克羅格 (KR) 2019 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to The Kroger Co.

早上好，歡迎來到克羅格公司。

First Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call.

2019 年第一季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

（操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Rebekah Manis, Director, Investor Relations.

我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係總監 Rebekah Manis。

Please, go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you, Gary.

謝謝你，加里。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us.

早上好，感謝您加入我們。

Before we begin, I want to remind you that today's discussions will include forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述。

We want to caution you that such statements are predictions, and actual events or results can differ materially.

我們想提醒您，此類陳述是預測，實際事件或結果可能存在重大差異。

A detailed discussion of the many factors that we believe may have a material effect on our business on an ongoing basis is contained in our SEC filings, but Kroger assumes no obligation to update that information.

我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中詳細討論了我們認為可能對我們的業務持續產生重大影響的許多因素，但 Kroger 不承擔更新該信息的義務。

Both our first quarter press release and our prepared remarks from this conference call will be available on our website at ir.kroger.com.

我們的第一季度新聞稿和我們在本次電話會議中準備好的評論都將在我們的網站 ir.kroger.com 上發布。

After our prepared remarks, we look forward to taking your questions.

在我們準備好的發言之後，我們期待著回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Thank you.

（操作員說明）謝謝。

I will now turn the call over to Kroger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rodney McMullen.

我現在將電話轉交給克羅格的董事長兼首席執行官羅德尼麥克馬倫。

Thank you, Rebekah.

謝謝你，麗貝卡。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。

With me to review Kroger's first quarter 2019 result is Chief Financial Officer, Gary Millerchip.

和我一起回顧 Kroger 2019 年第一季度業績的是首席財務官 Gary Millerchip。

We started the conversation with you last quarter by acknowledging that we had our work cut out for us.

我們在上個季度開始與您的對話，承認我們已經為我們完成了工作。

We are energized by that challenge, and our team brought that energy to the first quarter.

這一挑戰讓我們充滿活力，我們的團隊將這種活力帶到了第一季度。

There are several examples in the first quarter results that reflect the discipline, focus and progress we are making on our transformation plan: Restock Kroger.

第一季度業績中有幾個例子反映了我們在轉型計劃方面的紀律、重點和進展：Restock Kroger。

All of this work starts with our customer-obsession focus.

所有這些工作都始於我們對客戶至上的關注。

That is why we're building an omnichannel platform to serve customers with Anything, Anytime, Anywhere.

這就是為什麼我們正在構建一個全渠道平台，隨時隨地為客戶提供服務。

That is why we're focused on redefining the experience grocery customers can expect to have in our stores and online, improved upon by existing -- exciting partnerships that create additional value.

這就是為什麼我們專注於重新定義雜貨店客戶期望在我們的商店和網上獲得的體驗，並通過現有的 - 令人興奮的合作夥伴關係創造額外價值進行改進。

That said, while the second year of Restock Kroger is off to a solid start, we know we can do better when it comes to our identical sales results.

也就是說，雖然 Restock Kroger 的第二年開局良好，但我們知道，就我們相同的銷售業績而言，我們可以做得更好。

To that end, it's important that I say right up front that by further intensifying our customer focus, Kroger's quarter-to-date identical sales are trending better than the first quarter and moving toward the guidance range.

為此，重要的是，我首先要說的是，通過進一步加強我們對客戶的關注，克羅格本季度至今的相同銷售額趨勢好於第一季度，並朝著指導範圍發展。

One of our most powerful competitive advantages is also one of our best ongoing performers.

我們最強大的競爭優勢之一也是我們持續表現最好的企業之一。

Kroger's own brand products grew 3.3%, and unit share gained 66 basis points to reach 28.9% share in the quarter.

克羅格自有品牌產品增長 3.3%，本季度單位份額增長 66 個基點，達到 28.9%。

The focus on shifting the mix to Simple Truth and premium brands, such as Private Selection, led to double-digit gains in the quarter in those brands.

專注於將組合轉移到 Simple Truth 和高端品牌，例如 Private Selection，這些品牌在本季度實現了兩位數的增長。

We know that our customers love Our Brands and that they are hungry for innovative new products that they can only get by coming to and shopping with Kroger.

我們知道我們的客戶喜歡我們的品牌，並且他們渴望創新的新產品，而這些產品只有到 Kroger 購物才能獲得。

In our quest to put food first and serve as America's food authority, we are bringing new tastes, trends and experiences to our customers.

為了將食品放在首位並成為美國的食品權威，我們正在為我們的客戶帶來新的口味、趨勢和體驗。

In the first quarter, we introduced 219 fantastic Our Brands items.

第一季度，我們推出了 219 款出色的 Our Brands 商品。

Our customers' favorite new items fall in line with the key food and flavor trends we predicted for 2019, including Private Selection pork belly bites, Private Selection artisan jerky and Kroger Deluxe Unicorn Swirl Ice Cream.

我們的客戶最喜歡的新產品符合我們預測的 2019 年主要食品和風味趨勢，包括 Private Selection 五花肉小吃、Private Selection 工匠肉乾和 Kroger Deluxe Unicorn Swirl 冰淇淋。

New items delivered over $225 million in incremental sales during the first quarter.

新產品在第一季度實現了超過 2.25 億美元的增量銷售額。

Customer obsession is also why we're building a platform to serve customers anything they want, anytime they want, and anywhere they want.

對客戶的痴迷也是為什麼我們要構建一個平台，隨時隨地為客戶提供他們想要的任何服務。

Our customers don't distinguish between an in-store and online experience.

我們的客戶不會區分店內體驗和在線體驗。

Rather, they typically have a food-related need or a problem to solve and want the easiest, most seamless solution.

相反，他們通常有與食物相關的需求或需要解決的問題，並且想要最簡單、最無縫的解決方案。

Our digital sales grew 42% in the first quarter.

我們的數字銷售額在第一季度增長了 42%。

We also expanded our coverage area to reach 93% of our customers in the first quarter.

我們還擴大了覆蓋範圍，在第一季度覆蓋了 93% 的客戶。

This means 93% of the customers who shop Kroger in a brick-and-mortar store also can shop with us for pickup or delivery.

這意味著在實體店購買 Kroger 的顧客中有 93% 也可以選擇我們的取貨或送貨服務。

By the end of this year, everyone in America will have the ability through our modalities to shop with Kroger, whether they decide to come into a store, use our pickup or delivery services or ship.

到今年年底，美國的每個人都將能夠通過我們的方式在 Kroger 購物，無論他們是決定進入商店、使用我們的取貨或送貨服務還是運送。

Our efforts are positioning Kroger to be the leading omnichannel retailer in the food industry.

我們的努力使 Kroger 成為食品行業領先的全渠道零售商。

Since 2014, we've gone from no digital sales dollars to a 2018 annual run rate of about $5 billion, which will trend toward a $9 billion digital sales run rate in the future.

自 2014 年以來，我們的數字銷售額從零增長到 2018 年的年銷售額約為 50 億美元，未來數字銷售額將趨向於 90 億美元。

I called this out because while we are only in the middle of our transformation, it's important to frame up the magnitude of the progress that we have made.

我之所以提出這一點，是因為雖然我們僅處於轉型的中間階段，但重要的是要確定我們所取得的進展的規模。

2019 is another pivotal year for our Partner for Customer Value pillar and Restock Kroger.

2019 年對於我們的合作夥伴客戶價值支柱和 Restock Kroger 來說又是關鍵的一年。

We continue to improve the customer experience in our stores and across our digital properties by partnering with industry innovators such as Home Chef, Microsoft, Ocado and Walgreens.

我們通過與 Home Chef、Microsoft、Ocado 和 Walgreens 等行業創新者合作，繼續改善我們商店和數字資產的客戶體驗。

All of these partners accelerate our ability to provide customers Anything, Anytime, Anywhere.

所有這些合作夥伴都加快了我們為客戶提供任何時間、任何地點的能力。

Each partner shares our passion for exploring the nexus between technology and innovative customer experiences.

每個合作夥伴都與我們一樣熱衷於探索技術與創新客戶體驗之間的聯繫。

We were excited to break ground last week in Ohio on America's first customer fulfillment center powered by Ocado.

我們很高興上週在俄亥俄州破土動工，建設美國第一個由 Ocado 提供支持的客戶履行中心。

Kroger's partnership with Ocado will, for the first time, introduce transformative e-commerce fulfillment and logistics technology in America.

Kroger 與 Ocado 的合作將首次在美國引入變革性的電子商務履行和物流技術。

This, in turn, means Kroger customers will get fresher food faster than ever before.

這反過來又意味著 Kroger 的顧客將比以往更快地獲得更新鮮的食物。

We intend to open additional customer fulfillment facilities to create a seamless customer experience, replicating the model to serve everyone across America.

我們打算開設更多的客戶履行設施，以創造無縫的客戶體驗，複製該模型來為美國各地的每個人提供服務。

We are also making progress building out our alternative business for profitable growth.

我們也在建立我們的替代業務以實現盈利增長方面取得進展。

We've made several organizational structural changes to allow deeper concentration on our alternative profit stream while also maintaining our laser focus on delivering for our customers in the core business.

我們已經進行了多項組織結構調整，以便更深入地關注我們的替代利潤流，同時保持我們的激光專注於為核心業務的客戶提供服務。

Kroger is creating a virtuous cycle, built upon the rich collection of proprietary data generated from our customer traffic, to improve the customer experience, which then supports new margin-rich, asset-light businesses.

Kroger 正在創造一個良性循環，建立在從我們的客戶流量中生成的豐富的專有數據集合的基礎上，以改善客戶體驗，從而支持新的利潤豐厚的輕資產業務。

We expect alternative profit streams to continue to grow and contribute an estimated incremental $100 million in net operating profit in 2019 and continue to accelerate into 2020.

我們預計替代利潤流將繼續增長，並在 2019 年貢獻約 1 億美元的淨營業利潤，並在 2020 年繼續加速增長。

This will be generated primarily from the more mature alternative profit streams such as Kroger Personal Finance, our Media businesses and customer data insights.

這將主要來自更成熟的替代利潤流，例如克羅格個人理財、我們的媒體業務和客戶數據洞察。

There are other initiatives within our alternative business portfolio that are in earlier stages of incubation.

我們的替代業務組合中還有其他處於早期孵化階段的計劃。

For example, we recently announced the formation of PearlRock Partners, a platform to identify, invest in and help grow the next generation of leading consumer product brands.

例如，我們最近宣布成立 PearlRock Partners，這是一個識別、投資和幫助發展下一代領先消費品品牌的平台。

Initiatives such as PearlRock Partners are expected to have a small impact during Restock Kroger and then contribute more meaningfully to our results after 2020.

PearlRock Partners 等舉措預計將在 Restock Kroger 期間產生較小影響，然後在 2020 年後對我們的業績做出更有意義的貢獻。

Following up on our commitment we made in March to our financial stakeholders, Gary will provide additional transparency about where alternative profits will flow through our financial statements during his remarks.

繼我們在 3 月份對我們的財務利益相關者做出的承諾之後，加里將在他的講話中提供更多透明度，說明替代利潤將在我們的財務報表中流向何處。

One of the challenges transforming a company is finding the right leaders at the right time to guide and coach people through complex and often difficult change.

公司轉型的挑戰之一是在正確的時間找到正確的領導者來指導和指導人們完成複雜且通常困難的變革。

The underlying principle is to respect the company's past while creating the future.

基本原則是在創造未來的同時尊重公司的過去。

We've secured Kroger's continued success in the next chapter of retail by proactively managing several pivotable next-generation leadership successions, including the essential CFO and CIO roles.

我們通過主動管理幾個關鍵的下一代領導層繼任，包括重要的首席財務官和首席信息官角色，確保克羅格在零售業的下一章繼續取得成功。

We've also focused several senior-most executive roles, most notably leaders of our new business development, including partnerships, and Kroger's alternative business portfolio to support the transformation of our growth model.

我們還專注於幾個最高級的執行角色，最顯著的是我們新業務發展的領導者，包括合作夥伴關係和 Kroger 的替代業務組合，以支持我們增長模式的轉變。

Every leadership transition is deliberate, carefully managed and made in partnership with Kroger's Board of Directors.

每一次領導層交接都是經過深思熟慮、精心管理並與克羅格董事會合作完成的。

I'd like to again congratulate all of our new senior vice presidents and underscore my confidence in their ability to lead Kroger forward.

我想再次祝賀我們所有的新任高級副總裁，並強調我對他們帶領克羅格前進的能力充滿信心。

Another important area of leadership for Kroger is in the environmental, social and governance areas, which is a natural extension of our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste plan and is gaining recognition from a growing number of investors.

克羅格的另一個重要領導領域是環境、社會和治理領域，這是我們零飢餓 | 的自然延伸。零廢棄計劃正在獲得越來越多投資者的認可。

As America's grocer, we are committed to setting the table for a sustainable future.

作為美國的雜貨商，我們致力於為可持續發展的未來鋪平道路。

A year ago, we took a deeper look on how plastic is affecting our communities and environment and became the first major U.S. retailer to announce the phaseout of single-use plastic grocery bags, starting with our QFC division in the Pacific Northwest.

一年前，我們深入研究了塑料如何影響我們的社區和環境，並成為美國第一家宣布逐步淘汰一次性塑料購物袋的主要零售商，首先是我們在太平洋西北部的 QFC 分部。

Earlier this month, Kroger announced our commitment to be the exclusive U.S. grocery retail partner for Loop.

本月早些時候，克羅格宣布我們承諾成為 Loop 的獨家美國雜貨零售合作夥伴。

Loop is a new system that uses durable product packaging to help reduce single-use plastics.

Loop 是一種使用耐用產品包裝來幫助減少一次性塑料的新系統。

TerraCycle introduced Loop at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January to much fanfare and media interest.

TerraCycle 在一月份的達沃斯世界經濟論壇上推出了 Loop，引起了廣泛的關注和媒體的興趣。

Many familiar suppliers and brands are included in the platform, and the list continues to expand.

該平台包含許多熟悉的供應商和品牌，並且名單還在不斷擴大。

Loop hygienically cleans and sanitizes the empty packaging that was previously sold to the consumer and sends it back to the suppliers to refill for another use.

Loop 對之前出售給消費者的空包裝進行衛生清潔和消毒，然後將其送回供應商重新灌裝以備下次使用。

Because the retail industry is transforming, we proactively launched Restock Kroger to deliver for customers and our shareholders.

由於零售業正在轉型，我們主動推出了 Restock Kroger，為客戶和股東提供服務。

Plainly stated, Restock Kroger is all about transforming our growth model.

簡而言之，Restock Kroger 就是要轉變我們的增長模式。

The second year of Restock Kroger is off to a solid start.

Restock Kroger 的第二年開局良好。

The entire company is focused on redefining the grocery customer experience, improving upon our exciting partnerships that create value.

整個公司都專注於重新定義雜貨客戶體驗，改進我們創造價值的令人興奮的合作夥伴關係。

We are investing in our associates more than ever before and building a purpose-driven culture, and we are also on track to generate the free cash flow and incremental adjusted FIFO operating profit targets for 2019.

我們比以往任何時候都更多地投資於我們的員工，並建立以目標為導向的文化，我們也有望在 2019 年實現自由現金流和增量調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤目標。

As I said earlier, we recognize we have work to do and remain focused on delivering on our Restock Kroger commitments.

正如我之前所說，我們認識到我們有工作要做，並將繼續專注於兌現我們對 Restock Kroger 的承諾。

Now I'd like to turn it over to Gary Millerchip, who's been in the CFO role since April.

現在我想把它交給 Gary Millerchip，他自 4 月以來一直擔任首席財務官一職。

Gary?

加里？

Thanks, Rodney, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝，羅德尼，大家早上好。

Our first quarter results demonstrate the strength and diversity of Kroger's multifaceted business model.

我們第一季度的業績證明了克羅格多方面商業模式的實力和多樣性。

Overall, we are leveraging Kroger's unique assets, our scale, unmatched customer data insights and our knowledge of food to build even stronger connections with our customers across all modalities: in store, pickup, delivery and ship.

總體而言，我們正在利用 Kroger 的獨特資產、我們的規模、無與倫比的客戶數據洞察力和我們對食品的了解，通過所有方式與我們的客戶建立更牢固的聯繫：店內、提貨、送貨和運輸。

As Rodney discussed, we have a few headwinds during the first quarter, including sales, which we know must be stronger.

正如羅德尼所討論的那樣，我們在第一季度遇到了一些不利因素，包括我們知道必須更強勁的銷售。

We also experienced pharmacy gross margin pressure similar to others in the industry.

我們也經歷了與業內其他公司類似的藥房毛利率壓力。

Because of our multifaceted business model, we delivered an adjusted EPS result of $0.72 per diluted share.

由於我們的多方面商業模式，我們的調整後每股收益為 0.72 美元攤薄後每股收益。

I'd like to highlight a few areas of our business that were particularly strong during the quarter.

我想強調本季度我們業務的幾個特別強勁的領域。

Our Brands contributed both as a sales driver and a profit leader.

我們的品牌既是銷售驅動力又是利潤領導者。

The entire Kroger team brought discipline to controlling costs during the first quarter and delivered on our Restock Kroger savings plan.

整個 Kroger 團隊在第一季度嚴格控製成本，並實施了我們的 Restock Kroger 儲蓄計劃。

And alternative profit businesses exceeded budget, setting us up to deliver our incremental operating profit target for 2019.

替代利潤業務超出預算，使我們能夠實現 2019 年的增量營業利潤目標。

On that note, last quarter, we committed to providing you with greater transparency on our alternative businesses and their contribution to Restock Kroger.

在這一點上，上個季度，我們承諾為您提供更大的透明度，讓您了解我們的替代業務及其對 Restock Kroger 的貢獻。

As Rodney said at the top of the call, we expect alternative profits to contribute an incremental $100 million in operating profit in 2019.

正如羅德尼在電話會議開頭所說，我們預計替代利潤將在 2019 年貢獻 1 億美元的營業利潤。

You will see this growth reflected through the gross margin line of our financial statements.

您將通過我們財務報表的毛利率線看到這種增長。

Certain amounts that we've traditionally recognized as reductions to OG&A expenses and merchandising costs are now being reflected as sales.

我們傳統上認為減少 OG&A 費用和銷售成本的某些金額現在反映為銷售額。

This treatment more appropriately reflects the nature of these items and is consistent with others in the industry.

這種處理更恰當地反映了這些項目的性質，並且與行業中的其他處理一致。

In the first quarter, this affected identical sales by 3 basis points, and we have provided more detail in our 8-K filing.

在第一季度，這對相同銷售額產生了 3 個基點的影響，我們在 8-K 文件中提供了更多詳細信息。

Please refer to Table 8 for a deeper explanation on the reclassification.

有關重新分類的更深入解釋，請參閱表 8。

Through the first quarter of 2019, alternative businesses are ahead of our expectations, with Media business and Kroger Personal Finance leading the way.

到 2019 年第一季度，另類業務超出了我們的預期，其中媒體業務和克羅格個人金融業務處於領先地位。

We expect incremental operating profit growth to vary throughout the year, reflecting the continued acceleration of our Media business and the seasonality of certain businesses during peak holiday selling periods.

我們預計全年營業利潤的增量增長會有所不同，這反映了我們媒體業務的持續加速以及某些業務在假期銷售高峰期的季節性。

For example, our gift card business is very seasonal, and therefore, growth will be most visible in respective quarters.

例如，我們的禮品卡業務具有很強的季節性，因此，增長將在各個季度最為明顯。

Kroger reported identical sales without fuel of 1.5% during the first quarter.

克羅格報告第一季度不含燃料的銷售額相同，為 1.5%。

The timing of SNAP disbursement negatively affected results by 15 basis points.

SNAP 支付的時間對結果產生了 15 個基點的負面影響。

Several departments outperformed the company in the quarter, including key beverage categories, pet, natural foods, and we had another strong quarter from our pharmacy business.

幾個部門在本季度的表現優於公司，包括主要飲料類別、寵物、天然食品，我們的製藥業務又迎來了一個強勁的季度。

We recognize that getting into our identical sales guidance range will require an acceleration of identical sales throughout the rest of our fiscal year.

我們認識到，要進入我們相同的銷售指導範圍，將需要在本財年的剩餘時間裡加快相同的銷售。

We are diligently working to improve performance and build on the positive identical sales trend momentum we are seeing thus far in our second quarter.

我們正在努力提高業績，並在我們第二季度迄今為止看到的積極的相同銷售趨勢勢頭的基礎上再接再厲。

Additionally, as we move through the second quarter, we will begin to cycle investments made during the same period last year, which we expect to be a tailwind.

此外，隨著我們進入第二季度，我們將開始循環去年同期進行的投資，我們預計這將是一個順風。

Adjusted FIFO operating profit for the first quarter was $957 million and in line with our expectations for the quarter.

第一季度調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 9.57 億美元，符合我們對該季度的預期。

Gross margin was 22.2% of sales for the first quarter, and FIFO gross margin, excluding fuel, decreased 40 basis points from the same period last year, primarily due to industry-wide lower gross margin rates in pharmacy.

第一季度毛利率為銷售額的 22.2%，不包括燃料在內的 FIFO 毛利率較去年同期下降 40 個基點，這主要是由於整個行業的製藥毛利率較低。

This represents a sequential improvement in the level of margin investments compared to the second half of 2018.

與 2018 年下半年相比，這表明保證金投資水平有所改善。

The LIFO charge for the quarter was $15 million.

本季度的 LIFO 費用為 1500 萬美元。

Our associates have done an amazing job managing shrink, which improved during the first quarter compared to the prior year.

我們的員工在管理收縮方面做得非常出色，與去年同期相比，第一季度有所改善。

This represents the seventh consecutive quarter of shrink rate improvement.

這是收縮率連續第七個季度改善。

OG&A cost as a rate of sales, excluding fuel and 2019 and 2018 first quarter adjustment items, decreased 12 basis points.

OG&A 成本佔銷售額的比率（不包括燃料以及 2019 年和 2018 年第一季度調整項目）下降了 12 個基點。

This quarter's decrease is primarily due to the execution of Restock Kroger initiatives and planned real estate transactions.

本季度的減少主要是由於執行了 Restock Kroger 計劃和計劃中的房地產交易。

And by planned, I mean these transactions were contemplated in our EPS guidance for the year.

通過計劃，我的意思是這些交易已在我們今年的 EPS 指南中進行了考慮。

Our results highlight the continued progress we are making with the Restock Kroger savings program, building on the $1.1 billion of savings and benefits achieved in our prior fiscal year.

我們的結果突顯了我們在 Restock Kroger 儲蓄計劃方面取得的持續進展，該計劃建立在我們上一財年實現的 11 億美元儲蓄和收益的基礎上。

We are committed to continuing to find additional improvements and efficiencies in our business.

我們致力於繼續在我們的業務中尋找更多的改進和效率。

Retail fuel profit growth was in line with our expectations for the quarter, but we still expect fuel operating profit to be a headwind overall in 2019, particularly in the second half of the year.

零售燃料利潤增長符合我們對本季度的預期，但我們仍預計燃料營業利潤在 2019 年總體上將是不利因素，尤其是在下半年。

Our cents-per-gallon fuel margin in the first quarter was $0.23 compared to $0.18 in the same quarter last year.

我們第一季度的每加侖燃料利潤為 0.23 美元，而去年同期為 0.18 美元。

The average retail price of fuel was $2.62 versus $2.63 in the same quarter last year.

燃料平均零售價為 2.62 美元，而去年同期為 2.63 美元。

Fuel is an important part of our strategy to drive customer engagement, especially among our most loyal households.

燃料是我們推動客戶參與戰略的重要組成部分，尤其是在我們最忠誠的家庭中。

We continue to increase our investment in fuel rewards and saw positive gallon growth with our loyal customers in the first quarter.

我們繼續增加對燃料獎勵的投資，並在第一季度與我們的忠實客戶一起實現了積極的加侖增長。

Turning now to talent development.

現在轉向人才培養。

We are supporting associates in a variety of ways, including investments in wages, training and development.

我們以多種方式支持員工，包括在工資、培訓和發展方面的投資。

We continue to invest in our associates as part of Restock Kroger.

作為 Restock Kroger 的一部分，我們繼續投資於我們的員工。

Today, I'm pleased to share our recently updated average hourly rate is over $20 per hour with comprehensive benefits factored in, benefits that many of our competitors don't offer.

今天，我很高興與大家分享我們最近更新的平均時薪超過 20 美元，其中考慮了綜合福利，這是我們許多競爭對手所不提供的福利。

The most recent example of our investments in wages was our Monday announcement of a newly ratified labor contract covering store associates in Indianapolis.

我們對工資進行投資的最新例子是我們週一宣布了一項新批准的勞動合同，該合同涵蓋印第安納波利斯的商店員工。

The ratified agreement with UFCW Local 700 raises starting wages for most clerks, and associates will receive regular wage increases every 6 months.

與 UFCW Local 700 的批准協議提高了大多數文員的起薪，員工將每 6 個月定期加薪。

This is part of our continued effort to rebalance pay and benefits while also focusing on certifications and performance incentives, career opportunities and training.

這是我們重新平衡薪酬和福利的持續努力的一部分，同時也專注於認證和績效激勵、職業機會和培訓。

We are also very energized by the significant interest we're seeing from associates in Feed Your Future, our industry-leading education assistance program launched just over a year ago.

我們也對員工對 Feed Your Future 的濃厚興趣感到非常振奮，這是我們一年多前推出的行業領先的教育援助計劃。

Feed Your Future is available to all associates, full or part-time, after 6 months of service.

在服務 6 個月後，所有全職或兼職員工都可以使用 Feed Your Future。

Among all the participants, more than 80% are hourly store associates.

在所有參與者中，超過 80% 的人是小時工店員。

As a result of our investments in talent development, we are significantly improving employee retention in one of the tightest labor markets in years.

由於我們對人才發展的投資，我們在多年來最緊張的勞動力市場之一中顯著提高了員工保留率。

In addition to the new labor agreement covering Kroger associates in Indianapolis, we also ratified a new labor agreement with the UFCW covering King Soopers associates in Denver and Kroger associates in Louisville, Kentucky, during the first quarter.

除了涵蓋印第安納波利斯 Kroger 員工的新勞動協議外，我們還在第一季度批准了與 UFCW 的新勞動協議，涵蓋丹佛的 King Soopers 員工和肯塔基州路易斯維爾的 Kroger 員工。

We are currently negotiating with UFCW for contracts covering store associates in Las Vegas, Memphis, Portland, Seattle and Southern California.

我們目前正在與 UFCW 就涉及拉斯維加斯、孟菲斯、波特蘭、西雅圖和南加州的商店員工的合同進行談判。

Our objective in every negotiation is to find a fair and reasonable balance between competitive costs and compensation packages that provide solid wages, good-quality affordable health care and retirement benefits for our associates.

我們在每次談判中的目標是在有競爭力的成本和薪酬方案之間找到公平合理的平衡，為我們的員工提供穩定的工資、優質的負擔得起的醫療保健和退休福利。

We continue to strive to make our overall benefits package relevant to today's associates.

我們繼續努力使我們的整體福利方案與今天的員工相關。

Our financial results continue to be pressured by inefficient health care and pension costs, which some of our competitors do not face.

我們的財務業績繼續受到低效的醫療保健和養老金成本的壓力，這是我們的一些競爭對手沒有面臨的。

We continue to communicate with our local unions and international unions which represent many of our associates on the importance of growing our business in a profitable way, which will help us create more jobs and career opportunities and enhance job security for our associates.

我們繼續與代表我們許多員工的當地工會和國際工會就以盈利方式發展業務的重要性進行溝通，這將幫助我們創造更多的就業機會和職業機會，並提高員工的工作保障。

A key component of Restock Kroger is generating strong free cash flow.

Restock Kroger 的一個關鍵組成部分是產生強大的自由現金流。

Our financial strategy is to use free cash flow to drive growth while also maintaining our current investment-grade debt rating and returning capital to shareholders.

我們的財務戰略是利用自由現金流推動增長，同時維持我們目前的投資級債務評級並向股東返還資本。

We actively balance the use of cash to achieve these goals.

我們積極平衡現金的使用以實現這些目標。

We reduced net total debt by $1.7 billion during -- since the end of fiscal year 2018.

自 2018 財年末以來，我們將淨債務總額減少了 17 億美元。

Kroger's net total debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio is 2.54, down from 2.83 at the end of 2018.

克羅格的淨總債務與調整後 EBITDA 之比為 2.54，低於 2018 年底的 2.83。

The company's net total debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio target range is 2.3 to 2.5.

公司的淨總債務與調整後 EBITDA 比率目標範圍為 2.3 至 2.5。

We have prioritized getting our net total debt-to-EBITDA ratio back into the target range and use proceeds from the sale of YouTechnology and the Turkey Hill Dairy business to help us do so.

我們已優先將淨總債務與 EBITDA 比率恢復到目標範圍內，並使用出售 YouTechnology 和 Turkey Hill Dairy 業務的收益來幫助我們實現這一目標。

I'd like to take a few moments to talk a little bit more about YouTech.

我想花點時間多談談 YouTech。

This is a great example of how Kroger leveraged the unique assets I mentioned earlier to create significant value for our shareholders.

這是克羅格如何利用我之前提到的獨特資產為我們的股東創造巨大價值的一個很好的例子。

We acquired the business for a nominal value several years ago and developed it into a market leader in digital coupons.

幾年前，我們以名義價值收購了該業務，並將其發展成為數字優惠券的市場領導者。

When the business reached a point where the potential value to someone else was higher than the future value to Kroger, we sold the business to maximize shareholder return.

當業務達到對其他人的潛在價值高於克羅格的未來價值時，我們出售業務以最大化股東回報。

As part of the terms of the sale, we protected the value to Kroger through a long-term service agreement with Inmar.

作為銷售條款的一部分，我們通過與 Inmar 的長期服務協議保護了 Kroger 的價值。

YouTech is a great illustration of how we are leveraging our unique assets to create new asset-light, margin-rich businesses to drive incremental value for our shareholders.

YouTech 很好地說明了我們如何利用我們獨特的資產來創建新的輕資產、利潤豐厚的業務，從而為我們的股東帶來增量價值。

Before I turn it back to Rodney, I'd like to discuss an accounting change that affects our financial reporting and reiterate our guidance for 2019.

在我把它轉回給羅德尼之前，我想討論一下影響我們財務報告的會計變更，並重申我們對 2019 年的指導。

You may have noticed in our 8-K filing that we adopted the new leasing standard at the beginning of the fiscal year.

您可能已經在我們的 8-K 文件中註意到，我們在本財年開始時採用了新的租賃標準。

This added nearly $7 billion of lease-related assets and liabilities to our balance sheet.

這為我們的資產負債表增加了近 70 億美元的租賃相關資產和負債。

The rating agencies already calculate and include our liability for operating leases in their ratings assessments, and this new standard is not expected to affect rent expense or earnings for the year.

評級機構已經計算並將我們對經營租賃的負債納入其評級評估中，預計這一新標準不會影響當年的租金支出或收益。

Finally, I would like to reiterate our guidance for the year.

最後，我想重申我們今年的指導方針。

For 2019, identical sales growth, excluding fuel, we continue to target identical rates that range from 2% to 2.25%.

對於 2019 年，相同的銷售增長，不包括燃料，我們繼續將相同的增長率目標定在 2% 到 2.25% 之間。

We continue to expect adjusted net earnings to range from $2.15 to $2.25 per diluted share and adjusted FIFO operating profit to range from $2.9 billion to $3 billion for 2019.

我們繼續預計 2019 年調整後的每股攤薄收益為 2.15 美元至 2.25 美元，調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤為 29 億美元至 30 億美元。

Kroger's EPS growth will come from adjusted FIFO operating profit growth in 2019, which positions us well to deliver on Restock Kroger.

Kroger 的 EPS 增長將來自 2019 年調整後的 FIFO 營業利潤增長，這使我們能夠很好地交付 Restock Kroger。

Rodney, back to you.

羅德尼，回到你身邊。

Thanks, Gary.

謝謝，加里。

We feel optimistic at the start of the second quarter.

我們在第二季度初感到樂觀。

Sales momentum is building, and we are laser-focused on serving our customers.

銷售勢頭正在增強，我們專注於為客戶服務。

We are clear eyed about the challenges ahead and confident in our ability to deliver on our plans, both for the year and our long-term vision, to serve America through food inspiration and uplift.

我們清楚地看到未來的挑戰，並相信我們有能力實現我們的計劃，無論是今年還是我們的長期願景，通過食品靈感和提升為美國服務。

Now we look forward to your questions.

現在我們期待您的提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Robby Ohmes with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行美林銀行的 Robby Ohmes。

Rodney, my question is could you talk a little bit about, now that you're 1/4 into this year, how your price investment plan is trending?

羅德尼，我的問題是你能談談嗎，今年你已經過了 1/4，你的價格投資計劃趨勢如何？

Is it more or less than what you were expecting?

它比您預期的多還是少？

And maybe remind us what kind of price investment year 2019 is expected to be and maybe weave that into how that plays out into the expectation for accelerating IDs, and then also maybe weave in just the environment you're seeing out there competitively.

也許會提醒我們 2019 年預計會有什麼樣的價格投資，也許會把它融入到加速 ID 的期望中，然後也可能會融入你在競爭中看到的環境。

We're seeing signs of the promotional environment in produce being a little more aggressive than it's been in a while.

我們看到農產品促銷環境的跡像比過去一段時間更具侵略性。

If you could weave the picture together for us, that would be great.

如果你能為我們編織一幅畫，那就太好了。

Thanks, Robby.

謝謝，羅比。

If you look at price investments overall, we're tracking really pretty consistent with where we expected it to be.

如果你從整體上看價格投資，我們的追踪結果與我們的預期非常一致。

We are continuing to cycle the investments we made during last year, so the flow-through of that will continue to be helpful.

我們將繼續循環我們去年所做的投資，因此這些投資的流動將繼續有所幫助。

If you look at the '19 investments, it would be a reasonable amount.

如果你看看 19 年的投資，那將是一個合理的數額。

It will not be as much as what we did in '18 because, as you recall, when we had the tax law changes, we accelerated some of our '19 investments into '18 to give customers some of the value from the lower tax rate.

它不會像我們在 18 年所做的那樣多，因為正如您記得的那樣，當我們修改稅法時，我們將 19 年的一些投資加速到 18 年，以便從較低的稅率中為客戶提供一些價值.

When you look at the environment overall, there's always puts and takes.

當你從整體上看環境時，總會有放與放。

And overall, we would say it's pretty consistent with where it was before.

總的來說，我們會說它與之前的情況非常一致。

We'll always see a specific area or category get more.

我們總是會看到特定區域或類別獲得更多。

But when you look it all in all, it looks pretty consistent with before.

但是當你整體看的時候，它看起來和以前很一致。

On accelerating the identicals, it really is -- one of the things on space optimization, now it's becoming a tailwind versus a headwind.

在加速相同方面，它確實是——空間優化的其中一件事，現在它正在成為順風而不是逆風。

Obviously, that's been -- has taken us longer than we expected, so that's been a positive.

顯然，這已經 - 比我們預期的要長，所以這是積極的。

Just in terms of basic execution in the stores, our teams are doing a great job of improving the customer experience, which is adding momentum as well.

就商店的基本執行而言，我們的團隊在改善客戶體驗方面做得很好，這也增加了動力。

And it's making sure that we use our data to target the right things to work on.

它確保我們使用我們的數據來定位正確的工作。

So it's all of those things coming together and then being a little bit better at telling the customer our story.

因此，所有這些都匯集在一起，然後更好地向客戶講述我們的故事。

The next question comes from Judah Frommer with Crédit Suisse.

下一個問題來自 Crédit Suisse 的 Judah Frommer。

Maybe, first, just a follow-up on IDs.

也許，首先，只是對 ID 的跟進。

Can you help us with the cadence throughout the quarter?

你能幫助我們調整整個季度的節奏嗎？

It sounded like when you gave the quarter-to-date update with fourth quarter earnings that you were running better than where you finished the quarter, and obviously things are expected to accelerate.

聽起來好像當您提供第四季度收益的季度最新更新時，您的運行情況比本季度結束時要好，而且顯然事情會加速。

So beyond remodels, has there been enough contribution from the rollout of online grocery and the impact of inflation relative to your expectations?

因此，除了改造之外，在線雜貨店的推出以及通貨膨脹對您的預期的影響是否有足夠的貢獻？

Inflation was higher in the first quarter than before but pretty consistent with expectations.

第一季度的通脹率高於之前，但與預期相當一致。

When you look at the first quarter overall, sales were moving up nicely and continuing to make -- tracking as expected and making great progress up through Easter.

當您整體看第一季度時，銷售額增長良好並繼續增長——如預期的那樣跟踪並在復活節期間取得長足進步。

Right after Easter, we hit a wall, and I always hate to use weather as an excuse for anything.

復活節過後，我們碰壁了，我總是討厭以天氣為藉口。

But there's no doubt that when you look at the weather categories, we saw quite a bit of impact just because of -- if you look at Mother's Day, the things around Mother's Day and grilling out and all those things.

但毫無疑問，當你查看天氣類別時，我們看到了相當大的影響，僅僅是因為 - 如果你查看母親節，母親節前後的事情以及燒烤等等。

As I mentioned, SNAP was a slight headwind but not a huge amount.

正如我所提到的，SNAP 是一個輕微的逆風，但不是很大。

When you look at it in total for the quarter, we continue to have great growth in loyal household growth.

從本季度的總體情況來看，忠誠家庭的增長繼續保持強勁增長。

And if you look at spend per item, we saw people continuing to move upscale and continue to purchase bigger packs.

而且，如果您查看每件商品的支出，我們會看到人們繼續轉向高檔並繼續購買更大的包裝。

And as I mentioned earlier, when we're looking at the second quarter so far, it's only 3 weeks, but we are moving closer to the '19 guidance.

正如我之前提到的，到目前為止，當我們查看第二季度時，只有 3 週，但我們正在接近 19 年的指導方針。

Rodney, the only thing I would add...

羅德尼，我唯一要補充的是……

Okay.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

And then...

進而...

So I think the question was asked around digital, too, as part of the overall performance, and we continue to see strong results, and certainly in line with what we expected during the first quarter from the way customers are engaging through the seamless digital experience that we're creating, both in terms of ordering online to pick up at the store and also ordering online to ship to home or deliver to home.

所以我認為這個問題也是圍繞數字提出的，作為整體表現的一部分，我們繼續看到強勁的結果，並且肯定符合我們在第一季度從客戶通過無縫數字體驗參與的方式所預期的我們正在創造，無論是在線訂購到商店提貨還是在線訂購送貨上門或送貨上門。

Okay.

好的。

And if I could quickly follow up on Media.

如果我能快速跟進媒體。

It sounds like trends are going kind of in line with or above plan there.

聽起來趨勢有點符合或高於那裡的計劃。

Clearly, some of your big-box competitors have made moves in the media space, sometimes acquiring external assets.

顯然，您的一些大型競爭對手已在媒體領域有所動作，有時會收購外部資產。

Is that something you feel like you need to do?

這是你覺得你需要做的事情嗎？

Does their leaning into these retailer-led platforms help your conversations with vendors?

他們對這些零售商主導的平台的依賴是否有助於您與供應商的對話？

Or does it serve as more competition?

或者它是否起到了更多競爭的作用？

Yes.

是的。

For us, we view it as additional partners helping CPGs to help them better spend their money.

對我們而言，我們將其視為幫助 CPG 的額外合作夥伴，幫助他們更好地花錢。

And when we really look at it, we're able to help CPGs to understand -- and you remember the old adage that half of my media is wasted, I just don't know which half.

當我們真正審視它時，我們能夠幫助 CPG 理解——你還記得那句老話，我的媒體有一半被浪費了，我只是不知道是哪一半。

And our teams are able to do a great job on being able to help media companies understand where you spend money and what's the behavior of the customer.

我們的團隊能夠在幫助媒體公司了解您在哪里花錢以及客戶的行為方面做得很好。

And we view the market as big enough to where there's plenty of opportunity for the market to grow overall and for the other companies that you referenced, for all of us to be successful, just because it's such a large market.

我們認為市場足夠大，市場有很多機會整體增長，對於你提到的其他公司來說，我們所有人都可以獲得成功，因為它是一個如此大的市場。

So when we look at the opportunity, it's incredibly exciting.

所以當我們看到這個機會時，它非常令人興奮。

I know some of the early partners are really happy with the results, and we're just getting started.

我知道一些早期合作夥伴對結果非常滿意，我們才剛剛開始。

In terms of acquiring somebody, so far we've been able to partner with world-class companies to really accelerate our journey.

在收購方面，到目前為止，我們已經能夠與世界一流的公司合作，真正加速我們的旅程。

Now whether that changes over time, I think it's to be determined.

現在這是否會隨著時間的推移而改變，我認為這有待確定。

The next question comes from Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的愛德華凱利。

Yes.

是的。

Just, first, a clarification.

首先，澄清一下。

The planned real estate transaction in the quarter, if I look at the cash flow statement, there is about a $57 million gain.

本季度計劃的房地產交易，如果我看一下現金流量表，大約有 5700 萬美元的收益。

Is that the amount that we should be thinking about that contributed to the quarter?

這是我們應該考慮的對本季度做出貢獻的金額嗎？

Jeff, it's Gary.

傑夫，是加里。

That's right, Ed.

沒錯，埃德。

We -- as we mentioned in the prepared notes, we actually had this transaction planned as part of the guidance for the year and part of our business plan.

我們 - 正如我們在準備好的說明中提到的那樣，我們實際上已將此交易計劃為年度指導的一部分和我們業務計劃的一部分。

I think you're aware, but real estate has always been part of our overall strategy as to how do we make the best use and leverage the assets that we have available to us and that we're creating as we build out a store around a shopping center and as we start to really make the most of being that anchor tenant in many of the places that we operate.

我想你知道，但房地產一直是我們整體戰略的一部分，即我們如何充分利用和利用我們可用的資產，以及我們在周圍建立商店時正在創造的資產一個購物中心，當我們開始真正充分利用我們經營的許多地方的主要租戶時。

So for many years, we've had real estate transactions in our results.

所以多年來，我們的結果中都有房地產交易。

Often, they can be some losses as well as gains sometimes during those quarters.

通常，在這些季度中，它們有時可能會帶來一些損失和收益。

We felt that this quarter, because it was a bigger amount than it would normally be, it was important that we were transparent, especially as obviously it helped the OG&A rate to look better overall in the quarter because of that onetime transaction.

我們認為這個季度，因為它比正常情況下要多，所以我們保持透明很重要，尤其是因為那次一次性交易，它顯然幫助 OG&A 利率在本季度整體上看起來更好。

But it was absolutely contemplated, and it was part of our expectations actually in the first quarter as well.

但這絕對是在考慮之中的，實際上這也是我們在第一季度的預期的一部分。

Any other planned real estate transactions like this contemplated for the full year?

全年還有其他類似的計劃中的房地產交易嗎？

I think we are always obviously looking at opportunities and especially where it can help our free cash flow and where we can arbitrage the profitability of the real estate that we own currently.

我認為我們顯然一直在尋找機會，尤其是在它可以幫助我們的自由現金流以及我們可以套利我們目前擁有的房地產的盈利能力的地方。

So I wouldn't get into specific details around any of the overall plans that we have, but we do certainly look for those opportunities where they exist, but they're not contemplated within the guidance that we shared.

因此，我不會詳細介紹我們現有的任何總體計劃，但我們確實會尋找存在的機會，但我們分享的指南中並未考慮到這些機會。

And, Ed, this is Rodney.

埃德，這是羅德尼。

If it was anything material, we would share it as well so that everybody would know.

如果它有任何實質性的內容，我們也會分享它，以便每個人都知道。

And as Gary mentioned, it's in the guidance.

正如加里提到的，它在指南中。

Rodney, my real question here is for you, and it's on the IDs.

羅德尼，我真正的問題是問你的，在身份證上。

And bigger picture, you used to consistently outperform a broader peer set and industry data like Nielsen.

從更大的角度來看，您過去的表現一直優於更廣泛的同行和行業數據，如尼爾森。

And to me, one of the biggest issues right now with your company is that, that actually no longer seems to be happening.

對我來說，貴公司目前最大的問題之一是，這似乎不再發生了。

And your IDs are just north of 1% this quarter despite the fact that you have digital in there, specialty's in there now.

本季度你的 ID 剛好超過 1%，儘管你有數字，現在有專業。

You are lapping some optimization.

您正在進行一些優化。

You've invested a lot last year.

你去年投資了很多。

I guess why do you think the share gains have slowed so much?

我想你為什麼認為股價上漲如此緩慢？

And I know you're focused on improving momentum, but what specific adjustments are you making?

我知道你專注於提高勢頭，但你做了哪些具體調整？

It really is, for us, to step up our game.

對我們來說，這真的是要加強我們的比賽。

And if you look at the customer experience, we've made significant improvement in some of the basic customer experience.

如果你看看客戶體驗，我們已經在一些基本的客戶體驗方面做出了重大改進。

What we find is there's a lag between when you make those improvements and when the customer starts rewarding you with their checkbook.

我們發現，在您進行這些改進與客戶開始用他們的支票簿獎勵您之間存在滯後。

And so part of the -- and this is using the data that we track every week, how are we doing in terms of the friendliness of our associates, in-stock and all of those pieces.

因此，部分 - 這是使用我們每週跟踪的數據，我們在員工的友善度、庫存和所有這些方面做得如何。

And the progress that we've made is stronger than our progress in our identicals.

我們取得的進步比我們在相同事物上的進步更強大。

The other part is some of the things I mentioned before, is just cycling space optimization and the other projects and getting a return from the remodels that we're doing and using the data in a continued, sophisticated way but even growing upon that as what we've had in the past.

另一部分是我之前提到的一些事情，只是循環空間優化和其他項目，並從我們正在進行的改造中獲得回報，並以持續、複雜的方式使用數據，但甚至以此為基礎不斷發展我們過去有過。

The next question comes from Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自 Rupesh Parikh 和 Oppenheimer。

This is actually Erica Eiler on for Rupesh.

這實際上是 Rupesh 的 Erica Eiler。

So I actually wanted to touch on food inflation.

所以我實際上想談談食品通脹。

Can you maybe get a little bit more granular in terms of what you're seeing currently and your expectations going forward?

您能否更詳細地了解您目前所看到的情況以及您對未來的期望？

And then maybe you could talk about, are you seeing prices being passed through to the shelf at this point?

然後也許你可以談談，你是否看到此時價格被傳遞到貨架上？

Sure.

當然。

I'd be happy to talk about that.

我很樂意談論那個。

So as you know, when we talked about our guidance for the year, our expectation was that we'd see inflation in the range of 0% to 1%.

如您所知，當我們談到我們今年的指導時，我們的預期是我們會看到通貨膨脹率在 0% 到 1% 的範圍內。

That was what we've built our plan around.

這就是我們制定計劃的基礎。

And I would say if you look at Q1 results and exclude pharmacy and fuel from the calculation, we would be at the top end of that range.

我想說，如果您查看第一季度的結果並將藥房和燃料排除在計算之外，我們將處於該範圍的頂端。

Certainly, as we are seeing those cost increases come through, we have a very robust process within our cost of goods team to really look at ways in which we can mitigate those cost increases and ensure that we're able to maintain profitability in the business.

當然，當我們看到這些成本增加時，我們在我們的商品成本團隊中有一個非常強大的流程來真正研究我們可以減輕這些成本增加並確保我們能夠保持業務盈利能力的方法.

Where we are seeing the legitimate reason for those costs coming through, we are generally being successful in passing them on to the customer through the pricing strategy.

在我們看到這些成本的合理原因的地方，我們通常會成功地通過定價策略將它們轉嫁給客戶。

And I would say that's generally what we saw during the first quarter and would be our strategy during the rest of the year.

我想說的是，這通常是我們在第一季度看到的情況，並將成為我們今年剩餘時間的戰略。

One of the things that obviously we feel is an important advantage for us is the significant market share that we have with our own brand products, and so ensuring that we're using that to really manage and balance as we see price increases come through.

顯然我們覺得對我們來說是一個重要優勢的一件事是我們擁有自己品牌產品的重要市場份額，因此確保我們在看到價格上漲時使用它來真正管理和平衡。

And of course, it's a great set of knowledge for us knowing what the true cost of product is and how to effectively manage those cost increases.

當然，了解產品的真實成本以及如何有效管理這些成本增加對我們來說是一個很好的知識集。

Okay.

好的。

That's helpful.

這很有幫助。

And then...

進而...

I think our outlook...

我認為我們的前景...

Oh, no, keep going.

哦，不，繼續。

No.

不。

I was just going to say I think our outlook for the year, in general, would be in the -- would be similar to what we've been experiencing, except for, of course, some of the challenges and uncertainties that are being created by some discussion on some potential trade impacts and obviously some things like the swine flu that was also out there.

我只是想說，我認為我們對今年的展望，總的來說，將與我們所經歷的類似，當然，除了正在產生的一些挑戰和不確定性通過一些關於一些潛在貿易影響的討論，顯然還有一些事情，比如豬流感。

So there are obviously 1 or 2 items that we're watching very closely because they have the potential to impact inflation in a more meaningful way.

因此，顯然有 1 或 2 個項目我們正在密切關注，因為它們有可能以更有意義的方式影響通貨膨脹。

And tariffs from China has pretty minimal effect on us, and a lot of it can be managed.

來自中國的關稅對我們的影響很小，而且很多都是可以控制的。

Tariffs from Mexico would be harder to manage.

來自墨西哥的關稅將更難管理。

Hopefully, something works out there.

希望那裡能有所作為。

As you know, overall, from a philosophy standpoint, we always believe that at the end of the day, tariffs just cause costs to go up for customers.

如您所知，總的來說，從哲學的角度來看，我們始終認為，歸根結底，關稅只會導致客戶成本上升。

Okay.

好的。

No.

不。

That's great additional color.

這是很棒的額外顏色。

And then just quickly on gross margins.

然後快速提高毛利率。

Can you talk about the dynamics going on with pharmacy right now and the industry as it relates to gross margin and how you're thinking about kind of those dynamics going forward?

你能談談現在藥房的動態以及與毛利率相關的行業，以及你如何看待這些動態的發展嗎？

Sure.

當然。

First of all, I'd like to just maybe give a little bit more context on our pharmacy business, too, because it's certainly a very important part of our business.

首先，我也想多介紹一下我們的藥房業務，因為它肯定是我們業務中非常重要的一部分。

It drives a lot of loyalty overall with the customer, and we continue to get extremely strong customer satisfaction ratings.

它提高了客戶的整體忠誠度，我們繼續獲得非常高的客戶滿意度評級。

It's a part of our business that generally is continuing to grow script counts and grow sales very strongly, as we mentioned, during the quarter.

正如我們在本季度提到的，這是我們業務的一部分，通常會繼續增加腳本數量並非常強勁地增長銷售額。

And it ties very closely for us to our health and wellness strategy.

它與我們的健康戰略密切相關。

And as we start to think about food as medicine, we think it's a very important connection.

當我們開始將食物視為藥物時，我們認為這是一個非常重要的聯繫。

The business today is profitable for us and generates a high ROIC.

今天的業務對我們來說是有利可圖的，並產生了很高的投資回報率。

But as you mentioned, we are certainly seeing some pressure in the industry.

但正如你提到的，我們確實看到了行業中的一些壓力。

There's a couple of things at play, really, within the gross margin pressure that we saw in Q1 which, as I mentioned, wouldn't be unique to us.

實際上，在我們在第一季度看到的毛利率壓力中，有幾件事在起作用，正如我提到的，這對我們來說並不是獨一無二的。

The first is there is a generic supply challenge, and therefore the cost of supplying product has gone up significantly.

首先是通用供應挑戰，因此供應產品的成本大幅上升。

And secondly, as we've renegotiated our PPM agreements, 3 of the big ones going through the renegotiation process, there's an increase in costs there that's also placing some pressure on gross margin.

其次，由於我們重新談判了我們的 PPM 協議，其中 3 個大協議正在經歷重新談判過程，那裡的成本增加了，這也給毛利率帶來了一些壓力。

That being said, our pharmacy team has been extremely proactive in developing plans to mitigate that, both from how do we buy most effectively but also how do we create more efficiency in the pharmacy business.

話雖這麼說，我們的藥房團隊一直非常積極地制定計劃來緩解這種情況，既包括我們如何最有效地購買，也包括我們如何在藥房業務中創造更高的效率。

And we continue to see significant efficiency improvements in the cost to fill a pharmacy order, and our pharmacy team are doing a really nice job of finding ways to offset some of those pressures.

我們繼續看到填寫藥房訂單的成本效率顯著提高，我們的藥房團隊在尋找抵消其中一些壓力的方法方面做得非常好。

And as I mentioned before, it's also the nice thing about having a multifaceted business where other things, the growth in our Own Brands and other things that I mentioned, in total, we still had great results.

正如我之前提到的，擁有一個多方面的業務也是一件好事，其他事情，我們自有品牌的增長以及我提到的其他事情，總的來說，我們仍然取得了很好的成績。

And also, as we look -- move forward, we see health and wellness as a huge opportunity in terms of from an alternative business standpoint and creating new partnerships to be able to help America live a healthier life.

而且，當我們展望未來時，我們認為健康和健康是一個巨大的機會，從另一種商業角度來看，並建立新的伙伴關係，以幫助美國人過上更健康的生活。

And as Gary mentioned, everything that we see, discussions with a lot of different health care providers, we increasingly see food as medicine.

正如加里提到的，我們所看到的一切，與許多不同的醫療保健提供者的討論，我們越來越多地將食物視為藥物。

And if you look at our OptUP app and some of those things, we're able to help people eat healthier, and we see that as an opportunity even bigger in the future than it's been in the past.

如果你看看我們的 OptUP 應用程序和其中一些東西，我們能夠幫助人們吃得更健康，我們認為這是未來比過去更大的機會。

The next question comes from John Heinbockel with Guggenheim Securities.

下一個問題來自古根海姆證券公司的 John Heinbockel。

Rodney, can you address the topic of the organization's capacity for change, right?

羅德尼，你能談談組織變革能力的話題嗎？

So you've got a lot of change going on.

所以你有很多變化正在進行中。

You've got people in new roles.

你有新角色的人。

Do you think that, all of that, other than maybe space optimization, is impacting execution in any way and maybe impacting your top line growth?

您是否認為，除了空間優化之外，所有這些都以任何方式影響執行並可能影響您的收入增長？

And then as you go forward, if there might be some of that, is there a way to sort of streamline things, prioritize so that maybe there's -- you impact the organization's ability to manage that change better?

然後在你前進的過程中，如果可能有一些這樣的事情，有沒有一種方法可以簡化事情，確定優先級，這樣也許 - 你會影響組織更好地管理這種變化的能力？

Curious to your thoughts on that.

對你對此的想法感到好奇。

Yes.

是的。

A great question, John, and it's something that we talk about, obviously, routinely.

這是一個很好的問題，約翰，這是我們經常談論的話題。

It was one of the reasons that we made some of the organizational changes that we made and moving alternative business to its own stand-alone area because we wanted to make sure that we had -- it's a huge opportunity -- we had dedicated people focused on it, and we didn't have people that were responsible for the daily interaction with the customer trying to do both.

這是我們進行一些組織變革並將替代業務轉移到其獨立區域的原因之一，因為我們想確保我們擁有——這是一個巨大的機會——我們有專注的人在上面，我們沒有人負責與客戶的日常互動，試圖同時做到這兩點。

And one of the things I always like to -- for us to ask ourselves is, is it center of plate or corner of plate, [corner of that]?

我一直喜歡問自己的一件事是，它是盤子的中心還是盤子的角，[那個角]？

And if it's center, that's incredibly important.

如果它是中心，那將非常重要。

So I feel incredibly good about the people that we've put in place and making sure that the clarity is separating from all the pieces.

因此，我對我們安排的人員感到非常滿意，並確保清晰度與所有部分分開。

We have recruited some external talent over the last several months to help us supplement the internal talent that we already had in terms of some of our operating areas, some of our vice presidents.

在過去的幾個月裡，我們已經招募了一些外部人才來幫助我們補充我們在一些運營領域、一些副總裁方面已經擁有的內部人才。

And on our digital team, we've recruited a ton of talent from the outside to accelerate our digital journey.

在我們的數字團隊中，我們從外部招募了大量人才來加速我們的數字之旅。

So it's -- to me, I think it's a great question.

所以這是 - 對我來說，我認為這是一個很好的問題。

We spend a lot of energy on it.

我們在上面花費了大量的精力。

When you look at the operating side of the business, we have a lot of new people in role over the last couple of years.

當您查看業務的運營方面時，我們在過去幾年中有很多新人擔任職務。

It always takes a little while for new talent to hit their stride, and I feel really good about how they're growing and the progress we're starting to make on the customer connection attributes.

新人才大踏步前進總是需要一些時間，我對他們的成長方式以及我們在客戶聯繫屬性方面開始取得的進展感到非常滿意。

And it's starting to show up in loyal customer growth, so it's making progress.

它開始體現在忠誠客戶的增長中，因此它正在取得進展。

We feel really good about the talent we have in place, and we're starting to make some accelerated progress.

我們對現有的人才感到非常滿意，並且我們開始取得一些加速進展。

And then I know it's early, but what have you learned with the Walgreen test in Cincinnati, particularly as you kind of look forward to opening up the Ocado sheds in non-Kroger markets?

然後我知道現在還早，但是你從辛辛那提的沃爾格林測試中學到了什麼，特別是當你有點期待在非克羅格市場開設 Ocado 棚屋時？

Have you learned anything definitive or not yet?

你有沒有學到任何確定的東西？

Yes.

是的。

It's still very, very early, and I would say the thing that has been incredibly positive is Walgreens, their team and their store teams are a fantastic partner.

現在還非常非常早，我想說的是 Walgreens 非常積極，他們的團隊和他們的商店團隊是一個很棒的合作夥伴。

And both of us are learning things, the customer likes and dislikes, together, and we really see it as something that we continue to understand the customer desires and changes and adapting to that.

我們都在學習客戶喜歡和不喜歡的東西，我們真的認為這是我們繼續了解客戶的需求和變化並適應的東西。

And it's pretty early on.

而且還很早。

I know, Gary, you're much closer to it from a day-to-day basis, so I'll let you add some of the specific color.

我知道，加里，你每天都更接近它，所以我會讓你添加一些特定的顏色。

Yes.

是的。

Sure.

當然。

I think that some of the things that we're learning and we like so far, John, with what we're seeing, first of all, by having the level of convenience now that we have with those 13 stores in Northern Kentucky, alongside 10 of our own stores with the pickup service, we're getting great feedback on both the fact that we're even a different level of convenience than we were before.

我認為我們正在學習和我們喜歡的一些東西，約翰，我們所看到的，首先是我們在北肯塔基州的 13 家商店擁有的便利程度，以及我們自己的 10 家商店提供取貨服務，我們收到了很好的反饋，因為我們甚至比以前更方便。

And this ability to get in and out really quickly is certainly something that is resonating very well with the customers that are using the service.

這種快速進出的能力肯定會引起使用該服務的客戶的共鳴。

We're also starting to see some positive feedback from customers around the speed of in and out for those small shopping trips and the ability to be able to get what I need for today and what I need for tonight, whether it's for lunch or dinner, and that's certainly a real positive.

我們也開始看到客戶對這些小型購物旅行的進出速度以及能夠獲得我今天和今晚需要的東西的能力的一些積極反饋，無論是午餐還是晚餐，這當然是一個真正的積極因素。

What we find generally with the small-format stores, there is a ramp-up as customers become more comfortable with their shopping behavior.

我們發現小型商店的總體情況是，隨著顧客對他們的購物行為越來越滿意，他們的數量會增加。

We've seen that with our own small-format stores, and we've seen it over the years with convenience stores.

我們已經在我們自己的小型商店中看到了這一點，多年來我們在便利店中也看到了這一點。

So the biggest thing for us now is really poring over the data and making sure that we're using a data-driven approach to continue to enhance the service and the experience.

因此，對我們來說，現在最重要的事情就是仔細研究數據，並確保我們使用數據驅動的方法來繼續增強服務和體驗。

The next question comes from Michael Lasser with UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Michael Lasser。

Can you give us more clarity on how the past year -- full year operating profit guidance works?

您能否更清楚地說明過去一年 - 全年營業利潤指導的運作方式？

Thus far, you're trending a little bit below your ID sales range, even currently in the quarter.

到目前為止，您的銷售趨勢略低於您的 ID 銷售範圍，即使目前在本季度也是如此。

Sounds like the pharmacy gross margin pressure has been greater than you expected, and you got a real estate gain in the first quarter and yet your profits were still down.

聽起來藥房的毛利率壓力比你想像的要大，一季度你拿到了房地產收益，但你的利潤仍然在下降。

So what's the path that you can take from here to get to your operating profit guidance for the full year?

那麼，您可以從這裡採取什麼途徑來獲得全年的營業利潤指導？

And at what point do you see more risk that it would be harder to get to that level?

在什麼時候你會看到更難達到那個水平的風險？

Yes.

是的。

I'll make a couple of comments, and then I'll let Gary fill in on the details.

我將發表一些評論，然後讓 Gary 填寫詳細信息。

Some of the -- if you look at the positives, we had great expense control.

一些 - 如果你看積極的一面，我們有很好的費用控制。

The other thing I think is always important to remember is we sold the Turkey Hill Dairy business.

我認為始終要記住的另一件事是我們出售了 Turkey Hill Dairy 業務。

We sold the c-store business during the first quarter, and we sold YouTech, all of which affected operating profit when you look at year-on-year in the first quarter.

我們在第一季度出售了 c-store 業務，我們出售了 YouTech，所有這些都影響了第一季度同比的營業利潤。

So I think it's important to remember that as well.

所以我認為記住這一點也很重要。

And as I mentioned, the alternative profit exceeded expectations in the first quarter as well.

正如我所提到的，替代利潤在第一季度也超出了預期。

With that, Gary, I'll let you fill in more of the details.

有了這個，加里，我會讓你填寫更多的細節。

Yes.

是的。

I think that's a very important point you made around the adjustments to get the year-over-year comparison correct, Rodney, so thank you for raising those.

羅德尼，我認為這是您圍繞調整做出的非常重要的一點，以使同比比較正確，所以感謝您提出這些建議。

I think beyond what you already shared, the key components I would add, we are obviously excited about where alternative profit is heading and still see that as a potential upside.

我認為除了你已經分享的內容之外，我要補充的關鍵組成部分，我們顯然對替代利潤的發展方向感到興奮，並且仍然認為這是一個潛在的上行空間。

I think the other piece that I mentioned in the prepared comments is our team has done a phenomenal job of looking for how do we continue to generate cost savings and efficiency in the business, and we still believe there are more levers that we are pulling and we'll continue to pull that give us the ability to make sure that we continue to strengthen the financial model as we're continuing to drive the sales momentum that Rodney described in his opening comments as well.

我認為我在準備好的評論中提到的另一件事是我們的團隊在尋找我們如何繼續在業務中節省成本和提高效率方面做了出色的工作，我們仍然相信我們正在拉動更多的槓桿，我們將繼續努力，讓我們有能力確保我們繼續加強財務模型，因為我們將繼續推動羅德尼在其開場評論中所描述的銷售勢頭。

So for us, I think it is really about making sure that we're connecting more strongly with the customer and driving sales, but certainly very focused on how do we make sure we're creating the most efficient operating model.

所以對我們來說，我認為這真的是為了確保我們與客戶建立更緊密的聯繫並推動銷售，但當然非常關注我們如何確保我們正在創建最有效的運營模式。

And we continue to find additional opportunities, whether it's in store productivity, pharmacy productivity, as I mentioned earlier.

正如我之前提到的，我們繼續尋找更多機會，無論是在商店生產力、藥房生產力方面。

We still think there's a lot of upside in goods not for resale and cost of goods.

我們仍然認為非轉售商品和商品成本有很大的上漲空間。

And so as we continue on this journey to make sure we're building the most efficient retail operation, we do believe there are levers that we can continue to pull throughout the year and into 2020.

因此，在我們繼續這一旅程以確保我們正在建立最高效的零售業務時，我們確實相信我們可以在全年和 2020 年繼續使用一些槓桿。

And then my follow-up question is on your price investment.

然後我的後續問題是關於你的價格投資。

Recognizing that there's been a lot of noise in your IDs over the last couple of quarters given the disruption from the store remodels, do you think your price investments are as effective as they might have been in the past?

鑑於商店改造造成的干擾，您認識到在過去幾個季度中您的 ID 中出現了很多噪音，您認為您的價格投資是否像過去一樣有效？

And if they are, will you have to reaccelerate your price investments in the coming quarters to drive higher IDs this year?

如果是，您是否必須在未來幾個季度重新加快價格投資以推動今年更高的 ID？

Yes.

是的。

The -- one of the things that we always think is very important to remember is customers decide where to shop based on things more than just price, and we feel very good about where our price is relative to the market and relative to our competitors.

- 我們一直認為非常重要的一件事是，客戶決定在哪裡購物不僅基於價格，而且我們對我們的價格相對於市場和競爭對手的價格感到非常滿意。

And remember, customers also look at regional players when they're looking at their price as well.

請記住，客戶在查看價格時也會查看區域參與者。

When you look at overall, the customer decides where to shop based on what's the experience they get from associates, what's the freshness of the fresh departments, and we've continued to rate strong in terms of -- if you look at produce, meat, seafood, delis, those areas of our business and the experience in terms of a great checkout experience and speed.

從整體上看，客戶會根據他們從店員那裡獲得的體驗、生鮮部門的新鮮程度來決定去哪裡購物，而且我們在農產品、肉類方面的評級一直很高，海鮮，熟食店，我們業務的這些領域以及在出色的結帳體驗和速度方面的經驗。

And when you look at rewards, we do a fantastic job with rewards that are exclusive to each individual customer, where we use our data to make targeted offers based on that particular customer.

當您查看獎勵時，我們做得非常出色，獎勵是每個客戶獨有的，我們使用我們的數據根據該特定客戶提供有針對性的優惠。

And then, obviously, fuel is an important part of that overall equation.

然後，顯然，燃料是整個方程式的重要組成部分。

So the customer decides where to shop based on the overall experience, and we feel great, and we continue to make progress when you look at that total experience.

因此，客戶根據整體體驗決定去哪裡購物，我們感覺很好，當您看到整體體驗時，我們會繼續取得進步。

And if you look at -- as I mentioned before, we had solid growth, strong growth in our loyal shoppers.

如果你看——正如我之前提到的，我們有穩健的增長，我們的忠實購物者增長強勁。

The next question comes from Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Kelly Bania。

I had a couple of questions on operating profit.

我有幾個關於營業利潤的問題。

First, wanted to ask just about your 3-year plan.

首先，想問一下您的 3 年計劃。

I didn't really see anything specific in the release about it, and I don't want to read too much into it.

我真的沒有在發布中看到任何關於它的具體內容，我也不想讀太多。

But can you comment on your thoughts on that $400 million plan?

但是你能評論一下你對這個 4 億美元計劃的看法嗎？

As you've pointed out in the past, I think The Street is skeptical of getting to that given the huge acceleration it implies next year.

正如你過去指出的那樣，我認為華爾街對實現這一目標持懷疑態度，因為它意味著明年的巨大加速。

But maybe just could you comment on that?

但也許你能對此發表評論嗎？

And then on your other comments about Turkey Hill and there's a lot of moving pieces between the Turkey Hill divestiture, the Home Chef acquisition and now with this real estate transaction.

然後關於你對 Turkey Hill 的其他評論，在 Turkey Hill 資產剝離、Home Chef 收購和現在的房地產交易之間有很多變化。

That was $57 million, I think.

我認為那是 5700 萬美元。

So that's about 14% of the $400 million plan that we weren't aware of.

所以這大約是我們不知道的 4 億美元計劃的 14%。

So can you help us understand these moving pieces, how much they add or subtract to that operating profit plan, so we can kind of model this out a little bit more clearly?

那麼，您能否幫助我們了解這些變化的部分，它們對營業利潤計劃增加或減少了多少，以便我們可以更清楚地對此進行建模？

Sure.

當然。

Yes.

是的。

I think as you think about the Restock Kroger Plan, as you know, when we built the plan out, we've identified $4.45 billion of overall savings and value that we expected to create and then would invest $4.05 billion to support the business growth, whether that was in our associates or in pricing or the customer experience and digital capabilities.

我想當你考慮 Restock Kroger 計劃時，正如你所知，當我們制定計劃時，我們已經確定了 44.5 億美元的總體節省和我們預計創造的價值，然後將投資 40.5 億美元來支持業務增長，無論是在我們的員工、定價還是客戶體驗和數字能力方面。

I would say as we look at where we are in the journey, we're feeling very good about the -- what we've learned through the process around where we unlock and how we create that $4.45 billion of value.

我想說的是，當我們審視我們在旅程中所處的位置時，我們對我們在解鎖過程中學到的知識以及我們如何創造 44.5 億美元的價值感到非常滿意。

As you've heard us talk about, alternative profit streams are right where we expected them to be, if anything, slightly ahead of plan at this point, and we see continued great upside for growth there.

正如您聽到我們談論的那樣，替代利潤流恰好達到我們預期的水平，如果有的話，目前略高於計劃，我們認為那裡的增長將繼續保持巨大的上升空間。

As we look at the cost savings, we obviously were successful in exceeding our plan last year at $1.1 billion of cost savings, and we are identifying, I would say, more cost savings as we are working through the plan this year that we believe can continue to accelerate our progress there in becoming a more efficient operator.

當我們查看成本節約時，我們顯然成功地超過了我們去年的計劃，節省了 11 億美元的成本，而且我會說，我們正在確定更多的成本節約，因為我們正在通過今年的計劃工作，我們相信可以繼續加快我們在成為更高效運營商方面的進展。

I do think, as we've shared all the way along and Rodney has been consistent in his comments, that we do have to make sure that we are continuing to build momentum in sales.

我確實認為，正如我們一直分享的那樣，羅德尼在他的評論中一直保持一致，我們確實必須確保我們繼續建立銷售勢頭。

That's an important part in generating more leverage through the growth in sales that we're committed to achieve in the second half of this year and obviously into 2020.

這是通過我們承諾在今年下半年和顯然到 2020 年實現的銷售額增長來產生更多影響力的重要組成部分。

So I think as you pull those 3 pieces together, we still feel we have a very clear path to get there.

所以我認為，當你將這 3 個部分放在一起時，我們仍然覺得我們有一條非常清晰的道路可以到達那裡。

And I would say in the levers that we intended to pull, where we are in the journey with those levers, we're feeling very confident around them.

我會說，在我們打算拉動的槓桿中，我們在這些槓桿的旅程中，我們對它們感到非常自信。

And as we continue to build momentum in the sales line that Rodney referenced, we're still committed to the $400 million of incremental FIFO operating profit.

隨著我們繼續在羅德尼提到的銷售線上建立勢頭，我們仍然致力於增加 4 億美元的 FIFO 營業利潤。

And any comment on the Home Chef, Turkey Hill, the real estate, how those are part of the $400 million, the exact impact of those?

對 Home Chef、Turkey Hill 和房地產的任何評論，這些是 4 億美元的一部分，它們的確切影響是什麼？

Yes.

是的。

The -- so we will probably do a little bit of calculation to make sure we're baselined in the right place against where the starting point was.

- 所以我們可能會做一些計算，以確保我們在起點所在的正確位置設定了基線。

So we were at $3.1 billion, if you recall, in '17, going to $3.5 billion.

因此，如果您還記得，在 17 年，我們的收入為 31 億美元，將達到 35 億美元。

There maybe a couple of -- they're certainly not going to be drastically material in the impact they would have on the baseline, but there certainly will be a need for us to clarify what the baseline would be with the various changes that happened and what that then means to what $400 million means incrementally by 2020.

可能有幾個——它們肯定不會對基線產生重大影響，但我們肯定需要澄清發生的各種變化的基線是什麼，這意味著到 2020 年 4 億美元的增量意味著什麼。

We certainly don't contemplate, as we think about the run rate and the value that we'll be generating in 2020, that one-off transactions would be a major driver of the value that we expect to create.

我們當然不會考慮，當我們考慮運行率和我們將在 2020 年產生的價值時，一次性交易將成為我們期望創造的價值的主要驅動力。

We've built the Restock Kroger plan with the mindset that it builds momentum into beyond 2020.

我們制定了 Restock Kroger 計劃，其心態是為 2020 年以後建立勢頭。

We're not focused on getting to a specific number for 2020 that doesn't drive the value.

我們並不專注於獲得 2020 年不會推動價值的特定數字。

The Home Chef certainly isn't in the $400 million, and the Turkey Hill sale gains certainly is included in there.

Home Chef 肯定不在 4 億美元之內，而 Turkey Hill 的銷售收益肯定包括在內。

So none of these one-off transactions are, that's why we've kind of stripped those out from the performance and what we've shared as our progress in the year.

因此，這些一次性交易都不是，這就是為什麼我們將這些交易從績效中剔除，以及我們在這一年中分享的進展。

None of those, or in 2020 would we expect there to be individual asset sales or disposals that are going to create a gain that would be, if you like, filling the gap between where we are today and where we expect to be in 2020.

這些都沒有，或者在 2020 年，我們預計會有個別資產出售或處置來創造收益，如果你願意的話，可以填補我們今天和 2020 年預期之間的差距。

Okay.

好的。

Maybe just a couple of follow-ups to that.

也許只是一些後續行動。

I guess can you share with us where you see your FIFO operating profit with all the adjustments these, I guess, 5 quarters through the plan?

我想你能和我們分享一下你在哪裡看到你的 FIFO 營業利潤以及所有這些調整，我猜，通過計劃的 5 個季度？

And then in terms of alternative profit.

然後在替代利潤方面。

So I think you said in the past, there was a 20% increase this year.

所以我想你過去說過，今年有 20% 的增長。

Does that equate to the $100 million that you're now talking about?

這是否等於您現在所說的 1 億美元？

And can you remind us what the last year and next year is kind of planned at?

你能提醒我們去年和明年的計劃是什麼嗎？

Well, on alternative profit in the quarter, the growth was -- last year, was 20%.

那麼，就本季度的替代利潤而言，去年的增長率為 20%。

This quarter would have been a little bit above 20%.

本季度會略高於 20%。

And if you go back and look at '17, if I remember right, Gary, and you'll remember better than I would, I think it was 13% or so.

如果你回頭看看 17 年，如果我沒記錯的話，加里，你會比我記得更清楚，我認為是 13% 左右。

So it's...

所以就是...

Yes.

是的。

It's continuing to accelerate as we learn what to -- how to do it.

隨著我們學習做什麼 - 如何去做，它會繼續加速。

And if you look at like the Media business, we've recruited professionals that know how to grow that business, so we're actually accelerating where we are.

如果你看一下媒體業務，我們已經招募了知道如何發展該業務的專業人士，所以我們實際上正在加速發展。

On the 5 quarters and stuff, I think we're probably -- would be better off for Gary and Rebekah to follow up to make sure that we get the specifics of the question so that we can help -- be a little bit more helpful than on the fly.

在 5 個季度之類的問題上，我認為我們可能 - 最好讓 Gary 和 Rebekah 跟進以確保我們了解問題的具體情況，以便我們可以提供幫助 - 提供更多幫助比在飛行中。

Absolutely.

絕對地。

The next question comes from Chris Prykull with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的 Chris Prykull。

So I guess, firstly, on the composition of gross margin, the change year-over-year and maybe the cadence for the rest of the year, a couple of components to that.

所以我想，首先，關於毛利率的構成，同比變化以及今年剩餘時間的節奏，其中有幾個組成部分。

So how much of the 40 basis point nonfuel decline can be attributed to pharmacy?

那麼 40 個基點的非燃料下降中有多少可以歸因於藥房？

Should we expect a similar headwind for the rest of the year?

我們應該期待今年餘下時間出現類似的逆風嗎？

Will that improve?

那會改善嗎？

You mentioned alternative profits can be lumpy.

你提到替代利潤可能是不穩定的。

Anything to keep in mind from a margin contribution seasonally?

季節性保證金貢獻有什麼要記住的嗎？

And then you're lapping some supply chain investments in the fourth quarter.

然後你在第四季度進行了一些供應鏈投資。

I understand that.

我明白那個。

Any sense for mix shift towards Our Brands and the contribution there?

混合轉向我們的品牌和那裡的貢獻有什麼意義嗎？

On the -- I'll start, and I'll let Gary finish.

關於——我會開始，我會讓 Gary 完成。

On the supply chain investments, in the first quarter, we continue to have significant start-up costs with facilities in Las Vegas, Michigan and Northern Kentucky that serves our online business.

在供應鏈投資方面，第一季度，我們繼續在拉斯維加斯、密歇根州和北肯塔基州為我們的在線業務提供服務的設施的啟動成本很高。

And the investment in the first quarter for those facilities was pretty similar to the fourth quarter in terms of an investment.

就投資而言，第一季度對這些設施的投資與第四季度非常相似。

Obviously, those facilities are in the middle of their ramp-up.

顯然，這些設施正處於擴產階段。

If you look at Our Brands, as I always tell people, Our Brands margin typically is 600 to 800 basis points higher than national brand.

如果你看看我們的品牌，就像我經常告訴人們的那樣，我們的品牌利潤率通常比民族品牌高 600 到 800 個基點。

Obviously, it's a higher sales part.

顯然，這是一個更高的銷售部分。

And when you look at the gross margin per item, it's usually $0.01 or $0.02 higher on a cents-per-item profit basis.

當您查看每件商品的毛利率時，通常每件商品的利潤要高出 0.01 美元或 0.02 美元。

In terms of Rx and the balance of the year, Gary, I'll let you go into a little bit of the details there.

就 Rx 和年度餘額而言，Gary，我會讓你詳細介紹一下。

Yes.

是的。

So certainly, as we mentioned in the prepared remarks, a meaningful part of the gross margin decline in the quarter was the gross margin pharmacy pressure you mentioned and also Kroger Specialty Pharmacy with its continued growth.

所以當然，正如我們在準備好的評論中提到的那樣，本季度毛利率下降的一個重要部分是你提到的毛利率藥房壓力以及 Kroger Specialty Pharmacy 的持續增長。

Those 2, combined, would have been a meaningful portion of the reduction.

這 2 個加在一起，將是減少的一個有意義的部分。

We're feeling really good about the fact that we saw a significant deceleration in gross margin decline in Q1 versus the second half of the year.

與下半年相比，我們看到第一季度的毛利率下降明顯放緩，這讓我們感覺非常好。

And as we guided to for the whole year, we do expect that to be the case.

正如我們全年指導的那樣，我們確實希望情況會如此。

We don't expect to have another quarter like we had in Q3 and Q4 last year.

我們預計不會再有像去年第三季度和第四季度那樣的季度。

That being said, obviously, we manage the business very dynamically.

話雖這麼說，顯然，我們非常動態地管理業務。

It's important that we're able to adapt on pricing, continue to invest where it makes sense and where the customer tell us they really value it, and it will drive retention and growth in our loyal customer base.

重要的是我們能夠調整定價，繼續在有意義的地方以及客戶告訴我們他們真正重視的地方進行投資，這將推動我們忠實客戶群的保留和增長。

So we tend to really focus on how we're managing the business to make sure that we're achieving the overall operating profit guidance and EPS that we shared.

因此，我們傾向於真正關注我們如何管理業務，以確保我們實現我們共享的整體營業利潤指導和每股收益。

We do think there will continue to be some pressure in the Rx margin as the year progresses on.

我們確實認為，隨著時間的推移， Rx 利潤率將繼續面臨一些壓力。

As I mentioned earlier, the team there is doing a very good job in making sure that we're finding ways to manage that pressure and also introduce cost-saving initiatives that balance out the impact of that.

正如我之前提到的，那裡的團隊在確保我們找到管理這種壓力的方法以及引入成本節約計劃來平衡這種影響方面做得非常好。

So we certainly would expect the impact to be less in the rest of the year as the team continues to execute on a plan to drive strong sales growth and drive improvements in overall profitability.

因此，隨著團隊繼續執行推動強勁銷售增長並推動整體盈利能力改善的計劃，我們當然預計今年剩餘時間的影響會較小。

And alternative profit is always strongest in the fourth quarter because of the gift cards and the other related items.

由於禮品卡和其他相關項目，替代利潤在第四季度總是最強的。

We have time for one more question.

我們還有時間再問一個問題。

And that question will come from Chuck Cerankosky with Northcoast Research.

這個問題將來自 Northcoast Research 的 Chuck Cerankosky。

And Mr. Cerankosky dropped out -- dropped his line.

Cerankosky 先生退出了——放棄了他的台詞。

The next question will be from Michael Montani with Evercore ISI.

下一個問題將來自 Evercore ISI 的 Michael Montani。

Just on the core gross margins for the grocery and consumable business, can you talk about what you saw after you back out some of the supply chain investments in the pharmacy?

就雜貨和消費品業務的核心毛利率而言，您能否談談在退出藥房的一些供應鏈投資後看到的情況？

What are you seeing in the core there?

你在那裡的核心看到了什麼？

And then the follow-up is on tonnage.

然後是噸位的後續行動。

Did you have growth there in the quarter given the 1% inflation, 1.5% comp?

考慮到 1% 的通貨膨脹率，1.5% 的補償率，您在本季度有增長嗎？

Just give us some color there incrementally on the trend, if you could.

如果可以的話，請在趨勢上逐漸給我們一些顏色。

Yes.

是的。

If you look at the tonnage on the equivalized units, it would have been continued growth.

如果你看一下等效單位的噸位，它會持續增長。

We continue to see customers going to buying bigger packs across the whole category.

我們繼續看到客戶在整個類別中購買更大的包裝。

When you look at core gross margin, it would be a little bit of investment.

當您查看核心毛利率時，這將是一點投資。

But the -- as Gary mentioned, we had continued meaningful improvement in cost of goods through negotiation and other things, which funded quite a bit of investment as well.

但是 - 正如加里提到的那樣，我們通過談判和其他事情繼續有意義地改善商品成本，這也為相當多的投資提供了資金。

I don't know, Gary, anything you want to add to that?

我不知道，加里，你想補充什麼嗎？

No.

不。

I think you said it well, Rodney.

我認為你說得很好，羅德尼。

Okay.

好的。

Good.

好的。

Thanks, Michael.

謝謝，邁克爾。

Before we end today's call, one of the things that's exciting about our earnings call is that many of our associates listen in to better understand and gain insights into our business.

在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我們的財報電話會議令人興奮的一件事是，我們的許多員工都在傾聽，以便更好地了解和深入了解我們的業務。

And of course, many of our associates are shareholders as well.

當然，我們的許多員工也是股東。

So as always, before we end today's call, I'd like to share a few final comments directed to our associates and how all of us live our purpose every day.

因此，一如既往，在我們結束今天的電話會議之前，我想分享一些針對我們同事的最後評論，以及我們所有人每天如何實現我們的目標。

As America's grocer, Kroger takes seriously our role in celebrating our uniquely American heritage during the patriotic season between Memorial Day and Independence Day.

作為美國的雜貨商，克羅格認真對待我們在陣亡將士紀念日和獨立日之間的愛國季節慶祝我們獨特的美國傳統的作用。

It always makes me feel incredibly proud that Kroger employs so many men and women who have served or currently serve in the Armed Forces.

克羅格僱傭了這麼多曾經或目前在武裝部隊服役的男男女女，這總是讓我感到無比自豪。

I got a chance to personally live our purpose last Saturday with our Veterans Associate Resource Group who put on a 5K run to raise money for veterans.

上週六，我有機會與我們的退伍軍人聯合資源小組一起實現我們的目標，他們進行了 5K 跑步，為退伍軍人籌集資金。

While I certainly didn't finish first and nowhere close to last either, I would like to add, in the race, I did have a different kind of first: touring a specifically designed tiny house that our caring associates dreamed up and then built for a deserving local veteran and his family.

雖然我當然沒有獲得第一名，也遠未達到最後一名，但我想補充一點，在比賽中，我確實獲得了不同類型的第一名：參觀了我們的愛心夥伴夢想並為之建造的專門設計的小房子一位當之無愧的當地退伍軍人和他的家人。

The home was built to green technology standards, made from recycled materials and features solar panels, demonstrating our associates' commitment to and passion for Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan.

該住宅按照綠色技術標準建造，由回收材料製成，並配有太陽能電池板，展示了我們的員工對克羅格零飢餓計劃的承諾和熱情 |零廢物社會影響計劃。

In addition to the home, our Cincinnati/Dayton division donated a Kroger gift card and a bag of Our Brands products to turn a new tiny house into a home, and it really felt great.

除了家庭之外，我們的辛辛那提/代頓分部還捐贈了一張克羅格禮品卡和一袋我們的品牌產品，將一個新的小房子變成了一個家，感覺真的很棒。

One of the many ways Kroger shows our gratitude and appreciation to all of our service members and their family is through our long-standing commitment to the USO.

克羅格對所有服役人員及其家人表示感謝和讚賞的眾多方式之一是通過我們對 USO 的長期承諾。

Kroger is the single-largest donor to the USO, contributing over $22 million over the past decade.

克羅格是 USO 的最大單一捐助者，在過去十年中捐助了超過 2200 萬美元。

In keeping with this commitment, we will be presenting the USO with $1 million donation and a Barbecue for the Troops event we are hosting at Fort Stewart in July.

為履行這一承諾，我們將向 USO 捐贈 100 萬美元，並於 7 月在斯圖爾特堡舉辦燒烤活動。

It is our honor and privilege as America's grocer to serve America's heroes.

作為美國的雜貨商，為美國的英雄服務是我們的榮幸。

Thank you to all of our customers, associates and suppliers who make our business successful every day of the year.

感謝我們所有的客戶、員工和供應商，是他們讓我們的業務在一年中的每一天都取得了成功。

That completes our call today.

這完成了我們今天的電話會議。

Thanks for joining.

感謝您的加入。

The conference is now concluded.

會議現已結束。

Thank you for attending today's presentation.

感謝您參加今天的演講。

You may now disconnect.

您現在可以斷開連接。