El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc (LOCO) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day ladies and gentlemen. And thank you for standing by. Welcome to the El Pollo Loco third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode and the lines will be open for your questions following the presentation. Please note that this conference is being recorded today. October 31st 2024 And now I'd like to turn the conference over to Ira Fils, the company's Chief Financial Officer.

女士們先生們，美好的一天。感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 El Pollo Loco 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。此時，所有參與者均已處於僅聽模式，並在演示結束後將開放線路供您提問。請注意，今天正在錄製本次會議。2024 年 10 月 31 日現在我想把會議交給公司財務長艾拉‧菲爾斯 (Ira Fils)。

Thank you operator and good afternoon everyone by now everyone should have access to our third quarter, 2024 earnings release. If not it can be found at www.ELPolloloco.com in the investor relations section.

謝謝運營商，大家下午好，現在每個人都應該可以訪問我們的 2024 年第三季度收益發布了。如果沒有，可以在 www.ELPolloloco.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

Before we begin our formal remarks, I need to remind everyone that our discussions today will include forward-looking statements, including statements related to our growth opportunities, strategic and operational initiatives, expectations regarding sales and margins, potential changes to our product platforms, capital expenditure plans, expectations regarding kiosk rollouts, the ability of our franchisees to drive growth expectations regarding commodity and wage inflation, remodel plans and our 2024 guidance. Among others, these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and therefore you should not put undue reliance on them.

在我們開始正式發言之前，我需要提醒大家，我們今天的討論將包括前瞻性陳述，包括與我們的成長機會、策略和營運舉措、銷售和利潤預期、我們產品平台的潛在變化、資本相關的陳述。除此之外，這些前瞻性陳述並不能保證未來業績，因此您不應過度依賴它們。

These statements are also subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we currently expect. We refer you to our recent sec filings including our form 10-K for the year ended 2023 previously filed as well as our form 10-Q for the third quarter to be filed for a more detailed discussion of the risks and current impact of our future operating results and financial condition.

這些陳述也受到許多風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與我們目前的預期有重大差異。我們建議您參閱我們最近提交的 SEC 文件，包括先前提交的截至 2023 年的 10-K 表格以及即將提交的第三季度的 10-Q 表格，以便更詳細地討論我們未來的風險和當前影響經營成果和財務狀況。

We expect to file our 10-Q for the third quarter of 2024 tomorrow. We encourage you to review that document at your earliest convenience.

我們預計明天將提交 2024 年第三季的 10-Q 報告。我們鼓勵您儘早查看該文件。

During today's call we will discuss Non-GAAP measures which we believe can be useful in evaluating our performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures are available in our earnings release which is available in the investor relations section of our website with respect to the restaurant margin contribution outlook we will be providing today on today's call. Please note that we have not provided a reconciliation to the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure. Because without unreasonable efforts, we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty, the amount of or timing of Non-GAAP adjustments that are used to calculate income from operations and comparable restaurant revenue on a forward-looking basis. Now, I would like to turn it over to our CEO Liz Williams.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將討論非公認會計準則衡量標準，我們認為這些衡量標準有助於評估我們的表現。這些附加資訊的呈現不應被孤立地考慮，也不應作為根據GAAP 準備的結果的替代品，並且我們的收益報告中提供了與可比GAAP 衡量標準的對賬，該收益報告可在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。請注意，我們尚未提供最直接可比較的前瞻性 GAAP 財務指標的調整表。因為如果沒有不合理的努力，我們就無法以合理的確定性預測用於前瞻性計算營運收入和可比較餐廳收入的非公認會計準則調整的金額或時間。現在，我想將其交給我們的執行長 Liz Williams。

Thank you Ira. And good afternoon everyone during the quarter, we drove top line growth through a 2.7% increase in system wide comparable sales. We expanded restaurant level margins 230 basis points year over year to 16.7%. And we continue to make great progress on reducing the cost of our prototype to stimulate future restaurant development.

謝謝艾拉。大家下午好，本季我們透過全系統可比銷售額成長 2.7% 推動了營收成長。我們將餐廳層面的利潤率年增了 230 個基點，達到 16.7%。我們繼續在降低原型成本方面取得巨大進展，以刺激未來餐廳的發展。

While I am pleased with the progress we have made thus far there is still a lot to do.

雖然我對我們迄今為止所取得的進展感到滿意，但仍有許多工作要做。

We have a substantial opportunity ahead of us to become the National Fire Grilled Chicken brand.

我們有很大的機會成為全國火烤雞品牌。

As we approach our 50th year in business with plans to modernize this beloved brand. The foundation is critical.

在我們成立 50 週年之際，我們計劃將這個深受喜愛的品牌現代化。基礎很關鍵。

I continue to be impressed with the culinary operational and people focused foundation that has allowed us to get off to a fast start with our transformation.

我仍然對烹飪營運和以人為本的基礎印象深刻，這使我們能夠快速開始轉型。

At the end of September, we invited all of our franchise partners to meet in person for our annual franchise conference. Our team came out of the conference energized and ready to tackle our key priorities, consistent sales growth, improved margins and igniting new unit development. We will do this by executing on our five strategic pillars. First brand that went through our craveable, affordable and better for you chicken offerings. Second hospitality mindset by embodying the El Pollo loco culture and providing our guests with fast friendly and consistent service. Third, digital first, bringing frictionless experiences to our guests.

九月底，我們邀請所有特許經營夥伴親自參加我們的年度特許經營會議。會議結束後，我們的團隊充滿活力，準備好解決我們的關鍵優先事項、持續的銷售成長、提高利潤率並啟動新部門的開發。我們將透過執行五個戰略支柱來實現這一目標。第一個使用我們令人渴望的、價格實惠且更適合您的雞肉產品的品牌。第二個待客之道，體現 El Pollo loco 文化，為客人提供快速、友善、一致的服務。第三，數位化優先，為客人帶來順暢的體驗。

Fourth winning unit economics making sure margins matter and finally driving unit growth again with national expansion by becoming flexible and affordable.

第四個獲勝的單位經濟效益確保利潤重要，並最終透過變得靈活和負擔得起來再次推動單位成長，隨著全國擴張。

With the current macro economic environment continuing to put pressure on our guests. It is more important than ever to lean on our strength providing portable craveable fresh food all for a good value and with the convenience of fast service to ensure we are a brand that wins in Q3. We did this by offering our delicious double chopped salad and our fire grilled burritos.

當前的宏觀經濟環境繼續給我們的客人帶來壓力。現在比以往任何時候都更重要的是，依靠我們的實力提供便攜式、令人渴望的新鮮食品，並提供物超所值的便利和快捷的服務，以確保我們成為第三季度獲勝的品牌。我們透過提供美味的雙切沙拉和火烤墨西哥捲餅來做到這一點。

Our relaunched burritos offered consumers new flavors like creamy chipotle and delicious queso Blanco, both with handmade guacamole included.

我們重新推出的墨西哥捲餅為消費者提供了新口味，例如奶油墨西哥辣椒和美味的白色乳酪，兩者都包含手工製作的酪梨醬。

All of this was for 999 or 899 in our app.

所有這一切都是為了我們應用程式中的 999 或 899。

This is a deal compared to fast casual competitors in Q3. El Pollo Loco also showcased our unique positioning when it comes to better for you. We did this with our double chopped salads featuring our double portion of fire grilled chicken also with super greens lettuce, avocado and salsas made fresh daily in our restaurant.

與第三季的快速休閒競爭對手相比，這是一筆划算的交易。El Pollo Loco 也展示了我們在為您提供更好服務方面的獨特定位。我們用雙切沙拉做到了這一點，其中包括雙份火烤雞肉以及我們餐廳每天新鮮製作的超級綠色生菜、酪梨和莎莎醬。

Our salads mix at over 20% and are uniquely positioned in that 999 to 1,279 price point truly fast casual quality, but at QSR prices, something that few QSRS can do while we are proud of how our salads and our burritos performed. We recognize that the consumer is still under continued economic pressure and that the industry has become even more competitive with value offers at even lower price points.

我們的沙拉混合比例超過20%，在999 至1,279 的價格點上具有獨特的定位，真正的快速休閒品質，但在QSR 價格上，很少有QSRS 可以做到，而我們對我們的沙拉和墨西哥捲餅的表現感到自豪。我們認識到，消費者仍然面臨持續的經濟壓力，而該行業以更低的價格提供價值，變得更具競爭力。

These salads and burritos are great values at that $9 to $12 price point. But we realize we need even more value on the low end. Around that $5 price point to address this. We recently launched our Taco Tuesday promotion that some of our franchise partners had been testing with great success. This Tuesday promotion offers guests two delicious tacos for $5. The guest feedback has been great. But what's more important is that this promotion creates new trial allowing us to showcase to our guests that were just really good food. That's really good for you with a product that we're not always known for. Not surprising. Consumers are asking us to offer this promotion every day, which is something we will consider as we learn more to keep the excitement going and to drive more value messaging. We are also launching a $5 Original Pollo Bowl promotion in November. The original Pollo Bowl is a fan favorite and we believe our guests will be delighted to gain access to this popular product for only $5. We intend to run this promotion through the end of January 2025 as part of our franchise conference. We also unveiled our 2025 marketing calendar while we're keeping the details under wraps for now. I truly believe it's the strongest marketing calendar that El Pollo loco has had in many years. What I can say is that our 2025 calendar embraces innovation and value combined with what makes El Pollo Loco truly unique being known for having the best chicken underlying all of our efforts is an acknowledgment that to be successful in the long term, we need to drive improved traffic trends in 2025 and we believe we have the strategy to do just that.

這些沙拉和墨西哥捲餅的價格為 9 至 12 美元，物超所值。但我們意識到我們需要在低端市場獲得更多價值。大約 5 美元的價格點可以解決這個問題。我們最近推出了 Taco Tuesday 促銷活動，我們的一些特許經營合作夥伴已經進行了測試並取得了巨大成功。本週二的促銷活動為客人提供兩份美味的玉米餅，價格為 5 美元。客人的回饋非常好。但更重要的是，這次促銷創造了新的嘗試，使我們能夠向客人展示真正美味的食物。對於我們並不總是出名的產品來說，這對您來說確實有好處。並不奇怪。消費者每天都要求我們提供此促銷活動，隨著我們了解更多信息，我們會考慮這一點，以保持興奮並推動更多價值訊息傳遞。我們也在 11 月推出 5 美元 Original Pollo Bowl 促銷活動。原版 Pollo Bowl 深受粉絲喜愛，我們相信我們的客人會很高興以 5 美元的價格獲得這款受歡迎的產品。作為我們特許經營會議的一部分，我們打算將此促銷活動持續到 2025 年 1 月底。我們也公佈了 2025 年行銷日曆，但目前尚未透露詳細資訊。我堅信這是 El Pollo loco 多年來最強大的行銷日曆。我能說的是，我們的2025 年日曆擁抱創新和價值，再加上El Pollo Loco 真正獨特的原因，我們所有努力都以擁有最好的雞肉而聞名，這表明我們承認，要取得長期成功，我們需要推動2025 年流量趨勢有所改善，我們相信我們有實現這一目標的策略。

Turning to hospitality, we are pleased with the progress we have made, driving standards, accountability and productivity which we believe will help in driving transactions as we look ahead to 2025.

談到酒店業，我們對我們在提高標準、問責制和生產力方面取得的進展感到滿意，我們相信這將有助於推動我們展望 2025 年的交易。

For example, we are relaunching a standardized development system that makes sure aces are in their places during peak hours, which in turn drives more transactions. We are also continuing to invest in equipment enhancements like warming cabinets to keep our chicken more flavorful and delicious while also reducing team member labor.

例如，我們正在重新啟動標準化開發系統，以確保王牌在高峰時段各就各位，從而推動更多交易。我們也繼續投資於設備改進，例如加熱櫃，以使我們的雞肉更加美味可口，同時減少團隊成員的勞動力。

Finally, we have recently switched to a new customer feedback system that will enable us to more clearly benchmark our voice of customer feedback with other leaders in the restaurant industry. This will also improve our closed loop customer feedback system.

最後，我們最近改用了新的客戶回饋系統，這將使我們能夠更清晰地與餐飲業其他領導者的客戶回饋聲音進行比較。這也將改善我們的閉環客戶回饋系統。

In turn all of this will drive better accountability with our operations team and franchise partners, ensuring better customer service overall.

反過來，所有這些都將推動我們的營運團隊和特許經營合作夥伴更好地承擔責任，從而確保整體上更好的客戶服務。

That brings us next to the digital first pillar.

這將我們帶入數字第一支柱。

We continue to utilize our local rewards app to drive trial and repeat visits including exclusive offers like our 999 burritos for only 899 or our new Taco Tuesday promotion where we've sweeten the deal so that local rewards members can get three tacos for $5 not just the standard two for five that you can get in the store over time. We know that in order to drive sustainable comp growth, we must win with loyalty while we are not announcing anything new today, I can assure you of two things. First, our app is and will continue to be the easiest way for customers to interact and order from El Pollo loco. And second, our best offers will be only in the app giving customers a great reason to engage while it's still early. We believe our loyalty program and app will be crucial to driving long term sustainable comp growth.

我們繼續利用我們的本地獎勵應用程式來推動試用和重複訪問，包括獨家優惠，例如999 捲餅只需899 美元，或者我們新推出的Taco Tuesday 促銷活動，我們已經讓優惠變得更優惠，這樣本地獎勵會員不僅可以花5 美元購買三個玉米餅隨著時間的推移，您可以在商店中買到標準的二對五。我們知道，為了推動可持續的薪酬成長，我們必須以忠誠度取勝，雖然我們今天沒有宣布任何新內容，但我可以向您保證兩件事。首先，我們的應用程式現在並將繼續成為客戶與 El Pollo loco 互動和訂購的最簡單方式。其次，我們的最佳優惠將只在應用程式中提供，為客戶提供充分的理由在還早的時候參與。我們相信，我們的忠誠度計劃和應用程式對於推動長期可持續的公司成長至關重要。

We are also on track to complete our kiosk rollout by early Q1 of next year. If you recall, we took a step back and slowed down our kiosk roll out earlier this year to ensure we had high touch training and customer service to drive sustainable customer adoption.

我們也有望在明年第一季初完成自助服務終端的推出。如果您還記得的話，我們今年早些時候後退了一步，放慢了自助服務終端的推出速度，以確保我們進行高接觸培訓和客戶服務，以推動可持續的客戶採用。

Not only have we accomplished this, but we have also enabled additional technology enhancements that will further improve our operations and customer experience including the ability for our kiosks to now accept gift cards discounts and EBT.

我們不僅實現了這一目標，而且還啟用了其他技術增強功能，這將進一步改善我們的營運和客戶體驗，包括我們的自助終端現在接受禮品卡折扣和 EBT 的能力。

Next, let me touch on delivering winning unit economics through our margin improvement initiative.

接下來，讓我談談透過我們的利潤改善計劃來實現獲勝的單位經濟效益。

I'm going to steal Ira's Thunder a little bit here. But today we are raising our margin expectations for 2024 for the third consecutive quarter. We now expect to end 2024 in a range of 16 and three quarters to 17 and a quarter percentage representing an approximately 150 basis point year over year improvement at the midpoint during the quarter, we continued to make progress in our cost savings initiatives with a dedicated team actively looking across the entire P&L from labor productivity to cost of goods, sold, repair, and maintenance, utilities and other controllable expenses.

我要在這裡偷一點艾拉的雷霆。但今天我們連續第三個季度上調 2024 年的利潤率預期。我們現在預計2024 年末的成長率將在16 又四分之三到17 又四分之一的百分比範圍內，相當於本季度中點的同比改善約150 個基點，我們繼續在成本節約計劃方面取得進展，並專門致力於團隊積極關注整個損益表，從勞動生產力到商品成本、銷售成本、維修成本、公用事業成本和其他可控費用。

Again, we are approaching our cost savings initiative methodically to ensure high quality food and the guest experience only improve.

再次，我們正在有條不紊地實施成本節約計劃，以確保高品質的食品和賓客體驗的持續改善。

We expect to see some cost savings benefits in the fourth quarter but more importantly, all of the work we've done this year gives us increased confidence in our ability to drive further improvement next year in 2025.

我們預計將在第四季度看到一些成本節約效益，但更重要的是，我們今年所做的所有工作使我們對明年 2025 年推動進一步改進的能力更有信心。

Lastly, let's talk about driving unit growth before we can drive sustainable long term new unit growth. It is important that we achieve relative brand consistency across our system.

最後，讓我們談談如何推動單位成長，然後才能推動可持續的長期新單位成長。重要的是我們在整個系統中實現相對的品牌一致性。

We unveiled earlier this week, a new iconic restaurant prototype, showcasing and enduring yet modern and efficient design. Some highlights of this new prototype are this iconic design that's uniquely El Pollo Loco, a clean and simple design embracing a less is more philosophy, an evolutionary rather than revolutionary design that allows us to coalesce the system around a new prototype design and bring along past prototype design underscoring all three points is a reduced build cost from where we stand today.

本週早些時候，我們推出了新的標誌性餐廳原型，展示了持久而現代且高效的設計。這個新原型的一些亮點是這個獨特的El Pollo Loco 標誌性設計，乾淨、簡單的設計，擁抱「少即是多」的理念，是一種漸進式而非革命性的設計，使我們能夠圍繞新原型設計合併系統，並沿用過去的設計理念。

As we know stronger cash on cash returns will drive long term sustainable unit growth across the country.

眾所周知，現金回報的強勁將推動全國單位的長期永續成長。

New units are just one signal of modernization. The other is our ability to use remodels to showcase this evolved design through a two tiered approach including a low cost five year refresh investment and a more extensive 10 year remodel investment. We anticipate being able to touch roughly half of our total system over the next four years in partnership with our franchise partners, we are excited to roll this modernized image across the system and also optimistic with the sales and economic returns that come with remodels turning to new growth. I'm pleased with the progress we have made to reduce the cost of our new restaurant prototype from reducing the footprint and simplifying the build structure to rethinking equipment packages. Decor signage design. We have a clear path to lowering our new unit build cost to around $1.8 million.

新單位只是現代化的訊號之一。另一個是我們能夠透過兩層方法使用改造來展示這種演變的設計，包括低成本的五年更新投資和更廣泛的 10 年改造投資。我們預計在未來四年內能夠與我們的特許經營合作夥伴合作，覆蓋整個系統的大約一半，我們很高興能夠在整個系統中推廣這種現代化的形象，並且對改造後帶來的銷售和經濟回報感到樂觀新的成長。我對我們在降低新餐廳原型成本方面取得的進展感到高興，從減少佔地面積、簡化建造結構到重新考慮設備包。裝飾標誌設計。我們有明確的途徑將新單位的建造成本降低至 180 萬美元左右。

We have company and franchise units in the planning process using these new lower cost beautiful designs that will be open in the next 12 to18 months.

我們的公司和特許經營單位正在規劃過程中，使用這些新的低成本美麗設計，這些設計將在未來 12 至 18 個月內開業。

In addition to targeting new ground up sites, we have also had success with conversions.

除了瞄準新的地面網站外，我們在轉換方面也取得了成功。

As most of you know, there have been a number of restaurant closures in our industry over the past few years This has created an opportunity for future new unit development.

正如你們大多數人所知，過去幾年我們行業內有許多餐廳關閉，這為未來新單位的開發創造了機會。

Due to our flexible restaurant format, our franchise partners have been able to take some of these locations and convert them to El Pollo Locos with reduced build cost and outsized returns relative to a ground up build. In fact, our first Denver location which has sales volumes above our system average was itself a conversion from another QSR brand.

由於我們靈活的餐廳形式，我們的特許經營合作夥伴已經能夠將其中一些地點轉變為 El Pollo Locos，相對於從頭開始建造的建築成本更低，回報更高。事實上，我們在丹佛的第一家門市的銷售量高於我們系統的平均水平，這本身就是另一個 QSR 品牌的轉變。

So as we move forward into 2025 and accelerate our restaurant development plan, we plan to open at least 10 restaurants. We will further embrace our flexible footprint and drive unit growth through a variety of formats including free standing, drive throughs and caps and non traditional locations.

因此，隨著我們進入 2025 年並加快我們的餐廳發展計劃，我們計劃開設至少 10 家餐廳。我們將進一步擁抱靈活的佈局，並透過各種形式推動單位成長，包括獨立式、得來速和上限以及非傳統位置。

We are excited to get back to growth. We are also excited about what the future holds on our unit expansion and we look forward to providing more updates on upcoming calls in closing. Let me reiterate how pleased I am with the work that we've accomplished thus far in laying down the foundation to ignite our growth in 2025 and beyond.

我們很高興能夠恢復成長。我們也對我們的部門擴張的未來感到興奮，我們期待在即將結束的電話會議中提供更多最新資訊。讓我重申，我對我們迄今為止所完成的工作感到非常高興，為我們在 2025 年及以後的成長奠定了基礎。

Through our renewed approach to menu innovation and brand positioning, our methodical cost savings initiatives and flexible and affordable new unit development plan. We are well positioned to capture the growth opportunities ahead and make El Pollo loco the National Fire Grilled Chicken brand.

透過我們新的菜單創新和品牌定位方法、我們有條不紊的成本節約舉措以及靈活且負擔得起的新單位開發計劃。我們已做好充分準備，抓住未來的成長機遇，使 El Pollo loco 成為全國火烤雞品牌。

Most importantly, I want to thank our over 4,300 amazing team members and our incredible franchise partners for their hard work and their dedication without whom none of these accomplishments would have been possible with that. Let me turn over the call to Ira for a more detailed discussion of our third quarter financial results.

最重要的是，我要感謝我們 4,300 多名出色的團隊成員和令人難以置信的特許經營合作夥伴的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，沒有他們，這些成就都不可能實現。讓我將電話轉給 Ira，以更詳細地討論我們第三季的財務表現。

Thank you Liz. And good afternoon, everyone for the third quarter ended September 25th, 2024 total revenue was 120.4 million or no change. As compared to the third quarter of 2023 company operated restaurant revenue decreased 1.5% to 101.2 million from 102.7 million in the same period last year.

謝謝你，莉茲。大家下午好，截至 2024 年 9 月 25 日的第三季總收入為 1.204 億美元，或沒有變化。與 2023 年第三季相比，公司經營的餐廳收入下降 1.5%，從去年同期的 1.027 億美元降至 1.012 億美元。

The 1.5 million decrease in company operated restaurant sales was primarily driven by a 5.3 million decrease in revenue from the refranchising of 19 company operated restaurants to existing franchisees in prior quarters, partially offset by a 2.8% increase in company operated comparable restaurant sales and additional sales from restaurants open during or subsequent to the third quarter of 2023.

公司經營的餐廳銷售額減少150 萬美元，主要是由於前幾季將19 家公司經營的餐廳重新特許經營給現有特許經營商，收入減少了530 萬美元，部分被公司經營的可比餐廳銷售額和額外銷售額成長2.8% 所抵銷來自 2023 年第三季或之後開業的餐廳。

The increase in comparable restaurant sales included an 11.3% increase in average check size and approximately 7.6% decrease in transactions during the third quarter. Our effective price increase versus 2023 was 8.4%.

第三季可比餐廳銷售額的成長包括平均支票金額增加 11.3% 和交易量減少約 7.6%。與 2023 年相比，我們的有效價格上漲了 8.4%。

Franchise revenue increased 10.5% to 11.3 million during the third quarter. Driven by a 2.7% increase in franchise comparable restaurant sales as well as three new franchise restaurant openings during or subsequent to the third quarter of 2023 and the 19 re franchise restaurants. I've just mentioned earlier, looking ahead fourth quarter to date through October 23rd, 2024 system wide comparable store sales decreased 0.5% consisting of a 0.8% decrease in company operated restaurants and a 0.3% decrease in franchise restaurants. We believe we will finish Q4 slightly positive as we expect our same store sales trends to improve as we are rolling over our 2023 Carnita LTO in the back half of the quarter, which underperformed our expectations last year and we continue to innovate with value promotions, turning to expenses, food and paper cost as a percentage of company restaurant sales decreased 170 basis points year over year to 25.1% due to menu pricing and lower discounting partially offset by commodity inflation of approximately 4.5%.

第三季特許經營收入成長 10.5%，達到 1,130 萬美元。受到特許經營可比餐廳銷售額增長 2.7%、2023 年第三季或之後開設 3 家新特許經營餐廳以及 19 家重新特許經營餐廳的推動。我剛才提到，展望第四季度，截至 2024 年 10 月 23 日，全系統可比商店銷售額下降 0.5%，其中公司經營餐廳下降 0.8%，特許經營餐廳下降 0.3%。我們相信，我們將在第四季度取得略微積極的業績，因為我們預計我們的同店銷售趨勢將會改善，因為我們將在本季後半段結轉2023 年Carnita LTO，這低於我們去年的預期，並且我們將繼續透過價值促銷進行創新，就費用而言，食品和紙張成本占公司餐廳銷售額的百分比同比下降170 個基點至25.1%，原因是菜單定價和較低的折扣被約4.5% 的商品通膨部分抵銷。

We expect commodity inflation to be in the 2% to 3% range for the full year, 2024 labor and related expenses. As a percentage of company restaurant sales increased about 15 basis points year over year at 32.4%.

我們預計 2024 年全年商品通膨率將在 2% 至 3% 之間，包括勞動力和相關費用。餐廳銷售額占公司銷售額的百分比年增約 15 個基點，達到 32.4%。

An increase in wages was partially offset by menu pricing and better operating efficiencies primarily driven through improvements and labor deployment and scheduling especially during opening and closing periods. Labor inflation during the third quarter was approximately 14% for all our company owned locations driven by wage inflation in our California restaurants. As a result of the April 1st California $20 an hour minimum wage for QSR restaurants for the full year. 2024. We expect wage inflation of about 12% for all our company owned locations, occupancy and other operating expenses as a percentage of company restaurant sales decreased 80 basis points year over year to 25.8%. Primarily due to the leverage gained on the same store sales increase combined with the sale of lower volume restaurants to existing franchisees in the prior year, our restaurant contribution margin for the third quarter was 16.7% compared to 14.4% in the year ago period for the full year 2024. We expect our restaurant contribution margin to be in the 16.75% to 17.25% range.

工資的成長部分被菜單定價和更好的營運效率所抵消，這主要是透過改進、勞動力部署和調度（尤其是在開業和關閉期間）推動的。由於加州餐廳薪資上漲，第三季我們公司旗下所有地點的勞動力通膨率約為 14%。4 月 1 日起，加州 QSR 餐廳全年最低工資為每小時 20 美元。2024 年。我們預計公司自有門市的薪資通膨率約為 12%，佔用率和其他營運費用占公司餐廳銷售額的百分比年減 80 個基點至 25.8%。主要由於同店銷售增加所獲得的槓桿作用，加上上一年向現有特許經營商出售銷量較低的餐廳，我們第三季度的餐廳貢獻率為 16.7%，而去年同期為 14.4%。全年。我們預計餐廳貢獻率將在 16.75% 至 17.25% 範圍內。

General and administrative expenses increased 190 basis points year over year to 9.5% of total revenue. The increase for the quarter was primarily due to an increase in estimated management bonus expense and other general administrative expenses.

一般及管理費用較去年同期成長 190 個基點，佔總營收的 9.5%。本季度的成長主要是由於預計管理獎金費用和其他一般管理費用的增加。

During the third quarter, we recorded a provision for income taxes of approximately 2.4 million for an effective tax rate of 28.1%. This compares to a provision for income taxes of 3 million and an effective tax rate of 24.4% in the prior year period.

第三季度，我們記錄了約 240 萬歐元的所得稅撥備，有效稅率為 28.1%。相較之下，上一年期間的所得稅撥備為 300 萬美元，有效稅率為 24.4%。

We reported GAAP net income of 6.2 million or $0.21 per diluted share in the third quarter compared to GAAP net income of 9.2 million or $0.28 per diluted share in the prior year period.

我們公佈的第三季 GAAP 淨利潤為 620 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.21 美元，而去年同期的 GAAP 淨利潤為 920 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.28 美元。

Adjusted net income for the third quarter was 6.3 million or $0.21 per diluted share compared to adjusted net income of 6.4 million or $0.19 per diluted share in the third quarter of last year.

第三季調整後淨利為 630 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.21 美元，而去年第三季調整後淨利為 640 萬美元，即稀釋後每股 0.19 美元。

Please refer to our earnings release for a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures in terms of our development plan during the quarter, we opened one new company location in California.

請參閱我們的收益發布，以了解本季度發展計畫中非公認會計原則措施的對賬，我們在加州開設了一個新的公司地點。

In addition, as Liz mentioned earlier, we are analyzing on a location for our new prototype build that will incorporate the new design elements and cost savings. We've discussed with a plan to open the store over the next 12 to 18 months regarding remodels during the third quarter, we completed no company operated restaurant remodels and seven franchise restaurant remodels. We have completed five company restaurant remodels and 35 franchise restaurant remodels through the third quarter for the full year. We expect to complete a total of 6 to 8 company remodels and 35 to 40 franchise remodels. We intentionally slowed our remodel program as we are in the process of developing a new more modern look and cost engineered design.

此外，正如 Liz 之前提到的，我們正在分析新原型建造的位置，該位置將融入新的設計元素並節省成本。我們已經討論了在未來 12 至 18 個月內開設商店的計劃，並在第三季度進行了改造，我們沒有完成任何公司經營的餐廳改造，並完成了 7 家特許經營餐廳的改造。截至全年第三季度，我們已完成 5 家公司餐廳改造和 35 家特許經營餐廳改造。我們預計將完成總共6至8家公司改造和35至40家特許經營改造。我們故意放慢了改造計劃，因為我們正在開發新的更現代的外觀和成本工程設計。

We are very excited about this new design and we anticipate completing our first company remodel with the new design in the fourth quarter of 2024.

我們對這項新設計感到非常興奮，預計在 2024 年第四季完成採用新設計的第一次公司改造。

Turning to liquidity as of September 25th, 2024 we had 76 million of debt outstanding and 8 million in cash and cash equivalents. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, we paid down an additional 5 million on a revolver, bringing our current outstanding borrowings to 71 million as of October 31st 2024.

就流動性而言，截至 2024 年 9 月 25 日，我們有 7,600 萬美元的未償債務以及 800 萬美元的現金和現金等價物。本季末後，我們又償還了 500 萬美元的左輪手槍，截至 2024 年 10 月 31 日，我們目前的未償還借款達到 7,100 萬美元。

During the third quarter, we repurchased approximately 92,000 shares of stock for approximately 1.1 million leaving about 3.1 million remaining under our current share repurchase authorization as of September 25th, 2024.

在第三季度，我們以約 110 萬股回購了約 92,000 股股票，截至 2024 年 9 月 25 日，我們目前的股票回購授權剩餘約 310 萬股。

And finally, based on our results to date, we would like to update following guidance for 2024.

最後，根據我們迄今為止的結果，我們希望更新以下 2024 年指南。

The opening of two company operated restaurants and 3 to 4 franchised restaurants, capital spending of 21million to 23 million G and a expenses of 45million to 47 million excluding one time costs and adjusted income tax rate of 27.5 to 28%.

開設兩家公司自營餐廳和3至4家特許經營餐廳，資本支出為2100萬至2300萬克，不包括一次性成本和調整後所得稅率為27.5%至28%的費用為4500萬至4700萬克。

This concludes our repaired remarks. We'd like to thank you again for joining us on the call today and we're now happy to answer any questions that you may have operator, please open the line for questions.

我們的修正言論到此結束。我們再次感謝您今天加入我們的電話會議，我們現在很樂意回答您向接線員提出的任何問題，請打開提問線路。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two to remove yourself from the queue for participants using speaker equipment. It may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. One moment please as we pull for questions and our first question comes from the line of Todd Brooks with The Benchmark Company. Please proceed with your question.

謝謝。我們現在將進行問答環節。如果您想提問，請按電話鍵盤上的星號一。確認音將表示您的線路已在問題佇列中。您可以按星號二將自己從使用揚聲器裝置的參與者佇列中刪除。按星號鍵之前可能需要拿起聽筒。請稍等一下，我們正在提問，我們的第一個問題來自 The Benchmark Company 的 Todd Brooks。請繼續你的問題。

Hey, thanks for taking my questions. Appreciate it.

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。欣賞它。

First question just looking at kind of the sequential progression in same store sales kind of that north of 300 basis point drop quarter to date versus what you were able to generate. And Q3, I guess what are kind of the components of that or is there some real change in average check that's dragging things down? Is there a change in traffic? Is there something competitively that you've seen that you think has impacted the business is maybe lead you to seek out more of that $5 value price point that many others are running. I'm just trying to get some, some color around this slow down here.

第一個問題只是看看同店銷售額的連續進展，季度迄今與您能夠產生的銷售額相比下降了 300 個基點以上。Q3，我想其中有哪些組成部分，或者平均檢查是否存在一些真正的變化，導致情況惡化？交通有變化嗎？您是否發現有一些競爭性因素對業務產生了影響，可能會促使您尋求更多其他許多公司正在運行的 5 美元價值價格點。我只是想為這裡的減速增添一些色彩。

Yeah. Thanks Todd. Fair question. You know, it definitely is that that value oriented consumer more than ever. Telling us that they need more value and we've been working over the last couple of weeks identifying what we can do to really bring that to bear. So we also came to, if you think about our calendar with 2024 we came in with limited innovation. So we really have a calendar of rehit. And I'd say the first, you know, half of the year, through, you know, middle of the year, the double Tostada, the chopped salads, the stuffed quesadilla, you know, that they were on rehit number two or, you know, we had value at a higher price point as we talked about over the last couple quarters at that, you know, kind of $9 to $12 price point. But what we realized is we've moved further into the year is two things. One, the reits are losing some steam. So we're running double toast data and for most of the month of October, we were running double toast data. We've hit that now a couple of times this year and a couple times over the last year. And, you know, it's a great product. Consumers love it, but it is still a really high price point and we need more innovation. So the couple of things that we've done to do that and to bring what we call new news is, the $5 play bowl, of course, the play bowl isn't a new item, but that $5 price point, we were able to get our franchise system in pretty quick order to align that we're going to go on national media with that $5 price point. So that will be trafficking here in the next couple of weeks. I think the week of November 11th was the, the soonest we could get that up. I just saw the commercial today. It looks great. And then the other thing that we've done is two for $5 tacos. And we've been testing that out on Tuesday. We had a just two days ago was the first Tuesday it ran. It was really nice to see how quickly transactions in one day respond when you put an offer like that out there. So again, it's a hint to us on how do we grow that? Obviously it'll grow over the next couple weeks on twos. And then how do we take that, that seed and, and grow it even further? And how do we do that all while keeping our products also up at that 9 to $12 price point that people love as well. So, I think you'll, you'll see a continued emphasis on value. And then moving into next year, we have to have more new innovation, which I feel comfortable. We do.

是的。謝謝托德。公平的問題。你知道，這絕對是比以往任何時候都更注重價值的消費者。告訴我們他們需要更多的價值，過去幾週我們一直在努力確定我們可以做些什麼來真正實現這一點。因此，如果您考慮我們 2024 年的日曆，我們會發現我們的創新有限。所以我們確實有一個重擊的日曆。我想說的是，第一，你知道，半年，到，你知道，年中，雙份托斯塔達，切碎的沙拉，夾餡玉米餅，你知道，他們重新排名第二，或者，你知道，我們在更高的價位上具有價值，正如我們在過去幾季中談到的那樣，你知道，價格點為9 至12 美元。但我們意識到今年已經發生了兩件事。第一，房地產投資信託基金正在失去一些動力。因此，我們正在運行 double toast 數據，並且在 10 月份的大部分時間裡，我們都在運行 double toast 數據。我們今年已經遇到過幾次這種情況，去年也遇到過幾次。而且，你知道，這是一個很棒的產品。消費者喜歡它，但它的價格仍然很高，我們需要更多創新。因此，我們所做的幾件事就是為了做到這一點並帶來我們所謂的新消息，即 5 美元的遊戲碗，當然，遊戲碗不是一個新產品，但 5 美元的價格點，我們能夠為了讓我們的特許經營系統能夠很快地與我們將在全國媒體上以5 美元的價格點保持一致。因此，接下來的幾週內，這裡將會出現人口販運活動。我認為 11 月 11 日這一周是我們最快能做到的。我今天剛看到廣告。看起來很棒。然後我們做的另一件事是兩個 5 美元的玉米餅。我們週二已經對此進行了測試。就在兩天前，我們度過了它運行的第一個星期二。當您提出這樣的報價時，看到一天內的交易回應速度有多快，真是太好了。那麼，這又向我們暗示如何發展它？顯然，它會在接下來的幾週內成雙成對地成長。那我們如何才能將其種子進一步培育呢？我們如何做到這一點，同時將我們的產品保持在人們喜愛的 9 至 12 美元的價格點上。所以，我認為你會看到對價值的持續強調。進入明年，我們必須有更多新的創新，我對此感到滿意。我們做到了。

Okay, great. And then the price mix, does that change or the average check? Does that change much as we think about Q4 versus Q3.

好的，太好了。然後價格組合是否會改變或平均價格會改變？當我們考慮第四季與第三季時，情況是否發生了很大變化？

Yeah, it starts to soften a little bit. We'll be a little bit under 7% pricing as we move into Q4.

是的，它開始軟化一點。進入第四季後，我們的定價將略低於 7%。

Okay, great. Thanks Ira. The margin performance is so ridiculously strong. It's great to see. Just want to frame the question this way and obviously you've given us that guide up on where you think the Q4 restaurant level margins will be, how high is up on restaurant level margin without generating positive traffic to go with it. So how close do you think we're getting to a margin ceiling until we can get the traffic flywheel working in our favor as well?

好的，太好了。謝謝艾拉。利潤率表現非常強勁。很高興看到。只是想以這種方式提出問題，顯然您已經向我們提供了您認為第四季度餐廳水平利潤率的指南，餐廳水平利潤率會上升多少，而不會產生積極的流量。那麼，您認為在我們能夠讓流量飛輪也對我們有利之前，我們距離利潤上限還有多遠呢？

You know irregardless of sales tax, sales are important and we're working hard to improve them. But we have a lot of cost initiatives that we're working on that. We feel we have a lot of opportunity as we talked about to continue to grow the margins next year. Especially on the procurement side, you know, we launched a project earlier in the year where we're looking at everything from a total cost to serve basis. And we're really excited about the opportunities that and projects that we're working on place that we know are going to help us drive more margin improvement next year.

您知道，無論銷售稅如何，銷售額都很重要，我們正在努力改善銷售。但我們正在努力採取許多成本措施。當我們談到明年繼續增加利潤時，我們覺得我們有很多機會。特別是在採購方面，您知道，我們在今年早些時候啟動了一個項目，我們正在考慮從總成本到服務基礎的各個方面。我們對我們正在進行的機會和專案感到非常興奮，我們知道這些機會和專案將幫助我們推動明年的利潤率進一步提高。

But following on that I want to be clear, we're not going to trade off you know, just getting to some as much as we'd like to have, you know, the highest margins out there, you know, in QSR, we're not going to trade that off for traffic. And so I think getting everyone to invest in the $5 play bowl and the two for five just shows we're willing to make the investments to drive traffic. And another place as an example, catering, we just completed signing up a partnership with easy caterer as an example and are working with other you know, mechanisms to get our catering out there. Now, we will take, you know, it is a high ticket. So that's great. It's a high check. But you do, you know when you work with these aggregators, you do give up a lot of margin as well. We're willing to do that to invest to get our product out there so people can try it. They want to be clear with everyone. We want to grow traffic and it's a big and, and we want to grow profit.

但接下來我想澄清的是，我們不會進行權衡，你知道，只是獲得我們想要的最高利潤，你知道，在 QSR 領域，我們不會用它來換取流量。因此，我認為讓每個人都投資 5 美元的比賽碗和 2 個 5 美元的比賽只是表明我們願意進行投資以增加流量。以另一個地方為例，餐飲，我們剛剛完成了與簡單餐飲服務商的合作夥伴關係，並正在與其他您知道的機制合作，以將我們的餐飲服務推廣到那裡。現在，我們將採取，你知道，這是一張高票。那太好了。這是一個很高的檢查。但你知道，當你與這些聚合商合作時，你也確實放棄了許多利潤。我們願意這樣做來投資將我們的產品推向市場，以便人們可以嘗試。他們想跟大家說清楚。我們希望增加流量，這是一個很大的目標，我們希望增加利潤。

Okay. That's great. And if I can squeeze one more in and then I'll jump back into exciting to hear the magnitude of the expected remodel cadence at the system over the next four years. I know that the we're still in that, that kind of prototype design phase for what you are planning these remodels to entail whether it's the five year the 10 year model?

好的。那太棒了。如果我能再擠進去一次，然後我會再次興奮地聽到未來四年系統預期改造節奏的幅度。我知道我們仍處於那種原型設計階段，您計劃進行的這些改造是否需要五年或十年的模型？

But is there kind of a structural lift that franchisees are being told that they can expect. Or that maybe you're targeting out of each of the versions of the remodel. And, I'm just trying to think about this structural, same store sales tail one that you may be creating for loco with the model program. Thanks.

但特許經營者是否會被告知可以期待某種結構性提升？或者，也許您的目標是改造的每個版本。而且，我只是想考慮一下您可能使用模型程式為 loco 創建的結構性同店銷售尾部。謝謝。

Right. So, what I can say is in the remodels that we've done over the years, we've seen, you know, a mid single digit uptick after a remodel. And certainly, you know, we're putting a lot of emphasis on remodels next year. I think, you know, over the next couple of years as an example, we've got almost half of our system will be touched over, you know, a couple of years, but next year will be the 1st year to really have a large quantity of those. And we have, you know, with this new prototype that we unveiled earlier this week, we have a few remodels that are actually going to be completed this week with this new design that then we will roll out next year. And, so we'll see, we'll get a new batch of data in here in the next couple of weeks on, on how that looks. But I think it looks, you know, it looks like a beautiful restaurant and no reason to believe it would be any different from what we've seen in the past.

正確的。所以，我可以說的是，在我們多年來所做的改造中，我們已經看到，改造後出現了中等個位數的成長。當然，你知道，我們明年將非常重視改造。我認為，例如，在接下來的幾年中，我們的系統幾乎一半將被觸及，你知道，幾年，但明年將是真正擁有大量的那些。你知道，透過本週早些時候推出的新原型，我們實際上將在本週完成一些改造，並採用新設計，然後我們將在明年推出。而且，所以我們將看到，在接下來的幾週內，我們將在這裡獲得一批新的數據，關於它的外觀。但我認為它看起來，你知道，它看起來像一家漂亮的餐廳，沒有理由相信它會與我們過去看到的任何不同。

Okay, great. Thank you both.

好的，太好了。謝謝你們倆。

Yeah, thank you.

是的，謝謝。

Thank you. And as a reminder if anyone has any questions, you may press star one on your telephone keypad. This way it will enable you to join the queue and ask the question.

謝謝。提醒一下，如果有人有任何疑問，您可以按電話鍵盤上的星號一。這樣您就可以加入隊列並提出問題。

Our next question comes from the line of Jake Bartlett with true Securities. Please proceed with your question.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jake Bartlett 與 true Securities 的對話。請繼續你的問題。

Great. Thank you so much for taking the question. You know mine was on the macro environment that you're seeing. Obviously, it's you know still under pressure, you can see that with the volatility of your same source sales. But I'm wondering whether you're in different regions, whether you're seeing anything specific just to California itself or whether, you know, really the environment is pretty similar across your system.

偉大的。非常感謝您提出這個問題。你知道我的是你所看到的宏觀環境。顯然，您知道仍然面臨壓力，您可以從同源銷售的波動中看到這一點。但我想知道您是否位於不同的地區，您是否看到了加州本身特有的東西，或者您知道，您的系統中的環境是否確實非常相似。

You know, California definitely has some of the biggest transaction declines. You know we don't have the largest samples outside of California. So I will say that but in some of our restaurants in Texas, for example, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, I'm seeing healthier transaction growth there by and large though, you know, I think the consumer is under pressure in all of the markets. Las Vegas is an example of a market, not in California, but that Las Vegas consumer as an example is hurting as well. So, but you know, obviously predom we are predominantly still in California. We plan to change that over, over time. But I definitely think that California consumer has been hurt more than anyone.

你知道，加州的交易量下降幅度肯定是最大的。你知道我們沒有加州以外最大的樣本。所以我想說，但在我們德克薩斯州的一些餐廳，例如休斯頓、裡奧格蘭德河谷、聖安東尼奧，我看到那裡的交易增長總體上更健康，但你知道，我認為消費者面臨壓力在所有市場。拉斯維加斯是一個市場的例子，不是在加州，但拉斯維加斯的消費者也受到了傷害。所以，但你知道，顯然我們主要還是在加州。我們計劃隨著時間的推移改變這一點。但我絕對認為加州消費者受到的傷害比任何人都大。

Got it. And, and I'm thinking of just other, you know, factors that might have contributed to the deceleration that you saw, you know, quarter to date. And, you know, some of the, your, your hamburger qsr competitors are running promotions right now that are very, very successful and really getting a lot of attention to, to what extent, you know, do you think that that could impact, you know, demand for El Pollo Loco as, as, as consumers are really kind of, going a little bit gaga over some of these, this innovation that the larger Qsr players are, are offering right now.

知道了。而且，我想到的只是其他因素，這些因素可能導致了迄今為止您所看到的經濟減速。而且，你知道，你的一些漢堡快餐競爭對手現在正在進行促銷活動，非常非常成功，並且確實得到了很多關注，你知道，你認為這會在多大程度上影響，你知道，對El Pollo Loco 的需求，因為消費者確實對其中一些產品有點著迷，大型Qsr 玩家現在正在提供這種創新。

Yeah, I think it's less about innovation and I think it's more just about the what you can get for what you pay at a really low end and you know, obviously when some of the competitors just have allowed megaphone to be able to put that out there. And quite frankly, we just haven't competed there as much. We haven't had things down in that $5 price point. You know up until now we've had a few things but not, not as seriously as we're going to get in there. So, you know I think that that is certainly part of it also, if you think of you know, just overall pricing on the menu as well. And, you know this has been true since I think that the test of time and in the restaurant space, even a family meal of chicken as an example, you know if it's 2,999 today, but you know, just a couple of years ago it was $21 or $22. That's a big increase, you know, for someone, you know, that's under $100,000 in income. And so I think it all is playing, in fact, so I wouldn't blame it just on the you know $5 value war. I think it's pricing all up and down the menu.

是的，我認為這與創新無關，而更重要的是你以非常低的價格所付出的代價所能得到的東西，你知道，顯然，當一些競爭對手允許擴音器能夠將其輸出時那裡。坦白說，我們只是沒有在那裡競爭那麼多。我們還沒有推出過 5 美元價位的產品。你知道，到目前為止，我們已經經歷了一些事情，但還沒有我們將要討論的那麼嚴重。所以，我認為這當然也是其中的一部分，如果你認為你知道的話，菜單上的整體定價也是如此。而且，你知道這是事實，因為我認為經過時間和餐廳空間的考驗，即使是家庭聚餐雞肉為例，你知道今天是否是 2,999，但你知道，就在幾年前是 21 美元或 22 美元。對於收入低於 10 萬美元的人來說，這是一個很大的成長。所以我認為事實上這一切都在發揮作用，所以我不會只是將其歸咎於你所知道的 5 美元價值戰。我認為菜單上的所有內容都定價。

Got it, And you know, and last question on the, you know kind of promotional approach in the near term. But can you remind me when, you know what your experience has been with the five I've been hearing about the $5 you know, bowls for, for a long time and it seems you it comes and gets pulsed in periodically. What, when's the last time you offered it, you know, and promoted it nationally? And what was the what was the outcome when you were doing that last?

明白了，你知道，最後一個問題是關於近期的促銷方法。但你能提醒我嗎，你知道你的經歷是什麼，我一直聽說你知道的五美元，你知道，很長一段時間以來，它似乎定期出現並受到脈衝。什麼，你最後一次提供它並在全國範圍內推廣它是什麼時候？當你最後這樣做時，結果是什麼？

You know, I'll have to do some digging to find out when the last time it was, we ran it nationally. From what I understand. It has always been a very responsive, LTO that we run. I can tell you just from running, you know, talk about, like I said talk about Tuesday just a couple days ago I saw, you know I woke up and saw in the daily sales a responsive nature there. So, you know, I think those two things matter. The other thing I will say about this brand, we still do coupon drops. So we're one of the few brands that still drops coupons, you know, every like 6 to 8 weeks and again, just showcasing the power of value. When we drop the coupons, we see a very responsive reaction in terms of transactions and those coupons are all over the menu. So they're everything from a couple dollars off of family chicken to you know, a burrito to a salad. So we kind of have something for everyone just again, reconfirming that, you know, there's that value Hunter and QSR that is looking for a good deal. So we need to do. I would say all of the above in terms of reaching our consumers, its value in the coupons in the app, in the, you know, $5 playable and talk about Tuesday. So we're really turning that on and the nice part is we're doing a lot of cost work on the other side so we can afford to do that. And we, I think because we're doing all that cost work, we were able to get our franchise system aligned to come along with us.

你知道，我必須進行一些挖掘才能查明我們上次在全國範圍內運行它是什麼時候。據我了解。我們運行的 LTO 一直是反應速度非常快的。我可以透過跑步告訴你，你知道，談論，就像我幾天前說的談論星期二，我看到，你知道我醒來並在每日銷售中看到了那裡的響應性本質。所以，你知道，我認為這兩件事很重要。關於這個品牌我要說的另一件事是，我們仍然提供優惠券發放。因此，我們是少數仍會發放優惠券的品牌之一，每隔 6 到 8 週就會發放一次優惠券，只是展現了價值的力量。當我們放下優惠券時，我們看到交易方面的反應非常積極，而且這些優惠券遍布菜單。所以它們應有盡有，從便宜幾美元的家庭雞肉到墨西哥捲餅到沙拉。因此，我們再次為每個人提供了一些東西，再次確認，你知道，Hunter 和 QSR 正在尋找一筆划算的交易。所以我們需要做。我想說的是，以上所有內容都涉及到我們的消費者，它在應用程式中的優惠券中的價值，在，你知道的，5 美元的可玩性中，並談論週二。所以我們真的正在開啟這一點，好的部分是我們在另一邊做了很多成本工作，所以我們有能力這樣做。我認為，因為我們正在做所有這些成本工作，所以我們能夠使我們的特許經營系統與我們保持一致。

Got it and then, and then switching to margins, you know, kind of multi part question. But, but the first is you, you, you, you beat handily beat your, your guidance in the third quarter for restaurant level margins. I'm not sure whether you beat your same or sales, you didn't beat our. So something drove that. So what, what was the surprise? You know, if there was to, to, you know, that really drove the upside in the margins in the third quarter and then, you know, you're raising your, your guidance for 24. Is that more of a pull forward or do you still expect? And do you still expect to be around the 18% in 25 or should we think of, of 18 is, is increased as well as you've found more efficiencies.

明白了，然後切換到邊距，你知道，這是一個多部分的問題。但是，但是首先是你，你，你，你輕而易舉地擊敗了你，你在第三季度對餐廳水平利潤率的指導。我不確定你是否擊敗了你的相同或銷售，你沒有擊敗我們。所以有些東西推動了這一點。那又怎樣，驚喜是什麼？你知道，如果有的話，你知道，這確實推動了第三季利潤率的上升，然後，你知道，你提高了你對 24 的指導。這更多的是一種推動還是你仍然期待？您是否仍然期望在 25 年內達到 18% 左右，或者我們應該想到 18 年內是否會增加，並且您發現了更高的效率。

So great questions, I'll take the second first and then dive into the first part. You know, we still believe as we look out into next year, we will be approaching 18% margins for the full year of next year. So, nothing's really changed in our thinking that we feel really good about the direction we're headed in the opportunities that we have there. I think where we where we did see some favorability on the com was on the, a little bit on the commodity side as well as a little less and a little less discounting and a little bit of mix, products that we were serving, had a little less of the had a little more of the leg and I meet in them, which is a little less expensive than some of the other meats that we use sometimes. And so that also helped drive a little bit of the upside from a margin standpoint, as well as a little less discounting than we had originally thought that we'd see.

這麼好的問題，我會先回答第二部分，然後再深入討論第一部分。你知道，我們仍然相信，展望明年，我們明年全年的利潤率將接近 18%。因此，我們的想法並沒有真正改變，我們對我們所擁有的機會的發展方向感到非常滿意。我認為我們確實在 com 上看到了一些優惠，在商品方面，以及越來越少的折扣和一點混合，我們所提供的產品有一個少一點，腿多一點，我在其中遇到了，這比我們有時使用的其他一些肉類便宜一點。因此，從利潤的角度來看，這也有助於推動一些上行，並且折扣比我們最初想像的要少一些。

Yes. And you know coupled with that our ops team continues to do an incredibly good job at managing on the labor side. And a lot of the initiatives that we put into place in Q2, they continue to build on those specifically around deployment, labor deployment and we saw a little upside on the labor side as well.

是的。而且您知道，我們的營運團隊在勞動力方面的管理方面繼續做得非常出色。我們在第二季實施的許多舉措，它們繼續建立在專門圍繞部署、勞動力部署的基礎上，我們也看到了勞動力方面的一些好處。

All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate It.

好的。太感謝了。我很欣賞它。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Andy Barish with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.

謝謝。我們的下一個問題來自安迪·巴里什和傑弗里斯的對話。請繼續你的問題。

Hey, guys just wondering if you could share contracting on chicken for next year. Ira, maybe how that sort of informing the early you know, feelings around menu price. Obviously, you'll carry some of the California pricing through the first quarter but just kind of wondering if you've you know, sort of level set on where, where pricing for next year maybe shakes out.

嘿，夥計們，只是想知道你們是否可以分享明年的雞肉合約。艾拉，也許這可以告訴你早期對菜單價格的感受。顯然，您將在第一季保留部分加州定價，但只是想知道您是否知道明年的定價可能會在哪裡確定的水平。

Yeah, I think we're looking at very moderate pricing. Next year price increases, we haven't landed on it completely. But, you know, we definitely feel the opportunities that we have on, on the commodity side and the product side will give the stability to be really thoughtful about pricing. As we look at it next year, we have not locked the chicken yet. We are in the middle towards the end of the RF preop RFP process on chicken and we feel really good about the direction we're headed there.

是的，我認為我們正在考慮非常適中的定價。明年的價格上漲，我們還沒有完全確定。但是，你知道，我們肯定覺得我們在商品方面和產品方面擁有的機會將帶來穩定性，使我們能夠真正深思熟慮定價。明年看，我們還沒有鎖雞。我們正處於雞肉 RF 準備 RFP 流程即將結束的中間階段，我們對我們前進的方向感到非常滿意。

Got it. And then, did you, just give, give us a sense of sort of where you are on the, you know the promotion and discounting kind of gone back and forth a little bit the mix really this quarter to be plus three. Just any thoughts on kind of how that looks for the fourth quarter as you know, bring in a little bit more $5 price point and things like that.

知道了。然後，您是否讓我們了解您所處的位置，您知道促銷和折扣有點來回變化，本季確實是加三。如您所知，對第四季度的情況有任何想法，請增加 5 美元的價格點以及類似的東西。

Yeah, that'll moderate some as we move into the quarter, you know, and some of the mix was driven, you know, you know, less discounting what part was part of it. But some of the innovation that we've been doing around the menu really drove some of the positive places in the mix, you know, just a couple of points. I'll point out would be you know, we put you know, we added the crunchy tacos earlier in the year and that's continued to really be, you know, a add tends to be add Ons that has been a real positive to the mix. You know, we did when we launched the Burrito promotion this year, we put a lot more emphasis on upselling to the combos and that was also helpful and help helping driving our mix and some, and the other thing that we did you know, we continued the shrimp component of the, with the Tostada Promotion we did in Q3. So we did a lot of things from an innovation standpoint, which really helped drive that, that mix and check during the quarter.

是的，當我們進入本季度時，這會緩和一些，你知道，有些組合是被驅動的，你知道，你知道，更少地折扣其中的一部分。但我們圍繞菜單所做的一些創新確實推動了組合中的一些積極的地方，你知道，只有幾點。我要指出的是，你知道，我們讓你知道，我們在今年早些時候添加了脆脆的炸玉米餅，而且這種情況一直持續下去，你知道，添加往往是添加的，這對混合來說是真正積極的。你知道，我們今年推出墨西哥捲餅促銷時就做到了，我們更加重視對組合的追加銷售，這也很有幫助，有助於推動我們的組合和一些，以及我們所做的另一件事，你知道，我們繼續我們在第三季度進行的 Tostada 促銷活動中的蝦部分。因此，我們從創新的角度做了很多事情，這確實有助於推動這一點，即在本季度進行混合和檢查。

Also with our family chicken. I think we did a better job of showcasing bigger options for families. So, you know, historically, we've shown our eight piece, we've seen that when we promote on the menu, the 10 and the 12, we drive a higher, you know, not surprising, we drive, you know, a higher ticket there.

還有我們家的雞。我認為我們在為家庭展示更多選擇方面做得更好。所以，你知道，從歷史上看，我們已經展示了我們的8 件產品，我們已經看到，當我們在菜單上促銷10 件和12 件時，我們會開得更高，你知道，這並不奇怪，我們開著，你知道，那裡的票價更高。

Got it. And then, you know, finally just you know as we get towards the end of the year Liz and you've had time. Is there anything sort of on the unit fleet? You know, other than obviously, you know, some of the remodel work you're doing? I mean, are there areas or you know, store closures that maybe you know, could help clean things up or you know, anything else on re Franchising or just kind of how you know, how you view the fleet as you head towards the end of the year and into 25.

知道了。然後，你知道，最後你知道，當我們接近年底時，莉茲，你有時間了。單位艦隊裡有什麼東西嗎？你知道，除了明顯的，你知道，你正在做的一些改造工作？我的意思是，是否有一些區域，或者您知道，商店關閉，也許您知道，可以幫助清理事情，或者您知道，關於再特許經營的其他任何事情，或者只是您如何知道，當您走向終點時您如何看待車隊年度最佳並進入25。

Sure. You know, we're fortunate in that our system volumes are healthy and we have a pretty tight, I guess when you look at the volumes around the average, it's a pretty tight distribution. We don't have you know I know there's some systems that have some that are just you know a million or you know 1,213, we don't have a lot of those out there in our system. And if we do, they're an in line with, you know, really favorable economics that would allow them to, to live on at that low end. So relatively healthy system, which I'm super pleased. Our franchise system is a tight group of franchise, a very good seasoned long term group that is financially conservative and healthy. So we all, we feel really good about our system health overall. And the best part about it is I mentioned earlier, we had our franchise conference a few weeks ago, we unveiled a lot of the new work that we're working on. Not only with the new unit we shared with them the new marketing calendar for next year and just a bunch of, you know, other growth initiatives and the excitement we got from them, the feedback was terrific. They're you know, really starting to lean into a pipeline for the next couple of years in terms of growth again. So I feel like in terms of system health and franchise health, I'd give us a very strong grade there.

當然。您知道，我們很幸運，因為我們的系統容量很健康，而且我們的容量非常緊張，我想當您查看平均值附近的容量時，會發現這是一個非常緊湊的分佈。我們不知道，我知道有些系統有一些只有您知道的 100 萬或您知道的 1,213 個，我們的系統中沒有很多這樣的數據。如果我們這樣做，他們就會符合，你知道，非常有利的經濟狀況，這將使他們能夠在低端生活。如此相對健康的系統，我對此感到非常高興。我們的特許經營系統是一個緊密的特許經營集團，一個非常優秀、經驗豐富的長期集團，在財務上保守且健康。所以我們大家對系統的整體健康狀況感覺非常好。關於它最好的部分是我之前提到的，幾週前我們舉行了特許經營會議，我們公佈了我們正在開發的許多新作品。我們不僅與新部門分享了明年的新行銷日曆，還有一堆其他成長計劃以及我們從他們那裡得到的興奮，反饋也很棒。你知道，他們確實開始在未來幾年再次實現成長。所以我覺得就係統健康和特許經營健康而言，我會給我們一個非常高的評分。

Good to hear. Thank you.

很高興聽到。謝謝。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of today's question and answer session. I would like to turn the call back over to Liz Williams for closing remarks.

謝謝女士們、先生們，今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給莉茲威廉斯，讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you and just thank you everyone for taking the time today. It's always good to hear from you and we feel very optimistic about the days and months ahead. We think there's a lot of opportunities still in front of us and we look forward to talking with you again next quarter. Have a great evening and a happy Halloween to all of you. Thanks again. Bye.

謝謝大家，也謝謝大家今天抽出時間。很高興收到您的來信，我們對未來的日子和幾個月感到非常樂觀。我們認為我們面前仍然有很多機會，我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。祝大家有個愉快的夜晚和萬聖節快樂。再次感謝。再見。

And ladies and gentlemen this concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your line at this time. Thank you for your participation.

女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。