Children's Place Inc (PLCE) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. And welcome to The Children's Place Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call.

早上好。歡迎來到 Children's Place 第四季度和 2022 財年全年收益電話會議。

On the call today are Jane Elfers, President and Chief Executive Officer; Sheamus Toal, Chief Financial Officer; Maegan Markee, Senior Vice President, Digital Marketing; and Josh Truppo, Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis. After the prepared remarks, we will open the call up to your questions.

今天接聽電話的是總裁兼首席執行官 Jane Elfers； Sheamus Toal，首席財務官； Maegan Markee，數字營銷高級副總裁； Josh Truppo，財務規劃和分析副總裁。在準備好的評論之後，我們將打開您的問題的電話。

The Children's Place issued its fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2022 earnings press release earlier this morning, and a copy of the release and presentation materials have been posted to the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

Children's Place 今天上午早些時候發布了其第四季度和全年 2022 財年收益新聞稿，新聞稿和演示材料的副本已發佈到公司網站的投資者關係部分。

Before we begin, let me remind you that statements made on this conference call and in the company's earnings release and presentation materials about the company's outlook, plans and future performance are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected. For a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to vary from those contained in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the company's most recent annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the presentation materials posted on the company's website.

在我們開始之前，讓我提醒您，在本次電話會議以及公司收益發布和演示材料中關於公司前景、計劃和未來業績的陳述均為前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與預測結果存在重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中包含的結果不同的因素的討論，請參閱公司最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的年度和季度報告以及公司網站上發布的演示材料。

On this call, the company will reference various non-GAAP financial measurements. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measurements to the GAAP financial measurements is provided in the company's earnings release and presentation materials. Also, today's call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Jane Elfers.

在這次電話會議上，公司將參考各種非 GAAP 財務衡量標準。公司的收益發布和演示材料中提供了這些非 GAAP 財務衡量指標與 GAAP 財務衡量指標的對賬。另外，今天的通話正在錄音中。現在我很高興將電話轉給 Jane Elfers。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. After my opening remarks, I'll turn it over to Maegan who leads our marketing and Amazon teams to review our significant progress in 2022 and highlight our 2023 plans for these 2 key growth areas. Maegan will turn it over to Sheamus to review our Q4 and full year 2022 results and provide our Q1 and full year 2023 outlook. Sheamus will turn it back to me for closing comments.

謝謝大家，早上好。在我的開場白之後，我將把它交給領導我們的營銷和亞馬遜團隊的 Maegan，回顧我們在 2022 年取得的重大進展，並強調我們在這兩個關鍵增長領域的 2023 年計劃。 Maegan 將把它交給 Sheamus 來審查我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年業績，並提供我們的第一季度和 2023 年全年展望。 Sheamus 會將其轉回給我以徵求結束意見。

As we announced in early February, our 2022 operating results were negatively impacted by unprecedented input costs, the spike in cotton prices, air freight and container costs. While we are working through higher cost inventory in the front half of 2023, input cost reductions, our focus on expense and inventory management and our strategic growth initiatives are planned to drive double-digit operating margins in the back half of 2023.

正如我們在 2 月初宣布的那樣，我們 2022 年的經營業績受到前所未有的投入成本、棉花價格飆升、空運和集裝箱成本的負面影響。雖然我們正在努力在 2023 年上半年解決更高的成本庫存，但投入成本的降低、我們對費用和庫存管理的關注以及我們的戰略增長計劃計劃在 2023 年下半年推動兩位數的營業利潤率。

Over the last several years, we have successfully executed a strategic transformation of The Children's Place focused on 4 key pillars: superior product; digital transformation; wholesale and international expansion; and fleet optimization. When we embarked upon this initiative, we analyzed the highly competitive environment, rapidly changing consumer shopping trends and birth rates, which, as of 2017 have been falling for a decade. We determined that in order to successfully compete, we needed to capture market share, while positioning ourselves to meet the needs of our increasingly digitally-savvy core millennial customer along every step of her purchase journey.

在過去的幾年裡，我們成功地執行了 The Children's Place 的戰略轉型，專注於 4 個關鍵支柱：卓越的產品；數字化轉型；批發和國際擴張；和車隊優化。當我們著手實施這一舉措時，我們分析了競爭激烈的環境、快速變化的消費者購物趨勢和出生率，截至 2017 年，出生率已經下降了十年。我們確定，為了成功競爭，我們需要佔領市場份額，同時定位自己以滿足我們日益精通數字技術的核心千禧一代客戶在購買過程中的每一步的需求。

We made several key strategic decisions during the course of our transformation, some of which led to short-term volatility in our results, but all of which have positioned the company for sustained long-term growth on both the top and bottom lines. With our multiyear transformation now complete, we are focused on our next phase, top and bottom line growth.

我們在轉型過程中做出了幾項關鍵的戰略決策，其中一些導致我們的業績出現短期波動，但所有這些決策都為公司在收入和利潤方面的持續長期增長奠定了基礎。隨著我們多年轉型的完成，我們將專注於下一階段的收入和利潤增長。

Our growth will be underpinned by the same 4 strategic pillars: superior product; digital dominance; wholesale and international expansion; and an optimized fleet. Today, we thought it would be helpful to review how our strategic initiatives have positioned us for long-term growth with our digitally-savvy core millennial customers and the Gen Z customers right behind them. So let's start with our successful digital transformation.

我們的增長將得到同樣的 4 個戰略支柱的支持：卓越的產品；數字優勢；批發和國際擴張；和優化的艦隊。今天，我們認為回顧一下我們的戰略舉措如何使我們與精通數字技術的核心千禧一代客戶和緊隨其後的 Z 世代客戶一起實現長期增長，這將很有幫助。因此，讓我們從成功的數字化轉型開始。

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, we accelerated our digital transformation with a $50 million investment to upgrade our platform systems and omnichannel capabilities. This was a necessary and timely initiative that enabled us to keep pace with our core millennial customer, a younger consumer who is rapidly evolving into a digital-first consumer. We know our customer well, and we recognized long before the pandemic that our millennial mom shift to digital was happening.

在大流行病爆發之前，我們投資了 5000 萬美元來加速我們的數字化轉型，以升級我們的平台系統和全渠道能力。這是一項必要且及時的舉措，使我們能夠跟上我們的核心千禧一代客戶的步伐，他們是一個正在迅速演變為數字優先消費者的年輕消費者。我們非常了解我們的客戶，並且早在大流行之前我們就意識到我們的千禧一代媽媽正在轉向數字化。

And now as we are about to enter our fourth year since the pandemic hit, her preference for online shopping has only continued to increase. Without that investment, we would not have been able to service our customers when all of our stores were shut down for several months at the start of the pandemic. And we would not have the significant competitive advantage of our industry-leading digital penetration that we have today.

現在我們即將進入大流行以來的第四個年頭，她對網上購物的偏好只會繼續增加。如果沒有這筆投資，在大流行開始時我們所有的商店都關閉了幾個月，我們將無法為客戶提供服務。而且我們不會擁有今天行業領先的數字滲透率的顯著競爭優勢。

Importantly, in order to take full advantage of our customers' strong preference for online shopping, we focused on rapidly shifting our primary acquisition channel from digital to digital from stores, and we have achieved our desired results in a remarkably short period of time. With digital now our primary acquisition channel. We then made the strategic decision to aggressively promote our product in order to capture market share in the then over-stored kids retail space.

重要的是，為了充分利用客戶對在線購物的強烈偏好，我們專注於將我們的主要獲取渠道從數字渠道快速轉移到實體店的數字渠道，並且我們在非常短的時間內取得了預期的結果。數字化現在是我們的主要獲取渠道。然後，我們做出戰略決策，積極推廣我們的產品，以在當時過度存儲的兒童零售空間中奪取市場份額。

One year later, we saw the benefits from the strategy as we captured pricing power for our core TCP brand when there were approximately 2,000 fewer mall-based kid stores. Concurrently, our design team began rejuvenating the iconic Gymboree brand, an acquisition that has strategically positioned us to be a more powerful competitor in what has been for us, an underpenetrated toddler demographic.

一年後，當基於購物中心的兒童商店減少了大約 2,000 家時，我們看到了該戰略的好處，因為我們獲得了核心 TCP 品牌的定價權。同時，我們的設計團隊開始重振標誌性的 Gymboree 品牌，這項收購從戰略上將我們定位為更強大的競爭對手，這對我們來說是一個未充分滲透的幼兒人群。

And during the pandemic, we recognized the opportunity to further accelerate our transformation. We launched 3 new brands, each one targeting an untapped or underdeveloped market share opportunity and a higher-income demographic than our core TCP customer. Our brand expansion strategy is a key element of our market share growth strategy as these new brands give us the opportunity to significantly expand our customers' lifetime value. Maegan will cover this in more detail in her prepared remarks.

在大流行期間，我們認識到進一步加速轉型的機會。我們推出了 3 個新品牌，每個品牌都針對未開發或未開發的市場份額機會以及比我們的核心 TCP 客戶收入更高的人群。我們的品牌擴張戰略是我們市場份額增長戰略的關鍵要素，因為這些新品牌讓我們有機會顯著擴大客戶的終身價值。 Maegan 將在她準備好的評論中更詳細地介紹這一點。

Looking ahead to what we believed was going to be a significantly larger and higher-margin digital business, post-pandemic, we further invested in our industry-leading digital channel with a focus on expanding our digital fulfillment capabilities. We partnered more closely with Amazon, and we invested in the Amazon business and achieved significant growth with this important wholesale partner and are now positioned for sustained growth with Amazon in 2023 and beyond.

展望疫情過後我們認為規模更大、利潤率更高的數字業務，我們進一步投資於我們行業領先的數字渠道，重點是擴大我們的數字履行能力。我們與亞馬遜的合作更加緊密，我們投資於亞馬遜業務，並與這個重要的批發合作夥伴一起實現了顯著增長，現在我們準備好在 2023 年及以後與亞馬遜實現持續增長。

Based on our millennial customers' rapidly evolving preference for shopping online, we accelerated our fleet optimization initiative by closing almost 1/3 of our stores within 20 months without additional cost to us, given a lease flexibility we have built into our model. Our store closing initiative enabled the structural change to our digital-first business model and significantly lowered occupancy expense on our remaining fleet. By the end of 2023, our fleet optimization strategy will be substantially complete, positioning us in the optimum brick-and-mortar locations to service our Millennial and Gen Z consumers omni-channel shopping preferences.

基於我們的千禧一代客戶對在線購物的快速變化的偏好，我們通過在 20 個月內關閉近 1/3 的商店來加速我們的車隊優化計劃，而沒有給我們帶來額外成本，因為我們已經在我們的模型中建立了租賃靈活性。我們的商店關閉計劃使我們的數字優先商業模式發生了結構性變化，並顯著降低了我們剩餘車隊的佔用費用。到 2023 年底，我們的車隊優化戰略將基本完成，將我們定位在最佳的實體店位置，為千禧一代和 Z 世代消費者的全渠道購物偏好提供服務。

And lastly, to support our strategic reset, we invested in and transformed our marketing function, positioning us to optimize every touch point along our younger, digitally-savvy core customers purchase journey. Our data-driven marketing strategy is designed to support topline growth by increasing new customer acquisition, increasing customer retention and loyalty and importantly, significantly increasing customer lifetime value by supporting a synergistic shopping experience across our expanded family of brands. We made strategic investments across every area of the marketing organization, our teams, both internal and external, our research and processes and new state-of-the-art marketing tools and systems.

最後，為了支持我們的戰略調整，我們投資並轉變了我們的營銷職能，使我們能夠優化我們年輕、精通數字技術的核心客戶購買過程中的每個接觸點。我們以數據為導向的營銷策略旨在通過增加新客戶獲取、提高客戶保留率和忠誠度來支持收入增長，重要的是，通過支持我們擴大的品牌家族的協同購物體驗，顯著提高客戶的生命週期價值。我們對營銷組織的各個領域、我們的內部和外部團隊、我們的研究和流程以及新的最先進的營銷工具和系統進行了戰略投資。

As we have discussed several times, we have historically underfunded marketing. Our marketing strategies produced strong returns in the back half of 2022, particularly in the areas of brand awareness and acquisition. Now that we've seen strong returns from our marketing transformation, we believe we can unlock significant topline growth opportunity through increased marketing investments in 2023 and beyond, more closely aligning our marketing spend with industry norms.

正如我們多次討論的那樣，我們歷來在營銷方面資金不足。我們的營銷策略在 2022 年下半年產生了可觀的回報，尤其是在品牌知名度和收購方面。既然我們已經看到營銷轉型帶來的強勁回報，我們相信我們可以通過在 2023 年及以後增加營銷投資來釋放重要的收入增長機會，使我們的營銷支出更符合行業規範。

Despite major challenges for our team, our business and our customers, our work during the pandemic accelerated our digital transformation by approximately 5 years, allowing us to successfully complete our multiyear strategic reset at the end of 2022.

儘管我們的團隊、業務和客戶面臨重大挑戰，但我們在大流行期間的工作使我們的數字化轉型加速了大約 5 年，使我們能夠在 2022 年底成功完成多年戰略重置。

As we move into our next phase, sustained growth, our strategic pillars remain consistent. So let's take this opportunity to review the current status of each of them. Starting with our first strategic pillar, product. Our core TCP brand continued to strongly resonate with our customers in 2022. The strength of our core TCP product is due in large part to our long-tenured best-in-class design team's deep understanding of our customers' wants and needs. The consistent strength of our core TCP product gave us the confidence to explore new brand opportunities. To that end, we launched 3 new brands, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade and PJ Place.

隨著我們進入下一階段，持續增長，我們的戰略支柱保持一致。那麼讓我們藉此機會回顧一下他們每個人的現狀。從我們的第一個戰略支柱產品開始。我們的核心 TCP 品牌在 2022 年繼續與我們的客戶產生強烈共鳴。我們核心 TCP 產品的優勢在很大程度上歸功於我們長期一流的設計團隊對客戶需求的深刻理解。我們核心 TCP 產品的一貫實力讓我們有信心探索新的品牌機會。為此，我們推出了 3 個新品牌：Gymboree、Sugar & Jade 和 PJ Place。

With respect to market share, birth rates peaked in 2007 and have not returned to those levels in the 15 years since, and future projections do not have birth rates approaching 2007 levels. Counting on an uptick in birth rates to solve for declining sector market share is not a winning strategy. Each of our new brands is strategically positioned to target an underdeveloped or untapped market share opportunity, is rooted in our core competencies and targets a higher-income demographic than our core TCP brand.

就市場份額而言，出生率在 2007 年達到頂峰，此後 15 年都沒有回到該水平，未來的預測也不會接近 2007 年的水平。指望出生率上升來解決行業市場份額下降的問題並不是一個成功的策略。我們的每個新品牌都在戰略上定位於未開發或未開發的市場份額機會，植根於我們的核心競爭力，並針對比我們的核心 TCP 品牌更高收入的人群。

With the addition of these 3 brands, we can realize a significantly higher customer lifetime value than would be possible with just a single brand, making this complementary multi-brand approach, an important part of our future growth strategy. In addition to expanding our market share and increasing customer LTV, our family of brands provides us with additional opportunities to partner with our wholesale and international franchisees to further grow brand awareness, market share and increase our top and bottom line.

通過這 3 個品牌的加入，我們可以實現比單一品牌更高的客戶生命週期價值，使這種互補的多品牌方法成為我們未來增長戰略的重要組成部分。除了擴大我們的市場份額和增加客戶 LTV 之外，我們的品牌系列還為我們提供了與我們的批發和國際特許經營商合作的更多機會，以進一步提高品牌知名度、市場份額並增加我們的收入和利潤。

Starting with Gymboree. The Gymboree customer is a higher income customer and is less price sensitive than our core TCP customer. Gymboree targets the key toddler demographic, ages 2 to 6, which is an underpenetrated demographic for TCP. With the Gymboree brand, we are acquiring customers whose children are very young. And as the child grows, we introduce those customers to our wider stable of brands.

從金寶貝開始。與我們的核心 TCP 客戶相比，Gymboree 客戶的收入較高，對價格的敏感度較低。 Gymboree 的目標人群是 2 至 6 歲的關鍵幼兒人群，這是 TCP 未充分滲透的人群。通過金寶貝品牌，我們獲得了孩子非常年幼的客戶。隨著孩子的成長，我們將這些客戶介紹給我們更廣泛的穩定品牌。

For example, a Gymboree toddler girl can grow up wearing the iconic Gymboree bow-to-toe looks and then move on to TCP big girl product and then on to our Sugar & Jade tween line, and eventually into our Gen Z PJ Place offerings before she eventually starts a family of her own and the whole cycle repeats.

例如，一個 Gymboree 蹣跚學步的女孩可以穿著標誌性的 Gymboree 蝴蝶結到腳趾造型長大，然後轉向 TCP 大女孩產品，然後轉向我們的 Sugar & Jade 補間系列，最終轉向我們的 Z 世代 PJ Place 產品她最終組建了自己的家庭，整個循環不斷重複。

Our launch of Gymboree on Amazon last fall was a very important step in Gymboree's growth trajectory as it provided us with a significant acquisition vehicle from a higher-income consumer. Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, we are planning to increase Gymboree's marketing investments to further drive brand awareness and acquisition. We now anticipate that the Gymboree brand will reach our initial revenue goal of $140 million in sales in full year 2025.

我們去年秋天在亞馬遜上推出金寶貝是金寶貝增長軌跡中非常重要的一步，因為它為我們提供了一個重要的高收入消費者收購工具。展望 2023 年及以後，我們計劃增加金寶貝的營銷投資，以進一步提高品牌知名度和收購率。我們現在預計金寶貝品牌將在 2025 年全年實現我們最初的 1.4 億美元銷售額目標。

Moving on to Sugar & Jade. The tween market is a fragmented market that is estimated at approximately $8 billion. Our largest TCP business is our big girl division. And due to our leadership position in big girl apparel and accessories, Sugar & Jade is a natural extension of that core competency. The strategy behind Sugar & Jade keeps our highest spending customer, our big girl customer, and our brands longer and further expands their lifetime value.

繼續糖與玉。補間市場是一個分散的市場，估計約為 80 億美元。我們最大的 TCP 業務是我們的大女孩部門。由於我們在大女孩服裝和配飾領域處於領先地位，Sugar & Jade 是該核心競爭力的自然延伸。 Sugar & Jade 背後的策略讓我們的最高消費客戶、我們的大女孩客戶和我們的品牌更長久，並進一步擴大了它們的生命週期價值。

We are entering our second year with Sugar & Jade. And from a product point of view, we have a clear understanding of what categories resonate with the tween customer. With our refined product strategy, our next step in Sugar & Jade's evolution is to build brand awareness to reach a wider audience. This increased marketing investment is planned to begin for holiday 2023.

我們即將進入 Sugar & Jade 的第二年。從產品的角度來看，我們清楚地了解哪些類別會引起補間客戶的共鳴。憑藉我們完善的產品策略，糖玉的下一步發展是建立品牌知名度以覆蓋更廣泛的受眾。這項增加的營銷投資計劃於 2023 年假期開始。

And lastly, PJ Place. PJ Place is a one-stop shop for all of our sleepwear and loungewear. We have a leadership position in kids sleepwear and matching adult sleepwear. In fact, within our sleepwear business, adult is our fastest-growing category. This new sleep and lounge product also gives us an opportunity to be relevant to an older Gen Z customer and younger Millennials before they start families of their own. PJ Place houses all of our sleep and loungewear products and brands, TCP, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade and our new PJ Place sleep and lounge product in one easy-to-shop tab on our website.

最後，PJ Place。 PJ Place 是我們所有睡衣和家居服的一站式商店。我們在兒童睡衣和配套成人睡衣方面處於領先地位。事實上，在我們的睡衣業務中，成人是我們增長最快的類別。這種新的睡眠和休息產品還讓我們有機會在 Z 世代的老客戶和年輕的千禧一代開始他們自己的家庭之前與他們建立聯繫。 PJ Place 將我們所有的睡眠和家居服產品和品牌、TCP、Gymboree、Sugar & Jade 以及我們新推出的 PJ Place 睡眠和休閒服產品集中在我們網站上一個易於購買的選項卡中。

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, we are focused on continuing to expand our total sleep and loungewear market share across all of our brands and partners in this fast-growing category.

展望 2023 年及以後，我們將專注於繼續擴大我們所有品牌和合作夥伴在這一快速增長類別中的總睡眠和家居服市場份額。

Moving on to our second pillar, digital transformation. For full year 2022, digital represented 48% of our retail sales versus 33% in 2019. We continued to deliver industry-leading digital penetration in our highest operating margin channel in 2022, supported by marketing initiatives, focused on optimizing our channel results. Approximately 60% of our acquisitions came through our digital channel in Q4. Our Millennial moms clear preference for the ease and convenience of shopping for her kids online is here to stay.

繼續我們的第二個支柱，數字化轉型。 2022 年全年，數字占我們零售額的 48%，而 2019 年為 33%。在營銷計劃的支持下，我們繼續在 2022 年的最高營業利潤率渠道中實現行業領先的數字滲透，專注於優化我們的渠道結果。我們大約 60% 的收購來自第四季度的數字渠道。我們的千禧一代媽媽明顯偏愛為她的孩子在線購物的輕鬆和便利。

And we believe our rapid and successful shift to digital as our primary acquisition channel gives us an important competitive advantage as we work to acquire and retain Millennial mom and begin to market to the oldest of the Gen Z cohort who are now starting to become our next generation of customers.

我們相信，我們迅速成功地轉向數字化作為我們的主要獲取渠道，這為我們提供了重要的競爭優勢，因為我們致力於獲取和留住千禧一代的媽媽，並開始向 Z 世代中最年長的人群推銷產品，他們現在正開始成為我們的下一個一代客戶。

We are excited about our digital growth opportunities and our highest operating margin channel, and based on the success of our digital transformation, the strength of our digital business and our increased investments in this channel. Digital is projected to represent over $1 billion in sales by full year 2025 or over 60% of our total retail sales versus 33% of our retail sales in 2019, doubling our digital penetration in 6 years and further cementing our successful transition to a digital-first retailer. As a point of reference, our $1 billion digital revenue forecast does not include digital revenue from our wholesale or international businesses.

我們對我們的數字增長機會和我們最高的營業利潤率渠道感到興奮，並且基於我們數字化轉型的成功、我們數字業務的實力以及我們對該渠道的投資增加。預計到 2025 年全年數字銷售額將超過 10 億美元，占我們零售總額的 60% 以上，而 2019 年佔零售銷售額的 33%，這將使我們的數字滲透率在 6 年內翻一番，並進一步鞏固我們向數字化轉型的成功轉型第一零售商。作為參考，我們 10 億美元的數字收入預測不包括我們批發或國際業務的數字收入。

Moving on to our third strategic pillar, alternate channels of distribution. Our Amazon business continued to outperform our projections in 2022. Amazon is a key growth focus in our wholesale distribution strategy. And in 2022, we strengthened our Amazon partnership. Amazon is our second highest operating margin channel, a significant contributor to our top and bottom line and a very important consumer acquisition vehicle with many of these customers having higher income levels. Amazon represents a major growth opportunity in 2023 and beyond, and Maegan will further discuss Amazon in her remarks.

繼續我們的第三個戰略支柱，替代分銷渠道。我們的亞馬遜業務在 2022 年的表現繼續超出我們的預期。亞馬遜是我們批發分銷戰略的一個關鍵增長重點。 2022 年，我們加強了與亞馬遜的合作夥伴關係。亞馬遜是我們第二高的營業利潤率渠道，對我們的收入和利潤做出了重要貢獻，並且是非常重要的消費者獲取工具，其中許多客戶的收入水平較高。亞馬遜代表了 2023 年及以後的主要增長機會，Maegan 將在她的講話中進一步討論亞馬遜。

And with respect to our fourth and final pillar, fleet optimization. We have made outstanding progress on our fleet optimization initiative over the last few years. We have closed 315 stores since 2019, representing 34% of our fleet. If we had stayed locked into our over-stored model with onerous fixed costs and multiyear double-digit traffic decline even before the pandemic, I believe we would have followed the path of dozens of other retailers who permanently closed their doors before and during the pandemic. Instead, we have transformed into a dynamic, variable-based transactional cost structure with our industry-leading digital business, thereby reducing risk and paving the path towards sustained top and bottom line growth.

關於我們的第四個也是最後一個支柱，車隊優化。在過去幾年中，我們在機隊優化計劃方面取得了顯著進展。自 2019 年以來，我們關閉了 315 家門店，占我們門店總數的 34%。如果我們甚至在大流行之前就一直鎖定在我們的過度存儲模型中，固定成本高昂，客流量多年呈兩位數下降，我相信我們會走其他幾十家零售商的道路，這些零售商在大流行之前和期間永久關門.相反，我們已經通過我們行業領先的數字業務轉變為動態的、基於可變的交易成本結構，從而降低風險並為持續的收入和利潤增長鋪平道路。

Looking ahead, we are now anticipating that we will close approximately 100 more stores, with the bulk of those store closures occurring in 2023. This will leave us with an optimized fleet of approximately 500 stores as we enter 2024. Our fleet optimization strategy has been a critical part of our company's structural reset and aligns with our current and future customers' digital shopping preferences. The data is clear. Millennials have a strong preference for online shopping, and this is only projected to continue to increase with Gen Z parents.

展望未來，我們現在預計我們將關閉大約 100 家門店，其中大部分門店關閉發生在 2023 年。這將使我們在進入 2024 年時擁有約 500 家門店的優化車隊。我們的車隊優化策略一直是這是我們公司結構重組的關鍵部分，並與我們當前和未來客戶的數字購物偏好保持一致。數據很清楚。千禧一代對網上購物有著強烈的偏好，而且隨著 Z 世代父母的加入，這種情況預計只會繼續增加。

I think it's important to note that we have a very small newborn and baby business. So our customers are overwhelmingly younger self-purchasers versus other retailers who still have a much larger share of older customers, including grandparents and gifters, many of whom, for example, still prefer an in-store experience as they drive to the store to pick up the perfect baby gift.

我認為重要的是要注意我們的新生兒和嬰兒業務非常小。因此，我們的客戶絕大部分是較年輕的自購者，而其他零售商仍然擁有更大比例的年長客戶，包括祖父母和送禮者，例如，他們中的許多人在開車到店挑選時仍然更喜歡店內體驗完美的嬰兒禮物。

We are confident that our projected fleet size of approximately 500 stores allows us to maximize our omnichannel capabilities and grow our industry-leading digital penetration and service our young, digitally-savvy customers through our highest operating margin channel.

我們有信心，我們預計的約 500 家商店的車隊規模使我們能夠最大限度地發揮我們的全渠道能力，並提高我們行業領先的數字滲透率，並通過我們最高的營業利潤率渠道為我們年輕、精通數字的客戶提供服務。

Thank you. And now I'll turn it over to Maegan to discuss our marketing transformation and our Amazon channel.

謝謝。現在我將把它交給 Maegan 來討論我們的營銷轉型和我們的亞馬遜渠道。

Thank you, Jane, and good morning, everyone. As Jane mentioned, our marketing transformation over the past few years enables us to capitalize on maximizing our interactions with our younger, digitally-savvy Millennial and Gen Z customers and to support the growth of a significantly larger and stronger digital business coming out of the pandemic.

謝謝你，簡，大家早上好。正如 Jane 提到的那樣，我們在過去幾年的營銷轉型使我們能夠最大限度地利用我們與年輕、精通數字的千禧一代和 Z 世代客戶的互動，並支持在大流行病後發展壯大的數字業務.

Starting in the back half of 2022, we felt confident in our ability to concept, build, deploy and optimize fully integrated creative marketing strategies paired with a robust media mix aimed to reach, inspire and convert our shoppers at every stage of their purchase journey with The Children's Place family of brands.

從 2022 年下半年開始，我們對自己構思、構建、部署和優化完全集成的創意營銷策略以及強大的媒體組合的能力充滿信心，旨在通過Children's Place 系列品牌。

Our data-driven marketing transformation was designed to support the significant future topline opportunity we've been discussing for several quarters by increasing new customer acquisition, customer retention and loyalty, and importantly, significantly increasing customer lifetime value through our marketing efforts and our new brand launches.

我們的數據驅動營銷轉型旨在通過增加新客戶獲取、客戶保留和忠誠度，以及重要的是，通過我們的營銷努力和我們的新品牌顯著提高客戶生命週期價值，來支持我們幾個季度以來一直在討論的重要未來收入機會發射。

As Jane discussed earlier, the recent launch of our Gymboree, Sugar & Jade and PJ Place brands have not only aided in our success in driving overall brand awareness and our ability to seize untapped market share opportunities, but has also lifted customer lifetime value. Through our family of brands, we've been able to provide market differentiation through our unique and trend-right product assortments and provide value defined beyond just price that is delivered through quality, fit, versatility and durability, solidifying The Children's Place leadership position in the children's apparel industry.

正如 Jane 之前所討論的，我們最近推出的 Gymboree、Sugar & Jade 和 PJ Place 品牌不僅幫助我們成功提升了整體品牌知名度和我們抓住未開發市場份額機會的能力，而且還提升了客戶的終身價值。通過我們的品牌系列，我們已經能夠通過我們獨特且符合潮流的產品分類提供市場差異化，並通過質量、合身性、多功能性和耐用性提供超越價格的定義價值，鞏固了 The Children's Place 在童裝行業。

In the short time since launching these brands, we've seen strong results as it relates to customer lifetime value, spend and frequency. To date, our analysis shows that, on average, our multi-brand shoppers, customers who shop The Children's Place and one or more other of our brands spend 2.5x more than single brand shoppers. These multi-brand shoppers have a frequency of more than 2x a single brand shopper and have a higher spend per purchase of 15% more than a single brand shopper. Said another way, customers that shop 2 or more of our family of brands are far more valuable than our single brand shoppers.

在推出這些品牌後的短時間內，我們看到了與客戶生命週期價值、支出和頻率相關的強勁結果。迄今為止，我們的分析表明，平均而言，我們的多品牌購物者、購買 The Children's Place 以及我們的一個或多個其他品牌的顧客的消費是單一品牌購物者的 2.5 倍。這些多品牌購物者的頻率是單一品牌購物者的 2 倍以上，並且每次購買的支出比單一品牌購物者高出 15%。換句話說，購買我們品牌系列中 2 個或更多品牌的顧客比我們單一品牌的顧客更有價值。

Now let's move to recap. Our very encouraging full funnel strategy results from the back half of 2022, starting with top of funnel. With top-of-funnel brand awareness being a key area of focus for us in Q3 and Q4, The Children's Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade and our new brand launch, PJ Place, cut through the noise experienced by other retailers during this timeframe. It was a curtains-up moment for our brand, and we're incredibly proud of the results.

現在讓我們回顧一下。我們非常令人鼓舞的全漏斗戰略從 2022 年下半年開始，從漏斗頂部開始。由於漏斗頂端品牌知名度是我們在第三季度和第四季度關注的關鍵領域，兒童樂園、金寶貝、Sugar & Jade 和我們的新品牌發布 PJ Place 消除了其他零售商在這段時間內經歷的噪音.這對我們的品牌來說是一個謝幕時刻，我們為結果感到無比自豪。

We partnered with some of the largest celebrity names in mainstream media, including Kevin Hart, Kris Jenner, Khloé Kardashian, Mandy Moore and Tyler Cameron. Across our back-to-school and holiday campaigns for The Children's Place, Gymboree and PJ Place, we garnered over 143 billion impressions across our earned and paid media efforts. To put this in perspective, our 2021 back half campaigns represented just 0.6% of the reach that we achieved in the back half of 2022. These incredibly disruptive brand campaigns also translated to positive topline results. For every dollar we invested, we made close to 7x back in topline revenue. And our blended return on ad spend of $6.75 is well above the industry benchmark for top-of-funnel performance.

我們與主流媒體中一些最知名的名人合作，包括凱文哈特、克里斯詹納、科勒卡戴珊、曼迪摩爾和泰勒卡梅隆。在我們為 The Children's Place、Gymboree 和 PJ Place 開展的返校和假期活動中，我們通過免費和付費媒體努力獲得了超過 1,430 億次展示。從正確的角度來看，我們 2021 年下半年的營銷活動僅占我們 2022 年下半年實現的覆蓋面的 0.6%。這些令人難以置信的顛覆性品牌營銷活動也轉化為積極的頂線結果。對於我們投資的每一美元，我們的收入增加了近 7 倍。我們的混合廣告支出回報率為 6.75 美元，遠高於渠道頂部績效的行業基準。

Moving on to our social dominance. While our followers continue to steadily increase, the true measure of success across social media is the quality of our followers and the level of engagement. Our Q3 and Q4 brand campaigns have proven that The Children's Place brands continue to hold the #1 position on social media, driving industry-leading results, representing 70% of total social impressions and representing 59% of total social interactions amongst our children's apparel retailers' competitive set. The Children's Place family of brands dominated social media to take the #1 rank across impressions and interactions for Q3 and Q4 of 2022.

繼續我們的社會主導地位。雖然我們的關注者繼續穩步增加，但衡量社交媒體成功與否的真正標準是關注者的質量和參與度。我們的第三季度和第四季度品牌活動證明，The Children's Place 品牌繼續在社交媒體上保持第一的位置，推動行業領先的結果，占我們儿童服裝零售商總社會印象的 70%，佔總社會互動的 59% ' 競爭的集合。 Children's Place 系列品牌在社交媒體上佔據主導地位，在 2022 年第三季度和第四季度的印象和互動中排名第一。

All of these successful top-of-funnel brand activations fueled our growth and acquisition. In fact, U.S. acquisition during the fourth quarter of 2022 was up 3% versus last year despite being up against a record-setting Q4 in 2021. Even more impressive, when compared to Q4 of 2019, acquisition is up 11% despite having significantly less stores, which further validates our successful digital acquisition strategy. When looking at full year 2022, acquisition was up 3% versus 2021, a banner year for the industry and up 7% versus 2019 despite having 34% less stores. Looking ahead to 2023 and based on the successes of our recent strategies, we're planning for growth in our customer file, driven by digital acquisition.

所有這些成功的渠道頂部品牌激活都推動了我們的發展和收購。事實上，儘管 2021 年第四季度創下歷史新高，但美國在 2022 年第四季度的收購量比去年增長了 3%。更令人印象深刻的是，與 2019 年第四季度相比，收購量增長了 11%，儘管收購量明顯減少商店，這進一步驗證了我們成功的數字收購戰略。縱觀 2022 年全年，收購量比 2021 年增長了 3%，這是該行業標誌性的一年，儘管門店數量減少了 34%，但比 2019 年增長了 7%。展望 2023 年，基於我們近期戰略的成功，我們計劃在數字收購的推動下增加客戶檔案。

Now let's move further down the funnel and discuss retention and loyalty. Consolidated U.S. retention was up 4% in Q4 of 2022 versus Q4 of 2021. As a customer-centric organization, we think mobile first. Our Millennial and Gen Z shoppers are connected to their mobile devices, and mobile is the cornerstone of our digital strategy.

現在讓我們進一步深入漏斗並討論保留率和忠誠度。與 2021 年第四季度相比，2022 年第四季度美國的綜合保留率增長了 4%。作為一個以客戶為中心的組織，我們首先考慮移動。我們的千禧一代和 Z 世代購物者與他們的移動設備相連，而移動設備是我們數字戰略的基石。

In Q4, 77% of our U.S. digital transactions occurred on a mobile device. Our targeted mobile app strategies have driven a significant increase in mobile app transactions and mobile app users. In Q4, our mobile app accounted for 18% of our U.S. digital transactions versus 14% in Q4 of 2021, fueled by an impressive 15% increase in mobile app customers versus last year. Our mobile app customers spend and shop 2x more than our non-app customers. Our loyalty and private label credit programs also continue to be strong retention vehicles for our brand. Our consolidated loyalty penetration was 78% of U.S. sales in Q4 of 2022 versus 74% in 2021, showing meaningful growth across our largest customer base. And our private label credit penetration was 22% of U.S. sales in Q4 of 2022. While we saw strong acquisition and retention results in 2022, we also experienced challenges with respect to customer spend due to the unprecedented inflationary environment which disproportionately impacted our core customer. While we were able to maintain our customer frequency in the U.S. versus 2021, we had a decrease in customer spend of 7% versus 2021.

在第四季度，我們 77% 的美國數字交易發生在移動設備上。我們有針對性的移動應用策略推動了移動應用交易和移動應用用戶的顯著增長。在第四季度，我們的移動應用程序占我們美國數字交易的 18%，而 2021 年第四季度為 14%，這得益於移動應用程序客戶與去年相比增長了 15%。我們的移動應用程序客戶比非應用程序客戶花費和購物多 2 倍。我們的忠誠度和自有品牌信用計劃也繼續成為我們品牌的強大保留工具。 2022 年第四季度，我們的綜合忠誠度滲透率占美國銷售額的 78%，而 2021 年為 74%，這表明我們最大的客戶群實現了有意義的增長。 2022 年第四季度，我們的自有品牌信貸滲透率占美國銷售額的 22%。雖然我們在 2022 年看到了強勁的收購和保留結果，但由於前所未有的通脹環境對我們的核心客戶造成了不成比例的影響，我們在客戶支出方面也遇到了挑戰。雖然與 2021 年相比，我們能夠保持在美國的客戶頻率，但與 2021 年相比，我們的客戶支出減少了 7%。

Now let's move on to our historical marketing investments, our future investment plans and their respective returns. As we've discussed before, The Children's Place has historically been underfunded with respect to marketing versus our specialty peers. Our marketing spend, measured by our ad spend to sales ratio was less than 2% in 2022, well below the industry benchmark of over 3%. Despite our relative underfunding in 2022, we delivered a blended return on ad spend of $10.52, which is significantly above the industry benchmark of $6 to $7. This clearly signals opportunity to further drive incremental sales through increased marketing investment, while still delivering a healthy return.

現在讓我們繼續討論我們的歷史營銷投資、我們未來的投資計劃及其各自的回報。正如我們之前所討論的那樣，與我們的專業同行相比，The Children's Place 在營銷方面歷來資金不足。 2022 年，我們的營銷支出（以廣告支出佔銷售額的比率衡量）不到 2%，遠低於超過 3% 的行業基準。儘管我們在 2022 年的資金相對不足，但我們的廣告支出混合回報率為 10.52 美元，遠高於 6 至 7 美元的行業基準。這清楚地表明有機會通過增加營銷投資進一步推動增量銷售，同時仍能帶來可觀的回報。

Now let's move on to Amazon. Along with our decision to accelerate our digital transformation, our store closure plans and our marketing transformation, we also accelerated our Amazon initiative. The significant time and resources, including inventory and marketing investment that we've dedicated towards building our Amazon marketplace over the past 2 years has resulted in significant growth, with Amazon delivering another strong performance in Q4. As we shared on our last call, we achieved record-high Amazon sales during the Prime Day period in Q2. And sales continued to build throughout the back half of the year.

現在讓我們轉到亞馬遜。除了我們加快數字化轉型、關閉門店計劃和營銷轉型的決定外，我們還加快了我們的亞馬遜計劃。我們在過去 2 年中投入大量時間和資源（包括庫存和營銷投資）來建設我們的亞馬遜市場，這帶來了顯著的增長，亞馬遜在第四季度再次取得了強勁的業績。正如我們在上次電話會議上分享的那樣，我們在第二季度的 Prime 會員日期間實現了創紀錄的亞馬遜銷售額。整個下半年的銷售額繼續增長。

We participated in the Turkey Five Thanksgiving promotion in Q4, which resulted in the largest day of Amazon sales in our history, exceeding our Q2 Prime Day record. Our Q4 Amazon site sales were up 120% versus Q4 of 2021, fueled by a 200% increase in traffic year-over-year. Our Q4 performance capped a strong end to the year with site sales up 118% in full year 2022 versus full year 2021, fueled by a 197% increase in traffic, serving as a strong indicator of the potential we have with this partner in 2023 and beyond.

我們參加了第四季度的土耳其五感恩節促銷活動，創造了我們歷史上亞馬遜銷售額最高的一天，超過了我們第二季度的 Prime Day 記錄。在流量同比增長 200% 的推動下，我們第四季度的亞馬遜網站銷售額比 2021 年第四季度增長了 120%。我們的第四季度業績以強勁的表現結束了這一年，2022 年全年的網站銷售額比 2021 年全年增長了 118%，這得益於流量增長了 197%，這是我們與該合作夥伴在 2023 年和超過。

Marketing is a key component to driving the Amazon business and our successful marketing strategies are driving the significant year-over-year increases in traffic. Ad attributed sales with Amazon were 49% of total Amazon channel sales for 2022, up 308% versus 2021, with a strong double-digit return on ad spend. Last fall, we launched our iconic Gymboree brand on Amazon. And the Amazon Gymboree business has consistently built since our launch and exceeded our expectations for 2022.

營銷是推動亞馬遜業務的關鍵組成部分，我們成功的營銷策略正在推動流量同比顯著增長。 2022 年，廣告歸因於亞馬遜的銷售額佔亞馬遜渠道總銷售額的 49%，比 2021 年增長 308%，廣告支出回報率高達兩位數。去年秋天，我們在亞馬遜上推出了標誌性的金寶貝品牌。 Amazon Gymboree 業務自推出以來一直在不斷發展，超出了我們對 2022 年的預期。

This momentum was partially fueled by an enhanced advertising strategy built around maximizing the brand's visibility in high-impact placements. Our Gymboree ad performance has been recognized by Amazon as a case study for successful cold start brands. Based on the strong performance with over 50% of total Amazon channel sales coming through at attributed sales in 2022 at a very healthy return on ad spend, which signals the significant opportunity ahead to drive incremental sales through increased marketing investment.

這一勢頭的部分推動因素是圍繞最大限度地提高品牌在高影響力展示位置中的知名度而製定的強化廣告策略。我們的金寶貝廣告表現已被亞馬遜認可為成功冷啟動品牌的案例研究。基於 2022 年超過 50% 的亞馬遜渠道總銷售額來自歸因銷售額的強勁表現，廣告支出回報率非常可觀，這表明未來存在通過增加營銷投資來推動增量銷售的重大機會。

We anticipate that our partnership with Amazon will continue to strengthen. We'll talk more about the future opportunities as the year progresses, but we see opportunity to pursue both expanding our family of brands through the Amazon channel as well as international growth opportunities.

我們預計我們與亞馬遜的合作夥伴關係將繼續加強。隨著時間的推移，我們將更多地討論未來的機會，但我們看到了通過亞馬遜渠道擴大我們的品牌系列以及國際增長機會的機會。

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, we have significant growth potential from our marketing transformation, our realigned marketing spend and our strong Amazon partnership. I am proud to be leading these important initiatives.

展望 2023 年及以後，我們的營銷轉型、重新調整的營銷支出和強大的亞馬遜合作夥伴關係將帶來巨大的增長潛力。我很自豪能夠領導這些重要的舉措。

Now I will turn it over to Sheamus.

現在我將把它交給 Sheamus。

Thank you, Maegan, and good morning, everyone. I would like to begin by providing some context to the full year 2022 and more specifics on our fourth quarter results. I will then provide some remarks with respect to our outlook for 2023 and our strategic vision for the future.

謝謝你，Maegan，大家早上好。我想首先提供一些 2022 年全年的背景信息，以及我們第四季度業績的更多細節。然後我將就我們對 2023 年的展望和我們對未來的戰略願景發表一些評論。

First, as a relatively newcomer to the company, I was able to analyze the results of our comprehensive multiyear transformation with fresh eyes, and I am confident that our strategic reset to a digital-first company, provides a strong foundation for consistent and profitable growth in the future, which will drive shareholder value creation.

首先，作為公司的新人，我能夠以全新的眼光分析我們多年來全面轉型的結果，我相信我們的戰略調整為數字優先公司，為持續盈利增長奠定了堅實的基礎未來，這將推動股東價值創造。

Let me say a little bit more about the remarkable transition the company has made to a digital-first retailer with a productive, optimized store base. Make no mistake about it. This was a change, which our younger Millennial customer required us to make. I know from my past experience that the journey from a company with over 1,100 stores and a single-digit e-commerce penetration to one having approximately 600 stores and 50% of its revenues online is not easy, but The Children's Place did it.

讓我多說一點關於該公司向擁有高效、優化的商店基礎的數字優先零售商所做的顯著轉變。別搞錯了。這是我們年輕的千禧一代客戶要求我們做出的改變。根據我過去的經驗，我知道從一家擁有超過 1,100 家門店和個位數電子商務滲透率的公司到擁有大約 600 家門店和 50% 的在線收入的公司的旅程並不容易，但是 The Children's Place 做到了。

Ignore for a moment the impact of the macro issues which we and all retailers faced in the last 12 months, including the unprecedented cost of cotton, shipping containers and airfreight as well as the impact of record inflationary pressures which our customers confronted.

暫時忽略過去 12 個月我們和所有零售商面臨的宏觀問題的影響，包括棉花、海運集裝箱和空運前所未有的成本，以及我們的客戶面臨的創紀錄通脹壓力的影響。

To successfully transform, we needed to practically reinvent the company, and that transition did not come without some ups and downs, both operationally and financially. But it is my belief that the past volatility in our performance is now largely mitigated as we now have the key building blocks of our strategy in place, as Jane described. We will now begin to fine-tune and capitalize on our new model, and I am highly confident that beginning in the back half of 2023, our results will prove that our transformation strategy was the right one.

為了成功轉型，我們需要切實重塑公司，而這種轉型在運營和財務方面都經歷了一些起伏。但我相信，正如 Jane 所描述的那樣，由於我們現在擁有了我們戰略的關鍵組成部分，因此過去我們業績的波動性現在已大大減輕。我們現在將開始微調和利用我們的新模式，我非常有信心從 2023 年下半年開始，我們的結果將證明我們的轉型戰略是正確的。

In terms of a brief overview of our Q4, as we previously disclosed, our fourth quarter results came in significantly below our original expectations, but were slightly better than our revised guidance in early February. We reported adjusted loss per share of $3.87 per share for Q4. This loss was primarily due to the combination of high product input cost, most notably cotton and freight and the effects of the macroeconomic environment that proved to be far more challenging for our core customers than we originally expected.

關於我們第四季度的簡要概述，正如我們之前披露的那樣，我們第四季度的業績大大低於我們最初的預期，但略好於我們在 2 月初修訂後的指引。我們報告第四季度調整後的每股虧損為 3.87 美元。這一損失主要是由於產品投入成本高，尤其是棉花和運費，以及宏觀經濟環境的影響對我們的核心客戶來說比我們原先預期的更具挑戰性。

In the face of these unforeseen challenges, the company made several strategic decisions with respect to the level and composition of inventory and expenses, which resulted in additional operating margin pressure as we disclosed in our February 6 press release.

面對這些不可預見的挑戰，公司在庫存和費用的水平和構成方面做出了幾項戰略決策，這導致了額外的營業利潤壓力，正如我們在 2 月 6 日的新聞稿中披露的那樣。

In terms of the detailed results, net sales for the fourth quarter decreased $52 million or 10% to $456 million, primarily driven by the macroeconomic challenges. Our U.S. net sales decreased by $72 million or 16% to $372 million, and our Canadian net sales decreased by $4 million or 9% to $43 million. Comparable store sales decreased 12.8% for the quarter. This result was negatively impacted by the challenging macro environment, resulting in the continued slowdown in consumer demand due to unprecedented levels of inflation and the absence of government stimulus.

就具體業績而言，第四季度淨銷售額下降 5200 萬美元或 10% 至 4.56 億美元，這主要是受宏觀經濟挑戰的推動。我們在美國的淨銷售額減少了 7200 萬美元或 16% 至 3.72 億美元，我們在加拿大的淨銷售額減少了 400 萬美元或 9% 至 4300 萬美元。本季度可比店面銷售額下降 12.8%。這一結果受到充滿挑戰的宏觀環境的負面影響，導致前所未有的通脹水平和政府刺激措施的缺乏導致消費者需求持續放緩。

Our comparable store traffic was up approximately 2%, and our e-commerce traffic was down approximately 3%, driven by lapping the COVID surge last year, which significantly decreased store traffic and increased e-commerce traffic last year in December and January. Our overall average dollar sale declined by approximately 10%, driven by a mid-single-digit decline in both AUR and UPT. Importantly, AURs remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, validating the success of our updated pricing strategies, which we believe will pay significant dividends as input and transactional costs come down as we move into the back half of 2023.

我們的可比商店流量增長了約 2%，而我們的電子商務流量下降了約 3%，這是受去年 COVID 激增的影響，去年 12 月和 1 月，商店流量顯著減少，電子商務流量增加。我們的總體平均美元銷售額下降了約 10%，這是由於 AUR 和 UPT 均出現中等個位數的下降。重要的是，AUR 仍遠高於大流行前的水平，證實了我們更新的定價策略的成功，我們相信隨著我們進入 2023 年下半年，投入和交易成本下降，這將帶來可觀的回報。

Adjusted gross profit margin for the quarter decreased to 17.5% of net sales as compared to 38.2% of net sales in the prior year, driven by the combination of an unprecedented increase in input costs, including cotton and supply chain costs, the impact of a highly promotional retail environment, temporarily elevated transaction costs due to an increase in the number of packages shipped, combined with various strategic initiatives that the company took to reduce inventory and ensure that we entered the spring season with clean, fresh inventories.

本季度調整後的毛利率下降至淨銷售額的 17.5%，而去年同期為淨銷售額的 38.2%，這是由於包括棉花和供應鏈成本在內的投入成本空前增加、高度促銷的零售環境，由於發貨包裹數量的增加導致交易成本暫時升高，再加上公司為減少庫存而採取的各種戰略舉措，以確保我們以乾淨、新鮮的庫存進入春季。

Adjusted SG&A was $129 million for the fourth quarter as compared to $119 million last year. This increase was primarily a result of the investment and marketing initiatives, as Maegan described, an increase in various sales tax reserves and inflationary pressures on various general and administrative expenses. Our net interest expense was $5 million for the quarter versus adjusted net interest of $2 million in the prior year's fourth quarter.

第四季度調整後的 SG&A 為 1.29 億美元，而去年同期為 1.19 億美元。正如 Maegan 所描述的那樣，這一增長主要是由於投資和營銷舉措、各種銷售稅儲備的增加以及各種一般和管理費用的通貨膨脹壓力。我們本季度的淨利息支出為 500 萬美元，而去年第四季度的調整後淨利息支出為 200 萬美元。

The increase in interest expense was driven by higher borrowings and higher average interest rates associated with the revolving credit facility and term loan. For the fourth quarter, we reflected an adjusted net loss of $48 million or $3.87 per share as compared to an adjusted net profit of $44 million or $3.02 per diluted share in the comparable period last year.

利息支出的增加是由於借款增加以及與循環信貸和定期貸款相關的平均利率上升所致。第四季度，我們反映了調整後的淨虧損 4800 萬美元或每股 3.87 美元，而去年同期的調整後淨利潤為 4400 萬美元或每股攤薄後 3.02 美元。

Moving to our balance sheet. We ended the year with cash and short-term investments of $17 million, $287 million of outstanding borrowings on our revolving credit facility and a modest amount of long-term debt, which remains unchanged at $50 million. During the quarter, we made significant progress in our inventory reduction efforts. As we previously discussed, our inventory still includes certain higher average unit cost inventory that was purchased in 2022 when input costs were at their peak. Nonetheless, we are pleased that we were able to liquidate a significant portion of this inventory in Q4 and importantly, ended the year with lower inventory levels of seasonal fall and holiday inventory. Inventory levels, which had been up 24% as we entered the quarter, were only up approximately 4% as we ended the quarter, enabling us to end in a healthy unit position despite the higher carrying costs.

轉到我們的資產負債表。年底，我們擁有 1700 萬美元的現金和短期投資、2.87 億美元的循環信貸額度未償還借款和少量長期債務，保持在 5000 萬美元不變。本季度，我們在減少庫存方面取得了重大進展。正如我們之前討論的那樣，我們的庫存仍然包括某些平均單位成本較高的庫存，這些庫存是在 2022 年投入成本達到頂峰時購買的。儘管如此，我們很高興我們能夠在第四季度清算大部分庫存，而且重要的是，年底時季節性秋季和假日庫存水平較低。庫存水平在我們進入本季度時上升了 24%，到本季度結束時僅上升了約 4%，這使我們能夠在持有成本較高的情況下以健康的單位狀況結束。

As previously disclosed, the increase in inventory as of year-end is entirely due to higher input costs, including cotton and supply chain costs as unit inventories are down double digits versus the prior year. Our basic inventory, which includes several key high-volume categories with limited to no markdown risk, accounted for approximately 50% of our on-hand inventory at the end of Q4. This is a larger portion of inventory dedicated to basics than in past years, which helps mitigate inventory risk in a low AUR category.

正如之前披露的那樣，截至年底的庫存增加完全是由於投入成本增加，包括棉花和供應鏈成本，因為單位庫存比上一年下降了兩位數。我們的基本庫存，包括幾個關鍵的大批量類別，降價風險有限或沒有，在第四季度末約占我們現有庫存的 50%。與過去幾年相比，這是專門用於基礎知識的更大比例的庫存，這有助於降低低 AUR 類別的庫存風險。

Moving on to cash flow and liquidity. We generated $9 million of cash from operations in Q4 versus $66 million last year. As we will discuss in our outlook, our digital-first model positions us well to generate free cash flow, which will ramp up in the second half of the year. Capital expenditures in Q4 were $14 million. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased 372,000 shares for $14 million, leaving $164 million outstanding on our current authorization. Year-to-date, we have purchased 2 million shares.

繼續討論現金流和流動性。我們在第四季度的運營中產生了 900 萬美元的現金，而去年為 6600 萬美元。正如我們將在展望中討論的那樣，我們的數字優先模式使我們能夠很好地產生自由現金流，這將在今年下半年增加。第四季度的資本支出為 1400 萬美元。第四季度，我們以 1,400 萬美元回購了 372,000 股股票，目前的授權還剩下 1.64 億美元的流通股。年初至今，我們已經購買了 200 萬股。

During the fourth quarter, we closed 45 locations, and for the full year 2022, closed 59 locations, ending the year with 613 stores. We continue to carefully evaluate our store fleet and close low-volume, unprofitable stores. With over 75% of our fleet coming up for lease action in the next 24 months, we are maintaining meaningful financial flexibility in our lease portfolio. In a moment, I will provide further commentary about our real estate rationalization program as part of my discussion of our future outlook.

在第四季度，我們關閉了 45 家門店，並在 2022 年全年關閉了 59 家門店，年底門店數量為 613 家。我們繼續仔細評估我們的門店數量，並關閉銷量小、無利可圖的門店。在未來 24 個月內，我們超過 75% 的機隊將採取租賃行動，我們將在租賃組合中保持有意義的財務靈活性。稍後，我將進一步評論我們的房地產合理化計劃，作為我對未來展望的討論的一部分。

Before I get into our specific guidance, let me provide you with my thoughts on how we are approaching 2023 and beyond. With the support of Jane and the Board, I am making some necessary changes to install more financial and operating discipline to improve our results, provide more consistent and more profitable growth and drive shareholder returns.

在我進入我們的具體指導之前，讓我向您提供我對我們如何接近 2023 年及以後的想法。在 Jane 和董事會的支持下，我正在做出一些必要的改變，以建立更多的財務和運營紀律，以改善我們的業績，提供更一致、更有利可圖的增長，並推動股東回報。

Let's start with our approach to inventory. Fiscal 2022 was clearly a challenging period for the company and the entire retail sector due to the impacts of record-high inflation and also from an inventory management perspective. These challenges included the impact of decade-high cotton prices, record-high container costs, an unprecedented reliance on airfreight due to supply chain delays, cost challenges that unlike most other retailers, the company was able to largely avoid in 2021, but they did impact us in 2022.

讓我們從我們的庫存方法開始。由於創紀錄的高通貨膨脹的影響以及從庫存管理的角度來看，2022 財年對公司和整個零售業來說顯然是一個充滿挑戰的時期。這些挑戰包括十年高棉花價格的影響、創紀錄的集裝箱成本、供應鏈延誤對空運前所未有的依賴，以及與大多數其他零售商不同的成本挑戰，該公司能夠在 2021 年基本避免，但他們確實做到了在 2022 年影響我們。

As we previously disclosed, our 2022 operating results were negatively impacted by approximately $125 million versus 2021 due to 3 input costs. First, a $65 million impact due to the spike in cotton prices, our largest product input cost; second, approximately $30 million of airfreight, amidst the worldwide supply chain delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and third, approximately a $30 million increase in container costs also due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

正如我們之前披露的那樣，由於 3 項投入成本，與 2021 年相比，我們 2022 年的經營業績受到了約 1.25 億美元的負面影響。首先，棉花價格飆升造成 6500 萬美元的影響，這是我們最大的產品投入成本；其次，在 COVID-19 大流行導致全球供應鏈延誤的情況下，約 3000 萬美元的空運；第三，由於 COVID-19 大流行，集裝箱成本增加了約 3000 萬美元。

While these costs certainly impacted 2022, it will be a different story in 2023. As we enter 2023, cotton prices are down approximately 40% from their 2022 highs and are expected to continue to decline in 2023. Container costs are now approaching pre-pandemic levels. And we have effectively eliminated the use of airfreight in 2023 as the worldwide supply chain moves back in line with historical norms.

雖然這些成本肯定會影響到 2022 年，但到 2023 年情況將有所不同。進入 2023 年，棉花價格已從 2022 年的高點下跌約 40%，預計 2023 年將繼續下降。集裝箱成本現在已接近大流行前水平。隨著全球供應鏈回歸歷史規範，我們在 2023 年有效地取消了空運的使用。

While we still need to work through inventory in the front half of 2023, that has these higher input costs embedded in it, beginning in the back half of 2023, the reduction in these costs is expected to result in an annualized benefit of more than $100 million. While the effects of these high input costs have impacted all cotton-based apparel retailers, the timing or quarterly periods impacted may be different from company to company, due to the length of each company's production cycle and their use of pack and hold from previous seasons.

雖然我們仍然需要在 2023 年上半年處理庫存，其中包含更高的投入成本，但從 2023 年下半年開始，這些成本的減少預計將帶來超過 100 美元的年化收益百萬。雖然這些高投入成本的影響影響了所有以棉花為基礎的服裝零售商，但受影響的時間或季度可能因公司而異，因為每個公司的生產週期長短以及他們對前幾季包裝和存放的使用.

For us, given our supply chain process, these higher costs significantly impacted the latter part of 2022 and will continue through the first half of 2023. But we clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel as these costs have subsided. We fully expect that these headwinds will turn to tailwinds in the second half of 2023 and will position us on a path of consistent, sustainable, profitable growth.

對我們來說，考慮到我們的供應鏈流程，這些更高的成本對 2022 年下半年產生了重大影響，並將持續到 2023 年上半年。但隨著這些成本的消退，我們清楚地看到了隧道盡頭的曙光。我們完全預計，這些不利因素將在 2023 年下半年轉變為有利因素，並將使我們走上持續、可持續、盈利增長的道路。

As we moved into 2023, we remained cautious with our inventory investments as we believe the challenging environment will persist, and our customers will continue to face pressures due to high inflation and lower disposable income. This started with ensuring that we ended 2022 with lower levels of holiday fashion and non-go-forward inventory, which we accomplished in Q4. We also took a cautious view of spring and summer inventory and reduced unit inventory purchase for the first half of 2023, given the high input costs.

隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們對庫存投資保持謹慎，因為我們相信充滿挑戰的環境將持續存在，我們的客戶將繼續面臨高通脹和可支配收入下降帶來的壓力。首先是確保我們在 2022 年結束時以較低水平的假日時尚和非前進庫存，我們在第四季度完成了這些工作。鑑於高投入成本，我們還對春夏庫存持謹慎態度，並減少了 2023 年上半年的單位庫存採購。

Finally, we ensured that we appropriately invested in inventory in the back half of 2023 to maximize the margin opportunity that we see as average unit costs decline and we successfully hold the average unit price increases that we realized over the past 2 years. We believe these actions together will enable us to deliver consistent margin performance and sustainable improvement in profitability as we move into the back half of 2023 and beyond, as we further enhance our already strong digital presence.

最後，我們確保在 2023 年下半年對庫存進行適當投資，以最大限度地利用我們看到的平均單位成本下降的利潤率機會，並成功保持過去 2 年實現的平均單價上漲。我們相信，隨著我們進入 2023 年下半年及以後，隨著我們進一步加強本已強大的數字業務，這些行動將使我們能夠實現一致的利潤率表現和盈利能力的可持續改善。

Now let's shift to the digital transformation we've undergone. As Jane described, several years ago, the company developed a strategic plan to transform from a traditional brick-and-mortar business with a website into a dynamic multi-branded omnichannel business with an industry-leading digital penetration. This strategic decision not only saved the company during the pandemic, but I firmly believe that had the company not put this plan in place when it did, and had the team not remained laser-focused on achieving it despite the short-term volatility it may have caused, we would not be here today talking about how well positioned we now are for long-term sustainable growth on the top and bottom lines.

現在讓我們轉向我們經歷的數字化轉型。正如 Jane 所描述的那樣，幾年前，該公司製定了一項戰略計劃，從擁有網站的傳統實體業務轉型為具有行業領先數字滲透率的動態多品牌全渠道業務。這一戰略決策不僅在大流行期間挽救了公司，而且我堅信，如果公司沒有在製定計劃時實施該計劃，並且儘管存在短期波動，但團隊沒有始終專注於實現它已經造成，我們今天不會在這裡談論我們現在在頂線和底線的長期可持續增長方面處於多麼有利的地位。

The main goal of this strategy was to increase the shareholder value by shifting away from deteriorating mall-based retail locations with multiyear declining traffic trends and high fixed cost structures to a multi-brand digital experience that increases the lifetime value of our core Millennial customers by extending the life of the relationship with them despite the negative demographic trends of 15 years of declining birth since their peak in 2007.

該戰略的主要目標是通過從多年來客流量下降趨勢和高固定成本結構的日益惡化的購物中心零售地點轉向多品牌數字體驗來增加股東價值，從而增加我們核心千禧一代客戶的終身價值儘管自 2007 年達到頂峰以來 15 年的出生率一直呈下降趨勢，但仍延長了與他們的關係壽命。

This transformation also required a major shift in our DC strategy and capabilities as we had to rapidly transition from our then existing predominantly store-based distribution center operations to a digital-first fulfillment model. While this transformation strategy required significant investments and created short-term volatility, it has clearly positioned us for long-term success. Without these investments, we would not have been able to optimize our relationship with our core Millennial customer, who clearly prefers a digital-first experience.

這種轉變還需要我們的 DC 戰略和能力發生重大轉變，因為我們必須從當時主要以商店為主的配送中心運營快速過渡到數字優先的履行模式。雖然這種轉型戰略需要大量投資並造成短期波動，但它顯然為我們的長期成功奠定了基礎。如果沒有這些投資，我們將無法優化與我們的核心千禧一代客戶的關係，他們顯然更喜歡數字優先體驗。

The benefits of this transformation are clear, as we have not only doubled our e-commerce business, which now represents approximately 50% of our revenue, but we've done this during a time period when we've closed approximately half of our retail locations. This digital transformation has enabled us to show dramatic growth in this important component of our business, which has our highest operating margins with room for additional margin expansion and drives the best return on investment for our shareholders.

這種轉型的好處是顯而易見的，因為我們不僅將電子商務業務翻了一番（目前約占我們收入的 50%），而且在我們關閉了大約一半零售業務的時期內完成了這項工作位置。這種數字化轉型使我們能夠在我們業務的這一重要組成部分顯示出顯著增長，它具有我們最高的營業利潤率和額外利潤增長的空間，並為我們的股東帶來最佳投資回報。

First, in terms of brick-and-mortar, we previously had more than 1,100 retail stores, with very high fixed operating costs due to minimum guaranteed occupancy deals, high support costs and increasing payroll expenses due to rising minimum wage rates, which have led to a more than 30% increase in our store-level wage rates over the past 5 years.

首先，就實體店而言，我們之前擁有 1,100 多家零售店，由於最低保證入住率交易導致固定運營成本非常高，支持成本高以及由於最低工資率上升導致工資支出增加，這導致在過去的 5 年中，我們的商店級別工資率增加了 30% 以上。

Importantly, our transformation has allowed us to migrate customers away from underperforming low-volume stores to our higher operating margin digital channel, which is not burdened with high fixed costs and consistent negative traffic trends like mall-based retail locations. These real estate rationalization efforts have led to us ending 2022 with 613 stores with an industry-leading 50% digital penetration.

重要的是，我們的轉型使我們能夠將客戶從表現不佳的低銷量商店轉移到我們營業利潤率更高的數字渠道，該渠道沒有高固定成本和像購物中心零售店那樣持續的負流量趨勢。這些房地產合理化努力使我們在 2022 年底擁有 613 家商店，數字滲透率達到行業領先的 50%。

In terms of our future store footprint, we have spent a considerable amount of time analyzing our portfolio. And depending upon the outcome of various landlord negotiations, we expect to optimize our fleet with approximately 500 retail stores in the best trade areas to service our core customers' omnichannel needs.

就我們未來的門店足跡而言，我們花費了大量時間分析我們的產品組合。根據各種房東談判的結果，我們希望優化我們的車隊，在最好的貿易區擁有大約 500 家零售店，以滿足我們核心客戶的全渠道需求。

On the digital side, as Maegan described, we continue to invest in marketing as this channel represents approximately 60% of our new customer acquisition as our Millennial customer clearly prefers to shop online, positioning us in very short order to have $1 billion digital business. In order to support this consistent and profitable growth, we continue to invest in our distribution capabilities to further improve margins and increase profitability. We are expanding our Alabama distribution center to add further e-commerce fulfillment capabilities with a planned capital investment of up to $40 million over the next 18 months.

在數字方面，正如 Maegan 所描述的，我們繼續投資於營銷，因為這個渠道代表了我們新客戶獲取的大約 60%，因為我們的千禧一代客戶顯然更喜歡在線購物，這使我們很快就能擁有 10 億美元的數字業務。為了支持這種持續的盈利增長，我們繼續投資於我們的分銷能力，以進一步提高利潤率和盈利能力。我們正在擴建我們的阿拉巴馬州配送中心，以增加更多的電子商務履行能力，計劃在未來 18 個月內投資高達 4000 萬美元。

This owned DC already operates at significantly lower cost than our third-party fulfillment centers, and once our expansion is complete, we will move more of our fulfillment from third parties to our lower cost owned DC, which is expected to further expand margins.

這個自有 DC 的運營成本已經比我們的第三方履行中心低得多，一旦我們的擴張完成，我們將把更多的履行從第三方轉移到我們成本較低的自有 DC，這有望進一步擴大利潤率。

In summary, our successful digital transformation has enabled us to profitably shift away from underperforming stores with high fixed cost to our variable-based digital model where every transaction is accretive to earnings. We believe we will see the benefits of this success reflected in our financial results in the second half of 2023. We believe this strategy has successfully positioned us ahead of our peers for long-term sustainable growth in topline and expansion of bottom line profitability, driving incremental shareholder value.

總而言之，我們成功的數字化轉型使我們能夠從固定成本高、表現不佳的商店轉向我們基於可變的數字模型，在這種模型中，每筆交易都能增加收入。我們相信，我們將在 2023 年下半年的財務業績中看到這一成功的好處。我們相信，這一戰略已成功使我們領先於同行，實現收入的長期可持續增長和盈利能力的擴大，推動增加股東價值。

Moving to capital allocation. This is a topic on which we regularly discuss with our Board, and I have extensive experience. We have completed our operating plans for 2023, and we will maintain a strong focus on inventory management, reducing the level of inventory investment throughout the year. As we progress through the year and particularly in the back half of the year when free cash flow is expected to significantly expand due to our planned double-digit operating margins, we expect to reduce leverage and decrease borrowings by more than $100 million by the end of the year, further positioning us for long-term sustainable growth.

轉向資本配置。這是我們定期與董事會討論的話題，我有豐富的經驗。我們已經完成了 2023 年的經營計劃，我們將繼續高度重視庫存管理，全年降低庫存投資水平。隨著我們這一年的進展，尤其是在下半年，由於我們計劃的兩位數營業利潤率預計自由現金流將顯著增加，我們預計到年底將降低杠桿率並減少超過 1 億美元的借款年，進一步定位我們的長期可持續增長。

Now let me take you through our outlook for Q1 and fiscal year 2023. As the company has previously indicated and has been widely reported across the retail apparel sector, the first 6 months of 2023 are expected to be impacted by several temporary macro headwinds, primarily resulting from higher input costs, most notably, cotton. These high input costs which are embedded in inventory that will be liquidated in the first half of 2023 will negatively impact margin rates during the first 6 months of 2023.

現在讓我向您介紹一下我們對第一季度和 2023 財年的展望。正如該公司先前表示並在整個零售服裝行業廣泛報導的那樣，預計 2023 年前 6 個月將受到幾個暫時的宏觀不利因素的影響，主要是由於較高的投入成本，最顯著的是棉花。這些高投入成本嵌入到將於 2023 年上半年清算的庫存中，將對 2023 年前 6 個月的利潤率產生負面影響。

However, importantly, these input costs have already decreased and goods purchased for the back half of 2023 are at much more favorable costs, which is planned to result in more consistent and profitable growth through significant margin expansion, resulting in double-digit operating margins in the back half of 2023.

然而，重要的是，這些投入成本已經下降，2023 年下半年採購的商品成本要低得多，計劃通過顯著擴大利潤率實現更穩定和盈利的增長，從而實現兩位數的營業利潤率2023年下半年。

Our first quarter guidance also reflects a cautious consumer outlook with significant headwinds, including the macro environment, the continuation of record inflation, unfavorable weather trends across the country in March and lower tax refunds. These are significant factors affecting our lower-income customer.

我們的第一季度指引還反映出謹慎的消費者前景，並面臨重大不利因素，包括宏觀環境、創紀錄的通脹持續、3 月份全國不利的天氣趨勢以及較低的退稅。這些是影響我們低收入客戶的重要因素。

In light of these pressures, for Q1, the company expects the following: net sales are expected to be in the range of $335 million to $345 million, representing a decrease in the mid-single-digit percentage range as compared to the prior year first quarter; adjusted operating loss is expected to be in the range of 6.5% to 8% of net sales; adjusted net loss per share is expected to be in the range of $1.60 per share to $1.90 per share.

鑑於這些壓力，公司對第一季度的預期如下：淨銷售額預計在 3.35 億美元至 3.45 億美元之間，與去年同期相比下降了中個位數百分比範圍四分之一;調整後的經營虧損預計在淨銷售額的 6.5% 至 8% 之間；調整後的每股淨虧損預計在每股 1.60 美元至 1.90 美元之間。

We anticipate that the first quarter gross margin rate will decline approximately 1,000 basis points, reflecting the impact of higher input costs on goods expected to be sold in the first half of 2023 as well as anticipated higher shrink costs given the current retail environment. Selling, general and administrative expenses are expected to be up slightly, reflecting inflationary pressures and planned increases in marketing, partially offset by reductions in store payroll due to lower store count and our expense rationalization initiatives. However, on a rate basis, these expenses are expected to deleverage due to the impact of lower revenue.

我們預計第一季度毛利率將下降約 1,000 個基點，反映出較高的投入成本對預計 2023 年上半年銷售的商品的影響，以及在當前零售環境下預期較高的收縮成本。銷售、一般和管理費用預計將略有上升，反映了通脹壓力和計劃增加的營銷費用，部分被商店數量減少和我們的費用合理化舉措導致的商店工資減少所抵消。然而，在利率基礎上，由於收入下降的影響，這些費用預計會去槓桿化。

At the end of the first quarter, inventory is expected to be down in the high single-digit percentage range versus the prior year first quarter and unit inventories are expected to be down double digits versus the prior year. We are planning for capital expenditures of approximately $5 million for the quarter. The large majority being allocated to support digital initiatives and the expansion of our fulfillment capabilities.

在第一季度末，庫存預計將比去年第一季度下降高個位數的百分比範圍，單位庫存預計將比上年下降兩位數。我們計劃本季度的資本支出約為 500 萬美元。絕大多數被分配用於支持數字計劃和擴展我們的履行能力。

Moving on to Q2 and the full year outlook. As we move into the second quarter, we are expecting gross margin pressures to begin to subside. And while we're still expecting an operating loss for the quarter, this loss is expected to moderate versus our Q1 results. The cost headwind that is expected in the front half of 2023 are anticipated to turn to tailwinds in the back half of the year, largely due to inventory purchased for our critically important back-to-school and holiday seasons being at much lower input costs. This will enable us to significantly improve margins in the back half of the year as we plan to return to double-digit operating margins for the 6-month period and will drive significant free cash flow.

繼續第二季度和全年展望。隨著我們進入第二季度，我們預計毛利率壓力將開始消退。雖然我們仍然預計本季度會出現運營虧損，但與我們第一季度的業績相比，預計這一虧損會有所緩和。預計 2023 年上半年的成本逆風預計將在今年下半年轉為順風，這主要是由於我們為至關重要的返校和假期購買的庫存投入成本要低得多。這將使我們能夠在今年下半年顯著提高利潤率，因為我們計劃在 6 個月內恢復兩位數的營業利潤率，並將推動大量自由現金流。

For the full year, the company expects the following: net sales are expected to be in the range of $1.62 billion to $1.66 billion, representing a decrease in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range as compared to the prior fiscal year; adjusted operating profit is expected to be in the range of 3.5% to 4.0% of net sales; adjusted net earnings per diluted share is expected to be in the range of $2.50 to $3 per share.

對於全年，公司預計如下： 淨銷售額預計在 16.2 億美元至 16.6 億美元之間，與上一財年相比，下降了中低個位數百分比範圍；調整後的營業利潤預計在淨銷售額的 3.5% 至 4.0% 之間；調整後的每股攤薄淨收益預計在每股 2.50 美元至 3 美元之間。

These results include the impact of the 53rd week in 2023 based upon our retail calendar. This week occurs during a low-volume non-peak clearance period and as a result, is expected to have a very modest impact on revenue and an insignificant impact on operating results. We are planning capital expenditures for the full year to be in the range of $40 million to $50 million, primarily to support our DC expansion, digital initiatives and the enhancement of our fulfillment capabilities.

根據我們的零售日曆，這些結果包括 2023 年第 53 週的影響。本週發生在低流量非高峰清關期，因此預計對收入的影響非常溫和，對經營業績的影響微不足道。我們計劃全年的資本支出在 4000 萬至 5000 萬美元之間，主要用於支持我們的 DC 擴展、數字計劃和增強我們的履行能力。

We anticipate closing 100 stores as part of our ongoing fleet optimization initiative with the bulk of the closures happening in 2023, leaving us with an optimized fleet of approximately 500 stores. We are planning for full year tax rate of approximately 25%.

作為我們正在進行的車隊優化計劃的一部分，我們預計將關閉 100 家門店，其中大部分關閉發生在 2023 年，使我們擁有約 500 家門店的優化車隊。我們計劃全年稅率約為 25%。

Thank you. And I will now turn it back over to Jane.

謝謝。我現在將把它轉回給簡。

Thank you, Sheamus. I want to thank Sheamus for his strong partnership and the significant contributions he has made since he joined our team in November. He has made a very positive impact in a short time. And on behalf of the SLT, we are thankful for his experience and his contributions as we partner with him to drive shareholder value in 2023 and beyond.

謝謝你，希莫斯。我要感謝 Sheamus 自去年 11 月加入我們團隊以來的強大合作夥伴關係以及他所做的重大貢獻。他在短時間內產生了非常積極的影響。我們代表 SLT，感謝他的經驗和貢獻，因為我們與他合作，在 2023 年及以後推動股東價值。

In closing, we are a very different company today than we were in 2019. We have architected and executed a sweeping structural reset of our company in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in retail history. I am so proud of our team for accomplishing this task. And I believe a large part of the reason we were able to deliver these accomplishments successfully and with conviction is our unique profile.

最後，我們今天是一家與 2019 年截然不同的公司。在零售業歷史上最動蕩的時期之一，我們設計並執行了對公司的全面結構重組。我為我們的團隊完成這項任務感到非常自豪。我相信，我們之所以能夠成功並堅定地取得這些成就，很大一部分原因是我們獨特的形象。

We are a women-led company. Our senior team is over 50% women and approximately 90% of our associates and our customers are women. And further, the majority of our associates are from the Millennial and Gen Z generations. We are our customer. We learn from each other every day, and we push each other to stay relevant through our laser focus on our digital-first model and our accelerated store optimization plan. We have product that resonates with our digitally-savvy Millennial mom, marketing that converts, and we now have an infrastructure that is optimized for the way they shop today and will shop tomorrow.

我們是一家以女性為主導的公司。我們的高級團隊有超過 50% 的女性，大約 90% 的員工和客戶是女性。此外，我們的大多數員工都來自千禧一代和 Z 世代。我們是我們的客戶。我們每天都在互相學習，通過我們對數字優先模型和加速商店優化計劃的高度關注，我們互相推動以保持相關性。我們的產品與我們精通數字技術的千禧一代媽媽產生了共鳴，營銷方式可以轉化，我們現在擁有針對他們今天和明天的購物方式進行優化的基礎設施。

I am grateful to lead such a dynamic team, and I want to thank all of them for their hard work along this exciting journey. With our successful multiyear strategic transformation now complete, we are focused on our next phase, top and bottom line growth.

我很感激能夠領導這樣一個充滿活力的團隊，我要感謝他們所有人在這段激動人心的旅程中所做的辛勤工作。隨著我們成功的多年戰略轉型現已完成，我們將專注於下一階段的頂線和底線增長。

Our growth will be underpinned by our 4 strategic pillars: superior product; digital dominance; wholesale and international expansion; and an optimized fleet. Topline growth will be fueled by our strong stable of brands, a business model focused on digital, our highest operating margin and most important channel for our young, digitally-savvy core Millennial customer and the Gen Z customer right behind her, our strong wholesale business and our successful marketing and branding efforts.

我們的增長將由我們的 4 個戰略支柱支撐：卓越的產品；數字優勢；批發和國際擴張；和優化的艦隊。我們強大的穩定品牌、專注於數字的商業模式、我們最高的營業利潤率以及我們年輕、精通數字的核心千禧一代客戶和緊隨其後的 Z 世代客戶的最重要渠道，我們強大的批發業務，將推動營收增長以及我們成功的營銷和品牌推廣工作。

Bottom line growth will be fueled by the return of normalized supply chain and cotton costs. The benefits of our significant AUR increases since the start of the pandemic, and the tailwinds from the strong financial and operational discipline initiatives that Sheamus is leading. Our team is resolutely focused on execution and we believe we are on track to return to double-digit operating margins in the back half of 2023 and are well positioned to deliver long-term consistent growth for our shareholders.

利潤增長將受到供應鏈正常化和棉花成本回歸的推動。自大流行開始以來，我們顯著增加的 AUR 帶來的好處，以及 Sheamus 領導的強大的財務和運營紀律舉措帶來的順風。我們的團隊堅定地專注於執行，我們相信我們有望在 2023 年下半年恢復兩位數的營業利潤率，並有能力為我們的股東實現長期穩定的增長。

Thank you. And now we'll open the call to your questions.

謝謝。現在我們將打開您的問題的電話。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

We'll take our first question from Jay Sole of UBS.

我們將從瑞銀的 Jay Sole 那裡回答我們的第一個問題。

Can you just talk a little bit about how you see the sales growth trend playing out for the year? You talked about Q1. But can you give us a sense of how you see it playing out through the year and what the key drivers will be?

您能談談您如何看待今年的銷售增長趨勢嗎？你談到了 Q1。但是你能告訴我們你如何看待它在這一年中的表現以及關鍵驅動因素是什麼嗎？

Jay, this is Sheamus. I'll take that. Obviously, as we guided in our commentary and in our release, we're looking forward to a full year and a back half of the year where we're going to drive double-digit operating margins. As we said in the commentary, we've taken a conservative view to the year, particularly the first half of the year. I think we've been cautious in terms of what we see in the macro environment, some of the headwinds that we see in terms of still record-high inflation, unfavorable weather trends as well as lower tax refunds and the impact that, that has had on our customer.

傑伊，這是希莫斯。我會接受的。顯然，正如我們在評論和發布中所指導的那樣，我們期待著一整年和下半年我們將推動兩位數的營業利潤率。正如我們在評論中所說，我們對這一年持保守看法，尤其是上半年。我認為我們對我們在宏觀環境中看到的情況持謹慎態度，我們看到的一些逆風仍然是創紀錄的高通脹，不利的天氣趨勢以及較低的退稅以及影響，這已經對我們的客戶。

We also, as I described in our commentary, have invested in a little bit lower unit inventories given the high input costs in the first half of the year. So while we've guided to the fact that inventory is lower on a unit basis, we still do have that higher cost inventory to work through. And that plays through in our expectations in terms of guidance for topline. I think as we've talked in our release, and the specific guidance that we gave, we're expecting mid-single-digit decreases in the first part of the year, in the first quarter of the year.

正如我在評論中所述，鑑於今年上半年的高投入成本，我們還投資於略低的單位庫存。因此，雖然我們已經指出單位庫存較低的事實，但我們仍然需要解決成本較高的庫存問題。這在我們對頂線指導方面的期望中發揮了作用。我認為，正如我們在新聞稿中所說的那樣，以及我們給出的具體指導意見，我們預計今年上半年，即今年第一季度將出現中等個位數的下降。

And that will improve as we go beyond Q1. We are still being conservative in terms of, and cautious, in our outlook for the back half of the year, but we do see some opportunity in the back half of the year, which gave us the ability to guide to, still lower levels of sales, but modestly improved versus Q1. So we do see improvement as we're progressing through the year.

隨著我們超越第一季度，這將會有所改善。我們對下半年的前景仍然持保守和謹慎的態度，但我們確實看到了下半年的一些機會，這使我們有能力引導到更低的水平銷售額，但與第一季度相比略有改善。因此，隨著我們在這一年中的進步，我們確實看到了進步。

We'll take our next question from Jim Chartier of Monness, Crespi, Hardt.

我們將從 Monness、Crespi、Hardt 的 Jim Chartier 那裡回答下一個問題。

First, I was wondering if you could talk about the AUR performance between fashion and basics. And then how are you planning inventory between fashion and basics? And then have promotional levels for you returned to normal, post the holiday season now that you've worked through some of the excess inventory?

首先，我想知道您是否可以談談時尚與基本款之間的 AUR 性能。那麼你如何規劃時尚和基本款之間的庫存？然後讓你的促銷水平恢復正常，既然你已經處理了一些過剩的庫存，那麼在假期過後？

Yes. On the AUR, Jim, it was pretty much the same decrease that we saw in Q4, mid-singles on both of them, basics and fashion. As we move ahead, we are a little bit cautious on the fashion side based on the consumer, so we'd be playing that a little bit lower as we -- a little bit lower than basics as we head into 2023.

是的。在 AUR 上，吉姆，這與我們在第四季度看到的下降幾乎相同，基本款和時尚款都處於中單。在我們前進的過程中，我們在基於消費者的時尚方面有點謹慎，所以我們會在進入 2023 年時將其打得更低一點——比基本款低一點。

And then from a competitive view right now, as you probably know, many, if not most of our competitors specifically called out soft kids and baby business in Q4. So we certainly weren't alone there. And I think largely due to the inflationary pressures that are on the consumer right now. And I think all of us see the consumer shopping a little bit less frequently lately. Everyone seems to be focused on inventory reductions. We've pretty much heard that from everyone as well. But we believe that due to the continued macro pressures, particularly in the front half of the year, that it will remain a competitive pricing environment.

然後從現在的競爭角度來看，正如您可能知道的那樣，我們的許多（如果不是大多數）競爭對手在第四季度專門召集了軟童和嬰兒業務。所以我們當然並不孤單。我認為主要是由於消費者目前面臨的通脹壓力。而且我認為我們所有人最近都看到消費者購物的頻率有所降低。每個人似乎都在關注減少庫存。我們幾乎也從每個人那裡聽到了這一點。但我們認為，由於宏觀壓力持續存在，尤其是上半年，價格競爭環境仍將存在。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

We'll go next to Dana Telsey of Telsey Group.

接下來我們將請 Telsey Group 的 Dana Telsey 發言。

Thank you very much for all the detail on the business strategy going forward. When Maegan spoke about Amazon and the penetration, the success that you're having there, how do you think of the penetration of digital moving forward? Does it get beyond the 50% that you mentioned? And with the store closures that you have that increased marketing spend how is -- how do you see it divided whether it's different channels that you're seeing become more activated as you're spending the dollars on the marketing, what do you see is what that balance will be with that percentage of sale going to marketing?

非常感謝您提供有關未來業務戰略的所有細節。當 Maegan 談到亞馬遜和滲透，你在那裡取得的成功時，你如何看待數字化的滲透？它會超過你提到的50%嗎？隨著商店的關閉，你的營銷支出增加了——你如何看待它是如何劃分的，當你在營銷上花錢時，你看到的不同渠道變得更加活躍，你看到的是用於市場營銷的銷售額的百分比是多少？

And then just lastly, Jane, as you think about the different brands, is there any that you're seeing that could be outsized as we move forward or the different puts and takes as you think of that customer base?

最後，Jane，當您考慮不同的品牌時，您是否看到隨著我們前進或您認為該客戶群的不同投入和需求而變得過大？

Sure. I think from a digital penetration, we've talked extensively about us being approximately 50% right now, which was our original goal when we set out our strategic transformation, and we're able to accelerate it by approximately 5 years due to the pandemic. So that's why we talk about having achieved that original goal by the end of '22. I think we've also talked pretty extensively about reaching a 60% digital penetration by the end of full year '24.

當然。我認為從數字滲透來看，我們已經廣泛討論了我們現在大約是 50%，這是我們制定戰略轉型時的最初目標，並且由於大流行，我們能夠將其加速大約 5 年.所以這就是為什麼我們談論在 22 年底之前實現了最初的目標。我認為我們還廣泛討論了到 24 年底達到 60% 的數字滲透率。

And today, when we talked about, we introduced a little bit of forward-looking 2025, we think that we'll be over 60% digital penetration. So we continue to see digital as the core of our strategy. It certainly is where our Millennial customer wants to be and where the Gen Z consumer behind her is, so that will continue to be our focus. We talked about an optimized fleet. We talked about closing 100 more stores. We feel that will be substantially the end of our fleet optimization strategy.

今天，當我們談到時，我們介紹了一些前瞻性的 2025 年，我們認為我們將超過 60% 的數字滲透率。因此，我們繼續將數字化視為我們戰略的核心。這當然是我們的千禧一代客戶想要去的地方，也是她身後的 Z 世代消費者所在的地方，因此這將繼續成為我們的重點。我們談到了優化的艦隊。我們談到要再關閉 100 家商店。我們認為這將是我們車隊優化戰略的實質性結束。

For now, we feel that, that will be the right stores, in the right trade areas that over-index and omnichannel capabilities and certainly are the ones that service the omnichannel needs of our Millennial and Gen Z customers. So we feel good about hitting that 500 number -- approximately 500 number by the end of 2023. From a marketing spend point of view, we've been pretty upfront and transparent about us being significantly underfunded in marketing in the past.

就目前而言，我們認為，這將是正確的商店，在正確的貿易區域，具有過度索引和全渠道能力，當然是滿足我們千禧一代和 Z 世代客戶的全渠道需求的商店。因此，我們對達到 500 個數字感覺很好——到 2023 年底大約達到 500 個數字。從營銷支出的角度來看，過去我們在營銷方面資金嚴重不足，我們一直非常坦率和透明。

I think with all the work that Maegan and her team has done on transforming our marketing area and the extraordinarily strong results we saw in the back half of '22 when she started to activate it on brand acquisition, awareness, social media dominance, she was pretty lengthy in her commentary on describing how strong we feel about it. We will be making investments -- increased investments in 2023 and beyond in marketing.

我認為 Maegan 和她的團隊在轉變我們的營銷領域方面所做的所有工作，以及我們在 22 世紀後半期看到的非常強勁的結果，當時她開始在品牌收購、知名度、社交媒體主導方面激活它，她是在描述我們對此的強烈感受時，她的評論相當冗長。我們將進行投資——在 2023 年及以後增加對營銷的投資。

And I'll turn it over to Maegan to talk about it a little bit by brand. We certainly learned a ton from Amazon as we do a pretty large marketing spend with that channel. And then I think going forward, to answer your question about the brands and the penetration, Gymboree is on a great trajectory. We introduced today that we think by end of full year '25 that we'll be at $140 million, which was our initial projection.

我會把它交給 Maegan 來談談品牌。我們確實從亞馬遜那裡學到了很多東西，因為我們在該渠道上投入了大量的營銷費用。然後我認為展望未來，回答你關於品牌和滲透的問題，金寶貝正處於一個很好的軌道上。我們今天介紹說，我們認為到 25 年全年我們將達到 1.4 億美元，這是我們最初的預測。

We're all pretty aware of the fact that we've launched Gymboree into pandemic and kind of lost 2 years there, as it's a very highly occasioned brand and you need occasions and you need families to get together to make that brand work around the key holidays. We're happy what we saw in the back half of '22 when people were able to start to gather and get together again. And so we feel that '23 and beyond is really the time to put the marketing money behind Gymboree in a big way. And then we also spoke about Sugar & Jade, which is the smallest of the brands. And certainly, we've perfected the product, we believe, with our best-in-class design team. And now what Sugar & Jade needs is brand awareness and marketing spend behind it. So let me turn it over to Maegan to add what she'd like to, to that.

我們都非常清楚這樣一個事實，即我們將 Gymboree 推向了流行病，並在那裡迷失了 2 年，因為它是一個非常受歡迎的品牌，你需要場合，你需要家人聚在一起，讓這個品牌圍繞關鍵節假日。我們很高興我們在 22 年的後半段看到人們能夠再次聚在一起。因此，我們認為 23 歲及以後確實是將營銷資金大量投入金寶貝的時候。然後我們還談到了 Sugar & Jade，這是最小的品牌。當然，我們相信，憑藉一流的設計團隊，我們已經完善了產品。而現在糖玉需要的是品牌知名度和背後的營銷支出。所以讓我把它交給 Maegan 來添加她想要的內容。

Yes. I think from a spend balance perspective, going back to your question, just around closing the stores and then on marketing investment, as we optimize the fleet and close the stores, we worked very closely with the real estate team here to make sure that we're balancing our marketing investment to really kind of hone in on those key areas that we're closing stores.

是的。我認為從支出平衡的角度來看，回到你的問題，關於關閉商店，然後是營銷投資，當我們優化車隊並關閉商店時，我們與這裡的房地產團隊密切合作，以確保我們'平衡我們的營銷投資，以真正磨練我們正在關閉商店的那些關鍵領域。

So we're making sure that our spend is balanced in those DMAs, those regions. So that we're really growing brand awareness without having to utilize a brick-and-mortar store front. The tactics are obviously primarily digital in nature, and that's where we're pushing the customer. As we close the store, we push here to the e-comm business. And again, we really focus our investment in those key areas where we're walking away from stores.

因此，我們要確保我們在那些 DMA、那些地區的支出是平衡的。這樣我們就可以真正提高品牌知名度，而無需使用實體店面。這些策略顯然主要是數字化的，這就是我們推動客戶的地方。當我們關閉商店時，我們將這裡推向電子商務業務。再一次，我們真正將投資集中在我們遠離商店的那些關鍵領域。

From a tactic perspective, we're utilizing things like paid search, paid social and Amazon where she's going for brand discovery. So we have a pretty robust strategy around how we work in partnership as we kind of optimize our fleet and make sure our marketing investment is in the right places.

從策略的角度來看，我們正在利用付費搜索、付費社交和亞馬遜等方式來發現品牌。因此，在我們優化車隊並確保營銷投資用在正確的地方時，我們有一個非常穩健的戰略來圍繞我們如何合作開展工作。

And we'll take our next question from Marni Shapiro of Retail Tracker.

我們將從 Retail Tracker 的 Marni Shapiro 那裡回答下一個問題。

Maegan the marketing over the holidays was truly outstanding. Actually, Sheamus, I just wanted to touch back on a couple of things you said. I think you said something about inventory, you were liquidating inventory in the first half. As in liquidating it or just selling it and moving through it. I just want to clarify that point because liquidating felt like a strong word there.

Maegan 假期的營銷非常出色。事實上，Sheamus，我只是想反駁你說的幾件事。我想你說過一些關於庫存的事情，你在上半年清算庫存。就像清算它或只是出售它並通過它一樣。我只是想澄清這一點，因為清算在那裡感覺像是一個強硬的詞。

Yes. Marni, thanks for the question. Yes, just to clarify that, what I meant by that comment was we're selling it through in our normal process. So it's not like a liquidation sale, but as we sell through that higher unit cost inventory, we are going to absorb that higher cost inventory and our cost of sales. So I was just trying to reference that, that will flow through as part of our normal process. It is not something out of the ordinary where we're running liquidation events or anything like that.

是的。瑪尼，謝謝你的提問。是的，只是為了澄清這一點，我所說的評論的意思是我們在正常流程中銷售它。所以這不像清算銷售，但當我們通過較高的單位成本庫存進行銷售時，我們將吸收較高成本的庫存和我們的銷售成本。所以我只是想參考一下，這將作為我們正常流程的一部分進行。在我們進行清算活動或類似活動時，這並不是什麼不尋常的事情。

Okay. Great. And then can you just also remind us, I think it was last -- it was back-to-school '22 where you had -- where selling through pack and hold from '21 when back-to-school wasn't really happening. And those units were purchased at lower cotton costs. So as we come into the back-to-school period, which for you guys is August and into September, depending on the region, will you be selling through some lower cost AUC plus the new lower cost -- some higher-cost AUC and some lower-cost AUC or you won't have quite the same compare on the product because of the pack and hold, meaning like the lift on the AUC improvement won't be as big in the third quarter?

好的。偉大的。然後你能不能也提醒我們，我認為這是最後一次——那是你在 22 年返校時——從 21 年開始打包銷售，而返校並沒有真正發生.這些單位是以較低的棉花成本購買的。因此，當我們進入返校期時，對你們來說是 8 月和 9 月，具體取決於地區，你們是否會通過一些成本較低的 AUC 加上新的成本較低——一些成本較高的 AUC 和一些低成本的 AUC 或者你不會因為包裝和保持而對產品進行完全相同的比較，這意味著第三季度 AUC 改進的提升不會那麼大？

Let me try to untangle that. In 2021 was where we were selling the goods that we didn't sell in 2020 because of the pandemic. So we sold them in 2021, which were lower-cost AUC goods that were bought prior to the cotton spike. The basics that we own now are basics that have the higher cotton in them. So as Sheamus outlined, we will still have some of those basics throughout all of 2023, but they will also -- we will also be getting in new basics in 2023 prior to back-to-school that have the lower cotton. So it will be, to your point, a combination of both in the basics category.

讓我試著理清這一點。 2021 年是我們銷售因大流行而在 2020 年沒有銷售的商品的地方。因此，我們在 2021 年出售了它們，這是在棉花價格上漲之前購買的成本較低的 AUC 商品。我們現在擁有的基本款是含有更高棉含量的基本款。因此，正如 Sheamus 所概述的那樣，我們在 2023 年全年仍將擁有其中一些基礎知識，但它們也會——我們還將在 2023 年返校之前獲得棉花含量較低的新基礎知識。因此，就您而言，這將是基礎類別中兩者的組合。

Thank you. And this does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for joining us. If you have further questions, please call Investor Relations at area code (201) 558-2400, extension 14500. You may now disconnect your lines, and have a great day.

謝謝。這確實結束了我們今天的會議。感謝您加入我們。如果您還有其他問題，請致電投資者關係部，區號 (201) 558-2400，分機號 14500。您現在可以掛斷電話，祝您今天愉快。