Shoe Carnival Inc (SCVL) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to Shoe Carnival, Inc. Fiscal Year 2023 First Quarter Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. It is also being broadcast via webcast. Any reproduction or rebroadcast of any portion of this call is expressly prohibited.

早上好，歡迎參加 Shoe Carnival, Inc. 2023 財年第一季度收益電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。它還通過網絡廣播進行廣播。明確禁止複製或轉播本次通話的任何部分。

Management's remarks may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risk factors. These risk factors could cause the company's actual results to be materially different from those projected in such statements. Forward-looking statements should also be considered in conjunction with the discussion of risk factors included in the company's SEC filings and today's earnings press release. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date.

管理層的言論可能包含涉及許多風險因素的前瞻性陳述。這些風險因素可能導致公司的實際結果與此類聲明中的預測存在重大差異。前瞻性陳述還應結合公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件和今天的收益新聞稿中包含的風險因素的討論來考慮。請投資者不要過分依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表今天的情況。

The company disclaims any obligation to update any of the risk factors or to publicly announce any revisions to the forward-looking statements discussed on today's conference call or contained in today's press release to reflect future events or developments.

該公司不承擔更新任何風險因素或公開宣布對今天電話會議上討論或今天新聞稿中包含的前瞻性聲明進行任何修訂的義務，以反映未來的事件或發展。

I'll now turn the conference over to Mr. Mark Worden, President and CEO of Shoe Carnival for opening remarks. Mr. Worden, you may begin.

現在我將請 Shoe Carnival 總裁兼首席執行官 Mark Worden 先生致開幕詞。沃登先生，您可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Shoe Carnival's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on today's call are Carl Scibetta, Chief Merchandising Officer; and Erik Gast, our new Chief Financial Officer. Erik joined the company a few weeks ago, and we are excited to have him on the team and to engage with the investment community ahead.

大家早上好，感謝您今天參加我們的鞋業嘉年華 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。和我一起參加今天電話會議的是首席營銷官 Carl Scibetta；以及我們新任首席財務官埃里克·加斯特 (Erik Gast)。埃里克 (Erik) 幾週前加入了公司，我們很高興他加入團隊並與未來的投資界互動。

Let me start out today saying that Q1 was a challenging quarter. While we continue to make significant progress against our long-term strategies and achieved many important milestones, we saw softer-than-expected consumer trends developed in March and April and unseasonable level persist throughout quarter end. The biggest headwinds that our customer faced in Q1 were persistent inflation across everyday expenses they need to spend on, interest rates continuing to climb and unexpectedly, federal tax refunds ended the quarter with a nearly 10% reduction versus the prior year. Historically, our traffic and sales surge when our customer receives their annual tax refund. This year, the reduced tax refund amounts did not generate traffic levels of prior year.

首先我要說的是，第一季度是充滿挑戰的季度。雖然我們繼續在長期戰略方面取得重大進展並實現了許多重要的里程碑，但我們看到 3 月和 4 月的消費趨勢低於預期，並且整個季度末持續存在不合時宜的水平。我們的客戶在第一季度面臨的最大阻力是他們需要支出的日常支出持續通貨膨脹，利率持續攀升，並且出乎意料的是，本季度末聯邦退稅比上一年減少了近 10%。從歷史上看，當我們的客戶收到年度退稅時，我們的流量和銷售額就會激增。今年，退稅金額減少並沒有產生去年的流量水平。

These headwinds resulted in store traffic declining approximately 10% versus prior year. What we saw was a segment of customers from lower-income households who had stretched disposable income, they delayed their shopping trips for footwear, apparel and accessories. Furthermore, spring weather did not improve in the second half of the quarter as unseasonably cold wet conditions persisted across most of our markets. This resulted in a sandal season that did not meaningfully start during March or April. All combined, Q1 sales and earnings finished at the low end of our annual expectations. We see a pathway to deliver the low end of our original annual guidance if economic conditions improve this summer. However, we do not have clear visibility to when the economic landscape will turn positive. As such, we are reducing our annual sales and our profit guidance to reflect the short-term economic uncertainty. Erik will review the updated guidance shortly.

這些不利因素導致商店客流量比去年下降約 10%。我們看到，一部分來自低收入家庭的顧客可支配收入捉襟見肘，他們推遲了鞋類、服裝和配飾的購物行程。此外，由於我們大部分市場持續存在反季節的寒冷潮濕天氣，本季度下半年春季天氣並未改善。這導致涼鞋季節在三月或四月並沒有真正開始。總而言之，第一季度的銷售額和盈利處於我們年度預期的低端。如果今年夏天經濟狀況改善，我們認為有一條途徑可以實現最初年度指導的低端。然而，我們並不清楚經濟形勢何時會轉好。因此，我們正在降低年銷售額和利潤指導，以反映短期經濟的不確定性。埃里克將很快審查更新後的指南。

Despite the challenging economic backdrop, I'm incredibly thankful for our nearly 6,000 team members committed to deliver the preferred footwear shopping experience. Their focus on advancing our long-term strategies led to many wins and have us in a strong financial and operational position to accelerate profitable growth as soon as we have visibility to the economic landscape improvement.

儘管經濟背景充滿挑戰，但我非常感謝我們近 6,000 名團隊成員致力於提供首選的鞋類購物體驗。他們專注於推進我們的長期戰略，為我們帶來了許多勝利，並使我們處於強大的財務和運營地位，一旦我們看到經濟形勢的改善，就能加速盈利增長。

I'll now provide an overview of the company's key strategic progress and results of the quarter. First, the team and I am most energized about how fast we grew our loyal customer base this quarter. Customer memberships surged to a record 32.7 million at quarter-end, growth of 12% versus the prior year. This is the fastest expansion of members in any quarter over the last 3 years. Although a segment of customers are currently not in a strong buying position, they're still engaging actively with retailers they love and making decisions on where they will shop their footwear when economic conditions improve. Simply put, more and more customers every day are picking us.

現在我將概述公司本季度的主要戰略進展和業績。首先，我和團隊對本季度我們忠實客戶群的增長速度感到非常興奮。截至季度末，客戶會員數量激增至創紀錄的 3270 萬，比上年增長 12%。這是過去三年來任何季度會員擴張最快的一次。儘管一部分顧客目前的購買力並不強，但他們仍在積極與自己喜歡的零售商接觸，並決定在經濟狀況改善時在哪裡購買鞋類產品。簡而言之，每天都有越來越多的客戶選擇我們。

Our CRM platform has now reached a meaningful scale and have advanced capabilities to engage with the American footwear shoppers wherever and whenever they choose. We now engage ongoing with approximately 1 out of every 8 American adults, up nearly 65% from just 5 years ago. Our commitment is to providing this group the preferred family footwear shopping experience as customers are rapidly choosing to become a part of our Shoe Perks customer loyalty program. With this large-scale customer reach, 70% of our sales now come from our loyalty members at a very efficient cost to engage. We continue to see this a core advantage of our company and are confident we will keep growing our customer base this year and in the years ahead.

我們的 CRM 平台現已達到一定的規模，並具有先進的功能，可以隨時隨地與美國鞋類消費者進行互動。現在，大約每 8 個美國成年人中就有 1 個與我們進行持續接觸，比 5 年前增加了近 65%。我們的承諾是為這一群體提供首選的家庭鞋類購物體驗，因為客戶正在迅速選擇加入我們的 Shoe Perks 客戶忠誠度計劃。憑藉如此大規模的客戶覆蓋範圍，我們現在 70% 的銷售額來自我們的忠誠會員，並且參與成本非常高。我們仍然認為這是我們公司的核心優勢，並相信我們將在今年和未來幾年繼續擴大我們的客戶群。

Second, we continue to deliver gross profit margins of over 35% for the ninth consecutive quarter. Over the last few years, we have sustainably transformed our margins from among the lowest tier in our industry to the top tier. We've done so by leveraging our deep customer relationship management capabilities and analytics to engage profitably with our customers to provide the freshest in-demand products that want at the right value and to deliver the customer a preferred shopping experience. As a benchmark, the 35% gross profit achieved this quarter is growth of over 500 basis points from just 4 years ago.

其次，我們的毛利率繼續連續第九個季度超過35%。在過去的幾年裡，我們的利潤率持續從行業最低水平轉變為最高水平。為此，我們利用深厚的客戶關係管理能力和分析能力，與客戶進行有利可圖的互動，提供最新鮮、價格合適的熱門產品，並為客戶提供首選的購物體驗。作為基準，本季度實現的35%的毛利潤比4年前增長了500多個基點。

Our customer sales conversion climbed this quarter to the highest level in nearly 2 years. The customer that is ready to make a footwear shopping trip in this challenging economy is finding the brand and shopping experience they love at Shoe Carnival and Shoe Station stores. Our compelling assortments at the right value for our target customers generated not only strong margins and conversion growth, but resulted in yet another quarter of market share growth for our company. Given the current economic landscape, we have prioritized reducing our inventory levels, sustaining healthy margins and building an even stronger financial position for future growth while also providing our customers the freshest products for the remainder of 2023.

本季度我們的客戶銷售轉化率攀升至近兩年來的最高水平。在當前充滿挑戰的經濟形勢下，準備進行鞋類購物之旅的顧客正在 Shoe Carnival 和 Shoe Station 商店尋找他們喜歡的品牌和購物體驗。我們為目標客戶提供具有適當價值的引人注目的產品組合，不僅帶來了強勁的利潤和轉化率增長，還為我們公司的市場份額帶來了又一個季度的增長。鑑於當前的經濟形勢，我們優先考慮降低庫存水平、維持健康的利潤率並為未來增長建立更強大的財務狀況，同時在 2023 年剩餘時間內為客戶提供最新鮮的產品。

Progress is encouraging at all fronts, and Carl and Erik will elaborate more shortly, but here are the headlines. We ended 2022 with inventory up $105 million versus the prior year, with plans in place with our vendor partners to rightsize this level rapidly toward 2023. I'm so pleased with the progress made already as we ended Q1 with approximately $45 million more inventory versus prior year, chipping away about $60 million during the quarter. Importantly, we are not reducing inventory levels by dumping product in the market nor drastically eroding margins. The hard work on this inventory reduction topic is complete. Receipts and inventory flows are updated. We continue to have our inventory fresh with no material aged inventory concerns.

各方面的進展都令人鼓舞，卡爾和埃里克將很快詳細闡述，但以下是頭條新聞。截至 2022 年，我們的庫存比上年增加了 1.05 億美元，並與我們的供應商合作夥伴制定了計劃，以便在 2023 年之前迅速調整這一水平。我對已經取得的進展感到非常滿意，因為我們在第一季度末的庫存比上年增加了約 4500 萬美元。去年該季度削減了約 6000 萬美元。重要的是，我們不會通過在市場上傾銷產品來降低庫存水平，也不會大幅侵蝕利潤。此次庫存削減主題的辛苦工作已經完成。收據和庫存流量已更新。我們的庫存繼續保持新鮮，不存在材料老化庫存問題。

I can share we remain confidently on track for inventory to be below prior year levels after back-to-school and on track to deliver our annual guidance to be approximately $40 million below prior year inventory by year-end. Our merchant team has done an excellent job managing the balance of freshness, margin delivery and inventory levels. As always, demonstrating they, along with our partners, are best in class. Carl will elaborate on inventory in a moment.

我可以自信地說，我們仍然有信心在返校後將庫存水平降低到低於上年水平，並有望在年底實現我們的年度指導，使庫存水平比上年庫存降低約 4000 萬美元。我們的商家團隊在管理新鮮度、保證金交付和庫存水平的平衡方面做得非常出色。一如既往，證明他們和我們的合作夥伴是同類中最好的。卡爾稍後將詳細說明庫存。

Our athletic inventory position has also materially improved versus last year. As you will recall, vendor supply chain issues disrupted our on-hand inventory for back-to-school 2022, and we disappointed some of our athletic shoppers last year. This year, we have the athletic brand assortment, depth and freshness in hand that we did not have last year. While I'm not saying the customer economic issues driving soft traffic will be soft in Q2, I do think we are in a position to continue to grab athletic market share this year convert at very high levels and maintain our healthy gross profits in this declining market environment we face.

與去年相比，我們的運動庫存狀況也有了實質性改善。您可能還記得，供應商供應鏈問題擾亂了我們 2022 年返校季的現有庫存，去年我們讓一些運動購物者感到失望。今年，我們擁有去年所沒有的運動品牌品種、深度和新鮮度。雖然我並不是說推動流量疲軟的客戶經濟問題在第二季度將會疲軟，但我確實認為我們今年有能力繼續搶占運動市場份額，以非常高的水平進行轉換，並在這個下降的環境中保持健康的毛利潤。我們面臨的市場環境。

Our store development plans continue to advance with success. The Shoe Carnival fleet modernization continues to roll out rapidly and is on track for approximately 60% of the chain to be completed fiscal end. We see this as a key contributor to our sales conversion growing and a differentiator to our customers who are rewarding us with continued market share growth. New Shoe Station store growth continues to deliver on our expectations. One of our big wins has been the market entry into Birmingham, Alabama, grand opening 2 stores over the past 6 months. These stores are (inaudible) to be among the strongest in the Shoe Station fleet and in the top tier of stores across the entire corporation. We're seeing great success as we bring our new Shoe Station prototype store to customers in adjacent markets. These expansion wins give us confidence to advance methodically on our road map to reach 100 stores for Shoe Station and over 500 stores for the corporation in 2028.

我們的商店發展計劃繼續取得成功。 Shoe Carnival 車隊現代化繼續快速推進，並有望在財年末完成約 60% 的鏈條。我們認為這是我們銷售轉化增長的關鍵因素，也是我們客戶的差異化因素，他們通過持續的市場份額增長來獎勵我們。 New Shoe Station 商店的增長繼續符合我們的預期。我們的重大勝利之一是進入阿拉巴馬州伯明翰市場，在過去 6 個月內隆重開設了 2 家商店。這些商店（聽不清）是 Shoe Station 車隊中最強大的商店之一，也是整個公司的頂級商店之一。當我們將新的 Shoe Station 原型店帶給鄰近市場的客戶時，我們看到了巨大的成功。這些擴張的勝利讓我們有信心有條不紊地推進我們的路線圖，以期在 2028 年將 Shoe Station 的商店數量增加到 100 家，將公司的商店數量增加到 500 家以上。

We are seeing our Shoe Station banners show positive signs over the past weeks. With Shoe Station's more fluid customer base, the addition to our CRM platform and the launch of the online platform, Shoe Station is outperforming the overall company. Sales for quarter 1 declined single digits compared to Shoe Carnival low double digit. However, over the past few weeks, the Shoe Station banner is building momentum and growing mid- to high singles. We continue to see Shoe Station capable of growing in the quarters ahead despite the economic headwinds discussed.

我們看到我們的鞋站橫幅在過去幾周顯示出積極的跡象。隨著 Shoe Station 的客戶群更加流動、CRM 平台的增加以及在線平台的推出，Shoe Station 的表現優於整個公司。與鞋履嘉年華的低兩位數銷售額相比，第一季度銷售額下降了個位數。然而，在過去的幾周里，鞋站的旗幟正在蓄勢待發，中高單品不斷增長。儘管討論了經濟逆風，但我們仍然認為 Shoe Station 在未來幾個季度能夠實現增長。

The bottom line for the quarter is that customer traffic was disappointing due to unfavorable near-term macro conditions and unseasonable weather. Yet our foundations were stronger than ever. Customer growth accelerated to a record level. Gross margin sustained at very high levels. Customer conversion surged on fresh products, great value and experiences. Inventory levels are radically progressing in line and athletic positions of where we want for back-to-school season ahead. We're focused on executing our winning strategic plans on the path to become a multibillion-dollar retailer in 2028 and providing our shareholders with a top-tier returns in our sector. I am confident in the American consumer resilience and in our economy returning to health ahead. When it does, we are ready to rapidly accelerate growth.

本季度的底線是，由於不利的近期宏觀條件和不合時宜的天氣，客戶流量令人失望。然而我們的基礎比以往任何時候都更加牢固。客戶增長加速至創紀錄水平。毛利率維持在非常高的水平。新鮮產品、超值價值和體驗的客戶轉化率大幅上升。庫存水平正在大幅提高，符合我們未來返校季節的預期。我們專注於執行我們的製勝戰略計劃，力爭在 2028 年成為價值數十億美元的零售商，並為我們的股東提供行業內的頂級回報。我對美國消費者的韌性和我們的經濟未來恢復健康充滿信心。當它發生時，我們就準備好快速加速增長。

I would now like to ask Carl to provide further color on the quarter and year ahead. Carl?

我現在想請卡爾提供有關未來季度和年度的進一步信息。卡爾？

Thank you, Mark. As highlighted, today's first quarter performance was below our expectations. Persistent inflation and the large reduction in tax refunds were major factors that affected Q1. In addition, the cool weather we called out in our March -- in March continued the remainder of the quarter. We anticipated that the weather will have normalized the back half of the quarter, but unfortunately, that never materialized. As a result, sales in seasonal categories did not hit our expectations and contributed to the shortfall.

謝謝你，馬克。正如所強調的，今天第一季度的業績低於我們的預期。持續的通脹和退稅大幅減少是影響一季度的主要因素。此外，我們在三月份呼籲的涼爽天氣在本季度的剩餘時間內持續存在。我們預計天氣將在本季度後半段恢復正常，但不幸的是，這從未實現。因此，季節性品類的銷售沒有達到我們的預期，導致了短缺。

With that said, we continue to focus on driving our strategic objectives, which include connecting with our consumers using our CRM program to maximize sales, reducing our inventory throughout the year and continuing to deliver our transformational product margin. By categories, first quarter comp sales in women's nonathletic footwear were down low double digits with dress and boots being down over 20%. Sales in women sandals were negatively affected by the late arrival of spring and comp sales were down high teens in the category. Sport and casuals were the bright spot with sport down low single digit and casuals increased mid-single digits. Men's nonathletic comps were also down low double digits with casuals down mid-singles. Men's dress was down low double digits and boots down high teens. Children's comp sales were down high singles with nonathletic flat and athletic down low teens. Comp sales in adult athletic footwear were down low teens.

話雖如此，我們將繼續專注於推動我們的戰略目標，其中包括使用我們的 CRM 計劃與消費者建立聯繫以最大限度地提高銷售額、減少全年庫存以及繼續提供轉型產品利潤。按類別劃分，第一季度女性非運動鞋類的銷售額下降了兩位數，其中連衣裙和靴子的銷售額下降了 20% 以上。女式涼鞋的銷售受到春季遲到的負面影響，該類別的同類產品銷售下降了十幾位數。運動和休閒是亮點，運動下降了低個位數，休閒上升了中個位數。男子非運動比賽也下降了兩位數，休閒比賽則下降到中單打。男士連衣裙低至兩位數，靴子低至十幾歲。兒童單曲銷量下降，非運動單曲銷量下降，運動單曲銷量下降。成人運動鞋的銷售量下降了十幾歲。

Due to the late start of new seasonal selling and enhanced promotional activity in the marketplace, merchandise margins were down; however, remained up 750 basis points over pre-pandemic leverage. This further demonstrates the transformation of our promotional strategy. Our outstanding team of merchants continue to collaborate closely with our vendor partners, ensuring the appropriate flow of products to our stores. Our best-in-class vendor relationships are enabling us to adjust to the consumer demand. The result will see inventories reducing as we move through the year.

由於新的季節性銷售開始較晚以及市場促銷活動加強，商品利潤率下降；然而，槓桿率仍較疫情前高出 750 個基點。這進一步體現了我們促銷策略的轉變。我們優秀的商家團隊繼續與我們的供應商合作夥伴密切合作，確保產品適當地流向我們的商店。我們一流的供應商關係使我們能夠適應消費者的需求。結果將是隨著時間的推移，庫存會減少。

We entered the first quarter with inventory up 36.9% versus the previous year. First quarter ending inventory was up 13% versus 2022. We expect as we end the third quarter, inventory levels will be below 2022 levels and we anticipate we will finish the year at the previously stated level approximately $40 million below fiscal 2022 ending inventory. Currently, our inventory content is clean, and we still see no reason to aggressively promote distressed inventory to achieve our goals. As we move into the back-to-school time frame, we will be in a much better inventory position versus 2022 with the most desirable key athletic brands. This will position us to maximize the sales opportunity during this critical selling season. Diligently managing our inventory flow will ensure our stores are stocked with the most desired product offerings that are time appropriate as we move through the second quarter and the balance of fiscal 2023. This reduction will further support our store modernization as well as our aggressive store growth plans.

我們進入第一季度時，庫存比去年同期增長了 36.9%。第一季度期末庫存比 2022 年增長 13%。我們預計，到第三季度末時，庫存水平將低於 2022 年的水平，並且我們預計今年年底將保持在先前所述的水平，比 2022 財年期末庫存低約 4000 萬美元。目前，我們的庫存內容是乾淨的，我們仍然認為沒有理由積極推廣不良庫存來實現我們的目標。隨著返校時間的到來，我們的庫存狀況將比 2022 年好得多，擁有最理想的主要運動品牌。這將使我們能夠在這個關鍵的銷售季節最大限度地利用銷售機會。努力管理我們的庫存流將確保我們的商店備有最需要的產品，這些產品在我們進入第二季度和 2023 財年的剩餘時間時都在適當的時候。這種減少將進一步支持我們商店的現代化以及我們積極的商店增長計劃。

Our best-in-class CRM program continues to drive loyal customer growth. We have seen success engaging with our loyal consumers with targeted offers. This program continues to drive sales and plays a key role in maximizing margins while reducing inventory levels. Using this data enables us to communicate to our over 30 million -- 32 million consumers and continues to maximize sales opportunities without reducing margins below expectations.

我們一流的 CRM 計劃繼續推動忠誠客戶的增長。我們已經看到，通過有針對性的優惠，成功吸引了忠實的消費者。該計劃繼續推動銷售，並在最大限度提高利潤、同時降低庫存水平方面發揮著關鍵作用。利用這些數據，我們能夠與超過 3000 萬至 3200 萬消費者進行溝通，並繼續最大限度地提高銷售機會，同時保證利潤率不低於預期。

With that, I will turn the call over to Erik for a review of our financials. Erik?

這樣，我會將電話轉給埃里克，以審查我們的財務狀況。埃里克？

Thank you, Carl, and good morning, everyone. First, I joined Shoe Carnival in late April, and am appreciative of the collective team and how they have supported me in the transition from Kerry Jackson, the previous CFO. Kerry, as you know, was here 35 years and recently retired. I am looking forward to continuing the good work he started and working with the team at Shoe Carnival. Having worked over 30 years of most of that time in retail, I look forward to sharing experiences and collaborating with the Shoe Carnival team. The company has long-term plans to grow to over 500 stores and become a multibillion-dollar retailer in 2028, and I am excited to be a part of it.

謝謝你，卡爾，大家早上好。首先，我於四月下旬加入了 Shoe Carnival，我很感謝整個團隊以及他們在我從前首席財務官 Kerry Jackson 的過渡過程中所給予的支持。如您所知，克里已在這里工作了 35 年，最近剛剛退休。我期待著繼續他開始的出色工作，並與鞋業嘉年華的團隊合作。我在零售行業工作了 30 多年，我期待著與 Shoe Carnival 團隊分享經驗並合作。該公司的長期計劃是在 2028 年發展到擁有 500 多家商店，並成為價值數十億美元的零售商，我很高興能成為其中的一員。

Now moving to the financial results. In my remarks, I will compare our first quarter results with the first quarter of 2022, noting comparison to 2019, if needed for context. Starting with revenues. Our net sales in Q1 were $281.2 million. This is down 11.4% on a comp decline of 11.9% versus prior year. To offer some perspective, while representing a larger-than-expected decline, the sales were the third highest first quarter in company's history. The comp decline was driven by an approximately 10% reduction in traffic. Our consumers are being negatively impacted by inflation and lower tax refunds. Lack of normal seasonal weather shifts driven by cooler weather patterns was also a contributing negative factor, resulting in spring seasonal product down by over 20% to prior year.

現在轉向財務業績。在我的發言中，我將把我們第一季度的業績與 2022 年第一季度的業績進行比較，如果需要了解背景，請注意與 2019 年的比較。從收入開始。我們第一季度的淨銷售額為 2.812 億美元。與去年相比下降 11.9%，同比下降 11.4%。從一些角度來看，雖然降幅大於預期，但第一季度的銷售額是公司歷史上第三高的。營業額下降約 10%，導致營業額下降。我們的消費者正受到通貨膨脹和退稅減少的負面影響。較冷的天氣模式導致缺乏正常的季節性天氣變化也是一個負面因素，導致春季季節性產品比上年下降 20% 以上。

Shoe Station banner sales came in at a mid-single-digit decline versus Shoe Station banner sales at a low double-digit decline. Q1 gross profit margin was 35%, reflecting the ninth consecutive quarter at or exceeding 35%. The margin reflects continued advancement in our CRM capabilities, resulting in high customer conversion and increased loyalty members, as Mark discussed. The gross margin represents an increase of over 500 basis points compared to pre-CRM implementation and pre-pandemic in 2019. Compared to prior year, merchandise margins decreased 30 basis points, reflecting our promotional intensity. Buying, distribution and occupancy costs declined, however, we're deleveraging by 20 basis points as a result of the sales decline. The buying, distribution and occupancy expense reductions were primarily the result of the absence of the high distribution costs experienced in the prior year with a return to more normal levels this year.

Shoe Station 橫幅銷售額出現中個位數下降，而 Shoe Station 橫幅銷售額則呈低兩位數下降。第一季度毛利率為35%，連續第九個季度達到或超過35%。正如 Mark 所討論的，利潤率反映了我們 CRM 功能的持續進步，從而提高了客戶轉化率並提高了會員忠誠度。與2019年CRM實施前和疫情前相比，毛利率增加了500多個基點。與去年相比，商品利潤率下降了30個基點，反映了我們的促銷力度。購買、分銷和入住成本有所下降，但由於銷售額下降，我們將去槓桿化 20 個基點。購買、分銷和占用費用的減少主要是由於去年的高分銷成本沒有出現，而今年又恢復到了更正常的水平。

SG&A expense in Q1 was $77.6 million. While essentially flat in cost to the prior year, was deleveraging to 27.6% as a result of the sales decline. Overall, SG&A expenses were under plan with increases in depreciation associated with our store modernization program and healthier costs, offset by reduced selling costs when compared to the prior year. Q1 operating income was $20.9 million or 7.4% of sales. This is at the low end of our expectations.

第一季度的 SG&A 費用為 7760 萬美元。雖然成本與上年基本持平，但由於銷售額下降，槓桿率降至 27.6%。總體而言，SG＆A費用正在計劃中，與我們的商店現代化計劃和更健康的成本相關的折舊增加，被與上一年相比減少的銷售成本所抵消。第一季度營業收入為 2090 萬美元，佔銷售額的 7.4%。這是我們預期的最低值。

Net income for the first quarter of 2023 was $16.5 million or $0.60 in diluted earnings per share. Although this was our third highest Q1 diluted EPS with only 2022 and 2021 being higher, this was at the low end of our expectations. We closed out the quarter with inventory of $389 million, which was up approximately $45 million compared to the prior year or 12.3% on a per store basis. The increased inventory reflects an improved athletic merchandise assortment for back-to-school shopping this year. And the increase of $45 million compares to $105 million higher than the prior year just 3 months ago. After back-to-school shopping, we do expect inventory to be lower than last year and be approximately $40 million lower by year-end 2023 compared to year-end 2022. We continue to have ample liquidity to fund our growth initiatives.

2023 年第一季度淨利潤為 1,650 萬美元，攤薄每股收益為 0.60 美元。儘管這是我們第三高的第一季度稀釋每股收益，只有 2022 年和 2021 年較高，但這仍處於我們預期的低端。本季度末，我們的庫存為 3.89 億美元，比上一年增加了約 4500 萬美元，按每家商店計算增加了 12.3%。庫存的增加反映出今年返校購物的運動商品種類有所改善。三個月前比去年增加了 1.05 億美元，增加了 4500 萬美元。返校購物後，我們預計庫存將低於去年，到 2023 年底庫存將比 2022 年底減少約 4000 萬美元。我們繼續擁有充足的流動性來為我們的增長計劃提供資金。

At the end of Q1, we had total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $44 million and no outstanding debt. As of the end of 2022, the company has maintained no debt for the 18th consecutive year and continued funding its operations without debt through the first quarter. During the quarter, there were no share repurchases. We currently have the full amount of $50 million available for the share repurchase program. Given the Q1 results driven by traffic declines and consumer trends, we now are updating our sales guidance for fiscal 2023 to down 3% to down 6% compared to the prior range of down 2% to up 2%. We are expecting gross profit margin to be between 36% and 37% versus prior guidance of approximately 37% for the year, including the extra week. We are lowering our diluted EPS guidance to $3.60 to $3.85 from previous expectations of $3.96 to $4.20.

截至第一季度末，我們的現金、現金等價物和有價證券總額為 4400 萬美元，沒有未償債務。截至2022年底，該公司已連續18年保持無債務，並在第一季度繼續以無債務方式為其運營提供資金。本季度沒有進行股票回購。目前我們有全額 5000 萬美元可用於股票回購計劃。鑑於客流量下降和消費者趨勢推動的第一季度業績，我們現在將 2023 財年的銷售指導更新為下降 3% 至 6%，而之前的範圍為下降 2% 至上升 2%。我們預計今年毛利率將在 36% 至 37% 之間，而之前的指導值約為 37%，包括額外的一周。我們將稀釋後每股收益指引從之前的 3.96 美元至 4.20 美元下調至 3.60 美元至 3.85 美元。

In closing, allow me to share some initial observations about the company. There are headwinds upon the industry. We highlighted them, macroeconomic conditions, promotional intensity and higher inventory. However, I am encouraged about the company. We have no debt. We are producing product and gross margins that are up meaningfully in a transformative way versus pre-pandemic period. Plans are underway to reduce the inventory and are being implemented as evidenced by the current quarter reduction. The business has solid financial fundamentals to build and grow upon that can outlast an economic downturn. There is an ample growth opportunity for the business. I am glad I am here and look forward to working with the team and all of you.

最後，請允許我分享一些關於該公司的初步觀察。該行業存在一些阻力。我們強調了宏觀經濟狀況、促銷力度和較高的庫存。然而，我對這家公司感到鼓舞。我們沒有債務。與大流行前時期相比，我們生產的產品和毛利率以變革性的方式顯著上升。減少庫存的計劃正在進行中，並正在實施，本季度的庫存減少就證明了這一點。該企業擁有堅實的財務基礎，可以在經濟低迷時期持續發展和發展。企業有充足的增長機會。我很高興來到這裡，並期待與團隊和大家合作。

This does conclude our financial review. Now I would like to open the call up for questions.

我們的財務審查到此結束。現在我想開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Mitch Kummetz with Seaport Research.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Seaport Research 的 Mitch Kummetz。

I'd like to welcome Erik. Let me start with the guide. Can you update us on SG&A in either operating margin or EBIT for the year? There was nothing in the release, and I didn't hear anything in your comments, but I think you previously had given guidance on those line items.

我想歡迎埃里克。讓我從指南開始。您能否向我們介紹本年度營業利潤或息稅前利潤的 SG&A 最新情況？新聞稿中沒有任何內容，我也沒有在您的評論中聽到任何內容，但我認為您之前已經就這些項目提供了指導。

Sure, Mitch, and thank you for that kind welcome. SG&A, as you know, in our previous guidance, we called out approximately 25.6%. As we look through the balance of the year, we continue to look for cost management. And as we look through operating income, you can see that our EPS does reflect that continued management. So the guidance that we would give is that our percentages are going to be consistent with what we've provided in the original guidance. There will be some increased basis point changes possibly in the range of 30 to 50 basis points. .

當然，米奇，謝謝你的熱情歡迎。如您所知，SG&A，在我們之前的指導中，我們要求大約 25.6%。當我們回顧今年的餘額時，我們繼續尋找成本管理。當我們查看營業收入時，您可以看到我們的每股收益確實反映了持續的管理。因此，我們給出的指導是我們的百分比將與我們在原始指導中提供的一致。基點變化可能會增加 30 至 50 個基點。 。

Regarding operating income, we've talked about the original guidance of 11.4%. Really, we're looking at a range of -- there is going to be some impact to the operating income in the range of 40 to 100 basis points as a result of the sales decline.

關於營業收入，我們談到了最初的指導值11.4%。事實上，我們正​​在考慮一系列——由於銷售下降，營業收入將會受到 40 到 100 個基點的影響。

Got it. All right and then just looking at the revised sales guidance. Obviously, it came down for the year, but it looks like, at least I can kind of back into growth that's sort of flat to maybe up low single digits over the balance of the year on a year-over-year basis, which is obviously better than what you achieved in the quarter. Can you just elaborate on why that is? Is that just that we're past tax refunds? Do you expect the weather to be more normal? I'm just kind of curious your assumptions around the consumer to kind of get to those numbers. And also if there's any color you can kind of provide by quarter? I would guess that you're maybe most optimistic around 3Q just given what you said around back-to-school and better athletic inventory, but maybe some more color there would be helpful.

知道了。好吧，然後看看修訂後的銷售指南。顯然，今年的增長有所下降，但看起來，至少我可以恢復增長，這種增長在今年的剩餘時間裡與去年同期相比持平，甚至可能增長低個位數，這是顯然比您本季度取得的成績要好。您能詳細說明一下這是為什麼嗎？難道只是因為我們已經退稅了嗎？您預計天氣會更加正常嗎？我只是有點好奇你對消費者的假設，以便獲得這些數字。另外，你們是否可以按季度提供任何顏色？考慮到您關於重返校園和更好的運動庫存的言論，我猜您可能對第三季度最為樂觀，但也許更多的顏色會有幫助。

Mitch, it's Mark. Thanks for joining today. Yes, you got it right with those key elements. We see back-to-school significantly improved versus last year. As I shared on the call, our athletic inventory positions is in hand, it's fresh and it's far superior to the supply chain disrupted back-to-school we had last year. We think it's going to come in Q3, Mitch. We're still seeing the macro headwinds in Q2. But I -- we believe our Q3 position is ready to go for back-to-school and then moderate as the year continues on as inflation continues to get more and more in control.

米奇，是馬克。感謝您今天加入。是的，您對這些關鍵要素的理解是正確的。我們看到返校情況比去年有了顯著改善。正如我在電話會議上分享的那樣，我們的運動庫存狀況已掌握，它是新鮮的，並且遠遠優於我們去年返校時供應鏈中斷的情況。我們認為它將在第三季度推出，米奇。我們在第二季度仍然看到宏觀阻力。但我 - 我們相信我們的第三季度狀況已準備好重返校園，然後隨著今年的繼續，隨著通貨膨脹繼續得到越來越多的控制，我們的立場將趨於溫和。

I think the second thing you talked about that is encouraging, and I talked briefly about it as the weather has turned, our Shoe Station business getting some good momentum along with the new stores. At Shoe Station, the dotcom going live, CRM going live. We're growing nicely as we progress into this Q2. And we see that continuing to accelerate as the year goes on. So we're really highlighting that we think Shoe Carnival's segment of customers that are really hit by the inflation hit that small segment under 1/3 of our customers. That's the variability that we're just not sure yet when that customer is going to be healthier, which quarter that's going to turn. As soon as it does, we're in great shape to start accelerating growth.

我認為你談到的第二件事是令人鼓舞的，我簡要地談到了這一點，因為天氣已經轉變，我們的鞋站業務隨著新店的開業而獲得了一些良好的勢頭。在 Shoe Station，網絡公司上線，CRM 上線。隨著我們進入第二季度，我們發展得很好。我們看到隨著時間的推移，這一趨勢繼續加速。因此，我們確實要強調的是，我們認為 Shoe Carnival 的客戶群真正受到通貨膨脹的打擊，這一小部分客戶數量不到我們客戶的 1/3。這就是我們還不確定該客戶何時會變得更健康、會在哪個季度變得更健康的可變性。一旦實現，我們就處於良好狀態，可以開始加速增長。

Got it. And then Carl, on sandals, I know they were challenged in the quarter. I believe that Q2 is by far your largest sandal quarter. What are you thinking there? Do you think there's pent-up demand for the category? And how do you feel about your sandal inventory and your ability to kind of work through that in Q2?

知道了。然後卡爾，穿著涼鞋，我知道他們在本季度受到了挑戰。我相信第二季度是迄今為止你們最大的涼鞋季度。你在那裡想什麼？您認為該類別的需求是否有被壓抑的需求？您對您的涼鞋庫存以及您在第二季度解決該問題的能力有何看法？

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

I'm sorry, this is the operator. Could you start again? The line is coming in broken.

對不起，這是接線員。你能重新開始嗎？線路即將斷線。

Okay. Hopefully, you guys can hear me better now. The question has to do about sandals. I was asking Carl about sandals and obviously, they didn't perform well in the quarter. But I was curious if you feel like there's -- Q2 being your biggest quarter for sandals, do you think there's pent-up demand. And how do you sort of expect that to play? Or how are you planning that for the second quarter, especially kind of working through whatever sandal inventory you have?

好的。希望你們現在能更好地聽到我的聲音。這個問題與涼鞋有關。我向卡爾詢問涼鞋的情況，顯然，它們在本季度的表現不佳。但我很好奇，如果你覺得第二季度是涼鞋銷量最大的季度，你是否認為存在被壓抑的需求。您預計效果如何？或者您如何計劃第二季度，特別是如何處理您擁有的涼鞋庫存？

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

I'm sorry, this is the operator. It seems as though we're having some technical difficulties with the speaker line. We're going to try to rectify them. One moment, please, the conference will continue momentarily.

對不起，這是接線員。看來我們的揚聲器線路遇到了一些技術困難。我們將盡力糾正它們。請稍等，會議暫時繼續。

Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. We will continue with Mitch Kummetz's question?

女士們、先生們，感謝您的耐心等待。我們繼續米奇·庫梅茨的問題？

So I don't know if you guys heard my question about sandals. It's really for Carl. Just curious about your outlook for 2Q, that being your biggest sandal quarter, wondering if you think there's any pent-up demand just given the challenges in the first quarter, and also how you're expecting to work through your sandal inventory given the shortfall in Q1?

所以我不知道你們是否聽到我關於涼鞋的問題。這真的是為了卡爾。只是好奇您對第二季度的展望，這是您最大的涼鞋季度，想知道考慮到第一季度的挑戰，您是否認為有任何被壓抑的需求，以及鑑於短缺，您預計如何處理涼鞋庫存在第一季度？

Sure, Mitch. Thanks. We do believe starting to see some movement on the sandal business as we have consistent warm weather that has hit a part of most of the Midwest. So we're encouraged by some very recent sandal business in the Shoe Carnival business. Shoe Station business, it actually started a bit earlier, pretty much, I believe, based on the geographics of that business and the higher-income consumer that tends to shop earlier.

當然，米奇。謝謝。我們確實相信，隨著中西部大部分地區持續溫暖的天氣，涼鞋業務開始出現一些變化。因此，我們對鞋子嘉年華業務中最近出現的一些涼鞋業務感到鼓舞。鞋站業務實際上開始得更早一些，我相信，這是基於該業務的地理位置以及傾向於更早購物的高收入消費者。

In regards to the inventory, we have made the necessary adjustments as we move forward with our position on sandals based on the fourth quarter results, and we anticipate ending the season in a better inventory, more reduced inventory position than we did last year. So we're confident we've got that business under control.

在庫存方面，我們根據第四季度的業績，在推進涼鞋頭寸的過程中做出了必要的調整，我們預計本季結束時的庫存會比去年更好，庫存頭寸會減少更多。因此，我們有信心我們已經控制了該業務。

(Operator Instructions) And there are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back to -- oh, sorry, we do have a follow-up from Mitch Kummetz.

（操作員說明） 目前沒有其他問題。我會將電話轉回——哦，抱歉，我們確實有米奇·庫梅茨 (Mitch Kummetz) 的後續行動。

Okay. I thought there would be other people. So I guess my other question -- or one of my other questions was just on the BOGOs, you talked about the gross margin. Obviously, it was down year-over-year, but still way up from 4 years ago, particularly on the merch margin side. I am curious -- you guys still do BOGOs, but you do them very differently than before. Is there any way you can comment on the margin of the BOGOs? Is there any way you can kind of isolate that and talk about how that's different from what it was 4 years ago?

好的。我以為還會有其他人。所以我想我的另一個問題 - 或者我的其他問題之一隻是關於 BOGO，你談到了毛利率。顯然，這一數字同比有所下降，但仍較 4 年前有所上升，尤其是在商品利潤方面。我很好奇——你們仍然在做 BOGO，但你們的做法與以前有很大不同。您有什麼辦法可以評論 BOGO 的邊際嗎？有沒有什麼方法可以將其隔離出來並談談它與 4 年前有何不同？

Sure, I'll take that. The -- any BOGO promotion that we run, and we only do it a couple of times a week on seasonal products that we have purchased at a very advantageous price. So they are planned in on selected items, and the margin on them during BOGO actually is in line with the total company margin. And in fact, in some cases, is margin accretive. So they're limited time, very targeted product and merchandise that was bought for that intent.

當然，我會接受的。 - 我們舉辦的任何 BOGO 促銷活動，我們每週只對我們以非常優惠的價格購買的季節性產品進行幾次。因此，他們計劃在選定的項目上，並且 BOGO 期間的利潤實際上與公司總利潤一致。事實上，在某些情況下，利潤是增值的。因此，它們是有限的時間、非常有針對性的產品和商品，是為此目的而購買的。

And so how does that compare from like 4 years ago when it was more of an all-store BOGO? I assume that those margins were dilutive to the total. But I mean -- have you seen like within kind of the BOGO piece, I mean, is like the margin 1,000 bps better than it was 4 years ago? Or is there any way you can again sort of isolate how much that's improved? And how much of that is kind of a story for the overall margin expansion of the business?

那麼，與 4 年前相比，當時它更像是一家全店 BOGO 呢？我認為這些利潤會稀釋總利潤。但我的意思是——你有沒有看到過 BOGO 的內部情況，我的意思是，利潤率比 4 年前好 1,000 個基點？或者有什麼方法可以再次隔離改進了多少？其中有多少是業務整體利潤擴張的故事？

Sure, Mitch. That is definitely the story. The BOGOs that we used to run included the entire inventory. They weren't targeted and the margin was -- you pretty much said up about 1,000 basis points dilutive to the margins we run today on the very selected BOGO products. So that is a major factor in the trend to margins we've been producing.

當然，米奇。這絕對是故事。我們過去運行的 BOGO 包括整個庫存。它們沒有針對性，而且利潤率——你幾乎說上升了約 1,000 個基點，稀釋了我們今天在精選的 BOGO 產品上運行的利潤率。因此，這是我們一直在生產的利潤率趨勢的一個主要因素。

Got it. And then maybe one last for me. Just on back-to-school and athletic. Can you -- Carl, can you speak to how much better the athletic inventory is versus last year. I don't know if you can kind of speak to it in percentage terms. And then just remind us of the athletic comparison that you're going up against for back-to-school, I assume it's a pretty easy comp.

知道了。對我來說也許是最後一次。只是回到學校和運動。你能——卡爾，你能談談運動庫存比去年好多少嗎？我不知道你是否可以用百分比來表達。然後提醒我們您在返校期間要進行的運動比較，我認為這是一個非常簡單的比較。

Yes. It is. The athletic inventory, if we go back historically, when we look to last year, our athletic inventory was really hampered by supply chain. We received quite a few delays with product (inaudible) late August into September and missed the back-to-school time frame. In addition to that, we have many products that we purchased that, frankly, we never got. So from an athletic standpoint, I see a major improvement also in the products, but in the quality of the brands and the quality of the products we have. We anticipate our athletic inventory as we go into the back-to-school time frame being up in the teens. But it's really the quality of the inventory that we have and the timing of the delivery of that inventory actually ending July in the mid-teens. And as we move through early part of August around 20%.

是的。這是。運動庫存，如果我們回顧歷史，當我們回顧去年時，我們的運動庫存確實受到供應鏈的阻礙。 8 月底到 9 月期間，我們收到了相當多的產品延遲（聽不清），並且錯過了返校時間。除此之外，我們還購買了許多產品，坦率地說，我們從未得到過。因此，從運動的角度來看，我看到產品也有了重大改進，但品牌的質量和我們擁有的產品的質量也有了很大的改進。當我們進入返校時間框架時，我們預計我們的運動庫存將在十幾歲左右。但這實際上是我們擁有的庫存的質量以及庫存的交付時間，實際上是在 7 月中旬結束的。當我們進入 8 月初時，這一數字約為 20%。

And if I can -- yes, Mitch, I'll give you one point. So if you look at comps last year, to remind you, Q2 was down 13.8%, and it was really driven by between 15% and 20% declines in comp in June and July during that period where our supply chain was really disrupted. So we see that as an opportunity with this great position Carl talked about to claw back and gain market share. and have a much more solid Q2 than we did last year.

如果可以的話——是的，米奇，我會給你一分。因此，如果您查看去年的比較，請提醒您，第二季度下降了 13.8%，這實際上是由 6 月和 7 月期間 15% 至 20% 的比較下降推動的，當時我們的供應鏈確實受到了乾擾。因此，我們認為卡爾所說的這一偉大地位是一個奪回並獲得市場份額的機會。第二季度的表現比去年更加穩健。

Okay. And then -- and then I guess maybe one last one for me. Just on the loyalty, Mark. I know that Shoe Station is now plugged into Shoe Perks and has access to all of those loyalty members. What have you seen there? Have you seen some of those customers buying product from Shoe Station, especially maybe some brands and some price points that they didn't have access to in the Shoe Carnival stores?

好的。然後——然後我想也許是我的最後一次。只是忠誠度，馬克。我知道 Shoe Station 現在已接入 Shoe Perks 並可以接觸到所有這些忠誠會員。你在那裡看到了什麼？您是否見過一些顧客從 Shoe Station 購買產品，尤其是一些他們在 Shoe Carnival 商店中無法接觸到的品牌和價格點？

We do. We see -- we have got almost 2 million people already have joined Shoe Perks on the Shoe Station side. I would see a great opportunity to grow that rapidly as we're just starting now to engage with them. And we're seeing them buy purchases in different price tiers now that they can cross shop. We're seeing them engage with different categories that they haven't had before. And importantly, we're seeing the (inaudible) direction to where the Shoe Carnival Shoe Perks members are also being introduced to new products from the new brand, too, that aren't offered. This is a big opportunity for cross introducing over the quarters ahead and really fueling growth.

我們的確是。我們看到，Shoe Station 方面已經有近 200 萬人加入了 Shoe Perks。我認為這是一個快速發展的絕佳機會，因為我們現在才剛剛開始與他們合作。我們看到他們現在可以交叉購物，以不同的價格等級購買商品。我們看到他們涉足了以前從未接觸過的不同類別。重要的是，我們看到了（聽不清）方向，鞋業嘉年華鞋業福利會員也將被介紹到新品牌未提供的新產品。這是在未來幾個季度進行交叉引入並真正推動增長的絕佳機會。

There are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back to Mr. Mark Worden.

目前沒有其他問題。我會將電話轉回給馬克·沃登先生。

Thank you all for joining us for today's call, and thank you for bearing with our technology, struggled there for a moment. We look forward to talking to you all again as we get into the back-to-school season and have Q2 report.

感謝大家參加我們今天的電話會議，也感謝你們對我們的技術的包容，在那裡掙扎了一會兒。當我們進入返校季節並發布第二季度報告時，我們期待再次與大家交談。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您加入我們。您現在可以斷開線路。