Movado Group Inc (MOV) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Movado Group, Inc. Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded and may not be reproduced in full or in part without permission from the company.

大家好，歡迎參加摩凡陀集團 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。謹此提醒，今天的通話內容正在錄音中，未經公司許可不得全部或部分複製。

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Rachel Schacter of ICR. Please go ahead.

這次，我想把會議交給 ICR 的 Rachel Schacter。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. With me on the call is Efraim Grinberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Sallie DeMarsilis, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝。大家，早安。與我一起參加電話會議的是董事長兼執行長 Efraim Grinberg；以及執行副總裁兼營運長兼財務長薩莉‧德馬西利斯 (Sallie DeMarsilis)。

Before we get started, I would like to remind you of the company's safe harbor language, which I'm sure you're all familiar with. The statements contained in this conference call, which are not historical facts, may be deemed to constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual future results may differ materially from those suggested in such statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties, all of which are described in the company's filings with the SEC, which includes today's press release. If any non-GAAP financial measure is used on this call, our presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to this non-GAAP financial measure will be provided as supplemental financial information in our press release.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您公司的安全港語言，我相信你們都熟悉。本次電話會議中包含的陳述並非歷史事實，可能被視為構成1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。由於以下原因，未來的實際結果可能與此類陳述中建議的結果存在重大差異：許多風險和不確定性，所有這些都在該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中進行了描述，其中包括今天的新聞稿。如果本次電話會議使用任何非 GAAP 財務指標，我們將在新聞稿中提供與該非 GAAP 財務指標最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標作為補充財務資訊。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Efraim Grinberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Movado Group.

現在我想將電話轉給摩凡陀集團董事長兼執行長 Efraim Grinberg。

Thank you, Rachel. Good morning, and welcome to Movado Group's third quarter conference call. This morning, I will review the highlights of the quarter, current operating environment and progress on our strategic initiatives, and then Sallie DeMarsilis, our COO and CFO, will review our financial results in greater detail as well as our outlook.

謝謝你，雷切爾。早安，歡迎參加摩凡陀集團第三季​​電話會議。今天早上，我將回顧本季度的亮點、當前的營運環境以及我們戰略舉措的進展，然後我們的首席營運官和首席財務官薩莉·德馬西利斯(Sallie DeMarsilis) 將更詳細地回顧我們的財務業績以及我們的前景。

In an ongoing challenging environment for discretionary products in our largest markets in Europe and the United States, our company continued to report strong profitability, maintain a durable balance sheet and generate strong cash flow while investing behind our brands, people and product innovation to position the company to accelerate growth in the future.

在歐洲和美國最大市場的非必需品產品持續充滿挑戰的環境中，我們公司繼續報告強勁的盈利能力，保持持久的資產負債表並產生強勁的現金流，同時投資於我們的品牌、人員和產品創新，以定位公司未來將加速發展。

For the third quarter, our sales declined 11.2% to $187.7 million or 13.5% on a constant dollar basis. Our operating profit was $20.7 million versus $38.3 million last year. Our adjusted earnings per share were $0.78 against $1.31 in the third quarter last year.

第三季度，我們的銷售額下降 11.2% 至 1.877 億美元，以固定美元匯率計算下降 13.5%。我們的營業利潤為 2,070 萬美元，去年為 3,830 萬美元。調整後每股收益為 0.78 美元，去年第三季為 1.31 美元。

While the environment was challenging, we achieved noteworthy accomplishments. We continue to maintain a strong balance sheet with $201 million in cash and no debt, and we returned $47.7 million in dividends and stock repurchases to our shareholders during the first 9 months of this fiscal year.

儘管環境充滿挑戰，但我們取得了令人矚目的成就。我們繼續保持強勁的資產負債表，擁有 2.01 億美元現金且無債務，並在本財年的前 9 個月內向股東返還了 4,770 萬美元的股息和股票回購。

As the year has progressed, we have seen the challenging retail environment advance into more categories and retailers. As we proceed through the important holiday quarter, we are taking a cautious view while supporting important marketing initiatives to ensure that our brands get stronger while we navigate the uncertain retail climate and steer clear of the excessive promotional environment. The continued strength of our balance sheet allows us to build a strong foundation for the next period of growth from Movado Group.

隨著時間的推移，我們看到充滿挑戰的零售環境蔓延到更多的品類和零售商。在我們度過重要的假期季度時，我們在支持重要的行銷舉措的同時採取謹慎的態度，以確保我們的品牌在應對不確定的零售環境並避免過度促銷環境的同時變得更強大。我們資產負債表的持續強勁使我們能夠為摩凡陀集團下一階段的成長奠定堅實的基礎。

While we remain cautious for the holiday season, we are confident in our ability to navigate the current global challenges and emerge stronger as we have throughout our history. We believe that now is the time to drive change, drive innovation in both products and marketing and support our most important markets while continuing to grow emerging markets like India and newer brands like Calvin Klein.

儘管我們對假期保持謹慎態度，但我們對應對當前全球挑戰並像我們歷史上那樣變得更加強大的能力充滿信心。我們相信，現在是推動變革、推動產品和行銷創新、支持我們最重要的市場、同時繼續發展印度等新興市場和 Calvin Klein 等新品牌的時候了。

During the review -- turning to the review of the quarter. For the third quarter, our U.S. business declined by 12.3% and our international business declined by 10.4% as the retail environment remained challenging and retailers around the world focused on bringing down inventories as they enter the fourth quarter. Despite this backdrop, we're excited about the key products that we are featuring in each of our brands and the marketing initiatives that we have in place to help drive holiday sales.

回顧期間－轉向季度回顧。第三季度，我們的美國業務下降了 12.3%，國際業務下降了 10.4%，因為零售環境仍然充滿挑戰，而且世界各地的零售商在進入第四季度時都專注於降低庫存。儘管存在這種背景，但我們對每個品牌中的關鍵產品以及為推動假日銷售而採取的行銷舉措感到興奮。

As we have talked about on previous calls, we are pleased with the rollout of our Movado brand Refresh, which began in September and will hit critical mass during the important holiday quarter, iconic brands need to continue to evolve while staying true to their heritage and DNA.

正如我們在之前的電話中談到的那樣，我們對摩凡陀品牌Refresh 的推出感到高興，該品牌於9 月開始推出，並將在重要的假日季度達到臨界點，標誌性品牌需要繼續發展，同時保持其傳統和去氧核糖核酸。

Having been founded in 1981 and with a rich history, Movado is one of those brands. In September, we rolled out new brand imaging inspired by Movado logo from the 1920s. In October, November, our new Movado brand advertising campaign began to appear in magazines, digital venues and out-of-home. We have already received very encouraging feedback from customers, and we expect to see the positive impact of both these new creative efforts as well as increased investments during the important holiday quarter.

摩凡陀 (Movado) 成立於 1981 年，擁有悠久的歷史，就是其中之一。 9 月，我們推出了受 1920 年代摩凡陀 (Movado) 標誌啟發的新品牌形象。十月、十一月，我們新的摩凡陀品牌廣告活動開始出現在雜誌、數位場所和戶外。我們已經收到了來自客戶的非常令人鼓舞的回饋，我們希望看到這些新的創意工作以及在重要的假期季度增加的投資所產生的正面影響。

During the holiday season, consumers will see our new TV commercials on cable networks and on YouTube TV, an increasingly popular venue for consumers. We are also introducing new product families, and we're already seeing strong demand for our new Movado Bold Evolution 2.0, which was introduced during the third quarter. In addition, our continued emphasis on automatic watches saw Movado sales in this category increased by over 65% in the third quarter.

在節日期間，消費者將在有線電視網絡和 YouTube TV（越來越受消費者歡迎的場所）上看到我們的新電視廣告。我們也推出了新的產品系列，我們已經看到對第三季推出的新款 Movado Bold Evolution 2.0 的強勁需求。此外，我們對自動手錶的持續重視使得摩凡陀第三季該類別的銷量成長了 65% 以上。

As we had discussed during our second quarter conference call, we anticipated the fashion watch and jewelry category would remain challenging in Europe. For the quarter, our licensed brands declined by 12.6% as middle-class consumers were pressured by increasing inflation. Our team has worked diligently to update our fashion watch and jewelry strategy to succeed in an evolving landscape, and we expect this effort to begin to gain traction next year. In each of our brands, we are focused on introducing longer-lasting iconic families, supported by comprehensive marketing campaigns and compelling storytelling.

正如我們在第二季電話會議中所討論的那樣，我們預計時尚手錶和珠寶類別在歐洲仍將面臨挑戰。本季度，由於中產階級消費者面臨通膨加劇的壓力，我們的授權品牌下降了 12.6%。我們的團隊一直在努力更新我們的時尚手錶和珠寶策略，以便在不斷變化的環境中取得成功，我們預計這項努力將於明年開始獲得關注。在我們的每個品牌中，我們都專注於引入更持久的標誌性家族，並輔以全面的營銷活動和引人入勝的故事講述。

This holiday season, we're seeing a strong response from our retailers to our new product introductions in each of our brands. In Tommy Hilfiger, we're introducing the new TH 85 automatic watch that we believe will be an icon for the Tommy Hilfiger brand. We will be featuring this family in our billboard campaign and in-store through a special feature display.

這個假期，我們看到零售商對我們每個品牌推出的新產品反應強烈。在 Tommy Hilfiger，我們推出了新款 TH 85 自動手錶，我們相信它將成為 Tommy Hilfiger 品牌的標誌。我們將在我們的廣告看板活動中和店內透過特別的特色展示來展示這個家庭。

In BOSS, we're introducing a new range of modern lux watches in the -- modern sport watches and the candor collection. Candor features an integrated bracelet and will be available both in automatic and quartz. Candor is right on trend, and we will continue to expand this collection and feature it in our seasonal marketing programs.

在 BOSS，我們推出了一系列新的現代奢華手錶——現代運動手錶和坦率系列。 Candor 配備一體成型錶鍊，有自動腕錶和石英腕錶可供選擇。 Candor 緊跟著潮流，我們將繼續擴大該系列，並將其納入我們的季節性行銷計劃中。

In addition, we have introduced Troper aggressively priced Chronograph collection in both bracelets and straps.

此外，我們還推出了價格激進的 Troper 計時碼錶系列，包括錶鍊和錶帶。

In the jewelry arena, we are featuring our Heavy Link Olympia collection and ads with British actress, Suki Waterhouse.

在珠寶領域，我們展示了 Heavy Link Olympia 系列以及英國女演員 Suki Waterhouse 的廣告。

In our Coach brand, we have seen a strong response from consumers to our Elliot collection, which was introduced earlier this year. We're also introducing a new small square shaped collection (inaudible) , which is right on the current trend of smaller shaped watches.

在我們的 Coach 品牌中，我們看到消費者對今年稍早推出的 Elliot 系列產生了強烈反響。我們還推出了新的小方形系列（聽不清楚），這正好符合當前較小形狀手錶的趨勢。

We're also expanding the iconic 12.12 family in Lacoste into automatics and introducing a new diver inspired collection for Lacoste Finn we'll be featuring both our new 12.12 automatic and Finn in our holiday marketing programs.

我們還將 Lacoste 標誌性的 12.12 系列擴展到自動腕錶，並為 Lacoste Finn 推出一個受潛水員啟發的全新系列，我們將在假日行銷計劃中同時展示全新 12.12 自動腕錶和 Finn。

A little more than 18 months into our launch of our Calvin Klein brand, we're building our distribution and fine-tuning the product assortment. We are seeing success in our iconic twisted bezel collection and our charming bangle watch collections in addition to our iconic jewelry families. For the holiday season, we are launching the new elated bangle family, which has received a strong response from retailers around the world. On the marketing front, we are featuring Lila Moss in our advertising campaign.

推出 Calvin Klein 品牌 18 個多月後，我們正在建立分銷管道並微調產品種類。除了標誌性的珠寶系列之外，我們還看到標誌性的扭曲錶圈系列和迷人的手鐲手錶系列取得了成功。在節日期間，我們推出了新的歡快手鐲系列，該系列得到了世界各地零售商的強烈反響。在行銷方面，我們的廣告活動中以莉拉·莫斯為主角。

For Olivia Burton, we're seeing a strong response from consumers to two new leading families, our Shaped Grosvenor watch and our new [Heax] Collection, a boyfriend size family. Both of these new collections are driving strong performance on our OB website. In addition, we are encouraged by the positive response we've gotten to our new honeycomb jewelry collection.

對於 Olivia Burton，我們看到消費者對兩個新的領先系列的強烈反響，即我們的 Shaped Grosvenor 手錶和我們的新 [Heax] 系列（男友尺寸系列）。這兩個新系列都在我們的 OB 網站上帶來了強勁的表現。此外，我們對新的蜂窩珠寶系列所獲得的積極反應感到鼓舞。

We saw a brick-and-mortar Movado company stores business declined by approximately 6% for both the third quarter and the first 9 months of fiscal 2024. We are already seeing improvements during the fourth quarter. As it relates to our outlook, while we have seen some trend improvement in recent weeks and are beginning to see the impact of our new Movado marketing initiatives, we felt that it was prudent to modify our outlook given the uncertain retail environment and the challenges that retailers are experiencing in the U.S. and even to a greater extent in Europe, our two largest markets.

我們發現摩凡陀公司的實體店業務在第三季和 2024 財年的前 9 個月均下降了約 6%。我們在第四季度已經看到了改善。由於這與我們的前景相關，雖然最近幾週我們看到了一些趨勢的改善，並且開始看到我們新的摩凡陀行銷舉措的影響，但考慮到不確定的零售環境和挑戰，我們認為修改我們的前景是謹慎的。零售商在美國，甚至在我們最大的兩個市場歐洲，都經歷著同樣的情況。

We remain excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and our teams are energized as they develop innovation on the product and marketing front for the balance of this year and most importantly, as we prepare for next year. As a company, we have a long history of overcoming significant changes, both in the watch and jewelry categories and in the retail marketplace and are confident that we will continue to do so. We have a healthy balance sheet with a strong cash position and no debt, which allows us to invest for the future while ensuring that we execute to support our brands and our businesses.

我們對未來的機會仍然感到興奮，我們的團隊在今年剩下的時間裡，在產品和行銷方面開發創新，最重要的是，在我們為明年做準備的過程中，他們充滿了活力。作為一家公司，我們在克服手錶和珠寶類別以及零售市場的重大變化方面有著悠久的歷史，並且有信心我們將繼續這樣做。我們擁有健康的資產負債表、充足的現金狀況和無債務，這使我們能夠為未來進行投資，同時確保我們執行支持我們的品牌和業務。

I would now like to turn the call over to Sallie.

我現在想把電話轉給莎莉。

Thank you, Efraim, and good morning, everyone. For today's call, I will review our financial results for the third quarter and year-to-date period of fiscal 2024, and then I will provide an update on our outlook for the year. My comments today will focus on adjusted results. Please refer to the description of the special items included in our results for the third quarter and year-to-date period of fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023 and our press release issued earlier today, which also includes a reconciliation table of GAAP and non-GAAP measures.

謝謝你，埃夫拉伊姆，大家早安。在今天的電話會議中，我將回顧 2024 財年第三季和年初至今的財務業績，然後提供我們今年展望的最新資訊。我今天的評論將集中在調整後的結果。請參閱我們對 2024 財年和 2023 財年第三季和年初至今業績中包含的特殊項目的描述以及我們今天早些時候發布的新聞稿，其中還包括 GAAP 和非 GAAP 調節表措施。

Overall, our performance for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 continued to be negatively impacted by a challenging retail environment. Despite being down year-over-year, we continued to make good progress on our strategic initiatives and maintained an extremely strong balance sheet.

總體而言，我們 2024 財年第三季的業績持續受到充滿挑戰的零售環境的負面影響。儘管同比下降，我們的策略舉措繼續取得良好進展，並維持了極其強勁的資產負債表。

Turning to a review of the quarter. Sales were $187.7 million as compared to $211.4 million last year, a decrease of 11.2%. In constant dollars, the decrease in net sales was 13.5%. Net sales decreased across owned brands, licensed brands and company stores. By geography, U.S. net sales decreased 12.3% as compared to the third quarter of last year. International net sales decreased 10.4%. On a constant currency basis, International net sales decreased 14.4% with continued softening in our largest international market, Europe.

轉向本季的回顧。銷售額為 1.877 億美元，較去年的 2.114 億美元下降 11.2%。以不變美元計算，淨銷售額下降 13.5%。自有品牌、授權品牌和公司商店的淨銷售額均有所下降。按地區劃分，美國淨銷售額較去年第三季下降 12.3%。國際淨銷售額下降 10.4%。以固定匯率計算，由於我們最大的國際市場歐洲持續疲軟，國際淨銷售額下降了 14.4%。

Gross profit as a percent of sales was 54.5% compared to 57.3% in the third quarter of last year. The year-over-year decrease in the gross margin rate was anticipated and primarily driven by unfavorable channel and product mix and the deleverage of certain fixed costs over lower sales, partially offset by lower shipping costs and the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates. We expect the tough comparison to last year to continue into the fourth quarter.

毛利佔銷售額的百分比為 54.5%，而去年第三季為 57.3%。毛利率年減是預期的，主要是由於不利的通路和產品組合以及銷售下降導致的某些固定成本的去槓桿化，部分被運輸成本下降和外幣匯率的有利影響所抵消。我們預計與去年的艱難比較將持續到第四季。

Operating expenses were $81.3 million as compared to $82.1 million for the same period of last year. The slight decrease was driven by a decrease in performance-based compensation, partially offset by an increase in payroll-related costs and marketing expense. As a result of the reduction in sales and gross margin, operating income decreased to $21.1 million as compared to $38.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2023. We recorded approximately $1.5 million of other nonoperating income in the third quarter of fiscal 2024, which was primarily comprised of interest earned on our global cash position as compared to $300,000 during the same period of last year.

營運費用為 8,130 萬美元，去年同期為 8,210 萬美元。略有下降的原因是基於績效的薪酬減少，但部分被工資相關成本和行銷費用的增加所抵消。由於銷售額和毛利率下降，營業收入下降至 2,110 萬美元，而 2023 財年第三季為 3,890 萬美元。我們在 2024 財年第三季記錄了約 150 萬美元的其他非營業收入，這是主要包括我們的全球現金部位所賺取的利息，而去年同期為30 萬美元。

We recorded income tax expense of $4.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 as compared to $8.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2023. Net income in the third quarter was $17.7 million or $0.78 per diluted share as compared to $29.8 million or $1.31 per diluted share in the year ago period.

我們在2024 財年第三季的所得稅費用為460 萬美元，而2023 財年第三季的所得稅費用為860 萬美元。第三季的淨利潤為1,770 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益0.78 美元，而去年同期淨利為2,980 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益1.31 美元。去年同期的稀釋份額。

Now turning to our year-to-date results. Sales for the 9-month period ended October 31, 2023 were $493 million as compared to $557.6 million last year. Total net sales decreased 11.6% as compared to the 9-month period of fiscal 2023. In constant dollars, the decrease in net sales was 12.6%. International net sales decreased 10.3% or 11.1% on a constant currency basis. U.S. net sales declined by 13.4%.

現在轉向我們今年迄今為止的結果。截至 2023 年 10 月 31 日的 9 個月期間銷售額為 4.93 億美元，而去年為 5.576 億美元。與 2023 財年的 9 個月相比，淨銷售額總額下降了 11.6%。以不變美元計算，淨銷售額下降了 12.6%。國際淨銷售額下降 10.3%，以固定匯率計算下降 11.1%。美國淨銷售額下降 13.4%。

Gross profit was $273.6 million or 55.5% of sales as compared to $324.6 million or 58.2% of sales last year. The decrease in the gross margin rate for the first 9 months was primarily due to unfavorable channel and product mix. The deleverage of higher fixed costs on lower sales and the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, partially offset by decreased shipping costs.

毛利為 2.736 億美元，佔銷售額的 55.5%，而去年為 3.246 億美元，佔銷售額的 58.2%。前9個月毛利率下降主要是由於通路和產品結構不利所致。較高的固定成本對銷售額下降以及外幣匯率的不利影響進行了去槓桿化，但運輸成本的下降部分抵消了這一影響。

For the 9 months ended October 31, 2023, operating income was $42.9 million compared to $96.4 million in fiscal 2023. We recorded approximately $3.8 million of other nonoperating income in the 9-month period of fiscal 2024, which is primarily comprised of interest earned on our global cash position as compared to $300,000 during the same period of last year. Net income was $35.9 million or $1.58 per diluted share as compared to $73.5 million or $3.19 per diluted share in the year ago period.

截至2023 年10 月31 日的9 個月，營業收入為4,290 萬美元，而2023 財年為9,640 萬美元。我們在2024 財年的9 個月期間記錄了約380 萬美元的其他非營業收入，其中主要包括我們的全球現金部位與去年同期的 30 萬美元相比。淨利潤為 3,590 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 1.58 美元，而去年同期淨利為 7,350 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 3.19 美元。

Now turning to our balance sheet. Cash at the end of the quarter was $201 million as compared to $186.7 million at the same period last year. During the first 9 months of fiscal 2024, we had positive cash flow from operations of $7.4 million. Accounts receivable was $135.5 million, flat to the same period of last year due to timing and mix of business. Inventory at the end of the quarter was down $43 million or 20% below the same period of last year due to the timing of receipts and alignment with sales.

現在轉向我們的資產負債表。本季末現金為 2.01 億美元，去年同期為 1.867 億美元。在 2024 財年的前 9 個月，我們的營運現金流為 740 萬美元。由於時間安排和業務組合的原因，應收帳款為 1.355 億美元，與去年同期持平。由於收貨時間以及與銷售的一致性，本季末的庫存減少了 4,300 萬美元，比去年同期減少了 20%。

In the first 9 months of fiscal 2024, we repurchased approximately 86,000 shares under our share repurchase program. $18.6 million remains available under that program. Capital expenditures for the 9-month period were $6.6 million and depreciation and amortization expense was $7.3 million, which included $1.7 million related to the amortization of acquired intangible assets of Olivia Burton and MVMT.

在 2024 財年的前 9 個月，我們根據股票回購計畫回購了約 86,000 股股票。該計劃下仍有 1,860 萬美元可供使用。這 9 個月期間的資本支出為 660 萬美元，折舊和攤提費用為 730 萬美元，其中包括與 Olivia Burton 和 MVMT 收購的無形資產攤銷相關的 170 萬美元。

Now I would like to discuss our outlook. As Efraim mentioned, we are operating in a challenging retail environment, especially in our key markets, the United States and Europe. Our net sales are currently expected to be in a range of $665 million to $675 million. We continue to expect gross profit of approximately 55% of sales for the year. As previously discussed, we are prudently investing in our brand building initiatives while we continue to tightly manage our discretionary spending, and therefore, expect operating income in a range of $51 million to $55 million. Based on our global footprint and our estimated jurisdictional taxable income, we continue to anticipate a 23% effective tax rate with an expected range of earnings of $1.85 to $2 per diluted share.

現在我想談談我們的展望。正如 Efraim 所提到的，我們正在充滿挑戰的零售環境中運營，特別是在我們的主要市場美國和歐洲。目前，我們的淨銷售額預計在 6.65 億美元至 6.75 億美元之間。我們仍然預計今年毛利約為銷售額的 55%。如前所述，我們正在謹慎投資於品牌建設計劃，同時繼續嚴格管理可自由支配支出，因此預計營業收入在 5,100 萬美元至 5,500 萬美元之間。根據我們的全球足跡和我們估計的司法管轄區應稅收入，我們繼續預期有效稅率為 23%，稀釋後每股盈餘的預期範圍為 1.85 美元至 2 美元。

I would now like to open the call up for questions.

我現在想打開電話提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Michael Legg with the Benchmark Company. Please proceed. Michael, please check and see if your phone is muted.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Benchmark 公司的 Michael Legg。請繼續。邁克爾，請檢查您的手機是否已靜音。

Sorry about that. A couple of questions. First, I just want to start with the general question. Digital watches seem to have been pretty strong during season so far. Can you comment on the impact, if you see any of that or if that's something that you're not competing with?

對於那個很抱歉。有幾個問題。首先，我想從一般性問題開始。到目前為止，數位手錶在本季似乎表現相當強勁。如果您看到其中任何影響或您沒有與之競爭，您能否評論一下影響？

We really don't compete in that category. We will have a few anti-digi analog digital watches and I don't know if you're talking specifically about digital watches or smart watches and -- but we're not really in that category.

我們確實不在該類別中競爭。我們將有一些反數位類比數位手錶，我不知道你是在具體談論數位手錶還是智慧手錶，但我們並不真正屬於這個類別。

But does it eat away at the share of the traditional watch market, is really the question.

但它是否會蠶食傳統手錶市場的份額，這確實是一個問題。

I don't think so. I mean I think within the fashion category, we do have some digital watches, but we're not seeing any particular level of strength in that category versus any others. We're actually seeing better strength in products that actually have a more mechanical component to them like automatic watches.

我不這麼認為。我的意思是，我認為在時尚類別中，我們確實有一些數位手錶，但我們沒有看到該類別與其他類別相比有任何特定的實力水平。實際上，我們看到自動手錶等具有更多機械部件的產品具有更好的強度。

Okay. You noted in the fourth quarter that current trends you've seen some trend improvement. Obviously, we have the outlook you gave us, so we know where we are. But how important is the month of December in the quarter? And was that kind of a wildcard that we don't know about?

好的。您在第四季指出，當前趨勢有所改善。顯然，我們有您給我們的展望，所以我們知道我們在哪裡。但 12 月在本季有多重要呢？這是我們不知道的通配符嗎？

Yes. I think that the month of December is very important for us, especially in our direct channels, which has an impact obviously on our overall performance for the quarter, but as well as our wholesale channel, and again, in our biggest markets in Europe and the U.S. and how retailers do for that do during that period, which then leads to can lead to stronger replenishment in the month of January.

是的。我認為12 月對我們來說非常重要，特別是在我們的直接管道中，這對我們本季的整體業績有明顯的影響，而且對我們的批發管道以及我們在歐洲和歐洲最大的市場也有明顯的影響。美國以及零售商在此期間的做法，可能會導致 1 月補貨更加強勁。

Okay. And then when you look at today's current stocking levels at the retail level, how do you think that compares to where we were a year ago from the retailer stocking level?

好的。然後，當您查看當前零售層面的庫存水準時，您認為與一年前零售商庫存水準相比如何？

Retailers are down. That is one of their -- they've really been focused as they don't have as much visibility into the future on bringing their inventories into control. Last year, I would say they went into the holiday season with much heavier inventories anticipating a stronger holiday season, and then we're disappointed.

零售商的業績下滑。這是他們的原因之一——他們一直非常專注，因為他們對未來控制庫存的能力沒有太多了解。去年，我想說，他們進入假期季節時庫存量大得多，預計假期季節會更強勁，然後我們感到失望。

Okay. And what are you seeing from a competitive promotional activity perspective? Are you seeing a lot of discounting out there? What are you seeing?

好的。從競賽促銷活動的角度來看，您有何看法？你看到那裡有很多折扣嗎？你看到什麼了？

Yes. I think there are some of our competitors within different companies that are stressed from a financial perspective, and you're starting to see them with a higher level of promotionality and that's why we're not changing our promotional cadence for this year versus what it's been and that certainly has an effect on the competitive channel. But I think eventually, it's the right thing to do, not get into promotional and into the highly promotional landscape, which, in the end, is a detriment to brand -- our brand-building efforts.

是的。我認為我們不同公司的一些競爭對手從財務角度來看都面臨著壓力，你開始看到他們的促銷水平更高，這就是為什麼我們今年沒有改變我們的促銷節奏。這肯定會對競爭管道產生影響。但我認為最終，這是正確的做法，而不是進入促銷和高度促銷的環境，最終會損害品牌——我們的品牌建設努力。

And then talk about the brand building efforts, can you compare the level of marketing spend you expect to spend in current to '24 or I should say, fiscal '25 versus where you spent last year? Just kind of -- even though we're doing -- I know we're doing the brand-building campaign, but is this -- are we putting more money behind it also?

然後談談品牌建立工作，您能否將目前到 24 財年或我應該說 25 財年的行銷支出水準與去年的支出水準進行比較？只是——儘管我們正在做——我知道我們正在做品牌建立活動，但這——我們是否也投入了更多資金？

Yes. I think we are definitely putting -- we will invest in the U.S., I mean, behind the Movado brand, an additional $3 million versus last year, and that's built into our numbers. And we think it's an important investment to make, and we're happy to be able to do it, and are starting to see some green shoots around those efforts.

是的。我認為我們肯定會在美國投資摩凡陀品牌，比去年增加 300 萬美元，這已計入我們的數字。我們認為這是一項重要的投資，我們很高興能夠做到這一點，並且開始看到這些努力的一些萌芽。

Great. And then just last question. Any areas that you're pulling back on from a spend perspective given the difficult environment?

偉大的。然後是最後一個問題。考慮到困難的環境，您從支出角度來看有哪些領域正在縮減？

Yes. I think as we look at different markets around the world, we certainly adjust our marketing investments. And one of the things that we are focused on as a company and is to make bigger bets, but fewer of them, so to make sure that we get to critical mass levels in certain areas. And I'm looking forward to -- we're already planning for next year. And I think that as we do that, we're really going to be focused on building our biggest markets behind our biggest brands.

是的。我認為，當我們審視世界各地的不同市場時，我們當然會調整我們的行銷投資。作為一家公司，我們關注的事情之一就是下更大的賭注，但賭注更少，以確保我們在某些​​領域達到臨界質量水平。我很期待——我們已經在為明年做計劃了。我認為，當我們這樣做時，我們確實將專注於在我們最大的品牌背後建立我們最大的市場。

Great. And then just on the stock buyback, clearly, you have $18.6 million left on that. I would expect you to continue to be doing that. Any other use of cash like a special dividend or anything like that?

偉大的。顯然，僅在股票回購方面，您還剩下 1860 萬美元。我希望你能繼續這樣做。現金還有其他用途嗎，例如特別股息或類似的東西？

I think our focus right now is maintaining our current dividend and offsetting dilution with our stock repurchases.

我認為我們現在的重點是維持當前的股息並透過股票回購來抵消稀釋。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Thank you very much, Mike.

非常感謝你，麥克。

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for closing comments.

我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將會議轉回管理層以徵求結束意見。

I'd like to thank all of you for participating today, and we look forward to regrouping with you on our next conference call after our year-end and wish everybody great holiday season. Thank you.

我要感謝大家今天的參與，我們期待在年底後的下一次電話會議上與你們重聚，並祝大家節日快樂。謝謝。

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，感謝您的參與