Shyft Group Inc (SHYF) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning and welcome to the Shyft Group's fourth quarter and full-year 2023 conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call is being recorded.

早安，歡迎參加 Shyft 集團 2023 年第四季和全年電話會議和網路廣播。（操作員說明）謹此提醒，此通話正在錄音。

I would now like to introduce Randy Wilson, Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury of The Shyft Group. Please go ahead.

現在我想介紹 The Shyft Group 投資者關係和財務部副總裁蘭迪威爾遜 (Randy Wilson)。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. I'm joined by John Dunn, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jon Douyard, Chief Financial Officer. Their prepared remarks will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

早安，感謝您加入我們。總裁兼執行長約翰鄧恩 (John Dunn) 也出席了會議。喬恩‧杜亞德 (Jon Douyard)，財務長。他們準備好的發言之後將進行問答環節。

Before we begin, please turn to slide 2 of the presentation for our Safe Harbor statement. Today's conference call contains forward-looking statements which are subject to risks that could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied.

在我們開始之前，請參閱簡報的投影片 2，以了解我們的安全港聲明。今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述存在可能導致實際結果與明示或暗示的結果有重大差異的風險。

Primary risks that management believes could materially affect our results are identified in our Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the SEC. We will be discussing non-GAAP information and performance measures which we believe are useful in evaluating the company's operating performance. Reconciliations for these non-GAAP measures can be found in the conference call materials posted on our website.

管理層認為可能對我們的業績產生重大影響的主要風險已在我們向 SEC 提交的 10-K 和 10-Q 表格中列出。我們將討論非公認會計原則資訊和績效衡量標準，我們認為這些資訊和績效衡量標準有助於評估公司的經營績效。這些非公認會計原則措施的調節可以在我們網站上發布的電話會議資料中找到。

We'll start with opening comments from our CEO, John Dunn, before turning the call over to Jon Douyard for review of the 2023 performance as well as our 2024 outlook. We will then open the line for Q&A.

我們將首先由執行長 John Dunn 發表開場評論，然後將電話轉交給 Jon Douyard，以回顧 2023 年的業績以及 2024 年的前景。然後我們將開通問答熱線。

Please turn to slide 3, and John Dunn will begin today's prepared remarks.

請翻到幻燈片 3，約翰鄧恩將開始今天準備好的演講。

Thank you, Randy, and good morning to everyone.

謝謝你，蘭迪，祝大家早安。

As I noted on our call back in October, I'm excited to be leading this fantastic company. Over the last 50 years, Shyft has grown to a national leader in many specialty vehicle markets, while consistently demonstrating the ability to innovate, partnering with customers, and maintain financial stability. In past roles, I've delivered ambitious growth by focusing on building solid teams and driving commercial and operational excellence.

正如我在 10 月的電話回訪中指出的那樣，我很高興能夠領導這家出色的公司。在過去 50 年裡，Shyft 已發展成為許多特種車輛市場的全國領導者，同時始終展現出創新、與客戶合作和保持財務穩定的能力。在過去的職位中，我透過專注於建立堅實的團隊和推動商業和營運卓越來實現了雄心勃勃的成長。

I spent my career in the automotive sector with experience launching vehicles for General Motors and having senior leadership roles for Tier 1 auto suppliers, one of which grew annual sales from $50 million to $1.5 billion in North America. I look forward to building on Shyft's great legacy and leveraging my experience to deliver a higher level of performance.

我的職業生涯是在汽車行業度過的，擁有為通用汽車推出汽車的經驗，並在一級汽車供應商中擔任高級領導職務，其中一家汽車供應商在北美的年銷售額從5000 萬美元增長到15 億美元。我期待著在 Shyft 的偉大遺產的基礎上再接再厲，並利用我的經驗來提供更高水準的績效。

Having just completed my first full year at Shyft, including the last four months as CEO, I continue to be impressed by the industry-leading products and the team's capabilities. Together with the leadership team, we have defined an operating framework which will serve as the foundation to drive sustainable financial growth and deliver value for our shareholders going forward.

剛剛在 Shyft 度過了第一個完整的一年，包括擔任執行長的最後四個月，行業領先的產品和團隊的能力仍然給我留下了深刻的印象。我們與領導團隊一起制定了一個營運框架，該框架將作為推動永續財務成長並為股東創造價值的基礎。

Our approach includes a relentless focus on building high-performing teams to foster collaboration and drive results, delivering operational excellence, improving efficiency in all aspects of the business, while bringing innovative and high-quality products to our customers, and keeping customers at the center of everything we do. From sales to design to delivery, we are here to enable our customer success. Shyft's recent performance has been impacted by end-market demand softness, and we are acting with urgency to return the business to historical profitability.

我們的方法包括不懈地致力於建立高績效團隊，以促進協作和推動成果，實現卓越運營，提高業務各個方面的效率，同時為客戶帶來創新和高品質的產品，並始終以客戶為中心我們所做的一切。從銷售到設計再到交付，我們致力於幫助客戶成功。Shyft 最近的業績受到終端市場需求疲軟的影響，我們正在緊急採取行動，使該業務恢復到歷史盈利水平。

As we transition to slide 4, I will walk you through the actions we have taken over the past four months, which reflect this operating framework. It all starts with the team, and our immediate focus was on team alignment to drive operational rigor and financial growth. We top-graded key roles including production and sales leadership to improve immediate performance and build bench strength. We promoted Jacob Farmer into our FVS President role. He previously led our SV business.

當我們過渡到投影片 4 時，我將向您介紹我們在過去四個月中採取的行動，這些行動反映了這個營運框架。一切都從團隊開始，我們目前的重點是團隊協調，以推動營運嚴謹性和財務成長。我們對包括生產和銷售領導在內的關鍵角色進行了頂級評價，以提高即時績效並增強後備實力。我們將 Jacob Farmer 提拔為 FVS 總裁。他之前領導過我們的 SV 業務。

Jacob is a proven leader, and we are confident that he will continue to drive the necessary improvement already underway in FVS and utilize his experience within SV these to strengthen coordination across the company.

Jacob 是一位久經考驗的領導者，我們相信他將繼續推動 FVS 正在進行的必要改進，並利用他在 SV 的經驗來加強整個公司的協調。

We look for better ways to enable our businesses to ensure that they had the appropriate tools and support needed to be successful. We have simplified our internal reporting rhythms and identified opportunities to push down functional support into the businesses where it is needed most. An example of this is in our marketing function which now reports directly into our segments. Transitioning to operational excellence, we understand the importance of product quality and process efficiency as well as sales force effectiveness and overall customer satisfaction. We are focused on improvements in all of these areas.

我們尋找更好的方法來幫助我們的企業確保他們擁有成功所需的適當工具和支援。我們簡化了內部報告節奏，並找到了將職能支援推向最需要的業務的機會。我們的行銷職能就是一個例子，現在直接向我們的部門報告。過渡到卓越運營，我們了解產品品質和流程效率以及銷售人員效率和整體客戶滿意度的重要性。我們專注於所有這些領域的改進。

In December, for the first time, we pulled together our sales team from across the company. We held product training and identified cross-selling opportunities. Coming out of the sales summit, we adjusted our sales compensation structure to incentivize business with new customers and to establish targets for our sales team to sell all Shyft brands.

12 月，我們第一次將全公司的銷售團隊聚集在一起。我們舉辦了產品培訓並確定了交叉銷售機會。銷售高峰會結束後，我們調整了銷售薪酬結構，以激勵與新客戶的業務，並為我們的銷售團隊制定了銷售所有 Shyft 品牌的目標。

We have a portfolio of industry-leading products and need to make sure we are selling them broadly to the market. By taking a more comprehensive approach, we will expand our reach and diversify our customer base. Operationally, we've identified opportunities including deeper cross-company synergies in procurement and ways to optimize our footprint. I look forward to updating you on the output of these initiatives on our upcoming calls.

我們擁有領先業界的產品組合，需要確保我們將它們廣泛銷售到市場。透過採取更全面的方法，我們將擴大我們的覆蓋範圍並使我們的客戶群多樣化。在營運方面，我們發現了一些機會，包括採購方面更深入的跨公司協同效應以及優化我們足跡的方法。我期待在接下來的電話會議上向您通報這些舉措的最新成果。

Another area of focus, given its strategic importance to Shyft and our customers, has been the Blue Arc EV program. I've spent time with the team, validating the overall market opportunity, reviewing the project plan in depth, and assessing our manufacturing capability. I'm impressed by the quality of the product, the robustness of the design, and what the team has been able to accomplish. I had direct conversations with our key customers who communicated their excitement for our Blue Arc Vehicle and its role in their fleet strategy.

鑑於 Blue Arc EV 計劃對 Shyft 和我們的客戶具有戰略重要性，另一個重點領域是 Blue Arc EV 計劃。我花時間與團隊一起驗證整體市場機會，深入審查專案計劃並評估我們的製造能力。產品的品質、設計的穩健性以及團隊所取得的成就給我留下了深刻的印象。我與我們的主要客戶進行了直接對話，他們表達了他們對我們的 Blue Arc 車輛及其在車隊策略中的作用的興奮。

After assessing progress and interest, we prioritized the Class 3 to 4 walk-in van as the most efficient path to getting Blue Arc to market. While we discussed other class sizes and vocations historically, we have refined our focus in 2024, which will drive lower spending versus 2023.

在評估進展和興趣後，我們優先考慮 3 至 4 級步入式貨車作為將 Blue Arc 推向市場的最有效途徑。雖然我們歷史上討論過其他班級規模和職業，但我們在 2024 年調整了重點，這將導致支出低於 2023 年。

Now let's turn to slide 5, and I'll give you more detail around the status of our Blue Arc program. Our team continues to make solid progress on overall Vehicle Development including the Battery performance.

現在讓我們轉向投影片 5，我將向您提供有關 Blue Arc 計劃狀態的更多詳細資訊。我們的團隊繼續在包括電池性能在內的整體車輛開發方面取得紮實進展。

We previously discussed battery quality issues impacting our ability to go into production. We worked with our supplier, Proterra, to solve the issues until the recent purchase of Proterra by Volvo. Currently, we are exploring a new commercial agreement with Volvo.

我們之前討論過影響我們投產能力的電池品質問題。我們與供應商 Proterra 合作解決了這些問題，直到最近 Proterra 被沃爾沃收購。目前，我們正在與沃爾沃探討一項新的商業協議。

In parallel, we accelerated the battery integration in our Class 3 to 4 Vehicle, with battery supplier, Our Next Energy. We recently completed performance testing and are pleased to confirm the vehicle range is over 200 miles. These results meet customer requirements and are consistent with our prior vehicle testing. From a vehicle standpoint, we have finalized the design and the first production and 10 units have been manufactured in our Charlotte Michigan facility. With the revised program timeline, we expect final testing in the coming months to complete and start production in late 2024.

同時，我們與電池供應商 Our Next Energy 合作，加速了 3 至 4 級車輛中的電池整合。我們最近完成了性能測試，並很高興地確認車輛續航里程超過 200 英里。這些結果滿足客戶的要求，並且與我們先前的車輛測試一致。從車輛的角度來看，我們已經完成了設計並進行了首次生產，並已在我們密西根州夏洛特的工廠生產了 10 輛。根據修訂後的計畫時間表，我們預計最終測試將在未來幾個月內完成，並於 2024 年底開始生產。

In conclusion, our team has built an outstanding vehicle. While there is more work to do, I am confident, this will be a growth driver for Shyft. We will provide additional detail around Blue Arc, as Jon Douyard, discusses our outlook later in the presentation.

總之，我們的團隊打造了一輛出色的車輛。儘管還有更多工作要做，但我相信這將成為 Shyft 的成長動力。我們將提供有關 Blue Arc 的更多詳細信息，Jon Douyard 將在稍後的演示中討論我們的前景。

With that, I'll turn it over to him, to discuss our financial results.

這樣，我會將其轉交給他，討論我們的財務表現。

Thanks, John. Please turn to slide 7 and I'll start with our full-year 2023 financial results and highlights. Overall, 2023 was a challenging year for Shyft as deterioration in the parcel and motorhome markets impacted overall performance.

謝謝，約翰。請前往投影片 7，我將首先介紹我們的 2023 年全年財務表現和亮點。總體而言，2023 年對 Shyft 來說是充滿挑戰的一年，因為包裹和房車市場的惡化影響了整體表現。

In the year, we delivered $872 million of revenue and $40 million of adjusted EBITDA which was in line with our recent expectations. Excluding the impact of EV expenses, our core business delivered adjusted EBITDA of $73 million or 8.3% of sales.

今年，我們實現了 8.72 億美元的營收和 4,000 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA，這符合我們最近的預期。排除電動車費用的影響，我們的核心業務調整後 EBITDA 為 7,300 萬美元，佔銷售額的 8.3%。

We delivered tremendous performance in our specialty vehicles business with 20% adjusted EBITDA margin for the full year. And we drove solid cash generation, allowing us to fund key growth initiatives including Blue Arc.

我們的特種車輛業務取得了巨大的業績，全年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 20%。我們推動了穩定的現金生成，使我們能夠為包括 Blue Arc 在內的關鍵成長計劃提供資金。

Throughout the year reflects our operations, moving production between sites and adjusting headcount as needed in response to the decreased sales volume. Overall, we reduced headcount by approximately 30% from the beginning of the year. Despite the sales volume pressure, our team focused on driving cash flow and reducing working capital resulting in free cash flow of $36 million, up $75 million versus the prior year.

全年反映了我們的營運情況，根據需要在不同地點之間轉移生產並調整員工人數，以應對銷售下降。總體而言，我們比年初減少了約 30% 的員工人數。儘管面臨銷售壓力，我們的團隊仍專注於推動現金流和減少營運資金，最終實現自由現金流 3,600 萬美元，比前一年增加 7,500 萬美元。

Turning to slide 8, I will now provide an overview of our fourth-quarter financial results. Sales were $202.3 million, down 33% from $302 million in the prior year. Net loss of $4.4 million or a loss of $0.13 per share compared to net income of $17.8 million or $0.50 per share in the previous year.

轉向幻燈片 8，我現在將概述我們第四季度的財務表現。銷售額為 2.023 億美元，比前一年的 3.02 億美元下降 33%。淨虧損 440 萬美元，即每股虧損 0.13 美元，而前一年的淨利為 1,780 萬美元，即每股虧損 0.50 美元。

Fourth-quarter 2023 results included a tax benefit of $4.8 million. In the fourth quarter, adjusted EBITDA was $2.3 million or 1.1% of sales, down from $30.7 million or 10.2% of sales in the fourth quarter of '22. These results include EV program spend of $9.3 million, up from $7.6 million in the prior year. Excluding these expenses, adjusted EBITDA was 5.7% of sales. Adjusted net loss for the quarter was $0.9 million, while adjusted EPS decreased to a loss of $0.03 per share.

2023 年第四季業績包括 480 萬美元的稅收優惠。第四季度，調整後的 EBITDA 為 230 萬美元，佔銷售額的 1.1%，低於 22 年第四季的 3,070 萬美元，佔銷售額的 10.2%。這些結果包括電動車計畫支出 930 萬美元，高於前一年的 760 萬美元。排除這些費用，調整後的 EBITDA 佔銷售額的 5.7%。本季調整後淨虧損為 90 萬美元，調整後每股盈餘下降至每股虧損 0.03 美元。

I'll now walk you through our results by operating segment on slide 9. In the quarter, fleet vehicles and services achieved sales of $119 million, down 44.1% compared to $212.9 million a year ago, reflecting softness in the last mile delivery end markets. These results include $15 million of pass-through chassis revenue related to the USPS truck body program.

現在，我將透過投影片 9 上的營運部門向您介紹我們的結果。本季度，車隊車輛和服務實現銷售額 1.19 億美元，比去年同期的 2.129 億美元下降 44.1%，反映出最後一哩交付終端市場的疲軟。這些結果包括與 USPS 卡車車身項目相關的 1500 萬美元的傳遞底盤收入。

Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a loss of $2.6 million versus income of $27.7 million a year ago. With lower profitability, driven by sales volume and negative product mix, which includes the impact of the USPS pass-through sales. Adjusted EBITDA margin was negative 2.2% of sales compared to 13% in the fourth quarter last year. FVS backlog was $325 million at the end of the year, down 15% versus the prior quarter.

該季度調整後 EBITDA 虧損 260 萬美元，而去年同期營收為 2,770 萬美元。由於銷售量和負面產品組合（包括 USPS 轉手銷售的影響），獲利能力較低。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為負銷售額的 2.2%，而去年第四季為 13%。截至年底，FVS 積壓金額為 3.25 億美元，比上一季下降 15%。

In specialty vehicles, our team closed out a strong year with another quarter of record profitability as our infrastructure-focused vocational truck businesses continued to deliver solid growth and operational improvements, offsetting ongoing market weakness in motorhome chassis.

在特種車輛方面，我們的團隊以又一個季度創紀錄的盈利能力結束了強勁的一年，因為我們以基礎設施為重點的職業卡車業務繼續實現穩健增長和運營改進，抵消了房車底盤持續的市場疲軟。

Fourth-quarter sales were $83.4 million, a 10.6% decrease from $93.2 million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was $19 million or 22.8% of sales compared to $15.9 million or 17.1% of sales in the same period last year. SV backlog was $84.3 million at the end of the year, up 4% versus prior quarter.

第四季銷售額為 8,340 萬美元，比上年同期的 9,320 萬美元下降 10.6%。調整後 EBITDA 為 1,900 萬美元，佔銷售額的 22.8%，而去年同期為 1,590 萬美元，佔銷售額的 17.1%。截至年底，SV 積壓訂單為 8,430 萬美元，比上一季成長 4%。

Please turn to slide 10 for our 2024 outlook. We continue to be excited about the long-term growth prospects of the company. Our focus and investment into infrastructure-related businesses is paying off as reflected in the strength of SV's performance. Though the last-mile parcel delivery business has been soft recently, we continue to maintain a leading position, and the long-term growth projections remain intact for the industry.

請參閱投影片 10 以了解我們的 2024 年展望。我們仍然對公司的長期成長前景感到興奮。我們對基礎設施相關業務的關注和投資正在獲得回報，SV 的強勁業績就反映了這一點。儘管最近最後一英里包裹遞送業務疲軟，但我們繼續保持領先地位，並且行業的長期成長預測保持不變。

As we enter 2024, we continue to take a cautious view on near-term demand for both parcel and motorhome volume, and we expect the softness we experienced in the second half of 2023 to persist, likely through mid-year. In response, as John Dunn discussed earlier, our team is taking urgent actions both commercially by identifying cross-selling synergies and diversifying our customer base and on spending including a focused approach to Blue Arc.

進入 2024 年，我們繼續對包裹和房車銷售的近期需求持謹慎態度，我們預計 2023 年下半年經歷的疲軟局面將持續下去，可能會持續到年中。作為回應，正如約翰·鄧恩（John Dunn）之前討論的那樣，我們的團隊正在採取緊急行動，包括通過確定交叉銷售協同效應和使我們的客戶群多元化以及支出方面的商業行動，包括針對Blue Arc 採取集中的方法。

Given these factors and notwithstanding further changes in the operating environment, we are introducing our 2024 outlook as follows; sales to be in the range of $850 million to $900 million. While we plan for Blue Arc to be in production later this year, we have not included any revenue estimate or forecast at this time. Adjusted EBITDA of $40 million to $50 million including $20 million to $25 million of Blue Arc spending.

考慮到這些因素，儘管經營環境發生進一步變化，我們仍將 2024 年展望介紹如下：銷售額將在8.5億至9億美元之間。雖然我們計劃《Blue Arc》在今年稍後投入生產，但目前我們尚未包含任何收入估算或預測。調整後的 EBITDA 為 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元，其中包括 2,000 萬至 2,500 萬美元的 Blue Arc 支出。

Given the expected slow start to the year, we anticipate that first-quarter adjusted EBITDA will be approximately breakeven. Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $0.28 to $0.51 per share and free cash flow of $25 million to $35 million.

鑑於今年開局緩慢，我們預計第一季調整後 EBITDA 將大致實現盈虧平衡。調整後每股收益預計為每股 0.28 美元至 0.51 美元，自由現金流為 2,500 萬美元至 3,500 萬美元。

Before I close out this section, I would like to reinforce our core business's ability to generate cash. Over the last four years, through a challenging cycle, we have generated approximately $100 million of free cash flow, while self-funding a transformational EV initiatives and return capital to shareholders going forward.

在結束本節之前，我想加強我們核心業務產生現金的能力。在過去的四年裡，透過一個充滿挑戰的周期，我們產生了約 1 億美元的自由現金流，同時為轉型電動車規劃自籌資金，並向股東返還未來的資本。

As our end markets recover and with continued focus on working capital, we believe we are well-positioned to generate cash flow and continue to confidently invest in our future.

隨著我們的終端市場的復甦以及對營運資本的持續關注，我們相信我們有能力產生現金流並繼續充滿信心地投資於我們的未來。

With that, I will turn it back over to John Dunn for closing remarks.

至此，我將把它轉回給約翰鄧恩 (John Dunn) 作結束語。

Thank you, John. Turning to slide 11. We have excellent core businesses with leading market positions, well-recognized brands, and our customers rely on us every day. We are preparing for the future with our Blue Arc EV truck and continue to offer innovative solutions to our customers.

謝謝你，約翰。轉到投影片 11。我們擁有優秀的核心業務、領先的市場地位、知名的品牌，我們的客戶每天都依賴我們。我們正在利用 Blue Arc 電動卡車為未來做好準備，並繼續為客戶提供創新的解決方案。

The team is acting with utmost urgency to deliver improved 2024 results. We are laser-focused on execution, efficiency and leveraging our internal strengths. As Jonathan Douyard discussed earlier, our core businesses are excellent at generating cash through the cycle.

該團隊正在極其緊迫地採取行動，以提供更好的 2024 年業績。我們專注於執行、效率和利用我們的內部優勢。正如喬納森·杜亞德（Jonathan Douyard）之前討論的那樣，我們的核心業務在整個週期中創造現金方面表現出色。

Looking ahead we've established a framework to drive improved performance at shift. Our experienced and highly engaged team is committed to creating value for our customers and shareholders. I'm very excited about Shyft’s future and look forward to the years to come.

展望未來，我們已經建立了一個框架來推動輪班績效的提升。我們經驗豐富且高度敬業的團隊致力於為我們的客戶和股東創造價值。我對 Shyft 的未來感到非常興奮，並對未來充滿期待。

Thank you. And with that operator we are now ready for the Q&A portion of the call.

謝謝。透過該接線員，我們現在已準備好進行通話的問答部分。

(Operator Instructions) Matt Koranda, Roth MKM.

（操作員說明）Matt Koranda，Roth MKM。

It's Mike Zabran on for Matt. Maybe just starting on the guide, it sounds like we're signaling a second half-weighted year, maybe just speak to some of the visibility we have into that.

邁克·扎布蘭 (Mike Zabran) 替補馬特 (Matt)。也許剛從指南開始，聽起來我們正在發出第二年半加權的信號，也許只是談論我們對此的一些可見性。

Yeah. I think as we talked about the demand softness that we saw in the second half of the year particularly as we got into Q4 we expect that to continue with just through the first half of the year which is consistent with what we've talked about previously. I think when you look at the order activity in the business, particularly on the FES side of the business, I think we did see improvement in the second half of the year 2023 versus the first half but still remains relatively soft.

是的。我認為，當我們談到下半年的需求疲軟時，特別是進入第四季度時，我們預計這種情況將持續到今年上半年，這與我們之前討論的情況一致。我認為，當你觀察業務中的訂單活動時，尤其是業務的 FES 方面，我認為我們確實看到 2023 年下半年與上半年相比有所改善，但仍然相對疲軟。

We did see a strong orders month in January which is a positive. But we're not at a point yet where we're saying that the market is opening up or turning at this point. And so we want to be cautious as we continue here through the first half of the year on how quickly this market opens up. And I think with that we'll be cautious from a cost perspective as well. But I think as you look at the year Q1 as I indicated we'll be roughly breakeven. We'll see a step-up in Q2 and would expect to see improved performance in the second half.

我們確實在一月份看到了強勁的訂單，這是積極的。但我們還沒到說市場正在開放或轉向的地步。因此，我們希望在今年上半年繼續對這個市場開放的速度保持謹慎。我認為，從成本角度來看，我們也會保持謹慎。但我認為，正如我所指出的，當你看看第一季時，我們將大致實現盈虧平衡。我們將看到第二季的進步，並預計下半年的表現將有所改善。

Got it. Makes sense. Maybe move into bookings to bookings. Looks look a bit better year over year though still relatively tepid compared to prior years? And maybe just speak to what are we hearing from SBS fleets in terms of refresh and expansion demand this year?

知道了。說得通。也許會轉向預訂。雖然與往年相比仍然相對不溫不火，但看起來逐年好一些？也許只是談談我們從 SBS 機隊那裡聽到的今年更新和擴展需求方面的情況？

Yeah. I think -- I mean, some of the dynamics that we've talked about previously with some of our major customers, I think, are still in play. You've got the reorganization going on with FedEx. We've got an EV transition from an Amazon perspective. And so we continue to have I'd say healthy dialogues across our customer base but those and those are impacting short-term ordering patterns. I think the nice part is we look at some of the recent orders is that there isn't as much parcel in there as there has been historically. And so when we talk about diversifying the business I think there is an opportunity there. But we expect based on the dialogue and interactions we're having with our customers that there will be an increase in parcel activity here in the coming months. It's just hard to pinpoint exactly when that will be.

是的。我認為——我的意思是，我們之前與一些主要客戶討論過的一些動態仍在發揮作用。聯邦快遞正在進行重組。從亞馬遜的角度來看，我們已經實現了電動車轉型。因此，我們繼續在我們的客戶群中進行健康的對話，但這些都正在影響短期訂購模式。我認為好的一點是，我們查看了最近的一些訂單，其中的包裹數量沒有歷史上那麼多。因此，當我們談論業務多元化時，我認為其中存在機會。但根據我們與客戶的對話和互動，我們預計未來幾個月這裡的包裹活動將會增加。只是很難準確地確定具體時間。

Okay. It makes sense. Any way to think about how much we need in new bookings this next year on FES and SV to hit the guide?

好的。這說得通。有什麼辦法可以考慮明年我們需要多少 FES 和 SV 的新預訂才能達到指南要求嗎？

I think when you look at it at it overall ending the year at $400 million of backlog, we've got an $875 million guide. We'll say the SCS business backlog has been sequentially down for a couple of quarter or for the quarters in a row. Some of that is also extending a bit so that that FES backlog will likely some of that will likely push into '25. So there is an element of conversion there. But we've got we've got $400 million to $500 million if you just take that that backlog number in or in our sales guidance.

我認為，當你看看年底的總體積壓金額為 4 億美元時，我們得到了 8.75 億美元的指導。我們可以說，SCS 業務積壓已經連續幾季或連續幾季下降。其中一些也有所延長，因此 FES 積壓可能會推遲到 25 年。所以那裡有一個轉換的元素。但如果你只考慮我們的銷售指南中的積壓訂單數量，我們就可以獲得 4 億至 5 億美元的收入。

Makes sense. That's helpful Jon. Thank you. Maybe last one for me for John Dunn maybe. John, maybe if you could discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses you see on the shift platform and then just hone in on maybe what changes do you plan to make relative to prior leadership and where might there be continuity?

說得通。這很有幫助，喬恩。謝謝。也許是我為約翰鄧恩準備的最後一張。約翰，也許你可以討論一下你在輪班平台上看到的一些優點和缺點，然後仔細研究你計劃相對於之前的領導層做出哪些改變，以及哪裡可能有連續性？

So we started with the -- I think you might go with the first slide saying that, our mission hasn't changed, the core business and where we're taking the company. But it's stable. We believe in that model where going forward. Some of the strengths that we have is great products, great relationships with our customers, where we saw there's opportunities as I went around and interacted with different locations is to do more as a one-shift organization and leverage our strength, bring expertise from one area into other areas. Clear example we mentioned in the discussion was procurement, bringing together our total spend and really leverage that spend in the market to get better pricing.

所以我們從——我想你可能會用第一張幻燈片說，我們的使命沒有改變，核心業務以及我們公司的發展方向沒有改變。但它很穩定。我們相信這種模式的未來。我們擁有的一些優勢是出色的產品，與客戶的良好關係，當我四處走動並與不同地點互動時，我們看到了機會，就是作為一個輪班組織做更多的事情，並利用我們的優勢，帶來來自一個人的專業知識區域進入其他區域。我們在討論中提到的明顯例子是採購，將我們的總支出匯總起來，並真正利用市場上的支出來獲得更好的定價。

That makes sense. That's all from me guys. Thank you.

這就說得通了。這就是我的全部。謝謝。

Thanks, Mike. Operator, next please?

謝謝，麥克。接線生，請下一位？

Michael Shlisky, D.A. Davidson.

邁克爾·什利斯基，D.A.戴維森。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Talking about the last question and your last answer there, John, do you think that it should be the need of a kind of a cost restructuring or changes to the footprint or the headcount going forward? Or is it kind of what you feel you've got enough volumes to meet the current capacity of the Company and there's enough work to go around for all the folks who work at that it shouldn't reoccur.

嗨，早安。感謝您回答我的問題。談到最後一個問題和你的最後一個答案，約翰，你認為這應該是一種成本重組或改變足跡或員工人數的需要嗎？或者是你覺得你有足夠的數量來滿足公司當前的產能，並且有足夠的工作來為所有在該公司工作的人做，這樣的情況不應該再次發生。

What we're seeing is that, we're really making sure our plants are agile, so they can run different products and we better leverage that footprint which in the past we were very singularly focused, so one brand would be built in one facility. And as we see the market kind of fluctuate, there's an opportunity to flex products into other facilities and really fully utilize our installed capacity. We continue to monitor the demand and we'll make those adjustments as needed. But a great example was in Brazil which is our traditional walk-in van plant as we saw walk-in van, demand go down, we flex truck body production into that plant and have ramped that up successfully. And we're looking to do more of that sharing of the footprint going forward.

我們看到的是，我們確實確保我們的工廠是敏捷的，這樣它們就可以運行不同的產品，我們更好地利用過去我們非常專注的足跡，因此一個品牌將在一個工廠中建立。當我們看到市場波動時，就有機會將產品靈活運用到其他設施中，並真正充分利用我們的裝置容量。我們將繼續監控需求，並根據需要進行調整。但一個很好的例子是在巴西，這是我們傳統的步入式貨車工廠，因為我們看到步入式貨車需求下降，我們將卡車車身生產轉移到該工廠，並成功提高了產量。我們希望未來能夠進行更多的足跡分享。

Okay. Thanks for that. And then I guess, I'd be curious to talk about chassis supply. It sounds like when you've got walk-in van works. You've got chassis that you can get to put on it, but I'm more curious about vocational in specialties. You have at this point a much better feel for the allocations and the timing of deliveries to get those chassis maybe this time versus maybe this time last year? Any kind of update you can give us there would be appreciated.

好的。感謝那。然後我想，我很想談談底盤供應。聽起來就像你有步入式貨車工作一樣。你有可以裝在上面的底盤，但我對專業領域的職業更好奇。此時您對獲得這些底盤的分配和交付時間有了更好的感覺，也許這次與去年的這個時候相比？您可以向我們提供任何類型的更新，我們將不勝感激。

We start with the FPS side, we're seeing the chassis coming through. So we don't have that significant issue we had about a year ago. It's getting the customers to really reengage and as John mentioned, especially on parcel, it's been lighter than we had hoped and we monitor that closely. So that to be very clear the limiting factor is in chassis availability. It's really getting the customers to get reengaged. From the other side of the business, we have the FC side, the chassis are flowing and we're doing our work on materials to dealers, but it's also not an issue right now with chassis at a significant level.

我們從 FPS 方面開始，我們看到了底盤的表現。所以我們沒有大約一年前遇到的重大問題。這讓客戶真正重新參與進來，正如約翰所提到的，特別是在包裹方面，它比我們希望的要輕，我們會密切關注這一點。因此，很明顯，限制因素是底盤的可用性。這確實讓客戶重新參與。從業務的另一面來看，我們有 FC 方面，底盤正在流動，我們正在為經銷商提供材料方面的工作，但目前底盤處於重要水平，這也不是問題。

Fantastic. Maybe one last one for me on. Given the relatively strong free cash we've got that's going to continue here in 2024 and pretty much no debt. Do you have any feel for John's on the ability of shifts or the desire to expand through M&A on to get some more scale in some of these businesses or expand into some new product from the trough by size, and you feel you can get for us for M&A given your relative strength versus some other folks might be a little bit more subscale? We appreciate it.

極好的。也許是我的最後一件事。鑑於我們擁有相對強勁的自由現金，這種情況將在 2024 年持續下去，而且幾乎沒有債務。您對約翰的轉變能力有什麼感覺，或者希望透過併購來擴大其中一些業務的規模，或者從規模上擴大到一些新產品，並且您覺得您可以為我們獲得考慮到您與其他人相比的相對實力，對於併購來說可能有點小規模？我們很感激。

And the answer to the first step is we really want to drive the performance of our core business. And that's the real focus right now to get that operating at the highest level, you need to get Blue Arc launched. And that's why we've narrowed the scope to make sure we get that to market as soon as possible and deliver that to customers. In parallel, we do see opportunities where we can do acquisitions, M&A and we are looking at a couple of opportunities there, but really don't want to lose focus on what we need to do and the urgency around making sure that core business is running at the right level.

第一步的答案是我們確實希望提升核心業務的績效。這就是現在真正的焦點，要使其在最高水平上運行，您需要啟動 Blue Arc。這就是為什麼我們縮小了範圍，以確保我們盡快將其推向市場並將其交付給客戶。同時，我們確實看到了可以進行收購、併購的機會，我們正在尋找一些機會，但我們真的不想失去對我們需要做的事情的關注，以及確保核心業務的緊迫性。在正確的水平上運行。

Follow-up there, John. When you just work on the Class 3, 4 Blue Arc, any feel for how that might affect your 2025 projections for Blue Arc. The previous your previous question is that in 2022 had $500 million plus per sales for that for the overall line. What it I do think with just the Class 3, 4 and the current trajectory of the program where might that be in 2025 now?

後續行動，約翰。當您剛研究 3 級、4 級藍弧時，您是否感覺到這可能會如何影響您對 2025 年藍弧的預測。您之前的問題是，到 2022 年，整個產品線的單項銷售額將達到 5 億美元以上。我對 3 級、4 級以及該專案目前的發展軌跡有何看法，可能會在 2025 年實現？

What we're seeing is we want to get this vehicle to market and really gauge the interest. I think there's been a lot of publications out there about the acceptance rate and the speed of the acceptance rate. So we know we're going to have that strong demand eventually, will that timing happen in 2025 like we originally thought, we're watching that closely, but that may be a year two out beyond that. So we're being cautious. And I think that's why you see us narrowing the focus to get a product out in the market, understand its reception and not over commit the Company in the CV space. Also going back to your other question does make cash available to do acquisitions and strengthen our core business as well. So we want to make sure we stay balanced as we go through go forward in the coming years.

我們所看到的是，我們希望將這款車推向市場並真正評估人們的興趣。我認為已經有很多關於接受率和接受率速度的出版物。所以我們知道我們最終會產生如此強勁的需求，這個時間是否會像我們最初想像的那樣在 2025 年發生，我們正在密切關注，但這可能需要兩年的時間。所以我們很謹慎。我認為這就是為什麼我們縮小了重點，將產品推向市場，了解其受歡迎程度，而不是讓公司過度投入履歷領域。另外回到你的另一個問題確實可以提供現金來進行收購並加強我們的核心業務。因此，我們希望確保在未來幾年的發展過程中保持平衡。

But I think Mike just to add to that, I think we always we look at sort of the production ramp-up and the time line, we're probably out a year, right? I mean it just a year ago we were talking about second half production 2023 battery issues. We're talking about later 2024. And so as we look at it the program is essentially pushed a year from that perspective, our plans to do two a couple of hundred units this year and then we'll start to see that ramp. And I would expect some of the financial milestones that you talked about to push out a year as well. But it gets back to John's point on adoption and acceptance from a customer perspective. You hit on it in his prepared remarks, but there is still a lot of enthusiasm about what this product can do, and how it stacks up from a competitive standpoint. And so we feel very good about it, and we want to make sure that we get that the right vehicle on the road.

但我認為麥克只是補充一點，我認為我們總是關注產量的增加和時間表，我們可能需要一年的時間，對吧？我的意思是，就在一年前，我們還在討論 2023 年下半年生產的電池問題。我們正在談論 2024 年晚些時候。因此，從這個角度來看，該計劃基本上被推遲了一年，我們計劃今年製作兩個幾百個單元，然後我們將開始看到這種增長。我預計您談到的一些財務里程碑也將推遲一年。但這又回到了約翰關於從客戶角度採用和接受的觀點。你在他準備好的演講中突然提到了這一點，但人們仍然對這個產品的功能以及從競爭的角度來看它如何表現充滿熱情。所以我們對此感覺非常好，我們希望確保我們在路上找到合適的車輛。

Great. Thanks so much. I appreciate the discussion.

偉大的。非常感謝。我很欣賞這次討論。

Thanks, Mike.

謝謝，麥克。

Thanks, Mike. Operator?

謝謝，麥克。操作員？

Steve Dyer, Craig-Hallum.

史蒂夫戴爾，克雷格哈勒姆。

Thanks. Good morning. Most of mine have been answered at this point. I'm just as it relates to Blue Arc a little bit more on how much of the delay do you feel like is attributable just to supply chain and battery issues and things like that. And then how much would you sort of associate with just sort of a little bit softer demand in overall parcel and people sort of moderating there their chatter on that in the last six or nine months?

謝謝。早安.至此，我的大部分問題都已得到解答。我只是因為它與 Blue Arc 有關，所以您覺得有多少延遲是由於供應鏈和電池問題以及類似的事情造成的。那麼，在過去的六到九個月裡，你會在多大程度上與整體包裹的需求稍微疲軟以及人們在這方面的討論有所緩和有關？

And really the driver of the delay was the battery that threw us a curve with Proterra involved by Boeing. And we had technical issues candidly with Proterra as well at all related to the battery the vehicles fantastic. When we get the vehicle on the road the customers use it a lot of enthusiasm around the vehicle. So our challenge is really to make sure we have a battery that meets all the requirements.

延誤的真正原因是電池問題，這給我們帶來了波音公司參與的 Proterra 的麻煩。我們坦率地與 Proterra 有技術問題，以及與車輛電池相關的所有問題。當我們將車輛上路時，客戶對車輛的使用熱情很高。因此，我們面臨的挑戰實際上是確保我們擁有滿足所有要求的電池。

We have a new partner and one for they were the original tenant battery supplier for Class V. So it wasn't a new supplier to us just pulling them ahead into this Class III, IV walk-in van. So there was some work already done, which helps us accelerate, but we're going through that validation to make sure when we put a vehicle to market it's going to be at the right quality level and really deliver the performance long-term that we expect and our customers expect.

我們有了一個新的合作夥伴，他們是 V 類原來的租戶電池供應商。因此，這對我們來說並不是一個新的供應商，只是將他們拉進了這輛 III、IV 級步入式貨車中。因此，已經完成了一些工作，這有助於我們加速，但我們正在進行驗證，以確保當我們將車輛推向市場時，它將達到正確的品質水平，並真正提供我們所期望的長期性能。期望和我們的客戶期望。

So given that it sounds like this year is primarily a testing and validation year again then you still feel like demand is quite solid there.

因此，鑑於今年聽起來主要又是一個測試和驗證年，那麼您仍然覺得那裡的需求相當強勁。

We do, meeting with customers. I met with customers personally and there's a lot of enthusiasm, as I'm around the vehicle some excitement to just get it in their hands, but we don't want to rush it, from what I'm hearing that that battery, the final touches and that performance is that the right level. You get one chance to make sure they're satisfied.

我們這樣做，與客戶會面。我親自會見了客戶，大家都很熱情，因為我在車周圍，很興奮能把它拿到他們手中，但我們不想操之過急，據我所知，電池、最後的潤色和表現是正確的水平。您有一次機會確保他們滿意。

Yes. And then can you just kind of refresh our memory Randy Marion order of their reserve any time lines or parameters around that when you announced it and sort of when you would expect that to begin shipping?

是的。然後，您能否刷新我們的記憶，蘭迪·馬里昂（Randy Marion）在您宣布該消息時以及您預計何時開始發貨時保留了任何時間線或參數？

Yes, I think the random in order when we announced it was a multi multi-year order. Certainly, as we look at the demand side of things and what our production was likely going to be one of the first (technical difficulty)

是的，我認為當我們宣布這是一個多年訂單時，順序是隨機的。當然，當我們考慮事物的需求方面以及我們的生產可能會成為第一批產品之一時，（技術難度）

I lost you there at the end Jon, but we can we can take that offline. Okay, go ahead.

喬恩，我在最後失去了你，但我們可以，我們可以把它離線。好的，繼續吧。

They know they'll be one of the first customers that we deliver to in the second half of the year.

他們知道他們將成為我們下半年交付的第一批客戶之一。

So the first group of vehicles their blended rate in that they will get vehicles as soon as we're ready to give it time.

因此，第一組車輛的混合率是，一旦我們準備好給他們時間，他們就會得到車輛。

Got you. Okay. Last question for me. Just housekeeping you talked about share repurchases. How many repurchase shares did you repurchase I guess both in Q4 and then also the year if you have that in front of you?

明白你了。好的。對我來說最後一個問題。只是內務管理，你談到了股票回購。我猜你在第四季和今年都回購了多少股票，如果你有的話？

Yes, we did. We didn't repurchase anything in Q4 for the year. We repurchased a lot of money. It's got one million shares.

是的我們做了。今年第四季我們沒有回購任何東西。我們回購了很多錢。它有100萬股。

Yes. Okay. And was it pretty front-half loaded. I'm just trying to recall, what you've said previously now.

是的。好的。它的前半部負載是否相當好。我現在只是想回憶一下你之前說過的話。

It's mixed between Q1 Q3.

它混合在 Q1 Q3 之間。

Right. Got you. Okay. Thanks very much.

正確的。明白你了。好的。非常感謝。

Gregory Lewis, BTIG.

格雷戈里·劉易斯，BTIG。

Yes, thank you and good morning, and thanks for taking my questions. John, in the prepared remarks you mentioned the ongoing dialogue with Volvo around the battery, I guess what went when should we think about this being, I mean honestly finalized and then just thinking about some of the challenges, we had over the last year realizing Volvo is a little bit different of a company than the previous supplier. What are the thoughts around maybe a Plan B here, just to avoid potential? And I don't know, supply chain issues down the road?

是的，謝謝你，早安，謝謝你回答我的問題。約翰，在準備好的發言中，您提到了與沃爾沃圍繞電池正在進行的對話，我想我們什麼時候應該考慮這個問題，我的意思是誠實地最終確定，然後只是考慮一些挑戰，我們在過去的一年裡意識到沃爾沃是一家與之前的供應商略有不同的公司。圍繞著可能的 B 計劃，只是為了避免潛在的可能性，有什麼想法？我不知道，未來的供應鏈問題是什麼？

Thanks, Greg. What we're looking at it and maybe didn't come across, as clear as it could have. We're all in right now working with one or that new battery source, there -- who were focused on the validation on in parallel we don't want to just walk away from Proterra and which is now Volvo. So we're still waiting to understand with Volvo their intention and they're going through that reorganization with the Proterra group. And we expect to know more, in the next four to six weeks on how we want to proceed.

謝謝，格雷格。我們正在看的東西可能沒有看到，盡​​管它本來可以很清楚。我們現在都在與一種或那種新的電池來源合作——他們同時專注於驗證，我們不想就這樣離開 Proterra，現在是沃爾沃。因此，我們仍在等待了解沃爾沃的意圖，他們正在與 Proterra 集團進行重組。我們希望在接下來的四到六週內了解更多有關我們要如何進行的資訊。

The key point there is, we'll invest the resources needed to solve some of the challenges the issues we had with the battery. But our goal is the detailed source. So we would like them solve that problem and have that be an option as well.

關鍵的一點是，我們將投入所需的資源來解決我們在電池方面遇到的一些挑戰。但我們的目標是詳細的來源。因此，我們希望他們解決這個問題，並將其作為一種選擇。

Okay, great. And then just Jon on the kind of the EBITDA guidance for Q1 and full year obviously, especially was degrading Q4 -- is there some seasonality why it looks like those EBITDA margins are going to come under pressure in Q1? I guess before looking at -- playing with numbers and guidance before kind of rebounding to that kind of Q4 run rate. Is that the right way to be thinking about that

好的，太好了。然後，喬恩談到了第一季和全年的 EBITDA 指導，尤其是第四季度的下滑——是否存在一些季節性因素，導致這些 EBITDA 利潤率在第一季將面臨壓力？我想在反彈到第四季的運行率之前，先考慮一下數字和指導。這是思考這個問題的正確方式嗎

In SV, specifically or broadly

在 SV 中，具體地或廣義地

No, just specifically around specialty.

不，只是專門針對專業。

Yes. I mean I think the SV business had a tremendous year I think 20% to 20% EBITDA margins for the year, which ramped really sequentially throughout the year as well. We've said historically that business is more of a high 10s business over the long term, as we think about it and so will -- that is what we're expecting as we enter 2024. I think when you look at the total company, volume will be a little bit pressured in the first quarter just based on how demand and the backlog is playing out. And so, there will be sequential declines as well, which put pressure on the Q1 margins before we see volumes return as we move through the year.

是的。我的意思是，我認為 SV 業務度過了輝煌的一年，我認為這一年的 EBITDA 利潤率為 20% 到 20%，而且全年的利潤率也確實連續上升。從歷史上看，我們曾說過，從長遠來看，業務更多是一個 10 分以上的業務，正如我們所思考的那樣，也是如此——這就是我們進入 2024 年時的預期。我認為，當你看看整個公司時，根據需求和積壓的情況，第一季的銷售量將會受到一些壓力。因此，也會出現連續下降，這會對第一季的利潤率造成壓力，然後我們才能看到全年銷售回升。

Okay. Thank you

好的。謝謝

Thanks, Greg.

謝謝，格雷格。

Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Randy Wilson for any closing comments.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將發言權交還給蘭迪·威爾遜（Randy Wilson）以徵求結束意見。

Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank everyone for joining today's call. We look forward to connecting with you over the coming weeks, as the Shyft management team will be hosting investor meetings at the Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference in Orlando on March 4, the NTA Work Truck Week in Indianapolis on March 6 and 7, and the 36th Annual ROTH Capital Conference in Dana Point on March 18. Thank you for your interest in the Shyft Group. As always, please reach out if you have any follow-up questions. Have a great day.

謝謝你，接線生。我要感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在未來幾週內與您聯繫，因為Shyft 管理團隊將於3 月4 日在奧蘭多舉行的Raymond James 機構投資者會議、3 月6 日至7 日在印第安納波利斯舉行的NTA 工作卡車週以及第 36 屆羅斯資本年度會議將於 3 月 18 日在達納角舉行。感謝您對 Shyft 集團的關注。一如既往，如果您有任何後續問題，請與我們聯繫。祝你有美好的一天。

With that operator, please disconnect the call.

請與該接線生斷開通話。

Thank you. As mentioned, the conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。如前所述，會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。現在您可以斷開線路。