型和基礎設施服務的廣泛需求。

Turning to our cash flow and balance sheet. We generated adjusted free cash flow of $216 million in the quarter. We provided a bridge from our adjusted pretax loss to our free cash flow so far this year. Our gross capital expenditures in the quarter were $253 million, and we've received $3 million of proceeds from asset dispositions. Our CapEx has been somewhat front-loaded this fiscal year.

轉向我們的現金流和資產負債表。我們在本季度產生了 2.16 億美元的調整後自由現金流。今年到目前為止，我們為調整後的稅前虧損與自由現金流之間架起了一座橋樑。我們本季度的總資本支出為 2.53 億美元，我們從資產處置中獲得了 300 萬美元的收益。我們的資本支出在本財年有些超前。

Working capital and other contributed to cash flow in the quarter as we begin to step up our management of both receivables and payables globally. Our financial position remains strong. Ou cash balance at September 30 was $1.9 billion. This is above the June 30 level despite a $49 million decline in the dollar value of our international cash and our use of cash for transaction-related payments.

隨著我們開始加強對全球應收賬款和應付賬款的管理，營運資金和其他資金為本季度的現金流做出了貢獻。我們的財務狀況依然強勁。 9 月 30 日的現金餘額為 19 億美元。儘管我們的國際現金的美元價值下降了 4900 萬美元，而且我們將現金用於與交易相關的付款，但這一數字仍高於 6 月 30 日的水平。

Our cash balance, combined with available debt capacity under committed borrowing facilities gave us $5 billion of liquidity at quarter end. Our debt maturities are well laddered from late 2024 to 2041. We had no borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility, and our net debt at quarter end was $1.3 billion.

我們的現金餘額，加上承諾借貸便利下的可用債務能力，在季度末為我們提供了 50 億美元的流動性。從 2024 年末到 2041 年，我們的債務到期日非常好。在我們的循環信貸額度下，我們沒有未償還的借款，我們在季度末的淨債務為 13 億美元。

As a result, our net leverage sits well within our target range. We are rated investment grade by Moody's, Fitch and S&P, 2 of whom recently reiterated our ratings. On the topic of capital allocation, our top priorities are to maintain strong liquidity, remain investment grade and reinvest in our business. As we've said before, we view being investment grade as a commercial imperative given the importance of this to our customers, many of whom operate in regulated industries.

因此，我們的淨槓桿率正好在我們的目標範圍內。我們被穆迪、惠譽和標準普爾評為投資級，其中兩家最近重申了我們的評級。在資本配置方面，我們的首要任務是保持強勁的流動性，保持投資級別，並對我們的業務進行再投資。正如我們之前所說，鑑於投資級別對我們的客戶的重要性，我們將其視為商業上的當務之急，其中許多客戶在受監管的行業運營。

We expect to use most of the free cash flow we'll generate this year to fund spin-related cash outlays, including required systems migrations. As Martin mentioned, we continue to progress on our 3A's initiatives. Our momentum supports our expectation that our alliances initiative will drive signings, revenue and over time, roughly $200 million in annual pretax income.

我們預計今年將產生的大部分自由現金流用於資助與旋轉相關的現金支出，包括所需的系統遷移。正如馬丁所提到的，我們繼續推進我們的 3A 計劃。我們的勢頭支持我們的預期，即我們的聯盟計劃將推動簽約、收入和隨著時間的推移，每年大約 2 億美元的稅前收入。

Our advanced delivery initiative will drive cost savings equating over time to roughly $600 million in annual pretax income and our accounts initiative will drive annual pretax income of $800 million. We're also driving growth in Kyndryl consult and among our global practices which is incremental to the benefits coming from our 3 A initiatives, and we see opportunities to control expenses throughout our business.

隨著時間的推移，我們的先進交付計劃將節省成本，相當於每年約 6 億美元的稅前收入，我們的賬戶計劃將推動每年 8 億美元的稅前收入。我們還在推動 Kyndryl 諮詢和全球實踐的增長，這對我們的 3A 計劃帶來的好處是增量的，我們看到了在整個業務中控制費用的機會。

We expect that these efforts over time will contribute roughly $400 million in annual pretax income. As a result, the magnitude of the earnings growth opportunity we're tackling is tremendous relative to our current margins. Progress on our 3As will, therefore, be a central source of value creation for Kyndryl. Our game plan is to continue to serve our customers seamlessly and to deliver solid results even as we go through the 3-year process of transforming our business, preparing to return to sustained top line growth and positioning Kyndryl for stronger margins and higher returns on invested capital.

我們預計，隨著時間的推移，這些努力將貢獻大約 4 億美元的年稅前收入。因此，相對於我們目前的利潤率，我們正在應對的盈利增長機會的規模是巨大的。因此，我們 3A 的進展將成為 Kyndryl 創造價值的核心來源。我們的遊戲計劃是繼續為我們的客戶提供無縫服務並提供可靠的結果，即使我們經歷了 3 年的業務轉型過程，準備恢復持續的頂線增長，並將 Kyndryl 定位為更高的利潤率和更高的投資回報首都。

As you could see in our second quarter results, currency movements and energy costs are impacting not only our reported revenues, but also our margins. We've expanded and updated our outlook to reflect these trends. Because of the size of the currency effects we've seen this year, we provided our revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted pretax income outlook on a constant currency basis.

正如您在我們的第二季度業績中所看到的那樣，貨幣變動和能源成本不僅影響我們報告的收入，還影響我們的利潤率。我們擴大並更新了我們的展望以反映這些趨勢。由於我們今年看到的貨幣影響的規模，我們在固定貨幣基礎上提供了我們的收入增長、調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的稅前收入前景。

In constant currency, we've increased our revenue growth projection by 3 points compared to when we started the year, and our outlook for adjusted pretax margin is down 0.5 point from the start of the year solely due to higher energy costs. On a reported basis, currency is impacting our top line by more than 9 points year-over-year and we're now projecting revenue of $16.3 billion to $16.5 billion this fiscal year.

按固定匯率計算，與年初相比，我們將收入增長預測上調了 3 個百分點，而調整後的稅前利潤率展望比年初下降 0.5 個百分點，這僅是由於能源成本上升。據報導，貨幣對我們收入的影響同比超過 9 個百分點，我們現在預計本財年的收入為 163 億美元至 165 億美元。

Currency movements have impacted our projected adjusted pretax margin by nearly 140 basis points since our initial guidance and nearly 200 basis points year-over-year. Higher energy costs are having a further 40 basis point impact. As a result, we've reduced our outlook for actual currency adjusted pretax margin by 2 points to minus 2% to minus 1%.

自我們最初的指導以來，貨幣變動對我們預計的調整後稅前利潤率的影響接近 140 個基點，同比增長近 200 個基點。更高的能源成本正在進一步產生 40 個基點的影響。因此，我們將實際貨幣調整後稅前利潤率的前景下調 2 個百分點至負 2% 至負 1%。

I want to emphasize that the changes in our updated actual currency outlook are entirely due to currency movements and higher energy costs. The dramatic strengthening of the U.S. dollar has been a significant challenge since we not only have foreign earnings, but also have dollar-based costs throughout our operations. What may get somewhat lost in all of that is excluding currency impacts and higher energy costs, we'd be on track to achieve our initial guidance.

我想強調的是，我們更新後的實際貨幣前景的變化完全是由於貨幣波動和能源成本上升。美元大幅走強一直是一項重大挑戰，因為我們不僅有國外收入，而且在整個運營過程中都有以美元為基礎的成本。在排除貨幣影響和更高的能源成本之外，所有這一切可能會有所損失，我們將有望實現我們的初步指導。

In addition, we continue to believe that demand for IT infrastructure services is largely insulated from broader economic trends. Our initiatives are delivering the benefits we anticipated and we're investing in our business to drive innovation and future growth. One comment on signings. As our business mix is shifting toward advisory services and as we increasingly focus on annual gross margins, signings aren't operating as a particularly good proxy for our progress.

此外，我們仍然認為對 IT 基礎設施服務的需求在很大程度上不受更廣泛的經濟趨勢的影響。我們的舉措正在帶來我們預期的好處，我們正在投資於我們的業務以推動創新和未來的增長。關於簽約的一條評論。隨著我們的業務組合正在轉向諮詢服務，並且我們越來越關注年度毛利率，簽約並不能作為我們進步的特別好的代表。

As a result, we've decided not to provide signings guidance going forward. Nevertheless, I want you to know that we're enthusiastic about our pipeline and that our internal forecast for revenue signings this fiscal year calls for growth versus calendar 2021 and more importantly, because of the margins at which we're signing business, our signings so far this year are delivering meaningful growth in expected gross margin and annual gross profit.

因此，我們決定不提供未來的引援指導。儘管如此，我想讓你知道，我們對我們的管道充滿熱情，並且我們對本財年收入簽約的內部預測要求與 2021 日曆相比增長，更重要的是，由於我們簽約業務的利潤率，我們的簽約今年到目前為止，預期毛利率和年度毛利潤都實現了有意義的增長。

From a cash flow perspective, we continue to target about $750 million of gross capital expenditures and $700 million of net capital expenditures compared to about $900 million of depreciation expense. Over the medium term, we remain committed to returning to revenue growth by calendar 2025, delivering significant margin expansion and driving free cash flow growth. We also expect to mitigate the effects of recent currency movements over time, even if exchange rates don't revert back towards historical norms. We have a solid game plan to drive our strategic progress, and this game plan starts with the steps we've already taken to expand our technology partnerships and with the meaningful initiatives we're implementing this year. And for any investors who are new to the Kyndryl story, I want to again highlight a slide we first published in May. It's the slide that provides a breakdown between our margin-challenged focus accounts in the rest of our business. In particular, our aggregate results mask the fact that within Kyndryl, we started with a strong $10 billion business which we refer to as a blueprint for how we want to operate.

從現金流的角度來看，我們的目標是總資本支出約為 7.5 億美元，淨資本支出為 7 億美元，而折舊費用約為 9 億美元。在中期內，我們仍致力於在 2025 年之前恢復收入增長，實現顯著的利潤率擴張並推動自由現金流增長。我們還期望隨著時間的推移減輕近期貨幣變動的影響，即使匯率不會恢復到歷史常態。我們有一個堅實的遊戲計劃來推動我們的戰略進展，這個遊戲計劃始於我們已經採取的擴大我們的技術合作夥伴關係的步驟，以及我們今年正在實施的有意義的舉措。對於任何剛接觸 Kyndryl 故事的投資者，我想再次強調我們在 5 月首次發布的一張幻燈片。這張幻燈片提供了我們在其他業務中受到利潤挑戰的焦點賬戶之間的細分。特別是，我們的總體結果掩蓋了這樣一個事實，即在 Kyndryl 內部，我們以 100 億美元的強勁業務開始，我們將其稱為我們希望如何運營的藍圖。

This blueprint consists of accounts that represent about 60% of our revenue, generate average gross margins north of 20% and reflect our ability to get paid appropriately for the mission-critical services we provide. This source of value is underappreciated because our other roughly $8 billion of focused accounts revenue generates virtually no gross margin and after SG&A expenses is losing money. Our accounts initiative is all about the opportunity to make our focus accounts look more like the majority blueprint of our business over time by addressing elements of our customer relationships that generate substandard margins. Over time, if we close even half of the gross margin gap between our focus accounts and our blueprint accounts, we'll generate the $800 million in incremental earnings that we've targeted from these accounts.

該藍圖由占我們收入約 60% 的賬戶組成，平均毛利率超過 20%，並反映了我們為我們提供的關鍵任務服務獲得適當報酬的能力。這種價值來源被低估了，因為我們其他大約 80 億美元的重點賬戶收入幾乎沒有產生毛利率，而且在 SG&A 費用之後正在虧損。我們的客戶計劃旨在讓我們的重點客戶隨著時間的推移看起來更像我們業務的主要藍圖，方法是解決我們的客戶關係中產生低於標準利潤的因素。隨著時間的推移，如果我們將重點賬戶和藍圖賬戶之間的毛利率差距縮小一半，我們將從這些賬戶中產生 8 億美元的增量收益。

That's why our accounts initiative is a major priority and a major opportunity for us. We're paying close attention to the margins on signings for both our focus accounts and our Blueprint accounts. Since the beginning of the year, the overall expected gross margin on our signings has been in the low to mid-20s and the pretax margin has been in the mid- to high single digits.

這就是為什麼我們的帳戶計劃是我們的主要優先事項和重大機遇。我們正在密切關注焦點賬戶和藍圖賬戶的簽約利潤率。自今年年初以來，我們簽約的整體預期毛利率一直在 20 多歲左右，稅前利潤率一直在中高個位數。

The September quarter was a continuation of that trend. What that means is that if our P&L for the next few quarters reflected only our recently signed deals, we'd be operating at mid- to high single-digit adjusted pretax margin, not the now slightly negative margin generated largely by our pre-spin legacy signings.

九月季度是這一趨勢的延續。這意味著，如果我們接下來幾個季度的損益表僅反映我們最近簽署的交易，我們將以中高個位數的調整後稅前利潤率運營，而不是主要由我們的預旋轉產生的現在略微負的利潤率遺留簽名。

Because of the prevalence of multiyear contracts in our business, most of our revenue is still coming from pre-spin signings. As a result, you can't immediately see the benefits of the higher margins at which we're now pricing contracts but that will change with time. I'm optimistic about our prospects, especially in light of the broad technological expertise we can bring to bear on behalf of our customers and especially as our business mix increasingly tilt toward more post-pain contracts.

由於我們的業務中普遍存在多年合同，我們的大部分收入仍然來自預轉簽約。因此，您無法立即看到我們現在為合同定價的更高利潤率的好處，但這會隨著時間而改變。我對我們的前景持樂觀態度，特別是考慮到我們可以代表客戶提供廣泛的技術專長，特別是隨著我們的業務組合越來越傾向於更多的疼痛後合同。

In closing, as an independent company, we're solidifying our position as a cost-effective gold standard provider of essential IT services. Other than the impacts of currency movements and higher energy costs, we're delivering on the fiscal 2023 earnings targets we laid out in May and we're executing on the strategies and initiatives that will drive longer-term progress, future growth and stronger earnings in our business. With that, Martin and I would be pleased to take your questions.

最後，作為一家獨立公司，我們正在鞏固我們作為具有成本效益的基本 IT 服務黃金標準提供商的地位。除了匯率變動和能源成本上漲的影響外，我們正在實現我們在 5 月制定的 2023 財年收益目標，我們正在執行將推動長期進步、未來增長和更強勁收益的戰略和舉措在我們的業務中。有了這個，馬丁和我很樂意回答你的問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Tien-Tsin Huang with JPMorgan.

謝謝你。 （操作員說明）我們將向摩根大通的 Tien-Tsin Huang 提出第一個問題。

Just wanted to -- maybe if you wouldn't mind, rehash or break down the 3-point increase in the constant currency revenue outlook, that would be great.

只是想 - 也許如果你不介意，重新討論或打破不變貨幣收入前景的 3 點增長，那將是很棒的。

Sure. Tien-Tsin, and thanks for the question. What we're seeing is a number of things positively impacting our revenue. First and foremost is Kyndryl Consult revenues being higher than we expected. And as we mentioned, those are growing at double digits in revenues and the signings have been well north of that. So that's been a positive for us. Another positive is actually coming from our focus account initiative. We had assumed in our initial projections that we would have some revenue loss associated with the -- revising the relationships and working with and working on the focus accounts. And so far, that hasn't really materialized. It's been less common play for us to run with the focused accounts rather than expanding scope and improving margins that way. We've also picked up a little bit of incremental pass-through and OEM resale revenue compared to our projections.

當然。 Tien-Tsin，感謝您的提問。我們看到的是許多對我們的收入產生積極影響的事情。首先，Kyndryl Consult 的收入高於我們的預期。正如我們所提到的，這些收入正以兩位數的速度增長，而簽約人數遠遠超過了這一數字。所以這對我們來說是積極的。另一個積極因素實際上來自我們的焦點客戶計劃。我們在最初的預測中假設我們會因修改關係以及使用和處理焦點賬戶而產生一些收入損失。到目前為止，這還沒有真正實現。對於我們來說，使用重點賬戶而不是擴大範圍並以這種方式提高利潤率的做法並不常見。與我們的預測相比，我們還獲得了一些增量傳遞和 OEM 轉售收入。

And so that's probably about 1/4 of the pickup that we had. And then the last piece that's impacting us is that we are getting some inflation adjustment revenues. So as you know, we've got provisions in various parts -- various contracts that adjust based on wage inflation or other factors. And that's created some additional revenue for us as well. But in the scheme of things, that probably works against us because we don't fully -- we don't have full offsets for inflation as we look across our entire contract base. But we are seeing a partial offset, some mitigation through those provisions in our contracts. That's really what's driving it. And I would say we're particularly excited about the Kyndryl consult growth that we're seeing across our geographies.

所以這可能是我們所擁有的皮卡的 1/4 左右。最後影響我們的是我們正在獲得一些通脹調整收入。如你所知，我們在各個部分都有規定——根據工資通脹或其他因素調整的各種合同。這也為我們創造了一些額外的收入。但在事情的計劃中，這可能對我們不利，因為我們沒有完全 - 當我們查看整個合同基礎時，我們沒有完全抵消通貨膨脹。但是我們看到了部分抵消，通過我們合同中的這些條款得到了一些緩解。這才是真正的驅動力。我想說，我們對我們在各個地區看到的 Kyndryl 諮詢增長感到特別興奮。

Yes. No, perfect. That's great to hear. So maybe as my follow-up, I'll ask on Kyndryl consul. It's, as you called out, strong bookings there as well and performing a little bit better, double-digit growth, et cetera. How would you characterize your investments to want to grow that? I mean should we think about that as a tip of the spear type of work that can drive more follow-on business for broader Kyndryl, is there more expansion potentially in other geographies, for example? Just trying to better understand where the strategic fit is in growing that business.

是的。沒有十全十美的。聽到這個消息我很高興。所以也許作為我的後續行動，我會問 Kyndryl 領事。正如你所說，那裡的預訂量也很強勁，而且表現更好，兩位數的增長等等。您如何描述您的投資以使其增長？我的意思是，我們是否應該將其視為可以為更廣泛的 Kyndryl 推動更多後續業務的長矛類型工作的一個尖端，例如，在其他地區是否有更大的擴張潛力？只是試圖更好地了解發展該業務的戰略契合點。

Yes, sure. Thanks, Tien-Tsin. It's Martin. Thanks for David, so thanks for joining, and these are great questions. So look, we do think of Kyndryl Consult as a lead into fueling our managed services business as we've -- as you know, and we've spent time on this, we are underweight in the advisory portion of our business at only about 10% relative to the opportunity we see in the marketplace.

是的，當然。謝謝，天真。是馬丁。感謝大衛，感謝您的加入，這些都是很好的問題。所以看，我們確實認為 Kyndryl Consult 是推動我們的託管服務業務的帶頭人 - 正如你所知，我們已經在這方面花費了時間，我們在業務的諮詢部分中的權重僅為大約10% 相對於我們在市場上看到的機會。

And that opportunity is very much global. It's one that we think will play quite well everywhere. So our focus here, and we've been clear, we think we can grow this advisory business, Kyndryl Consult to be probably half as big again within our own revenue stream in the medium term. And it is a terrific pathway for us to also to supporting that managed business.

這個機會是非常全球性的。我們認為它在任何地方都會發揮得很好。所以我們在這裡的重點，我們已經很清楚了，我們認為我們可以發展這個諮詢業務，Kyndryl Consult 在中期內我們自己的收入流中可能會再次增長一半。對於我們來說，這也是支持該託管業務的絕佳途徑。

So it's gone very well. We have been able to expand the relationships we have with our customers. They do trust us to run their most important systems. And so therefore, the obvious opportunity for us is to help them more broadly as we build out our practices. And this is one -- I would also say it's one where this was an under -- sort of an undertapped underleveraged opportunity pre-spin because the business was very focused on building the managed side as opposed to the advisory side.

所以進展非常順利。我們已經能夠擴大與客戶的關係。他們確實信任我們來運行他們最重要的系統。因此，對我們來說，顯而易見的機會是在我們建立我們的實踐時更廣泛地幫助他們。這是一個 - 我還要說這是一個不足 - 一種未充分利用的低杠桿機會預旋轉，因為該業務非常專注於建立管理方面而不是諮詢方面。

So this is a very natural fit for us. It's global to answer your (inaudible). And it has -- so it's part of our return to growth, but also has very appealing margin characteristics. So it's a very logical play for us.

所以這對我們來說非常自然。回答您的問題是全球性的（聽不清）。它具有 - 所以它是我們恢復增長的一部分，但也具有非常吸引人的利潤率特徵。所以這對我們來說是一個非常合乎邏輯的遊戲。

That's great. And good results in the, for sure, in the areas you can control.

那太棒了。當然，在您可以控制的領域中取得了良好的效果。

We'll go next to Millie Wu with Evercore ISI.

我們將與 Evercore ISI 一起前往 Millie Wu。

This is Millie Wu for David Togut from Evercore.

這是來自 Evercore 的 David Togut 的 Millie Wu。

So first question about demand trend. Sort of given the change in macroeconomic environment, what are you seeing in terms of changes in demand for [KD's] service lines? And in particular, which segments do you expect to be more resilient than others?

所以第一個關於需求趨勢的問題。考慮到宏觀經濟環境的變化，您對 [KD's] 服務線的需求變化有何看法？特別是，您希望哪些細分市場比其他細分市場更具彈性？

Yes. Good. Millie, thank you for the question. Thanks for joining. Look, for us, a couple of things to keep in mind. As we noted in our prepared remarks, the essential sort of nondiscretionary nature of what we do, insulates our revenue streams from big swings in demand.

是的。好的。米莉，謝謝你的問題。感謝您的加入。看，對我們來說，有幾件事要記住。正如我們在準備好的評論中指出的那樣，我們所做的基本的非自由裁量性質使我們的收入流免受需求大幅波動的影響。

And then -- and I think it's important then also to add to that, the position we're in creates, I think, a set of idiosyncratic both opportunities and I'll call it idiosyncratic tailwinds and idiosyncratic headwinds for us. On the tailwind side, look, as I just mentioned, to Tien-tsin and David talked about as well, demand for our Kyndryl Consult, our advisory business is very strong, very solid revenue opportunities. And that converts much more rapidly into revenue than a more -- a typical longer-term managed deal. So demand is strong for our advisory business. And as we move in and really build out these relationships with our new alliance partners, you can see we're well positioned to sign $1 billion this year against those hyperscalers alone.

然後 - 我認為重要的是還要補充一點，我認為我們所處的位置創造了一系列特殊的機會，我將其稱為特殊的順風和特殊的逆風。在順風方面，正如我剛才提到的，Tien-tsin 和 David 也談到了對我們 Kyndryl Consult 的需求，我們的諮詢業務非常強勁，收入機會非常穩固。這比典型的長期託管交易更快地轉化為收入。因此，我們的諮詢業務需求強勁。隨著我們進入並真正與我們的新聯盟合作夥伴建立這些關係，你可以看到我們今年已經準備好簽署 10 億美元，僅針對這些超大規模企業。

So really -- but I think both of those, our position in the marketplace, plus our relatively new alliance partner says the opportunity that we have and the demand we see at the tailwind side is probably idiosyncratic to us. On the headwind side, and you can see it in a number of places, on the headwind side, advisory constructs tend to be shorter tenor than managed services construct.

真的如此 - 但我認為這兩者，我們在市場中的地位，加上我們相對較新的聯盟合作夥伴，都表明我們擁有的機會和我們在順風方面看到的需求對我們來說可能是特殊的。在逆風方面，您可以在許多地方看到它，在逆風方面，諮詢結構往往比託管服務結構更短。

So while we see what David noted in his prepared remarks, we see good annual contract value growth in revenue and gross profits for our advisory business. We also know that they're shorter tenors, so they don't produce the same kind of a signings number that a managed services would. So -- but we're focused on that ACV.

因此，雖然我們看到大衛在他準備好的講話中指出的內容，但我們看到我們諮詢業務的收入和毛利潤的年度合同價值增長良好。我們也知道它們的期限較短，因此它們不會產生與託管服務相同的簽約數量。所以 - 但我們專注於 ACV。

We're focused on making sure we're going to -- we can maintain gross profit dollar growth here. And then -- and I think, by the way, that's also idiosyncratic to us given where we are. And then finally, another headwind is as we focus on our focus accounts, we are very focused on the GP dollar opportunity we see. And many of these focus accounts have a kind of a common feature, and that's the amount of hardware and software that is being delivered through us.

我們專注於確保我們能夠 - 我們可以在這裡保持毛利潤美元增長。然後 - 我認為，順便說一句，考慮到我們所處的位置，這對我們來說也是特殊的。最後，另一個不利因素是當我們專注於我們的重點賬戶時，我們非常關注我們看到的 GP 美元機會。這些焦點帳戶中的許多都有一個共同特徵，那就是通過我們交付的硬件和軟件的數量。

And so we're seeing a number of opportunities where we get an opportunity to improve our margins, actually improve our gross profit dollars by allowing the owner of that hardware and software, mostly IBM, obviously, but we have a few others as well, allowing the owner of that hardware and software to go direct to the customer.

因此，我們看到了許多機會，我們有機會提高利潤率，實際上通過允許硬件和軟件的所有者（主要是 IBM）來提高我們的毛利潤，顯然，但我們還有其他一些，允許該硬件和軟件的所有者直接與客戶聯繫。

So it comes out of our contract. We don't have the commercials of the pass-through. Some of those are negative for us. So we improved margins in a really straightforward way. So on the headwind side, the way we're focused on gross profit which is good for us. It's good for the hardware and software provider as well, allows us to really drive gross profit dollar growth.

所以它來自我們的合同。我們沒有直通的廣告。其中一些對我們不利。因此，我們以非常直接的方式提高了利潤率。因此，在逆風方面，我們專注於毛利潤的方式對我們有利。這對硬件和軟件提供商也有好處，使我們能夠真正推動毛利潤美元增長。

But it is -- it could be a headwind to revenue. It could be a headwind to the signings number. So from my perspective, the demand profile we see has been very consistent with what we've experienced the whole first year. Some of that is, I think, is because of what we do, but then we have these idiosyncratic opportunities to not only improve our revenue position in the future, but also to really make strides in gross profit as well.

但它是 - 這可能是收入的逆風。這可能是簽約人數的逆風。因此，從我的角度來看，我們看到的需求狀況與我們第一年的經歷非常一致。我認為，其中一些是因為我們所做的事情，但是我們擁有這些特殊的機會，不僅可以改善我們未來的收入狀況，還可以真正在毛利潤方面取得長足進步。

Millie, do you have another question? Or operator, we can move to the next question. Thank you.

米莉，你還有問題嗎？或者運算符，我們可以轉到下一個問題。謝謝你。

We'll take our next question from Jamie Friedman with Susquehanna.

我們將向 Jamie Friedman 和 Susquehanna 提出我們的下一個問題。

Good results here, guys. Just want to ask -- first of all, Martin, it's the roughly one year anniversary of the company as a separate public entity. So if you could share with us what's surprised you over the last year? What has delighted you? What's frustrated you? Any perspective on the 1-year journey would be great.

在這裡取得好成績，伙計們。只是想問一下——首先，馬丁，這是公司作為一個獨立的公共實體大約一周年。那麼，如果您能與我們分享一下去年讓您感到驚訝的事情嗎？什麼讓你高興？什麼讓你沮喪？任何關於 1 年旅程的觀點都會很棒。

Yes. Well, thank you, and thank you for your comment about the results we feel as well. We feel like we're making great progress here, and we've got a very clear, I think, strategy on how we get revenue back to growth now we improve gross profit. So we feel good about the progress.

是的。好吧，謝謝你，也感謝你對我們所感受到的結果的評論。我們覺得我們在這裡取得了很大的進步，我認為，我們有一個非常明確的戰略，即我們如何在提高毛利潤的情況下讓收入恢復增長。所以我們對進展感覺良好。

Look, this has been a wonderful journey of a very important business to how the world works. The Kyndryl's around the world have remained energized about where we're going and have been completely focused on continuing to deliver every day to customers because we know that this journey and all the things that we will execute in the future rely on us continuing to deliver every day for the customers.

看，這是一個非常重要的企業了解世界如何運作的美妙旅程。世界各地的 Kyndryl 一直對我們的發展方向充滿活力，並完全專注於繼續每天為客戶提供服務，因為我們知道這一旅程以及我們未來將執行的所有事情都依賴於我們繼續提供服務每天為客戶服務。

So I've been amazed by the depth of our technical talent. I've been amazed at how quickly our teams are reskilling and how they want to move into the future, the future technologies with our customer we've all been, I think, been -- I wouldn't say pleasantly surprised, we've all been encouraged by all the customers on the journey with us. It's been a terrific year of progress in keeping our customer base with us. And at the end of the day, I guess, my one reflection, my one comment on my observations -- this is as much a culture journey for this company as anything else. And yes, the alliances that we've built are really important.

所以我對我們技術人才的深度感到驚訝。我一直驚訝於我們的團隊重新掌握技能的速度以及他們希望如何邁向未來，與我們的客戶一起使用的未來技術，我想，我們都曾經——我不會說驚喜，我們在與我們同行的所有客戶中，我們都受到了鼓勵。在保持我們的客戶群方面，這是一個了不起的一年。歸根結底，我想，我的一個反思，我對我的觀察的一個評論——對於這家公司來說，這與其他任何事情一樣都是一次文化之旅。是的，我們建立的聯盟非常重要。

And the new announcements we've made around bringing innovation to the market like Kyndryl Bridge and new design capabilities like Kyndryl Vital and obviously, creating additional value with Kyndryl Consult. Those are all really important but we are also in the midst of a very important culture journey, and we're also in the midst of a very important transformation for how we run our business.

我們發布的新公告圍繞著為市場帶來創新，如 Kyndryl Bridge 和新的設計能力，如 Kyndryl Vital，顯然，與 Kyndryl Consult 一起創造了額外的價值。這些都非常重要，但我們也正處於一個非常重要的文化之旅之中，我們也正處於我們經營業務的非常重要的轉變之中。

So while, as you know, tomorrow is the 1-year anniversary, so we are not only one year old, but we're also halfway through our transition service agreement period with IBM. We have 2 years to get off those TSA. So there is a ton going on, on how we bring innovation to customers. There's a ton going on in how we build skills to help integrate other technologies with our customers.

因此，如您所知，明天是一周年紀念日，所以我們不僅一歲，而且我們與 IBM 的過渡服務協議期也已過半。我們有 2 年的時間來擺脫那些 TSA。因此，關於我們如何為客戶帶來創新，還有很多事情要做。在我們如何培養技能以幫助將其他技術與我們的客戶集成方面，有很多事情要做。

All that's quite exciting, but we're also going through here a substantial culture transformation and a substantial transformation on how we work. And that is -- that's a heavy lift. That's a lot to get done. And the teams are doing a wonderful job as we reshape almost, not everything but almost everything about how we operate. So this has been a wonderful journey.

所有這一切都非常令人興奮，但我們也正在經歷一次重大的文化轉型和我們工作方式的重大轉變。那就是 - 這是一個沉重的負擔。要完成的工作很多。團隊做得很好，因為我們幾乎重塑了我們的運作方式，而不是一切，而是幾乎所有的東西。所以這是一段美妙的旅程。

Hopefully, that's -- hopefully, that gives you a sense of how excited we are. Hopefully, that gives you a sense of how much progress we feel like we're making and then we've got a very clear path to turning around this business.

希望那是-希望這能讓您了解我們有多興奮。希望這能讓您了解我們覺得我們正在取得多少進展，然後我們就有了一條非常明確的道路來扭轉這項業務。

Yes. Sounds encouraging. And if I could just follow up about the Japan market. I know you could probably spend the whole session on it, but it's one that I'm less familiar with. Although Accenture talked about it a lot. So at a very -- I mean, your growth there was really exceptional. It's a big market for you.

是的。聽起來令人鼓舞。如果我能跟進日本市場。我知道您可能會將整個會話都花在它上面，但它是我不太熟悉的一個。雖然埃森哲談了很多。所以在一個非常 - 我的意思是，你在那裡的成長真的很特別。這對你來說是一個很大的市場。

What -- at a high level is different there than, say, elsewhere. Any context on Japan would be helpful because I'm not sure most of us on this call are not familiar with that end market.

什麼 - 在高層次上與其他地方不同。任何有關日本的背景都會有所幫助，因為我不確定參加這次電話會議的大多數人都不熟悉該終端市場。

Yes. Look, I mean, I'll ask David if he has anything to add to my answer. But I guess the thing to note about the Japanese market is it is a market that has evolved more rapidly than others into a services-led kind of a market. And one of the reasons we are -- one of the reasons it's our second biggest country. And one of the reasons that we do so well there is because we've built terrific services capabilities for the biggest companies, the banking systems, the manufacturers, et cetera, et cetera.

是的。聽著，我的意思是，我會問大衛是否有什麼要補充的。但我想關於日本市場需要注意的一點是，它是一個比其他市場發展得更快的市場，以服務為主導的市場。這也是我們成為第二大國家的原因之一。我們在那裡做得很好的原因之一是因為我們已經為最大的公司、銀行系統、製造商等等建立了極好的服務能力。

So for us, and given the nature of the work we do for us, it's a business that -- where we have a wonderful reputation of being able to do mission-critical with the companies that really matter and that drive their economy and it's an economy that is very services oriented and likes to consume things on a services basis. So this is a good long-term opportunity for us because I think that services orientation that we see in Japan continues to evolve and continues to get stronger.

所以對我們來說，考慮到我們為我們所做的工作的性質，這是一項業務——我們在能夠與真正重要並推動經濟發展的公司一起完成關鍵任務方面享有盛譽，這是一項以服務為導向的經濟，喜歡在服務的基礎上消費東西。所以這對我們來說是一個很好的長期機會，因為我認為我們在日本看到的服務導向會繼續發展並繼續變得更強大。

So it gives us an opportunity to -- gives us an opportunity to really do what we do well, which is both integrate other technologies where -- in a place where they don't want to consume it as a product, they really do want to consume it as a service. It gives us a chance to integrate and it gives us a chance to bring them some innovation as they evolve as they rethink their business model.

所以它給了我們一個機會——給了我們一個真正做我們擅長的事情的機會，這兩者都集成了其他技術——在一個他們不想將其作為產品消費的地方，他們確實想要將其作為服務使用。它給了我們一個整合的機會，也給了我們一個機會，在他們重新思考他們的商業模式的過程中，隨著他們的發展而帶來一些創新。

So it's big because of the nature of the work we do, it's big because of the role we play, and it's big because it's evolved more rapidly as a services-led consumption model.

所以它很重要，因為我們所做的工作的性質，它很重要，因為我們扮演的角色，它很重要，因為它作為一種以服務為主導的消費模式發展得更快。

Thank you. Thanks, Jamie, for your question.

謝謝你。謝謝，傑米，你的問題。

We'll go next to Divya Goel with Scotiabank.

我們將與豐業銀行一起前往 Divya Goel。

Nice quarter there. I just wanted to get some color -- sorry about my soar throat there, but I just wanted to get some color on, say, the macroeconomic headwinds overall. From a debt standpoint, I know David mentioned that the maturities are out there long out there. But from an interest standpoint, how does that affect your EBITDA -- or sorry, EPS your net margins basically is what I want to understand.

那裡不錯。我只是想弄點顏色——對我的喉嚨痛感到抱歉，但我只是想弄點顏色，比如說，整體的宏觀經濟逆風。從債務的角度來看，我知道大衛提到到期時間很長。但從利益的角度來看，這對你的 EBITDA 有何影響——或者對不起，EPS 你的淨利潤率基本上是我想了解的。

Sure. I would say our interest costs are essentially fixed and we're not seeing impacts from higher interest rates in our numbers, and I think it would be a -- it would still be a couple of years before we need to refinance any of the debt that we have outstanding.

當然。我想說我們的利息成本基本上是固定的，我們的數字沒有看到更高利率的影響，我認為這將是 - 我們需要為任何債務再融資還需要幾年的時間我們有傑出的。

So macro, in terms of interest rates, really isn't having an impact on us. Where we are seeing macro impacts, as we mentioned, would be in the area of currency, particularly because we have both the earnings translation as well as dollar-denominated costs in various parts of our business. We're seeing macro or exogenous impacts from higher energy costs, and that's primarily true in the U.S. and in Europe and in certain parts of Europe, in particular, where electricity cost for data centers are up very significantly.

因此，就利率而言，宏觀上確實對我們沒有影響。正如我們所提到的，我們看到宏觀影響的地方將是貨幣領域，特別是因為我們在業務的各個部分都有收益轉換和以美元計價的成本。我們看到能源成本上漲帶來的宏觀或外部影響，這在美國、歐洲和歐洲某些地區尤其如此，尤其是在數據中心的電力成本大幅上漲的地方。

And then the third, as Martin mentioned, the macro effects in terms of demand for our services we're really not seeing significant impacts there. There continues to be good demand for services. We think our business is resilient and fairly insulated and we feel the general customer demand remains strong, and we can benefit from the idiosyncratic opportunities that are available to us as an independent company to be able to grow even in an environment that -- where there's a lot going on from a macro standpoint.

然後第三個，正如馬丁所提到的，就對我們服務的需求而言，宏觀影響我們真的沒有看到顯著的影響。對服務的需求仍然很好。我們認為我們的業務具有彈性且相當絕緣，我們認為總體客戶需求仍然強勁，我們可以從作為一家獨立公司獲得的特殊機會中受益，即使在這樣的環境中也能實現增長——從宏觀的角度來看，發生了很多事情。

That's helpful color. If I can add one more question there. I just wanted to understand from a growth standpoint, with your hyperscalers and like the other relationships broadly beyond IBM. Are you focused mostly on internal sales growth initiatives? Or would you consider M&A at all in, say, the future years as your avenues for growth?

這是有用的顏色。如果我可以在那裡再添加一個問題。我只是想從增長的角度了解與您的超大規模企業以及廣泛超出 IBM 的其他關係。您是否主要關注內部銷售增長計劃？或者您是否會考慮在未來幾年將併購作為您的增長途徑？

Yes, it's a good question. It's Martin. And look, at this point, we have a real focus on getting our teams reskilled. That's working really, really well. We also have, obviously, as we make this place as we get this place humming, of course, we'd have an opportunity, we think, to add to that.

是的，這是個好問題。是馬丁。看，在這一點上，我們真正專注於讓我們的團隊重新獲得技能。這真的很有效。顯然，我們也有這個地方，當我們讓這個地方嗡嗡作響時，我們當然有機會，我們認為，增加它。

But at this point, we stay focused on executing the plays we've called and keep in mind that the -- among the big bets we're making is a bet on our existing customer base and really staying focused on those relationships. And so we have the skills we need that allows us to grow pretty fast in this area. You can see that from the signings growth, and you can see that from the stronger revenue performance here.

但在這一點上，我們仍然專注於執行我們已經調用的策略，並記住 - 我們正在做的大賭注是對我們現有客戶群的賭注，並真正專注於這些關係。因此，我們擁有所需的技能，使我們能夠在該領域快速成長。您可以從簽約增長中看到這一點，也可以從這裡更強勁的收入表現中看到這一點。

And so we're still focused on executing what we have in front of us. But of course, over time, there may be something that can help us accelerate that. But for now, we're focused on executing the play we've called.

因此，我們仍然專注於執行擺在我們面前的東西。但當然，隨著時間的推移，可能會有一些東西可以幫助我們加速這一進程。但就目前而言，我們專注於執行我們所調用的劇本。

Operator, I think we have one last question.

接線員，我想我們還有最後一個問題。

We do. We will go to Bill Cadigan in Deutsche Bank.

我們的確是。我們要去德意志銀行的比爾·卡迪根。

Can we talk about employee retention? If you could remind me just quickly how you guys measure employee retention and how you're doing on that?

我們可以談談員工保留嗎？如果你能快速提醒我你們是如何衡量員工保留率的，以及你們在這方面的表現如何？

Sure, sure. So our employee retention has been what I'd say at a global level, slightly under -- slightly under what we see in the industry, right? But now the retention and -- well, I shouldn't say it the other way. Our retention is slightly above industry, the losses are slightly below industry. Sorry about that.

一定一定。所以我們的員工保留率一直是我在全球範圍內所說的，略低於 - 略低於我們在行業中看到的水平，對吧？但是現在保留和 - 好吧，我不應該說它的另一種方式。我們的留存率略高於行業，虧損略低於行業。對於那個很抱歉。

So it's a very -- though local, it tends to be a very local discussion. There is no one global labor market. So when we look at, for instance, our labor pool in India, our retention rate is above -- slightly above market there. But then you get into a discussion very quickly of what's happening in Bangalore and Hyderabad and Delhi and Mumbai. And again, in each of those places where we're doing well in terms of retaining talent, and we're doing well in terms of attracting talent.

所以這是一個非常-- 雖然是本地化的討論，但它往往是一個非常本地化的討論。沒有一個全球勞動力市場。因此，例如，當我們查看我們在印度的勞動力資源時，我們的保留率高於 - 略高於那裡的市場。但是你很快就開始討論班加羅爾、海得拉巴、德里和孟買正在發生的事情。再說一次，在每個地方，我們在留住人才方面做得很好，在吸引人才方面做得很好。

So when we look at the selectivity that we can have, I give tremendous credit to not only the marketing team for creating a brand that has really gotten people excited but I give a lot of credit to our alliances team, who has moved us into this much broader ecosystem. I give a lot of credit to our local leadership that's created a lot of energy. And obviously, the nature of the work we do is a big appeal.

因此，當我們看到我們可以擁有的選擇性時，我不僅非常感謝營銷團隊創造了一個真正讓人們興奮的品牌，而且我非常感謝我們的聯盟團隊，他們讓我們進入了這個領域更廣泛的生態系統。我非常感謝我們的地方領導層，他們創造了很多能量。顯然，我們所做工作的性質具有很大的吸引力。

So while our retention rates are slightly above -- slightly better than what we see in the industry, even as you start to deconstruct it into what's happening locally, we're also able to attract and be very selective on our hiring. And then finally, I mean, I use India as an example. But similarly, what we see where we have big delivery centers in Eastern Europe and in other parts of the world. Similarly, our retention rates are quite good and again, slightly better than market. And our ability to attract talent is very high, and we can be very selective.

因此，雖然我們的保留率略高於 - 略好於我們在行業中看到的，即使你開始將其解構為當地發生的事情，我們也能夠吸引並在招聘時非常有選擇性。最後，我的意思是，我以印度為例。但同樣，我們看到我們在東歐和世界其他地區設有大型交付中心。同樣，我們的保留率也非常好，而且略好於市場。而且我們吸引人才的能力非常高，我們可以非常挑剔。

In fact, now that we've built the brand I'd say that our independence is a massive tailwind for us to attract talent for a number of reasons. One, the ability to play in a broader ecosystem is really it's meaningful to people. It's meaningful to how they think about building their careers and their skills. So that's a huge tailwind the nature of the work, as I said, we do has always been very important. So that continues.

事實上，既然我們已經建立了品牌，我想說我們的獨立性是我們吸引人才的巨大順風，原因有很多。一，在更廣泛的生態系統中發揮作用的能力對人們來說真的很有意義。這對他們如何看待建立自己的職業和技能很有意義。所以這是工作性質的巨大順風，正如我所說，我們所做的一直非常重要。所以繼續。

But our conversion, our shift toward focusing on investing and focusing on being not just integrators, but innovators is also a pretty substantial talent hole. So we've built the brand to a spot where we are now well known. People know what Kyndryl is. They know what Kyndryl does. And so we've overcome that -- those sort of those early challenges of coming away from the IBM brand and now everything we're doing is a tailwind to attracting talent, and we've had very good success in bringing people on.

但是我們的轉變，我們轉向專注於投資和專注於不僅是集成商，而且是創新者，這也是一個相當大的人才缺口。因此，我們已經將品牌打造為我們現在眾所周知的地方。人們知道Kyndryl是什麼。他們知道Kyndryl做什麼。所以我們已經克服了這一點——那些脫離 IBM 品牌的早期挑戰，現在我們所做的一切都是吸引人才的順風，我們在吸引人才方面取得了非常好的成功。

Okay. That's helpful. And just a real quick follow-up, if I may, is that I appreciate -- certainly appreciate the very consistent message that you guys have had in terms of credit ratings, liquidity, making that a priority. But I guess I'd ask the question. Open market debt purchases. Is that something that you guys have done the work on and possibly talk to the Board about?

好的。這很有幫助。如果可以的話，我只是一個真正的快速跟進，我很欣賞 - 當然很欣賞你們在信用評級、流動性方面所傳達的非常一致的信息，並將其作為優先事項。但我想我會問這個問題。公開市場債券購買。這是你們已經完成的工作並可能與董事會討論過的事情嗎？

We -- this is David. We have done the work on that and looked at that and as we look at things, we do feel that debt's certainly attractively priced but our focus right now is on maintaining liquidity in this environment and making sure we're well positioned from that perspective going forward. So it's not something that at this point, we're planning to pursue, but it's the sort of thing we definitely look at.

我們——這是大衛。我們已經完成了這方面的工作並研究了這一點，當我們觀察事物時，我們確實認為債務的定價肯定具有吸引力，但我們現在的重點是在這種環境下保持流動性，並確保我們從這個角度來看處於有利地位向前。所以這不是我們目前計劃追求的東西，但這是我們肯定會關注的東西。

Thank you, Bill. Let me turn the call back to Martin.

謝謝你，比爾。讓我把電話轉回給馬丁。

Thank you, Lori. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Look, since the last time we had a call, plus or minus 90 days ago, I'd say really good progress that we see on the 3 As and positions us well for what we said we'd get done this year. We -- you saw us in the last 90 days announced really 3 exciting announcements that are going to be a big part of our future around Kyndryl Bridge, Kyndryl Vital and Kyndryl Consult, all 3 exciting.

謝謝你，洛里。謝謝大家，今天加入我們。看，自從我們上次打電話以來，正負 90 天前，我會說我們在 3 A 上看到的非常好的進展，並且為我們所說的今年完成的事情做好了準備。我們——您看到我們在過去 90 天內宣布了 3 個令人興奮的公告，這些公告將成為我們未來圍繞 Kyndryl Bridge、Kyndryl Vital 和 Kyndryl Consult 的重要組成部分，所有 3 個令人興奮的消息。

And then we also know that now IBM has gotten its shares back into the market. So that overhang is gone. And we're looking forward to a big second half of our fiscal year as we continue to execute and stay focused on our customer base, stay focused on building the skills that our customers are asking us to have for them and delivering every day so we maintain their trust.

然後我們也知道，現在 IBM 已經將其股票重新投入市場。所以那個懸垂消失了。我們期待著本財年下半年的輝煌業績，因為我們將繼續執行並專注於我們的客戶群，繼續專注於培養客戶要求我們為他們提供的技能並每天交付，所以我們保持他們的信任。

So been an exciting 90 days, and we look forward to talking to you in another 90 Thanks, everyone.

這是令人興奮的 90 天，我們期待在另一個 90 天與您交談，謝謝大家。

Great. Thanks, Martin. Operator, I'll pass the call back to you.

偉大的。謝謝，馬丁。接線員，我會把電話轉給你。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's Control Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call and webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day.

謝謝你。女士們先生們，今天的 Control 2023 年第二季度財報電話會議和網絡直播到此結束。你可以在這個時候斷開你的線路，並有一個美好的一天。