PRA Group Inc (PRAA) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good evening and welcome the PRA Group third quarter, 2024 conference call, all participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance? Please signal a conference specialist by pressing the store team followed by zero.

晚上好，歡迎 PRA 集團 2024 年第三季電話會議，所有與會者都將處於僅聽模式。您需要協助嗎？請按商店團隊，然後按零，向會議專家發出信號。

After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions to ask a question. You may press star then one on your touchtone phone to draw your question. Please press star. Then to please note this event is being recorded.

今天的演講結束後，將有機會提問。您可以按按鍵式電話上的星號然後再按一個來提出您的問題。請按星號。然後請注意此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr Najim to Vice President, investor Relations for PRA group. Please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給 PRA 集團投資者關係副總裁 Najim 先生。請繼續。

Thank you. Good evening, everyone and thank you for joining us with me. Today are Vikram Atal President and Chief Executive Officer and Rakesh Sehgal, executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We will make forward-looking statements during the call which are based on management's current beliefs, projections, assumptions and expectations.

謝謝。大家晚上好，感謝您和我一起參加我們的活動。今天的嘉賓是總裁兼執行長 Vikram Atal 和執行副總裁兼財務長 Rakesh Sehgal。我們將在電話會議期間根據管理層當前的信念、預測、假設和期望做出前瞻性聲明。

We assume no obligation to revise or update these statements. We caution listeners that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

我們不承擔修改或更新這些聲明的義務。我們提醒聽眾，這些前瞻性陳述受到風險、不確定性、假設和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致我們的實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異。

Please refer to our earnings press release issued today. And our sec filings for a detailed discussion of these factors. The earnings release, the slide presentation that we will use during today's call and our sec filings can all be found in the investor relations section of our website at www.pragroup.com.

請參閱我們今天發布的收益新聞稿。我們的證券交易委員會文件對這些因素進行了詳細討論。收益發布、我們將在今天的電話會議中使用的幻燈片演示以及我們的 SEC 文件都可以在我們網站 www.pragroup.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

Additionally, a replay of this call will be available shortly after its conclusion and the replay dial in information is included in the earnings press release. All comparisons mentioned today will be between Q3, 2024 and Q3 2023 unless otherwise noted. And our Americas results include Australia.

此外，本次電話會議結束後不久將進行重播，重播資訊包含在收益新聞稿中。除非另有說明，今天提到的所有比較都將在 2024 年第三季和 2023 年第三季之間進行。我們的美洲結果包括澳大利亞。

During our call, we will discuss a debt adjusted EBITDA for the 12 months ended, September 30th, 2024, and December 31st, 2023, as well as return on average tangible equity. Please refer to the appendix of the slide presentation used during this call for a reconciliation of the most directly comparable us GAAP Financial measures to these non-GAAP Financial measures.

在電話會議中，我們將討論截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日和 2023 年 12 月 31 日的 12 個月的債務調整後 EBITDA，以及平均有形股本回報率。請參閱本次電話會議期間使用的投影片簡報的附錄，以了解最直接可比較的美國公認會計原則財務指標與這些非公認會計原則財務指標的調節。

And with that, I'd now like to turn the call over to Vikram Atal, our President and Chief Executive Officer.

現在，我想將電話轉給我們的總裁兼執行長維克拉姆·阿塔爾 (Vikram Atal)。

Thank you, Najim, and thank you everyone for joining us this evening.

謝謝納吉姆，也謝謝大家今晚加入我們。

Our third quarter financial results reflected strong cash collections, robust portfolio buying significant revenue increases and solid net income. We also continued to make significant progress on the journey. We started 18 months ago when I took over as CEO during this time, we have built out a highly experienced senior leadership team capitalized on the rebound in us.

我們第三季的財務表現反映了強勁的現金回籠、強勁的投資組合購買、顯著的收入成長和穩健的淨利潤。我們也在這過程中繼續取得重大進展。我們從 18 個月前我接任執行長開始，利用我們的反彈，建立了一支經驗豐富的高階領導團隊。

Portfolio supply executed on our cash generating and operational initiatives with intense focus, speed and discipline and driven the financial and operational turnaround in our US business. While continuing to differentiate ourselves in Europe. At a time when certain of our competitors in that region have been under pressure going forward. We will build on this platform to further optimize our business drive both top and bottom line growth and create meaningful shareholder value in a moment. I will share more details regarding the transformation and future expectations. But before I do so, I wanted to turn it over to Rakesh for a financial summary of our third quarter results.

投資組合供應以高度的專注、速度和紀律執行我們的現金產生和營運計劃，並推動了我們美國業務的財務和營運週轉。同時繼續在歐洲脫穎而出。當時，我們在該地區的某些競爭對手面臨前進的壓力。我們將在此平台上進一步優化我們的業務，推動營收和利潤的成長，並立即創造有意義的股東價值。我將分享有關轉型和未來期望的更多細節。但在此之前，我想將其交給 Rakesh，以獲取我們第三季業績的財務摘要。

Thanks Vik. We purchased $350 million of portfolios during the quarter of which $274 million were in the Americas and $76 million were in Europe. Year-to-date. We have purchased $975 million globally which is a record year-to-date amount for the company in the US. We purchased $231 million of portfolios during the quarter which is up 35% compared to the prior year period.

謝謝維克。我們在本季購買了 3.5 億美元的投資組合，其中 2.74 億美元在美洲，7,600 萬美元在歐洲。今年迄今為止。我們已在全球採購了 9.75 億美元，這是該公司今年迄今為止在美國的採購金額創紀錄。我們在本季購買了 2.31 億美元的投資組合，比去年同期成長了 35%。

Year-to-date, we purchased $625 million. Up 46% year over year, the year over year increase for both periods was primarily driven by higher portfolio supply as reflected in the monthly amount purchased under forward flow arrangements.

今年迄今為止，我們購買了 6.25 億美元。年增 46%，這兩個時期的同比增長主要是由於投資組合供應量增加所致，這反映在遠期流動安排下的每月購買量上。

In addition, our focus on seller relationships led us winning a large spot transaction in the quarter. We continue to capitalize on the strong levels of portfolio supply driven by the growth in industry, credit card balances and higher delinquency and charge off rates.

此外，我們對賣家關係的關注使我們在本季度贏得了一大筆現貨交易。我們繼續利用產業成長、信用卡餘額以及拖欠率和沖銷率上升所推動的強勁投資組合供應水準。

Pricing remains attractive. With our year-to-date 2024 America's core purchase price multiple at 2.1 times. This multiple is consistent with what we observed at the end of the first half of 2024 as we've indicated previously, the European market is more spot driven, and the third quarter reflected a modest level of portfolio supply.

定價仍然具有吸引力。我們截至 2024 年美國的核心購買價格倍數為 2.1 倍。這一倍數與我們在 2024 年上半年末觀察到的情況一致，正如我們之前指出的那樣，歐洲市場更多是現貨驅動的，第三季度反映了投資組合供應的適度水平。

Historically, we have generally experienced strong levels of portfolio purchases in the 2nd and 4th quarters in Europe and we anticipate the same dynamic this year sitting here in November with one month of October purchasing behind us and with a very healthy pipeline of deals in Europe, we expect total fourth quarter portfolio purchases will exceed the $350 million achieved this quarter with full year portfolio purchases anticipated to total around $1.4 billion before I move on to our financial results. I want to take a minute to discuss our European business.

從歷史上看，我們在歐洲第二和第四季度普遍經歷了強勁的投資組合購買水平，我們預計今年 11 月也會出現同樣的情況，十月份的購買已經過去，歐洲的交易管道非常健康，我們預計第四季度投資組合購買總額將超過本季實現的3.5 億美元，在我開始討論我們的財務表現之前，全年投資組合購買總額預計將達到14 億美元左右。我想花一點時間討論一下我們的歐洲業務。

As you can see on the chart, we have successfully grown c with discipline over time leveraging our diversified presence across multiple European markets. Our approach to the business has resulted in a compelling decade long track record of cash collections growth.

正如您在圖表中看到的那樣，隨著時間的推移，我們利用我們在多個歐洲市場的多元化業務，透過紀律成功地發展了c。我們的業務方法在長達十年的現金收款成長方面取得了引人注目的記錄。

This success is in sharp contrast to the challenges faced by a few of our competitors, which we believe is largely attributable to some of them becoming over levered due to portfolio investments at sub optimal returns and M&A activity during the period 2016 to 2019.

這項成功與我們的一些競爭對手面臨的挑戰形成鮮明對比，我們認為這在很大程度上歸因於其中一些競爭對手由於2016 年至2019 年期間回報率次優的投資組合和併購活動而導致槓桿過高。

We believe that the breadth of our European business differentiates us from most of our competitors with a tenure and stable management team, deep cellar relationships, a disciplined approach to portfolio investments and a highly efficient operating structure.

我們相信，我們歐洲業務的廣度使我們有別於大多數競爭對手，擁有長期穩定的管理團隊、深厚的地窖關係、嚴格的投資組合方法和高效的營運結構。

We remain well positioned to take advantage of purchasing opportunities across Europe, especially at a time when others may potentially be scaling back or transitioning to other revenue streams.

我們仍然處於有利地位，可以利用整個歐洲的採購機會，特別是在其他人可能縮減規模或轉向其他收入來源的時候。

Moving on to our financial results. Total revenues were $281 million for the quarter. Up 30% over the prior year, year-to-date, our revenues were $821 million. Up 41% total portfolio revenue was $277 million for the quarter. With portfolio income of $216 million and changes in expected recoveries of $61 million.

接下來是我們的財務表現。該季度總收入為 2.81 億美元。年初至今，我們的營收達到 8.21 億美元，比上年成長 30%。該季度投資組合總收入為 2.77 億美元，成長 41%。投資組合收入為 2.16 億美元，預期回收率變化為 6,100 萬美元。

Portfolio income, which is the yield component of our revenue was up 14% year over year, reflecting an increased level of portfolio investments and higher purchase price. Multiples versus a year ago, changes in expected recoveries is an important component of our revenue particularly as we continue to improve operational performance and increase collections from our cash generating initiatives of the $61 million in changes in expected recoveries. This quarter, $34 million was due to cash overperformance.

投資組合收入（我們收入的收益率組成部分）年增 14%，反映出投資組合投資水準的增加和購買價格的上漲。與一年前相比，預期回收率的變化是我們收入的重要組成部分，特別是當我們繼續改善營運績效並增加現金產生計劃的收款時，預期回收率變化為 6,100 萬美元。本季度，現金超額表現導致 3,400 萬美元的損失。

The remaining $26 million reflects the Net Present Value of changes in our (inaudible) the majority of which was attributable to our US core portfolios and driven in part by the impact of our cash generating initiatives.

剩餘的 2600 萬美元反映了我們（聽不清楚）變化的淨現值，其中大部分歸因於我們的美國核心投資組合，部分是由我們的現金產生計劃的影響推動的。

It's important to note that both the operational improvements that we have executed as well as others that we have identified and are in the process of executing should continue to contribute to cash over performance over time during the quarter, cash collections exceeded expectations on a consolidated basis by 7%.

值得注意的是，我們已經執行的營運改進以及我們已經確定和正在執行的其他操作改進應繼續為本季度的現金績效做出貢獻，現金收款在綜合基礎上超出了預期7%。

With the Americas overperforming by 5%. And Europe overperforming by 11%. Our year-to-date cash collections versus our expectations. On December 31, 2023, experienced 10% overperformance on a consolidated basis with the Americas overperforming by 9% and Europe overperforming by 11%.

其中美洲表現超額 5%。歐洲表現優異 11%。我們今年迄今的現金收款與我們的預期相符。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，綜合表現超前 10%，其中美洲超額表現 9%，歐洲超額表現 11%。

Operating expenses for the quarter were $191 million which were up $18 million from the prior year period. Legal collection costs were up $8 million year over year driven primarily by investments in our US legal channel to drive future cash growth.

該季度營運費用為 1.91 億美元，比去年同期增加 1,800 萬美元。法律催收成本年增 800 萬美元，主要是由於我們為推動未來現金成長而對美國法律管道進行的投資。

While investments in the legal channel create a near term drag on earnings and cash efficiency. Due to the timing like between when we invest in the upfront court costs and when we start collecting cash, we are confident that these investments will drive strong cash collections over the next several years.

雖然對合法管道的投資會在短期內拖累獲利和現金效率。由於我們投資前期法院費用和開始收取現金之間的時間安排，我們相信這些投資將在未來幾年推動強勁的現金收取。

Based on our current inventory of accounts in the legal channel. Legal collection costs for the fourth quarter are expected to be in the low $30 million.

基於我們目前在合法管道的帳戶庫存。第四季的法律催收成本預計將低至 3,000 萬美元。

As a reminder, our management of the legal inventory is heavy with compliance, safeguards and appropriate processes. In addition, we do not begin our collections activity with the legal channel but consider using it if and when our customers do not engage with us voluntarily compensation and employee services expenses increased $7 million primarily due to lower compensation, accruals and benefits related expenses in the prior year period.

需要提醒的是，我們對合法庫存的管理注重合規性、保障措施和適當的流程。此外，我們不會透過合法管道開始我們的收款活動，但如果我們的客戶不自願與我們合作，我們會考慮使用該管道。計費用和福利相關費用減少。

In addition to higher wage costs in the current year period, legal collection fees which are backed by cash collections and thus variable in nature increased $5 million driven by higher external legal collections within our US core portfolio.

除了本年度工資成本上升之外，由現金託收支持的法律託收費用因此性質可變，由於我們美國核心投資組合中外部法律託收的增加，該費用增加了 500 萬美元。

Our cash efficiency ratio was 60% for the third quarter compared to 59% in the prior year period. Despite the significant increase in legal collection costs, net interest expense was $61 million. An increase of $12 million primarily reflecting higher debt balances due to increased portfolio investments.

第三季我們的現金效率為 60%，去年同期為 59%。儘管法定催收成本大幅增加，淨利息支出仍達 6,100 萬美元。增加 1200 萬美元，主要反映由於投資組合增加而導致債務餘額增加。

Our effective tax rate for the quarter was negative 2%.

我們本季的有效稅率為負 2%。

This included a tax benefit item of $7.7 million.

其中包括 770 萬美元的稅收優惠項目。

With the inclusion of this item, we now expect our effective tax rate to be in the mid to high (inaudible)for 2024 depending on the income mix from various countries and other factors.

納入該項目後，我們現在預計 2024 年的有效稅率將處於中高水準（聽不清楚），具體取決於各國的收入結構和其他因素。

Net income attributable to PR A for the quarter was $27 million or 69¢ in diluted earnings per share, which includes a $0.20 per share impact due to the aforementioned tax item year-to-date. Net income attributable to PRA was $52 million or $1.32 in diluted earnings per share, which also included the benefit of the aforementioned tax item.

本季歸屬於 PR A 的淨利潤為 2,700 萬美元，稀釋後每股收益為 69 美分，其中包括年初至今上述稅項帶來的每股 0.20 美元的影響。PRA 淨利潤為 5,200 萬美元，稀釋後每股收益為 1.32 美元，其中還包括上述稅項的收益。

Cash collections for the quarter were $477 million. Up 14% from the prior year period. Year-to-date cash collections were $1.4 billion. An increase of 12% year over year.

該季度現金回收額為 4.77 億美元。較去年同期成長 14%。年初至今現金回收額為 14 億美元。較去年同期成長12%。

The increase in the quarter was primarily due to higher collections in the US and Europe driven by higher levels of recent portfolio purchases in both regions, as well as the positive impact of our cash generating initiatives in the US.

本季的成長主要是由於美國和歐洲近期投資組合購買水平較高，以及我們在美國的現金產生計劃的積極影響，推動了美國和歐洲的收款額增加。

As we assess our ability to collect cash in the US, we closely monitor indicators of the health of the US consumer to set the context. It's important to note that geographies outside the US accounted for 50% of our global cash collections in Q3, providing significant diversification as to overall cash generation, focusing on the US.

當我們評估我們在美國收取現金的能力時，我們會密切監控美國消費者的健康指標以設定背景。值得注意的是，第三季美國以外的地區占我們全球現金回收的 50%，這為整體現金產生提供了顯著的多樣化，主要集中在美國。

The legal collections channel, which is a growing channel for us is less impacted by neo to pressures affecting consumers, given the elongated time period over which we realize the cash, the US core nonlegal collection channel, which is more susceptible to near term us, consumer pressures accounted for less than 25% of our global cash collections.

合法收款管道對我們來說是一個不斷增長的管道，受Neo 影響消費者的壓力影響較小，考慮到我們變現現金的時間較長，美國核心的非合法收款管道更容易受到近期我們的影響，消費者壓力占我們全球現金收入的不到 25%。

It's important to remember also that in contrast to credit issues who generally need to address and resolve consumer delinquencies over a relatively short period of time, our underlying business model has a much longer time horizon allowing us to work with consumers and tailor payment plans. According to the evolving financial situations, this gives us the ability to work closely with them during difficult times and to continue generating cash over the long term.

還重要的是要記住，與通常需要在相對較短的時間內處理和解決消費者拖欠問題的信貸問題相比，我們的基本業務模式具有更長的時間範圍，使我們能夠與消費者合作並客製化付款計劃。根據不斷變化的財務狀況，這使我們能夠在困難時期與他們密切合作，並繼續長期產生現金。

As the macroeconomic data demonstrates unemployment rates remain low and both the rate of inflation and gas prices in particular have moderated since their peaks. While this would suggest an overall picture of a relatively healthy US consumer, we believe certain segments remain under pressure particularly since prices are higher than they were a few years ago.

宏觀經濟數據顯示失業率仍然很低，通貨膨脹率和汽油價格自高峰以來尤其放緩。雖然這表明美國消費者的整體情況相對健康，但我們認為某些細分市場仍然面臨壓力，特別是因為價格高於幾年前。

To the extent there is any material pressure impacting these consumers. We have a number of strategies designed to assist customers and address the related effects on our business. ERC at September 30th was $7.3 billion representing a company record and up 22% compared to $6 billion at September 30th. Last year, year over year ERC grew 38% in the US and 17% in Europe on a sequential basis. Total. ERC increased $491 million, we expect to collect approximately $1.7 billion of our ERC balance during the next 12 months.

在一定程度上影響這些消費者的物質壓力。我們制定了許多策略來幫助客戶並解決對我們業務的相關影響。截至 9 月 30 日，ERC 的銷售額為 73 億美元，創公司紀錄，較 9 月 30 日的 60 億美元增加了 22%。去年，美國的 ERC 年比成長了 38%，歐洲的 ERC 年比增加了 17%。全部的。ERC 增加了 4.91 億美元，我們預計在未來 12 個月內收回約 17 億美元的 ERC 餘額。

It's important to note that this number only reflects the amount we expect to collect on our existing portfolio. It does not include the cash we expect to collect from new purchases made over the next 12 months. Based on the average purchase price multiples we recorded here today; we would need to invest approximately $900 million globally over the same time frame to replace this runoff and maintain current C levels.

值得注意的是，這個數字僅反映了我們預期從現有投資組合中收取的金額。它不包括我們預計從未來 12 個月內進行的新採購中收取的現金。根據我們今天記錄的平均購買價格倍數；我們需要在同一時間段內在全球範圍內投資約 9 億美元，以補充徑流並維持當前的碳水平。

We expect that we can exceed this investment level and continue growing ERC during the remainder of 2024 and into 2025. Our debt to adjusted EBITDA was three times as of September 30th.

我們預計我們可以超過這一投資水平，並在 2024 年剩餘時間和 2025 年繼續增長 ERC。截至 9 月 30 日，我們調整後 EBITDA 的債務是三倍。

Our leverage has ticked up over the last few quarters driven by the significantly higher level of portfolios purchased during this compressed time period. And also, in part due to the increase in legal collection spent which will lead to higher levels of cash collections in the future during periods of higher portfolio purchases. As we are currently witnessing, we would expect our leverage to be at or modestly above our long term sustained leverage target of 2 to 3 types.

在過去幾個季度中，由於在這段壓縮的時間內購買的投資組合水準顯著提高，我們的槓桿率有所上升。此外，部分原因是合法收款支出的增加，這將導致未來在投資組合購買量增加期間現金收款水準更高。正如我們目前所看到的，我們預計我們的槓桿率將達到或略高於我們 2 至 3 種類型的長期持續槓桿率目標。

More importantly though we would expect that ratio to decline through 2025 as we start to generate cash from those portfolios.

更重要的是，隨著我們開始從這些投資組合中產生現金，我們預計該比率將在 2025 年之前下降。

In terms of our funding capacity, we had $3.2 billion in total committed capital to draw under our credit facilities. As of September 30th, we had total availability of $1 billion comprised of $412 million available based on current ERC and $587 million of additional availability that we can draw from subject to borrowing base and debt covenants including advanced rates during the quarter. We redeemed our $298 million senior notes to 2025. As we had previously announced since the end of the third quarter. We successfully amended and extended our North American and UK credit facilities by five years which now mature in October of 2029.

就我們的融資能力而言，我們的信貸安排下可提取的承諾資本總額為 32 億美元。截至9 月30 日，我們的可用資金總額為10 億美元，其中包括根據目前ERC 可用的4.12 億美元，以及我們可以根據借款基礎和債務契約（包括本季的預付利率）提取的額外可用資金5.87億美元。我們在 2025 年之前贖回了 2.98 億美元的優先票據。正如我們之前自第三季末以來所宣布的那樣。我們成功地將北美和英國的信貸安排修改並延長了五年，現已於 2029 年 10 月到期。

There are no material changes to the aggregate commitment amounts across the two facilities and our pricing is unchanged. We are grateful for the support of our existing and new lenders which provides appropriate financial flexibility as we continue to transform our business and drive future growth.

兩個設施的總承諾金額沒有重大變化，我們的定價也沒有變化。我們感謝現有和新貸款機構的支持，它們為我們繼續轉型業務和推動未來成長提供了適當的財務靈活性。

Our next maturity is now in November of 2027 when our European facility matures, and we look forward to working with the lenders under that facility with whom we have long standing relationships.

我們的下一個到期日是 2027 年 11 月，屆時我們的歐洲貸款到期，我們期待與與我們有長期合作關係的該貸款下的貸方合作。

We believe the cash generated from our business, the capital available under our credit facilities and access to capital markets in both the US and Europe position us to capitalize on the strong portfolio supply environment with that. I'll turn it back to Vik

我們相信，我們業務產生的現金、信貸安排下的可用資本以及進入美國和歐洲資本市場的機會使我們能夠利用強大的投資組合供應環境。我會把它還給維克

Thanks Rakesh, as we approach the end of 2024. It is an opportune time to look back and take stock of all that we accomplished during this time frame. When we started the year, we had five clear goals in mind.

感謝 Rakesh，2024 年即將結束。現在是回顧和盤點我們在這段時間內所取得的一切成就的好時機。當我們開始這一年時，我們心中有五個明確的目標。

First capitalizing on the strong us supply environment.

首先利用美國強勁的供應環境。

Second, turning around the operational performance of our US business.

其次，扭轉我們美國業務的經營績效。

Third, leveraging third parties to complement our capabilities, especially with respect to our offshoring initiative.

第三，利用第三方來補充我們的能力，特別是在我們的離岸外包計畫方面。

Fourth leveraging the strengths of our European franchise and fifth rebuilding profitability.

第四，利用我們歐洲特許經營的優勢，第五，重建獲利能力。

As you can see on this slide, we have either already accomplished or are firmly on track against each of these goals.

正如您在這張投影片上看到的，我們要么已經實現了，要么正在堅定地朝著這些目標邁進。

These accomplishments can be directly tied back to our three pillars for enhanced profitability which we have been sharing now for the past several quarters, one optimizing investment which allows us to increase ERC and portfolio returns. Second driving operational execution which focuses on maximizing cash collected per dollar invested and third managing expenses which is geared towards optimizing our cost structure.

這些成就可以直接與我們提高盈利能力的三大支柱聯繫起來，我們在過去幾個季度一直在分享這些支柱，其中一項優化投資使我們能夠提高 ERC 和投資組合回報。第二個驅動營運執行，重點是最大化每美元投資所收集的現金，第三個管理費用，旨在優化我們的成本結構。

Starting with the first pillar optimizing investments based on the data that we are seeing and discussions with sellers. We expect overall us portfolio supply to remain at elevated levels. In 2025.

從第一個支柱開始，根據我們看到的數據以及與賣家的討論來優化投資。我們預計美國整體投資組合供應將維持在較高水準。2025年。

In Europe, the forward flow volume estimates we receive from banks continue to suggest stable supply volumes in that region.

在歐洲，我們從銀行收到的遠期流量估計繼續顯示該地區的供應量穩定。

We will be assessing our buying relative to the prevailing economic environment and returns available in the global marketplace. Our overall expectation is that we will have the opportunity for global portfolio investments to be in excess of $1 billion in 2025.

我們將根據當前的經濟環境和全球市場的回報來評估我們的購買。我們的整體預期是，到 2025 年，我們將有機會實現全球投資組合超過 10 億美元。

I'll now turn to the second pillar which is driving operational execution.

我現在將轉向推動營運執行的第二個支柱。

In addition to implementing a wide range of operational execution improvements in our US call centre operations, we have made tremendous strides in optimizing our legal collections channel which I'd like to focus on now.

除了在我們的美國呼叫中心營運中實施廣泛的營運執行改進之外，我們在優化合法收款管道方面也取得了巨大進步，我現在想重點關注這一點。

As a reminder, legal collections activity is only undertaken after we have been unsuccessful in engaging with the customer to resolve their debt obligation or to establish a payment plan.

請注意，只有在我們未能成功與客戶解決其債務義務或製定付款計劃後，才會採取合法的催收活動。

The overall process extends across an elongated timeline encompassing many different stages at the start. The decision to place an account on the channel is preceded by a rigorous qualification process based upon customer interactions, document and contractual reviews, balance size and other factors. Only then is the account able to move to the second step where it is thoroughly reviewed by an attorney for the potential filing of a suit.

整個過程跨越了一個漫長的時間線，從一開始就包含了許多不同的階段。在決定在該管道上開設帳戶之前，需要根據客戶互動、文件和合約審查、餘額大小和其他因素進行嚴格的資格審查。只有這樣，該帳戶才能進入第二步，由律師對其進行徹底審查，以便可能提起訴訟。

This is then followed by serving the customer receiving a judgment from the courts and ultimately generating post judgment cash in the form of wage garnishments or other measures.

然後，為收到法院判決的客戶提供服務，並最終以工資扣押或其他措施的形式產生判決後現金。

Our intense focus over the last 18 months has been to improve the quality, reliability and cycle time of this process through the enhancements made during this past year, our cycle time in each stage of the process has improved considerably in some cases, up to nearly 50% helping to generate cash more quickly. We are continuing our efforts to further improve and accelerate these processes.

在過去18 個月中，我們的重點是透過去年所做的改進來提高該流程的品質、可靠性和週期時間，在某些情況下，流程每個階段的周期時間都得到了顯著改善，達到近50% 幫助更快產生現金。我們正在繼續努力進一步改進和加速這些流程。

In addition, and as previously described, we have been focused on the effective monetization of the judgments that are currently in force primarily through wage garnishments. Already through nine months of this year, we have filed more wage garnishments than in all of 2023. The improvement of our cycle times prejudgment is positively impacting how quickly we can collect cash on our new advantages.

此外，如前所述，我們一直致力於將目前生效的判決主要透過扣押薪資的方式有效貨幣化。今年 9 個月以來，我們提出的扣押薪水申請比 2023 年全年還要多。我們對週期時間預判的改進對我們利用新優勢收回現金的速度產生了積極影響。

At the same time, the enhancements to our post judgment monetization have been driving increases in the purchase price. Multiples in our old advantages. These post judgment enhancements will in due course benefit performance on new vintages as they flow through that stage of the process. Overall, these improvements will ultimately make us a more competitive buyer as we are able to reflect that increased value in our bidding processes to the investments we have made in the legal collection channel. We have seen the US legal cash collections increase from $65 million in quarter 3, 2023 to $98 million in quarter 3, 2024 a 51% increase year over year.

同時，我們對後判斷貨幣化的增強一直在推動購買價格的上漲。我們的舊優勢倍增。這些判斷後的改進將在適當的時候有利於新年份酒在過程的該階段的表現。總體而言，這些改進最終將使我們成為更具競爭力的買家，因為我們能夠將投標流程中增加的價值反映到我們在合法收款管道中所做的投資。我們看到美國合法現金收繳額從 2023 年第三季的 6,500 萬美元增加到 2024 年第三季的 9,800 萬美元，年增 51%。

Notwithstanding the impact that has already been realized. Our work in the legal channel continues to identify additional value embedded in the business. The implication of this is a further catalyst to growth in cash collections revenue and earnings.

儘管影響已經顯現。我們在法律管道的工作不斷發現業務中蘊含的附加價值。這將進一步促進現金收款收入和收益的成長。

The third pillar to our business turnaround is managing expenses and optimizing our cost structure to support the growth in our US business. We have increased head count from roughly 850 collectors last year to about 1,200 today with offshore collectors representing approximately 25% of this total and contributing to annualized cost savings of approximately $10 million.

我們業務扭虧為盈的第三個支柱是管理費用和優化成本結構，以支持我們美國業務的成長。我們已將員工人數從去年的約 850 名收藏家增加到如今的約 1,200 名，其中海外收藏家約佔總數的 25%，每年節省成本約 1,000 萬美元。

Our offshore collectors are performing strongly and in line with our expectations.

我們的離岸收集商表現強勁，符合我們的預期。

This is a testament to the hard work that we both we and our partners have been undertaking to assemble the right teams with the appropriate oversight knowledge and support to ensure that our collectors are effective.

這證明了我們和我們的合作夥伴一直在努力組建合適的團隊，並提供適當的監督知識和支持，以確保我們的收集人員有效率地工作。

We currently have two offshore locations and intend to hire more collectors in both locations over the next year with an anticipation that offshore collectors will account for approximately 50% of our overall collective way supporting our US business by the second half of 2025.

我們目前有兩個離岸地點，並計劃明年在這兩個地點僱用更多的收藏家，預計到 2025 年下半年，海外收藏家將占我們支持美國業務的整體集體方式的約 50%。

Within the US, we have successfully piloted a work from home program for collectors that provides greater working flexibility with equivalent performance.

在美國，我們成功地為收藏家試點了一項在家工作計劃，該計劃在同等性能​​的情況下提供了更大的工作靈活性。

Our US business is currently supported by collection teams in six sites based on the progress of the offshore and work from home initiatives. We have made the decision to recalibrate our footprint in the US. Moving to three operating sites by mid 2025. Together these decisions will collectively reduce overhead costs, create a more variable cost structure, enhance our calling strategies and help us better navigate the ebbs and flows of the credit cycle.

根據離岸和在家工作計劃的進展情況，我們的美國業務目前由六個地點的催收團隊提供支援。我們決定重新調整我們在美國的足跡。到 2025 年中期遷移到三個營運地點。這些決策將共同降低間接成本，創造更具可變性的成本結構，增強我們的呼叫策略，並幫助我們更好地應對信貸週期的潮起潮落。

In summary, our results this year demonstrate that we have acted with urgency and decisiveness to drive meaningfully improved results and create a platform for future growth.

總而言之，我們今年的業績表明，我們採取了緊迫而果斷的行動，推動了業績的顯著改善，並為未來的成長創造了平台。

Our new senior leadership team is highly experienced and working well together to drive strong results with operational rigor and sharp execution.

我們新的高階領導團隊經驗豐富，通力合作，以嚴謹的營運和敏銳的執行力推動強勁成果。

With the year almost behind us. We are well on track to hit our targets for 2024 which now include a higher return on average tangible equity target of 8% plus. Looking ahead, our expectations for 2025 are as follows.

這一年已經過去了。我們正在順利實現 2024 年的目標，其中包括將平均有形股本回報率提高到 8% 以上。展望未來，我們對 2025 年的預期如下。

First, we expect another year of portfolio purchases to exceed $1 billion at attractive pricing.

首先，我們預計明年的投資組合購買將以有吸引力的價格超過 10 億美元。

Second, due to strong projected portfolio purchases and the impact of our cash generating initiatives. We expect cash collection growth in the range of 8 to 10%.

其次，由於預期的投資組合購買強勁以及我們現金產生計劃的影響。我們預計現金收款成長在 8% 至 10% 之間。

Cash efficiency reflects the timing of certain activities such as our legal collection costs. But we expect to achieve at least 60% for the full year.

現金效率反映了某些活動的時間安排，例如我們的法定收款成本。但我們預計全年至少能實現60%。

And finally, we anticipate achieving double digit return on average tangible equity, which represents a solid step forward for the business as you would expect. We are currently in the midst of our planning cycle and upon closing out 2024 we will firm up our views with regard to our expectations for 2025 and beyond.

最後，我們預計平均有形資產回報率將達到兩位數，正如您所期望的那樣，這代表著業務向前邁出了堅實的一步。我們目前正處於規劃週期之中，在 2024 年結束時，我們將堅定對 2025 年及以後的期望的看法。

In closing, I am highly encouraged by the progress made and the accomplishments across the entire business. These past several portals, our work is not yet finished but it is already clear that the fundamentals of the business have improved significantly in what is truly an exciting time as a company, we are not letting up in our efforts to drive the current transformation in our growth, efficiency and profitability with the building blocks in place to drive strong shareholder value creation.

最後，我對整個業務所取得的進展和成就感到非常鼓舞。在過去的幾個入口網站中，我們的工作尚未完成，但很明顯，業務的基本面已經顯著改善，這對公司來說確實是一個激動人心的時刻，我們不會放棄推動當前轉型的努力我們的成長、效率和獲利能力已到位，以推動強勁的股東價值創造。

Thank you as always for your continued support and we look forward to engaging with all of you very soon and with that, we are now ready for questions.

一如既往地感謝您的持續支持，我們期待很快與大家互動，現在我們已準備好回答問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on the Touchstone phone.

女士們、先生們，我們現在開始問答環節。如果您有疑問，請按星號，然後按 Touchstone 電話上的星號。

Questions will be taken in the order received. If you wish to cancel your request, please press the star followed by the two.

問題將按照收到的順序進行。如果您想取消請求，請按星號，然後按兩個。

If you're using a speaker phone, please lift the handset before pressing any cases.

如果您使用免持電話，請在按下任何手機殼之前先拿起聽筒。

Your first question is from David Scharf from JMP Group LLC. Please ask your question.

您的第一個問題來自 JMP Group LLC 的 David Scharf。請提出你的問題。

Great, good afternoon and thanks for taking my questions. Terrific performance and execution. Obviously, II, I did want to maybe dig in a little more to understanding how we should think about geographic mix in the context of just returns. Your your full year purchasing guidance suggests a big fourth quarter volume. And then in combination with your comment that Europe tends to be about heavy in Q2 and Q4. I'm guessing there's a lot of purchasing activity in Europe. Can you just remind us are the or are kind of the post funding or really just the r(inaudible) of what you're buying in Europe similar to North America or does the ERC mix impact how we think about overall returns?

很好，下午好，感謝您提出我的問題。出色的表現和執行力。顯然，II，我確實想進一步深入了解我們應該如何在回報的背景下考慮地理組合。您的全年採購指引顯示第四季度的銷量很大。然後結合您的評論，歐洲在第二季和第四季往往會很重。我猜歐洲有很多採購活動。您能否提醒我們是後期融資，還是實際上只是您在歐洲購買的類似北美的產品（聽不清楚），或者 ERC 組合會影響我們對整體回報的看法？

Yeah. Hey, David, it's Rakesh. Why don't I take that one? So, look you're right that there is a difference between the US and Europe and as you think about the cash curves, Europe tends to be a lot flatter and it's a longer tail and so the cash would come in over a longer period of time. And as a result, what you'll see relative to the US also that the purchase price multiples in Europe tend to be lower. But again, when you think about the cost to collect and the cash efficiency in Europe, you know, because of the way they have a bailout system in certain countries, the cash efficiency tends to be overall higher.

是的。嘿，大衛，我是拉克什。我為什麼不拿那個？所以，看起來你是對的，美國和歐洲之間存在差異，當你考慮現金曲線時，歐洲往往更加平坦，而且尾巴更長，因此現金會在更長的時間內流入時間。因此，相對於美國，您也會看到歐洲的購買價格倍數往往較低。但同樣，當你考慮歐洲的收集成本和現金效率時，你就會知道，由於某些國家的救助系統的方式，現金效率總體上往往更高。

But I think if you take a step back the way we think about our overall investments and capital allocation and I mentioned this to you in the previous calls, we've got a global investment framework and we've got a global investment committee and we look at all the deals and depending on the appropriate returns that we would have, you know, we would make that investment. And so as you think about the return thresholds, when we're making the investments, it's calibrated against other geographies. But we take into account that the shape of the curves and the way the cash comes in and our cost to collect would be different across geographies.

但我認為，如果你退一步思考我們的整體投資和資本配置，我在之前的電話會議中向你提到過這一點，我們有一個全球投資框架，我們有一個全球投資委員會，我們看看所有的交易，根據我們將獲得的適當回報，你知道，我們會進行投資。因此，當您考慮回報閾值時，當我們進行投資時，它會根據其他地區進行校準。但我們考慮到曲線的形狀、現金的流入方式以及我們的收集成本在不同地區會有所不同。

Got it, got it. But it does sound like at the end of the day, a dollar invested in the US versus a dollar invested in Europe on an NPD basis or return basis are probably pretty similar. You're, you're not going to kind of pass up opportunities and want to optimize the other.

明白了，明白了。但最終聽起來確實如此，在 NPD 基礎或回報基礎上，投資美國的一美元與投資歐洲的一美元可能非常相似。你不會放棄機會並想要優化其他機會。

Absolutely. Absolutely.

絕對地。絕對地。

Okay. Hey, just quickly, actually, one very quick clean up question. And then I want to talk funding. You know, I know in some other calls this quarter, but particularly for some non-prime lenders. It's been asked whether the hurricanes particularly in parts of Florida, North Carolina, you know, are going to have any near-term impact on, on the, you know, fourth quarter and Q1 seasonal trends is that expected to impact any of your collection expectations.

好的。嘿，快點，實際上，這是一個非常快速的清理問題。然後我想談談資金。你知道，我在本季的其他一些電話會議中了解到，特別是針對一些非主要貸款機構。有人問，颶風，尤其是佛羅裡達州和北卡羅來納州部分地區的颶風，是否會對第四季度和第一季的季節性趨勢產生短期影響，預計會影響您的任何系列期望。

You know, I mean, obviously we, you know, this is Vik you know, we accommodate you know, these situations that, that our customers are facing in times of difficulty like that. We always have to abide by fema related rules with regard to, you know, what our collection practices are in areas that are designated as sort of, you know, fema impacted but just given the, the point that the rakes was making on the call David, with regard to the diversification of our cash collections on a global basis. With such a significant portion being outside the US and the portion within the US being, you know, split between legal and non legal when you sort of break it down and come down to the sort of nuances of, you know, a few states that were impacted in a small number of customers in the context of the overall US population. It's not a meaningful number for us. It might be different for or other specialty lenders that might be more localized or focusing just on the US business.

你知道，我的意思是，顯然我們，你知道，這是 Vik，你知道，我們適應你知道，我們的客戶在這樣的困難時期面臨的這些情況。我們始終必須遵守與聯邦應急管理局相關的規則，關於我們的收集做法，這些規則被指定為受到聯邦應急管理局影響，但只是考慮到耙子在電話中提出的觀點大衛，關於我們在全球範圍內現金收集的多元化。如此重要的一部分在美國境外，而在美國境內的部分，你知道，當你將其分解並歸結為一些州的細微差別時，你知道，合法和非法之間的區別在美國總人口的背景下，少數客戶受到了影響。這對我們來說不是一個有意義的數字。對於其他可能更加本地化或僅專注於美國業務的專業貸款機構來說，情況可能有所不同。

Got it , good to know and, and then just to wrap up Rakesh on the, on the funding side, you know, you walked through some of the recent extension and, refine can, can you just remind us the, the variable rate component of your, your capital stack and maybe on an on an absolute dollar basis just based on kind of where the forward curve is. Whether even with increased levels of purchasing, what will will there be a materially higher dollar amount of interest cost, do you think next year versus 2024?

明白了，很高興知道，然後總結一下 Rakesh，在資金方面，你知道，你經歷了一些最近的擴展，並且，細化可以，你能提醒我們可變利率部分嗎你的，你的資本堆棧，也許是在絕對美元的基礎上，只是基於遠期曲線的位置。您認為，即使購買量增加，明年與 2024 年相比，利息成本是否會大幅增加？

Yeah, look, you're absolutely right, David. It, it's a function of really the forward curves and we're kind of monitoring that as you can see, relative to Q3 of 2023 our quantum of debt is up around $400 million, you know, but we are definitely looking at where that forward curve is. And it's part of our overall calculus as to how much we invest. I think what we focus on more is, you know, where are we from a leverage perspective also? So, this quarter, we are at the three times mark, and we've always said that overall, a sustained long period, we want to be in the 2 to 3 times range.

是的，聽著，你說得完全正確，大衛。它實際上是遠期曲線的函數，我們正在監控，正如您所看到的，相對於2023 年第三季度，我們的債務量增加了約4 億美元，您知道，但我們肯定會關注遠期曲線的變化曲線是。這是我們投資多少的整體計算的一部分。我認為我們更關注的是，從槓桿的角度來看，我們處於什麼位置？所以，本季度，我們處於三倍大關，我們一直說，總體而言，在持續的較長時期內，我們希望處於 2 到 3 倍的範圍內。

But if the market is such that there are opportunities for us to go beyond the three times, we would, if it makes economic sense and our leverage would be moderately higher than the three times. We've got a natural governor in our facilities of about 3.5 total leverage. We obviously want to keep a cushion relative to that.

但如果市場是這樣的，我們有機會超越三倍，如果經濟上合理的話，我們會這麼做，而且我們的槓桿率會適度高於三倍。我們的設施中有一個天然調節器，總槓桿率約為 3.5。我們顯然希望對此保持緩衝。

So over time, you know, as we generate cash from all the investments that we were talking about we were making in the legal channel, you know, we should start seeing the delivering to occur as we go through 2025 and then on the and on the interest expense. Yeah, we're really for just like yourself, we're really following that forward curve. What that means, you know, we've got a good balance. If you think about the split between bank debt that's floating as well as fixed rate bonds, you know, today, it's somewhere around 60%. We've got a book that's close to 60% fixed as well. So, you know, that will work itself through as we watch the rate environment.

因此，隨著時間的推移，你知道，當我們從我們所談論的透過合法管道進行的所有投資中產生現金時，你知道，我們應該開始看到在 2025 年以及以後的時間裡交付的情況。利息支出。是的，我們真的和你一樣，我們真的在遵循前進的曲線。你知道，這意味著我們已經取得了良好的平衡。如果您考慮一下浮動利率債券和固定利率債券之間的比例，您就會知道，如今，這一比例約為 60%。我們有一本書也已經修復了接近 60%。所以，你知道，當我們觀察利率環境時，這將會自行解決。

Got it. Great. Thanks very much.

知道了。偉大的。非常感謝。

Thank you. Your next question is from Mark Hughes from Truist Securities. Your line is now open.

謝謝。您的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Mark Hughes。您的線路現已開通。

Yeah, thank you. Good afternoon.

是的，謝謝。午安.

When we think about the pricing, is it reasonable to assume that the pricing is but generally stable here? I'm just thinking about your collection's multiples between Q2 and Q3 pretty stable. Maybe down a bit. Is that a reflection of the, you know, it sounds like the supplies continue to be elevated, they're relatively stable in Europe. Is that kind of a good equilibrium here around pricing?

當我們考慮定價時，假設這裡的定價整體穩定性是否合理？我只是在想你的收藏在第二季和第三季之間的倍數非常穩定。也許會下降一點。這是否反映出，聽起來供應量持續增加，歐洲的供應量也相對穩定。這種定價是否達到了良好的平衡？

Yeah. Hey, Mark, it's Rakesh. I'll take that one again. Look, I think first of all, we're very happy with how pricing has improved over the last year. If you recall when we ended 2023 our America's core pricing multiple was 1.75. So, sitting here today at 2.1 times, it really reflects you know, the pricing taking into account the interest rate environment also taking into account the supply demand dynamics. Look as we think about, you know, where pricing is, we're continuously winning our fair share of deals. We also lose our deals. So, we know that the market is in equilibrium from that perspective. It also depends on, you know, what sellers are bringing to market, what their return thresholds are. So overall mark, there are a number of moving variables that would drive that purchase price multiple. But we we're happy relative to where we were a year ago at the 2.1 times. Look, the other thing is we are working through a number of, you know, initiatives also. And our goal is ultimately to pay, you know, the same dollars in investment dollars. That is but extract more cash from our investments as we improve and optimize our processes and our operations.

是的。嘿，馬克，我是拉克什。我會再拿那個。我認為首先，我們對去年定價的改善感到非常滿意。如果您還記得 2023 年結束時，我們美國的核心定價倍數​​為 1.75。所以，今天坐在這裡的 2.1 倍，它確實反映出你知道，定價考慮到了利率環境，也考慮到了供需動態。當我們思考定價時，我們正在不斷贏得公平的交易份額。我們也失去了我們的交易。因此，從這個角度來看，我們知道市場處於均衡狀態。你知道，這也取決於賣家向市場推出的產品以及他們的退貨門檻。整體而言，有許多移動變數會推動購買價格倍數。但相對於一年前的 2.1 倍，我們很高興。聽著，另一件事是我們也在努力實施一些措施。我們的目標最終是支付相同的投資金額。也就是說，隨著我們改進和優化我們的流程和運營，我們可以從我們的投資中提取更多現金。

Understood. And on that front, I think you have talked about the recalibrating your facility footprint. Could you repeat that or give me kind of what the strategy is? Are there going to be any expenses here in the near term as you go through that transition? And then any early thoughts on what that might say again? I think you mentioned three facilities. Is that what's the facility count to? And, and from.

明白了。在這方面，我認為您已經談到了重新校準您的設施足跡。您能重複一遍或告訴我策略是什麼嗎？在過渡過程中，短期內會產生任何費用嗎？那麼對於這可能會再次說明什麼，您有什麼早期的想法嗎？我想你提到了三個設施。這就是設施的意義嗎？並且，並且從。

Yeah, we have you know, if you know, on the, on the commentary we just made, right? We have about 1,200 collectors today supporting our US business mark, about 300 approximately in offshore locations, 900 in the US. And these three facilities that we're referencing accommodate about 50% of our US collector base, you know what we've established over the last several quarters are on two fronts. One is the offshore connectors are performing to expectations as well.

是的，我們有你知道的，如果你知道的話，關於我們剛剛發表的評論，對吧？目前，我們有大約 1,200 名收藏家支持我們的美國業務，其中約 300 名收藏家位於海外地區，900 名藏家位於美國。我們引用的這三個設施容納了我們約 50% 的美國收藏家群體，您知道我們在過去幾個季度中在兩個方面取得了進展。一是海上連接器的表現也符合預期。

And secondly, we have made significant advances on, you know, having an appropriate work from home functionality tested built out, you know, fit for purpose and ready to roll. So, our expectation is unlike what might have happened in prior times where if you close a facility, you are, you need to jettison all of the staff that are in that location, you know, good, bad and indifferent. You know, that's a cost and a concept of the company in this situation here, we are expecting that a large number of the collectors that are currently in these facilities will continue to serve our US based customers. They will just be doing that from a remote facility there, you know, their home. And and therefore we don't see a significant impact with, with respect to, you know, standard cost or anything else. The actual cost of exiting these two leases in one owned facility is is fairly modest.

其次，我們在測試了適當的在家工作功能方面取得了重大進展，您知道，適合目的並準備就緒。因此，我們的期望與以前可能發生的情況不同，如果你關閉一個設施，你需要拋棄該地點的所有員工，你知道，無論是好的、壞的還是冷漠的。您知道，這是公司在這種情況下的成本和理念，我們預計目前在這些設施中的大量收集者將繼續為我們的美國客戶提供服務。他們將只是在他們家的遠端設施中進行這項工作。因此，就標準成本或其他方面而言，我們沒有看到重大影響。在一個自有設施中退出這兩項租賃的實際成本相當適中。

Thank you for that. And then the $350 million plus, I think you said the fourth quarter purchases should be higher than the third quarter. You could say again and I'm sorry, I might have missed it. The kind of where that was coming from. I think you talked about, you know, in the spot market having hit on a large deal or two. Where, where's that fourth quarter strength from?

謝謝你。然後是 3.5 億美元以上，我想你說第四季的採購量應該高於第三季。你可以再說一遍，對不起，我可能錯過了。那種聲音是從哪裡來的。我想你談到了在現貨市場上達成一兩筆大交易。第四季的實力從何而來？

The fourth quarter of, you know, the US business of supply remains sort of you know, at, at good robust levels. But as we, as you know, we have a good forward view on that because most of the purchasing in the in the US is forward flows. I think Rakesh's commentary mentioned you know, a that the Europe traditionally has had you know, if you go back and look over time, traditionally, has had strong second quarters and strong fourth quarters. And we are seeing another strong fourth quarter building up in Europe by one month into the quarter, we have reasonable line of sight to you know what we already onboarded and the pipeline that's ahead of us. And so, we feel fairly confident at this point in time with the numbers that we put out there.

你知道，美國第四季的供應業務仍然處於良好的強勁水平。但正如你們所知，我們對此有良好的前瞻性看法，因為美國的大部分採購都是遠期流動。我認為拉克什的評論提到，你知道，歐洲傳統上已經讓你知道，如果你回顧過去，傳統上，第二季和第四季表現強勁。我們看到歐洲第四季度的表現在進入本季度一個月後又一個強勁的增長，我們有合理的視野讓您知道我們已經推出了什麼以及我們前面的產品線。因此，我們目前對我們公佈的數字相當有信心。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Once again, I think it's best for one. Should you wish to ask a question? And your next question is from Robert Dodd from Raymond James. Is that your question?

謝謝。再一次，我認為這對一個人來說是最好的。您想問一個問題嗎？您的下一個問題來自雷蒙德詹姆斯的羅伯特多德。這是你的問題嗎？

Hi guys and congrats on the quarter. A question kind of kind of follow on the, the, the guidance and I realized these early days and we haven't finalized everything yet, but at a billion dollars purchasing volume for 2025. I mean, it looks like you're going to be pushing 1.4, I think you said and, that's what shakes out for the 2024 globally. And you talked about how the US, you expect it to remain elevated and its mostly forward flow. So, can you give us a couple of the push and pulls on? Like why you're only co comfortable right now? Saying a billion for next year when us alone looks like it's, it's going to make up the vast majority of that and, you know, etcetera what, why just the billion right now in the preliminary guidance.

大家好，恭喜本季。一個問題有點像是指導方針，我很早就意識到，我們還沒有敲定一切，但 2025 年的採購量將達到 10 億美元。我的意思是，看起來您將推出 1.4，我想您說過，這就是 2024 年全球的變化。您談到了美國如何保持高位且主要向前流動。那麼，您能給我們一些推動和拉動嗎？例如為什麼你現在只感到舒服？假設明年是 10 億，當我們單獨來看時，這將佔其中的絕大多數，你知道，等等，為什麼現在在初步指導中只有 10 億。

If you, if you sort of, you know, be tracking my commentary rather over the last 18 months. You know, while I'm pushing very hard in the business, I'm also very cognizant of not getting ahead of my skis on the stick, right? So, you know, we set a billion plus, we also indicated that we're in the process of you know, working through our, you know, what we would refer to with our planning cycle for next year, the European market because it's so spot driven, you know, we want to be sort of, you know, careful in our planning assumptions that we don't assume a level of spot buying that may or may not mature, right, because it can lead us to make inappropriate strategic decisions. So, you know, as we, as we sort of complete the year as we have better line of sight to a 2025 and certainly update that we wanted to sort of signal that it is definitely looking at this point in time above a billion dollars. We wanted to sort of also signal that, you know, it's going to be somewhere between a billion and you know, a little bit higher than that. But don't want to over commit to the numbers for next year.

如果你，如果你有點，你知道，在過去 18 個月裡一直在追蹤我的評論。你知道，雖然我在業務上非常努力，但我也非常清楚自己不能超越我的滑雪板，對吧？所以，你知道，我們設定了 10 億以上，我們也表示，我們正在製定明年歐洲市場的規劃週期，因為它是所以現貨驅動，你知道，我們希望在我們的規劃假設中保持謹慎，我們不會假設一定程度的現貨購​​買可能會成熟，也可能不會成熟，對吧，因為這可能會導致我們做出不適當的決定戰略決策。所以，你知道，當我們結束這一年時，我們對 2025 年有了更好的視野，當然我們也想發出這樣的信號：在這個時間點，它肯定會超過 10 億美元。我們也想發出這樣的訊號：這個數字將在 10 億之間，比這個數字高一點。但不想過度承諾明年的數字。

Got it fair enough. Thank you on that. On, on the legal cost. Obviously, I think up $8 million year over year as you've invested more into that and, and that will pay off, pay off next year. But how close are we to kind of AAA maturity level? Obviously, if you, if you buy more, it'll go up more. But you know, how, how close is the current run rate to where you think or the run rate you gave for Q4 to kind of what we should expect absent some future or whatever?

很公平。謝謝你。關於法律費用。顯然，我認為每年都會增加 800 萬美元，因為你在這方面投入了更多，而且這將會得到回報，明年就會得到回報。但我們離 AAA 成熟度還有多遠呢？顯然，如果你買得更多，價格就會上漲更多。但你知道，目前的運行率與你的想法或你為第四季度給出的運行率與我們在未來或其他情況下應該預期的情況有多接近？

I think I will also, you know, we provide, we haven't, we were very intentional, right? In in not sort of providing, I think rakish, you know, was, was careful, right, not to provide, you know, legal cost number, right? You know, going out into the future if you think about the timelines that we laid out on that chart, you know, if you see that the timeline for a prejudgment, right, is, you know, extends out over a very long time, right? 360 days plus minus, right? So, the larger volume that we've experienced over the last 12 months in purchasing, right is still going through the processes until it gets to post judgment. When it gets to post judgment, there will obviously be consequences and costs related to, you know, the collectability at that point in time. So, I would say that a year on year, you would expect to see increases in legal cost. The size of the increases, I think we'll be better able to tell you if you know, as we sort of complete the year and have a window, you know, at the probably in the mid to late February time frame.

我想我也會，你知道，我們提供，我們沒有，我們是非常有意義的，對嗎？在不提供的情況下，我認為很瀟灑，你知道，是，很小心，對，不提供，你知道，法律費用數字，對吧？你知道，展望未來，如果你考慮我們在該圖表上列出的時間表，你知道，如果你看到預判斷的時間表，對，是，你知道，延伸了很長一段時間，正確的？360 天加上減去，對嗎？因此，我們在過去 12 個月中經歷的較大採購量仍在經歷這些流程，直到做出判斷。當判決做出後，顯然會產生與當時的可收集性相關的後果和成本。因此，我想說，您預計會看到法律成本逐年增加。我認為，如果您知道的話，我們將能夠更好地告訴您，因為我們已經結束了這一年，並有一個窗口，您知道，可能是在二月中下旬的時間範圍內。

Got it, got it. Thank you 1 more. If I can give it given the cash flow you're generating and in, in my model at least, and you said on the call, you expect to be lever in in 2025. I think that's pretty realistic even if you do over a billion in purchasing. So, and this might be something you want to answer next quarter, next quarter. But what, what are the capital use plans? Because I could see you, you know, taking your leverage by the end of next year, well below three.

明白了，明白了。再謝謝你1.如果我能給出你正在產生的現金流，至少在我的模型中，你在電話會議上說，你預計將在 2025 年實現槓桿化。我認為即使你的採購量超過十億，這也是很現實的。所以，這可能是你下個季度想要回答的問題。但是，資金使用計畫是什麼？因為我可以看到你知道，到明年年底你的槓桿率將遠低於三。

And so, what, what are the things under consideration if that were to occur?

那麼，如果發生這種情況，我們正在考慮哪些事情？

Sorry, you were, you were just to make sure I understand the question you're talking about the leverage being your model would suggest that leverage would be trending down, trending.

抱歉，您只是為了確保我理解您所說的槓桿問題，您的模型表明槓桿將呈下降趨勢。

Down pretty fairly materially across the course. I mean, that was speaking across the course of 2025 well below three, let's put it that way.

整個球場上的下降幅度相當大。我的意思是，就 2025 年而言，這個數字遠低於 3，讓我們這麼說吧。

So, what, what would the opportunities be, what would you be under consideration for utilizing that leverage capacity? I mean, obviously more paper if it's there, but you know, the $1 billion or 1.2 or whatever it is leverage is still going to come down. So on, in my model, I'll put words in your mouth. But so what are the considerations that, that you're looking at the utilization of that capacity?

那麼，利用這種槓桿能力，機會是什麼？我的意思是，如果有的話，顯然會有更多的紙張，但你知道，10 億美元或 1.2 美元或無論什麼槓桿仍然會下降。所以，在我的模型中，我會把話放到你嘴裡。但是，您在考慮該容量的使用率時有哪些考慮因素呢？

Yeah, I think Robert, you answer the question when you said, you know, portfolio purchases really, that's what we are trying to calibrate. As Vic said, we didn't want to get over our skis, we put a $1 billion number out there. But look, I think, you know, we fully appreciate that our business, it's going to have its peaks and valleys, and we want to make sure that we are appropriately guarded against, you know, any changes in the environment as we move forward.

是的，我認為羅伯特，你回答了這個問題，你知道，投資組合購買確實是我們正在努力校準的。正如維克所說，我們不想放棄我們的滑雪板，我們在那裡放了一個 10 億美元的數字。但是，我認為，我們充分認識到我們的業務將會有高峰和低谷，我們希望確保在我們前進的過程中，我們能夠適當防範環境的任何變化。

So, in our case from a leverage perspective, you know, we are at that three and, and probably bumping up more as we purchase more in the, in the next year. But ultimately, we want to be back in that sweet spot of that 2 to 3 times and then we'll recalibrate again as we see portfolio investment opportunities come along. So that continues to be a priority. So, you know, if your question is anything related to the stock and, and if we do something around dividends buybacks, that is, that is not a priority for us right now.

因此，就我們的情況而言，從槓桿的角度來看，我們處於這三個水平，並且隨著我們在明年購買更多產品，可能會增加更多。但最終，我們希望回到 2 到 3 次的最佳狀態，然後當我們看到投資組合投資機會出現時，我們將再次重新調整。因此，這仍然是一個優先事項。所以，你知道，如果你的問題與股票有關，並且如果我們圍繞股息回購做一些事情，也就是說，這不是我們現在的優先事項。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call back to pick a talk for the closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。現在我將回電以選擇一個演講作為結束語。

Thank you everybody for joining us and really appreciate your support of our business through these times. Thank you.

感謝大家加入我們，並非常感謝您在這段時間對我們業務的支持。謝謝。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now ended. Thank you all for joining you. May all disconnect your lines.

謝謝各位，女士們、先生們，會議現已結束。感謝大家的加入。願大家斷開你們的線路。