Regional Management Corp (RM) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Regional Management Fourth Quarter 2023 earnings call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions during the question queue, you may press star then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call you may signal an operator by pressing star zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Garrett Edson ICR. Please go ahead.

謝謝你的支持。這是會議操作員。歡迎參加 2023 年第四季區域管理收益電話會議。提醒一下，所有與會者都處於僅聽模式，並且正在錄製會議。演示結束後，您將有機會在問題隊列中提問，您可以按電話鍵盤上的星號然後再按一個。如果您在電話會議期間需要協助，您可以按星號零向操作員發出信號。我現在想將會議轉交給 Garrett Edson ICR。請繼續。

Thank you and good afternoon. By now everyone should have access to our earnings announcement supplemental presentation, which were released prior to this call and may be found on our website at regionalmanagement.com.

謝謝你，下午好。到目前為止，每個人都應該可以訪問我們的收益公告補充演示文稿，該演示文稿已在本次電話會議之前發布，並且可以在我們的網站 Regionalmanagement.com 上找到。

Before we begin our formal remarks, I will direct you to page 2, our supplemental presentation, which contains important disclosures concerning forward-looking statements and the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Part of our discussion today may include forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's future financial performance and business prospects are forward-looking statements speak only as of today and are subject to various assumptions, risks, uncertainties, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statement. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and therefore, you should not place undue reliance upon them refer only to our press release presentation and recent filings with the SEC for more detailed discussion of our forward-looking statements and the risks and uncertainties that could impact our future operating results and financial condition. Also, our discussion today may include references to certain non-GAAP measures. For reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable GAAP measures can be found within our earnings announcement, earnings presentation and posted on our website at regionalmanagement.com. I would now like to introduce Rob Beck, President and CEO of Regional Management Corp.

在我們開始正式發言之前，我將引導您閱讀第 2 頁，即我們的補充演示文稿，其中包含有關前瞻性陳述和非公認會計原則財務指標使用的重要披露。我們今天討論的部分內容可能包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於管理層當前對公司未來財務業績和業務前景的預期、估計和預測，這些前瞻性陳述僅代表今天的情況，並受到各種假設、風險的影響、不確定性和其他難以預測的因素，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。這些聲明並非對未來業績的保證，因此，您不應過度依賴它們，請僅參閱我們的新聞稿簡報和最近向SEC 提交的文件，以更詳細地討論我們的前瞻性聲明以及可能影響的風險和不確定性。我們未來的經營業績和財務狀況。此外，我們今天的討論可能會提到某些非公認會計原則措施。如需將這些指標與最具可比性的 GAAP 指標進行核對，請參閱我們的收益公告、收益演示，並發佈在我們的網站 Regionalmanagement.com 上。現在我想介紹一下區域管理公司總裁兼執行長 Rob Beck。

Thanks, Garrett, and welcome to our fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. I'm joined today by Harp Rana, our Chief Financial Officer. In the fourth quarter, we took a series of actions to place the business back on a more normalized earnings trajectory, including putting the higher losses in our back-book portfolio behind us.

謝謝 Garrett，歡迎參加我們的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。今天我們的財務長 Harp Rana 也加入了我的行列。在第四季度，我們採取了一系列行動，使業務回到更正常的獲利軌道，包括將我們的帳簿投資組合中較高的損失拋在腦後。

On this call, we'll cover our core operating results provide details on the actions taken in the fourth quarter and preview our expectations for the first quarter and full year 2024 fourth quarter results came in better than our outlook when excluding the impact of three discrete items that we took in the quarter, while we had a net loss of $7.6 million or $0.8 per share our after-tax earnings were reduced by $12.6 million or $1.34 per share due to the three actions. However, these actions strengthen our balance sheet and realign the business with further cost reductions, both of which position us for future growth with improved operating leverage and stronger earnings in 2024 and beyond.

在本次電話會議上，我們將介紹我們的核心營運業績，提供有關第四季度採取的行動的詳細信息，並預覽我們對第一季度和2024 年全年的預期，排除三個離散因素的影響後，第四季度的業績好於我們的預期我們在本季度採取的項目雖然淨虧損760 萬美元或每股0.8 美元，但由於這三項行動，我們的稅後收益減少了1260 萬美元或每股1.34 美元。然而，這些行動增強了我們的資產負債表，並透過進一步降低成本來重新調整業務，這兩項舉措都使我們能夠在2024 年及以後提高營運槓桿並實現更強勁的盈利，從而實現未來的成長。

I'll provide an overview of these actions now before covering our fourth quarter results and 2024 expectations in more detail. First, we booked a $2 million pretax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter related to branch consolidations and severance costs from the elimination of roughly 10% of our corporate positions. These restructuring actions will result in about $6 million of operating cost savings in 2024 which we'll utilize to self-fund our continued investment in growth, technology, data analytics and expansion with our newer states of operations. As a result of these actions, we expect to hold our 2024 G&A expenses roughly flat to our Q4 run rate.

在更詳細地介紹我們第四季的業績和 2024 年的預期之前，我現在將概述這些行動。首先，我們在第四季度計入了 200 萬美元的稅前重組費用，這些費用與分公司合併以及因取消約 10% 的公司職位而產生的遣散費有關。這些重整行動將在 2024 年節省約 600 萬美元的營運成本，我們將利用這些成本為我們在成長、技術、數據分析和新營運狀態擴張方面的持續投資提供自籌資金。由於這些行動，我們預計 2024 年的一般管理費用將與第四季的運作率大致持平。

Second, as we did in the fourth quarter of 2022, we undertook a sale of certain nonperforming loans prior to their normal charge-off at 180 days past due, which impacted net income by $3.9 million in the quarter. As a result, we ended the year with 30 plus day delinquencies of 6.9%, an improvement of 20 basis points from the prior year. We took advantage of attractive pricing to sell these loans and put the associated losses behind us. The sale also frees up additional collection capacity going into 2024 to be put against assets with a higher probability of collection during tax season. Fourth quarter net income impact is largely timing related as first quarter earnings will benefit from lower losses and interest accrual reversals.

其次，正如我們在 2022 年第四季所做的那樣，我們在逾期 180 天正常沖銷之前出售了某些不良貸款，這對該季度的淨利潤造成了 390 萬美元的影響。結果，我們年底的逾期 30 天以上的拖欠率為 6.9%，比上年提高了 20 個基點。我們利用具吸引力的定價來出售這些貸款，並將相關損失拋諸腦後。此次出售還釋放了進入 2024 年的額外徵收能力，用於在納稅季節徵收可能性較高的資產。第四季淨利潤的影響很大程度上與時間相關，因為第一季的獲利將受益於虧損減少和應計利息逆轉。

Third, we refined our description of loans included in our back book and built additional reserves for back-book portfolio stress in the fourth quarter. Previously, our back-book included all loans originated prior to the fourth quarter of 2022. So we excluded delinquent renewals associated with loans from these vintages. As of year end, 23% of our portfolio fits the prior description of our back-book under our revised description of the back book. We are now including only those loans that were originated in the four quarters from fourth quarter 21 through third quarter of 2022 and the associated delinquent renewals for all loans originated prior to fourth quarter 2022. Under this description, we have a total of $390 million in our back book, representing 22% of our portfolio as of year-end. Our analysis of this newly defined backlog shows that it continues to be stressed. As a result, we increased the loan loss reserve rate on these vintages by 240 basis points to 14.8%, building $9.3 million in incremental loan loss reserves or $7 million after-tax in comparison, the loan loss reserve rate on our front book is 9.5%. As the stress backed by loans flow through the loss, the incremental reserves will represent about 40 basis points of net credit loss rate in 2024, what we charged against our loan loss reserve, resulting in no bottom-line impact in 2024, all else being equal we are fully reserved for back book losses as of the end of the year. While we broken out the various components of these actions we took in the fourth quarter on a net basis, we effectively accelerated $14 million of net credit losses and $2 million of interest accrual reversals from first quarter 2020. For the fourth quarter 2023 for the loan sale held to our existing reserve level due to stress in the portfolio, particularly in the back book and took a $2 million restructuring charge. While these actions clearly impacted our fourth quarter results. They also set us up well to generate stronger earnings in 2024 and beyond.

第三，我們完善了後台帳簿中貸款的描述，並為第四季度後台帳簿投資組合壓力建立了額外的準備金。此前，我們的帳簿包括 2022 年第四季之前發放的所有貸款。因此，我們排除了與這些年份的貸款相關的拖欠續約。截至年底，我們的投資組合中有 23% 符合我們修訂後的背書描述中先前的背書描述。我們現在僅包括 2022 年第四季 21 至第三季這四個季度發放的貸款，以及 2022 年第四季之前發放的所有貸款的相關拖欠續展。根據這種描述，截至年底，我們的底帳總額為 3.9 億美元，占我們投資組合的 22%。我們對這個新定義的積壓工作的分析表明，它仍然面臨著壓力。因此，我們將這些年份的貸款損失準備金率提高了240 個基點，達到14.8%，增加了930 萬美元的貸款損失準備金，或稅後700 萬美元，相比之下，我們前台的貸款損失準備金率為9.5 %。由於貸款支持的壓力流經了損失，增量準備金將佔2024 年淨信用損失率的約40 個基點（我們從貸款損失準備金中扣除），因此不會對2024 年的底線產生影響，其他一切都在截至今年底，我們已為回帳損失做好了充分準備。雖然我們按淨額對第四季度採取的這些行動的各個組成部分進行了細分，但自2020 年第一季度起，我們實際上加速了1400 萬美元的淨信貸損失和200 萬美元的應計利息逆轉。2023 年第四季度，由於投資組合（尤其是帳簿）的壓力，貸款銷售保持在我們現有的準備金水平，並收取了 200 萬美元的重組費用。雖然這些行動顯然影響了我們第四季的業績。它們也為我們在 2024 年及以後創造更強勁的收益奠定了良好的基礎。

Overall, we had solid core operating results in the fourth quarter our revenue reached record levels from a combination of higher quality portfolio growth and total revenues that came in better than our outlook. Total revenue yields have benefited from our repricing actions and growth in our higher-margin small loan portfolio, which grew by $30 million in the third quarter and $19 million in the fourth quarter. We've experienced strong returns in this segment as demand has been healthy, allowing us to be more selective in the loans we book, while growth in this segment will put some pressure on our normalized credit loss rates in the future. It comes with an interactive revenue and margin trade-off on our fourth quarter line items. G&a expenses came in better than our outlook on an adjusted basis as we continue to manage expenses tightly while still investing in our growth and strategic initiatives. Despite our strong portfolio growth, interest expense also came in better than our expectations as we benefited from our fixed rate funding, which ended the year at 82% of our total debt, mitigating the impact of the higher interest rate environment. Finally, excluding the loan sale and additional reserve build on our back book portfolio. Our net credit losses and provision for credit losses were roughly in line with our expectations. Looking ahead, we're introducing full year line-item guidance for the first time. Based on the current economic environment, we anticipate a modest rebound in portfolio growth in 2024. We expect 2024 ending net receivables to grow by approximately 5% to 7%, up from just over 4% in 2023. We're forecasting revenue growth to be towards the higher end of this range, with revenue yields improving by 40 to 50 basis points due to our repricing actions and growth in our higher margin small loan segment, offset in part by the impact of interest reversals associated with elevated losses from the back book. We expect full year 2024 G&A expenses to be approximately $256 million to $258 million, roughly flat to the fourth quarter run rate. While the amount may vary in any given quarter, we will hold the line on expenses in 2024, barring a decision to lead into faster growth if warranted by improving economic conditions, we expect our cost of funds, which is our interest expense as an annualized percentage of average net receivables to be approximately 4.5% to 4.6%. This assumes that benchmark rates improve consistent with current foreign currencies. Lastly, we anticipate that our net credit loss rate will be in the range of 10.7% to 10.8% in 2024. And our year end loan loss reserve rate will be between 10.1% and 10.3%, subject to economic conditions. This is naturally very difficult to predict. Given the economic uncertainty, the 30 plus day delinquency rate on the back book is 10.4% compared to 5.8% on the front book, which is still maturing. Our front-book continues to perform in line with our expectations. Despite macro economic stress, credit tightening actions have improved overall portfolio quality as we have originated roughly 60% of our loans to our top two risk ranks in recent quarters, our one to 59 day delinquency rate remained 70 basis points better at year end 2023 compared to 2019 in projecting our 2024 NCL rates at 10.7% to 10.8%. We are assuming inflation continues to moderate, resulting in improvement in delinquency roll rate of between 30 and 80 basis points across all buckets. So those roll rates will remain elevated compared to 2019 levels. Their flow rates do not improve in 2024, our net credit loss rate could increase to 11% to 11.3% if rates were to improve to 2019 levels, our net credit loss rate could fall to as low as 9%, but we don't anticipate that outcome in 2024 to further understand the 2024 projected net credit loss rate range of 10.7% to 10.8%. We need to break this down in terms of our current underwriting and portfolio. We have said previously that we would expect a normalized net credit loss rate of 8.5% to 9% in a benign economic environment and where we have the portfolio growth rate that is consistent with our historical norms. However, as we have begun to lean back into our higher margin smaller business, we expect our normalized portfolio loss rate to increase to the 9% to 9.5% range. Broadly speaking, the difference between this range and the projected range of 10.7% to 10.8% in 2024 is due to a roughly 80 basis points impact associated with slower portfolio growth in 2024 compared to historical growth rates as well as economic stress reflected in the portfolio, including the estimated 40 basis point impact from back-book losses associated with the incremental fourth quarter reserves. We expect the newly defined back book to represent 8% of the portfolio by year-end 2024. While it's impossible to predict the future, if economic conditions return to a more benign environment and we resume a higher portfolio growth rate, our net credit loss rate should return to more normalized levels sometime in 2025. As we've always done, we'll manage the business in a way that maximizes direct contribution margin and bottom line results. While the actions taken in the fourth quarter were difficult, particularly on those individuals impacted by the restructuring. They were necessary to position the business for a stronger 2024 and beyond. Having completed the fourth quarter loan sale and taken additional reserves related to our remaining back-book portfolio. We are on a path towards a more normalized earnings trajectory as economic conditions continue to improve, including strong profits in the first quarter of this year. The team and I are excited as we continue to execute on our omnichannel strategy and remain positioned for stronger growth when the economic conditions are right. I'll now turn the call over to Harp to provide additional color on our fourth quarter results as well as Q1 guide.

總體而言，我們在第四季度取得了堅實的核心營運業績，由於更高品質的投資組合成長和優於我們預期的總收入，我們的收入達到了創紀錄的水平。總收入收益率受惠於我們的重新定價行動和高利潤小額貸款投資組合的成長，第三季成長了 3,000 萬美元，第四季成長了 1,900 萬美元。由於需求一直健康，我們在這一領域獲得了強勁的回報，這使我們能夠更有選擇性地預訂貸款，而該領域的成長將對我們未來的正常化信用損失率帶來一些壓力。它對我們第四季度的訂單項目進行了互動式收入和利潤權衡。調整後的一般及行政費用優於我們的預期，因為我們繼續嚴格管理費用，同時仍投資於我們的成長和策略性舉措。儘管我們的投資組合成長強勁，但利息支出也優於我們的預期，因為我們受益於固定利率融資，截至年底，固定利率融資占我們總債務的 82%，減輕了利率上升環境的影響。最後，排除貸款銷售和額外準備金是建立在我們的帳簿投資組合之上的。我們的淨信用損失和信用損失撥備大致符合我們的預期。展望未來，我們將首次引入全年專案指導。基於當前的經濟環境，我們預期 2024 年投資組合成長將溫和反彈。我們預計 2024 年期末應收帳款淨額將成長約 5% 至 7%，高於 2023 年的略高於 4%。我們預測收入成長將達到該範圍的高端，由於我們的重新定價行動和利潤率較高的小額貸款業務的成長，收入收益率將提高 40 至 50 個基點，但部分被利息逆轉的影響所抵消與回帳損失增加有關。我們預計 2024 年全年一般管理費用約為 2.56 億至 2.58 億美元，與第四季運行率大致持平。雖然具體金額在任何特定季度可能有所不同，但我們將在 2024 年控制支出，除非在經濟狀況改善的情況下做出加快增長的決定，我們預計我們的資金成本，即我們的年化利息支出佔平均應收帳款淨額的百分比約為4.5%至4.6%。這是假設基準利率的改善與目前外幣一致。最後，我們預計2024年我們的淨信用損失率將在10.7%至10.8%之間。年末貸款損失準備率將在10.1%至10.3%之間，視經濟情況而定。這自然是很難預測的。考慮到經濟的不確定性，帳本上 30 天以上的拖欠率為 10.4%，而帳本上的拖欠率為 5.8%，而帳本仍在到期。我們的前台表現繼續符合我們的預期。儘管面臨宏觀經濟壓力，但信貸緊縮行動改善了整體投資組合質量，因為近幾個季度我們將約60% 的貸款發放給了前兩個風險等級，與2023 年年底相比，我們的1 至59天拖欠率仍高出70 個基點到 2019 年，我們預期 2024 年 NCL 率為 10.7% 至 10.8%。我們假設通膨持續溫和，導致所有類別的拖欠展期率改善 30 至 80 個基點。因此，與 2019 年的水準相比，這些滾動率仍將保持在較高水準。他們的流動率在2024 年不會改善，我們的淨信用損失率可能會增加到11% 至11.3%，如果利率改善到2019 年的水平，我們的淨信用損失率可能會降至9%，但我們不會預期2024年的結果進一步了解2024年預期淨信用損失率範圍為10.7%至10.8%。我們需要根據我們目前的承保和投資組合來細分這一點。我們之前曾說過，在良好的經濟環境下，我們的投資組合成長率與我們的歷史標準一致，我們預期正常化的淨信貸損失率為 8.5% 至 9%。然而，隨著我們開始轉向利潤率較高的小型業務，我們預計正常化投資組合損失率將增加至 9% 至 9.5% 的範圍。一般來說，這一範圍與 2024 年 10.7% 至 10.8% 的預測範圍之間的差異是由於 2024 年投資組合成長較歷史成長率放緩約 80 個基點的影響以及投資組合中反映的經濟壓力，包括與第四季準備金增量相關的帳面損失預計造成的40 個基點影響。我們預計到 2024 年底，新定義的後台帳簿將佔投資組合的 8%。雖然無法預測未來，但如果經濟狀況恢復到更良性的環境並且我們恢復更高的投資組合成長率，我們的淨信貸損失率應該會在 2025 年的某個時候恢復到更正常化的水平。正如我們一貫所做的那樣，我們將以最大化直接貢獻利潤和底線結果的方式管理業務。儘管第四季採取的行動很困難，特別是對於那些受重組影響的個人而言。他們對於使業務在 2024 年及以後變得更強大是必要的。已完成第四季度的貸款銷售，並提取了與我們剩餘的後台投資組合相關的額外準備金。隨著經濟狀況持續改善，包括今年第一季的強勁利潤，我們正走上更正常化的獲利軌跡。我和我的團隊都感到很興奮，因為我們將繼續執行我們的全通路策略，並在經濟條件合適時保持更強勁的成長。現在我將把電話轉給 Harp，為我們第四季度的業績以及第一季的指南提供更多資訊。

Thank you, Bob, and hello, everyone. I'll now take you through our fourth quarter results in more detail, including the impact of the three actions that Bob covered. I'll also provide you with line item guidance for the first quarter.

謝謝你，鮑勃，大家好。現在，我將向您詳細介紹我們第四季的業績，包括鮑伯介紹的三項行動的影響。我還將為您提供第一季的訂單項指導。

On page 3 of the supplemental presentation, we provide our fourth quarter financial highlights. As Rob noted, we had solid core operating results despite a net loss of $7.6 million or $0.8 per share. The restructuring loan sale and reserve actions described by Rob impacted net income by $12.6 million or $1.34 per share. On a normalized basis, we had strong revenue growth and we continued to carefully manage our G&A and interest expense. We also exited the year in a strong reserve position with an improved delinquency posture.

在補充簡報的第 3 頁上，我們提供了第四季度的財務亮點。正如 Rob 指出的那樣，儘管淨虧損 760 萬美元（即每股 0.8 美元），但我們仍擁有穩健的核心營運表現。Rob 描述的重組貸款出售和準備金行動影響了淨利潤 1,260 萬美元，即每股 1.34 美元。在正常化的基礎上，我們的收入成長強勁，我們繼續謹慎管理我們的一般管理費用和利息支出。今年結束時，我們也維持了強勁的儲備地位，並改善了拖欠情況。

Turning to Page 4. Demand remained strong in the quarter and we continue to take a cautious approach to underwriting with an emphasis on higher-margin anchor total originations declined 13% year-over-year by channel direct mail, digital and branch originations fell by 22%, 16% and 8%, respectively. As we've consistently noted, we've deliberately reduced originations in recent quarters as we appropriately balance growth with credit quality.

翻到第 4 頁。本季需求依然強勁，我們繼續對承保採取謹慎態度，重點關注利潤率較高的錨定通路直郵總發起量年減 13%，數位和分公司發起量分別下降 22%、16%和8%分別。正如我們一直指出的那樣，我們在最近幾季刻意減少了貸款發放，因為我們適當地平衡了成長與信貸品質。

Hi return. Page 5 displays our portfolio growth and product mix. For the fourth quarter, we closed the quarter with net finance receivables of just over $1.77 billion, up $20 million from September 30 and fourth quarter portfolio growth was impacted by the fourth quarter loan sale, which accelerated a total of $16 million of loan charge-offs and interest accrual reversals from the first quarter 2024 to fourth quarter 2023. Excluding the impact of the fourth quarter loan sale, we exceeded our fourth quarter receivables growth outlook of $35 million by roughly $1 million as of the end of the fourth quarter our large loan book comprised 72% of our total portfolio. In addition, 84% of our portfolio carried an APR at or below 36%, down from 86% of our portfolio at the end of last year. We grew our small loan portfolio by $49 million over the past two quarters. As Bob noted, we've purposefully leaned into growth in these higher margin loans in recent quarters, and they will support future revenue yield, offset increasing funding costs and exceed our return hurdles. Despite higher expected net credit losses on these somewhat riskier segments.

嗨歸來。第 5 頁顯示了我們的產品組合成長和產品組合。就第四季而言，本季結束時，我們的財務應收帳款淨額略高於17.7 億美元，比9 月30 日增加了2,000 萬美元，第四季投資組合成長受到第四季貸款銷售的影響，貸款銷售加速了總計1600 萬美元的貸款費用。2024 年第一季至 2023 年第四季的折扣和應計利息逆轉。排除第四季貸款銷售的影響，截至第四季末，我們的大型貸款帳簿占我們投資組合總額的 72%，比第四季應收帳款成長預期 3,500 萬美元高出約 100 萬美元。此外，我們 84% 的投資組合的年利率等於或低於 36%，低於去年年底的 86%。過去兩個季度，我們的小額貸款組合增加了 4,900 萬美元。正如鮑勃指出的那樣，我們在最近幾個季度有目的地傾向於這些高利潤貸款的增長，它們將支持未來的收入收益率，抵消不斷增加的融資成本並超越我們的回報障礙。儘管這些風險較高的領域的預期淨信用損失較高。

Looking ahead, we expect our ending net receivables in the first quarter to decline by approximately $25 million, consistent with normal seasonal payment activity during the tax season during the quarter, we'll continue to monitor the economy and focus on originating loans that maximize our margins. As economic circumstances dictate, we're prepared to further tighten our underwriting forming back into growth, either of which could impact ending net receivables as shown on page 6, our lighter branch footprint and strategy in these states and branch consolidation actions and legacy state, continuing support, higher receivables per branch and greater operating efficiency. Our receivables per branch ended the year at $5.1 million, a record high and up $200,000 from the prior year. We believe considerable growth opportunities remain within our existing branch footprint under this more efficient model, particularly in newer branches and newer states.

展望未來，我們預計第一季的期末應收帳款淨額將下降約2,500 萬美元，與本季納稅季節的正常季節性付款活動一致，我們將繼續監控經濟並專注於發放貸款，以最大限度地提高我們的收入。邊距。根據經濟環境的要求，我們準備進一步收緊我們的承保業務，以恢復成長，這兩種情況都可能影響第6 頁所示的期末淨應收帳款、我們在這些州的分支機構規模和策略以及分公司合併行動和遺留狀態，持續的支援、每個分公司更高的應收帳款和更高的營運效率。截至年底，我們每個分公司的應收帳款達到 510 萬美元，創歷史新高，比前一年增加 20 萬美元。我們相信，在這種更有效率的模式下，我們現有的分支機構足跡中仍然存在相當大的成長機會，特別是在新的分支機構和新的州。

Turning to Page 7 and 8. Total revenue grew 7% to a record $142 million in the fourth quarter, despite a $1.9 million impact on revenue from the fourth quarter loan sale, our total revenue yield and interest and fee yield were 32.3% and 28.8% respectively. Both interest and fee yield and total revenue yield exceeded our outlook. After normalizing for the fourth quarter loan sale year over year, our total revenue yield is up 20 basis points despite the 30 basis point bond sale impact due in large part to our pricing increases on newer loans and growth in our higher-margin small loan portfolio. In the first quarter, we expect total revenue yield to decline by roughly 40 basis points, consistent with seasonal trends. We continue to anticipate that our increased pricing will drive benefits for yields in future quarters as these actions roll through the portfolio over time. We also expect to see improving yields with credit outcomes improve in parallel with an improving economic environment.

翻到第 7 頁和第 8 頁。第四季總營收成長7%，達到創紀錄的1.42 億美元，儘管第四季貸款銷售對收入產生了190 萬美元的影響，但我們的總收入收益率以及利息和費用收益率分別為32.3%和28.8%。利息和費用收益率以及總收入收益率均超出了我們的預期。在第四季度貸款銷售同比正常化後，儘管債券銷售影響了30 個基點，但我們的總收入收益率仍上升了20 個基點，這在很大程度上是由於我們對新貸款的定價上漲以及利潤率較高的小額貸款組合的成長。我們預計第一季總營收收益率將下降約 40 個基點，與季節性趨勢一致。我們繼續預計，隨著這些行動隨著時間的推移在整個投資組合中滾動，我們提高的定價將在未來幾季帶來收益收益。我們也預期，隨著經濟環境的改善，信貸結果也會隨之改善，殖利率也會隨之提高。

Moving to page 9, on a normalized basis, our delinquency and net credit losses were in line with our expectations. Our 30 plus day delinquency rate at quarter end was 6.9%, an improvement from 7.1% at the end of 2022. Our net credit losses of $66 million were in line with our fourth quarter outlook. After adjusting for the $14 million of accelerated charge-offs in the quarter, from the loan sale. The net credit loss rate of 15.1% includes a 3.2% impact from the linked quarter.

轉到第 9 頁，在正常化的基礎上，我們的拖欠率和淨信貸損失符合我們的預期。截至季末，我們的 30 天以上拖欠率為 6.9%，較 2022 年底的 7.1% 有所改善。我們 6,600 萬美元的淨信貸損失與我們第四季的預期相符。調整本季貸款銷售中 1400 萬美元的加速沖銷後。15.1% 的淨信用損失率包括上一季 3.2% 的影響。

Page 10 provides additional information on the performance of our front book and back book front book is becoming an increasingly large portion of our portfolio, ending the year at 73% of our total book load representing 60% of our 30 plus day delinquency. Our backlog, which represents 22% of our portfolio accounts for 33% of our 30 plus day delinquency, Oscient and back-book reserve rate for 9.5% and 14.8%, respectively in the first quarter. We expect the delinquency rate to be roughly flat to the fourth quarter due to the offsetting impacts of the normal seasonal decline in delinquency and the rebuild of the delinquency bucket following the fourth quarter on quarter. In addition, we anticipate that our net credit losses will be approximately $47.5 million in the first quarter, but the sequential decrease being attributable to the benefits to the first quarter and the fourth quarter alone.

第10 頁提供了有關我們正面書籍和背面書籍績效的更多資訊。正面書籍在我們的投資組合中所佔的比例越來越大，到年底占我們總書籍負載的73%，占我們30 多天拖欠的60%。我們的積壓訂單占我們投資組合的 22%，占我們 30 天以上拖欠率的 33%，第一季 Oscient 和儲備金率分別為 9.5% 和 14.8%。我們預計第四季度的拖欠率將大致持平，原因是拖欠率正常的季節性下降以及第四季後拖欠率的重建所產生的抵銷影響。此外，我們預計第一季的淨信貸損失約為 4,750 萬美元，但環比下降僅歸因於第一季和第四季的效益。

Turning to page 11, our fourth-quarter allowance for credit losses stayed flat to the third quarter at 10.6%, consistent with the high end of the range that we provided in our outlook. As of quarter end, the allowance was $187 million. Our allowance increased by $2.5 million in the quarter, primarily due to portfolio growth while the reserve release associated with the fourth quarter loan sale.

翻到第 11 頁，我們第四季的信貸損失準備金與第三季持平，為 10.6%，與我們在展望中提供的範圍的上限一致。截至季末，津貼為 1.87 億美元。本季我們的準備金增加了 250 萬美元，主要是由於投資組合成長以及與第四季貸款銷售相關的準備金釋放。

Lastly, washed against that reserve build for our basket of the portfolio, the allowance system, the 2024 year-end unemployment rate of 5.8%.

最後，根據我們一籃子投資組合的儲備金和津貼制度，2024 年底失業率為 5.8%。

Looking ahead, subject to economic conditions, we expect to maintain a reserve rate of 10.6% at the end of the first quarter, which is flat to our year-end reserve rate.

展望未來，根據經濟狀況，我們預期第一季末準備金率將維持在10.6%，與年末準備金率持平。

Flipping to page 12, we continue to closely manage our spending while investing in our capabilities and strategic initiatives. Our G&A expense for the fourth quarter was $64.8 million, better than our outlook of $64 million to $65 million. After normalizing for the $2 million restructuring charge, our annualized operating expense ratio was 14.8% in the fourth quarter, inclusive of the 50 basis point impact from the fourth quarter restructuring. We'll continue to manage our spending closely moving forward in the first quarter, we expect G&A expenses to be approximately $65.5 million to support our larger portfolio and continued targeted investments in our operations.

翻到第 12 頁，我們繼續密切管理我們的支出，同時投資我們的能力和策略性舉措。我們第四季的一般管理費用為 6,480 萬美元，優於我們預期的 6,400 萬至 6,500 萬美元。在將 200 萬美元重組費用標準化後，我們第四季的年化營運費用率為 14.8%，其中包括第四季重組帶來的 50 個基點的影響。我們將在第一季繼續密切管理我們的支出，我們預計一般管理費用約為 6550 萬美元，以支持我們更大的投資組合和對我們營運的持續有針對性的投資。

Turning to Pages 13 and 14. Our interest expense for the fourth quarter of $17.5 million or 4% of average net receivables on an annualized basis, slightly better than our outlook despite the sharp increase in benchmark rates since early 2022. We've experienced a comparatively modest increase in interest expense as a percentage of average net receivables, thanks for fixed rate debt issued through our asset-backed securitization program. As of December 31st, 82% of our debt is fixed rate with a weighted average coupon of 3.6% and a weighted average revolving duration of 1.2 years. In the first quarter, we expect interest expense to be approximately $18.5 million or 4.2% of average net receivables as our fixed rate funding matures and we continue to grow using variable rate debt. Our interest expense will increase as a percentage of average net receivables. We also have a strong balance sheet and continue to maintain ample liquidity to fund our growth. We have $187 million of lifetime loan loss reserves using 5.8% year end 2024 unemployment rate assumption as well as $322 million of stockholders' equity or $33 per share as of the end of the fourth quarter, we had $552 million of unused capacity on our credit facilities and $113 million of available liquidity consisting of unrestricted cash on hand and immediate availability to draw down on our revolving credit facilities. Our debt has staggered revolving duration stretching out to 2026. And since 2020, we maintained a quarter and unused borrowing capacity of between roughly $400 million to $700 million dollars, demonstrating our ability to protect ourselves against short-term disruptions in the credit markets.

翻到第 13 和 14 頁。儘管自 2022 年初以來基準利率大幅上升，但我們第四季的利息支出為 1,750 萬美元，佔年化平均應收帳款淨額的 4%，略好於我們的預期。由於透過我們的資產支持證券化計劃發行的固定利率債務，我們的利息支出占平均應收帳款淨額的百分比相對溫和地增長。截至12月31日，我們82%的負債為固定利率，加權平均票面利率為3.6%，加權平均循環期限為1.2年。隨著我們的固定利率融資到期以及我們繼續利用可變利率債務實現成長，我們預計第一季的利息支出約為 1,850 萬美元，即平均應收帳款淨額的 4.2%。我們的利息支出占平均應收帳款淨額的百分比將會增加。我們也擁有強大的資產負債表，並繼續保持充足的流動性來為我們的成長提供資金。截至第四季末，我們擁有1.87 億美元的終身貸款損失準備金（假設2024 年底失業率為5.8%），以及3.22 億美元的股東權益或每股33 美元，我們的信貸有5.52 億美元的未使用產能設施和 1.13 億美元的可用流動資金，包括不受限制的手頭現金和可立即動用的循環信貸設施。我們的債務循環期限錯開，一直延伸到 2026 年。自 2020 年以來，我們維持了約 4 億至 7 億美元的季度未使用借貸能力，這表明我們有能力保護自己免受信貸市場短期幹擾的影響。

Our fourth quarter funded debt to equity ratio remained at a conservative $4.3 per month. We have ample capacity to fund our business even as access to the securitization market were to become restricted. For the fourth quarter, we experienced a tax benefit of $2 million. For the first quarter. We expect an effective tax rate of approximately 24% prior to discrete items such as any tax impact of equity compensation. We also continue to return capital to our shareholders and the Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.3 per common share for the first quarter. The dividend will be paid on March 14th, 2024, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 22nd, 2024.

我們第四季的融資債務股本比率保持在保守的每月 4.3 美元。即使進入證券化市場受到限制，我們也有足夠的能力為我們的業務提供資金。第四季度，我們享受了 200 萬美元的稅收優惠。對於第一季。我們預計，在股權補償的任何稅收影響等離散項目之前，有效稅率約為 24%。我們也繼續向股東返還資本，董事會宣布第一季派發每股普通股 0.3 美元的股息。股利將於2024年3月14日支付給截至2024年2月22日收盤時在冊的股東。

Finally, I'll note that we provide a summary of our first quarter and full year 2021 guidance on page 16 of our earnings supplement. That concludes my remarks. I'll now turn the call back over to Ron.

最後，我要指出的是，我們在收益補充資料的第 16 頁上提供了 2021 年第一季和全年指引的摘要。我的發言到此結束。我現在將把電話轉回給羅恩。

Thanks, Art. As always, I want to thank the entire regional team for their hard work and commitment. The team continues to execute well against our strategy, which has positioned us to lead into growth as economic conditions continue to normalize. Our business has proven to be very resilient during a period of high inflation, not seen in the last 40 years as we kick off 2024, I'm optimistic about our prospects and future results for several reasons. First, the economic outlook is improving. Inflation continues to fall real wages are growing for our customers. Unemployment is below 4%, and there's an increasing likelihood of lower funding costs in the near future.

謝謝，藝術。一如既往，我要感謝整個區域團隊的辛勤工作和承諾。團隊繼續良好地執行我們的策略，這使我們能夠隨著經濟狀況繼續正常化而實現成長。事實證明，我們的業務在高通膨時期具有很強的彈性，從 2024 年開始，這是過去 40 年來從未出現過的情況，我對我們的前景和未來業績持樂觀態度，原因有幾個。首先，經濟前景正在改善。通貨膨脹持續下降，我們客戶的實際薪資正在成長。失業率低於 4%，在不久的將來融資成本降低的可能性越來越大。

Second, we put the incremental stress on the back book behind us and our front book is performing in line with our expectations. And third, we positioned the business to further increase receivable growth as the economic environment improves the actions we took in the fourth quarter, position us for more normalized earnings in 2024 and set us up for a strong 2025 and beyond.

其次，我們把後面的書的增量壓力拋在腦後，我們的前面的書的表現符合我們的預期。第三，隨著經濟環境改善我們在第四季採取的行動，我們將業務定位為進一步提高應收帳款成長，為我們在2024 年實現更正常化的獲利做好準備，並為我們在2025年及以後的強勁表現做好準備。

Thank you again for your time and interest. I'll now open up the call for questions. Operator, could you please open the line?

再次感謝您的時間和興趣。我現在開始提問。接線員，您能開通線路嗎？

Thank you to join the question. Queue.

感謝您參與提問。隊列。

You may press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request here. Using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then first question comes from John Hecht with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

您可以按下電話鍵盤上的星號，然後按一個。您將在此處聽到確認您的請求的提示音。使用免持電話時，請在按任何按鍵之前拿起聽筒。要撤回您的問題，請按星號，然後第一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 John Hecht。請繼續。

Afternoon, guys. Thanks very much. And I guess the first question, just because it feels like credit has been a little bit of a moving field goal kind of post the last several quarters. And I'm just wondering what it looked like. Maybe you could talk about the 23 vintage for the 22 vintage, like your confidence levels and how much better that will perform, what kind of underwriting changes you made and what kind of are the early signals that that will come to fruition?

下午好，夥計們。非常感謝。我猜第一個問題，只是因為在過去的幾個季度裡，信用似乎有點像移動的射門得分。我只是想知道它是什麼樣子的。也許您可以談論 23 年份和 22 年份，例如您的信心水平以及表現會好多少，您做出了什麼樣的承保改變，以及這將實現的早期訊號是什麼？

Well, the about will do, John, and thanks for joining the call on what I'd tell you is when we did the analysis of the front book versus back book. The back book is stressed about 40% more than the front book on yet, Alan. So as we see the new ventures is coming on, they're performing, yes, basket, our historical levels. Now there's always a difference in mix in various vintages, but the tightening is having an impact and that we wanted to have and we're very pleased with the performance of the new vintages in terms of the credit losses and the profile, I mean for us, the on the NPLs peaked in 2023. And so yes, we have a back book now that's 22% of the portfolio. And as you can see, it's got a fairly high delinquencies, but we're fully reserved against that with a 14.8% reserve rate. And as that portfolio burns through, we'll release the reserves associated with it. And by year end, we expect to have the back book down to about 8%. So and you know this this quarter where we now took the actions to put the back book behind us, and that's partially through the loan sale as well, really just puts us on a more normalized trajectory and allows us to focus on the path forward on. Certainly we got to still collect the on the assets as best we can in the back book, but we feel good about and having positioned the business for the future.

好吧，關於就可以了，約翰，感謝您參加電話會議，我要告訴您的是，當我們對封面書與封底書進行分析時。艾倫，後面的書比前面的書重約 40%。因此，當我們看到新的企業即將出現時，它們的表現是，是的，達到了我們的歷史水平。現在，不同年份的混合總是存在差異，但緊縮正在產生影響，這是我們想要的，我們對新年份在信用損失和概況方面的表現感到非常滿意，我的意思是美國的不良貸款在2023年達到頂峰。所以，是的，我們現在有一本回滾書，佔投資組合的 22%。正如您所看到的，它的拖欠率相當高，但我們完全保留了 14.8% 的準備率。當該投資組合耗盡時，我們將釋放與其相關的儲備。到年底，我們預計欠帳率將降至 8% 左右。所以你知道，這個季度我們現在採取了行動，將帳簿拋在腦後，這也部分是透過貸款銷售來實現的，這實際上只是讓我們走上了更加正常化的軌道，讓我們能夠專注於前進的道路。當然，我們仍然必須在後面的書中盡可能地收集資產，但我們對未來的業務進行了良好的定位。

And then if you like, the branches you've optimized, the branch locations is there more to go there. And then maybe kind of on the same branch topic. You guys expanded into Illinois a couple of years ago. Maybe give us an update on how that's going?

然後，如果您願意，您優化過的分行、分公司位置還有更多可以去那裡。然後可能是同一分支主題。幾年前，你們擴展到了伊利諾州。也許可以跟我們介紹一下進展嗎？

Yes. So we are we ended up closing four branches. I would say, you know, that's fairly typical in every given year that we closed three or four branches, we included in all the restructuring actions that we took in the quarter, which was largely, you know, looking for efficiency saves and how we manage the business with some belt-tightening. We thought that was the right thing to do and give us some dry powder for when we want to lean back into growth in terms of going forward for this year, I would say in terms of new markets, just to be transparent, we've entered so many new states, plenty of headroom and growth opportunity in every one of those states will it will add a handful of branches in those newer states where we know we can get some really nice receivables per branch, which are newer states are averaging $5 million, $6 million per branch and so, you know, we'll continue to optimize around the network like any good retailer would do when leases come due. And if there's opportunities to consolidate in terms of Illinois and the new states for I mean, we're very happy with the with the growth that we've seen on. Illinois got $54 million of E&R across eight branches, and we're averaging $6.7 million per branch. So our profile is the same, if not higher than some of our other new states, which is just a proof point that our leaner footprint model on creates a lot of leverage in these new markets.

是的。所以我們最後關閉了四個分店。我想說，你知道，這在每一年都是相當典型的，我們關閉了三到四個分支機構，我們將其納入本季度採取的所有重組行動中，你知道，這很大程度上是為了提高效率，以及我們如何管理業務時要勒緊褲帶。我們認為這是正確的做法，當我們想要在今年的未來重新實現成長時，給我們一些乾粉，我想說的是，就新市場而言，為了透明起見，我們已經進入如此多的新州，每個州都有充足的空間和成長機會，它將在那些較新的州增加一些分支機構，我們知道每個分支機構可以獲得一些非常好的應收帳款，這些州的平均應收帳款為5 美元百萬美元，每個分支機構 600 萬美元，因此，您知道，我們將繼續優化網絡，就像任何優秀的零售商在租約到期時所做的那樣。如果伊利諾伊州和新州有機會進行整合，我的意思是，我們對我們所看到的成長感到非常滿意。伊利諾伊州在 8 個分支機構獲得了 5,400 萬美元的 E&R，平均每個分支機構為 670 萬美元。因此，我們的形象即使不高於其他一些新州，也是相同的，這只是證明我們更精簡的足跡模型在這些新市場中創造了巨大的槓桿作用。

Thanks, guys very much. Thanks, Ben.

非常感謝，夥計們。謝謝，本。

Our next question comes from Zachary Oster with GMP Securities. Please go ahead.

我們的下一個問題來自 GMP 證券公司的 Zachary Oster。請繼續。

And Zach on for David. And so just back to the topic of the branch optimization place and just wanted to kind of dig in there a little bit more and see if there's if it was concentrated in any specific state or region and additionally, because of kind of impact any future, yes, footprint extension kind of strategy longer term.

札克替補大衛。因此，回到分支優化地點的主題，只是想進一步挖掘一下，看看它是否集中在任何特定的州或地區，此外，由於對未來的影響，是的，足跡擴展是一種長期戰略。

No, it really is, um, you know, when you look at any kind of retail business, your leases come up over a period of time and then you look at well, you know, based on our kind of larger footpr int strategy, we have an opportunity to consolidate and in one larger location. And so we take those opportunities as they come up, which is what was the case with these and for branches that we that we closed and consolidated to a nearby location. And effectively, we've been doing this for a while. We effectively do that and that help self-fund additional branches and newer locations in new states. So it's just a just a normal part of running the business and now optimizing your real retail storefronts.

不，確實如此，嗯，你知道，當你觀察任何類型的零售業務時，你的租約會在一段時間內出現，然後你會根據我們更大的足跡策略來觀察，我們有機會在一個更大的地點進行整合。因此，我們會抓住這些機會，就像這些機會以及我們關閉並合併到附近地點的分支機構的情況一樣。實際上，我們這樣做已經有一段時間了。我們有效地做到了這一點，並幫助自籌資金在新州設立更多分支機構和新地點。因此，這只是經營業務的正常部分，現在正在優化您的真實零售店面。

And Zach, the only thing that I would add to that is, as we talked about the restructuring, much of the restructuring and the severance costs were due to the elimination of approximately 10% of our corporate positions. So I just want to point that out in terms of the restructuring and just as a reminder, that's going to result in about $6 million of operating cost savings in 2020.

扎克，我唯一要補充的是，當我們談論重組時，大部分重組和遣散費都是由於取消了大約 10% 的公司職位而產生的。因此，我只想指出重組方面的問題，並提醒大家，這將在 2020 年節省約 600 萬美元的營運成本。

Yes, it. Thank you.

是的，它。謝謝。

Great. Thanks.

偉大的。謝謝。

Once again, if you have a question, please press star then one next question comes from Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital. Please go ahead.

再次強調，如果您有問題，請按星號，然後下一個問題將由 Tieton Capital 的 Bill Dezellem 提出。請繼續。

Thank you. You just mentioned the 10% headcount at corporate. Would you please walk through kind of what functions have you found that you were getting a bit heavy and needed to trim down.

謝謝。您剛才提到了公司 10% 的員工人數。請您詳細介紹一下您發現哪些功能變得有點重並且需要削減。

Hey, will, how are you doing? Thanks for joining. You know, really it was us optimizing now across the head office. So I wouldn't say it was heavy in any particular area on. But as you think ahead and how we plan to run the business going forward, particularly on the operational elements and certain business lines, including in our digital business that we're growing, there was just the ability to combine functions. And then by doing that from a basically have a more efficient organization, be able to reduce some folks. And I will tell you it's always a hard decision to reduce talented people, and this had nothing to do with the with the individuals themselves. It had to do with where we could run more effectively and frankly, create some synergies and backups where functions could be put together. So not any one targeted area.

嘿，威爾，你好嗎？感謝您的加入。你知道，實際上我們現在正在整個總部進行最佳化。所以我不會說它在任何特定區域都很重。但是，當你考慮未來以及我們計劃如何繼續經營業務時，特別是在營運要素和某些業務線上，包括我們正在發展的數位業務中，只有組合功能的能力。然後透過從一個基本上擁有更有效率的組織中做到這一點，能夠減少一些人員。我會告訴你，減少人才始終是個艱難的決定，這與個人本身無關。這與我們可以在哪裡更有效、更坦率地運行、在可以將功能組合在一起的地方創造一些協同作用和備份有關。所以不是任何一個目標區域。

And that's helpful. And then what was the size of the portfolio that you sold in the fourth quarter, please?

這很有幫助。那麼，您在第四季出售的投資組合規模是多少？

Yes. So Mark, against the asset, we sold about $24 million of the loans that had a December in our impact, $16 million.

是的。因此，馬克，針對該資產，我們出售了約 2,400 萬美元的貸款，這些貸款在 12 月對我們產生了 1,600 萬美元的影響。

Great. Thank you. And a couple of more, if I may, please. Jim, have you begun leaning into portfolio growth as of today?

偉大的。謝謝。如果可以的話，請再提供一些。吉姆，從今天起你開始傾向於投資組合成長了嗎？

So I would say it this way. We, um, we are models where we look at our returns on a DCF basis, a direct contribution margin basis on like others. We look at every aspect of our portfolio. We look at what the returns are. We picked those parts of the portfolio where we have the highest confidence. We also apply stress against those underwriting decisions, particularly where there are higher stressed or higher risk areas. And I'll give you an example. So our small loan book, we added about $30 million of receivables in the third quarter and another $19 million in the fourth quarter, and I think we're now at a record high in terms of our small loan portfolio. Now, typically, we have been reducing the amount of loans that are some, yes, greater than 36%. And we actually, I think, are up about two percentage points versus prior year from now, I would say that that is done with confidence because while this is a higher higher rate, higher risk business, it's got very attractive margins. So to kind of give you a sense of what this means for the businesses. So we've talked about repricing our portfolio for all of last year and we continue to do it where we see opportunities. We're leaning into some of the small loan growth. And so if you look at our originations in the fourth quarter, the average APR was right at 37%. Our fourth quarter 2022 APRs on our originations so a year ago was 34.6%, give or take. So we've added 233 basis points of higher APR to up to our business model over the last year through repricing our base business as well as starting to lead into some of that smaller loan activity, which, as I said, is higher rate on a higher return, but also has somewhat higher losses, which is why we've kind of guided up the NCL rate for next year. So again, it's all about putting on our highest confidence assets with the best returns, and that's how we run the business.

所以我會這樣說。我們，嗯，我們是在 DCF 基礎上看待回報的模型，與其他模型一樣，是在直接邊際貢獻的基礎上。我們關注投資組合的各個方面。我們看看回報是什麼。我們選擇了投資組合中我們最有信心的部分。我們也對這些核保決策施加壓力，特別是在壓力較大或風險較高的領域。我給你舉個例子。因此，我們的小額貸款帳簿中，我們在第三季度增加了約3000 萬美元的應收帳款，在第四季度又增加了1900 萬美元，我認為我們的小額貸款組合現在處於歷史新高。現在，我們通常會減少貸款金額，是的，貸款金額減少了 36% 以上。事實上，我認為，從現在開始，我們的業績比上一年增長了約兩個百分點，我想說這是充滿信心的，因為雖然這是一個更高的利率、更高的風險業務，但它的利潤率非常有吸引力。讓您了解這對企業意味著什麼。因此，我們去年全年都在討論重新定價我們的投資組合，並且我們會在看到機會的地方繼續這樣做。我們正傾向於部分小額貸款成長。因此，如果你看看我們第四季的創舉，你會發現平均年利率正好為 37%。我們的 2022 年第四季的年利率是一年前的 34.6%，無論大小。因此，去年我們透過重新定價我們的基礎業務，並開始引入一些規模較小的貸款活動，將年利率提高了233 個基點，以提高我們的業務模式，正如我所說，這些活動的利率更高。更高的回報，但也有更高的損失，這就是為什麼我們提高了明年的 NCL 利率。再說一次，這一切都是為了以最好的回報投入我們最有信心的資產，這就是我們經營業務的方式。

And that's interesting. Let me jump in a little further on that, if I may. So historically, we have thought about the small loan portfolio as being a feeder for the large loan portfolio. And those loans tend to be the newer or have tended to be to new or newer clients and And then that leads to large loan growth. Is there something different going on now? Or is that is that exactly what we're seeing and it explains and somehow lead to there being a pullback in the large loan originations that you have as you've experienced?

這很有趣。如果可以的話，讓我進一步談談這一點。因此，從歷史上看，我們一直將小額貸款組合視為大額貸款組合的供給者。這些貸款往往是較新的，或者往往是針對新的或較新的客戶，然後這會導致貸款大幅增加。現在有什麼不同的事情發生嗎？或者這正是我們所看到的，它解釋並以某種方式導致您所經歷的大額貸款發放出現縮減？

No, I would say that, um, you know, the market and the competition around that small loan spaces is not as great right now for lots of reasons that other competitors. And so we're able to be pretty selective in those loans we put on and it creates that feeder system that we've always had to be able to take those those best customers who perform on us and then migrate them up to larger loans. So this isn't about deemphasizing large loans. This is about you now finding where there's opportunities really strong returns with the small loan portfolio. And and we probably have discussed this in the past, but you know, we have a barbell strategy where we have some higher rate, higher risk loans, small loans on one end. We have a large loan book in the middle and we're increasing the size of our auto secured business or the on the other end of the barbell, which is obviously has much lower credit profile and credit losses on an equally strong returns and so this is just a strategy of continuing to maximize the bottom line returns across those three elements of our business.

不，我想說的是，嗯，你知道，由於很多原因，圍繞小額貸款空間的市場和競爭目前並不像其他競爭對手那樣激烈。因此，我們能夠非常有選擇性地發放貸款，這創造了一個支線系統，我們必須始終能夠吸引那些對我們表現最好的客戶，然後將他們轉移到更大的貸款。所以這不是要淡化大額貸款。這是關於您現在發現小額貸款組合中存在真正強勁回報機會的機會。我們過去可能已經討論過這個問題，但你知道，我們有一種槓鈴策略，我們有一些利率更高、風險更高的貸款，一端是小額貸款。我們在中間有一個大的貸款簿，我們正在擴大我們的汽車擔保業務或槓鈴另一端的規模，這顯然在同樣強勁的回報下具有較低的信用狀況和信用損失，所以這只是繼續最大化我們業務這三個要素的底線回報的策略。

Great. Thank you both for taking my questions.

偉大的。謝謝你們回答我的問題。

Great. Thanks, Bill.

偉大的。謝謝，比爾。

Our next question comes from John Rowan with Janney. Please go ahead.

我們的下一個問題來自約翰·羅文和珍妮。請繼續。

Good evening. I have one really quick question. So the net charge-off rate guidance that you gave for fiscal 2024 that obviously benefits from the from the loan sale in the fourth quarter? Correct.

晚安.我有一個非常簡單的問題。那麼，您為 2024 財年提供的淨沖銷率指引顯然受益於第四季的貸款銷售？正確的。

And actually, the um, it does benefit from the loan sale in the fourth quarter.

實際上，嗯，它確實受益於第四季度的貸款銷售。

In the fourth quarter, it had a 320 basis point impact, and I'll go back to last year's loan sale, which had a 320 basis point impact in the fourth quarter of 2022, but then had a 280 basis point positive impact in first quarter of 2023. So we would expect a similar pattern with the fourth quarter 23 loan sale regarding our federal.

在第四季度，它產生了320 個基點的影響，我將回到去年的貸款銷售，它在2022 年第四季度產生了320 個基點的影響，但隨後在第一季度產生了280 個基點的正面影響2023 年第四季。因此，我們預計第四季 23 聯邦貸款銷售也會出現類似的模式。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Beck for any closing remarks. Please go ahead.

問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給貝克先生發表閉幕詞。請繼續。

Thanks, operator, and thanks, everyone, for joining this evening. Um, let me close by saying that I'm optimistic about our future. You know, as I said, the economic outlook is improving on inflation as falling real wage growth on unemployment below 4%, and there's still 9 million open jobs out there. And, you know, the rate cuts, as I said, are from a, you know, seemingly on the horizon.

謝謝接線員，也謝謝大家今晚的加入。嗯，最後讓我說我對我們的未來感到樂觀。你知道，正如我所說，隨著失業率的實際薪資成長率下降到 4% 以下，通貨膨脹的經濟前景正在改善，而且仍然有 900 萬個空缺職位。而且，正如我所說，降息似乎即將到來。

I think most importantly though, we put the back of a higher losses on our back book on behind us. And as we've said, our front book continues to perform in line with our expectations. You know, our back book is 22% of E&R now. And by year end, it's going to be 8% given our proactive tightening in our INCL. did peak in 2023 and a lot of the back book is still leading to elevated losses in 2024. We are fully reserved for those losses at a reserve rate of 14.8%. And lastly, our year end 30 plus day delinquencies were better than prior year by 20 basis points. And overall, our model is proving to be very resilient through a period of high inflation that's not been seen in 40 years. And during this period, we continue to invest in the business so we can lean into growth as the macro environment improves from now, we have a strong balance sheet with liquidity to fund our growth. And when you factor in the fourth quarter actions, we still generated $26 million of capital. This year, of which $12 million was paid out in dividends. And we ended the year with $322 million of book value or $33 per share. So given all these actions, we are positioned to improve earnings this year, and we're seeing a strong 2025 and beyond. So again, thank you all for joining and have a good day.

但我認為最重要的是，我們已經將更高的損失拋在了身後。正如我們所說，我們的頭版繼續表現符合我們的預期。你知道，我們的回帳金額現在佔 E&R 的 22%。鑑於我們積極收緊 INCL，到年底，這一比例將達到 8%。確實在 2023 年達到頂峰，但大量積壓帳簿仍導致 2024 年損失加劇。我們為這些損失全額準備金，準備金率為 14.8%。最後，我們年終 30 多天的拖欠率比去年好 20 個基點。總體而言，事實證明，我們的模型在經歷 40 年來從未出現過的高通膨時期時具有很強的彈性。在此期間，我們繼續投資業務，以便隨著宏觀環境的改善，我們可以實現成長，我們擁有強大的資產負債表和流動性來為我們的成長提供資金。當你考慮到第四季的行動時，我們仍然產生了 2,600 萬美元的資本。今年，其中 1200 萬美元以股息形式支付。截至年底，我們的帳面價值為 3.22 億美元，即每股 33 美元。因此，考慮到所有這些行動，我們今年的收入預計將提高，並且我們預計 2025 年及以後的收入將會強勁。再次感謝大家的加入並祝福您有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與，祝您有個愉快的一天。