Lamar Advertising Co (LAMR) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

We now have Sean Reilly and Jay Johnson in conference. (Operator Instructions) In the course of this discussion, Lamar may make forward-looking statements regarding the company, including statements about its future financial performance, strategic goals, plans and objectives, including with respect to the amount and timing of any distributions to stockholders and the impacts and effects of general economic conditions on the company's business, financial condition and results of operations.

現在我們有 Sean Reilly 和 Jay Johnson 參加會議。（操作員指示）在本次討論過程中，拉馬爾可能會對公司做出前瞻性陳述，包括有關其未來財務業績、戰略目標、計劃和目的的陳述，包括有關向股東分配的金額和時間以及一般經濟狀況對公司業務、財務狀況和經營業績的影響。

All forward-looking statements involve risk, uncertainties, and contingencies, many of which are beyond Lamar's control and which may cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results. Lamar has identified important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the company's third-quarter 2024 earnings release and its most recent annual report on Form 10-K. Lamar refers you to those documents.

所有前瞻性陳述都涉及風險、不確定性和意外事件，其中許多超出了拉馬爾的控制範圍，並可能導致實際結果與預期結果有重大差異。拉馬爾 (Lamar) 已經確定了一些重要因素，這些因素可能會導致實際結果與公司 2024 年第三季收益報告和最新的 10-K 表年度報告中討論的結果存在重大差異。拉馬爾請你參考這些文件。

Lamar's third-quarter 2024 earnings release which contains information required by Regulation G regarding certain non-GAAP financial measures was furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K this morning and is available on the Investors Section of Lamar's website, www.lamar.com.

Lamar 的 2024 年第三季度收益報告包含 G 條例要求的有關某些非 GAAP 財務指標的信息，已於今天上午以 8-K 表格形式提交給美國證券交易委員會，可在 Lamar 網站 www.lamar.com 的投資者部分查閱。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Sean Reilly. Mr. Reilly, you may begin.

現在我想將會議交給 Sean Reilly。賴利先生，您可以開始囉。

Thank you, Brittany. Good morning to all, and welcome to Lamar's Q3 2024 earnings call. Business trends continue to be encouraging as we near year-end. For the third quarter, demand from local and regional advertisers remained robust, and we saw particular strength from our programmatic sales channel, which helped offset broader weakness from our national advertising base.

謝謝你，布列塔尼。大家早安，歡迎參加 Lamar 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。接近年底，商業趨勢持續令人鼓舞。第三季度，來自本地和區域廣告商的需求依然強勁，我們的程序化銷售管道表現尤為強勁，有助於抵消全國廣告基礎帶來的整體疲軟。

For the quarter, consolidated revenue grew 4% or 3.6% on an acquisition adjusted basis, the 14th straight quarter of growth for Lamar. Revenue increased across all products, billboards, transit, airport and logos, and all operating regions.

本季度，綜合營收成長 4%，經收購調整後成長 3.6%，這是 Lamar 連續第 14 個季度實現成長。所有產品、廣告看板、交通、機場和標誌以及所有營運區域的收入均有所增加。

Expenses meanwhile ran a little bit hot, increasing 5.4% on an acquisition adjusted basis versus the year earlier period. Recall that we had a tough comp as a result of some COVID relief grants we received in Q3 of 2023. We also saw some spikes in medical costs and in contract labor in this year's third quarter that contributed to the increase. Some of this was a simple matter of timing.

同時，費用略有上升，經收購調整後較去年同期成長了 5.4%。回想一下，由於我們在 2023 年第三季收到的一些 COVID 救濟補助，我們的收入比較困難。我們還發現今年第三季醫療成本和合約工數量出現飆升，這也導致了成本的上漲。這只不過是時間問題而已。

The good news is we see expense trends correcting in Q4, and Q4 revenue is pacing handily ahead of Q3 aided by record levels of political spend. As a result, as you saw, we have raised our guidance for full-year AFFO per share to a range of $7.85 to $7.95 per share, which at the midpoint would be an increase of nearly 6% over 2023. For the full year, consolidated EBITDA margin should come in right around 47%.

好消息是，我們看到第四季的支出趨勢正在調整，而且在創紀錄的政治支出的推動下，第四季的營收正輕鬆超越第三季。因此，正如您所看到的，我們已將全年每股 AFFO 指引上調至每股 7.85 美元至 7.95 美元的範圍，中間值將比 2023 年增長近 6%。就全年而言，綜合 EBITDA 利潤率應在 47% 左右。

Back to Q3, in addition to political, categories of particular strength were services, building and construction, and government nonprofit. All of these categories skew local. Some of the categories that were weaker, insurance and restaurants, tend to skew national. On a consolidated basis, our local/regional revenue was up 4.9%, while national was off 2.9%.

回到第三季度，除了政治之外，特別強勁的類別還有服務業、建築業和政府非營利組織。所有這些類別都偏向本地化。一些表現較弱的類別，如保險和餐館，往往呈現全國性特徵。從綜合來看，我們的本地/地區收入成長了 4.9%，而全國收入下降了 2.9%。

Our digital revenue grew by nearly 5% in the quarter with particular strength, as I mentioned, from our programmatic channel, where revenue increased over 70% from the year earlier quarter. We are continuing to see new customers in new categories such as consumer packaged goods and pharma in the programmatic out-of-home space.

本季度，我們的數位收入成長了近 5％，其中程式化廣告管道收入尤其強勁，比去年同期增長了 70％ 以上。我們不斷在新類別中看到新客戶，例如在程序化戶外廣告領域的消費包裝商品和製藥業。

On a same-store basis for large-format billboard digital, revenue was up 2.1%. Our customers continue to appreciate the flexibility that digital provides. So after somewhat of a slowdown in deployment in 2024, our plan is to reaccelerate our rollout of new units for 2025 with an internal goal of 375 to 400 new digitals.

就同​​店而言，大型廣告看板數位收入成長了 2.1%。我們的客戶繼續欣賞數位化提供的靈活性。因此，在 2024 年部署放緩之後，我們的計劃是重新加速 2025 年新設備的推出，內部目標是部署 375 到 400 個新數位設備。

2024 has been a quiet year on the M&A front, as we expected it would be. Deal flow, however, has begun to pick up, and we anticipate much more activity for tuck-in transactions in 2025. In short, I like how we are finishing 2024, and although it is too soon to make any firm predictions, I believe 2025 is shaping up to be another successful year.

正如我們預期的那樣，2024 年在併購方面是平靜的一年。然而，交易量已開始回升，我們預計 2025 年補充交易活動將更加活躍。簡而言之，我喜歡我們結束 2024 年的方式，雖然現在做出任何確切的預測還為時過早，但我相信 2025 年將是另一個成功的一年。

I'll leave it there for now and turn it over to Jay to walk you through some more numbers. Jay?

我現在就把它留在那裡，然後交給傑伊來向你們介紹更多的數字。傑伊？

Thanks, Sean. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We continue to experience solid top-line growth in our portfolio during the third quarter. Our billboard regions grew acquisition adjusted revenue in the low to mid-single-digits, with the exception of the Gulf Coast, which is relatively flat, growing approximately 50 basis points.

謝謝，肖恩。大家早安，感謝大家的收看。第三季度，我們的投資組合持續實現穩健的營收成長。我們的廣告看板地區收購調整後收入增長了低至中等個位數，但墨西哥灣沿岸地區除外，該地區的增長相對平穩，增長了約 50 個基點。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $271.2 million compared to $265.7 million in 2023, which was an increase of 2.1% or 1.8% on an acquisition adjusted basis. Despite the growth in operating expenses, adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was strong at 48.1% and remains well above pre-pandemic levels. Adjusted funds from operations totaled $220.7 million in the third quarter compared to $208.8 million last year, an increase of 5.7%. Diluted AFFO per share increased 5.4% to $2.15 versus $2.04 in the third quarter of 2023.

本季調整後 EBITDA 為 2.712 億美元，而 2023 年為 2.657 億美元，按收購調整後計算成長 2.1% 或 1.8%。儘管營業費用有所增長，但本季調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率仍強勁達到 48.1%，且仍遠高於疫情前的水平。第三季調整後營運資金總額為 2.207 億美元，較去年同期的 2.088 億美元成長 5.7%。每股攤薄 AFFO 成長 5.4% 至 2.15 美元，而 2023 年第三季為 2.04 美元。

This quarter continued the solid AFFO growth we have experienced this year with short-term interest rates stabilizing. We've also benefited from mid-single-digit growth on the top line during the first nine months of the year.

隨著短期利率趨於穩定，本季 AFFO 延續了今年以來的穩健成長。今年前九個月，我們的營業額也實現了中等個位數的成長。

Local and regional sales grew for the 14th consecutive quarter, but softness in national sales continues to be a headwind to our overall revenue growth. In spite of the backdrop of the national business, we are encouraged by the resilience of local and regional sales, which accounted for approximately 79% of billboard revenue in the third quarter.

本地和區域銷售連續 14 個季度增長，但全國銷售疲軟繼續成為我們整體收入成長的阻力。儘管全國業務的背景不利於我們，但我們對本地和區域銷售的彈性感到鼓舞，這佔第三季廣告看板收入的約 79%。

On the capital expenditure front, total spend for the quarter was $30.1 million, including $11.3 million of maintenance CapEx. Through the first three quarters of the year, CapEx totaled $82.3 million, about $36 million of which was maintenance. And for the full year, we anticipate total CapEx of $125 million with maintenance comprising of approximately $50 million.

在資本支出方面，本季總支出為 3,010 萬美元，其中包括 1,130 萬美元的維護資本支出。今年前三個季度，資本支出總計 8,230 萬美元，其中約 3,600 萬美元用於維護。我們預計全年總資本支出為 1.25 億美元，維護費用約為 5,000 萬美元。

Last month, we extended the company's $250 million AR securitization for three years, and the facility now matures in October 2027. The company maintains a well laddered debt maturity schedule and we have no maturities until our $600 million term loan B in February 2027 with no bond maturities until February of 2028.

上個月，我們將該公司 2.5 億美元的應收帳款證券化期限延長了三年，該期限將於 2027 年 10 月到期。公司維持良好的債務到期計劃，我們的 6 億美元定期貸款 B（2027 年 2 月）之前沒有債務到期，2028 年 2 月之前沒有債券到期。

Based on debt outstanding at quarter end, our weighted average interest rate was approximately 5%, with a weighted average debt maturity of four years. As defined under our credit facility, we ended the quarter with total leverage of 2.91 times net debt to EBITDA, which remains amongst the lowest in the history of the company. Our secured debt leverage was 0.88 times at quarter end, and we're comfortably in compliance with both our total debt incurrence and secured debt maintenance test against covenants of 7 times and 4.5 times, respectively.

根據季末未償還債務，我們的加權平均利率約為 5%，加權平均債務期限為四年。根據我們的信貸安排，本季末我們的總槓桿率為淨債務與 EBITDA 的 2.91 倍，這仍然是公司歷史上最低的。本季末，我們的有擔保債務槓桿率為 0.88 倍，我們的總債務承擔率和有擔保債務維持率分別輕鬆達到 7 倍和 4.5 倍的契約測試。

At the end of the quarter, we had approximately $451 million in total liquidity comprised of $29.5 million of cash on hand and $421.2 million available under our revolving credit facility. Earlier in the quarter, we repaid the company's $350 million term loan A using cash on hand and a draw on our revolving credit facility.

截至本季末，我們的總流動資金約為 4.51 億美元，包括 2,950 萬美元的庫存現金和 4.212 億美元的循環信貸額度。本季度早些時候，我們使用庫存現金和循環信貸額度償還了公司 3.5 億美元定期貸款 A。

We continue to monitor the debt capital markets, which have improved significantly and we may take advantage of this favorable environment to issue new senior notes. The use of proceeds from an offering would be to reduce outstandings under the revolver and for general corporate purposes.

我們將繼續關注債務資本市場，目前該市場已顯著改善，我們可能會利用這個有利環境發行新的優先票據。發行所得款項的用途將用於減少循環信貸下的未償還債務以及用於一般公司用途。

In September, our Board of Directors approved the extension of our debt and equity repurchase programs, each for up to $250 million. While we do not anticipate activity under either program in the near term, maintaining both preserves our flexibility and as part of our corporate finance strategy.

9月份，我們的董事會批准延長我們的債務和股權回購計劃，每項回購計劃最高金額為2.5億美元。雖然我們預期短期內這兩個計畫都不會進行活動，但維持這兩個計畫既能保持我們的靈活性，又能作為我們公司財務策略的一部分。

As Sean mentioned, this morning, we increased our full-year AFFO guidance for the second time this year. We now expect an AFFO range of $7.85 to $7.95 per share, an increase of $0.075 at the midpoint and up $0.155 from our original guidance at the beginning of the year. Full-year cash interest in this morning's guidance totaled $166 million. And as I touched on earlier, maintenance CapEx is budgeted for $50 million, while cash taxes are projected to come in around $10 million.

正如肖恩今天上午提到的，我們今年第二次上調了 AFFO 全年指引。我們現在預計 AFFO 範圍為每股 7.85 美元至 7.95 美元，中間值較年初的原始指導價上漲 0.075 美元。今天上午發布的全年現金利息預期為 1.66 億美元。正如我之前提到的，維護資本支出預算為 5000 萬美元，而現金稅預計約為 1000 萬美元。

Finally, the company paid a cash dividend of $1.30 per share in each of the first and second quarters. In Q3, we increased the dividend to $1.40 per share and management plans to recommend the same regular dividend subject to Board approval for the fourth quarter as well.

最後，該公司在第一季和第二季分別支付了每股1.30美元的現金股利。在第三季度，我們將股息提高至每股 1.40 美元，並且管理層計劃在董事會批准後建議在第四季度也實施相同的定期股息。

In addition, and based on current expectations, we will likely recommend a special dividend at year-end of approximately $0.20 per share depending on the company's operating results. This special dividend, which also is subject to Board approval, will ensure we distribute 100% of our taxable income in line with our dividend policy. If both the regular and special dividends are approved, the result will be a full-year cash dividend of $5.60 per share.

此外，根據目前的預期，我們可能會根據公司的經營業績建議在年底派發每股約 0.20 美元的特別股息。此特別股利也需經董事會批准，將確保我們根據股利政策分配 100％ 的應稅收入。如果常規股息和特別股息均獲得批准，全年現金股息將為每股 5.60 美元。

Once again, we are pleased with the strength of our local and regional sales through the first three quarters as well as the momentum we saw in October's results, and look forward to executing on our business plan for the balance of the year.

我們再次對前三個季度本地和區域銷售的強勁表現以及十月份業績的勢頭感到滿意，並期待著執行今年剩餘時間的業務計劃。

I'll now turn the call back over to Sean.

我現在將電話轉回給肖恩。

Thanks, Jay. I'll touch on a few of the usual metrics before I open it up for questions. As Jay mentioned, across the country, our regional performance basically across the top and bottom line was relatively uniform with the exception of the Gulf Coast, which showed a little bit of softness.

謝謝，傑伊。在回答問題之前，我將先談談一些常見的指標。正如傑伊所提到的，在全國範圍內，我們的區域表現基本上在頂線和底線方面相對一致，只有墨西哥灣沿岸地區略顯疲軟。

Political was quite a bright spot, both Q3 and year-to-date. At almost $15 million year-to-date through Q3, we're setting records for political. Notably, October was also a record for Lamar for political. It meant in Q3 political growth of a little less than 1% for our overall growth. So that was the relative contribution of political in Q3. Other gains in Q3 were primarily rate driven as we are hovering around peak occupancy year-to-date.

無論是第三季還是今年迄今為止，政治都是一個亮點。截至第三季度，我們的年初至今已籌集近 1500 萬美元，創下了政治領域的記錄。值得注意的是，十月也創下了拉馬爾政治生涯的新高。這意味著第三季我們的整體成長將略低於 1% 的政治成長。這就是第三季政治的相對貢獻。第三季的其他成長主要是由利率推動的，因為今年迄今為止我們的入住率一直徘徊在高峰附近。

In terms of our digital count, we now have 4,892 digital units in the air as of the close of Q3. That was an increase of 50 units over Q2 2024, an increase year-to-date over 2023 of 133 units. In terms of same board, I mentioned this is same board large-format billboard only, I mentioned the growth there was 2.1%, year-to-date, that number is 2.5%. And again, if you take our overall digital footprint, including what we put up this year and acquired and what we have in transit and airports, as a whole, digital was up 5% in Q3.

就我們的數字計數而言，截至第三季末，我們目前擁有 4,892 個數位單元。這比 2024 年第二季增加了 50 個單位，比 2023 年年初至今增加了 133 個單位。就同​​一塊廣告牌而言，我提到這只是同一塊大幅面廣告牌，我提到那裡的成長率是 2.1%，年初至今，這個數字是 2.5%。再說一遍，如果看一下我們的整體數位足跡，包括我們今年所建立的和收購的，以及我們在交通運輸和機場方面所擁有的，整體而言，第三季的數位業務成長了 5%。

In terms of local, regional, national programmatic share, as Jay mentioned, local regional in Q3 was approximately 79% with national/programmatic coming in at about 21%. That compares to roughly 78% -- 22% year-to-date 2023.

就本地、區域和全國程序化廣告份額而言，正如 Jay 所提到的，第三季度的本地區域廣告份額約為 79%，全國/程序化廣告份額約為 21%。相較之下，2023 年迄今的比例約為 78%——22%。

In terms of acquisitions, we closed about 17 acquisitions for a total purchase price of $31 million, and we acquired approximately 90 new faces through that activity. As I mentioned, we pared back our M&A activity for 2024 a tad. You'll see that accelerate as we move into 2025.

在收購方面，我們完成了約 17 項收購，總收購價為 3,100 萬美元，並透過此項活動招募了約 90 名新員工。正如我所提到的，我們稍微削減了 2024 年的併購活動。隨著我們進入 2025 年，你會看到這一進程加速。

And then finally, categories of relative strength, as I mentioned, services was up 16%, government nonprofit was up 17%, and building and construction services was up 29%. Categories of relative weakness, as I mentioned, insurance down about 10% and restaurants down about 2.4%.

最後，如我所提到的，相對強勢類別是服務業上漲 16%，政府非營利組織上漲 17%，建築和建築服務上漲 29%。正如我所提到的，相對疲軟的類別是保險業下跌約 10%，餐廳業下跌約 2.4%。

All right, Brittany, we will now open it up for questions.

好的，布列塔尼，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Cameron McVeigh, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示） 摩根士丹利的卡梅倫麥克維 (Cameron McVeigh)。

Hey, guys. Just curious, as you look ahead into 2025, how you're thinking about the growth opportunity and the potential growth drivers?

嘿，大家好。只是好奇，展望 2025 年，您如何看待成長機會和潛在的成長動力？

Certainly, we're going to be looking to programmatic to be a contributor there. And we're also looking for a rebound in national. Some of that is going to be easy comps. I hate to use that as a reason why we're going to do better in national, but it's the math of that. And again, we're seeing some customers come into our book through programmatic that have traditionally not been big players in out-of-home, consumer packaged goods and pharma. So we're certainly looking to that.

當然，我們會尋求程序化的方式來做出貢獻。我們也期待全國經濟出現反彈。其中一些將是容易的補償。我不想用這個作為我們在全國範圍內做得更好的理由，但這就是數學問題。而且，我們看到一些客戶透過程式化廣告進入我們的市場，而這些客戶傳統上並不是戶外廣告、消費包裝商品和製藥業的大參與者。所以我們確實期待這一點。

Great. And then secondly, I guess just from an industry perspective, could you discuss the current state of programmatic ad spending out-of-home and the long-term industry impacts?

偉大的。其次，我想僅從行業角度來看，您能否討論一下戶外程序化廣告支出的現狀以及對行業的長期影響？

Sure. As you're aware, when talking about Lamar in particular, we limit our programmatic channel to national customers. And we limit it to those buying agencies that are digital specialists, i.e., they only buy programmatically.

當然。如您所知，當談到拉馬爾時，我們將程序化管道限制在全國客戶範圍內。我們將其限制為那些數位專家採購機構，即他們只以程序化方式進行採購。

And that universe of buyers is growing and that's why our programmatic book is growing. And certainly, when you hear from the other industry players, you'll hear the same thing. Where we see this going, number one, we see the general digital type of advertising growing much faster than the traditional part of advertising.

而且購買者群體不斷增長，這也是我們的程式化圖書數量不斷增長的原因。當然，當你聽到其他行業參與者的聲音時，你也會聽到同樣的事情。我們觀察到的趨勢是，首先，我們看到一般數位類型的廣告成長速度遠遠快於傳統廣告。

And those two pots are actually probably going to merge in three to five years. And so you'll just talk about ad spend and you won't really break it out that way, which leads us to the conclusion that programmatic is going to be even more important as that channel is opened up to more, I would call, traditional ad players.

而這兩個資金池實際上可能在三到五年內合併。因此，您只會談論廣告支出，而不會真正以這種方式進行細分，這使我們得出這樣的結論：隨著該管道向更多我所說的傳統廣告參與者開放，程序化將變得更加重要。

And then finally, what we see happening is opening up that channel to our local book, our local and regional book. And then that's when it becomes really exciting. So it's going to take us three to five years to get there. But when we do, you'll see a whole lot of ad dollars going through that channel.

最後，我們看到的是向我們的本地書籍、本地和地區書籍開放了這個管道。這時候事情就變得真正令人興奮了。所以我們需要三到五年的時間才能達到這個目標。但當我們這樣做的時候，你會看到大量的廣告費透過這個管道流出。

Jason Bazinet, Citi.

花旗銀行的 Jason Bazinet。

I just had two questions. One, it was nice to see the AFFO guidance is up, as you said, about 2% from where we started at the beginning of the year. But I noticed that the earnings number fell about 1% over that same period. So I was just wondering, could you just tease out sort of the dichotomy between the earnings and the AFFO?

我只有兩個問題。首先，很高興看到 AFFO 指導價如您所說，較年初上漲了約 2%。但我注意到，同一時期的收入數字下降了約 1%。所以我只是想知道，您能否梳理出收入和 AFFO 之間的二分法？

And then my second question is on programmatic. I may be misremembering, but when programmatic first started, I would almost characterize your tone is somewhat cautious on it just because of the negative margin implications and now you see less concerned with that. And I don't know if that's just because the quantum of programmatic dollars are so huge, if it just makes sense? Or if the margin concerns you had early on are just no longer applicable because of some shift in the industry? Thanks.

我的第二個問題是關於程序化的。我可能記錯了，但當程序化廣告首次啟動時，我幾乎會認為你的語氣對它有些謹慎，只是因為它會帶來負面的利潤影響，而現在你對此不再那麼擔心。我不知道這是否只是因為程序化支出的數量太巨大，這是否合理？或者，由於行業的某些轉變，您早期擔心的利潤率是否不再適用？謝謝。

Yeah. Jason, I'll hit the programmatic question, and I'll turn the net income question over to Jay. So yeah, programmatic margins. It is a fact that, today, the cost of a programmatic sale runs about 10%. And our overall cost of sales, what we pay our account executives and what we pay our national account managers, runs about 6%, right? So you got about a 4% delta there.

是的。傑森，我會回答程序性問題，然後將淨收入問題交給傑伊。是的，程序化利潤。事實上，如今程序化銷售的成本約為 10%。我們的總銷售成本，包括我們支付給客戶經理的工資和我們支付給全國客戶經理的工資，大約佔 6%，對嗎？因此，您得到的是大約 4% 的增量。

Now where do we see that going. Number one, we get a slightly higher CPM through the programmatic channel, and our customers are willing to pay that higher CPM because they get a richer data set that helps prove out the effectiveness of their campaign. So that little bit of extra expense is offset by a higher CPM. The other thing that we see happening is it's 10% for that channel when we have $40 million going through it. But when we have $240 million going through it, we're going to see that cost go down. So we're looking at volume to bring that cost down.

現在我們看到了什麼進展呢？首先，我們透過程序化管道獲得略高的每千次展示費用，我們的客戶願意支付更高的每千次展示費用，因為他們獲得了更豐富的數據集，有助於證明其廣告活動的有效性。因此，那一點點額外的費用可以透過更高的 CPM 來抵消。我們看到的另一件事是，當我們有 4000 萬美元透過該管道投入時，該管道的利潤率為 10%。但當我們有 2.4 億美元投入使用時，我們將看到成本下降。因此我們正在考慮透過數量來降低成本。

Good morning, Jason. On the net income question, it's our stock compensation plan, which, as you know, is noncash. If you look at where our stock is trading now, it's significantly higher than it was at this time last year. And our plan is based around [fix shares]. So fluctuations in stock price can really impact the value there.

早上好，傑森。關於淨收入問題，這是我們的股票補償計劃，如你所知，它是非現金的。如果你看看我們股票現在的交易情況，你會發現它比去年同期高得多。我們的計劃是基於[修復共享]。因此，股票價格的波動確實會影響其價值。

The other contributor on the stock compensation plan is simply where we're tracking against budget. We're having a much better year than last year. So our payout on a percentage basis is going to be higher. So you put those two things together, and that's why you see the increase in the stock compensation.

股票薪酬計劃的另一個貢獻者只是我們正在追蹤的預算。我們今年的情況比去年好多了。因此，我們以百分比支付的金額將會更高。所以你把這兩件事放在一起，這就是你看到股票薪酬增加的原因。

Daniel Osley, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的丹尼爾·奧斯利。

(inaudible) political, if I may. I think you mentioned the political contribution as $50 million year-to-date and seeing a record as of now. I guess, can you help us think about the political contribution for Q4? And then maybe relatedly, we saw TV broadcasters report this week, and they collectively talked about their core ads being down somewhere between mid-single-digit to high-single-digit from political crowd out.

（聽不清楚）如果可以的話，我是說政治方面的。我記得您提到過，今年迄今為止的政治捐款已達 5000 萬美元，並且創下了歷史新高。我想，您能幫我們考慮一下第四季的政治捐款嗎？然後也許與此相關的是，我們看到電視廣播公司本週的報道，他們集體表示，由於政治擠出效應，他們的核心廣告下降了中個位數到高個位數之間。

So do you think you picked up any of those dollars? Or did those advertisers completely drop out of the market? It doesn't seem apparent in your results that maybe you've got a bit some crowd on the quarter, but anything you can add there?

那麼你認為你拿到了其中的幾美元嗎？或者這些廣告商已經完全退出市場了？從您的結果來看，可能本季的業績不太明顯，您還有什麼可以補充的嗎？

We lost you there at the beginning of the question, but I'll just hit what I heard. So political, as I mentioned, is about $15 million year-to-date. In Q4, it's going to be about that number, give or take. So we will end the year close to $30 million total in terms of political. So that will give you a sense for where it's going to land in Q4.

我們在問題開始時就失去了您，但我只想說一下我所聽到的。因此，正如我所提到的那樣，今年迄今為止的政治支出約為 1500 萬美元。在第四季度，這個數字大概就是這樣。因此，今年我們的政治支出總額將接近 3,000 萬美元。這樣你就能了解它在第四季的走向。

We can't measure it in terms of TV political crowding out their traditional spend and how much of that comes our way. But we know some of it does. And so we're going to have -- you can just sort of see it in the growth in our book. So I think that's what I heard your question to be, whether or not we pick up some of those dollars. And again, I can't measure it, but anecdotally know that it happens.

我們無法從電視政治擠佔傳統支出以及其中有多少流入我們手中來衡量。但我們知道有些確實如此。所以我們將擁有——你可以在我們書中的成長中看到它。所以我認為我聽到的你的問題是，我們是否應該獲得其中的一部分美元。再說一次，我無法衡量它，但從傳聞中知道它確實會發生。

That's helpful. Thank you. And then maybe just one more, if I may, on '25. So we've done some work on the financial benefits from digital conversion, but can you talk about the potential revenue uplift that you might expect from adding almost twice as many digital billboards next year as you did this year?

這很有幫助。謝謝。然後，如果可以的話，也許再說一個，關於『25』。我們在數位化轉換帶來的經濟效益方面做了一些工作，但您能否談談如果明年增加的數位廣告看板數量幾乎是今年的兩倍，那麼預計會帶來的潛在收入成長？

Sure. I'll just do it based on sort of unit economics, right? So I'll just illustrate one and then you can extrapolate. So when we take down a static unit, on average, it's doing about $3,000 a month. And you replace that with a digital unit, that cost you a little over $200,000 to make the conversion. And your revenue lift is, give or take, five or six times. So you're going to do something in the neighborhood of $15,000 a month on that board now. So that's sort of the unit economics of a conversion.

當然。我只是根據單位經濟學來做這件事，對嗎？所以我僅舉一個例子，然後你就可以推斷。因此，當我們拆除靜態裝置時，平均每月可節省約 3,000 美元。然後你用數位單元來代替它，這項轉換花了 20 多萬美元。您的收入將增加約五到六倍。所以你現在在那個董事會每個月的薪水大約是 15,000 美元。這就是轉換的單位經濟學。

And it's been very gratifying for us to see that those economics have held up over the decades that we've been doing this. It's been remarkably stable, that return and those unit economics. Interestingly, from the advertiser's point of view, as I mentioned, they're paying about $3,000 for the space for a static unit, but they then have to buy the substrate, right, they have to buy the vinyl and amortize that cost over the length of their contract.

我們非常欣慰地看到，經過幾十年的努力，這些經濟效益一直沒有改變。其回報和單位經濟效益一直非常穩定。有趣的是，從廣告商的角度來看，正如我所提到的，他們為靜態單元的空間支付了大約 3,000 美元，但他們必須購買基材，對，他們必須購買乙烯基並在合約期限內攤銷該成本。

When they move over to a digital unit, they're paying about the same absolute dollars. They're paying about $3,000 for the slot that they occupy, but they don't have to pay the production. And they can, of course, change their copy from their desktop at their will. And that flexibility is why they're willing to share the space with other advertisers. So their absolute dollars in terms of the cost of the space stays about the same. Their cost per thousand impressions goes up. So that's the economics of a digital conversion both from our point of view and from our customers point of view.

當他們轉向數位單位時，他們支付的絕對金額大致相同。他們為所佔據的時段支付了大約 3,000 美元，但無需支付製作費用。當然，他們可以按照自己的意願從桌面更改其副本。正是這種靈活性使得他們願意與其他廣告商分享空間。因此，就空間成本而言的絕對金額大致保持不變。他們的每千次曝光費用上升了。無論從我們的角度還是從客戶的角度來說，這都是數位化轉換的經濟學。

David Karnovsky, JP Morgan.

摩根大通的戴維‧卡諾夫斯基 (David Karnovsky)。

Hey, this is Kiscada on for David. Two questions, one, you had mentioned last quarter gaining share in programmatic due to better metrics in large format. I just want to ask if you could provide some more color on how you're able to measure these KPIs and improve them out to marketers and how well known this is or if there's more room to take share as the data increases and education continues.

嘿，這是 Kiscada，為 David 表演。兩個問題，第一，你提到上個季度由於大格式指標更好，程序化廣告的份額增加。我只是想問一下，您是否可以提供更多細節，說明您如何衡量這些 KPI，並向行銷人員改進它們，以及這些 KPI 的知名度如何，或者隨著數據的增加和教育的繼續，是否還有更多的市場份額空間。

And then secondly, I wanted to ask if you could provide any color on what kind of opportunities you're looking at for M&A going into '25, if there's any specific geographies or capabilities you're willing to build out? Thank you.

其次，我想問一下，您是否可以透露一下，在 25 年，您正在尋找什麼樣的併購機會，是否有任何特定的地域或能力是您願意拓展的？謝謝。

Sure. I'll hit the M&A question first. We kind of purposely slowed down a little bit this year. We were catching our breath and we were preparing our balance sheet. And as you know, we retired our Term A loan. And all that work has been done, and it's been incredibly fruitful in terms of where our balance sheet is.

當然。我先來談談併購問題。今年我們故意放慢了一點腳步。我們正在喘口氣並準備資產負債表。如您所知，我們已經償還了 A 期貸款。所有這些工作都已完成，而且從我們的資產負債表來看，已經取得了令人難以置信的成果。

As a matter of fact, when we close the books on 2024, our leverage, as measured by our bank covenants is going to be less than three for the first time in the company's history. So we're really happy about the work we did there. And part of that was slowing down the M&A activity this year. So that said, going into next year, we see it picking up.

事實上，當我們在 2024 年結帳時，以我們的銀行契約衡量的槓桿率將在公司歷史上首次低於 3。所以我們對於在那裡所做的工作感到非常高興。部分原因在於今年的併購活動放緩。所以說，進入明年，我們預計它將會回升。

And without talking about specific transactions, the first level of activity is going to be the fill-in activity that we're, quite frankly, very good at. I mean, if you look at our footprint, we're nationwide and basically everywhere. So almost any M&A activity for us is going to be fill-in, where we just absorb the inventory into our existing operations. And it's a very predictable exercise, we're very, very good at it.

而不談論具體的交易，第一級活動將是填補活動，坦白說，我們非常擅長。我的意思是，如果你看看我們的足跡，你會發現我們遍布全國，基本上無所不在。因此，對我們來說，幾乎任何併購活動都是一種補充，我們只是將庫存吸收到我們現有的業務中。這是一項非常可預測的練習，我們在這方面非常非常擅長。

And at the end of the day, it's not really geographic specific. We can absorb anywhere, inventory, basically anywhere in the country and any region in the country. So yeah, we're going to be very active next year, and we're looking forward to what that brings to our footprint and to our customers, and quite frankly, enhancing our margins.

從根本上來說，這並不是特定於地理位置的。我們可以吸收任何地方的庫存，基本上是全國任何地方和全國任何地區。是的，我們明年將會非常活躍，我們期待這將為我們的足跡和客戶帶來什麼，坦白說，還將提高我們的利潤率。

The question on -- what was the other one? What was the other question?

問題是──另一個是什麼？另一個問題是什麼？

The other question, yeah, the other question I had was you'd mentioned gaining share in programmatic due to better metrics in large format. And so I wanted to ask if you could provide more color on how you're able to measure those KPIs and how well known --

另一個問題是，是的，我的另一個問題是您提到由於大格式指標更好，程序化廣告的份額會增加。所以我想問一下，能否詳細介紹如何衡量這些 KPI，以及眾所周知的--

Yes. Sure. So it's increasingly well known in the industry. There are third-party data providers that can do attribution analysis and measure foot traffic and lift as part of a campaign. Quite frankly, there are more of those third-party data providers today than there have ever been. So it's going to be an increasingly good thing for the industry.

是的。當然。因此它在業界的知名度越來越高。有第三方數據提供者可以進行歸因分析並測量客流量和作為活動的一部分的提升。坦白說，如今第三方資料提供者的數量比以往任何時候都多。這對產業來說將是一件越來越好的事情。

And again, our programmatic customers are willing to pay a slightly higher CPM because it is included in their buy by the programmatic enablers, folks like Vistar and the like who are plugged into our pipes and enable us to deliver a programmatic buy to those digital buyers. So that's essentially what's going on out there, and it's increasing as more third-party data providers come to the fore.

再次強調，我們的程序化客戶願意支付略高的 CPM，因為程序化推動者（例如 Vistar 等）將這一費用包含在他們的購買中，這些推動者接入我們的管道，使我們能夠向這些數位買家提供程式化購買。這就是現在正在發生的事情，而且隨著越來越多的第三方資料提供者的出現，這種情況還在增加。

Lance Vitanza, TD Cowen.

蘭斯·維坦扎 (Lance Vitanza)，TD Cowen。

You called out Gulf Coast was a drag on results. Any thoughts as to why? And are you seeing that come back in the fourth quarter? I'm wondering if the weakness was more or less pronounced at either the beginning or the end of the quarter. Was it evenly distributed? What's going on there?

您指出墨西哥灣沿岸地區對業績造成了拖累。有什麼想法嗎？你認為第四季的情況會回升嗎？我想知道在本季初或末，這種疲軟態勢是否更加明顯或更不明顯。分佈均勻嗎？那兒發生什麼事了？

Every now and again, you'll have a region that just is catching its breath, and maybe not -- the local economies aren't as robust as what's going on elsewhere. So for us, the Gulf Coast is essentially Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. It's the basic Gulf Coast region. And I don't think there's anything to be read into that really. It's just things might just have been a little bit softer there and they'll come back.

有時，你會發現某個地區剛開始復甦，但也可能沒有——當地的經濟並不像其他地方那麼強勁。因此對我們來說，墨西哥灣沿岸基本上是阿肯色州、路易斯安那州、密西西比州和阿拉巴馬州。這是基本的墨西哥灣沿岸地區。我覺得這其實沒什麼好解讀的。只是那裡的情況可能會稍微好一些，然後他們就會回來。

I'd also add, Lance, that in Q3 of last year, the Gulf Coast outperformed the broader portfolio. So a little bit of a headwind there from a year-over-year company.

蘭斯，我還要補充一點，去年第三季度，墨西哥灣沿岸地區的表現優於整體投資組合。因此，與去年同期相比，公司面臨一些阻力。

Yeah, they had a tougher comp in some of the other places.

是的，在其他一些地方他們的競爭更加激烈。

Got you. And then just on the M&A outlook, could you talk a little bit about why you're seeing it picking up? Is it a function of interest rates having stabilized, beginning to come down? Or is it the improving outlook for the real economy? Is it people kind of buying in more to the -- well, just wondering what's driving that trend. Or was this just really more driven by your internal decisions to take a pause?

明白了。那麼，就併購前景而言，您能否談談為什麼您認為它會出現回暖？這是利率穩定並開始下降的結果嗎？還是實體經濟的前景改善？是不是人們對此更加認同——好吧，我只是想知道是什麼推動了這個趨勢。或者這實際上只是由你內心決定暫停所驅動的？

There were certainly a little bit of that, Lance, in terms of when Lamar decides to catch its breath, everybody sort of slows down a little bit and then when we say, look, the check book is open, come talk to us, keep in mind, a lot of our M&A activity is internally generated.

蘭斯，當然有一點這樣的情況，當拉馬爾決定喘口氣的時候，每個人都會放慢一點速度，然後我們說，看，支票簿已經打開了，來和我們談談吧，請記住，我們的許多併購活動都是內部產生的。

These are either entrepreneurs or family, mom-and-pop operations that have been around for a couple of decades, we know them well. And when they decide to sell, they give us a call, right. So some of it is just that. And then some of it is just, I think to your other point, as interest rates start falling, then activity picks up. And we're in a different interest rate cycle. So I think those two things will make for an active year next year.

他們要不是企業家，就是家庭、夫妻店，已經經營了幾十年，我們很了解他們。當他們決定出售時，他們會打電話給我們，對吧。所以有些只是那樣。然後我認為，正如您所指出的另一點，隨著利率開始下降，活動就會回升。我們正處於不同的利率週期。所以我認為這兩件事將使明年成為活躍的一年。

And you mentioned tuck-ins a couple of times, but what about a potentially larger transaction, something like an Adams or a Link, would you consider -- or would you consider those tuck-ins?

您曾經幾次提到了附加價值，但對於可能更大的交易，例如 Adams 或 Link，您會考慮嗎 - 或者您會考慮那些附加價值嗎？

Well certainly, there's a measure of tuck-in in both of those. We don't obviously control what those guys are going to do. That's one of those things that's more event driven than sort of day in, day out tuck-in acquisition activity that we engage in. So yeah, that would be sort of a stay tuned.

嗯，當然，這兩者都有一定程度的收攏。我們顯然無法控制那些人會做什麼。這是我們從事的那些更受事件驅動的事情之一，而不是日復一日的收購活動。是的，這將是一種保持關注的方式。

Thank you. And we have no further questions in the queue. I'll turn the program back over to Sean Reilly for closing remarks.

謝謝。我們沒有其他問題了。我將把節目交還給肖恩·賴利 (Sean Reilly)，請他作最後發言。

Well, thank you, Brittany, and thank you all for your interest in Lamar and we look forward to talking with you again as we turn the page into 2025. Thank you all.

好吧，謝謝你，布列塔尼，也感謝大家對拉馬爾的關注，我們期待在 2025 年這一頁翻開之際再次與你交談。謝謝大家。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time and have a wonderful day.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與。您可以隨時斷開連接並享受美好的一天。