New York Times Co (NYT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to The New York Times Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎來到紐約時報第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Harlan Toplitzky, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係副總裁 Harlan Toplitzky。請繼續。

Thank you, and welcome to The New York Times Company's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝，歡迎來到紐約時報公司 2022 年第四季度和全年收益電話會議。

On the call today, we have Meredith Kopit Levien, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Roland Caputo, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

在今天的電話會議上，我們有總裁兼首席執行官 Meredith Kopit Levien；執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Roland Caputo。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that management will make forward-looking statements during the course of this call. These statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions, which may change over time. Our actual results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties that are described in the company's 2021 10-K and subsequent SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，管理層將在本次電話會議期間做出前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於我們當前的預期和假設，這些預期和假設可能會隨著時間而改變。由於公司 2021 年 10-K 和隨後的 SEC 文件中描述的許多風險和不確定性，我們的實際結果可能存在重大差異。

In addition, our presentation will include non-GAAP financial measures, and we have provided reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures in our earnings press release, which is available on our website at investors.nytco.com.

此外，我們的介紹將包括非 GAAP 財務指標，並且我們在我們的收益新聞稿中提供了與最具可比性的 GAAP 指標的對賬，該新聞稿可在我們的網站 investors.nytco.com 上獲取。

And finally, please note that a copy of the prepared remarks from this morning's call will be posted to our investor website shortly after we conclude.

最後，請注意，今天上午的電話會議準備好的評論副本將在我們結束後不久發佈到我們的投資者網站上。

With that, I will turn the call over to Meredith Kopit Levien.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給 Meredith Kopit Levien。

Thanks, Harlan, and good morning, everyone. 2022 was the first full year of executing our strategy to become the essential subscription for every serious English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world.

謝謝哈倫，大家早上好。 2022 年是我們執行戰略的第一個完整年，我們的戰略成為每個認真的英語人士尋求了解和參與世界的必備訂閱。

We're proud of our results, which reflect the differential value of our expanded product portfolio, the multi-revenue stream nature of our model, strong unit economics and disciplined cost management.

我們為我們的結果感到自豪，這反映了我們擴展產品組合的差異價值、我們模型的多收入流性質、強大的單位經濟性和嚴格的成本管理。

I'll start by sharing a few highlights from the year. Consolidated adjusted operating profit was $348 million, well ahead of our guidance and an increase over 2021. At The New York Times Group, we grew adjusted operating profit by 14% and drove more than 100 basis point improvement in margin. Notably, that margin improvement follows a 200 basis point improvement in 2021 and reflects palpable progress on our journey to building a larger and more profitable company.

首先，我將分享今年的一些亮點。合併調整後營業利潤為 3.48 億美元，遠高於我們的指引，比 2021 年有所增長。在紐約時報集團，我們調整後的營業利潤增長了 14%，利潤率提高了 100 多個基點。值得注意的是，在 2021 年提高 200 個基點之後，利潤率有所提高，反映了我們在打造更大、盈利能力更強的公司的過程中取得了明顯進展。

Moreover, these results demonstrate the proven nature of our model to grow profit even in a dynamic and challenging market. They also give us the confidence to announce a new midterm target for capital return, a new share repurchase authorization and our fifth consecutive annual increase to the quarterly dividend payment.

此外，這些結果證明了我們的模型即使在充滿活力和挑戰性的市場中也能增加利潤。他們還讓我們有信心宣布新的資本回報中期目標、新的股票回購授權以及我們連續第五年增加季度股息支付。

We recorded just over 1 million net digital subscriber additions for the year, our second best year ever for net adds behind only our blockbuster 2020. We ended 2022 with 9.6 million total subscribers, including print. We achieved that result despite contending with many of the same pressures impacting others in a digital subscription industry at the moment.

我們記錄了這一年的淨數字用戶增加超過 100 萬，這是我們有史以來第二好的淨增加年份，僅次於我們的重磅炸彈 2020 年。到 2022 年，我們的訂戶總數為 960 萬，包括印刷版。儘管目前在數字訂閱行業中面臨許多影響其他人的相同壓力，但我們還是取得了這一成果。

With each passing quarter in 2022, we saw increasing proof that there is strong demand for a bundle of our news and lifestyle products. Both the total volume of new bundled subscribers and the share of new subscribers choosing the bundle grew significantly over the course of the year. We reached record highs on both metrics by year-end with more than 30% of new subscribers taking the bundle. That's roughly 6x more than in the prior year. The bundle proved successful in international markets as well where it accounted for over 25% of digital starts by year-end.

在 2022 年的每個季度，我們都看到越來越多的證據表明，對我們的一系列新聞和生活方式產品的需求強勁。新捆綁用戶的總數和選擇捆綁的新用戶比例在這一年中都有顯著增長。到年底，我們在這兩個指標上都創下了歷史新高，超過 30% 的新訂戶選擇了捆綁服務。這大約是前一年的 6 倍。該捆綁包在國際市場上取得了成功，到年底它佔數字啟動的 25% 以上。

The higher engagement we see among bundled subscribers has sustained even as we've increased its uptake at roughly 10 to 20 percentage points more than news-only subscribers on a weekly basis. That's been aided by our efforts to help those subscribers discover and enjoy offerings from across our portfolio, such as highlighting games, like Spelling Bee in our news app. And given the strong relationship we've seen between subscriber, engagement and retention, we expect the shift towards the bundle to yield benefits that continue accruing well into the future.

我們在捆綁訂閱者中看到的更高參與度一直持續，即使我們每週將其吸收率比純新聞訂閱者增加大約 10 到 20 個百分點。這得益於我們努力幫助這些訂戶發現和享受我們產品組合中的產品，例如突出顯示遊戲，例如我們新聞應用程序中的 Spelling Bee。鑑於我們在訂戶、參與度和保留率之間看到的密切關係，我們預計向捆綁的轉變將產生在未來繼續累積的好處。

We recently passed the 1-year anniversary of our acquisition of The Athletic. We finished the year ahead of our expectations for The Athletic outperforming the adjusted operating profit assumptions we shared at the point of acquisition. We're playing a long game here with ambitions to become a global leader in sports journalism. To that end, our focus continues to be on building engagement for The Athletic as part of The Times bundled, significantly widening its audience funnel by further opening up its hard paywall and increasing overall awareness for The Athletic journalism.

我們最近度過了收購 The Athletic 一周年。我們提前完成了對 The Athletic 的預期，超過了我們在收購時分享的調整後營業利潤假設。我們正在打一場持久戰，目標是成為體育新聞領域的全球領導者。為此，我們的重點仍然是為 The Athletic 建立參與度，作為捆綁時報的一部分，通過進一步開放其硬付費牆和提高對 The Athletic 新聞的整體知名度，顯著擴大其受眾渠道。

We also finished our first full year with the hit game Wordle, which continue to delight tens of millions of players each week and contribute substantially to our ability to engage people and introduce them to other Times' products and games.

我們還以熱門遊戲 Wordle 結束了我們的第一個完整年度，該遊戲每周繼續取悅數千萬玩家，並為我們吸引人們並將他們介紹給其他時代的產品和遊戲的能力做出了重大貢獻。

And on a full year basis, advertising performed relatively well in an increasingly difficult market. New York Times Group advertising revenue grew 3% with strong results in print, offsetting a slight drop in digital revenue. Our early efforts to build a broader ad business on The Athletic are also showing promise.

從全年來看，廣告在日益困難的市場中表現相對較好。紐約時報集團廣告收入增長 3%，印刷業務業績強勁，抵消了數字業務收入的小幅下降。我們在 The Athletic 上建立更廣泛的廣告業務的早期努力也顯示出希望。

I'll turn now to the results of the quarter. In Q4, we added 240,000 net digital subscribers, roughly on par with the prior year, but as noted, with a much higher share going to the bundle. Digital subscriber revenue in the quarter grew in line with our expectations, driven mostly by the continued transition of early tenured subscribers to higher prices. Including The Athletic, consolidated digital ARPU grew sequentially for the second consecutive quarter. We expect that positive ARPU trend to continue throughout 2023 as more subscribers transition to paying higher prices.

我現在要談談本季度的結果。在第四季度，我們增加了 240,000 名淨數字用戶，與上一年大致持平，但如前所述，捆綁服務所佔的份額要高得多。本季度的數字用戶收入增長符合我們的預期，這主要是由於早期的終身用戶繼續向更高的價格過渡。包括 The Athletic 在內，綜合數字 ARPU 連續第二個季度環比增長。隨著越來越多的用戶轉向支付更高的價格，我們預計 ARPU 的積極趨勢將在整個 2023 年持續。

Advertising revenues exceeded our expectations in the quarter in both digital and print, demonstrating the enduring value of our first-party data and premium ad products and the appeal of the Times brand to a wide range of marketers even in a challenging macroeconomic environment.

本季度的數字和印刷廣告收入都超出了我們的預期，證明了我們的第一方數據和優質廣告產品的持久價值，以及即使在充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境中，時代品牌對廣大營銷人員的吸引力。

Print advertising, which we still expect to decline over the long term was notably resilient in Q4.

我們仍預計長期內會下降的印刷廣告在第四季度表現出明顯的彈性。

Our fourth quarter results also underscore the power and benefit of having diverse sources of revenue even beyond subscriptions and advertising, as we enjoyed a record quarter for affiliate revenue to Wirecutter, driven by a highly successful holiday shopping season. And we signed a multiyear commercial agreement with Google at the end of the year, which stretches across many facets of our business, including content distribution, marketing and product experimentation. We'll begin to see the financial benefit from this deal starting in 2023.

我們的第四季度業績還強調了擁有多元化收入來源的力量和好處，甚至超越訂閱和廣告，因為在非常成功的假日購物季的推動下，Wirecutter 的聯盟收入創下了創紀錄的季度。我們在年底與穀歌簽署了一項多年期商業協議，涵蓋我們業務的許多方面，包括內容分發、營銷和產品試驗。從 2023 年開始，我們將開始看到這筆交易帶來的經濟利益。

I'll turn now to expenses in the fourth quarter. Over the last year, we've talked about being ready to begin leveraging the investments we've been making for years in our journalism and digital product experiences and as a result, slow cost growth. We've done so now for the second quarter in a row.

我現在將談談第四季度的支出。在過去的一年裡，我們談到準備好開始利用我們多年來在新聞和數字產品體驗方面所做的投資，因此成本增長緩慢。我們現在已經連續第二個季度這樣做了。

As with the third quarter, this was largely the result of two factors. First, we've become more effective at driving subscription growth through our organic audience engine and digital product work, allowing us to substantially reduce marketing spend. Second, while we continue to invest thoughtfully in areas that widen our moat, including our newsroom, engineering and data teams, we've slowed headcount growth in most other areas across the company. We also reduced headcount in a few areas where we believed we could do so, without affecting our growth strategy. Our strategic clarity and strong execution give us confidence that we can continue to manage costs well going forward.

與第三季度一樣，這主要是兩個因素的結果。首先，我們已經通過有機受眾引擎和數字產品工作更有效地推動訂閱增長，使我們能夠大幅減少營銷支出。其次，雖然我們繼續在擴大護城河的領域進行深思熟慮的投資，包括我們的新聞編輯室、工程和數據團隊，但我們已經放緩了公司大多數其他領域的員工人數增長。我們還在一些我們認為可以這樣做的領域裁員，而不會影響我們的增長戰略。我們的戰略清晰度和強大的執行力使我們相信，我們可以繼續很好地管理成本。

I'll close by looking ahead to 2023 and beyond. We are entering the year with meaningful momentum toward our goal of 15 million subscribers by year-end 2027. While our path to getting there is unlikely to be linear, we have deep conviction in our market opportunity and our ability to create shareholder value. There remains much uncertainty in the current environment, including macroeconomic pressure on advertising, shifting traffic patterns from the tech platform and a more varied news cycle but we've shown that we have a strategy and [executionability] to manage through short-term challenges and emerge stronger.

最後，我將展望 2023 年及以後。我們正以有意義的勢頭進入這一年，實現我們到 2027 年底達到 1500 萬訂戶的目標。雖然我們實現這一目標的道路不太可能是線性的，但我們對我們的市場機會和創造股東價值的能力深信不疑。當前環境仍然存在很多不確定性，包括宏觀經濟對廣告的壓力、技術平台流量模式的轉變以及更加多樣化的新聞周期，但我們已經表明我們有戰略和 [執行力] 來應對短期挑戰和變得更強大。

To that end, in 2023, we'll lean further into two big areas intended to press our advantage. First, we are especially focused on growing audience share and widening our pools of high-quality prospects in news and across our expanded product portfolio and bundles, which we expect will drive subscriber growth over time. Second, we are intently focused on increasing ARPU through continued success at transitioning subscribers from promotions to full price, driving bundle uptake and experimenting with price increases on individual products for tenured subscribers. I've already indicated our progress on the first two, and I'll note that we like what we see so far on our individual product price increase tax.

為此，在 2023 年，我們將進一步向兩大領域傾斜，以發揮我們的優勢。首先，我們特別關注增加受眾份額並擴大我們在新聞以及我們擴展的產品組合和捆綁包中的高質量前景，我們預計這將隨著時間的推移推動用戶增長。其次，我們專注於通過持續成功地將訂戶從促銷活動轉變為全價、推動捆綁銷售並嘗試為長期訂戶提高個別產品的價格來提高 ARPU。我已經指出了我們在前兩個方面取得的進展，我會指出我們喜歡我們目前在個別產品價格上漲稅方面看到的情況。

Now let me set this all in context. Last June, we noted that the midterm profit target we shared was influenced by several potential headwinds. Those headwinds have largely materialized as we anticipated. Even still, we beat our adjusted operating profit expectation for 2022, which, as you'll recall, represents the base year for that profit target. Building on that higher base, we are aggressively focused on capturing tailwinds and seizing every opportunity to drive strong performance.

現在讓我在上下文中設置這一切。去年 6 月，我們注意到我們分享的中期利潤目標受到幾個潛在不利因素的影響。正如我們預期的那樣，這些不利因素在很大程度上已經成為現實。即便如此，我們仍超過了調整後的 2022 年營業利潤預期，正如您所記得的那樣，這是該利潤目標的基準年。在更高的基礎上，我們積極專注於抓住順風並抓住每一個機會來推動強勁的業績。

Now before I turn it over to Roland, I want to say a few words about my two colleagues on this call. This is the last time you'll hear formally in this setting from Harlan Toplitzky who has served ably as Head of Investor Relations for The Times for the last 6 years. I'm grateful to Harlan for his tireless work and commitment to our mission and business, and I wish him well in his next professional adventure as he and his family settle into a new life on the West Coast.

現在，在我把它交給 Roland 之前，我想談談我在這次電話會議上的兩位同事。這是你最後一次在這種情況下正式聽取 Harlan Toplitzky 的講話，他在過去 6 年裡一直幹練地擔任時報投資者關係主管。我感謝 Harlan 孜孜不倦的工作和對我們使命和業務的承諾，我祝愿他在下一次職業冒險中一切順利，因為他和他的家人在西海岸開始了新的生活。

And I want to acknowledge the announcement we made just before the year turned, that my friend, and long-time Times colleague, Roland, will retire midyear. We'll have plenty of time to send Roland off properly. In the meantime, we're working closely together to position us well for the arrival of our next CFO, a search for whom is well underway.

我要感謝我們在新年前夕宣布的消息，我的朋友兼《紐約時報》的長期同事羅蘭 (Roland) 將在年中退休。我們有足夠的時間妥善送走羅蘭。與此同時，我們正在密切合作，為下一任首席財務官的到來做好準備，物色工作正在進行中。

With that, I'll hand it over to Roland and be back to take your questions shortly.

有了這個，我會把它交給羅蘭，很快就會回來回答你的問題。

Thank you, Meredith, and good morning. As Meredith said, we're very pleased with the fourth quarter results we are reporting today. We're reporting $348 million in adjusted operating profit for the year, an increase of $13 million versus last year. This means annual growth of The New York Times Group more than offset the losses at The Athletic.

謝謝你，梅雷迪思，早上好。正如梅雷迪思所說，我們對今天報告的第四季度業績感到非常滿意。我們報告今年調整後的營業利潤為 3.48 億美元，比去年增加 1300 萬美元。這意味著紐約時報集團的年度增長足以抵消 The Athletic 的虧損。

Turning to the quarter. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.59, $0.16 better than the prior year. It's worth noting that we've modified the definition of adjusted diluted EPS to exclude the impact of amortization of acquired intangible assets to improve the comparability of earnings across periods. This adjustment was $0.04 per share in the quarter and $0.16 for the full year.

轉向季度。調整後每股攤薄收益為 0.59 美元，比上年增加 0.16 美元。值得注意的是，我們修改了調整後攤薄每股收益的定義，以排除收購無形資產攤銷的影響，以提高跨期間收益的可比性。這一調整在本季度為每股 0.04 美元，全年為 0.16 美元。

We reported adjusted operating profit of $142 million in the quarter, higher than the same period in 2021 by over $32 million. Adjusted operating profit at The New York Times Group was approximately $149 million, an increase of $40 million compared to the prior year while The Athletic had adjusted operating losses of approximately $7 million.

我們報告本季度調整後的營業利潤為 1.42 億美元，比 2021 年同期高出 3200 萬美元以上。紐約時報集團調整後的營業利潤約為 1.49 億美元，比上年增加 4000 萬美元，而 The Athletic 調整後的營業虧損約為 700 萬美元。

In the fourth quarter, the company added 240,000 net new digital-only subscribers and 240,000 net new digital-only subscriptions, with, as Meredith noted, continued strong growth in adoption of our bundled products. The number of digital-only bundle and multiproduct subscribers grew by approximately 380,000 in the quarter, driven mainly by increases to the number of new bundled subscribers, augmented by existing subscribers who upgraded to the bundle.

第四季度，公司新增 240,000 名純數字訂閱用戶和 240,000 名純數字訂閱用戶，正如 Meredith 指出的那樣，我們捆綁產品的採用率持續強勁增長。本季度純數字捆綁和多產品用戶數量增長了約 380,000，這主要是由於新捆綁用戶數量的增加，以及升級到捆綁的現有用戶的增加。

Moving to revenues. As a reminder, the company has adopted a change to its fiscal calendar and as a result, our 2022 fourth quarter and fiscal year included an extra 6 days as compared with 2021. The earnings release published this morning reports revenues on both a GAAP and estimated 13-week basis. A reconciliation of revenues can be found on Page 21 of the earnings release.

轉向收入。提醒一下，公司已更改其財政日曆，因此，我們的 2022 年第四季度和財政年度比 2021 年多了 6 天。今天上午發布的收益報告報告了 GAAP 和估計的收入以 13 週為基礎。在收益發布的第 21 頁可以找到收入對賬。

My comments on revenues today will exclude the estimated impact of the additional 6 days to provide like-for-like comparisons. However, estimating the cost impact of the extra 6 days for cost is more difficult than subjective.

我今天對收入的評論將排除額外 6 天的估計影響，以提供同類比較。然而，估計額外 6 天的成本影響比主觀更難。

Total subscription revenues increased approximately 11.5% in the quarter, with digital-only subscription revenue growing nearly 23% to approximately $252 million. Digital-only subscription revenue grew primarily as a result of the large number of subscribers whose introductory promotional subscriptions graduate to higher prices, the new subscriptions we've added in the past year and the inclusion of subscription revenue from Athletic standalone subscriptions.

本季度訂閱總收入增長約 11.5%，其中純數字訂閱收入增長近 23%，達到約 2.52 億美元。純數字訂閱收入的增長主要是由於大量訂閱者的介紹性促銷訂閱逐漸轉向更高的價格、我們在過去一年中添加的新訂閱以及包括來自 Athletic 獨立訂閱的訂閱收入。

Moving to digital-only subscriber ARPU, which includes all of our digital products. For the quarter, digital-only subscriber ARPU decreased 7% compared to the prior year due to dilution from our early 2022 acquisition of The Athletic. On a sequential basis, digital-only subscriber ARPU increased nearly 70 basis points compared to the prior quarter. Print subscription revenues declined approximately 4% as the benefit from the first quarter home delivery price increase did not fully offset lower volumes in both home delivery and single copy.

轉向純數字用戶 ARPU，其中包括我們所有的數字產品。本季度，由於我們在 2022 年初收購 The Athletic 導致稀釋，純數字用戶 ARPU 比上一年下降了 7%。按順序計算，純數字用戶 ARPU 與上一季度相比增加了近 70 個基點。印刷訂閱收入下降了約 4%，這是因為第一季度送貨上門價格上漲帶來的好處並未完全抵消送貨上門和單份副本的銷量下降。

Again, excluding the estimated impact of the 6 days, total advertising revenues decreased almost 2.5% in the quarter. Digital advertising declined approximately 4% as higher direct sold advertising at The New York Times Group and the addition of advertising revenue from The Athletic was more than offset by lower creative services revenue. Meanwhile, print advertising revenue was higher by more than 0.5% compared with 2021, primarily driven by growth in the luxury category.

同樣，排除這 6 天的估計影響，本季度廣告總收入下降了近 2.5%。數字廣告下降約 4%，原因是紐約時報集團直銷廣告的增加以及 The Athletic 廣告收入的增加被較低的創意服務收入所抵消。與此同時，印刷廣告收入比 2021 年增長了 0.5% 以上，這主要是受奢侈品類別增長的推動。

On a GAAP basis, which includes the impact of the additional 6 days, both digital and print advertising revenues beat the fourth quarter guidance we issued in the third quarter. Digital advertising exceeded guidance as a result of better-than-expected performance in programmatic advertising and also in direct sold advertising from the advocacy and entertainment categories. Print also exceeded our expectations largely from the luxury and entertainment categories.

在 GAAP 的基礎上，包括額外 6 天的影響，數字和印刷廣告收入都超過了我們在第三季度發布的第四季度指導。由於程序化廣告以及宣傳和娛樂類別的直銷廣告的表現好於預期，數字廣告超出了預期。印刷品在很大程度上也超出了我們對奢侈品和娛樂類別的預期。

Other revenues increased approximately 9.5% compared with the prior year to approximately $72 million primarily as a result of higher Wirecutter affiliate revenue, higher live event revenue and higher licensing revenue despite the expiration of the Facebook licensing agreement. All of this was partially offset by lower television revenues. Other revenue outperformed guidance due to better-than-expected results from Wirecutter affiliate revenues, which grew by more than 20% in the quarter.

其他收入與上一年相比增長約 9.5%，達到約 7200 萬美元，這主要是由於 Wirecutter 附屬收入增加、現場活動收入增加以及儘管 Facebook 許可協議到期但許可收入增加。所有這一切都被較低的電視收入部分抵消了。由於 Wirecutter 附屬公司收入好於預期，本季度增長超過 20%，其他收入表現優於預期。

Inclusive of the extra 6 days, adjusted operating costs were higher in the quarter by approximately 8.5% as compared with 2021, primarily due to the addition of costs associated with The Athletic while costs at The New York Times Group were approximately 1% higher. These results were consistent with guidance on our plan to slow cost growth in the back half of the year.

包括額外的 6 天在內，本季度調整後的運營成本比 2021 年增加了約 8.5%，這主要是由於增加了與 The Athletic 相關的成本，而紐約時報集團的成本增加了約 1%。這些結果與我們在今年下半年減緩成本增長的計劃指引一致。

I'll now discuss the cost drivers for The New York Times Group. Cost of revenue increased approximately 11% as a result of the impact from the additional 6 days in the quarter, growth in the number of employees who work in the newsroom and higher print raw material costs.

我現在將討論紐約時報集團的成本動因。由於本季度額外 6 天的影響、在新聞編輯室工作的員工人數增加以及印刷原材料成本增加，收入成本增加了約 11%。

Sales and marketing costs decreased approximately 45%, largely due to lower media expenses. Media expenses were $22 million, approximately 2/3 below last year, which was a period of elevated marketing spend. Product development costs increased approximately 22% as a result of growth in the number of digital product development employees in connection with expanding and improving our digital product portfolio.

銷售和營銷成本下降了約 45%，這主要是由於媒體費用下降。媒體費用為 2200 萬美元，比去年減少約 2/3，這是營銷支出增加的時期。由於與擴展和改進我們的數字產品組合有關的數字產品開發員工人數的增加，產品開發成本增加了約 22%。

And general and administrative costs were higher by approximately 11% due to an increase in the number of employees needed to support the growth in our business over the last several years, higher enterprise technology costs and onetime building maintenance costs, partially offset by a lower incentive compensation accrual as compared with last year.

由於過去幾年支持我們業務增長所需的員工人數增加、企業技術成本增加和一次性建築維護成本增加，一般和行政成本增加了約 11%，部分被較低的激勵抵消應計報酬與去年相比。

We had two special items in the quarter: A $22.1 million charge in connection with the company's withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan and a roughly $4 million impairment of an intangible asset. Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was approximately 25% versus an expected marginal rate of 27%. Our qualified pension plans ended the year 106% funded with an approximate $70 million surplus. This is largely consistent with the 105% funded status we reported at year-end 2021, a strong result in light of the general market performance in 2022.

我們在本季度有兩項特殊項目：與公司退出多雇主養老金計劃有關的 2210 萬美元費用和大約 400 萬美元的無形資產減值。我們第四季度的有效稅率約為 25%，而預期邊際稅率為 27%。我們合格的養老金計劃在年底時完成了 106% 的資金投入，並有大約 7000 萬美元的盈餘。這與我們在 2021 年年底報告的 105% 的資金狀況基本一致，鑑於 2022 年的總體市場表現，這是一個強勁的結果。

Moving to the balance sheet. Our cash and marketable securities balance ended the quarter at approximately $486 million, an increase of approximately $17 million compared with the third quarter of 2022. The company remains debt-free with a $350 million revolving line of credit available It's worth noting that our 2022 cash generation was adversely affected by the change in the tax deductibility of research and development expenditures. We estimate that this resulted in approximately $60 million in lower cash flows this past year. We expect to recapture the value of these deductions over the next 5 years.

轉到資產負債表。我們的現金和有價證券餘額在本季度結束時約為 4.86 億美元，與 2022 年第三季度相比增加了約 1700 萬美元。公司仍然沒有債務，有 3.5 億美元的可用循環信貸額度 值得注意的是，我們 2022 年的現金發電量受到研發支出稅收減免變化的不利影響。我們估計這導致過去一年的現金流減少約 6000 萬美元。我們希望在未來 5 年內重新獲得這些扣除額的價值。

Share repurchases during the fourth quarter totaled approximately $25 million, and the company continued to purchase shares subsequent to the end of the quarter. As Meredith noted, given the continued strength of our balance sheet and the confidence we have in the cash-generative nature of our business model, we're updating the midterm capital return target of 25% to 50% of free cash flow announced at our June Investor Day. We now aim to return at least 50% of free cash flow to our shareholders, which will allow us to return more capital to shareholders while maintaining the strategic flexibility to continue to invest thoughtfully in the business.

第四季度的股票回購總額約為 2500 萬美元，公司在本季度末繼續回購股票。正如梅雷迪思指出的那樣，鑑於我們資產負債表的持續強勁以及我們對我們業務模式的現金生成性質的信心，我們正在更新中期資本回報目標，即在我們的會議上宣布的自由現金流量的 25% 至 50%六月投資者日。我們現在的目標是將至少 50% 的自由現金流返還給我們的股東，這將使我們能夠向股東返還更多資本，同時保持戰略靈活性以繼續對業務進行深思熟慮的投資。

And in light of this updated capital return target, the Board of Directors has approved both a $0.02 increase to our quarterly dividend to $0.11 per share and $250 million share repurchase authorization, which is in addition to the nearly $40 million remaining under our existing authorization.

鑑於這一更新的資本回報目標，董事會已批准將我們的季度股息增加 0.02 美元至每股 0.11 美元，以及 2.5 億美元的股票回購授權，這是我們現有授權剩餘的近 4000 萬美元之外的額外授權。

Let me conclude with our outlook for the first quarter of 2023 for the consolidated New York Times Company. This represents a change in practice in the last 3 quarterly calls in which I provided guidance to The New York Times Group only. We are making this change now to correspond with our lapping of the acquisition of The Athletic in the first quarter of 2022. As a reminder, the company acquired The Athletic on February 1, 2022, and as a result, The Athletic's first quarter 2022 result reflects approximately 2 months of the quarter.

最後，讓我總結一下我們對合併後的紐約時報公司 2023 年第一季度的展望。這代表了過去 3 個季度電話會議中我僅向紐約時報集團提供指導的做法發生了變化。我們現在正在進行此更改，以配合我們在 2022 年第一季度對 The Athletic 的收購。提醒一下，該公司於 2022 年 2 月 1 日收購了 The Athletic，因此，The Athletic 的 2022 年第一季度業績反映了大約 2 個月的季度。

Total subscription revenues are expected to increase 6% to 9% compared with the first quarter of 2022, with digital-only subscription revenue expected to increase approximately 13% to 16%. Both overall and digital advertising revenues are expected to decrease in the low single digits compared with the first quarter of 2022, mainly due to macroeconomic conditions and the comparison to a strong first quarter in 2022.

與 2022 年第一季度相比，總訂閱收入預計將增長 6% 至 9%，而純數字訂閱收入預計將增長約 13% 至 16%。與 2022 年第一季度相比，整體廣告收入和數字廣告收入預計都將以低個位數下降，這主要是由於宏觀經濟狀況以及與 2022 年第一季度的強勁表現相比。

Other revenues are expected to increase in the mid-single digits. Both operating costs and adjusted operating costs are expected to increase by approximately 6% to 8% compared with the first quarter of 2022. We expect expense growth to slow in the second half of the year compared with this first quarter guidance.

其他收入預計將以中個位數增長。與 2022 年第一季度相比，運營成本和調整後的運營成本預計將增長約 6% 至 8%。與第一季度的指導相比，我們預計下半年的費用增長將放緩。

And with that, we're happy to take your questions.

因此，我們很樂意回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from David Karnovsky from JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 David Karnovsky。

Meredith, just on the update to the capital return program. Can you maybe discuss a bit, the background to revisit this, less than a year later, you haven't updated your midterm operating targets. Just wanted to better understand what you're seeing in the business that gives you the confidence to kind of increase the allocations to buyback and dividend?

梅雷迪思，剛剛更新了資本回報計劃。你能不能討論一下，重新審視這個背景，不到一年後，你還沒有更新你的中期經營目標。只是想更好地了解您在業務中看到的內容，讓您有信心增加回購和股息的分配？

And then Roland, you mentioned just now cost -- or cost growth dropping sort of in the back half of the year. I'm not sure if you'd be willing to kind of say a few overall would expect to grow margin in 2023?

然後羅蘭，你剛才提到了成本——或者成本增長在今年下半年有所下降。我不確定您是否願意說一些總體預期會在 2023 年增加利潤率？

Sure. I think I can give a short answer, which is just the update on capital return reflects real confidence in our strategy. We had a very strong year -- strong first year of execution. We like what we're seeing, and we think the model itself is a strong one and a durable one. But Roland, you may add more detail to that.

當然。我想我可以給出一個簡短的答案，這只是資本回報率的更新反映了對我們戰略的真正信心。我們度過了非常強勁的一年——執行力強勁的第一年。我們喜歡我們所看到的，並且我們認為該模型本身是一個堅固耐用的模型。但是羅蘭，你可以添加更多細節。

Well, I mean, I just want to say we're really pleased to increase the return to shareholders at this time. And we believe that doubling that minimum percentage of free cash flow that we aim to return illustrates the real confidence in the business and the desire for us to return capital to shareholders.

好吧，我的意思是，我只想說我們真的很高興此時增加股東回報。我們相信，將我們旨在返還的自由現金流的最低百分比翻一番，說明了對企業的真正信心以及我們向股東返還資本的願望。

And I guess the last thing I'd say is both the dividend increase and the new share purchase authorization at the levels we announced reflect the company's balanced approach to returning capital.

我想我最後要說的是，我們宣布的股息增加和新股購買授權都反映了公司平衡的資本回報方法。

David, your second question, I think, was a cost -- related to cost but got to margin expansion, I believe. And what I'd like to just say is we aim to modestly increase our margins this year in 2023.

大衛，你的第二個問題，我認為，是成本——與成本有關，但我相信會擴大利潤率。我想說的是，我們的目標是在 2023 年適度提高利潤率。

Our next question comes from Doug Arthur from Huber Research Partners.

我們的下一個問題來自 Huber Research Partners 的 Doug Arthur。

Two quick things. Meredith, The Athletic did $5.3 million of advertising according to this table in the fourth quarter. I realize you had extra days. It's a seasonally strong quarter. But that's evolving towards a $20 million annual run rate. You have to be somewhat pleased with that. Is that a fair statement?

兩件快事。根據這張表，梅雷迪思，The Athletic 在第四季度做了 530 萬美元的廣告。我知道你有額外的日子。這是一個季節性強勁的季度。但這正在朝著 2000 萬美元的年運行率發展。你必須對此感到有些高興。這是一個公平的說法嗎？

I'll just say, ads are off to a promising start. We're optimistic about The Athletic as a real driver of advertising. And I could go on and on, but I'd basically be giving -- affirming that we're excited about ads on The Athletic, and we like what we see so far.

我只想說，廣告是一個充滿希望的開端。我們對 The Athletic 成為廣告的真正推動力持樂觀態度。我可以繼續說下去，但我基本上是在給予——確認我們對 The Athletic 上的廣告感到興奮，我們喜歡我們目前所看到的。

Is there any -- can you put any kind of contours around what type of advertising or -- I mean, I'm on The Athletic all the time, but what type of advertisers you're attracting?

有沒有——你能勾勒出什麼類型的廣告，或者——我的意思是，我一直在參加 The Athletic，但你吸引的是什麼類型的廣告商？

That's a great question. I'd say there are kind of two buckets. One, The Times has a pretty wide base of advertisers, but we get particular campaigns from those advertisers. And one of the things we're really pleased to see in the early days with The Athletic, and I think we launched ads in September, Roland and Harlan are nodding. We got -- we had some of the same advertisers to The Times but giving us different campaigns, targeting different people. So that's one.

這是一個很好的問題。我會說有兩種桶。第一，《紐約時報》擁有相當廣泛的廣告商基礎，但我們從這些廣告商那裡獲得了特定的活動。我們很高興在 The Athletic 早期看到的其中一件事，我認為我們在 9 月推出了廣告，Roland 和 Harlan 正在點頭。我們得到了 - 我們有一些與時報相同的廣告商，但給我們不同的活動，針對不同的人。這就是一個。

And then two, there's just a whole category of advertisers who spend a lot of money around sports and who The Times doesn't necessarily get, and we think there's real promise there as well. And as you know, we sent our former head of ads from The Times over The Athletic to build that business and a couple of folks went with him, and they've built out a team, and I would just say it all feels very promising.

其次，只有一整類廣告商在體育方面投入大量資金，而《紐約時報》不一定會得到這些廣告商，我們認為這方面也有真正的希望。正如你所知，我們從 The Athletic 派出時代報的前廣告主管來建立這項業務，幾個人和他一起去了，他們已經建立了一個團隊，我只想說這一切都讓人感覺非常有前途.

I'll give you one more kind of technical detail. The Athletic's -- The Athletic did have a very small ad business when we acquired it. That was largely an audio business. They have a lot of podcasts, which are great. You should listen to them. And so, what we're adding here is a premium display business, like the business we have on The Times with great ad canvases, and you can imagine all the things we've done with The Times including building a rich trove of first-party data and building partnerships with marketers that want to do something kind of more meaningful than just run display. You can imagine, we're good at that at the Times, and we're kind of bringing all that to The Athletic.

我會給你另一種技術細節。 The Athletic——當我們收購它時，The Athletic 確實擁有非常小的廣告業務。那主要是音頻業務。他們有很多播客，很棒。你應該聽他們的。因此，我們在這裡添加的是優質展示業務，就像我們在《紐約時報》上擁有的具有出色廣告畫布的業務一樣，您可以想像我們為《紐約時報》所做的所有事情，包括建立豐富的第一-派對數據，並與想要做一些比僅僅運行展示更有意義的事情的營銷人員建立合作夥伴關係。你可以想像，我們在 Times 擅長於此，而我們正在將所有這些帶到 The Athletic。

Great. And then, Roland, just one sort of contextual question. In terms of this bundled multiproduct subscriber number of 2.5 million, is there a way to kind of give some color as to how much of that is print? How much of that comes from The Athletic? I mean how does that number break down in terms of what people are going at?

偉大的。然後，羅蘭，只是一種上下文問題。就這個捆綁的 250 萬多產品訂戶數量而言，有沒有一種方法可以說明其中有多少是印刷品？其中有多少來自 The Athletic？我的意思是，這個數字如何根據人們的意願進行細分？

Yes. So first of all, I think last quarter, we changed the definition of that to exclude print. So that is exclusive -- that 2.5 million is exclusively a digital number. So that's the first thing to level set. You've also got two other categories of subs that we disclosed, and you'll see how many folks have news in their subscription, how many folks have Athletic in their subscription. And you can track those increases as well. So a bundle will count there as well as a standalone. So the majority of the folks in that have at least a news entitlement and obviously, they have something else. So that's by far the biggest chunk. And I would just add to that, the fastest growing piece of that is the bundle.

是的。所以首先，我認為上個季度，我們改變了它的定義以排除印刷品。所以這是獨一無二的——250 萬完全是一個數字。所以這是水平設置的第一件事。你還有我們披露的另外兩類訂閱，你會看到有多少人在他們的訂閱中有新聞，有多少人在他們的訂閱中有運動。您也可以跟踪這些增長。因此，捆綁包和獨立包都算在那裡。因此，其中的大多數人至少擁有新聞權利，顯然，他們還有其他權利。所以這是迄今為止最大的一塊。我只想補充一點，增長最快的部分是捆綁。

Okay. So you used to call it total multiproduct subscribers. That included print. You've wiped that out. You've cleaned that up.

好的。所以你過去稱它為多產品訂戶總數。這包括打印。你已經把它抹掉了。你已經清理乾淨了。

That's right. We cleaned that up.

這是正確的。我們清理了它。

Our next question comes from Vasily Karasyov from Cannonball Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cannonball Research 的 Vasily Karasyov。

Meredith, you touched on it in your prepared remarks, but I wanted to ask you to talk in more detail what you're seeing in how your subscribers or trial subscribers behaving in this -- over the past several quarters that were going through inflation, recessional, whatever we want to call it, macro headwinds and stuff like that. Are you finding any kinds of behavior that are surprising to you and causing you to adjust your strategies, retention practices and acquisition strategies? So would appreciate some color on that.

梅雷迪思，你在準備好的發言中提到了它，但我想請你更詳細地談談你所看到的你的訂閱者或試用訂閱者在這方面的行為——在過去幾個季度中經歷了通貨膨脹，衰退，不管我們怎麼稱呼它，宏觀逆風之類的。您是否發現任何讓您感到驚訝並促使您調整策略、保留做法和獲取策略的行為？所以會欣賞一些顏色。

Sure. And great question. Broadly, my answer is we're not seeing much on the subscriber engagement or on the subscriber front that surprised us. Subscriber engagement, which was a huge area of focus in 2022, I think has gone well. We really like what we see. And I'd say part of why it's gone so well is, as we put a lot of energy and resources into deliberate intervention to get people if they were new subscribers to experience more, and if they were bundled subscribers or potential bundled subscribers to do other things with us.

當然。很好的問題。從廣義上講，我的回答是，我們在訂戶參與度或訂戶方面並沒有看到太多讓我們感到驚訝的事情。訂戶參與度是 2022 年的一個重要關注領域，我認為進展順利。我們真的很喜歡我們所看到的。我要說的是，它進行得如此順利的部分原因是，因為我們投入了大量精力和資源進行有意干預，讓新訂閱者體驗更多，如果他們是捆綁訂閱者或潛在捆綁訂閱者，則可以讓他們體驗更多我們的其他事情。

We are building our understanding of what really drives that additional engagement if you buy the bundle versus news, I alluded to that in my prepared remarks. And it's -- if you engage with a second product, so if you're a new subscriber and you've also engaged with The Athletic or you also engage with cooking or games, that is a retentive behavior. So we're very focused on driving that, and I would say, put a lot of energy into executing and that has gone well.

如果您購買捆綁包而不是新聞，我們正在建立對真正推動額外參與的理解，我在準備好的評論中提到了這一點。而且它是——如果你參與了第二個產品，那麼如果你是一個新訂閱者並且你也參與了 The Athletic 或者你也參與了烹飪或遊戲，那是一種保留行為。所以我們非常專注於推動這一點，我想說，投入了大量精力來執行，而且進展順利。

I'll add because I think you're poking at it. We said a year ago at this time, maybe even a little further back that it was going to be really important to keep churn to a manageable level. And I think we've done that. It will be an ongoing focus, given the size of the base now. It's quite important to the net add story. But so far, so good, and we -- the bundle strategy plays a role in that. But just broadly, I think we have been able to hold churn to a manageable level.

我會添加，因為我認為你在戳它。我們在一年前的這個時候說過，甚至更早一點，將客戶流失率保持在可控水平非常重要。我認為我們已經做到了。鑑於現在基地的規模，這將是一個持續的重點。這對淨增故事非常重要。但到目前為止，一切都很好，而且我們 - 捆綁策略在其中發揮了作用。但從廣義上講，我認為我們已經能夠將客戶流失率控制在可控水平。

Our next question comes from Thomas Yeh from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Thomas Yeh。

Meredith, you mentioned expectations for a sequential positive digital subscriber ARPU trend to continue throughout '23. Does that include some benefit from these experiments that you cited around individual stand-alone products? And any more color on what you're planning to implement there from a pricing change perspective would be really helpful?

梅雷迪思，你提到了對連續積極的數字用戶 ARPU 趨勢將在整個 23 年持續的預期。這是否包括您圍繞單個獨立產品引用的這些實驗的一些好處？從定價變化的角度來看，你計劃在那裡實施的任何更多顏色真的會有幫助嗎？

And then secondly, just any color on the drivers of the ad trends into 1Q. I think down low single digit seems to be sequentially better than the core trends in 4Q, excluding the extra days. Has the macro pressures that you kind of cited as picking up stayed the same or updated as we headed into the last few months, that would be great?

其次，廣告趨勢驅動因素進入 1Q 的任何顏色。我認為低個位數似乎連續優於第四季度的核心趨勢，不包括額外的天數。在我們進入過去幾個月時，您提到的宏觀壓力是否保持不變或有所更新，那會很棒嗎？

So I think I can remember all that. So on ARPU, there are a few things at play here. One is we continue to be successful at transitioning subscribers from promotions to interim and full prices. That's going well. And that's obviously a huge part of the model and the story here. And so, that's a big driver. That's one.

所以我想我能記住這一切。所以在 ARPU 上，有幾件事在起作用。一是我們繼續成功地將訂戶從促銷過渡到臨時和全價。一切順利。這顯然是模型和故事的重要組成部分。所以，這是一個很大的驅動力。那是一個。

Two, I'll just remind you that the bundle itself, at every price point, even on a promotion, is a little more expensive than any individual product on a promotion. And then, of course, over time, the assumption is we're going to transition bundle subscribers to higher prices as well. And that sort of the pricing power of the bundle versus individual products carries through the transition to full price.

第二，我只想提醒你，捆綁包本身，在每個價位，即使是在促銷時，都比促銷時的任何單個產品貴一點。然後，當然，隨著時間的推移，假設我們也將把捆綁訂閱者轉移到更高的價格。捆綁產品相對於單個產品的這種定價權貫穿了向全價的過渡。

So one, transition full price continuing to go well. Two, more bundled uptake has positive effect on ARPU. And then three, to your question, I think you're asking more sharply. Yes, we have been in the market since the very end of last year testing price increases to a portion of the population who are tenured subscribers to individual products, so news and the other stand-alone products. And as I said in the prepared remarks, we like what we see.

因此，第一，過渡期全價繼續走好。第二，更多的捆綁使用對 ARPU 有積極影響。第三，對於你的問題，我認為你問得更尖銳了。是的，自去年年底以來，我們一直在市場上測試價格上漲，部分人群是個別產品的終身訂閱者，因此新聞和其他獨立產品。正如我在準備好的發言中所說，我們喜歡我們所看到的。

So far, I'll just remind you, we've got experience here. I think I always forget if this is '20 or '21. I think in 2020, we did a major price increase. First one we had done since pay model launch for tenured news subscribers. And we went about that, and I kind of test first very rigorous way. And it went well. And that's what we're doing here as well. And all of that should play a role in subscriber monetization and ARPU improvement, and that is a real focus for us this year. So I think that's the first question.

到目前為止，我只是提醒你，我們在這裡有經驗。我想我總是忘記這是 20 年還是 21 年。我認為在 2020 年，我們大幅提價。自從為終身新聞訂閱者推出付費模式以來，我們完成了第一個。我們開始了，我首先以非常嚴格的方式進行測試。一切順利。這也是我們在這裡所做的。所有這些都應該在訂戶貨幣化和 ARPU 改進方面發揮作用，這是我們今年真正關注的焦點。所以我認為這是第一個問題。

On ads, look, I think we've got the right strategy in ads. It is a really tough market, it's a complicated market, but the Times benefits from a few things. One, and this goes to Doug's question earlier, within -- better with The Athletic but even before The Athletic, we play in a wide range of categories, and I think that helps us. Different categories fare differently in market cycles. For example, luxury was strong in the fourth quarter and other categories weren't.

在廣告方面，看，我認為我們的廣告策略是正確的。這是一個非常艱難的市場，這是一個複雜的市場，但時代從一些事情中受益。第一，這是道格早些時候提出的問題，在 - 與 The Athletic 一起更好，但甚至在 The Athletic 之前，我們參加了廣泛的類別，我認為這對我們有幫助。不同類別在市場週期中表現不同。例如，奢侈品在第四季度表現強勁，而其他品類則不然。

So in general, the wits of our sort of marketer interest for the Times helps us. And then I'm just -- I'm going to keep saying that the basic thing the Times offers, which is a really premium environment with a very strong and growing powerful body first-party data that can help marketers target in privacy-forward ways is really benefiting us. So I think the strategy and the model are just really enduring in advertising.

所以總的來說，我們這種對時代感興趣的營銷人員的智慧對我們有所幫助。然後我只是 - 我會一直說，時代提供的基本東西，這是一個非常優質的環境，擁有非常強大且不斷增長的強大身體第一方數據，可以幫助營銷人員瞄準隱私轉發方法確實使我們受益。所以我認為策略和模型在廣告中真的很持久。

Our next question comes from Ashton Welles from Evercore ISI.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Ashton Welles。

Quick question on media expenses. I get that they were elevated in 2021 with some elevated marketing spend, but it also seems like they dropped below the 2020, 2019 run rate. Should we expect that going forward into '23?

關於媒體費用的快速問題。我知道他們在 2021 年隨著一些營銷支出的增加而有所提高，但似乎也低於 2020 年、2019 年的運行率。我們應該期待進入 23 年嗎？

So let me talk a little bit about that. Reducing that marketing spend over time has always been a part of our plan. We've communicated that to the market for quite some time. And as we continue to improve our digital products through the investments we're making in our journalism and in our product development, that's enabling the reduction, has enabled the reduction in that marketing spend.

所以讓我談談這個。隨著時間的推移減少營銷支出一直是我們計劃的一部分。我們已經向市場傳達了很長一段時間。隨著我們通過在新聞業和產品開發方面的投資不斷改進我們的數字產品，這使得減少營銷支出成為可能。

Going forward, I think you can think about it in this vicinity, that there may be a quarter where we want to spend some brands. So that's always on the table. We did not do that in Q4. But other than that, you can see this, I think, a pretty typical run rate for the near future.

展望未來，我認為您可以在這附近考慮一下，可能有一個季度我們想花一些品牌。所以這總是擺在桌面上。我們在第四季度沒有這樣做。但除此之外，我認為你可以看到這是近期非常典型的運行率。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Harlan Toplitzky for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回哈蘭·托普利茨基 (Harlan Toplitzky) 的閉幕詞。

Thank you for joining us this morning, and the company looks forward to talking to you again next quarter.

感謝您今天早上加入我們，公司期待下個季度再次與您交談。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。