Steelcase Inc (SCS) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

    Operator

  • My name is Rob, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Steelcase First Quarter Fiscal 2024 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. Mr. O'Meara, you may begin your conference.

    我叫羅布,今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時,我謹歡迎大家參加 Steelcase 2024 財年第一季度電話會議。 (操作員說明)謝謝。奧米拉先生,您可以開始會議了。

  • Michael O'Meara - Director of IR & Financial Planning and Analysis

    Michael O'Meara - Director of IR & Financial Planning and Analysis

  • Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the recap of our first quarter fiscal 2024 financial results. Here with me today are Sarah Armbruster, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Dave David Sylvester, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our first quarter earnings release, which crossed the wires yesterday, is accessible on our website. This conference call is being webcast and this webcast is a copyright production of Steelcase Inc. A replay of this webcast will be posted to ir.steelcase.com later today.

    謝謝你,羅布。大家,早安。感謝您與我們一起回顧 2024 財年第一季度的財務業績。今天和我在一起的還有我們的總裁兼首席執行官莎拉·阿姆布魯斯特 (Sarah Armbruster);以及我們的高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Dave David Sylvester。我們昨天發布的第一季度收益報告可以在我們的網站上訪問。本次電話會議正在網絡直播,且該網絡直播由 Steelcase Inc. 版權製作。該網絡直播的重播將於今天晚些時候發佈到 ir.steelcase.com。

  • Our discussion today may include references to non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking statements. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures and details regarding the risks associated with the use of forward-looking statements are included in our earnings release, and we are incorporating by reference into this conference call the text of our safe harbor statement included in the release. Following our prepared remarks, we will respond to questions from investors and analysts. I will now turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Armbruster.

    我們今天的討論可能包括提及非公認會計原則財務指標和前瞻性陳述。我們的收益發布中包含了對最具可比性的公認會計準則衡量標準的調節以及有關使用前瞻性陳述相關風險的詳細信息,並且我們將通過引用將發布中包含的安全港聲明文本納入本次電話會議。在我們準備好的發言之後,我們將回答投資者和分析師的問題。我現在將把電話轉給我們的總裁兼首席執行官莎拉·阿姆布魯斯特 (Sarah Armbruster)。

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • Thanks, Mike. Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining the call today. Overall, we feel very good about our first quarter results, which were better than expected as both revenue and adjusted EPS finished above the guidance range we provided in March. Our adjusted earnings outlook for Q2 is in line with the prior year and would put us ahead of pace to achieve our fiscal '24 target. Dave will cover our results in more detail, but I'm proud of our sales teams for continuing to capture pricing benefits in response to the extraordinary inflation we've experienced over the past 2 years. And I want to thank our operations team for the improvements they continue to drive. In addition, our win rate has continued to be very strong.

    謝謝,邁克。大家好,感謝您今天加入通話。總體而言,我們對第一季度業績感到非常滿意,該業績好於預期,因為收入和調整後每股收益均高於我們 3 月份提供的指導範圍。我們調整後的第二季度盈利前景與上一年一致,這將使我們領先於實現 24 財年目標。戴夫將更詳細地介紹我們的結果,但我為我們的銷售團隊感到自豪,他們繼續獲得定價優勢,以應對過去兩年我們經歷的異常通貨膨脹。我要感謝我們的運營團隊不斷推動的改進。此外,我們的勝率仍然非常高。

  • Amid our improved performance, the broader market in the Americas still faces uncertainty. And additionally, we're seeing near-term challenges in international markets. We are taking actions to reduce our costs in the face of those challenges, and we are seeing some positive signs that make us cautiously optimistic for the back half of the year. I want to thank those who joined us for our Investor Day in May or who've watched a replay of the webcast. We were excited to provide more details about all areas of our strategy and share our midterm financial targets. I'd like to touch on a couple of those strategic focus areas next and linked in to some highlights from last week's Annual NeoCon Trade Show in Chicago.

    儘管我們的業績有所改善,但美洲大盤仍面臨不確定性。此外,我們還看到國際市場近期面臨的挑戰。面對這些挑戰,我們正在採取行動降低成本,我們看到了一些積極的跡象,使我們對今年下半年持謹慎樂觀的態度。我要感謝那些參加我們五月投資者日或觀看網絡廣播重播的人。我們很高興提供有關我們戰略所有領域的更多詳細信息並分享我們的中期財務目標。接下來我想談談其中的幾個戰略重點領域,並與上週在芝加哥舉行的年度新保守主義貿易展的一些亮點聯繫起來。

  • Our goal is to lead the workplace transformation. So we were excited to integrate new products that support this vision into our NeoCon showrooms. One was Steelcase Workplace, which offers innovation in workplace storage for mobile workers. And another was a range of seating offerings that balance a beautiful design aesthetic and high performance with new levels of sustainability. We also celebrated several NeoCon award wins for products that make hybrid collaboration easier and more effective, including the Ocular collection of conference and collaborative tables by Steelcase and several products from the Halcon Optic Collection. We spoke with many of our larger customers during the week, and some of them described regretting that they put projects on hold during the last 18 months as they now realize this has slowed their organization's progress toward achieving business objectives.

    我們的目標是引領工作場所轉型。因此,我們很高興能夠將支持這一願景的新產品集成到我們的 NeoCon 展廳中。其中之一是 Steelcase Workplace,它為移動工作人員提供工作場所存儲方面的創新。另一個是一系列座椅產品,平衡了美麗的設計美學和高性能與新的可持續性水平。我們還慶祝了多項 NeoCon 獎項,這些產品使混合協作變得更容易、更有效,包括 Steelcase 的 Ocular 系列會議和協作桌以及 Halcon Optic 系列的多種產品。本週我們與許多大客戶進行了交談,其中一些客戶表示對過去 18 個月內擱置項目感到遺憾,因為他們現在意識到這減緩了組織實現業務目標的進度。

  • Many customers talked about the need for privacy in the workplace as well as the integration of technology within their conference rooms to provide better video conferencing experiences. And I consistently heard that they want these solutions in a way that supports their sustainability goals. The conversation really has moved beyond working from home and hybrid work, and it's now about working better as companies focus on updating outdated spaces to respond to their employees' needs. To serve small- and medium-sized customers more completely, we showcased our Series 1 test share with Air Back, which provides superior ergonomics at a great price point. We've also made significant advances in our Series 1 packaging, which reduces our carbon footprint and introduce simplified assembly steps, making it easy for those small and medium businesses to unpack their new product and put it together quickly.

    許多客戶談到了工作場所隱私的需求以及會議室中技術集成的需求,以提供更好的視頻會議體驗。我一直聽說他們希望這些解決方案能夠支持他們的可持續發展目標。人們的討論確實已經超越了在家工作和混合工作的範疇,現在的話題是如何更好地工作,因為公司專注於更新過時的空間來滿足員工的需求。為了更全面地服務中小型客戶,我們展示了我們與 Air Back 的系列 1 測試共享,它以優惠的價格提供了卓越的人體工程學設計。我們還在系列 1 包裝方面取得了重大進展,減少了碳足跡並引入了簡化的組裝步驟,使中小型企業能夠輕鬆拆開新產品包裝并快速組裝起來。

  • Our health team showed applications for waiting rooms, infusion centers and clinician respect. These applications offer a softer hospitality look and feel while offering clinical performance and providing flexibility. Highlights included products from KwickScreen, a new Steelcase partner whose innovative cleanable partitions create instant privacy for patients and staff. Another highlight was new enhancements to our West Elm Health collection of soft seating. Designed by West Elm, this collection provides the comfort of home with added clinical features to improve the waiting room experience. Response from customers, architects and designers and dealers was outstanding, and we'll continue to build on the energy of last week to fuel future innovation and shape the transformation of workplaces with our research and insights.

    我們的健康團隊展示了候診室、輸液中心和臨床醫生尊重的申請。這些應用程序提供更柔和的接待外觀和感覺,同時提供臨床性能和靈活性。亮點包括來自 Steelcase 新合作夥伴 KwickScreen 的產品,其創新的可清潔隔斷為患者和工作人員創造了即時隱私。另一個亮點是我們的 West Elm Health 軟座椅系列的新增強。該系列由 West Elm 設計,提供居家般的舒適感,並增加了臨床功能,以改善候診室體驗。客戶、建築師、設計師和經銷商的反應非常出色,我們將繼續利用上週的能量,推動未來的創新,並通過我們的研究和見解塑造工作場所的轉型。

  • While NeoCon is a terrific opportunity to showcase our products and connect with customers, we haven't let up on our efforts to improve our profitability. Our operations teams around the world are continuing to redesign our operational model to lower our cost structure. As we had previously announced, we expect to complete the closure of our Atlanta regional distribution center during the second quarter as we continue to optimize our distribution system. We also drove additional savings this quarter by finding more opportunities to ship deliveries directly from our factories to the customer installation site as opposed to consolidating through our regional distribution centers. This allows for improved rate costs as well as reduced labor handling and it supports our effort to achieve our carbon reduction goals. And these are just 2 examples of the many ways in which we're continually rethinking how we operate.

    雖然 NeoCon 是展示我們產品和與客戶聯繫的絕佳機會,但我們並沒有放棄提高盈利能力的努力。我們世界各地的運營團隊正在繼續重新設計我們的運營模式,以降低我們的成本結構。正如我們之前宣布的,我們預計將在第二季度完成亞特蘭大區域配送中心的關閉,同時繼續優化我們的配送系統。本季度我們還通過尋找更多機會將貨物直接從工廠運送到客戶安裝現場,而不是通過我們的區域配送中心進行整合,從而進一步節省了成本。這可以提高費率成本並減少勞動力處理,並支持我們實現碳減排目標的努力。這些只是我們不斷重新思考我們的運營方式的眾多方式中的兩個例子。

  • As we continue to orient our business for growth, we're also excited to support the growth and advancements of more than 50 summer interns across 11 Steelcase locations. These insurance represent 35 schools across the country and include women in STEM, students from historically black colleges and universities and international students. This diverse interim class exemplifies our commitment to creating career pathways for more people, which we believe ultimately delivers value for all our stakeholders. And Forbes Magazine agrees, they again ranked Steelcase among America's best employers for new grads based on an independent survey of more than 20,000 young professionals. I'm excited about our start to fiscal '24 and where we believe we'll be at the end of the first half. We continue to navigate through an uncertain environment, but we expect to be ahead of pace against our financial targets halfway through the year. We remain committed to our strategy to lead the workplace transformation, diversify the customers and market segments we serve and improve our profitability. So with that, I'll turn it over to Dave to review the financial results and to share our Q2 outlook.

    在我們繼續以業務增長為導向的同時,我們也很高興能夠支持 11 個 Steelcase 地點的 50 多名暑期實習生的成長和進步。這些保險代表全國 35 所學校,包括 STEM 中的女性、來自傳統黑人學院和大學的學生以及國際學生。這個多元化的臨時課程體現了我們致力於為更多人創造職業道路的承諾,我們相信這最終會為所有利益相關者帶來價值。 《福布斯》雜誌也同意這一點,根據對 20,000 多名年輕專業人士的獨立調查,他們再次將 Steelcase 評為美國新畢業生最佳雇主之一。我對 24 財年的開始以及我們相信上半年結束時的情況感到興奮。我們繼續在不確定的環境中前行,但我們預計將在今年中期提前實現我們的財務目標。我們仍然致力於引領工作場所轉型、使我們服務的客戶和細分市場多樣化並提高盈利能力的戰略。因此,我將把它交給戴夫來審查財務業績並分享我們對第二季度的展望。

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Thank you, Sara, and good morning, everyone. My comments today will start with the highlights related to our first quarter results, balance sheet and cash flow. I will then share a few summary remarks about our outlook for the second quarter. As Sara said, overall, we feel pretty good about our first quarter results as we continue to operate in an environment with macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical risks, and yet, we delivered results that were better than the prior year and better than the expectations we communicated last quarter. Over the past several quarters, we have taken a number of actions in response to the dynamic environment we faced, including taking unprecedented pricing actions in response to the extraordinary inflation we've incurred over the past 2 years. Implementing cost reduction efforts and workforce reductions in reaction to volume declines and to support new strategic investments and adjusting our supply chain to improve our operational agility and resiliency.

    謝謝你,薩拉,大家早上好。我今天的評論將從與我們第一季度業績、資產負債表和現金流相關的亮點開始。然後我將分享一些關於我們第二季度前景的總結性評論。正如薩拉所說,總體而言,我們對第一季度的業績感到非常滿意,因為我們繼續在宏觀經濟不確定性和地緣政治風險的環境中運營,但我們交付的業績好於上一年,也好於我們傳達的預期上個季度。在過去的幾個季度中,我們採取了一系列行動來應對我們面臨的動態環境,包括採取前所未有的定價行動來應對過去兩年發生的異常通貨膨脹。實施降低成本和裁員以應對銷量下降,支持新的戰略投資並調整我們的供應鏈,以提高我們的運營敏捷性和彈性。

  • Both revenue and adjusted earnings in Q1 benefited from these actions. And as a result, we exceeded the top end of the ranges we provided in March. The better-than-expected revenue was driven by the Americas, which benefited from faster order fulfillment patterns, higher-than-expected incoming orders early in the quarter and favorable pricing benefits. Across our customer segments, revenue from our largest customers and government business was better than we expected, which was offset in part by a shortfall from our Consumer Retail segment. The revenue decline in international was primarily driven by a lower beginning backlog, but it was more significant than we estimated due to continued macroeconomic concerns, which contributed to our decision in the quarter to announce a series of restructuring actions in EMEA and Asia Pacific.

    第一季度的收入和調整後收益都受益於這些行動。結果,我們超出了三月份提供的範圍的上限。好於預期的收入是由美洲地區推動的,該地區受益於更快的訂單履行模式、本季度初收到的訂單量高於預期以及有利的定價優勢。在我們的客戶細分市場中,來自最大客戶和政府業務的收入好於我們的預期,這在一定程度上被我們的消費零售細分市場的缺口所抵消。國際業務收入下降主要是由於期初積壓訂單減少所致,但由於持續的宏觀經濟擔憂,這一下降幅度比我們預期的要嚴重,這促使我們在本季度決定宣佈在歐洲、中東和非洲和亞太地區採取一系列重組行動。

  • On a consolidated basis, revenue of $752 million was flat on an organic basis compared to the prior year and included 2% growth in the Americas, offset by a 7% decline in international. Stronger revenue in the Americas drove our better-than-expected adjusted earnings, but we also had better operational efficiencies, which also contributed to higher gross margin compared to our estimates. The favorability in the Americas was partially offset by the impact of the lower-than-expected volume in international. However, their gross margin also exceeded our expectations. Operating expenses were above our Q1 estimate primarily due to the estimate including $10 million of anticipated gains related to the sale of our 2 aircraft, which was not completed in the quarter. In addition, we recorded higher variable compensation expense due to our stronger-than-expected earnings. As it relates to cash flow and the balance sheet, we generated $11 million of cash from operating activities in the first quarter as adjusted EBITDA of $52 million and a reduction in working capital of $35 million more than offset our seasonal disbursements related to variable compensation and retirement plan contributions.

    綜合收入為 7.52 億美元,有機收入與上年持平,其中美洲收入增長 2%,但被國際收入下降 7% 所抵消。美洲地區收入的強勁推動我們的調整後收益好於預期,但我們也擁有更好的運營效率,這也導致毛利率高於我們的預期。美洲市場的受歡迎程度被國際市場成交量低於預期的影響部分抵消。然而,他們的毛利率也超出了我們的預期。運營費用高於我們第一季度的預期,主要是因為該估計包括與我們的 2 架飛機銷售相關的 1000 萬美元預期收益,但該銷售在本季度尚未完成。此外,由於我們的盈利強於預期,我們的可變薪酬費用較高。由於與現金流量和資產負債表相關,我們第一季度從經營活動中產生了 1100 萬美元的現金,調整後的 EBITDA 為 5200 萬美元,營運資本減少了 3500 萬美元,超過了我們與可變薪酬和相關的季節性支出。退休計劃供款。

  • The working capital reduction is atypical for Q1 as we tend to increase inventories to support the seasonal strength of our second quarter. However, we continued to reduce safety stocks we built last year in response to the supply chain disruptions we experienced, and inventory levels are also benefiting from some adjustments to our supply chain, which in total, more than offset the seasonal build. In addition, we saw an improvement in our days sales outstanding, which drove a reduction in accounts receivable during the quarter. Our liquidity totaled $200 million at the end of the quarter, total debt aggregated to $447 million, which was $35 million lower than Q4 as we paid off our maturing aircraft loan during Q1. At the end of the quarter, net debt was slightly higher than our trailing 4 quarter adjusted EBITDA, which totals $235 million and exceeds 7% of trailing 4-quarter revenue.

    第一季度的營運資金減少是不典型的,因為我們傾向於增加庫存以支持第二季度的季節性優勢。然而,我們繼續減少去年為應對供應鏈中斷而建立的安全庫存,庫存水平也受益於我們供應鏈的一些調整,這總體上抵消了季節性庫存的增加。此外,我們的應收賬款周轉天數有所改善,這推動了本季度應收賬款的減少。截至本季度末,我們的流動資金總額為 2 億美元,總債務總計 4.47 億美元,比第四季度減少 3500 萬美元,因為我們在第一季度還清了到期的飛機貸款。截至本季度末,淨債務略高於過去 4 季度調整後 EBITDA,總計 2.35 億美元,超過過去 4 季度收入的 7%。

  • Regarding orders in the quarter, we posted a year-over-year order decline of 7% in the first quarter, including declines of 6% in the Americas and 11% in international. These declines compared to strong growth in Q1 of the prior year, which reflected 22% growth compared to Q1 fiscal 2022. On a sequential basis, orders in the first quarter grew 21% versus the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, which is consistent with the seasonal increase we experienced in the prior year. In the Americas, the year-over-year decline approximated the level we expected, but the order patterns were a little stronger in March than they were in April and May, which contributed to our better-than-expected revenue in the quarter. Across quote types, the decline was driven by lower project business, partially offset by growth in our continuing business.

    關於本季度的訂單,我們第一季度的訂單同比下降了 7%,其中美洲下降了 6%,國際下降了 11%。與上一年第一季度的強勁增長相比,這些下降,與 2022 財年第一季度相比增長了 22%。按順序來看,第一季度的訂單比 2023 財年第四季度增長了 21%,這與去年我們經歷了季節性增長。在美洲,同比下降接近我們預期的水平,但 3 月份的訂單模式比 4 月和 5 月略強,這有助於我們本季度的收入好於預期。在報價類型中,下降是由項目業務減少造成的,但部分被我們持續業務的增長所抵消。

  • In international, the order decline was more significant than we expected and was broad-based across EMEA and in China, partially offset by double-digit growth across all other markets in Asia Pacific. In EMEA, we believe the economic environment may be experiencing a period of slowdown after a surprisingly resilient period over the last year, as many customers are referring to a pause in investment activity this calendar year. At the same time, we are encouraged by 10% year-over-year growth in EMEA, new project opportunity creation. And in Asia Pacific, our presales activity levels have also been improving. Turning to our outlook for the second quarter. We expect to report revenue within a range of $815 million to $840 million, which would reflect a 3% to 6% decline year-over-year, and we expect to report adjusted earnings per share of between $0.19 and $0.23 which compares to $0.21 in the prior year.

    在國際方面,訂單下降幅度比我們預期的更為嚴重,並且在歐洲、中東和非洲地區以及中國都有廣泛的下降,但部分被亞太地區所有其他市場的兩位數增長所抵消。在歐洲、中東和非洲地區,我們認為,在經歷了去年出人意料的彈性時期之後,經濟環境可能正在經歷一段放緩時期,因為許多客戶提到了今年投資活動的暫停。與此同時,歐洲、中東和非洲地區 10% 的同比增長以及新項目機會的創造令我們深受鼓舞。在亞太地區,我們的售前活動水平也在不斷提高。轉向我們對第二季度的展望。我們預計營收將在 8.15 億美元至 8.4 億美元之間,同比下降 3% 至 6%,調整後每股收益將在 0.19 美元至 0.23 美元之間,而 2019 年調整後每股收益為 0.21 美元。前一年。

  • In addition to the projected range of revenue, the adjusted earnings estimate includes estimated gross margin of approximately 31.5%, which is approximately 250 basis points higher than the prior year and slightly better than the first quarter. Operating expenses of between $225 million to $230 million, which is higher compared to the first quarter and includes seasonal sales commissions at Smith System and prioritized investments in marketing, product development and other initiatives, partially offset by $8 million of expected gains from the sale of fixed assets. And lastly, we expect interest expense and other nonoperating items to net to approximately $4 million of expense, and we're projecting an effective tax rate of approximately 26%. Through the first half of the fiscal year, we are projecting to be ahead of pace on achieving the fiscal 2024 targets we have communicated in March. We remain focused on driving improved profitability and achieving our full year targets while implementing our strategy and navigating an uncertain environment. From there, we'll turn it back to the operator for questions.

    除了預計的收入範圍外,調整後的盈利預測還包括約31.5%的毛利率,比上年同期高出約250個基點,略好於第一季度。運營費用在 2.25 億美元至 2.3 億美元之間,高於第一季度,其中包括 Smith System 的季節性銷售佣金以及營銷、產品開發和其他舉措的優先投資,部分被銷售 800 萬美元的預期收益所抵消固定資產。最後,我們預計利息支出和其他非經營項目淨支出約為 400 萬美元,並且我們預計有效稅率約為 26%。在本財年上半年,我們預計將領先實現 3 月份傳達的 2024 財年目標。我們仍然專注於提高盈利能力並實現全年目標,同時實施我們的戰略並應對不確定的環境。從那裡,我們會將其轉回給操作員詢問問題。

  • Operator

    Operator

  • And your first question comes from the line of Greg Burns from Sidoti.

    你的第一個問題來自西多蒂的格雷格伯恩斯。

  • Gregory John Burns - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Gregory John Burns - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • You just start -- give us a little bit more color on the activity you're seeing with your large corporate customers. What are you hearing from them? Or are they starting to get a little bit more comfort with their outlook for their office needs? And do you expect the positive trend you saw this quarter to continue?

    您才剛剛開始,請給我們更多關於您在大型企業客戶中看到的活動的信息。你從他們那裡聽到了什麼?或者他們是否開始對自己的辦公室需求前景感到更加放心?您預計本季度看到的積極趨勢會持續下去嗎?

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • Yes, Greg, this is Sara. So I would say if I reflect on some of the conversations last week at NeoCon, as an example, I do think we were encouraged to see that many of the customers that we spoke to as well as architects and designers were there with real projects and with meaningful plans to evolve offices. So I felt like it was not a window shopping activity. It was people who were there with plans and activity kind of in mind. So it's hard to generalize or project what will happen going forward. But I think we definitely felt that there was more focus, more intensity and real plans behind those conversations as opposed to maybe hypothetical discussions about changes we might make to our space at some point in the future.

    是的,格雷格,這是薩拉。因此,我想說,如果我回顧一下上週在 NeoCon 上的一些對話,作為一個例子,我確實認為我們受到了鼓舞,因為我們交談過的許多客戶以及建築師和設計師都在那裡進行了真實的項目,並且制定有意義的辦公室發展計劃。所以我覺得這不是逛街活動。那裡的人們心裡都有計劃和活動。因此,很難概括或預測未來會發生什麼。但我認為我們確實感覺到這些對話背後有更多的焦點、更多的強度和真正的計劃,而不是關於我們在未來某個時候可能對我們的空間做出的改變的假設性討論。

  • Gregory John Burns - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Gregory John Burns - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • Okay. And then in terms of your gross margin, have you -- are we fully offsetting inflation? Are you -- have you openly closed the price cost gap now? Or is there some incremental gains to be still had there? And I know you announced about $50 million of targeted savings, cost of goods sold savings at your Analyst Day. So considering all that, how should we think about the -- your gross margin going forward if volumes don't recover here?

    好的。然後就毛利率而言,我們是否完全抵消了通貨膨脹?您現在公開縮小了價格成本差距了嗎?或者仍然有一些增量收益嗎?我知道您在分析師日宣布了大約 5000 萬美元的目標節省,即銷售成本節省。因此,考慮到所有這些,如果銷量沒有恢復,我們應該如何考慮未來的毛利率?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • You have a lot in there. Let me try to unpack it. We'll start with your question about pricing relative to inflation. As we said a quarter ago, our cumulative price yield from the price adjustments we had taken over the last 2 years finally caught up to the cumulative inflation. That's on a just a dollar-for-dollar basis. So now what we're targeting to capture is some gross margin on the hundreds of millions of dollars of inflation we've experienced over the last couple of years. So that's why you're seeing some of the year-over-year benefits in Q1 and why we're projecting them again in Q2 with a gross margin estimate that's 250 basis points higher than the prior year. That, in addition to the targeted improvements in gross margin that Bob Krestakos talked about at our Investor Day, we expect will continue to drive gross margin improvement for us even if the volumes stay relatively flat or if they declined modestly. But if they improve, then we should get even better benefits, which are baked into the midterm targets that we communicated at the Investor Day in early May.

    你裡面有很多東西。讓我嘗試拆開它。我們將從您關於相對於通貨膨脹的定價的問題開始。正如我們一個季度前所說,過去兩年價格調整的累積價格收益率終於趕上了累積通脹。這只是按美元兌美元計算的。因此,現在我們的目標是在過去幾年經歷的數億美元的通貨膨脹中獲得一些毛利率。因此,這就是為什麼您會在第一季度看到一些同比效益,以及為什麼我們在第二季度再次預測這些效益,毛利率估計比上一年高 250 個基點。除了鮑勃·克斯塔科斯(Bob Krestakos)在投資者日談到的毛利率有針對性的改善之外,我們預計即使銷量保持相對平穩或略有下降,我們也將繼續推動毛利率的改善。但如果它們有所改善,那麼我們應該會獲得更好的收益,這些收益已納入我們在五月初的投資者日傳達的中期目標中。

  • Operator

    Operator

  • And your next question comes from the line of Reuben Garner from Benchmark.

    您的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 的 Reuben Garner。

  • Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Sara, maybe to follow up on Greg's question. I appreciate your conversations with NeoCon. I'm curious what you're hearing more specifically about return to the office trends when you're talking the company leaders. We've heard a couple of examples of kind of either incentive-based pushes or mandates to get people back in the office. Any more color there that you can provide in your conversations?

    謝謝。大家早上好。薩拉,也許是為了跟進格雷格的問題。我很欣賞你與 NeoCon 的對話。我很好奇,當您談論公司領導時,您對重返辦公室趨勢有何更具體的了解。我們聽說過一些基於激勵的推動或強制措施讓人們重返辦公室的例子。您還可以在對話中提供更多色彩嗎?

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • Yes. I would say that as I talk to other CEOs and business leaders, I mean, pretty consistently for some time. I would say the vast majority have expressed a strong desire to have their employees working together physically in the office. And I think you're right. I think we've seen at least anecdotally more companies and more to business leaders, I think of late, either express the intent or actually announce things that maybe turn up the intensity of that effort to get people back to the office even more. So that certainly isn't true at all companies. But I think pretty consistently for a number of quarters, we've heard business leaders speak to their belief in the value of the office they need to have people together, the positive impacts that has on all sorts of things, whether it's being able to advance business objectives more effectively and efficiently or things like their corporate culture. And I certainly hear that tone continuing from the people I speak to.

    是的。我想說的是,當我與其他首席執行官和商業領袖交談時,我的意思是,在一段時間內,情況相當一致。我想說,絕大多數人都表達了讓員工在辦公室一起工作的強烈願望。我認為你是對的。我認為我們至少在傳聞中看到了更多的公司和商業領袖,我想最近,要么表達了意圖,要么實際上宣布了一些事情,這些事情可能會加大努力的力度,讓人們更多地回到辦公室。因此,並非所有公司都是如此。但我認為,在幾個季度中,我們一直聽到商界領袖表達了他們對辦公室的價值的信念,他們需要讓人們聚集在一起,對各種事情產生積極影響,無論是能夠更有效和高效地推進業務目標或諸如企業文化之類的事情。我確實從與我交談的人那裡聽到了這種語氣。

  • Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • And I've heard from some investors lately about concern about commercial real estate and offices, just the occupancy rates are lower than pre-COVID levels and the debt surrounding it. How do you guys feel that, that could impact the furniture industry, if at all, over the next few years as leases expire?

    最近,我從一些投資者那裡聽到了對商業房地產和寫字樓的擔憂,只是入住率低於新冠疫情前的水平以及與之相關的債務。你們覺得,隨著租約到期,這可能會在未來幾年內影響家具行業(如果有的話)?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Well, it's hard to tell because we haven't really encountered anything like this in the past. What is -- what you're aware of is historically when vacancy rates have gone up, it generally drives landlord incentives higher, which creates churn and kind of work or office settings, meaning companies choose different locations, sometimes they downsize, sometimes they move to a better -- a higher quality part of town. But often in all of that move activity, they don't take their furniture with them. So it's generally been a positive for the industry when vacancy rates go up and landlords incentivize some churn, but it remains to be seen to what degree vacancy rates might go up from the -- what you're reading in the media.

    嗯,這很難說,因為我們過去沒有真正遇到過這樣的事情。你所知道的是,從歷史上看,當空置率上升時,通常會提高房東的激勵措施,從而造成人員流失和工作或辦公室環境的變化,這意味著公司會選擇不同的地點,有時會縮小規模,有時會搬遷到一個更好的——更高品質的城鎮。但在所有搬家活動中,他們通常不會隨身攜帶家具。因此,當空置率上升並且房東激勵一些人流失時,這通常對該行業是有利的,但空置率可能會從媒體上讀到的內容上升到什麼程度還有待觀察。

  • Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • Perfect. And then, Sara, in the earnings release, you referenced your strong win rates. Any color on what you think might be driving that?

    完美的。然後,薩拉,在財報發布中,您提到了強勁的勝率。您認為可能推動這一趨勢的因素有什麼顏色嗎?

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • Well, I would say one thing, certainly, anecdotally, we heard last week at NeoCon and we've heard from many of our clients is that I think I think part of what lies behind that is the fact that we chose quite deliberately early in the pandemic to stay invested in innovation and solutions to support the workplace. So you can imagine there were conversations about whether the pandemic would be cost to dramatically pivot our strategy in some different direction or whether we felt like staying invested in the future of the office in the future workplaces was a valid path forward. And that's, as we've communicated, one of the paths that we said we need to stay invested. So I think our innovation and our solutions for hybrid collaboration, the investments we've made, the acquisitions we've made to support privacy in the workplace, things that we've done to support partnerships around integrated technologies. I think all of those solutions and that innovation is perhaps resonating now with organizations that know they need to update their offices and evolve their spaces to move their businesses forward.

    好吧,我想說一件事,當然,有趣的是,我們上週在 NeoCon 上聽到的,我們從許多客戶那裡聽到的是,我認為我認為背後的部分原因是我們在早期就非常有意地選擇了這一點。疫情期間繼續投資創新和解決方案以支持工作場所。因此,你可以想像,有人討論過,這場流行病是否會導致我們的戰略向不同方向大幅轉變,或者我們是否認為在未來的工作場所中繼續投資於辦公室的未來是一條有效的前進道路。正如我們所傳達的,這是我們所說的需要保持投資的途徑之一。因此,我認為我們的創新和混合協作解決方案,我們所做的投資,我們為支持工作場所隱私而進行的收購,我們為支持圍繞集成技術的合作夥伴關係所做的事情。我認為所有這些解決方案和創新現在可能正在與那些知道他們需要更新辦公室並發展空間以推動業務發展的組織產生共鳴。

  • Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Reuben Garner - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • Great. I want to sneak one more in, if I can. You mentioned the ease of assembly of that chair and knowing that you guys are trying to attack some different markets that -- whether it's a small business or health care or consumer. What other changes do you think you need to address to kind of further penetrate those spaces?

    偉大的。如果可以的話,我想再偷偷溜進去一個。您提到了那把椅子組裝的便利性,並且知道你們正在嘗試攻擊一些不同的市場 - 無論是小型企業、醫療保健還是消費者。您認為您還需要解決哪些其他改變才能進一步滲透這些領域?

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • Well, I think as we look at those different market segments, we're certainly aware of the fact that there may be differences in products, the types of products, the price points, the features and functionality that apply. Clearly, a health care setting has different needs and different requirements than somebody's home office. So we've continued to obviously draw on our historical strength and innovation and our capabilities there to serve those needs as well as some of the acquisitions we've made. I think the other thing that we've been focused on and investing in and will continue to do so is acknowledging that the customer purchase journey is different as well.

    嗯,我認為,當我們審視這些不同的細分市場時,我們當然意識到產品、產品類型、價格點、適用的特性和功能可能存在差異。顯然,醫療保健環境與家庭辦公室有著不同的需求和要求。因此,我們繼續明顯地利用我們的歷史優勢和創新以及我們的能力來滿足這些需求以及我們所做的一些收購。我認為我們一直關注和投資並將繼續這樣做的另一件事是承認客戶的購買旅程也是不同的。

  • So if you think about the path you might take as a consumer in researching and evaluating and then purchasing perhaps the ergonomic cash share for your home office. That's a different journey than the journey that a Chief Nursing Officer might pursue in thinking about how to open a new clinic. And we have been really mindful of making sure that we are not only understating those pathways, but also making sure that we're kind of rearranging our business model and our tools and our systems and processes as appropriate to make sure that we can create the experiences for those different kinds of customers that they really value and that allow them to kind of navigate that research and ultimately purchase journey really successfully.

    因此,如果您考慮一下作為消費者可能採取的研究和評估路徑,然後為您的家庭辦公室購買符合人體工學的現金份額。這與首席護理官考慮如何開設新診所時可能追求的旅程不同。我們一直非常注意確保我們不僅低估了這些途徑,而且還確保我們適當地重新安排我們的業務模式、我們的工具以及我們的系統和流程,以確保我們能夠創建為不同類型的客戶提供他們真正重視的體驗,使他們能夠真正成功地進行研究並最終購買旅程。

  • Operator

    Operator

  • Your next question comes from the line of Steven Ramsey from Thompson Research Group.

    您的下一個問題來自湯普森研究小組的史蒂文拉姆齊。

  • Steven Ramsey - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Steven Ramsey - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • You had talked about project demand overall being down a bit in the quarter. Can you maybe go into some detail on key customer types and trends in that project demand between large customers, SMBs, et cetera, if there's anything positive or diverging within the different customer groups.

    您曾談到本季度項目需求總體略有下降。您能否詳細介紹一下大客戶、中小企業等之間的項目需求的關鍵客戶類型和趨勢,看看不同客戶群體中有什麼積極的或不同的東西。

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • I don't recall hearing or seeing anything that jumped out across the customer groups. I also don't think it's unusual at this state of a recovery and economic recovery and return to office or project activity to trail continuing business. I think it's typically what we've seen in the past as corporations restart activity either because of economic recovery or because, in this case, of maybe more RTO, return to office, for them to look to their existing continuing agreements to modify spaces, workplaces or to just get back to the routine of the various projects or activity levels that they had when they were in the office. But I don't remember seeing anything that stood out on the project side.

    我不記得聽到或看到過任何在客戶群體中脫穎而出的事情。我也不認為在這種複蘇和經濟復甦的狀態下,返回辦公室或項目活動來跟踪持續的業務是不尋常的。我認為這通常是我們過去所看到的,因為企業重新啟動活動要么是因為經濟復甦,要么是因為在這種情況下,可能會有更多的 RTO,返回辦公室,讓他們尋求現有的持續協議來修改空間,工作場所或只是回到他們在辦公室時進行的各種項目或活動水平的常規。但我不記得在項目方面看到過任何突出的事情。

  • Steven Ramsey - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Steven Ramsey - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • Okay. Helpful. And then thinking about full year '24 and the project versus continuing trends you've seen thus far, do you expect these trends to continue and basically continuing projects flattish to modest growth for the year while project is a negative contributor for the year? Or do you think there's any move in the 2 lines?

    好的。有幫助。然後考慮一下 24 年全年以及該項目與您迄今為止看到的持續趨勢,您是否預計這些趨勢會持續下去,並且基本上持續的項目今年會持平到溫和增長,而項目對今年會產生負面貢獻?或者你認為這兩條線有什麼變動嗎?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • I would -- I think it's reasonable to expect that project activity will improve. Whether or not it will grow year-over-year by any kind of significant amount remains to be seen. But project activity is generally what's tracked in our pipeline, and it's generally what is related to the presales activity of visits and mockups and things like that, which have been pretty good. So I feel like it could show an improving trend in the back half of the year. And if I think of kind of what we assumed in our underlying targets for the full fiscal year, we assumed a large company would improve, and therefore, you would expect some of that to include project activity.

    我認為,預期項目活動將會改善是合理的。它是否會逐年顯著增長還有待觀察。但項目活動通常是我們管道中跟踪的內容,通常與參觀和模型等售前活動相關,這些活動都非常好。所以我覺得下半年可能會呈現出改善的趨勢。如果我考慮一下我們在整個財年的基本目標中所假設的情況,我們假設一家大公司會有所改善,因此,您會期望其中一些包括項目活動。

  • Steven Ramsey - Senior Equity Research Analyst

    Steven Ramsey - Senior Equity Research Analyst

  • Okay. Helpful. And then another question thinking about full year '24 and being ahead of pace for the year. Can you maybe go into any particular line items or anything notable that may not show up on the income statement where you are tracking ahead for your full year targets?

    好的。有幫助。然後另一個問題是關於 24 全年的思考以及今年的領先步伐。您是否可以討論任何特定的項目或任何可能未顯示在損益表中的值得注意的事項,以跟踪全年目標?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Well, I mean I do like -- it's not on the income statements on the cash flow. I'll go back to my comments about our inventory reductions and DSO improvement on receivables. We feel pretty good about how we're managing liquidity and have access to full access to our credit facility. I like where our leverage metrics are. They're back within policy range. We're below kind of thresholds that the rating agencies like to see you operate below. So, I mean those types of things, they feel very good about. You don't necessarily see the direct correlation quarter-to-quarter about the operational efficiencies that we're driving or all of the project activity behind the gross margin improvement work that Bob Krestakos and his team are driving. But Sara and I see that at least monthly, often twice a month and get a sense of how we're progressing against the multiple projects that aren't showing up in today's income statement, but we believe will show up in future income statements.

    嗯,我的意思是我確實喜歡——它不在損益表的現金流量上。我將回到我對庫存減少和應收賬款 DSO 改進的評論。我們對我們管理流動性的方式感到非常滿意,並且能夠充分利用我們的信貸安排。我喜歡我們的槓桿指標。它們又回到了政策範圍內。我們低於評級機構希望看到您在以下運營的閾值。所以,我的意思是這些類型的事情,他們感覺非常好。您不一定會看到我們正在推動的運營效率或 Bob Krestakos 及其團隊正在推動的毛利率改善工作背後的所有項目活動與季度之間的直接相關性。但薩拉和我至少每月一次,通常每月兩次,了解我們在今天的損益表中未顯示的多個項目的進展情況,但我們相信會出現在未來的損益表中。

  • Operator

    Operator

  • And your next question comes from the line of Budd Bugatch from Water Tower Research.

    您的下一個問題來自 Water Tower Research 的 Budd Bugatch。

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • Most of my questions have been asked. But first, congratulations on a very good performance in the first quarter. I guess I just want to hit on one thing that, Sara, you talked about the win rate in the in the release, and it's been asked several different times on the call. But I haven't really heard term any response at the sales cycle, which we know that the activity level has been high with people and conversations. But one thing that had been talked about over the last couple of months have been that the sales cycle was extended. So are we seeing any shrinking in that -- in the length of the sales cycle from beginning to end?

    我的大部分問題都被問到了。但首先,祝賀第一季度的出色表現。我想我只想說一件事,Sara,您在發布中談到了勝率,並且在電話會議中多次被問到。但我在銷售週期中還沒有真正聽到任何回應,我們知道人員和對話的活動水平很高。但過去幾個月人們談論的一件事是銷售週期延長了。那麼,我們是否看到銷售週期從開始到結束的長度有所縮短?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Budd, just to clarify, are you talking about like customer decision-making processes, that slowing of the sales cycle, is that...

    巴德,我想澄清一下,您所說的是客戶決策過程,即銷售週期的放緩,是……

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • Yes, Mike. Exactly, yes. When you're starting to have those conversations or one of the things that's been talked about was people were having those conversations, but they were some are pushing the in the future, the actual initiation of the orders. So...

    是的,邁克。沒錯,是的。當你開始進行這些對話時,或者所討論的事情之一是人們正在進行這些對話,但他們中的一些人正在推動未來實際啟動的命令。所以...

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • Yes. I don't know that I can give you a really definitive kind of quantified answer, but I would say kind of building on my comments about NeoCon, I think we definitely see kind of relatively speaking, more customers that have firm plans to make changes of some sort. They either know they're moving or they're expanding or they're renovating or they're doing something. So I think from that standpoint, we kind of -- we see customers maybe not dragging out the process or having a high. I think we see more people who have clear plans and time lines and intent to take action. Maybe one thing that is still a bit variable is still, I think, some customers are having challenges with construction schedules due to the lack of trades people or other factors that are maybe slowing their project time line relative to what they intended. But again there, I don't know that we're seeing anything that's dramatically different than what we've seen. I mean we're used to -- we're used to managing through those kinds of things when they happen. So I don't know that we're seeing anything that is dramatic or unusual.

    是的。我不知道我能否給你一個真正明確的量化答案,但我想說的是,基於我對 NeoCon 的評論,我認為我們肯定會看到相對而言,更多的客戶有堅定的計劃來做出改變某種程度的。他們要么知道他們正在搬家,要么他們正在擴張,要么他們正在翻新,要么他們正在做某事。所以我認為從這個角度來看,我們看到客戶可能不會拖延這個過程或感到興奮。我認為我們看到更多的人有明確的計劃和時間表並打算採取行動。我認為,也許仍然有點可變的一件事仍然是,一些客戶由於缺乏技術人員或其他因素而在施工進度方面面臨挑戰,這些因素可能會減緩他們的項目時間線相對於他們的預期。但話又說回來,我不知道我們看到的東西與我們所看到的有什麼顯著不同。我的意思是,我們習慣於在此類事情發生時進行管理。所以我不知道我們看到了什麼戲劇性或不尋常的事情。

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Yes, positive anecdote here and there, but not necessarily enough to call it a new trend. I mean hearing from customers at NeoCon that acknowledge or that they regret having slowed down or paused some activity over the last 18 months because now they're feeling the pressure of being behind as they're bringing people back to the office. That's certainly positive. But if we're not hearing that enough to call that kind of a major shift or a trend.

    是的,到處都有積極的軼事,但不一定足以稱之為新趨勢。我的意思是 NeoCon 的客戶表示,他們承認或後悔在過去 18 個月內放慢或暫停了某些活動,因為現在他們在將員工帶回辦公室時感受到了落後的壓力。這當然是積極的。但如果我們沒有聽到足夠多的信息,就不能稱之為重大轉變或趨勢。

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • Dave, that's interesting because over the last couple of quarters and the last releases over the last year or so, you've talked about the backlog having a longer tail. Does that mean that the backlog is approaching a more normal timing now? You're not seeing the same kind of level of deferrals in the backlog that you noted in the last couple of calls?

    戴夫,這很有趣,因為在過去的幾個季度和過去一年左右的最後一個版本中,您談到了積壓的尾部較長。這是否意味著積壓現在已接近正常時間?您在積壓的訂單中沒有看到與您在過去幾次電話中註意到的相同程度的延期嗎?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • I mean the backlog is definitely changing. I think that's in part linked to the improved supply chain environment that clients are feeling more confident in ordering with shorter lead times because they've seen the improved reliability of on-time delivery. So we've definitely seen some of that. And we had a nice level of orders that we received in the quarter that we shipped in the quarter. And that felt a little bit like the good old days. It wasn't like necessarily back to pre-pandemic levels or above pre-pandemic levels, but it was higher than we had been experiencing, and it contributed to our results in the quarter.

    我的意思是積壓工作肯定在變化。我認為這在一定程度上與供應鏈環境的改善有關,客戶對縮短交貨時間進行訂購更有信心,因為他們看到了按時交貨的可靠性得到了提高。所以我們肯定已經看到了其中的一些。我們在本季度發貨的季度收到的訂單水平很高。這感覺有點像過去的美好時光。這不一定會回到大流行前的水平或高於大流行前的水平,但它比我們經歷過的要高,這對我們本季度的業績做出了貢獻。

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • And you did talk about orders, at least in the first couple of weeks of this quarter being above. Did you want to quantify any -- what kind of rate of above what are we seeing those orders?

    您確實談到了訂單,至少在本季度的前幾周是這樣。您是否想量化我們所看到的這些訂單的比率是多少?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Well, we -- I think in the release, we used the phrase modest growth, which I think you can assume is a low single-digit growth rate. We included that reference because it was notably different than the overall decline that we had in Q1. But we also are starting to come up against easier comparisons versus prior year. I think second quarter of last year, I think, grew at 6% for orders year-over-year, whereas the first quarter of last year, grew at 22%. But so we would expect to see this, and it's nice to see it and begin to play out.

    嗯,我認為在新聞稿中,我們使用了“適度增長”一詞,我認為您可以假設這是一個較低的個位數增長率。我們納入該參考是因為它與我們在第一季度的整體下降明顯不同。但我們也開始遇到與去年相比更容易的比較。我認為去年第二季度的訂單同比增長了 6%,而去年第一季度的訂單同比增長了 22%。但我們希望看到這一點,很高興看到它並開始發揮作用。

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • That's good. And only on the gross margin moving ahead by 530 basis points, you attribute that the pricing and operational efficiencies. Can you parse maybe the -- which is which, I mean how much is quantify those 2 differences.

    那挺好的。只有毛利率提高了 530 個基點,您才能將其歸因於定價和運營效率。你能解析一下——哪個是哪個,我的意思是量化這兩個差異有多少。

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Well, we quantified the amount of the pricing net of inflation. And if you do the math, that was clearly the lion's share of it. But the others were notable enough that to include in our disclosures. So we included them. And then the operational efficiencies, it was not only labor but also some logistics favorability, which is nice. I mean the logistics world was pretty messy for the better part of 2 years, and it started getting better over the last 6 months, and we had some nice benefits in the quarter just from being able to get trucks on routes that we wanted and get them more fully loaded with some direct shipments as well. So the efficiencies were not just labor but logistics as well.

    好吧,我們量化了扣除通貨膨脹後的定價金額。如果你算一下,這顯然是其中的最大部分。但其他的則足夠引人注目,足以包含在我們的披露中。所以我們把它們包括在內。然後是運營效率,不僅僅是勞動力,還有一些物流優勢,這很好。我的意思是,在兩年的大部分時間裡,物流世界相當混亂,在過去 6 個月裡開始變得更好,我們在本季度獲得了一些不錯的好處,因為我們能夠在我們想要的路線上獲得卡車他們也裝載了一些直接發貨的貨物。因此,效率不僅體現在勞動力方面,還體現在物流方面。

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • Sara had noted -- I thought in her comments about the fact that trucks now you didn't necessarily need to go to a consolidation extra step, and you were able to get products shipped directly. And you've had a very efficient way of tracking shipments to -- from your facilities to customers and knowing pretty much with what and with the timing. So that's -- that was interesting, and I thought there was a kind of a fascinating commentary on that. So overall, it feels like to me like the industry is kind of getting back to this normal of some sort. Is that a reasonable...

    薩拉指出——我在她的評論中想到了這樣一個事實:卡車現在不一定需要進行額外的整合步驟,並且您可以直接運送產品。您已經有了一種非常有效的方法來跟踪從您的設施到客戶的發貨,並且非常了解發貨內容和時間。這很有趣,我認為對此有一種有趣的評論。總的來說,我覺得這個行業正在某種程度地回歸正常狀態。這樣合理嗎...

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • It's certainly -- we would say that it's stabilizing to improving which is a lot, given the kind of broader macroeconomic uncertainty that's hanging over us. And the sentiment on RTO, while it's improving, there are still a lot of companies that are kind of taking a different approach or a more relaxed approach about getting people back in the office. So the fact that it feels like it's stabilizing and potentially starting to show enough green shoots to call it improving, is pretty darn good.

    考慮到籠罩在我們頭上的更廣泛的宏觀經濟不確定性,我們會說它正在穩定並改善,這是肯定的。儘管 RTO 的情緒正在改善,但仍然有很多公司採取不同的方法或更寬鬆的方法來讓員工重返辦公室。因此,事實上,感覺它正在穩定下來,並且有可能開始顯示出足夠的萌芽,稱其正在改善,這是非常好的。

  • Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

    Beryl Bugatch - Head of Consumer Hardlines

  • Agreed. And to make sure I understand, the operating expense for the second quarter, you talked about $8 million of projected gains. Is that for the aircraft? Do you think you will get those sold in the quarter?

    同意。為了確保我理解第二季度的運營費用,您談到了 800 萬美元的預計收益。是給飛機用的嗎?您認為本季度會售出這些產品嗎?

  • David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

    David C. Sylvester - Senior VP & CFO

  • Well, we're trying. If you know anybody, let me know. They're listed internationally. The jet market at the moment is not that great. We're priced very competitively, I would say aggressively. So we'll see what happens. But our intent was to sell them in the first quarter, and we did not have an opportunity. Our hope is that we will have an opportunity to complete the wind down of aviation in the second quarter.

    嗯,我們正在努力。如果你認識任何人,請告訴我。它們在國際上上市。目前的噴氣式飛機市場並不那麼大。我想說,我們的定價非常有競爭力。所以我們會看看會發生什麼。但我們的意圖是在第一季度出售它們,但我們沒有機會。我們希望我們將有機會在第二季度完成航空業的逐步結束。

  • Operator

    Operator

  • And there are no further questions at this time. Ms. Armbruster, I turn the call back over to you.

    目前沒有其他問題。 Armbruster 女士,我將電話轉回給您。

  • Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

    Sara E. Armbruster - President, CEO & Director

  • I just want to thank you all for joining today, and we appreciate your interest in Steelcase as we continue to focus on driving improved results. Have a great day.

    我只是想感謝大家今天加入,我們感謝您對 Steelcase 的興趣,因為我們將繼續專注於推動業績的改進。祝你有美好的一天。

  • Operator

    Operator

  • This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

    今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。