Kindercare Learning Companies Inc (KLC) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's KinderCare third-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this call may be recorded. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加今天的 KinderCare 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，此通話可能會被錄音。 （操作員指令）

It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Ms. Olivia Kirrer with Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興將會議交給投資人關係部門的 Olivia Kirrer 女士。請繼續。

Thank you, and good evening, everyone. Welcome to KinderCare's third-quarter earnings call. After today's call, a replay will be available on our website. Joining me from the company are our Chief Executive Officer, Paul Thompson; and Chief Financial Officer, Tony Amandi. Following Paul and Tony's comments today, we will have a question-and-answer session.

謝謝大家，晚上好。歡迎參加 KinderCare 第三季財報電話會議。今天的電話會議結束後，我們的網站上將會提供重播。與我一同出席的還有我們的公司執行長保羅湯普森 (Paul Thompson)；和財務長Tony Amandi。在保羅和東尼今天發表評論之後，我們將進行問答環節。

During this call, we will be discussing non-GAAP financial measures. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of the differences between the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are available in our earnings release.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的收益報告提供了最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務指標之間差異的對帳表。

And finally, a reminder that certain statements made today may be forward-looking statements. These statements are made based upon the management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting the company and involve a number of uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, those described in our earnings release and other filings with the SEC. Therefore, the actual results of operations or financial condition of the company could differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements.

最後，提醒一下，今天發表的某些聲明可能是前瞻性的聲明。這些聲明是基於管理層目前對影響公司的未來事件的預期和信念而做出的，涉及許多不確定性和風險，包括但不限於我們的收益報告和向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件中所述的不確定性和風險。因此，本公司的實際經營結果或財務狀況可能與我們的前瞻性陳述中所表達或暗示的結果有重大差異。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Paul Thompson. Paul?

接下來，我想將電話轉給我們的執行長保羅湯普森 (Paul Thompson)。保羅？

Thank you, Olivia, and thanks to everyone joining us for our first earnings call as a public company. I'm going to start today's call with an introduction to KinderCare for those we may not have met during the IPO process. Overall, we are the US market leader in early childhood education. Our team of approximately 42,000 teachers and staff works together across our more than 2,500 centers and sites to fulfill our mission to provide America's families with high-quality early childhood education and reliable care.

謝謝你，奧莉維亞，也謝謝大家參加我們作為上市公司的首次財報電話會議。我將在今天的電話會議上向我們可能在 IPO 過程中沒有見過面的人介紹 KinderCare。整體而言，我們是美國早期兒童教育市場的領導者。我們的團隊由約 42,000 名教師和工作人員組成，他們在超過 2,500 個中心和站點共同努力，實現我們的使命，為美國家庭提供高品質的早期兒童教育和可靠的護理。

Together, we build confidence for kids and their families in the future we share. We have been inspired by this mission for over 50 years. We operate in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and in nearly every major market in the country, serving children from 6 weeks to 12 years old.

我們共同為孩子和他們的家庭對我們共同的未來建立信心。 50多年來，我們一直受到這項使命的激勵。我們的業務範圍遍布美國 40 個州、哥倫比亞特區以及全國幾乎所有主要市場，為 6 週至 12 歲的兒童提供服務。

We have a compelling business model and growth thesis driven by two major factors. First, early childhood industry dynamics are favorable because of a growing need from families for quality child care centers and a persistent undersupply. This market is highly fragmented. We see tremendous growth potential as the top three providers of early childhood education make up less than 5% of what we believe is a $76 billion market.

我們擁有引人注目的商業模式和成長理論，由兩大因素推動。首先，由於家庭對優質兒童保育中心的需求日益增長，以及兒童保育中心供應持續不足，幼兒保育產業發展態勢良好。這個市場高度分散。我們看到了巨大的成長潛力，因為我們認為，三大幼兒教育提供者的市佔率不到 760 億美元的 5%。

Our scale, resources and operational excellence position us exceptionally well to increase our market share. We see growing challenges from many smaller providers that have received significant support from government stimulus following the pandemic. As most of you know, these stimulus dollars expire this year, and KinderCare is prepared to help support impacted communities.

我們的規模、資源和卓越的營運使我們能夠很好地提高市場份額。我們看到，許多小型供應商在疫情後獲得了政府刺激計畫的大力支持，但他們面臨的挑戰越來越大。大多數人都知道，這些刺激資金將於今年到期，而 KinderCare 準備幫助支持受影響的社區。

The second and more important factor is we have meaningful competitive advantages. Our scale and diverse high-quality offerings across our over 2,500 locations in nearly every major US market allow us to meet the unique needs of working families and employers. We are the number one provider supporting families eligible for government subsidy. Unlike most childcare centers without the infrastructure to enable government-subsidized tuition, KinderCare has strategically prioritized it as a core competency.

第二個更重要的因素是我們擁有顯著的競爭優勢。我們遍佈美國幾乎所有主要市場的 2,500 多個地點，提供規模龐大且豐富多樣的高品質服務，能夠滿足工薪家庭和雇主的獨特需求。我們是支持有資格獲得政府補貼的家庭的頭號供應商。與大多數不具備政府補貼學費基礎設施的托兒中心不同，KinderCare 策略性地將其視為一項核心競爭力。

As a result, more than 30% of our revenue comes from supporting families who depend on childcare subsidies. We also benefit from bipartisan durability of the government programs that fund these grants. Over the past 18 years and across a mix of Democratic and Republican controlled houses, the childcare and development block grant has grown annually by 4% on average.

因此，我們超過 30% 的收入來自於支持依賴兒童照護補助的家庭。我們也受益於為這些撥款提供資金的政府項目的兩黨持久性。過去18年來，在民主黨和共和黨控制的議院中，兒童照顧和發展撥款平均每年增加4%。

We also provide customized flexible childcare benefits through partnerships with over 700 employers. Our employer-sponsored tuition plans have been a growing component of our revenue and now stand at 20% of our total. KinderCare operates over 70 on-site employer-sponsored centers and offers access to tuition benefits and a backup care at our 1,500 stand-alone centers.

我們也透過與 700 多家雇主合作提供客製化的彈性兒童照護福利。雇主贊助的學費計畫已經成為我們收入中一個不斷增長的部分，目前已占到總收入的 20%。 KinderCare 經營著 70 多個雇主贊助的現場中心，並在我們的 1,500 個獨立中心提供學費福利和備用護理。

Lastly, we have unique and growing offerings beyond our core KinderCare brand. Our 2022 acquisition of Crème Schools increased our total addressable market to include the premium end of the spectrum, where we currently operate over 40 centers.

最後，除了核心的 KinderCare 品牌之外，我們還提供獨特且不斷成長的產品。我們於 2022 年收購了 Crème Schools，擴大了我們的整體目標市場，涵蓋了高端市場，目前我們在該市場經營 40 多個中心。

We see the potential to grow this brand as there is a large opportunity for premium education experiences and specialized enrichment programs like language or STEM. And through our Champions brand, we have a network of over 1,000 sites providing before and after school and summer programs for school age children.

我們看到了這個品牌的發展潛力，因為它為優質的教育體驗和語言或 STEM 等專業的充實計劃提供了巨大的機會。透過我們的冠軍品牌，我們擁有一個由 1,000 多個站點組成的網絡，為學齡兒童提供課前、課後和暑期課程。

With that backdrop, I'd like to outline our strategic priorities to create value for KinderCare shareholders in the quarters and years ahead. We have three primary avenues of growth across organic initiatives, expanding B2B relationships and through portfolio expansion.

在此背景下，我想概述我們的策略重點，以便在未來幾季和幾年為 KinderCare 股東創造價值。我們有三個主要的成長途徑：有機計劃、不斷擴大的 B2B 關係和投資組合擴張。

Across each avenue, KinderCare has a long history of successful execution and see a significant and diverse runway for growth in the future. We seek to drive consistent, robust organic growth, which includes both tuition increases and center occupancy optimization across our existing portfolio.

在每個領域，KinderCare 都有著悠久的成功執行歷史，並且看到了未來巨大且多樣化的成長空間。我們尋求推動持續、強勁的有機成長，包括提高學費和優化現有投資組合的中心佔用率。

Beginning with tuition growth, KinderCare and the industry have a strong history of measured and durable growth in tuition, where our strategic target is to maintain a 50 to 100 basis point positive spread ahead of our wage growth.

從學費成長開始，KinderCare 和整個產業在學費方面都有著穩定、持久的成長，我們的策略目標是保持比薪資成長高出 50 到 100 個基點的正利差。

Apart from our Crème locations, where we believe our pricing is below market, we expect consistent tuition growth to be in the low single-digit range.

除我們的 Crème 校區（我們認為這些校區的定價低於市價）外，我們預計學費成長率將保持在低個位數範圍內。

Turning to occupancy. With the exception of the pandemic recovery, we remain committed to our strategy to drive portfolio-wide occupancy by approximately 1 percent point per year. To frame the impact on our financials, each 2% occupancy gain is worth approximately 1% in annual EBITDA margin. We are actively working to directly address opportunities with the benefit of our scale and resources with digital tools that help elevate the operational consistency across our portfolio, incremental occupancy growth to KinderCare's economics is not linear but exponential as better performing centers scale fixed costs and gain additional pricing power.

轉向佔用情況。除疫情期間的復甦外，我們仍致力於我們的策略，即每年將整個投資組合的入住率提高約 1 個百分點。為了說明對我們財務的影響，入住率每提高 2%，就相當於年度 EBITDA 利潤率增加約 1%。我們正在積極努力，利用我們的規模和資源優勢，透過數位工具直接抓住機遇，幫助提升我們整個投資組合的營運一致性，隨著業績更好的中心擴大固定成本並獲得額外的定價權，KinderCare 經濟的增量入住率增長不是線性的，而是指數級的。

We also plan to expand our network of B2B relationships with broader partnership for both on-site and near-home childcare. The same growth paradigm holds true for our Champions programs, where we continue to broaden our footprint before and after school care at local school sites. Our third avenue of growth is through new centers, both new center openings and tuck-in acquisitions.

我們還計劃擴大我們的 B2B 關係網絡，為現場和近家兒童保育建立更廣泛的合作夥伴關係。同樣的成長模式也適用於我們的冠軍計劃，我們將繼續擴大在當地學校的課前和課後託管服務範圍。我們的第三個成長途徑是透過新中心，包括開設新中心和收購新中心。

As I noted, there is significant white space in our industry, and KinderCare's backlog of new builds and tuck-in targets is large and highly visible as it typically takes several months to vet, approve and launch a new center. Additionally, we have historically demonstrated that KinderCare has a strong playbook to add value through M&A, and we believe there may be an increasingly viable opportunity as pandemic stimulus capital expires.

正如我所指出的，我們的行業存在很大的空白，而 KinderCare 的新建和整合目標積壓量巨大且非常顯眼，因為審查、批准和啟動新中心通常需要幾個月的時間。此外，我們的歷史經驗表明，KinderCare 擁有透過併購增加價值的強大策略，而且我們相信，隨著疫情刺激資本到期，可能會出現越來越可行的機會。

Best of all, when taking each of these growth options in totality, KinderCare can fund the majority of these initiatives with our stable and growing cash flow. So to close my remarks, I'll reiterate how excited we are about our future growth, and I am extremely proud to lead such a strong team to achieve what we know is possible for our shareholders.

最重要的是，當全面考慮這些成長選項時，KinderCare 可以利用我們穩定且不斷增長的現金流為大部分計劃提供資金。所以，在結束我的發言之前，我要重申我們對未來成長的興奮之情，我非常自豪能夠領導這樣一支強大的團隊，為股東實現我們所知道的目標。

And with that, I will turn the call over to Tony.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給托尼。

Thanks, Paul, and I want to echo how excited we are to be telling the story. Let me begin with our third quarter consolidated financial highlights, which I will note exclude the impact of pandemic stimulus funds in all periods for a clean comparison.

謝謝，保羅，我想表達我們對講述這個故事的興奮之情。首先，我先介紹我們第三季的合併財務亮點，需要注意的是，為了進行清晰的比較，我們排除了所有時期的疫情刺激資金的影響。

KinderCare grew year-over-year revenue by 7.5% to $671 million, driven by a mix of tuition rate and some fee billing that moved from Q2 to Q3 compared to last year. The portfolio also exhibited stable same-center occupancy, inclusive of the integration of Crème and new center additions. Portfolio-wide same-center occupancy ended the quarter near 70%.

KinderCare 的營收年增 7.5% 至 6.71 億美元，這得益於學費和一些費用的收取，與去年相比，從第二季度轉移到了第三季度。該投資組合也表現出穩定的同一中心入住率，包括 Crème 的整合和新中心的增加。本季結束時，整個投資組合的同一中心入住率接近 70%。

In our Champions programs, we grew revenue nearly 17% compared to a year ago, driven by new site openings, additional summer camp offerings and increased tuition rates. Cost of services was up 6%, driven by a mix of personnel, marketing and insurance costs, all of which were in line with expectations.

在我們的冠軍計劃中，由於新場地的開放、夏令營的增加和學費的提高，我們的收入與一年前相比增長了近 17%。服務成本上漲 6%，主要是受人員、行銷和保險成本等因素的影響，這些成本都符合預期。

Turning to our profitability. We realized a positive spread between our tuition growth and wages, excluding the impact of stimulus. The spread was in line with our long-term target to drive operating leverage. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $71.4 million for the third quarter, which is an increase of 25% compared to a year ago. For a cleaner compare, if we exclude the timing of registration fee income that aided Q3, our year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth would have been approximately 7%, which is in line with our expectations.

談到我們的獲利能力。除去刺激措施的影響，我們實現了學費成長與薪資之間的正差。這一利差符合我們推動營運槓桿的長期目標。第三季調整後 EBITDA 總計 7,140 萬美元，較去年同期成長 25%。為了更清晰的比較，如果我們排除有助於第三季的註冊費收入的時間，我們的年比調整後 EBITDA 成長率將約為 7%，這符合我們的預期。

For context, registration fee income hit in Q2 of 2023, but we expect those fees to occur in the third quarter and future years. Our adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 10.6%. Excluding the impact of the registration fee income I just referenced, adjusted EBITDA margin was 9.2%, up approximately 10 basis points year over year.

具體來說，註冊費收入在 2023 年第二季達到頂峰，但我們預計這些費用將在第三季和未來幾年出現。我們本季的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 10.6%。除去我剛才提到的註冊費收入的影響，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 9.2%，年增約 10 個基點。

During the current year, KinderCare has opened 10 new centers, including five in the third quarter. Additionally, we have added 16 centers through tuck-in acquisition year to date.

今年，KinderCare 已開設 10 家新中心，其中第三季開設了 5 家。此外，今年迄今，我們已透過收購新增了 16 個中心。

As a reminder, our new centers typically scale in the second year of operation and achieve occupancy above the portfolio average upon stabilization. Overall, our new centers are performing in line or better than our expectations. We have a strong pipeline of additional centers set to open over the next 12 to 18 months. Before I turn to our balance sheet, I'd like to quickly point out that approximately $4 million of EBITDA occurred ahead of plan in Q3 tied to reserve adjustments, some of which were anticipated in Q4.

提醒一下，我們的新中心通常會在營運的第二年擴大規模，並在穩定後實現高於投資組合平均水準的入住率。整體而言，我們的新中心的表現符合或優於我們的預期。我們還有一系列新增中心計劃在未來 12 至 18 個月內開業。在介紹我們的資產負債表之前，我想快速指出，第三季約有 400 萬美元的 EBITDA 提前實現，與儲備調整有關，其中一些是預計在第四季度實現的。

Lastly, for our capitalization, pro forma for our IPO, including the exercise of the greenshoe, KinderCare had balance sheet cash and available liquidity of approximately $330 million and total debt principal balance of approximately $967 million.

最後，對於我們的資本化，包括行使綠鞋選擇權在內的首次公開發行 (IPO) 的預測，KinderCare 的資產負債表現金和可用流動資金約為 3.3 億美元，總債務本金餘額約為 9.67 億美元。

Our effective interest rate subsequent to the repayment of principal and repricing amendment entered into the quarter was 7.8%. I will end my remarks by noting that we plan to introduce our 2025 financial outlook with our fourth quarter report early next year.

本季償還本金和重新定價修正後的實際利率為 7.8%。最後，我想說的是，我們計劃在明年初的第四季報告中介紹 2025 年的財務展望。

With that, let me turn the call back over to the operator to take your questions.

說完這些，請允許我將電話轉回給接線員來回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Steinerman, JPMorgan.

（操作員指示）摩根大通 (JPMorgan) 的 Andrew Steinerman。

Hi, Tony. Thanks for the call. I wanted to ask you specifically if you were willing to disclose how much did M&A revenue add to the third quarter for the acquisitions that were made over the last 12 months. And then I also wanted to know when it says 1% was attributed to increased enrollments in ECE, is that same-center enrollments? Or does that also include new centers?

你好，托尼。感謝您的來電。我想特別問您，您是否願意透露過去 12 個月的收購為第三季帶來了多少收入。然後我還想知道，當它說 1% 歸因於 ECE 入學人數的增加時，這是同一中心的入學人數嗎？或者這也包括新的中心嗎？

Hey, Andrew, so we disclosed there $9.1 million of the revenue in the third quarter was from centers that aren't included in same center. And so that includes both the 16 from acquisitions, as well as the 10 new centers that we added as well. And for the 1% you're speaking to, that would be for all of our centers included.

嘿，安德魯，我們披露，第三季的 910 萬美元收入來自不在同一中心的中心。其中包括收購的 16 個中心以及我們新增的 10 個中心。對於您提到的 1%，這包括我們所有的中心。

Okay. Could you break that down for me, the 1%, how much is from new centers, how much is same-center enrollment growth?

好的。您能否為我分解一下，1% 中有多少來自新中心，有多少是同一中心的入學成長？

The majority -- so year to date, it's relatively flat on same. And so the increase is coming primarily from the new centers.

大多數 — — 因此今年迄今為止，情況相對平穩。因此，成長主要來自於新的中心。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Toni Kaplan, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的東尼卡普蘭。

Thanks so much. Since the election, there's been a strong focus on government expenditures just given the efficiency programs we've heard about. What are you hearing from your people in Washington on what this could mean for the industry or your business or just any impact from that?

非常感謝。自大選以來，鑑於我們所聽到的效率計劃，人們一直高度關注政府支出。您從華盛頓的人士那裡聽說了什麼，這對行業或您的業務意味著什麼或會造成什麼影響？

Sure. Thanks, Toni. Right now, a lot of that is still being decided as President Trump sets his agenda. But what we can point to is over the last decades, and specifically, what we called out in other communications last 18 years, it's increased 4% annually. And we've seen strong support, whether it's Democratic or Republican control in the decision-making.

當然。謝謝，托尼。目前，由於川普總統正在製定議程，許多事項尚待決定。但我們可以指出的是，在過去幾十年裡，具體來說，正如我們在過去 18 年的其他通訊中所指出的，這一數字每年增長 4%。我們都看到了強而有力的支持，無論是民主黨還是共和黨控制決策。

So for that, we know that there's continued support for a strong child care industry. And we know that, that helps a strong economy for parents being able to go back to work. And so why we feel confident for us being the largest in the industry and continuing to have such scale and resources to take on subsea children in a meaningful way will continue to be a part of our future growth.

因此，我們知道，人們會持續支持強大的兒童保育產業。我們知道，這有助於經濟強勁發展，使父母能夠重返工作崗位。因此，我們有信心成為業內最大的企業，並繼續擁有這樣的規模和資源，以有意義的方式接納海底兒童，這也將繼續成為我們未來成長的一部分。

That makes sense. And then as my follow-up, during the last number of months, you've talked about the Quintiles, utilization of centers by Quintiles. And you referenced it again in terms of improvement there could lead to significant EBITDA growth. I was hoping you might be able to share any initiatives that you've been working on to try to get those underperforming centers back to pre-COVID levels? And if you've seen any progress, any data points, that we could show to hear the progress on those? Thank you.

這很有道理。然後作為我的後續問題，在過去的幾個月裡，您談到了昆泰公司以及昆泰公司中心的使用率。您再次提到，改善可能會帶來 EBITDA 的大幅成長。我希望您能分享您正在採取的一些舉措，以嘗試讓那些表現不佳的中心恢復到疫情之前的水平？如果您看到任何進展，任何數據點，我們可以展示以了解這些進展嗎？謝謝。

Overall, Toni, what we would continue to reinforce regardless all of our centers, call it, the 1,500 network of community centers, we see growth opportunities for each one of those where they might be in the segmentation. The differences of the playbook will continue to evolve. Some will be more pricing focused and others will be everything that we know we can continue to do to elevate the operational excellence. What you're specifically referring to, we rolled out certain digital tools over, call it, the second and third quarter of this year.

總體而言，托尼，無論我們所有的中心，我們都會繼續加強，稱之為 1,500 個社區中心網絡，我們都看到每個中心在細分市場中的成長機會。劇本的差異將會繼續演變。有些會更加重視定價，而其他的則會是我們所知的一切可以繼續做以提升卓越營運的事情。您具體提到的是，我們在今年第二季和第三季推出了某些數位工具。

We're really excited about what that brings to our center directors on up-leveling their operational approach to what they're doing, the consistency that we see across centers. And that there allows them to have more time and resources to actually build stronger relationships with the families and with the teachers. So definitely encouraged with what we're seeing here in 2024. But candidly, a lot of that is just beginning and will be definitely a strength for us as we go into 2025.

我們真的很高興這能為我們的中心主任帶來提升，使他們能夠更好地開展工作，並看到各個中心之間的一致性。這樣他們就有更多的時間和資源來與家人和老師建立更強的關係。因此，我們對 2024 年所看到的情況感到非常鼓舞。

Thank you so much.

太感謝了。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的 Manav Patnaik。

Tony, I know you're holding off on '25 guidance, but maybe you could just help us with maybe the fourth quarter in terms of some of the trends on -- I think you said flat same-center pricing, those kinds of things, just to set some expectations for next quarter?

東尼，我知道您推遲了 25 年的指導，但也許您可以幫助我們了解第四季度的一些趨勢——我想您說過同中心定價持平之類的事情，只是為了為下個季度設定一些預期？

Yeah. Manav, I think what I'd tell you for now is that everything that we saw through the third quarter and our early back-to-school results suggest that everything is in line with our expectations that we've set out for this year and everything operationally is going to where we'd expect it to be.

是的。 Manav，我想我現在要告訴你的是，我們在第三季度看到的一切以及我們早期的開學結果表明，一切都符合我們今年設定的預期，並且一切運營都按照我們預期的方式進行。

Okay. And then just a follow-up on the pricing strategy overall, like, can you just remind us when you set the pricing? When it goes into effect? And I know, I guess, you're generally trying to keep it 50 to 100 basis points above your wage inflation, so just some color there.

好的。然後只是對整體定價策略的跟進，例如，您可以在設定價格時提醒我們嗎？什麼時候生效？而且我知道，我猜，你通常會試圖將其保持比工資通膨高出 50 到 100 個基點，所以這裡只是一些顏色。

Yeah. So you have that right. So we're right now working through finalizing that over the next month or so. And then our new prices go into effect on January 1 for new students and age-ups. And so those students will see those prices as early as January 1, depending when that happens. And then all remaining students get new prices at back-to-school in September, but that's a small fraction of families at that point that see those at that point.

是的。所以你有這個權利。因此我們現在正在努力在接下來的一個月左右完成這項任務。我們的新價格將於 1 月 1 日對新生和年齡較大的學生生效。因此，這些學生最早將在 1 月 1 日看到這些價格，具體時間取決於具體時間。所有剩餘的學生在九月開學時都可以享受新的價格，但那時只有一小部分家庭能享受這些價格。

Thank you.

謝謝。

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的喬治通 (George Tong)。

Hi, thanks. Good afternoon. You've previously mentioned for your bottom quintile occupancy centers that improving the retention rates of center directors and teachers will be a key enabling factor to improving those bottom quintile occupancies. Can you elaborate on some initiatives you have to drive improved retention of staff internally? What programs you have in place or development initiatives to help them stay longer?

嗨，謝謝。午安.您先前曾提到，對於入住率位於最低五分之一的中心，提高中心主任和教師的留任率將是改善入住率位於最低五分之一的中心的關鍵因素。您能否詳細說明一下為提高內部員工留任率所採取的一些措施？您制定了哪些計劃或發展措施來幫助他們停留更長時間？

Yeah. George, there's a number of things that we have found to be quite effective for our center directors and for our teachers. And at the core of it is everything we've talked about in the past of the work we do with Gallup and measuring engagement. We actually just had our engagement survey here close a few weeks ago, where we survey our own team, our families, and our clients. So that is a great foundation for the conversation we have at every one of our centers.

是的。喬治，我們發現有很多方法對我們的中心主任和老師來說非常有效。其核心內容是我們過去與蓋洛普合作開展的工作以及參與度衡量方面所討論的一切。實際上，我們幾週前才剛結束敬業度調查，調查內容包括我們自己的團隊、我們的家人和我們的客戶。因此，這為我們在每個中心進行的對話奠定了良好的基礎。

And then for our center directors and teachers, part of it comes with having the right benefits and career education reimbursement that we do for them. And then there's also professional development days, where we take the time to reinforce health and safety, educational excellence within our centers, the assessments we're doing with our children. And so we feel really good about how we're continuing to enhance the onboarding for center directors and teachers in their first 90 days, then the relationship building and career development that we do for them until they hit their year.

對於我們的中心主任和老師來說，部分費用來自於我們為他們提供的適當福利和職業教育報銷。此外，還有專業發展日，我們會利用這段時間來強調中心內的健康和安全、教育卓越性以及我們對孩子的評估。因此，我們很高興能夠繼續加強中心主任和教師在任職前 90 天的入職培訓，以及為他們建立關係和進行職業發展，直到他們進入工作年限。

And then as you've heard from us in the past, once they're at a year anniversary with us, they definitely are staying with us longer in a great way for us to continue to build that out. The other piece that I think is really important because of our scale for teachers, they can come in and be the best infant teacher for 40 years in their classroom.

正如您過去從我們這裡聽到的那樣，一旦他們與我們合作一周年，他們肯定會與我們合作更長時間，這對我們繼續發展有很大幫助。我認為另一點非常重要，因為我們的教師規模，他們可以成為課堂上 40 年來最好的幼兒教師。

But if they want an important to their own development to move up into an assistant director, a center director, and perhaps even to a district leader or a region leader, or move throughout the US because that's what's helpful for their own family dynamics, we can provide that career growth for them individually. So we've seen and continue to see improvements in our retention and definitely a big part of why we've been able to attract the talent that we have across our centers.

但如果他們希望晉升為助理主任、中心主任，甚​​至是地區領導或區域領導，或者在美國各地調動，因為這對他們自己的家庭動態有幫助，那麼我們可以為他們提供個人職業發展機會。因此，我們已經看到並將繼續看到我們的保留率有所提高，這無疑是我們能夠吸引各中心人才的重要原因。

Got it. Very helpful. And you mentioned earlier that new center openings is a contributing factor to your growth. Can you talk about what your expectations are in general for new center openings going forward, if the pace of new center openings should accelerate or stay similar to where it is now? And if the growth should accelerate, what are the key drivers of new center opening growth acceleration?

知道了。非常有幫助。您之前提到，新中心的開設是促進你們發展的因素。您能否談談對未來新中心開業的整體期望，新中心開業的速度應該加快還是保持與現在相似的水平？如果成長加速，那麼新中心開幕成長加速的主要驅動力是什麼？

Yeah. We'll get a little more specific, George, with our fourth quarter on specific expectations there. But in general, we expect them to accelerate. The primary reason about that is that we're still feeling some of the impacts of our pandemic-related decisions now on our new center openings as far as what we are willing to commit to capital back during those days. And so that's still contributing to some of our openings now.

是的。喬治，我們將更具體地介紹我們對第四季的具體預期。但總體而言，我們預計它們將會加速。主要原因是，就當時我們願意投入的資本而言，我們現在仍然能感受到與疫情相關的決定對我們新中心開幕的一些影響。所以這仍然對我們的一些開業有所貢獻。

And so with what we have in our pipeline that we've already approved and they are under construction, we know that we will be accelerating from where we are now, and we'll share a little bit more details with that here with our fourth quarter results.

因此，根據我們已經批准並正在建設中的項目，我們知道我們將從現在開始加速發展，我們將在第四季度的業績中分享更多細節。

And then just to build on that, you know that we have a separate team that does all of our new center openings and our acquisition transition. So if we do see an increase in the number of centers we're doing to scale up that team with one or two or three additional headcount is easy for us to do and meet the opportunity in the best way.

在此基礎上，您知道我們有一個單獨的團隊，負責所有新中心的開幕和收購轉型。因此，如果我們確實看到中心數量增加，那麼我們可以增加一、二或三名額外員工來擴大該團隊，這對我們來說很容易做到，並且能夠以最佳方式抓住機會。

Got it. Very helpful. Thank you.

知道了。非常有幫助。謝謝。

Jeff Meuler, Baird.

傑夫·穆勒，貝爾德。

Yes. Just on Champions, it's still growing really well, but it did decelerate a bit. Can you just address that? And were there any unusual factors impacting it, like any sort of hurricane impact or anything that we should know about?

是的。僅就冠軍而言，它仍然增長得很好，但速度確實有所放緩。你能談談這個問題嗎？是否有任何不尋常的因素對其產生影響，例如颶風影響或任何我們應該知道的事情？

There wasn't anything specific to Champions. We continue to see that as a strong double-digit growth business. As you know, with 1,000 sites today, the opportunity across the US are there's 90,000 schools for us to expand into and albeit that obviously is a high watermark. But we definitely see Champions with its higher quality and the way it fits the needs for principals and superintendents and resonates so well with parents as a strong solution to extending the learning day, the double-digit growth of Champions will continue to occur over the many, many years to come.

沒有什麼特別針對冠軍的事情。我們繼續將其視為一項強勁的兩位數成長業務。如您所知，目前我們已擁有 1,000 個站點，這意味著美國各地有 90,000 所學校可供我們拓展，儘管這顯然是一個高水準。但我們確實看到，冠軍課程品質更高，能夠滿足校長和督學的需求，並與家長產生良好共鳴，是延長學習時間的有力解決方案，冠軍課程的兩位數增長將在未來很多年繼續實現。

Got it. And then, Tony, you mentioned something about some reserve adjustments. Just can you help us size that up? And what exactly was that?

知道了。然後，東尼，你提到了一些關於儲備調整的事情。你能幫我們估一下嗎？那到底是什麼？

Yeah. So it was about $4 million just kind of they were out of what we were expecting in the quarter. A little bit of that came in from the fourth quarter. Nothing really specific to call out, Jeff, just normal course reserves, nothing operationally related at all. I just want to make sure we're giving color for the impact to Q3 and what might happen in Q4.

是的。所以這個數字大約是 400 萬美元，超出了我們對該季度的預期。從第四節開始就有一點這樣的情況。傑夫，沒什麼特別需要指出的，只是正常的航線儲備，與操作完全無關。我只是想確保我們能夠清楚地了解其對第三季的影響以及第四季可能發生的情況。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jeff Silber, BMO Capital Markets.

傑夫·西爾伯（Jeff Silber），BMO 資本市場。

I wanted to get back to the pricing question that was asked about earlier. In your press release, I think you talked about average tuition going up about 6%. I know some of that might be because of mix. But then I think you talked about over the longer-term pricing being low single-digit increases. Is that going to be a general ramp down? Or is it something that might be a little bit steeper over the next few quarters or so?

我想回到之前詢問的定價問題。在您的新聞稿中，我記得您談到了平均學費上漲約 6%。我知道其中一些可能是由於混合造成的。但我認為您談到了長期定價將呈現低個位數成長。這是否將導致整體下滑？或者在接下來的幾個季度裡，這種成長可能會更加迅猛？

Yeah. Jeff, one of the things that's happening in that 6% is the impact of the registration fees in the Q3 this year versus Q3 last year. So that is, as we classified the tuition versus volume, that's involved in that. And so that, obviously, over time is going to bring that down, because that's kind of a one-quarter blip that won't happen in the future with us having those registration fees in Q3 in the future as well.

是的。傑夫，這 6% 中發生的事情之一是今年第三季與去年第三季相比註冊費的影響。這就是，當我們將學費和學量分類時，就涉及了這一點。因此，顯然，隨著時間的推移，這個數字會下降，因為這只是第一季的一個小波動，將來不會再發生，因為我們將來在第三季也會有這些註冊費。

Okay. That's helpful. If I could go back to an earlier question about the potential impact of the Trump administration, we've been getting some questions in terms of if there is some potential immigration reform, how that might impact finding staff for the overall industry? And I'm just wondering your thoughts on that.

好的。這很有幫助。如果我可以回到之前關於川普政府潛在影響的問題，我們一直在問一些問題，例如，如果存在一些潛在的移民改革，這將如何影響整個行業尋找員工？我只是想知道您對此的看法。

Yeah. For us, Jeff, with the scale that we have and with our recruiting team and the success that we've seen about everything that we offer in wage and benefits and career development, we feel very confident about our ability to have the right teachers and staff throughout our centers and sites and across our many brands. So not seeing or expecting an impact that, that would have to us uniquely.

是的。傑夫，對我們來說，憑藉我們的規模、我們的招聘團隊以及我們在工資福利和職業發展方面所取得的成功，我們對我們的中心、站點和眾多品牌擁有合適的教師和員工的能力非常有信心。因此，我們不會看到或期待這會對我們產生獨特的影響。

Okay. Thanks so much for the help.

好的。非常感謝你的幫忙。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行的 Faiza Alwy。

Yes, hi. Thank you. I wanted to ask about M&A a bit more again. I think you mentioned that there's an increasingly viable opportunity as pandemic stimulus capital expires. So maybe provide an update on what you're seeing in terms of valuation? And how you're thinking about M&A versus new store build?

是的，你好。謝謝。我想再次詢問一些有關 M&A 的問題。我想您提到過，隨著疫情刺激資金到期，出現了越來越可行的機會。那麼，您能否提供您所看到的最新估值情況？您對併購與新店興建有何看法？

Yeah, it's perfect. So valuations continue -- we continue to see the tuck-in acquisitions in the low to mid-single-digit EBITDA multiples, which is a nice point for us. Like you've seen, we had 16 year to date so far this year. Q3 only had the single one in there. So it was a little lighter and mostly just timing there. We continue to see a really nice flow of opportunities coming in, both the ones that we're out hunting, but also the ones that are coming in directly to us, and are really excited about where we'll see them continue to go going forward.

是的，非常完美。因此估值仍在繼續——我們繼續看到附加收購的 EBITDA 倍數處於低至中等個位數，這對我們來說是個好消息。正如您所看到的，今年迄今為止我們已經有 16 年了。 Q3 只有一個。因此，它稍微輕鬆一些，並且主要只是計時。我們不斷看到大量非常好的機會湧入，既有我們出去尋找的機會，也有直接向我們湧來的機會，我們對於這些機會未來的發展感到非常興奮。

Okay. Got it. And then, Tony, I know you're not giving us any guidance for '25, but I'm curious if you can help us with just some housekeeping things to make sure we have them right. I know you did the refinancing post IPO. Can you just confirm for us how we should think about interest expense and like the diluted share count now that the IPO is all done? Just those things, if you could share some color there.

好的。知道了。然後，托尼，我知道你沒有給我們任何關於 25 年的指導，但我很好奇你是否可以幫助我們做一些家務，以確保我們做對了。我知道你在 IPO 後進行了再融資。您能否向我們確認一下，現在 IPO 已經完成，我們該如何考慮利息支出和稀釋股數？只是那些東西，如果你可以分享一些顏色的話。

Yes, of course. So we're down to 7.8% effective interest rate now on the current debt levels with that paydown. And the debt level, it was at just under [$970 million] after the paydown as well.

是的當然。因此，隨著償還貸款，目前債務水準的實際利率已降至 7.8%。而債務水準在還款後也略低於 [9.7 億美元]。

And as far as share count, if you take what's in the Q3 balance sheet, which is just a little over 90 million, and you can get the exact number there and then add on the IPO of 24 million shares plus the 3.6 million greenshoe, that would put us just under 118 million shares, Faiza.

就股數而言，如果您查看第三季資產負債表中的數據（略高於 9000 萬股），您可以獲得確切的數字，然後加上 IPO 的 2400 萬股，再加上 360 萬股的綠鞋期權，那麼我們的股數將略低於 1.18 億股，Faiza。

We do have a few RSUs that will vest in the fourth quarter, but they're very immaterial to the total. And so I think if you just use what's on the balance sheet, plus the IPO, plus the greenshoe, that should get you to a really good spot.

我們確實有一些 RSU 將在第四季度歸屬，但它們對於總額來說並不重要。因此，我認為，如果您只使用資產負債表上的資金，加上 IPO 和綠鞋機制，您將獲得非常好的地位。

All right. Great. Thank you.

好的。偉大的。謝謝。

Josh Chan, UBS.

瑞銀的 Josh Chan。

Hi, good afternoon. Paul, thank for taking my question. You mentioned that your same-center occupancy is relatively flat. I think your goal is to grow that by 1 point every year, recognizing there's fluctuations and maybe it's a very small difference. But what would you say is kind of constraining the near-term enrollment growth? And how do you see those constraints kind of maybe unwinding as we go into the future years?

嗨，下午好。保羅，謝謝你回答我的問題。您提到您的同心佔有率相對平穩。我認為你的目標是每年增加 1 個百分點，同時認識到存在波動，而且差異可能很小。但您認為哪些因素會限制近期的入學人數成長呢？您認為未來這些限制可能會如何解除？

Thanks, Josh. The headline is we still feel very confident over each year, achieving a 1% enrollment growth. What you are seeing still in the third quarter is a continuation of the 2023 back-to-school that we spoke to you about in the first half had us flat. And so you're still seeing the impact of that in July and August of our third quarter.

謝謝，喬希。標題是我們對每一年都充滿信心，實現了 1% 的入學率成長。您在第三季度仍然看到的是我們在上半年與您討論過的 2023 年開學季的延續，當時我們的銷售額持平。因此，您仍然會在第三季的七月和八月看到其影響。

What we would tell you is we feel good about our back-to-school here. And as we come out of the third quarter and go into the fourth quarter, and it's in line with everything that we talked to you about, the long-term opportunity for us to continue to grow our enrollment in a healthy way, so that's the confidence that we have.

我們想告訴你們的是，我們對重返校園感到非常高興。隨著我們走出第三季度並進入第四季度，這與我們與您討論的所有內容一致，我們有機會繼續以健康的方式增加入學人數，所以這就是我們的信心。

That's great to hear. And then on the margin front, I think, Tony, you mentioned that excluding the registration fee, margins were up like 10 basis points or something. Did I hear that correctly? And how would that kind of line up versus your expectations for margin improvement?

我很高興聽到這個消息。然後在利潤方面，東尼，我想你提到過，除去註冊費，利潤率上漲了 10 個基點左右。我沒聽錯吧？這與您對利潤率提高的預期有什麼一致嗎？

Yes, you heard that right. And so the third quarter was just up slightly. I think the guide I give you all there is that we really look at it, obviously, over a longer period, and the quarter is ebb and flow a little bit with the various things happening in enrollment levels as there is a little bit of seasonality to the business, as you all are aware of.

是的，你沒聽錯。因此第三季略有上升。我認為我為大家提供的指南是，我們確實會從更長的時間段來看待這個問題，並且隨著入學水平發生的各種事情，每個季度都會有一點起伏，因為業務有一點季節性，正如大家所知。

So we still see it very in line with margin improvement and the margin improvement we have opportunity from our enrollment, from our tuition outpacing costs and then also as we continue to leverage our G&A levels as well. So we still feel really good about our ability to increase margin on the go forward and don't want to take that one single quarter as a guide of where we're going as a group.

因此，我們仍然認為它與利潤率的提高非常一致，利潤率的提高源於我們的招生數量、學費超過成本，以及我們繼續利用我們的 G&A 水平。因此，我們仍然對自己未來提高利潤的能力感到非常滿意，並且不想以單一季度的表現作為我們整個集團未來發展的指導。

That makes sense. So thanks for the time and the color.

這很有道理。所以感謝您付出的時間和色彩。

And that will conclude the Q&A session. I'd like to turn the conference back to Mr. Paul Thompson, CEO, for any additional or closing comments.

問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給執行長保羅湯普森先生，以便他發表任何補充或結束語。

All right. Thank you, everyone, for joining us this afternoon. We appreciate your support and interest, and we remain very excited and committed to the opportunities we have to grow this business, both in organic growth, B2B and for our total portfolio. So thanks to you to all, and have a wonderful afternoon.

好的。感謝大家今天下午加入我們。我們感謝您的支持和關注，我們仍然非常興奮並致力於發展這項業務的機會，包括有機成長、B2B 和我們的整個投資組合。感謝大家，祝大家下午愉快。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at this time.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在就可以斷開連線。