Vail Resorts Inc (MTN) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Vail Resorts Fiscal 2023 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions). I will now turn the call over to Kirsten Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts. You may begin.

下午好，歡迎參加韋爾度假村 2023 財年第四季財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）。我現在將把電話轉給韋爾度假村執行長克斯汀林奇 (Kirsten Lynch)。你可以開始了。

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our fiscal 2023 year-end earnings conference call. Joining me on the call this afternoon is Angela Korch, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝。大家下午好。歡迎參加我們的 2023 財政年度年終收益電話會議。今天下午與我一起參加電話會議的是我們的財務長 Angela Korch。

Before we begin, let me remind you that some information provided during this call may include forward-looking statements that are based on certain assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties as described in our SEC filings, and actual future results may vary materially.

在我們開始之前，請允許我提醒您，本次電話會議期間提供的一些資訊可能包括基於某些假設的前瞻性陳述，並受到我們SEC 文件中所述的許多風險和不確定性的影響，未來的實際結果可能會有所不同。

Forward-looking statements in our press release issued this afternoon, along with our remarks on this call, are made as of today, September 28, 2023, and we undertake no duty to update them as actual events unfold. Today's remarks also include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures are provided in the tables included in our press release, which, along with our annual report on Form 10-K, were filed this afternoon with the SEC and are also available on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.vailresorts.com.

我們今天下午發布的新聞稿中的前瞻性陳述以及我們對本次電話會議的評論均截至今天（2023 年 9 月 28 日），我們不承擔隨著實際事件的發展而更新這些陳述的義務。今天的言論還包括某些非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的新聞稿中包含的表格中提供了這些措施的調節表，該新聞稿與我們的10-K 表年度報告一起於今天下午向SEC 提交，也可在我們網站www. 的投資者關係部分查閱. vailresorts.com。

Let's turn to our fiscal 2023 and fourth quarter results. Given the significant weather-related challenges this past season, we are pleased with our overall results for this year with strong growth in 2022, 2023 North American ski season visitation and spending compared to the prior year, further supported by the stability created by our advanced commitment products. The return to normal staffing levels enabled our Mountain resorts to deliver a strong guest experience, resulting in a significant improvement in guest satisfaction scores, which exceeded our pre-COVID levels at our destination mountain resorts.

讓我們來看看 2023 財年和第四季的業績。考慮到上個季節與天氣相關的重大挑戰，我們對今年的整體業績感到滿意，與上一年相比，2022 年、2023 年北美滑雪季節的訪問量和支出強勁增長，這進一步得益於我們先進的滑雪季創造的穩定性。承諾產品。恢復正常的人員配置水準使我們的山區度假村能夠提供出色的賓客體驗，從而使賓客滿意度得分顯著提高，超過了目的地山區度假村在新冠疫情爆發前的水平。

Visitation growth was achieved through strong growth in pass sales, the addition of Andermatt-Sedrun in Switzerland, the full year impact of Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Hidden Valley Resort and Laurel Mountain Ski Area acquired December 31, 2021, and record visitation and resort net revenue in March and April. Ancillary businesses, including ski school, dining and retail/rental experienced strong growth compared to the prior period when those businesses were impacted by capacity constraints driven by staffing and in the case of dining by operational restrictions associated with COVID-19.

遊客量成長得益於通行證銷售的強勁成長、瑞士安德馬特-塞德龍的新增、七泉山度假村、隱谷度假村和勞雷爾山滑雪場於2021 年12 月31 日收購的全年影響，以及創紀錄的遊客量和度假村淨值三月和四月的收入。與上一時期相比，包括滑雪學校、餐飲和零售/租賃在內的輔助業務經歷了強勁增長，當時這些業務受到人員配置造成的容量限制以及餐飲受到與 COVID-19 相關的營運限制的影響。

Our dining business rebounded strongly from the prior year, though underperformed expectations for the year as guest dining behavior did not fully return to pre-COVID levels following 2 years of significant operational restrictions associated with COVID-19. Our overall results through the 2022, 2023 North American ski season highlight the stability of the advanced commitment from season pass products and a season with challenging conditions including travel disruptions during the peak holiday period, abnormal weather conditions, which significantly reduced operating days, terrain availability and activity offerings across our 26 Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast resorts and severe weather disruptions at our Tahoe resort. This past season, approximately 75% of skier visitation at our North American resorts, excluding complementary visits from pass holders who committed in advance of the season. which compares to approximately 72% for the 2021-2022 North American ski season.

我們的餐飲業務較上年強勁反彈，但今年的表現遜於預期，因為在與 COVID-19 相關的兩年重大營運限制之後，賓客用餐行為並未完全恢復到新冠疫情前的水平。我們在2022 年和2023 年北美滑雪季的整體業績突顯了季票產品提前承諾的穩定性，以及這個季節充滿挑戰的條件，包括高峰假期期間的旅行中斷、異常天氣條件（導致營運天數顯著減少）、地形可用性以及我們 26 個中西部、中大西洋和東北部度假村提供的活動以及太浩湖度假村的惡劣天氣幹擾。上個季節，大約 75% 的滑雪者訪問我們的北美度假村，不包括在季節之前承諾的通行證持有者的補充訪問。相較之下，2021-2022 年北美滑雪季的比例約為 72%。

Results in our fourth quarter declined from the prior year, primarily driven by the company's fiscal 2023 investments in employees as well as below average snowfall and snowmaking temperatures, that limited terrain availability during the Australian winter season. North American summer operations also underperformed expectations driven by a combination of lower demand for destination mountain travel which we believe was primarily driven by a broader shift in summer travel behavior associated with a wider variety of vacation offerings available following various travel restrictions in the prior 2 years and weather-related operational disruption.

我們第四季的業績較上一年有所下降，主要是由於該公司 2023 財年對員工的投資以及降雪和造雪溫度低於平均水平，限制了澳洲冬季的地形可用性。北美夏季業務的表現也低於預期，原因是對目的地山區旅行的需求下降，我們認為這主要是由於夏季旅行行為發生了更廣泛的轉變，與過去兩年各種旅行限制後提供的度假產品種類增加有關。以及與天氣相關的營運中斷。

Turning now to our 2023, 2024 season pass sales. Advanced commitment continues to be the foundation of our strategy, shifting guests from short-term refundable lift ticket purchases to a nonrefundable commitment before the season starts in exchange for a greater value. We are pleased with the results of our season pass sales to date, which demonstrates the compelling value proposition of our pass products, our network of mountain resorts and our commitment to continually investing in and delivering a strong guest experience.

現在談談我們 2023 年、2024 年季票的銷售情況。提前承諾仍然是我們策略的基礎，將客人從短期可退款纜車票購買轉變為季節開始前的不可退款承諾，以換取更大的價值。我們對迄今為止的季票銷售結果感到滿意，這證明了我們的季票產品、我們的山區度假村網絡以及我們對持續投資和提供強大的賓客體驗的承諾的令人信服的價值主張。

Through September 22, 2023, North American ski season pass sales increased approximately 7% in units and 11% in sales dollars as compared to the period in the prior year through September 23, 2022. Pass product sales are adjusted to eliminate the impact of foreign currency by applying an exchange rate of $0.74 between the Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar in both periods for Whistler Blackcomb pass sales.

截至2023 年9 月22 日，北美滑雪季通行證銷售額與上一年截至2022 年9 月23 日的期間相比，單位數量增長了約7%，銷售額增長了11%。通行證產品銷售進行了調整，以消除國外市場的影響惠斯勒黑梳山通票銷售的兩個時期均採用加元和美元之間 0.74 美元的匯率。

Relative to the 2022, 2023 season, the company achieved strong loyalty among its pass holders with particularly strong pass sales growth from renewing pass holders while also growing pass sales among new pass holders. The company successfully grew units across destination, international and local geographies with the strongest unit growth in destination markets, including the Northeast, and across all major pass product segments with the strongest growth -- product growth in regional pass products and the Epic Day pass product as lower frequency guests and local Northeast guests continue to be attracted by the strong value proposition of these products. The business also achieved positive growth in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic which, after challenging conditions last season highlights the stability of our advanced commitment program, loyalty of our guests and significant opportunity to drive past penetration in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast.

與2022 年和2023 年賽季相比，該公司在通行證持有者中獲得了很高的忠誠度，續訂通行證持有者的通行證銷售增長尤其強勁，同時新通行證持有者的通行證銷售也有所增長。該公司成功地在目的地、國際和當地地區實現了單位增長，其中包括東北地區在內的目的地市場的單位增長最為強勁，並且在所有主要通行證產品細分市場中增長最為強勁——區域通行證產品和Epic Day 通行證產品的產品成長由於頻率較低的客人和東北當地客人繼續被這些產品的強大價值主張所吸引。該業務還在中西部和大西洋中部地區實現了積極增長，在經歷了上個季度的挑戰之後，這突顯了我們高級承諾計劃的穩定性、客人的忠誠度以及推動中西部、大西洋中部和東北部滲透率的重大機會。

Cash sales dollars continue to benefit from the 8% price increase relative to the 2022, 2023 season, particularly offset -- partially offset by the mix impact from the growth of Epic Day Pass products. As we enter the final period for season pass sales, we expect our December 2023 growth rate may moderate relative to our September 2023 growth rates given the impact of moving purchasers earlier in the selling cycle.

現金銷售收入繼續受惠於相對 2022 年和 2023 年季節 8% 的價格上漲，尤其是被 Epic Day Pass 產品成長的混合影響所部分抵銷。隨著我們進入季票銷售的最後階段，考慮到銷售週期早期轉移購買者的影響，我們預計 2023 年 12 月的成長率可能會相對於 2023 年 9 月的成長率有所放緩。

We continue to prioritize advanced commitment as the best way for guests to access our mountain resorts. Similar to prior season, lift ticket sales will be limited during the 2023, 2024 season in order to prioritize guests committing in advance with season passes and to preserve the guest experience at each resort. We expect these lift ticket limitations will further support our resorts and communities on peak days and we do not anticipate that the limitations will have a significant impact on our financial results, consistent with prior seasons. As a reminder, no reservations are required at any of the resorts on the Epic Pass for pass holders other than at our partner resort Telluride.

我們繼續優先考慮預先承諾，作為客人進入我們山區度假村的最佳方式。與上一季類似，2023 年和 2024 年季期間的纜車票銷售將受到限制，以便優先考慮提前預訂季票的賓客，並保持每個度假村的賓客體驗。我們預計這些纜車票限制將在高峰日進一步支持我們的度假村和社區，我們預計這些限制不會對我們的財務業績產生重大影響，與之前的季節一致。謹此提醒，除我們的合作夥伴特柳賴德度假村外，通行證持有者無需預訂 Epic Pass 上的任何度假村。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Angela to further discuss our financial results and fiscal 2024 outlook.

現在我想將電話轉給 Angela，進一步討論我們的財務表現和 2024 財年展望。

Thank you. As Kirsten mentioned, given the significant weather-related challenges this past season, we are pleased with our results for the fiscal year 2023. Net income attributable to Vail Resorts was $268.1 million or $6.74 per diluted share for fiscal year 2023 compared to net income attributable to Vail Resorts of $347.9 million or $8.55 per diluted share for fiscal 2022.

謝謝。正如克爾斯滕所提到的，考慮到上個季度與天氣相關的重大挑戰，我們對2023 財年的業績感到滿意。2023 財年，韋爾度假村歸屬淨利潤為2.681 億美元，攤薄後每股收益為6.74 美元。2022 財年向 Vail Resorts 支付 3.479 億美元，即稀釋後每股 8.55 美元。

The decrease in net income attributable to Vail Resorts compared to the prior year was primarily due to the large gain on disposal of fixed assets in fiscal 2022 and an increase in fiscal 2023 expense associated with a change in the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration liability related to our Park City resort lease. Resort reported EBITDA was $834.8 million in fiscal year 2023 compared to resort reported EBITDA of $836.9 million in the prior year.

與前一年相比，韋爾度假村應佔淨利減少，主要是由於 2022 財年固定資產處置收益大幅增加，以及與或有對價負債估計公允價值變化相關的 2023 財年費用增加與我們的帕克城度假村租賃相關。度假村報告 2023 財年的 EBITDA 為 8.348 億美元，而上一年度假村報告的 EBITDA 為 8.369 億美元。

Now turning to our outlook for fiscal 2024. As we head into our fiscal year, we are encouraged by the strength in advanced commitment product sales and remain committed to delivering a strong best experience while maintaining cost discipline. We expect meaningful growth for fiscal 2024 relative to fiscal 2023, with strong resort EBITDA margin. Our guidance for net income attributable to Vail Resorts is estimated to be between $316 million and $394 million for fiscal 2024. We estimate resort reported EBITDA for fiscal 2024 will be between $912 million and $968 million. We estimate resort EBITDA margin for fiscal 2024 to be approximately 31% using the midpoint of the guidance range.

現在轉向我們對 2024 財年的展望。在進入本財年之際，我們對高級承諾產品銷售的強勁勢頭感到鼓舞，並繼續致力於提供強大的最佳體驗，同時保持成本控制。我們預計 2024 財年相對 2023 財年將出現有意義的成長，度假村 EBITDA 利潤率將強勁。我們對 2024 財年歸屬於韋爾度假村的淨利潤的指導估計為 3.16 億美元至 3.94 億美元之間。我們估計 2024 財年度假村報告的 EBITDA 將在 9.12 億美元至 9.68 億美元之間。我們使用指引範圍的中位數估計 2024 財年度假村 EBITDA 利潤率約為 31%。

Fiscal 2024 guidance includes an expectation that the first quarter of fiscal 2024 will generate net loss attributable to Vail Resorts between $191 million and $168 million, and resort reported EBITDA between negative $154 million and negative $104 million. At the midpoint of the guidance range, first quarter fiscal 2024 resort reported EBITDA assumes a negative impact of approximately $46 million compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023, excluding exchange rate impacts, primarily driven by cost inflation, which includes $7 million impact of our fiscal 2023 employee investment, which went into effect in October of 2022, lower results from our Australian resorts from the continuation of the weather-related challenges that impacted terrain in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 and lower results from North American summer operations from the continuation of the lower demand for destination mountain travel experienced in the prior fiscal quarter.

2024 財年指引包括預計 2024 財年第一季韋爾度假村將產生 1.91 億至 1.68 億美元的淨虧損，度假村報告的 EBITDA 為負 1.54 億美元至負 1.04 億美元。在指導範圍的中點，2024 財年第一季度假村報告的EBITDA 假設與2023 財年第一季相比將產生約4,600 萬美元的負面影響，不包括主要由成本通膨驅動的匯率影響，其中包括我們的700 萬美元的影響於2022 年10 月生效的2023 財年員工投資，由於影響2023 財年第四季度地形的天氣相關挑戰的持續，我們澳大利亞度假村的業績較低，以及北美夏季運營的業績較低。上一財季目的地山區旅行的需求下降。

Relative to fiscal 2023, fiscal 2024 full year guidance also reflects the negative resort reported EBITDA impact of approximately $3 million as a result of the company's exit of its retail and rental locations in Telluride and Aspen in fiscal 2023.

相對於2023 財年，2024 財年全年指引也反映了由於該公司在2023 財年退出特柳賴德和阿斯彭的零售和租賃地點，對度假村報告的EBITDA 造成約300 萬美元的負面影響。

The guidance assumes a continuation of the current economic environment, and normal weather conditions for 2023, 2024 North American and European ski season and the 2024 Australian ski season. The guidance assumes an exchange rate of $0.74 between the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar related to the operations of Whistler Blackcomb in Canada, an exchange rate of $0.64 between the Australian dollar and U.S. dollar related to the operations of Perisher, False Creek and Hotham in Australia and an exchange rate of $1.10 between the Swiss Franc and the U.S. dollar related to the operations of Andermatt-Sedrun in Switzerland.

該指南假設 2023 年、2024 年北美和歐洲滑雪季以及 2024 年澳洲滑雪季將持續當前的經濟環境和正常天氣條件。該指引假設與加拿大Whistler Blackcomb業務相關的加幣與美元之間的匯率為0.74美元，與澳洲Perisher、False Creek和Hotham業務相關的澳元與美元之間的匯率為0.64美元與Andermatt-Sedrun 在瑞士的業務相關的瑞士法郎與美元之間的匯率為1.10 美元。

The current fiscal 2024 exchange rate assumptions result in an expected $5 million negative impact relative to fiscal 2023 results and an expected $10 million negative impact relative to our original fiscal 2023 guidance provided in September of 2022.

目前的 2024 財年匯率假設將導致相對於 2023 財年業績產生 500 萬美元的負面影響，相對於我們 2022 年 9 月提供的原始 2023 財年指引預計會產生 1,000 萬美元的負面影響。

While we are cognizant of the broader macro economic outlook remains uncertain, which we will continue to monitor heading into the upcoming season, we believe that we will continue to benefit from the stability and resilience of the business model particularly with the strength, scale and affordability of our advanced commitment products and the diversification of our resort network. Our balance sheet remains strong, and the business continues to generate robust cash flow. Our total cash and revolver availability as of July 31, 2023, was approximately $1.2 billion, with $563 million of cash on hand, and $646 million of combined revolver availability across our credit agreements. As of July 31, 2023, our net debt was 2.7x trailing 12 months total reported EBITDA. The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $2.06 per share of Vail Resorts common stock that will be payable on October 26, 2023, to shareholders of record as of October 10, 2023.

雖然我們認識到更廣泛的宏觀經濟前景仍然不確定，我們將在即將到來的季節繼續監控這一前景，但我們相信我們將繼續受益於業務模式的穩定性和彈性，特別是在實力、規模和承受能力方面我們先進的承諾產品和度假村網路的多元化。我們的資產負債表依然強勁，業務持續產生強勁的現金流。截至 2023 年 7 月 31 日，我們的現金和左輪手槍可用總量約為 12 億美元，其中手頭現金為 5.63 億美元，信貸協議中的左輪手槍可用總量為 6.46 億美元。截至 2023 年 7 月 31 日，我們的淨債務是過去 12 個月報告的 EBITDA 總額的 2.7 倍。該公司宣布向韋爾度假村普通股每股 2.06 美元的季度現金股息，將於 2023 年 10 月 26 日向截至 2023 年 10 月 10 日登記在冊的股東支付。

During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately 400,000 shares of common stock at an average price of $247 for a total of approximately $100 million, including the shares repurchased during the fourth quarter, the company repurchased a total of approximately 2.2 million shares of common stock during the fiscal 2023 at an average price of approximately $229 for a total of $500 million, leveraging the capital we've raised opportunistically over the past few years at a low cost of debt to capitalize on an opportunity to repurchase shares at an attractive valuation.

本季度，公司以平均價格247美元回購了約40萬股普通股，總金額約1億美元，其中包括第四季回購的股票，第四季公司共回購了約220萬股普通股。2023 財年，平均價格約為 229 美元，總額為 5 億美元，利用我們在過去幾年中以較低債務成本投機籌集的資金，利用以有吸引力的估值回購股票的機會。

We remain committed to returning capital to shareholders and intend to maintain an opportunistic approach to future share repurchases. We will continue to be disciplined stewards of our capital and remain committed to prioritizing investments in our guest and employee experience, high-return capital projects, strategic acquisition opportunities and returning capital to our shareholders through our quarterly dividend and share repurchase program.

我們仍然致力於向股東返還資本，並打算在未來的股票回購中保持機會主義態度。我們將繼續嚴格管理我們的資本，並繼續致力於優先投資於我們的賓客和員工體驗、高回報資本項目、策略收購機會，並透過季度股息和股票回購計畫向股東返還資本。

Now I'll turn the call back to Kirsten.

現在我將把電話轉回克爾斯滕。

Thank you, Angela. We remain dedicated to delivering an exceptional guest experience, and we'll continue to prioritize reinvesting in the experience at our resorts, including consistently increasing capacity through lift, terrain and food and beverage expansion projects. As previously announced, the company expects to invest approximately $180 million to $185 million in calendar year 2023, excluding onetime investments related to integration activities, deferred capital associated with previously delayed projects, reimbursable investments associated with insurance recoveries and growth capital investments at Andermatt-Sedrun.

謝謝你，安吉拉。我們仍然致力於提供卓越的賓客體驗，並將繼續優先考慮對度假村的體驗進行再投資，包括透過電梯、地形以及餐飲擴建項目不斷增加容量。正如先前宣布的，該公司預計在2023 年投資約1.8 億至1.85 億美元，不包括與整合活動相關的一次性投資、與先前推遲的項目相關的遞延資本、與保險追償相關的可償還投資以及Andermatt-Sedrun 的成長資本投資。

At Keystone, we plan to complete the transformational lift-served terrain expansion project in Bergman Bowl, increasing lift-served terrain by 550 acres with the addition of a new 6-person high-speed lift. At Breckenridge, we plan to upgrade the Peak 8 base area to enhance the beginner and children's experience and increased uphill capacity from this popular base area. The investment plan includes a new 4% high-speed 5-chair to replace the existing 2-person fixed-grip lift as well as significant improvements including new teaching terrain and a transport carpet from the base to make the beginner experience more accessible.

在 Keystone，我們計劃完成 Bergman Bowl 的轉型電梯服務地形擴建項目，將電梯服務地形增加 550 英畝，並增加一個新的 6 人高速電梯。在布雷肯里奇，我們計劃升級 Peak 8 基地區域，以增強初學者和兒童的體驗，並增加這個受歡迎的基地區域的上坡能力。該投資計劃包括一台新的 4% 高速 5 椅，以取代現有的 2 人固定抓地力升降機，以及重大改進，包括新的教學地形和基地的運輸地毯，使初學者體驗更容易。

At Whistler Blackcomb, we plan to replace the 4-person high-speed Fitzsimmons lift with a new 8-person high-speed lift.

在惠斯勒黑梳山，我們計劃用新的 8 人高速電梯取代 4 人高速 Fitzsimmons 電梯。

At Stevens Pass, we are planning to replace the 2-person fixed script care chairlift with a new 4-person lift, which is designed to improve out of base capacity and guest experience.

在史蒂文斯帕斯，我們計劃用新的 4 人升降機取代 2 人固定腳本護理升降椅，旨在改善基礎容量和賓客體驗。

At Attitash, we plan to replace the 3-person fixed-grip Summit Triple lift with a new 4-person high-speed lift to increase uphill capacity and reduce guest time on the longest lift at the resort. We currently plan to complete these lift projects in time for the 2023, 2024 North American winter season.

在 Attitash，我們計劃將 3 人固定抓地力 Summit Triple 纜車更換為新的 4 人高速纜車，以增加上坡能力並減少客人在度假村最長纜車上的時間。我們目前計劃在 2023 年、2024 年北美冬季及時完成這些電梯工程。

The company is planning to pilot My Epic Gear at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone for a limited number of pass holders during the 2023, 2024 North American ski season which will introduce a new membership program that provides the best benefit of gear ownership with more choice, lower cost and no hassle. My Epic gear provides its members with the ability to choose the gear they want for the full season or for the day from a selection of the most popular and latest ski and snowboard model and have it delivered to them when and where they want it, guaranteed with free slope side pick up and drop off every day.

該公司計劃在2023 年、2024 年北美滑雪季期間，在韋爾、Beaver Creek、布雷肯里奇和Keystone 為有限數量的通行證持有者試點My Epic Gear，該計劃將推出新的會員計劃，為擁有裝備的人提供最佳福利更多選擇，更低成本，沒有任何麻煩。 My Epic 裝備為其會員提供了從最受歡迎和最新的滑雪和單板滑雪板型號中選擇他們整個季節或一天想要的裝備的能力，並保證在他們想要的時間和地點將其交付給他們每天提供免費斜坡接送服務。

In addition to offering the best skis and snowboards, My Epic Gear will also offer name brand, high-quality ski and snowboard boots with customized insoles and boot fit scanning technology. The entire My Epic Gear membership from gear selection to boot fit to personalized recommendations to delivery will be at the members' fingertips through the new My Epic app. My Epic Gear will officially launch for the 2024, 2025 winter season at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Whistler Blackcomb, Park City Mountain, Crested Butte, Heavenly, Northstar, Stowe, Okemo and Mount Snow and further expansions are expected in future years.

除了提供最好的滑雪板和滑雪板外，My Epic Gear 還將提供名牌高品質滑雪鞋和滑雪板靴，配有定製鞋墊和靴子貼合掃描技術。會員可以透過新的 My Epic 應用程式輕鬆掌握整個 My Epic Gear 會員資格，從裝備選擇到靴子適配，再到個人化推薦再到交付。 My Epic Gear 將於2024 年和2025 年冬季在韋爾、比弗溪、布雷肯里奇、基斯通、惠斯勒黑梳山、帕克城山、克雷斯特德比特、天堂、北極星、斯托、奧克莫和雪山正式推出，預計未來將進一步擴展年數。

The company is also planning to introduce new technology for the 2023-2024 ski season at its U.S. resorts that will allow guests to store their pass product or lift ticket directly on their phone and scan at lifts hands-free eliminating need for carrying plastic cards, visiting the ticket window or waiting to receive a pass or lift ticket in the mail. Once loaded on their phones, guests can store their phone in their pocket and get scanned hands-free in the lift line using Bluetooth Low-Energy technology, which is designed for low energy usage to minimize the impact on a phone's battery life. In addition to the significant enhancement of the guest experience, this technology will also ultimately reduce waste of printing plastic cards for pass products and lift ticket and RFID chips as part of the company's Commitment to Zero.

該公司還計劃在其美國度假村推出 2023-2024 年滑雪季的新技術，讓客人可以直接在手機上儲存通票產品或纜車票，並在纜車上免提掃描，無需攜帶塑膠卡。前往售票窗口或等待收到郵寄的通票或纜車票。一旦裝載到手機上，客人就可以將手機存放在口袋中，並使用藍牙低能耗技術在電梯線路中免提掃描，該技術專為低能耗而設計，以最大限度地減少對手機電池壽命的影響。除了顯著提升賓客體驗外，該技術還將最終減少用於通行證產品、纜車票和 RFID 晶片的塑膠卡印刷浪費，作為該公司「零承諾」的一部分。

For the first year of launch to ensure a smooth transition, the company will provide plastic cards for passes and lift tickets to all guests. And in future years, plastic cards will be available to any guests who cannot or do not want to use their phone to store their pass product or lift ticket.

在推出的第一年，為了確保平穩過渡，該公司將為所有客人提供通行證和纜車票的塑膠卡。未來幾年，任何不能或不想使用手機存放通票產品或纜車票的客人都可以使用塑膠卡。

We are also excited to announce the launch of our new My Epic app, which will include mobile pass and mobile lift tickets, interactive trail maps, real-time and predictive lift line wait time, personalized staff, My Epic Gear and other relevant information to support the guest experience. The company is also investing in network-wide scalable technology that will enhance our analytics, e-commerce and guest engagement tools to improve our ability to target our guest outreach, personalized messages and improve conversion.

我們也很高興地宣布推出新的 My Epic 應用程序，其中包括移動通行證和移動纜車票、交互式路線地圖、實時和預測纜車排隊等待時間、個性化工作人員、My Epic Gear 以及其他相關信息支持賓客體驗。該公司還投資於網路範圍內的可擴展技術，該技術將增強我們的分析、電子商務和賓客參與工具，從而提高我們定位賓客外展、個人化訊息和提高轉換率的能力。

Including $10 million of deferred capital associated with previously delayed projects, $4 million of reimbursable investments associated with insurance recoveries, $1 million of onetime investments related to integration activities and $9 million of growth capital investments at Andermatt-Sedrun, our total capital plan for calendar year 2023 is expected to be approximately $204 million to $209 million.

包括與先前推遲的項目相關的1000 萬美元的遞延資本、與保險賠償相關的400 萬美元的可償還投資、與整合活動相關的100 萬美元的一次性投資以及安德馬特-塞德龍的900 萬美元的成長資本投資，這是我們日曆年的總資本計畫2023 年預計約為 2.04 億至 2.09 億美元。

In addition to this year's significant investments across lift, expanded terrain and enhanced guest-facing technology, we are pleased to announce some select projects for our calendar year 2024 capital plan with the full capital investment announcement planned for December 2023.

除了今年在電梯、擴大的地形和增強的面向客人的技術方面的重大投資外，我們很高興地宣布 2024 年資本計劃的一些精選項目，併計劃於 2023 年 12 月公佈完整的資本投資公告。

At Whistler Blackcomb, we plan to replace the 4-person high-speed Jersey Cream list with a new 6-person high-speed lift. This lift is expected to provide a meaningful increase to uphill capacity and better distribute guests at a central part of the resort.

在惠斯勒黑梳山，我們計劃將 4 人高速 Jersey Cream 名單更換為新的 6 人高速電梯。這座電梯預計將顯著增加上坡能力，並更好地將客人分配到度假村的中心部分。

At Hunter Mountain, we plan to replace the 4-person fixed-grip Broadway Lift with a new 6 person high-speed lift and plan to relocate the existing Broadway lift to replace the 2-person fixed-grip e-lift providing a meaningful increase in uphill capacity and improved access to terrain that is key to the progressive learning experience for our guests.

在 Hunter Mountain，我們計劃用新的 6 人高速電梯取代 4 人固定抓地 Broadway 電梯，併計劃重新安置現有的 Broadway 電梯以取代 2 人固定抓地電動電梯，從而顯著增加上坡能力和改善地形的通行能力是我們客人漸進式學習體驗的關鍵。

At Park City Mountain, we expect to engage in a planning process to support the replacement of the Sunrise lift with a new 10-person gondola in partnership with the Canyons Village Management Association in calendar year 2025, which will provide improved access and enhanced guest experience for existing and future developments within Canyons Village. These projects are subject to approval.

在帕克城山，我們預計將與峽谷村管理協會合作，在 2025 年參與規劃流程，支持用新的 10 人纜車更換 Sunrise 纜車，這將改善通道並增強賓客體驗峽谷村現有和未來的開發。這些項目尚待批准。

In closing, we greatly appreciate the loyalty of our guests this past season and the continued loyalty of our pass holders that have already committed to next season. With our Australia winter season coming to a close, I would like to thank our frontline employees for their passion and dedication to delivering an experience of a lifetime to our guests, and we all look forward to a great upcoming winter season in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

最後，我們非常感謝上一季客人的忠誠度以及已經承諾下一季的通行證持有者的持續忠誠度。隨著我們的澳洲冬季即將結束，我要感謝我們的第一線員工的熱情和奉獻精神，為我們的客人提供終生難忘的體驗，我們都期待著美國、加拿大即將到來的美好冬季和歐洲。

At this time, Angela and I will be happy to answer your questions. Operator, we are now ready for questions.

此時，我和安琪拉將很樂意回答您的問題。接線員，我們現在準備好提問了。

(Operator Instructions) We'll take our first question from Shaun Kelley with Bank of America.

（操作員說明）我們將接受美國銀行 Shaun Kelley 提出的第一個問題。

Maybe just to lead off, we've gotten a lot of requests to get a little bit more color on sort of the breakdown of what's happening in the fiscal first quarter here. So the question here is just could you give us a little bit more color on the $46 million, specifically how much of that contribution is sort of from Australia and how much is a little bit more recurring on the -- or possibly recurring on the U.S. resort disruption there as it relates to just changing visitation patterns?

也許只是為了開始，我們收到了很多請求，要求對第一財季發生的情況進行更多了解。所以這裡的問題是，你能否給我們更多關於 4600 萬美元的信息，具體來說，其中有多少捐款來自澳大利亞，有多少是經常性的——或者可能是來自美國的。那裡的度假村中斷，因為它與改變訪問模式有關？

Yes. Thank you, Sean. Thanks for the question. Related to fiscal year '24 in Q1, we do have some unique items that are impacting us. In Q1, we have inflation and the impact of -- including the impact of our employee investment, the Australia winter conditions impact and then, to a lesser extent, our North American summer impact as well. When we look at that in total, that is a big impact for us on the fiscal year. When you take out that Q1 impact and look at the rest of the year for winter, I think we feel quite good about the fiscal year plan and the margin that we expect to deliver as a result.

是的。謝謝你，肖恩。謝謝你的提問。與 24 財年第一季相關，我們確實有一些獨特的項目正在影響我們。在第一季度，我們受到通貨膨脹和影響——包括我們的員工投資的影響、澳洲冬季條件的影響，然後在較小程度上還有我們北美夏季的影響。當我們整體來看時，這對我們本財年產生了很大的影響。當你除去第一季的影響並看看今年冬季的剩餘時間時，我認為我們對財政年度計劃以及我們預計由此實現的利潤率感覺非常好。

Okay. And then my follow-up would just be maybe a little bit more color on that remainder of the year. And Kirsten, we talked about this before, obviously, you've experienced some weather volatility over the last number of years. And I think you typically guide to normal season conditions. Is there -- would you consider this a similar policy to how you approach this before? Is there any more conservatism baked in here just given the weather volatility we've experienced and especially coming off this past season where things were particularly rocky?

好的。然後我的後續行動可能只是在今年剩下的時間裡增加一點色彩。克斯汀，我們之前討論過這個問題，顯然，您在過去幾年中經歷了一些天氣波動。我認為你通常會指導正常的季節條件。您是否認為這與您之前的做法類似？考慮到我們經歷過的天氣波動，特別是在過去的這個季節，事情特別不穩定，這裡是否有更多的保守主義？

Yes, you're absolutely right, Sean, and we had a lot of disruptions this past season. We are planning for normal. Again, obviously, weather disruptions are very hard to predict. I think the way we approach our guidance range is it assumes normal condition across our resorts, which leads upside for strong weather conditions and downside for challenging weather conditions.

是的，你說得對，肖恩，上個賽季我們遇到了很多幹擾。我們正在計劃正常。顯然，天氣幹擾是很難預測的。我認為我們接近指導範圍的方式是假設我們度假村的正常狀況，這會在惡劣的天氣條件下帶來上行，在惡劣的天氣條件下帶來下行。

And there's normal conditions and normal disruptions like wind hold, but an example of something abnormal would be like what happened to us in the East. It is really -- so yes, we are guiding our guidance range to normal conditions and our business model, as you know, is very focused on trying to mitigate those impacts with our geographic diversity, advanced commitment, getting as many guests as we can committed in advance of the season, investing in snowmaking and our Commitment to Zero and our sustainability actions as well.

存在正常條件和正常乾擾，例如風阻，但異常情況的一個例子就像我們在東部發生的事情一樣。確實如此，是的，我們正在將我們的指導範圍引導至正常條件，正如您所知，我們的商業模式非常注重透過我們的地理多樣性、先進的承諾、吸引盡可能多的客人來減輕這些影響我們在賽季前就做出了承諾，投資於造雪、我們的零排放承諾以及我們的永續發展行動。

Our next question will come from Laurent Vasilescu with BNP Paribas.

我們的下一個問題將來自法國巴黎銀行的 Laurent Vasilescu。

I wanted to ask about ancillary services. They've been impacted over the last few years. I just -- I know you guys don't guide to it, but just kind of how are you thinking about that business recovery. Is there a benefit maybe from inflation from food inflation, beverage inflation? Any kind of inflation on that as we think about this year?

我想問一下輔助服務。他們在過去幾年中受到了影響。我只是——我知道你們不會對此進行指導，但只是想知道你們如何看待業務復甦。食品通膨、飲料通膨可能對通膨有好處嗎？我們今年會考慮是否會通貨膨脹？

Yes, we are expecting, Laurent, strong growth across our ancillary businesses with particular focus on F&B. As I highlighted in the remarks, F&B grew significantly last year but did not return all the way to pre-COVID. We know that we delivered a strong guest experience and that we are recovering from significant restrictions that were put on our dining business in the years following COVID, including a requirement for reservations a requirement for vaccines, reduced menu options. So as we think about that business, we expect to continue on a strong growth trajectory for that dining business, and we're very focused on building awareness of all of the unique food variety offerings we have, building awareness among our more than 2 million pass holders that we had last year about the 20% discount that's a part of the loyalty benefits that they have as pass holders, which certainly helps mitigate some of those inflationary prices. And we have the new My Epic app that we'll be launching where we can start to talk to our guests one to one about our ancillary businesses through the app, which we also hope will give us the opportunity to have some personalized communication to help build awareness and bring people back into restaurants and continue that growth trajectory that we've been on.

是的，勞倫特，我們預計我們的輔助業務將強勁成長，特別是餐飲業務。正如我在演講中強調的那樣，餐飲業去年大幅成長，但並沒有一路回到新冠疫情之前的水平。我們知道，我們提供了良好的賓客體驗，並且我們正在從新冠肺炎疫情發生後幾年對我們餐飲業務施加的重大限制中恢復過來，這些限制包括預訂要求、疫苗要求、菜單選項減少。因此，當我們考慮該業務時，我們預計該餐飲業務將繼續保持強勁的增長軌跡，並且我們非常注重提高人們對我們擁有的所有獨特食品品種產品的認識，在我們超過 200 萬人中建立認識我們去年為通行證持有者提供了約20% 的折扣，這是他們作為通行證持有者所享有的忠誠度福利的一部分，這無疑有助於緩解部分通貨膨脹。我們將推出新的 My Epic 應用程序，我們可以開始透過該應用程式與客人一對一地談論我們的輔助業務，我們也希望這能讓我們有機會進行一些個性化的溝通，以幫助我們提高意識，讓人們重返餐廳，並繼續我們一直以來的成長軌跡。

Okay. Very, very helpful. And then -- sorry, I'm going to follow up on Shaun's question because it is a question that we're asking about that $46 million in the comments, it is primarily driven by cost inflation. It sounds like it's primarily over half. Is that the right way to think about it? Because it sounds like you want to quantify kind of in the ballpark over half. And is that something that we should think about as we model the quarters out.

好的。非常非常有幫助。然後 - 抱歉，我將跟進肖恩的問題，因為這是我們在評論中詢問的有關 4600 萬美元的問題，它主要是由成本通膨驅動的。聽起來基本上已經超過一半了。這是正確的思考方式嗎？因為聽起來你想量化大約一半以上的情況。這是我們在對季度進行建模時應該考慮的事情嗎？

Laurent, it's Angela Korch. Just -- yes, on the Q1 piece of this, right, you can think about it, I think, as one, we always have investment in our Q1, right? We're always seeing the kind of cost pieces for the whole season without as much of the revenue that comes through in the rest of the season. So if you look at the expense structure and what we pointed to, you should assume, right, the inflation on that cost structure. We called out specifically the wage investment from prior year because that went into effect in October. So there is a piece of that, which is the $7 million that is from that wage investment that's continuing into this year.

洛朗，我是安琪拉‧科奇。只是——是的，在第一季度，你可以想一想，我認為，作為一個整體，我們總是對第一季進行投資，對嗎？我們總是看到整個賽季的成本支出卻沒有本賽季剩餘時間的收入那麼多。因此，如果您查看費用結構和我們指出的內容，您應該假設該成本結構的通貨膨脹。我們特別強調了去年的工資投資，因為該投資於 10 月生效。其中一部分是薪資投資的 700 萬美元，該投資將持續到今年。

And then on top of that, right, there's the demand side, which for Australia, we're seeing kind of that continued impact from challenging conditions that we saw in our fourth quarter. And if you recall last year, we had actually a very strong year in Australia and very good conditions. So we kind of went from one extreme into a very warm weather period for Australia, which resulted in less terrain open and earlier closures of terrain than we would normally see. And then in North America, to a lesser extent, right, we are continuing to see some of that shift in demand patterns that we saw in the fourth quarter.

除此之外，還有需求面，對澳洲來說，我們看到了第四季充滿挑戰的條件所帶來的持續影響。如果你還記得去年，我們在澳洲實際上度過了非常強勁的一年，而且條件非常好。因此，我們從一個極端進入了澳洲非常溫暖的天氣時期，這導致了比我們通常看到的地形更少的開放和更早的地形封閉。然後在北美，在較小程度上，我們繼續看到我們在第四季度看到的需求模式的一些轉變。

Our next question will come from Jeff Stantial with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題將由 Jeff Stantial 和 Stifel 提出。

Maybe starting off here. I wanted to drill in a bit more on some of your commentary and the headwinds that you discussed for the North America summer operations. It does seem to fit some of the narrative we've heard from the airlines and some other leisure businesses. But I'm curious, how do you think about this headwind and what you're seeing over the summer as it relates to more of the upcoming ski season? And I guess what I mean by that is there anything that you can see in your bookings data or otherwise that sort of gives conviction that this is -- or this unwinding of kind of consumer wallet share gains you saw is mostly just an off-season impact as opposed to also potentially bleeding into the ski season. Wondering if that makes sense.

也許從這裡開始。我想進一步深入了解您的一些評論以及您討論的北美夏季營運的不利因素。這似乎確實符合我們從航空公司和其他一些休閒企業聽到的一些說法。但我很好奇，您如何看待這種逆風以及您在夏天看到的情況，因為它與即將到來的滑雪季節有關？我想我的意思是，你可以在你的預訂數據中看到任何東西，或者以其他方式讓人確信這是——或者你看到的消費者錢包份額增長的這種放鬆主要只是一個淡季影響而不是也可能滲透到滑雪季節。想知道這是否有道理。

Yes. Thank you, Jeff. We are seeing in our North America summer demand, some of that shift in summer travel behavior that you've heard about in the broader marketplace. And certainly, when you look at broad market data for Western Mountain Resorts and the lodging occupancy does reflect over the summer declines versus 2019. As we think about -- so we do feel that our business was impacted and a part of those shifting consumer behaviors. As we look forward to winter though, I think summer and winter businesses are very different, attract very different guests. And I think the key indicator for demand to look at for this upcoming winter season is our season pass business. And our results are very strong on our season pass business with strong unit growth and strong dollar sales growth, strong renewals being the key driver of that, also incremental growth with new pass holders and seeing growth in every geography, destination, international, all of our core local geographies as well and across all product segments. So when I look at indicators for winter, I would take our past sales as the strongest indicator for winter versus summer which has very different guests and behavior associated with it.

是的。謝謝你，傑夫。我們在北美夏季需求中看到，夏季旅行行為發生了一些轉變，正如您在更廣泛的市場中聽說過的那樣。當然，當你查看西部山區度假村的廣泛市場數據時，住宿入住率確實反映出夏季與2019 年相比有所下降。正如我們所想，我們確實感到我們的業務受到了影響，並且是消費者行為轉變的一部份。不過，當我們期待冬天時，我認為夏季和冬季的生意非常不同，吸引的客人也截然不同。我認為即將到來的冬季需求的關鍵指標是我們的季票業務。我們的季票業務業績非常強勁，單位數量增長強勁，美元銷售額增長強勁，續訂強勁是其關鍵驅動力，新通票持有者的增量增長，以及每個地區、目的地、國際、所有地區的成長我們的核心本地地區以及所有產品領域。因此，當我查看冬季指標時，我會將過去的銷售額作為冬季與夏季的最強指標，夏季的客人和行為都非常不同。

Great. That's really helpful. And then for my follow-up, maybe kind of adding on to some of the questions earlier, but focusing more -- so the cost inflation piece, that first bucket within the $46 million. I know you quantified $7 million from annualizing the employee investment that you made last year. I guess -- it sounds like there's more to that bucket than just the $7 million. So if that is the case, can you just provide some color on, I guess, what that is? And I guess, kind of why you're, I guess, quantifying it or spelling it out. Is it something above and beyond just more -- kind of normal typical wage inflation or cost inflation? Or just -- could you just frame that out or provide some color on kind of what besides that $7 million sits within the cost inflation that you cited?

偉大的。這真的很有幫助。然後，對於我的後續行動，也許會補充之前提出的一些問題，但重點更多——因此成本通膨部分，即 4,600 萬美元內的第一個部分。我知道您去年對員工的投資按年計算了 700 萬美元。我想——聽起來這個桶子裡的東西不僅僅是 700 萬美元。那如果是這樣的話，你能提供一些顏色嗎？我想，那是什麼？我想，這就是為什麼你要量化它或拼寫它。它是否超出了正常的典型工資通膨或成本通膨？或者只是——你能把這個問題列出來，或者提供一些關於除了你提到的成本膨脹中的 700 萬美元之外的其他內容嗎？

Jeff, yes, on the cost inflation, there in Q1, right, we always have inflation before the revenues, as I was mentioning. And so I think what you should think about is you can see from inflation data that's out there, what a normal inflation would be on our expense structure. And then for us, right, there are some investments that we always typically make in Q1 ahead of the season. And so I would point you toward the full year margin guidance of 31% where you can see how those impacts are really playing out in terms of some of the demand pieces and things we're quantifying for Q1 specifically, but then how that is expected to kind of level out throughout the season.

傑夫，是的，關於成本通膨，在第一季度，對，正如我所提到的，我們總是在收入之前通膨。因此，我認為您應該考慮的是，您可以從現有的​​通膨數據中看到，正常的通膨對我們的費用結構會有什麼影響。然後，對我們來說，我們通常總是在賽季前的第一季進行一些投資。因此，我會向您指出 31% 的全年利潤率指導，您可以看到這些影響如何在一些需求部分和我們專門為第一季度量化的事情方面真正發揮作用，但接下來是如何預期的整個賽季都趨於平穩。

Okay. So in other words, it's more of just a timing mismatch as opposed to kind of anything structurally out of the norm? Is that fair to say?

好的。換句話說，這更多的是時間上的不匹配，而不是結構上的不正常？這麼說公平嗎？

Correct. And that's something that we normally see right in our Q1 ahead of winter season in North America.

正確的。這是我們通常在北美冬季之前的第一季看到的情況。

Our next question will come from Matthew Boss with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題將來自摩根大通的馬修·博斯。

This is John on for Matt. So your resort EBITDA margin forecast for next year, it's more or less in line with the prepandemic levels. Can you break down the inflation better on the cost side for that or any investments to build out the ancillary revenue streams this year? Like said in another way, is there any structural hurdle to margin expansion multiyear?

這是約翰替馬特。因此，您明年的度假村 EBITDA 利潤率預測或多或少與大流行前的水平一致。您能否在成本方面更好地分解通貨膨脹，或者是否有任何投資來增加今年的輔助收入流？就像換句話說的那樣，多年來利潤率擴張是否存在任何結構性障礙？

So on our margin expectations for FY '24, we -- in FY '22, we had some anomaly margin expansion because of the labor shortage this year coming into FY '24, we're expecting a strong margin at 31% at the midpoint. And I think when we look at it, I think we look at winter margin looks very strong and positive, we are seeing feeling pressure because of the Q1 assumptions that we just walked through. We see opportunities going forward in terms of resource efficiencies. And one of the key assumptions that we have in our strategies and our priorities in FY '24 is workforce management and rolling out workforce management across all 37 of our resorts. Beyond that, also continuing to invest in guest self service, which creates efficiencies as well as automation. So I feel very good about the 31% margin that we're going to achieve and believe that there is opportunity going forward given the scale of the business, the investments that we've made in integrated network that give us the opportunity to unlock some additional margin expansion in the future.

因此，就我們對24 財年的利潤率預期而言，我們在22 財年，由於今年進入24 財年的勞動力短缺，我們的利潤率出現了一些異常擴張，我們預計中點利潤率將達到31 % 的強勁水平。我認為，當我們審視它時，我認為我們的冬季利潤看起來非常強勁和積極，由於我們剛剛經歷的第一季假設，我們感到壓力。我們看到了資源效率方面的未來機會。我們在 24 財年的策略和優先事項中的關鍵假設之一是勞動力管理，並在我們所有 37 個度假村中推行勞動力管理。除此之外，也持續投資賓客自助服務，進而提高效率和自動化。因此，我對我們將實現的 31% 的利潤率感到非常滿意，並相信考慮到業務規模以及我們在整合網路方面的投資，我們有機會解鎖一些未來的機會。未來額外的利潤擴張。

Next, we have a question from Patrick Scholes with Truist.

接下來，派崔克·斯科爾斯向 Truist 提出了一個問題。

I'm sort of beating this 10-Q guide to death here, but is it fair to say that $40 million to $46 million, 1/3 of that was just weakness in Australia around $15 million. Just trying to get some granularity on that one.

我在這裡有點擊敗這個 10-Q 指南，但可以公平地說，4000 萬至 4600 萬澳元，其中 1/3 只是澳大利亞約 1500 萬澳元的疲軟。只是想了解這一點。

Patrick, yes, we did not put forward the exact drivers of all 3 pieces, I think. The point we're giving out, though, the Q1 guidance is just to also showcase right, there are some just normal headwinds we have in Q1. The midpoint in total, the one piece we haven't talked about is we're -- the midpoint is about $50 million off of prior year, right? There is an FX component, which we pulled out of the $46 million. And then in addition, right, cost inflation and the investment in wages. I would say Australia and North American demand, you can look to kind of some of the trends we were seeing in Q4 and continuation of some of those pieces.

帕特里克，是的，我認為我們沒有提出所有 3 個部分的確切驅動程式。不過，我們給出的一點是，第一季的指導只是為了展示正確的一面，我們在第一季遇到了一些正常的阻力。總體中點，我們沒有談論的一點是——中點比上一年減少了約 5000 萬美元，對吧？我們從 4600 萬美元中取出了外匯部分。另外，對吧，成本通膨和薪資投資。我想說的是澳洲和北美的需求，你可以看看我們在第四季度看到的一些趨勢以及其中一些趨勢的延續。

The other thing I would point you to, just for the full year margin, and I think this is just the important point of, right, like in the guidance in the 31%, right, when the revenue flows through on the fixed cost business, we are absorbing these cost pressures despite the Q1 headwinds.

我想向您指出的另一件事是全年利潤率，我認為這只是重要的一點，對吧，就像 31% 的指導中那樣，當收入流經固定成本業務時儘管第一季度面臨不利因素，但我們正在吸收這些成本壓力。

Okay. One or two other questions here. Last year between when you did the first pass and unit update, you lost about 3 to 4 points of growth. And then on the most recent earnings call, you had sort of a high level. Noted you expected a deceleration between the June which with the numbers you gave in June and now, we haven't seen that. Is this to be taken out, hey, things are actually better than expected? Or maybe there's something in the -- just the sales program this year versus last year that will sort of delay that deceleration. How should we think about that?

好的。這裡還有一兩個問題。去年，在您進行第一次通過和單元更新之間，您損失了大約 3 到 4 個增長點。然後在最近的財報電話會議上，你的水平很高。注意到您預計 6 月之間會出現減速，根據您 6 月提供的數字，我們還沒有看到這一點。這是要拿出來嗎，嘿嘿，事情其實比預想的還要好？或者，也許今年的銷售計畫與去年相比會有些東西會延遲這種減速。我們該如何思考這個問題？

I think that -- I feel very good about where we are on past sales right now, and we are guiding that they may moderate for the full year because it is pretty typical for our growth rates to moderate as we go through the sales cycle. And that guidance that we provided wasn't specific to the September time period, but as it relates to the full year and what our expectations are for the full year, we are, as you know, constantly working to pull our guest decision-making earlier and earlier in the sales cycle, which can impact the sales that occur and the growth rates that occur later in the selling cycle.

我認為——我對我們現在過去的銷售狀況感覺非常好，我們指導他們可能會在全年內放緩，因為隨著我們經歷銷售週期，我們的成長率放緩是非常典型的。我們提供的指導並非特定於 9 月份的時間段，但由於它涉及全年以及我們對全年的期望，如您所知，我們正在不斷努力推動我們的客人決策在銷售週期中越來越早，這可能會影響銷售週期後期發生的銷售和成長率。

Also, as we move through the selling period later in the selling period tends to be focused on more new pass holders making decisions versus our loyal renewing pass holders. And so there can be more variability in the forecasting around our new product sales, which we generally see those growth rates decline later -- lower -- later we get in that selling cycle.

此外，當我們進入銷售期時，銷售期後期往往會關注更多新通行證持有者所做的決定，而不是我們忠實的續訂通行證持有者。因此，圍繞我們的新產品銷售的預測可能會有更多的變化，我們通常會看到這些成長率在進入銷售週期後會下降——更低。

But nothing structurally that is concerning about our past sales. I actually feel like we're in a great spot given we see incredibly strong loyalty and renewals, and that's really driving the growth where we are right now, growth across all the geographies and growth across all of the product segments.

但從結構上看，我們過去的銷售情況並沒有什麼值得擔心的。事實上，我覺得我們處於一個很好的位置，因為我們看到了令人難以置信的強大忠誠度和更新，這確實推動了我們現在的成長，所有地區的成長以及所有產品領域的成長。

Okay. And then just one last, a very high-level question here. How much conservatism do you think is baked into your earnings forecast? I know you call out your sort of normal weather conditions. But I think you have such a geographic diverse spectrum of resorts here that it doesn't seem there's ever anything normal. And I'll relate that to, say, the cruise side. I cover the cruise lines. And they always take in a pretty hefty degree of -- in normal times, degree of conservatism. As they say, there's always something in some market that goes well. I mean they actually expect that to happen. How much conservative room, if any, is in there? Because it just seems like every year, the -- if it's not the Northeast, it's Utah, and if it's not Utah, it's Canada. How much conservative for something weather to happen because it will happen. It always happens. So your thoughts on this?

好的。最後還有一個非常進階的問題。您認為您的獲利預測中有多少保守成分？我知道你說出了你的正常天氣狀況。但我認為這裡的度假村地理分佈廣泛，似乎沒有什麼正常的。我會將其與遊輪方面聯繫起來。我報道遊輪線。在正常情況下，他們總是採取相當程度的保守主義。正如他們所說，某些市場中總是會有一些進展順利的東西。我的意思是他們實際上希望這種情況發生。那裡有多少保守的房間（如果有的話）？因為似乎每年，如果不是東北部，就是猶他州，如果不是猶他州，那就是加拿大。對於某件事發生的保守程度是多少，因為它會發生。它總是會發生。那麼你對此有何看法？

Yes. We strive to put out a guidance and a forecast that is very balanced with a reasonable opportunity for upside and downside on it and really striking a balance. On the normal weather impact, I agree with you, there's always something that happens. And we factor that in. The pieces that are not assumed because we obviously can't predict them is when it is something so abnormal such as what happened this past year where we were down to grasp in January at some of our ski areas. And that can -- that we can't predict and that we are not assuming in the forecast as we have no way to do that. But we do try to strike a real balance on the fact that there will always be some variability.

是的。我們努力提供非常平衡的指導和預測，並提供合理的上行和下行機會，並真正實現平衡。關於正常天氣的影響，我同意你的觀點，總是會發生一些事情。我們將這一點考慮在內。由於我們顯然無法預測，所以沒有假設的部分是當事情非常異常時，例如去年一月份我們在一些滑雪場發生的事情。這是我們無法預測的，而且我們在預測中也沒有做出假設，因為我們沒有辦法做到這一點。但我們確實試圖在總是會存在一些變化這一事實上取得真正的平衡。

Our next question will come from [R. Matthews] with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題將來自[R.馬修斯]和傑弗里斯。

I know you touched on this a little, but could we get some further color on how you're thinking about labor outlook. I guess is there more pressure on cost per employee in the recent past?

我知道您稍微談到了這一點，但我們能否進一步了解您如何看待勞工前景。我想最近每位員工的成本壓力是否更大？

I'm feeling very good about our labor situation and where we are in terms of wages. Last year, we made a big investment in our employees wages, benefits, affordable housing, leadership development. And where we are right now is we are ramping up staffing. It's early, but we're ramping up staffing for this season and feeling good about where we are in terms of retaining employees and attracting new highly qualified top talent frontline employees. And I think from a wage perspective, I feel good about our wages and our starting wages being competitive in order to attract the strong frontline talent that we need for this upcoming season. So that -- what we've assumed in the budget, I feel good about and that we can deliver against it as it relates to staffing and where we are on our wages.

我對我們的勞工狀況和薪資水平感覺非常好。去年，我們在員工薪資、福利、經濟適用房、領導力發展方面進行了大量投資。我們現在的情況是我們正在增加人員配備。現在還為時過早，但我們正在增加本季度的人員配置，並且對我們在留住員工和吸引新的高素質頂尖人才一線員工方面的進展感到滿意。我認為從工資的角度來看，我對我們的工資和起薪具有競爭力感到滿意，以吸引我們在即將到來的賽季所需的強大一線人才。因此，我對我們在預算中的假設感到滿意，並且我們可以兌現它，因為它與人員配置和我們的工資水平有關。

Our next question will come from Chris Woronka with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題將來自德意志銀行的克里斯·沃龍卡。

So I guess, without asking for any cheat codes to the model, how are you guys thinking about the number of the increase in ski -- presumed increase in skier visits for this upcoming season. I'm asking it relative to kind of -- we kind of know where you are in season pass sales. We know what the price increase was. We add all that up, and we think we get to a lift ticket revenue. I guess as we think about ancillary, just trying to get a sense as to -- you obviously had 12% growth last fiscal year. What are you anticipating? Is it something in the range of low single, mid-single, high singles or any way to get a sense?

所以我想，在不要求模型提供任何作弊代碼的情況下，你們如何看待滑雪增加的數量——預計下個季節滑雪者訪問量的增加。我問的是相對於——我們知道你在季票銷售方面的情況。我們知道價格上漲了多少。我們把所有這些加起來，我們認為我們得到了纜車票收入。我想，當我們考慮輔助業務時，只是想了解一下——上一財年顯然有 12% 的成長。你在期待什麼？是在低單曲、中單曲、高單曲範圍內還是有任何感覺？

Chris, we don't really give out specific guidance on the skier visit forecast for the guidance. And so what I will just tell you, though, as you should think about, right, the past sales growth which is our best indicator right now of our expectations for this year, you've seen over time how that right has translated into kind of visitation growth. Last year, I would just call out, I think just to point out what you're quoting, right, does have some changes year-over-year with Seven Springs acquisition and the acquisition of Andermatt-Sedrun. So you'd want to normalize for those types of items. But generally, the ski industry has been relatively low growth in terms of the visitation. And I think where you've seen us really deliver for our guidance, as you'll see the revenue translation from our growth in ancillary and our growth and capture with our advanced commitment strategies.

克里斯，我們並沒有真正給出關於滑雪者訪問預測的具體指導。所以我要告訴你的是，正如你應該考慮的那樣，過去的銷售增長是我們今年預期的最佳指標，隨著時間的推移，你已經看到了這種權利如何轉化為實物的訪問量增長。去年，我只想指出，我想只是指出你所引用的內容，對，隨著七泉收購和安德馬特-塞德倫的收購，確實發生了一些變化。因此，您需要對這些類型的項目進行標準化。但整體而言，滑雪產業的遊客量成長相對較低。我認為您已經看到我們真正兌現了我們的指導，因為您將看到我們在輔助業務的成長以及我們透過先進的承諾策略實現的成長和捕獲所帶來的收入轉換。

Okay. That's helpful. I thought I had to try. And then just kind of revisiting the -- this is really more of a longer-term question, right, because you've covered your margin expectations for this upcoming year. But on the employee housing front, there's a lot of moving parts, right, in some of your local markets in terms of housing, has anything kind of changed since last year in terms of how you're thinking about potentially trying to help folks get more -- or find more available housing in future years?

好的。這很有幫助。我想我必須嘗試一下。然後重新審視一下——這實際上是一個更長期的問題，對吧，因為你已經滿足了來年的利潤率預期。但在員工住房方面，有很多變化的部分，對吧，在你們當地的一些市場的住房方面，自去年以來在你們如何考慮可能試圖幫助人們獲得住房方面發生了一些變化。更多——或者在未來幾年找到更多可用的住房？

I would not say that there is a material change in our focus and that this is a priority for us. Affordable housing is a crisis in so many geographies, as you know, and in our mountain communities continues to be challenging and a crisis in many places. It is not an easy problem to solve. We are committed to making investments. We made some great progress last year. We've also run into obstacles, and we continue to stay diligent and focused on investing in this.

我不會說我們的重點發生了重大變化，這是我們的優先事項。如您所知，經濟適用房在許多地區都是一場危機，而在我們的山區社區，在許多地方仍然面臨挑戰和危機。這不是一個容易解決的問題。我們致力於進行投資。去年我們取得了一些重大進展。我們也遇到了障礙，但我們將繼續保持勤奮並專注於對此進行投資。

I would say, when you look at our staffing this past year, we did get fully staffed despite a tight labor market and despite the challenges of affordable housing. It does not mean that we're going to let up our intense focus on continuing to make progress, but it's also important to note that it is possible for us to get fully stacked as we work through these challenges in partnership with our communities in partnership with other developers and partners. But I'd say we're in the same spot and suspect we will be for a while because it's a significant challenge.

我想說，當你看看我們去年的人員配置時，儘管勞動力市場緊張，儘管經濟適用房面臨挑戰，但我們確實配備了充足的人員。這並不意味著我們將放棄對繼續取得進展的高度關注，但同樣重要的是要注意，當我們與社區合作應對這些挑戰時，我們有可能全力以赴與其他開發商和合作夥伴。但我想說，我們處於同一位置，並懷疑我們會處於同一位置一段時間，因為這是一個重大挑戰。

Our next question will come from Brandt Montour with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的布蘭特·蒙圖爾。

Nice pass results by the way. My first question is housekeeping and then I have another question. The first one is the $7 million employee investment you called out. I know we kind of talked about. I just want to make sure I understand that, that's not onetime, right, since that is sort of the tail end of the $175 million for last year that was also not onetime, right? Is that the right way to think about it?

順便說一句，通過的結果不錯。我的第一個問題是家務管理，然後我還有另一個問題。第一個是您呼籲的 700 萬美元員工投資。我知道我們聊過。我只是想確保我明白，這不是一次性的，對吧，因為這是去年 1.75 億美元的尾部，這也不是一次性的，對吧？這是正確的思考方式嗎？

That's correct, Brandt. That is -- the employee investment impact in this year is the impact of the timing of when the employee investment was implemented last year. And so we've got 2 months of impact incrementally hitting this year, and that investment is in our cost structure going forward.

沒錯，布蘭特。也就是說，今年員工投資的影響是去年員工投資實施時間的影響。因此，今年我們將在 2 個月內逐步產生影響，並且投資將用於我們未來的成本結構。

Okay. Perfect. And I think -- I'm not going to ask you what Australia was because I think more people have asked that. I think the reason why everyone wants to know that it's because they want to take that number and add it back on your guidance and say, this is the earnings power of the company in a stabilized basis. And so I'm going to ask it a slightly different way and say, if I look at your last year's original guidance, and I rebase it for FX and I make the other adjustments that you called out. And then I look at the sort of midpoint of this year's guidance with what I think is a fair adjustment for Australia. I get to sort of an 85% what I would think is a same-store EBITDA growth number. And so I guess the question is that what you think the growth profile of the business is? Or do you think it's better? Or what do you say to that?

好的。完美的。我想——我不會問你澳洲是什麼，因為我認為更多人問過這個問題。我認為每個人都想知道的原因是因為他們想把這個數字加回你的指導中，然後說，這是公司穩定的獲利能力。因此，我將以稍微不同的方式提出問題，並說，如果我查看您去年的原始指導，我會針對外匯重新調整它，並進行您提出的其他調整。然後我看看今年指導的中點，我認為對澳洲來說這是一個公平的調整。我認為同店 EBITDA 成長率約為 85%。所以我想問題是你認為該業務的成長概況是什麼？還是你認為這樣比較好？或者你對此有何看法？

Brandt, so yes, I would just comment on a couple of things there. So yes, the adjustments that we called out last year on FX with the sale of the retail rental outlets, completely agree with how you're thinking about that as it relates to adjustments from last year. And then the go-forward growth of the business, really, there are the 3 things that we're pointing to for Q1 that are -- one being cost inflation, which I think you can estimate how much on our cost structure in Q1, that piece is. And then the rest of that is the demand piece.

布蘭特，是的，我只想評論幾件事。所以，是的，我們去年透過出售零售租賃店而對外匯進行的調整完全符合您的想法，因為它與去年的調整有關。然後是業務的未來成長，實際上，我們在第一季指出了三件事：一是成本通膨，我認為你可以估計我們第一季的成本結構有多少，那件是。然後剩下的就是需求部分。

And it is I think, a factor to normalize and to think about because last year, right in Australia at this time, as part of our guidance, we knew right, we have seen the strength going through the Q4 and then into the Q1 when we issued the guidance last year, and we saw a very strong -- there was some pent-up demand in Australia that we commented on and talked about right after the COVID restrictions and we had a really favorable weather conditions in Australia in their prior winter season. And this year, we're seeing the opposite and some of that correcting. And that is a piece that I think is very different year-over-year and impacting our growth. And that's why we're calling out this impact.

我認為，這是一個需要正常化和思考的原因，因為去年，就在澳大利亞的這個時候，作為我們指導的一部分，我們知道是對的，我們已經看到了第四季度的實力，然後進入第一季我們去年發布了指導意見，我們看到澳大利亞有一些被壓抑的需求，我們在新冠疫情限制之後就對此進行了評論和討論，而且澳大利亞在前一個冬天的天氣條件非常有利季節。今年，我們看到了相反的情況，並且出現了一些糾正。我認為這一點與去年同期有很大不同，並且影響著我們的成長。這就是我們呼籲這種影響的原因。

And then to a lesser extent, I think the North American demand patterns, right, we are seeing this shifting and behavior of -- that we've heard from a lot of other competitors, right? And a lot of leisure companies shifting to urban international and cruise type of alternative vacations over the summer. Again, that is very different travel behavior than what we're -- we see in our winter customer and our winter base. And so that is just an impact that we've had -- that hit us in Q4, which you see in the results. And also, we're just pointing out that has continued into Q1 and we expect that to normalize over time. We don't think that, that's a permanent shift in behavior and that's another piece that we expect to return back to normal.

然後在較小程度上，我認為北美的需求模式，對吧，我們正在看到這種轉變和行為——我們從許多其他競爭對手那裡聽到過，對吧？許多休閒公司在夏季轉向城市國際和遊輪類型的另類度假。同樣，這與我們在冬季客戶和冬季基地中看到的旅行行為非常不同。因此，這只是我們在第四季度產生的影響，您可以在結果中看到這一點。而且，我們只是指出這種情況一直持續到第一季度，我們預計這種情況會隨著時間的推移而正常化。我們不認為這是行為上的永久性轉變，這是我們期望恢復正常的另一部分。

Our last question will come from Megan Alexander with Morgan Stanley.

我們的最後一個問題將由摩根士丹利的梅根·亞歷山大提出。

Most of mine have been answered at this point. But you talked about strong pass sales growth from renewing holders. Could you maybe just give us some color on what you saw with year 1 renewals versus multiyear pass holders?

至此，我的大部分問題都已得到解答。但您談到了續訂持有者的通行證銷售強勁成長。您能否給我們一些關於第一年續訂與多年通行證持有者的看法？

Yes. We are seeing -- I mean the primary driver of our growth right now that we're reporting is primarily driven by the loyalty of our pass holders, and we're seeing strong renewals across all different levels of our pass holders versus prior year, which we are thrilled with because it's critical to success of the past program to have that loyalty and those renewals while we're also going after new pass holders and bringing people in.

是的。我們看到——我的意思是我們現在報告的成長的主要驅動力主要是由我們的通行證持有者的忠誠度驅動的，而且我們看到我們的通行證持有者與去年相比，所有不同級別的通行證持有者都有強勁的更新，我們對此感到非常興奮，因為擁有這種忠誠度和更新對於過去計劃的成功至關重要，同時我們也在尋找新的通行證持有者並吸引人們加入。

I will share also an interesting piece that is -- when we look at new pass holders, Megan, we look at people that are brand new coming to Vail Resorts, people converting from a lift ticket, but we also look at people who used to be pass holders, what we would call lapsed pass holders from any prior years in the past, it could be from a year ago, 2 years ago, 5 years ago, 8 years ago. And we are achieving strong growth -- significantly strong growth among that population. People who used to be pass holders that are now coming back to us.

我還將分享一個有趣的內容，即梅根，當我們關注新通行證持有者時，我們會關注那些剛來到韋爾度假村的人，從纜車票轉換而來的人，但我們也會關注曾經使用過的人。通行證持有者，我們稱之為過去任何年份的失效通行證持有者，可能是一年前、兩年前、五年前、八年前。我們正在實現強勁成長—人口顯著強勁成長。曾經持有通行證的人現在又回到了我們身邊。

Awesome. Super helpful. And then maybe just one clarification on your answer to Brandt's question. Is it -- is the impact that you're seeing in Australia? Is there an impact from lapping the pent-up demand? Or was that more of a last year impact? And so we would get all of it back next year. I don't know if that makes sense, but I just want to understand if there is an impact from the lap that you're seeing? Or it's really just the weather this year.

驚人的。超有幫助。然後也許只是對你對布蘭特問題的回答進行一個澄清。您在澳洲看到的影響是嗎？消化被壓抑的需求是否會產生影響？還是這更多是去年的影響？所以明年我們會拿回所有的錢。我不知道這是否有意義，但我只是想了解您所看到的那一圈是否有影響？或者說這真的只是今年的天氣。

Megan, yes, I think there -- it's a little bit of a normalization piece is what I would say, right? So we did have some of that pent-up demand in the prior year and very good conditions and just a really strong finish to the season in the prior year. And in this Q1, right, we're seeing the opposite where we've had very warm temps that have led to the terrain closures. And so right, it's a little bit of both, I would say, right, very different extreme conditions that we're seeing from the prior year to this year.

梅根，是的，我想——我想說的是，這有點標準化，對吧？因此，我們確實在前一年有一些被壓抑的需求，而且條件非常好，而且前一年的季節收尾非常強勁。在第一季度，右圖，我們看到了相反的情況，我們的氣溫非常溫暖，導致地形封閉。所以，對，我想說，這兩者都有一點，對，我們從前一年到今年看到的極端條件非常不同。

Thank you. This concludes the Q&A portion of today's call. I would now like to turn the call back over to Kirsten Lynch for closing remarks.

謝謝。今天電話會議的問答部分到此結束。我現在想將電話轉回給克爾斯滕·林奇（Kirsten Lynch），讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you, operator. This concludes our fiscal 2023 year-end earnings call. Thank you to everyone who joined us today. Please feel free to contact me or Angela directly should you have further questions. Thank you for your time this afternoon. Goodbye.

謝謝你，接線生。我們的 2023 財年年終財報電話會議到此結束。感謝今天加入我們的所有人。如果您有其他問題，請隨時與我或直接聯繫 Angela。謝謝您今天下午的時間。再見。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's Vail Resorts Fiscal 2023 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call and Webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day.

謝謝你們，女士們、先生們。今天的韋爾度假村 2023 財年第四季財報電話會議和網路廣播到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。