SiteOne Landscape Supply Inc (SITE) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the SiteOne Landscape Supply Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 SiteOne Landscape Supply 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, John Guthrie, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Thank you, sir. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹主持人、執行副總裁兼財務長 John Guthrie。謝謝你，先生。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We issued our fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings press release this morning and posted a slide presentation to the Investor Relations portion of our website at investors.siteone.com. I'm joined today by Doug Black, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Scott Salmon, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Development.

謝謝大家，大家早安。今天上午，我們發布了 2023 年第四季和全年收益新聞稿，並在我們網站的投資者關係部分發布了幻燈片簡報（網址為 Investors.siteone.com）。今天，我們的董事長兼執行長道格布萊克 (Doug Black) 也加入了我的行列。薩蒙（Scott Salmon），策略與發展執行副總裁。

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that today's press release, slide presentation and the statements made during the call include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. Such risks and uncertainties include the factors set forth in the earnings release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，今天的新聞稿、幻燈片演示和電話會議期間所做的聲明均包含1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性聲明。這些聲明存在風險和不確定性這可能會導致實際結果與我們的預期和預測有重大差異。此類風險和不確定性包括收益報告和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中列出的因素。

Additionally, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating our performance. A reconciliation of these measures can be found in our earnings release and in the slide presentation.

此外，在今天的電話會議中，我們將討論非公認會計準則衡量標準，我們認為這些衡量標準有助於評估我們的績效。這些措施的協調可以在我們的收益發布和幻燈片演示中找到。

I would now like to turn the call over to Doug Black.

我現在想把電話轉給道格布萊克。

Thanks, John. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. We finished 2023 with a strong fourth quarter as our teams achieved good sales volume growth, which mostly mitigated commodity product price declines. We achieved a modest increase in adjusted EBITDA, with 8% growth in net sales, recovering gross margin and good SG&A management, balanced with the seasonal dilution of recent acquisitions.

謝謝，約翰。早安，感謝您今天加入我們。由於我們的團隊實現了良好的銷售成長，這在很大程度上緩解了大宗商品價格的下跌，我們以強勁的第四季度結束了 2023 年。我們實現了調整後 EBITDA 的小幅增長，淨銷售額增長 8%，毛利率有所恢復，SG&A 管理良好，與近期收購的季節性稀釋相平衡。

Overall, 2023 was a tough year, where we faced many challenges, including softer markets, operating cost inflation, gross margin normalization and commodity price deflation. Against these headwinds, we continue to execute our initiatives and work through the challenges to achieve 7% net sales growth adjusted EBITDA, which was just above our guidance range and record operating cash flow for 2023.

整體而言，2023 年是艱難的一年，我們面臨許多挑戰，包括市場疲軟、營運成本通膨、毛利率正常化和大宗商品價格通貨緊縮。面對這些逆風，我們繼續執行我們的舉措並克服挑戰，以實現 7% 的調整後 EBITDA 淨銷售成長，這略高於我們的指導範圍和 2023 年創紀錄的營運現金流。

We were also pleased to add 11 new excellent companies to SiteOne during the year, with a record $320 million in trailing 12-month revenue. All these companies have talented teams and strong customer relationships, and expand our product lines and market presence in their respective markets. Through the execution of our commercial and operational initiatives and our acquisition strategy, we continue to build SiteOne as a world-class market leader for the long term, while delivering consistent performance and growth in the near term.

我們也很高興在這一年中為 SiteOne 添加了 11 家新的優秀公司，過去 12 個月的收入達到創紀錄的 3.2 億美元。所有這些公司都擁有才華橫溢的團隊和強大的客戶關係，並擴大了我們在各自市場的產品線和市場佔有率。透過執行我們的商業和營運計劃以及收購策略，我們繼續將 SiteOne 打造為長期的世界級市場領導者，同時在短期內實現穩定的業績和成長。

As we move into 2024, we are optimistic about our end markets and excited about our stronger teams and improved commercial and operational capabilities. We coupled with our well-balanced business, strong balance sheet and robust acquisition pipeline, we expect to resume adjusted EBITDA growth in 2024 and make good progress toward our longer-term performance and growth objectives.

進入 2024 年，我們對我們的終端市場感到樂觀，並對我們更強大的團隊和改進的商業和營運能力感到興奮。加上我們均衡的業務、強勁的資產負債表和強勁的收購管道，我們預計將在 2024 年恢復調整後的 EBITDA 成長，並在實現我們的長期業績和成長目標方面取得良好進展。

I will start today's call with a brief overview of our unique market position and our strategy, followed by some highlights from 2023. John Guthrie will then walk you through our fourth quarter and full year financial results in more detail and provide an update on our balance sheet and liquidity position. Scott Salmon will discuss our acquisition strategy, and then I will come back to address our outlook and guidance for 2024, before taking your questions.

我將在今天的電話會議開始時簡要概述我們獨特的市場地位和策略，然後介紹2023 年的一些亮點。然後John Guthrie 將向您詳細介紹我們的第四季度和全年財務業績，並提供我們的餘額的最新資訊資產負債表和流動性狀況。 Scott Salmon 將討論我們的收購策略，然後我將在回答大家的問題之前討論我們對 2024 年的展望和指導。

As shown on Slide 4 of the earnings presentation, we have grown our footprint to more than 690 branches and 4 distribution centers across 45 U.S. states and 6 Canadian provinces. We are the clear industry leader over 3x the size of our nearest competitor, yet we estimate that we only have about a 17% share of the very fragmented $25 billion wholesale landscape products distribution market.

如收益簡報投影片 4 所示，我們的足跡已擴大到美國 45 個州和加拿大 6 個省的 690 多個分支機構和 4 個配送中心。我們是明顯的行業領導者，規模是最接近的競爭對手的 3 倍以上，但我們估計，我們在非常分散的 250 億美元批發景觀產品分銷市場中僅佔有 17% 左右的份額。

Accordingly, our long-term growth opportunity remains significant. We have a balanced mix of business, with 65% focused on maintenance, repair and upgrade, 21% focused on new residential construction and 14% on new commercial and recreational construction.

因此，我們的長期成長機會仍然巨大。我們擁有均衡的業務組合，其中 65% 專注於維護、修理和升級，21% 專注於新建住宅建設，14% 專注於新建商業和娛樂建設。

As the only national full product line wholesale distributor in the market, we also have an excellent balance across our product lines as well as geographically. Our strategy to fill in our product lines across the U.S. and Canada, both organically and through acquisition, further strengthens this balance over time.

作為市場上唯一的全國性全產品線批發經銷商，我們在產品線和地理上也擁有良好的平衡。我們透過有機方式和收購來填補美國和加拿大產品線的策略，隨著時間的推移進一步加強了這種平衡。

Overall, our end market mix, broad product portfolio and good geographic coverage offer us multiple avenues to grow and create value for our customers and suppliers, while providing important resiliency in softer markets.

整體而言，我們的終端市場組合、廣泛的產品組合和良好的地理覆蓋範圍為我們提供了多種成長途徑，為客戶和供應商創造價值，同時在疲軟的市場中提供重要的彈性。

Turning to Slide 5. Our strategy is to leverage the scale, resources, functional talent and capabilities that we have as the largest company in our industry, all in support of our talented, experienced and entrepreneurial local teams to consistently deliver superior value to our customers and suppliers. We have come a long way in building SiteOne and executing our strategy, but have more work to do as we develop into a true world-class company.

轉向幻燈片5。我們的策略是利用我們作為業內最大公司所擁有的規模、資源、職能人才和能力，所有這些都支持我們才華橫溢、經驗豐富、富有創業精神的本地團隊，持續為我們的客戶提供卓越的價值和供應商。我們在建立 SiteOne 和執行策略方面已經取得了長足的進步，但在發展成為真正的世界一流公司的過程中，我們還有更多工作要做。

Accordingly, we remain highly focused on our commercial and operational initiatives to further build our capability to create value for all our stakeholders. These initiatives are complemented by our acquisition strategy, which fills in our product portfolio, moves us into new geographic markets, and adds terrific new talent to SiteOne.

因此，我們仍然高度關注我們的商業和營運計劃，以進一步增強我們為所有利害關係人創造價值的能力。這些舉措得到了我們的收購策略的補充，收購策略充實了我們的產品組合，將我們帶入新的地理市場，並為 SiteOne 增添了出色的新人才。

Taken all together, our strategy creates superior value for our shareholders through organic growth, acquisition growth and EBITDA margin expansion.

總而言之，我們的策略透過有機成長、收購成長和 EBITDA 利潤率擴張為股東創造了卓越的價值。

If you turn to Slide 6, you will see our strong track record of performance and growth over the last 7 years, with consistent organic and acquisition growth and EBITDA margin expansion. We have done this while investing heavily in our teams and in new systems and technologies to build the foundation for SiteOne, and to create superior capabilities for our customers and suppliers.

如果您翻到投影片 6，您將看到我們過去 7 年的強勁業績和成長記錄，以及持續的自然成長和收購成長以及 EBITDA 利潤率擴張。我們在實現這一目標的同時，大力投資我們的團隊以及新系統和技術，為 SiteOne 奠定基礎，並為我們的客戶和供應商創造卓越的能力。

2023 was a reset year for gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin, as we did not repeat the extraordinary price benefits that we received in 2021 and 2022. We are now experiencing commodity price deflation, which causes a temporary negative impact on organic daily sales growth, gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin. We expect this negative impact to subside in the second half of 2024, and we continue to have significant opportunities to increase our gross margin and improve our operating leverage through our commercial and operating initiatives.

2023 年是毛利率和調整後EBITDA 利潤率的重置年，因為我們沒有重複2021 年和2022 年獲得的非凡價格優勢。我們現在正在經歷商品價格通貨緊縮，這對每日有機銷售增長造成暫時的負面影響，毛利率和調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率。我們預計這種負面影響將在 2024 年下半年消退，並且我們將繼續有重大機會透過我們的商業和營運舉措來提高毛利率並提高我們的營運槓桿。

Accordingly, we remain confident in our strategy to drive revenue growth, both organically and through acquisition, while expanding our adjusted EBITDA margin toward our longer-term objective of 13% to 15%.

因此，我們對透過有機方式和收購推動營收成長的策略仍然充滿信心，同時擴大調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率，以實現 13% 至 15% 的長期目標。

We now have completed 91 acquisitions across all our product lines since the start of 2014. We expanded our development team in 2021, leveraged them to increase acquisition activity in 2022 and completed 11 acquisitions for a record $320 million trailing 12-months acquired sales in 2023.

自2014 年初以來，我們已在所有產品線中完成了91 項收購。我們在2021 年擴大了開發團隊，利用他們在2022 年增加收購活動，並在2023 年完成了11 項收購，過去12 個月的收購銷售額達到創紀錄的3.2 億美元。

Our pipeline of potential deals remains robust, and we expect to continue adding and integrating more new companies to support our growth. These companies strengthen SiteOne with excellent talent and new ideas for performance and growth. Given the fragmented nature of the industry and our modest market share, we have a significant opportunity to continue growing through acquisition for many years to come.

我們的潛在交易管道仍然強勁，我們預計將繼續增加和整合更多新公司以支持我們的成長。這些公司透過優秀的人才以及績效和成長的新理念來加強 SiteOne。鑑於該行業的分散性和我們不大的市場份額，我們有很大的機會在未來許多年透過收購繼續成長。

Slide 7 shows the long runway that we have ahead in filling in our product portfolio, which we aim to do primarily through acquisition, especially in the nursery, hardscape and landscape supplies categories. We are well networked with the best companies in our industry, and expect to continue filling in these markets systematically over the next decade.

投影片 7 顯示了我們在充實產品組合方面還有很長的路要走，我們的目標主要是透過收購來實現，特別是在苗圃、硬景觀和景觀用品類別中。我們與業內最優秀的公司建立了良好的網絡，並期望在未來十年內繼續系統地填補這些市場。

I will now discuss some of our 2023 performance highlights as shown on Slide 8. We achieved 7% net sales growth in 2023 with flat organic daily sales and 7% net sales growth added through acquisition. Organic sales volume was flat, as our teams continued to gain market share to offset softer markets. Additionally, commodity products like fertilizer, seed and PVC pipe experienced significant deflation during 2023, which balanced with normal cost increases in our other product lines to yield overall flat pricing for the year.

我現在將討論我們2023 年的一些業績亮點，如幻燈片8 所示。我們在2023 年實現了7% 的淨銷售額成長，每日有機銷售額持平，並透過收購增加了7% 的淨銷售額增長。有機銷售持平，因為我們的團隊繼續獲得市場份額以抵消市場疲軟的影響。此外，化肥、種子和 PVC 管等大宗商品在 2023 年經歷了嚴重的通貨緊縮，與我們其他產品線的正常成本增長相平衡，導致全年整體定價持平。

Gross profit increased 5%, driven by our acquisitions and our gross margin decreased 70 basis points to 34.7%. This result was in line with our expectations, as we did not repeat the significant price realization benefits achieved in 2021 and 2022.

受收購推動，毛利成長 5%，毛利率下降 70 個基點至 34.7%。這一結果符合我們的預期，因為我們沒有重複 2021 年和 2022 年實現的顯著價格實現效益。

In fact, the rapid price deflation that we experienced during the third quarter of 2023 created an additional near-term headwind to gross margin.

事實上，我們在 2023 年第三季經歷的快速價格通貨緊縮給毛利率帶來了額外的短期阻力。

Acquisitions benefited gross margin in 2023, as our mix of acquired companies operate with a higher gross margin and higher SG&A. Our SG&A as a percentage of net sales increased 190 basis points to 29.2%. This increase was driven by our acquisitions and by the combination of flat organic sales, operating cost inflation and continued investment in our initiatives in digital and operational excellence.

收購使 2023 年的毛利率受益，因為我們收購的公司組合具有更高的毛利率和更高的 SG&A。我們的 SG&A 佔淨銷售額的百分比增加了 190 個基點，達到 29.2%。這一成長是由我們的收購以及有機銷售持平、營運成本上漲以及對數位和卓越營運舉措的持續投資共同推動的。

The timing of our largest acquisition, Pioneer Landscaping Centers, during the second half of the year also contributed to the increase in SG&A as a percent of net sales. Going forward, we expect to gain significant SG&A leverage as we continue to grow.

今年下半年我們最大的收購先鋒園林綠化中心 (Pioneer Landscaping Centers) 的時機也促進了銷售、管理費用 (SG&A) 佔淨銷售額百分比的成長。展望未來，隨著我們的不斷發展，我們預計將獲得顯著的銷售、管理及行政費用槓桿。

Flat organic growth and a reset in gross margin led to a 12% decline in our adjusted EBITDA for the full year. Adjusted EBITDA margin declined 210 basis points to 9.5%. We are encouraged to have this reset year behind us, and look forward to driving continued improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin in 2024 and making steady progress toward our long-term goal of 13% to 15%.

有機成長持平和毛利率重置導致我們全年調整後 EBITDA 下降 12%。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降 210 個基點至 9.5%。我們受到鼓舞，度過了這個重置的一年，並期待在 2024 年推動調整後 EBITDA 利潤率的持續改善，並朝著 13% 至 15% 的長期目標穩步前進。

In terms of initiatives, we continue to grow our small customers faster than our average, while also driving growth in our private label brands and improving our inbound freight costs through our transportation management system. These initiatives helped to mitigate the gross margin decline in 2023, and will contribute to expanding gross margin in the future.

在舉措方面，我們繼續以高於平均水平的速度成長小客戶，同時也推動自有品牌的成長，並透過我們的運輸管理系統改善我們的入境貨運成本。這些措施有助於緩解2023年毛利率的下降，並將有助於未來擴大毛利率。

During the year, we enhanced our partners program and we're able to increase our membership by almost 50% to approximately 37,000 customers. Most of the new members are small to midsized customers. Partners program customers grow faster than nonmembers, as they benefit from the full SiteOne value proposition.

這一年，我們加強了合作夥伴計劃，我們的會員數量增加了近 50%，達到約 37,000 名客戶。大多數新會員都是中小型客戶。合作夥伴規劃客戶的成長速度比非會員更快，因為他們受益於完整的 SiteOne 價值主張。

We increased our percentage of f bilingual branches from 56% to 58% in 2023, and are continuing to focus on Hispanic marketing to create awareness among this important customer segment.

到 2023 年，我們將雙語分支機構的比例從 56% 增加到 58%，並繼續專注於西班牙裔行銷，以提高這一重要客戶群的認知度。

We're making great progress in our sales force productivity, as we leverage our CRM and establish more disciplined revenue-generating habits among our over 600 outside sales associates.

隨著我們利用 CRM 並在 600 多名外部銷售人員中建立更嚴格的創收習慣，我們的銷售人員生產力正在取得巨大進步。

The continued rollout of MobilePro and DispatchTrack, allows us to offer better customer service, while also increasing the productivity of our branch staff and delivery fleet. Both capabilities are now deployed company-wide, and we continue to see usage and benefit increase across the company.

MobilePro 和 DispatchTrack 的持續推出使我們能夠提供更好的客戶服務，同時也提高了分行員工和送貨車隊的生產力。這兩項功能現已在全公司範圍內部署，我們繼續看到全公司的使用率和效益不斷增加。

For example, DispatchTrack is now used for over 93% of all customer deliveries across SiteOne.

例如，目前 SiteOne 超過 93% 的客戶交付都使用 DispatchTrack。

We made good progress in growing our digital sales and cultivating regular users of siteone.com in 2023, which helps us increase market share while allowing our associates to focus more on creating value for our customers and less on transactional activity.

2023 年，我們在增加數位銷售和培養siteone.com 的固定用戶方面取得了良好進展，這有助於我們增加市場份額，同時讓我們的員工能夠更專注於為客戶創造價值，而不是交易活動。

And finally, we achieved meaningful benefits from our operational excellence teams, who are helping to systematically spread best practices in each product line of business across SiteOne to drive value for our customers, suppliers and company. For example, we significantly improved the procurement and inventory management of our nursery line of business in 2023, leading to low double-digit sales growth and higher inventory turns. We believe that there are significant opportunities to improve our hardscapes and landscape supplies lines of business in a similar fashion.

最後，我們從卓越營運團隊中獲得了有意義的收益，他們正在幫助在 SiteOne 的每個業務產品線中系統地傳播最佳實踐，從而為我們的客戶、供應商和公司創造價值。例如，我們在2023年大幅改善了苗圃業務的採購和庫存管理，導致銷售額實現低兩位數成長和更高的庫存週轉率。我們相信，以類似方式改善我們的硬景觀和景觀供應業務線的重大機會。

Taken all together, we are continuing to improve our capability to drive organic growth, increase gross margin and achieve operating leverage through our initiatives.

總而言之，我們正在透過我們的舉措繼續提高推動有機成長、提高毛利率和實現營運槓桿的能力。

On the acquisition front, as I mentioned, we added 11 excellent companies to our family in 2023, with over $320 million and trailing 12-month sales added to SiteOne. With an experienced team, broad and deep relationships with the best companies, a strong balance sheet and an exceptional reputation, we remain well positioned to grow consistently through acquisition for many years.

在收購方面，正如我所提到的，我們在 2023 年為我們的家族增加了 11 家優秀公司，SiteOne 的銷售額超過 3.2 億美元，過去 12 個月的銷售額也增加了。憑藉著經驗豐富的團隊、與最好的公司廣泛而深入的關係、強大的資產負債表和卓越的聲譽，我們多年來始終能夠透過收購實現持續成長。

In summary, our teams did a good job of managing through the many challenges in 2023, adjusting to a lower growth environment, yet continuing to gain momentum on many of our key initiatives to drive long-term growth and profitability.

總而言之，我們的團隊很好地應對了 2023 年的許多挑戰，適應了較低的成長環境，同時繼續在許多關鍵舉措上獲得動力，以推動長期成長和獲利。

We are excited to move into 2024 with increased capabilities to add more value to our customers and suppliers, to grow faster than the market and to drive attractive performance and growth.

我們很高興進入 2024 年，憑藉更強的能力為我們的客戶和供應商增加更多價值，實現比市場更快的成長，並推動有吸引力的業績和成長。

Now John will walk you through the quarter in more detail. John?

現在約翰將帶您更詳細地了解本季。約翰？

Thanks, Doug. I'll begin on Slides 9 and 10 with some highlights from our fourth quarter and full year results.

謝謝，道格。我將從投影片 9 和 10 開始，介紹我們第四季和全年業績的一些亮點。

We reported a net sales increase of 8% to $965 million for the quarter. There were 61 selling days in the fourth quarter compared to 60 selling days in the prior year period. For the full year, net sales increased 7% to $4.3 billion. We had 252 selling days in fiscal year 2023, which is the same as fiscal year 2022. In fiscal year 2024, we will again have 252 selling days, with the selling days the same each quarter as fiscal year 2023.

我們報告本季淨銷售額成長 8%，達到 9.65 億美元。第四季有 61 個銷售日，而去年同期為 60 個銷售日。全年淨銷售額成長 7%，達到 43 億美元。我們在 2023 財年有 252 個銷售天數，與 2022 財年相同。在 2024 財年，我們將再次有 252 個銷售天數，每個季度的銷售天數與 2023 財年相同。

Organic daily sales decreased 1% in the fourth quarter compared to the prior year period, as price deflation of 5% was partially offset by volume growth of 4%. For the full year, organic daily sales were flat, due to moderating economic conditions and no benefit from price increases.

與去年同期相比，第四季的每日有機銷售額下降了 1%，原因是 5% 的價格下降被 4% 的銷售成長部分抵消。全年有機日銷售額持平，原因是經濟狀況放緩且價格上漲沒有帶來任何好處。

Similar to the third quarter, price deflation in the fourth quarter was driven by our commodity products like PVC pipe, which was down almost 25% and fertilizer and grass seed, which were both down 17%. For the full year, the price impact on sales was roughly flat, as we started the year with a positive benefit before the onset of deflation in the second half of the year. In 2024, we expect price deflation to be a headwind in the beginning of the year of moderate, as we work through 2024 and fully lap the price decreases of 2023. For the full year fiscal 2024, we expect price deflation to be between 1% and 2%.

與第三季類似，第四季的價格通貨緊縮是由我們的大宗商品推動的，例如 PVC 管，下降了近 25%，化肥和草籽也下降了 17%。就全年而言，價格對銷售的影響大致持平，因為我們在下半年通貨緊縮開始之前就取得了積極的收益。 2024 年，我們預計價格通貨緊縮將在年初出現溫和的逆風，因為我們將努力完成 2024 年並完全經歷 2023 年的價格下跌。對於 2024 財年全年，我們預計價格通縮將在 1% 之間和2 %。

Organic daily sales for landscaping products, which includes irrigation, nursery, hardscapes, outdoor lighting and landscape accessories, grew 1% for the fourth quarter due to increased volume reflecting solid end market demand and good weather in November and early December, partially offset by lower prices for products like PVC pipe.

園林綠化產品（包括灌溉、苗圃、硬景觀、戶外照明和景觀配件）的有機日銷售額在第四季度增長了1%，原因是銷量增加反映了終端市場需求強勁以及11 月和12 月初的好天氣，但部分被銷售下降所抵消PVC管等產品的價格。

For the full year, organic daily sales for landscaping products also grew 1%, primarily reflecting slightly higher prices in the first half of the year.

全年園林綠化產品的有機日銷售額也成長了 1%，主要反映了上半年價格的小幅上漲。

Organic daily sales for agronomic products, which includes fertilizer, control products, ice melt and equipment, decreased 8% for the fourth quarter due to lower prices for fertilizer and grass seed, partially offset by volume growth resulting from lower prices and solid demand. As we have previously discussed, we believe high prices for agronomics products negatively impacted sales volumes for those products.

由於化肥和草籽價格下跌，第四季度有機農產品（包括化肥、控制產品、融冰和設備）的每日銷售額下降了8%，但價格下降和需求強勁帶來的銷售成長部分抵消了這一影響。正如我們之前討論的，我們認為農藝產品的高價格對這些產品的銷售產生了負面影響。

For the full year, organic daily sales for agronomic products decreased 4%, as price deflation of 7% was partially offset by 3% volume growth.

全年有機農產品日銷售額下降 4%，7% 的價格下降被 3% 的銷售成長部分抵銷。

Geographically, 4 of our 9 regions achieved positive organic daily sales growth in the fourth quarter, with the greatest growth in the southern markets, which have benefited from strong construction end markets.

從地理上看，我們的 9 個地區中有 4 個地區在第四季度實現了每日有機銷售額的正增長，其中南方市場增長最快，受益於強勁的建築終端市場。

We're off to a slow start in 2024 due to rainy weather in many regions, with the organic daily sales down mid-single digits. However, January is only about 6% of our annual sales, and we expect demand in these markets will continue to be strong for the full year.

由於許多地區的陰雨天氣，我們 2024 年的開局緩慢，每日有機銷售額下降了中個位數。然而，一月份僅占我們全年銷售額的 6% 左右，我們預計這些市場的需求將在全年持續強勁。

Acquisition sales, which reflect sales attributable, the acquisitions completed in both 2022 and 2023 contributed approximately $71 million or 8% to net sales growth. For fiscal year 2023, acquisition sales contributed approximately $279 million or 7% in net sales growth. Scott will provide more details regarding our acquisition strategy later in the call.

收購銷售額反映了應佔銷售額，2022 年和 2023 年完成的收購為淨銷售額成長貢獻了約 7,100 萬美元，即 8%。 2023 財年，收購銷售貢獻了約 2.79 億美元，佔淨銷售額成長的 7%。斯科特將在稍後的電話會議中提供有關我們收購策略的更多詳細資訊。

Gross profit for the fourth quarter was $327 million, which was an increase of 8% compared to the prior year period. Gross margin decreased 20 basis points to 33.8%, primarily due to lower prices and less vendor support than prior -- than the prior year period, partially offset by the positive impact from acquisitions.

第四季毛利為3.27億美元，較去年同期成長8%。毛利率下降 20 個基點至 33.8%，主要是由於價格下降和供應商支持減少（與去年同期相比），但部分被收購的正面影響所抵銷。

While year-over-year gross margin performance improved during the quarter, we are still experiencing a negative headwind from deflation. Just as we benefited from the rapid rise in market prices relative to our lower inventory costs on the way up, the drop in market prices relative to our higher inventory costs creates a temporary headwind on the way down. We are managing through this headwind and expect gross margin to be lower in the first quarter of 2024, but improved for the full year of 2024.

儘管本季毛利率較去年同期有所改善，但我們仍面臨通貨緊縮的負面影響。正如我們在上漲過程中受益於市場價格相對於我們較低的庫存成本的快速上漲一樣，市場價格相對於我們較高的庫存成本的下降也在下跌過程中造成了暫時的阻力。我們正在克服這一逆風，預計 2024 年第一季的毛利率將較低，但 2024 年全年將有所改善。

For fiscal 2023, gross profit increased 5% and gross margin decreased 70 basis points to 34.7%. The decrease in gross margin for the full year reflects the absence of the price realization benefit recognized in the 2022 fiscal year, partially offset by a positive impact from acquisitions and lower freight costs.

2023財年，毛利成長5%，毛利率下降70個基點至34.7%。全年毛利率的下降反映了2022財年確認的價格實現效益的缺失，但部分被收購和較低的貨運成本的正面影響所抵銷。

Selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, increased 9% to $333 million for the fourth quarter. SG&A as a percentage of net sales increased 30 basis points in the quarter to 34.5%. The increase in both SG&A and SG&A as a percentage of net sales is primarily due to the impact of acquisitions.

第四季銷售、一般及管理費用 (SG&A) 成長 9%，達到 3.33 億美元。本季 SG&A 佔淨銷售額的百分比增加了 30 個基點，達到 34.5%。 SG&A 和 SG&A 佔淨銷售額的百分比的增加主要是由於收購的影響。

Excluding acquisitions, SG&A for our base business decreased 2% during the quarter, as we have taken steps to better align SG&A spending with our lower sales.

不包括收購在內，我們基礎業務的銷售、管理及行政費用在本季度下降了 2%，因為我們已採取措施更好地使銷售、管理和行政費用與較低的銷售額保持一致。

For the full year, SG&A increased 15% to approximately $1.3 billion, and SG&A as a percentage of net sales increased 190 basis points to 29.2%. The higher SG&A reflects the impact of acquisitions and operating cost inflation, particularly wage inflation.

全年SG&A 成長15%，達到約13 億美元，SG&A 佔淨銷售額的百分比成長190 個基點，達到29.2%。 SG&A 較高反映了收購和營運成本通膨（尤其是薪資通膨）的影響。

For the fourth quarter, we recorded an income tax benefit of approximately $5 million, which was similar to the prior year period. For the full year, income tax expense was $49.8 million compared to $67.7 million in the prior year. Our effective tax rate was 22.3% for the 2023 fiscal year compared to 21.6% for the 2022 fiscal year. The increase in the effective tax rate was due primarily to a decrease the amount of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation. Excess tax benefits of $5.9 million were recognized for the 2023 fiscal year as compared to $10.4 million for the 2022 fiscal year.

第四季度，我們錄得約 500 萬美元的所得稅優惠，與去年同期相似。全年所得稅費用為 4,980 萬美元，上一年為 6,770 萬美元。 2023 財年的有效稅率為 22.3%，而 2022 財年的有效稅率為 21.6%。有效稅率的增加主要是因為股票補償所帶來的超額稅收優惠金額的減少。 2023 財年確認的超額稅收優惠為 590 萬美元，而 2022 財年為 1,040 萬美元。

We expect the 2024 fiscal year effective tax rate will be between 25% and 26%, excluding discrete items such as excess tax benefits.

我們預計 2024 財年的有效稅率將在 25% 至 26% 之間，不包括超額稅收優惠等離散項目。

We recorded a net loss of $3.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to a net loss of $0.9 million for the prior year period. The net loss was attributable to our higher SG&A and reduced gross margin, partially offset by our increase in net sales.

2023 年第四季度，我們錄得淨虧損 340 萬美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 90 萬美元。淨虧損歸因於我們較高的銷售管理費用和毛利率下降，但部分被我們淨銷售額的成長所抵銷。

Net income for fiscal year 2023 decreased to $173.4 million from $245.4 million in fiscal year 2022, as our sales growth was offset by higher operating costs and lower gross margin.

2023 財年的淨利潤從 2022 財年的 2.454 億美元下降至 1.734 億美元，因為我們的銷售成長被較高的營運成本和較低的毛利率所抵銷。

Our weighted average diluted share count was 45.7 million for the 2023 fiscal year, which is slightly less than the prior year share count.

2023 財年，我們的加權平均稀釋股票數量為 4,570 萬股，略少於上一年的股票數量。

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 3% to $39.9 million for the fourth quarter compared to $38.9 million for the same period in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 30 basis points to 4.1%. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA decreased 12% to $410.7 million compared to $464.3 million for the 2022 fiscal year. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 210 basis points to 9.5% for the 2023 fiscal year.

第四季調整後 EBITDA 成長 3%，達到 3,990 萬美元，上年同期為 3,890 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降 30 個基點至 4.1%。全年調整後 EBITDA 下降 12%，至 4.107 億美元，而 2022 財年為 4.643 億美元。 2023 財年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率下降 210 個基點至 9.5%。

Now I'd like to provide a brief update on our balance sheet and cash flow statement as shown on Slide 11. Working capital at the end of the 2023 fiscal year was $827 million compared to approximately $760 million at the end of the prior year period. The increase in net working capital is primarily attributable due to the increase in cash on hand and higher receivables resulting from our sales growth, including acquisitions.

現在，我想提供投影片 11 所示的資產負債表和現金流量表的簡要更新。2023 財年末的營運資本為 8.27 億美元，而上一財年末的營運資本約為 7.6 億美元。淨營運資本的增加主要歸因於我們的銷售成長（包括收購）導致手頭現金增加和應收帳款增加。

Inventory turns improved as we continue to make progress on our supply chain initiatives.

隨著我們在供應鏈計劃上不斷取得進展，庫存週轉率有所改善。

Cash flow from operations increased to approximately $108 million in the fourth quarter compared to approximately $105 million in the prior year period. Cash flow from operations increased to approximately $298 million for the full year compared to approximately $217 million in the prior year. The record operating cash flow primarily reflects our improved inventory management.

第四季營運現金流增加至約 1.08 億美元，去年同期約為 1.05 億美元。全年營運現金流增加至約 2.98 億美元，而前一年約為 2.17 億美元。創紀錄的經營現金流主要反映了我們改進的庫存管理。

We made cash investments of $17 million in the fourth quarter compared to $73 million in the same quarter of 2022, and $226 million in fiscal year 2023 compared to $284 million in fiscal year 2022. The decrease in cash investments reflects less acquisition spend in fiscal year 2023 compared to fiscal year 2022.

我們第四季的現金投資為1,700 萬美元，而2022 年同期為7,300 萬美元；2023 財年的現金投資為2.26 億美元，而2022 財年為2.84 億美元。現金投資的減少反映了本財年收購支出的減少2023 年與 2022 財年相比。

Capital expenditures were $8 million for the fourth quarter compared to $7 million for the same quarter in 2022, and $32 million for fiscal year '23 compared to $27 million for fiscal year 2022. The increase in capital expenditures reflects our continued investment in our branch locations, including relocations.

第四季的資本支出為800 萬美元，而2022 年同期為700 萬美元；2023 財年的資本支出為3,200 萬美元，而2022 年財年為2,700 萬美元。資本支出的增加反映了我們對分支機構地點的持續投資，包括搬遷。

Net debt at the end of 2023 fiscal year was approximately $382 million compared to $380 million at the end of the prior year. Leverage increased to 0.9x our trailing 12-months adjusted EBITDA compared to 0.8x at the end of the 2022 fiscal year, but remains below our target net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage range of 1 to 2x.

2023 財年末的淨債務約為 3.82 億美元，而上一財年末的淨債務為 3.8 億美元。槓桿率增至過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的 0.9 倍，而 2022 財年末的槓桿率為 0.8 倍，但仍低於我們調整後 EBITDA 槓桿範圍 1 至 2 倍的目標淨負債。

At the end of the year, we had available liquidity of approximately $661 million, which consisted of approximately $83 million cash on hand and approximately $578 million in available capacity under our ABL facility.

截至年底，我們可用的流動資金約為 6.61 億美元，其中包括約 8,300 萬美元的庫存現金和 ABL 設施下約 5.78 億美元的可用能力。

On Slide 12, we highlight our balanced approach to capital allocation. Our primary goal regarding capital allocation is to invest in our business, including the execution of our acquisition strategy. We are also committed to maintaining a conservative balance sheet, as demonstrated by our target leverage ratio.

在投影片 12 中，我們強調了我們平衡的資本配置方法。我們關於資本配置的主要目標是投資我們的業務，包括執行我們的收購策略。我們也致力於維持保守的資產負債表，正如我們的目標槓桿率所證明的那樣。

To the extent we have excess capital after achieving these objectives, the share repurchase authorization provides us with a mechanism to return capital to shareholders. In the fourth quarter of 2023, we completed share repurchases of approximately $11 million. Our priority from a balance sheet and capital allocation perspective is to maintain our financial strength and flexibility without sacrificing long-term growth or market opportunity.

如果我們在實現這些目標後擁有多餘的資本，則股票回購授權為我們提供了一種向股東返還資本的機制。 2023年第四季度，我們完成了約1,100萬美元的股票回購。從資產負債表和資本配置的角度來看，我們的首要任務是在不犧牲長期成長或市場機會的情況下保持我們的財務實力和靈活性。

I will now turn the call over to Scott for an update on our acquisition strategy.

我現在將把電話轉給史考特，詢問我們收購策略的最新情況。

Thanks, John. As shown on Slide 13, we acquired one company in the fourth quarter, bringing our total to 11 for 2023, with a record combined trailing 12-month net sales of approximately $320 million.

謝謝，約翰。如投影片 13 所示，我們在第四季收購了一家公司，使 2023 年的公司總數達到 11 家，過去 12 個月的合併淨銷售額創歷史新高，約為 3.2 億美元。

Since the start of 2014, we have acquired 91 companies, with approximately $1.8 billion in trailing 12-month net sales added to SiteOne.

自 2014 年初以來，我們收購了 91 家公司，SiteOne 過去 12 個月的淨銷售額增加了約 18 億美元。

Turning to Slide 14, you will find information on our most recent acquisition, Newsom Seed. On December 1, we acquired Newsom Seed, a wholesale distributor of agronomic products with 2 locations serving the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. markets.

轉向幻燈片 14，您將找到有關我們最近收購的 Newsom Seed 的資訊。 12 月 1 日，我們收購了 Newsom Seed，這是一家農產品批發經銷商，擁有 2 個分支機構，為巴爾的摩和華盛頓特區市場提供服務。

The acquisition of Newsom Seed expands our strong agronomics position in these populous markets and extends the range of landscape products and services we provide to our customers.

收購 Newsom Seed 擴大了我們在這些人口眾多的市場中的強大農藝地位，並擴大了我們為客戶提供的景觀產品和服務的範圍。

Summarizing on Slide 15, our acquisition strategy continues to create significant value for SiteOne. We have a strong balance sheet and a robust pipeline across all lines of business and geographies, and we are confident that we will be able to add more outstanding companies to SiteOne in 2024 and over the coming years.

總結投影片 15，我們的收購策略持續為 SiteOne 創造重大價值。我們擁有強大的資產負債表以及橫跨所有業務線和地區的強大管道，我們有信心在 2024 年及未來幾年為 SiteOne 添加更多優秀公司。

Our acquisitions continue to add excellent talent to SiteOne and move us forward toward our goal of providing a full line of landscape products and services to our customers in all major U.S. and Canadian markets. We are honored and excited that so many owners continue to choose SiteOne as a great home for their family businesses, and continue to thrive in leadership positions across our company. These strong leaders and innovators are a powerful force within SiteOne, as they help us improve the value that we deliver to customers and suppliers. They bring fresh ideas and entrepreneurial agility, and we support them and their teams with the resources and flexibility to pursue both their personal and professional passions.

我們的收購持續為 SiteOne 增添優秀人才，並推動我們朝著為美國和加拿大所有主要市場的客戶提供全系列景觀產品和服務的目標前進。我們感到榮幸和興奮的是，如此多的業主繼續選擇 SiteOne 作為家族企業的理想家園，並繼續在我們公司的領導職位上蓬勃發展。這些強大的領導者和創新者是 SiteOne 內部的強大力量，因為他們幫助我們提高為客戶和供應商提供的價值。他們帶來了新鮮的想法和創業敏捷性，我們為他們及其團隊提供資源和靈活性支持，以追求他們的個人和職業熱情。

Ultimately, we all win stronger together. I want to thank the entire SiteOne team for their passion and commitment to making SiteOne a great place to work and for welcoming the newly acquired teams when they joined the SiteOne family. We look forward to updating you as we add more outstanding new companies to our family through acquisition in 2024, creating terrific value for all our stakeholders.

最終，我們大家一起獲勝，變得更強大。我要感謝整個 SiteOne 團隊的熱情和承諾，讓 SiteOne 成為一個理想的工作場所，並感謝新收購的團隊加入 SiteOne 大家庭。我們期待向您通報最新情況，我們將在 2024 年透過收購為我們的家族增添更多優秀的新公司，為我們所有的利害關係人創造巨大的價值。

I will now turn the call back to Doug.

我現在會把電話轉回道格。

Thanks, Scott. I'll wrap up on Slide 16. As we look forward to 2024, we expect customer demand to moderately improve and we expect to continue gaining market share with our strong teams, executing our commercial and operational initiatives.

謝謝，斯科特。我將在投影片 16 上進行總結。展望 2024 年，我們預計客戶需求將適度改善，我們預計將繼續透過我們強大的團隊獲得市場份額，執行我們的商業和營運計劃。

In terms of end markets, we expect new residential construction, which comprises 21% of our sales, to grow modestly in 2024.

就終端市場而言，我們預計新住宅建設（占我們銷售額的 21%）將在 2024 年溫和成長。

There is good momentum in new residential construction to start the year, with growth in single-family [permits] and starts over the past several months. This should produce growth for landscaping products in this end market, especially in the second half.

今年年初，新住宅建設勢頭良好，過去幾個月單戶住宅[許可證]和開工量均有所增長。這應該會帶來終端市場景觀美化產品的成長，特別是在下半年。

New commercial construction, which represents 14% of our sales, was strong in 2023. However, we believe this market will cool off in 2024, with the Architectural Billing Index showing contraction, though our own project services bidding is still slightly positive.

占我們銷售額 14% 的新建商業建築在 2023 年表現強勁。然而，我們認為該市場將在 2024 年降溫，建築計費指數顯示收縮，儘管我們自己的項目服務招標仍然略顯積極。

Our customer backlogs in commercial construction remains solid, and so we believe this market will be flat to slightly up this year.

我們在商業建築方面的客戶積壓仍然強勁，因此我們相信今年這個市場將持平或略有上升。

The repair and upgrade market, which represents 31% of our sales, was clearly weaker in 2023 than in 2022, but seems to have stabilized at lower levels of demand. Accordingly, we expect repair and upgrade demand to be flat in 2024.

維修和升級市場占我們銷售額的 31%，2023 年明顯弱於 2022 年，但似乎已穩定在較低的需求水準。因此，我們預計 2024 年維修和升級需求將持平。

Lastly, we expect sales volume in the maintenance category, which represents 34% of our sales, to continue growing in the low single-digits in 2024, as contractors and end users take advantage of lower commodity prices and continue to restore application rates from the depressed levels in 2022.

最後，我們預計維護類別的銷售（占我們銷售額的 34%）到 2024 年將繼續以低個位數成長，因為承包商和最終用戶利用較低的商品價格並繼續恢復應用率2022 年將達到低迷水準。

As John mentioned, we expect commodity price deflation to continue in the first half of 2024 and moderate in the second half, as we lap the price decreases in 2023. Overall, we expect prices to be down 1% to 2% in 2024.

正如John 所提到的，我們預計大宗商品價格通貨緊縮將在2024 年上半年持續，並在下半年放緩，因為我們將在2023 年經歷價格下跌。總體而言，我們預計2024 年價格將下降1% 至2%。

With this backdrop, we expect our organic daily sales growth to be in the low single-digits for the full year 2024. We believe that sales growth will be higher in the second half than in the first half of 2024, as the price headwind diminishes.

在此背景下，我們預計 2024 年全年的每日有機銷售額成長將保持在較低的個位數。我們認為，隨著價格阻力的減弱，2024 年下半年的銷售成長將高於上半年。

As John has mentioned, the weather has been unfavorable so far, and we are trailing last year, though we have seen solid growth on days with good weather.

正如約翰所提到的，到目前為止，天氣一直不利，去年我們落後了，儘管我們在天氣好的日子裡看到了穩健的增長。

With our continued initiatives and the benefit of acquisitions completed in 2023, we expect to achieve gross margin improvement in 2024. We expect to achieve SG&A leverage, as we drive productivity improvements with the benefit of positive organic daily sales growth, more than offsetting the negative impact of acquisitions.

憑藉我們的持續舉措以及2023 年完成的收購帶來的好處，我們預計將在2024 年實現毛利率改善。我們預計將實現SG&A 槓桿，因為我們透過每日有機銷售額的正成長推動生產力提高，這足以抵銷負面影響收購的影響。

Accordingly, we expect to improve our adjusted EBITDA margin in 2024.

因此，我們預計 2024 年調整後 EBITDA 利潤率將有所提高。

In terms of acquisitions, as Scott mentioned, we have a strong pipeline of high-quality targets, and we will continue to add excellent companies to the SiteOne family in 2024. We will benefit from the sizable synergies and the full year performance with Pioneer Landscaping Centers, along with good contributions from our other 2023 acquisitions this year.

在收購方面，正如Scott所提到的，我們擁有強大的優質目標管道，我們將在2024年繼續為SiteOne家族添加優秀公司。我們將受益於與Pioneer Landscaping的巨大協同效應和全年業績中心，以及我們今年2023 年其他收購的良好貢獻。

With all these factors in mind, we expect our full year adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2024 to be in the range of $420 million to $455 million. This range does not factor any contribution from unannounced acquisitions.

考慮到所有這些因素，我們預計 2024 財年全年調整後 EBITDA 將在 4.2 億至 4.55 億美元之間。該範圍並未考慮未經宣布的收購的任何貢獻。

In closing, I would like to sincerely thank all our SiteOne associates, who continue to amaze me with their passion, commitment, teamwork and selfless service. We have a tremendous team, and it is an honor to be joined with them as we deliver increasing value for all our stakeholders. I would also like to thank our suppliers for supporting us so strongly and our customers for allowing us to be their partner.

最後，我要真誠地感謝所有 SiteOne 員工，他們的熱情、奉獻、團隊合作和無私服務繼續讓我驚嘆不已。我們擁有一支優秀的團隊，很榮幸能與他們一起為所有利害關係人提供不斷增長的價值。我還要感謝我們的供應商對我們的大力支持，以及我們的客戶允許我們成為他們的合作夥伴。

Operator, please open the line for questions.

接線員，請開通提問線。

(Operator Instructions) First question comes from David Manthey with Baird.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自 David Manthey 和 Baird。

John, in your comments, you mentioned that gross margin are expected to be lower in the first quarter. And then, Doug, you just reiterated it should be higher for the full year. Just trying to get a finer point on that first quarter number. Is that lower than 34.3% in the year ago period or lower than 33.8% in the just reported period, possibly both?

約翰，在您的評論中，您提到第一季的毛利率預計會較低。然後，道格，您剛剛重申全年應該更高。只是想更清楚地了解第一季的數據。是低於去年同期的 34.3%，還是低於剛報告期間的 33.8%，或兩者兼具？

And then secondarily there, does the complexion of gross margin throughout the year look pretty normal to you this year and lowest in the first, highest in the second and then moderating from there into the third and fourth quarters?

其次，您認為今年全年毛利率的情況是否很正常，第一季最低，第二季最高，然後從那裡進入第三和第四季？

Thanks, David. Certainly, we would say it is going to be lower in the first quarter relative to prior year was the reference point. And as we look out, I think there's a couple of things going on with regards to Q1 of 2024 with regard to gross margin. The first is we are coming off one, a very, very strict -- tough comp. Gross margins, I think a lot went right with gross margin. In Q1 last year, acquisitions outperformed, and so we're facing a more challenging comp with regards to gross margin.

謝謝，大衛。當然，我們會說第一季的成長率將低於去年同期的水平。展望未來，我認為 2024 年第一季的毛利率會發生一些變化。首先是我們即將結束一場非常非常嚴格的比賽。毛利率，我認為毛利率在很多方面都是正確的。去年第一季度，收購表現出色，因此我們在毛利率方面面臨更具挑戰性的競爭。

Secondly, we are still, to a certain extent, feeling the challenges of deflation. While it improved during the quarter, which kind of led to some of our outperformance. It's still definitely there, and until we work through kind of the price deflation in the first half of next year, largely in the first quarter, that is going to provide a headwind, especially relative to last year where even in the first quarter of last year, we were still seeing a positive price also, which contributed to the strong gross margin performance.

其次，我們仍然在某種程度上感受到通貨緊縮的挑戰。雖然本季有所改善，但這導致了我們的一些表現優異。它肯定仍然存在，在我們解決明年上半年（主要是第一季度）的價格通縮問題之前，這將帶來阻力，特別是相對於去年，即使是在去年第一季今年，我們仍然看到積極的價格，促成了強勁的毛利率表現。

And then the third aspect with regards to the quarter is I will say the amount of snow and kind of weather impact that has happened so far this quarter, has negatively impacted gross margin, primarily from a mix. We're selling more ice melt and this -- a lot of stocking orders, we're not seeing the day in and day out orders yet kick in.

關於本季的第三個方面是，我要說的是，本季迄今發生的降雪量和天氣影響，對毛利率產生了負面影響，主要是綜合影響。我們正在銷售更多的融冰，還有大量的庫存訂單，但我們還沒有看到日復一日的訂單開始生效。

Now I would caution that to say this is very early in the season. We're in a shoulder quarter, so it's kind of like in a lot of our markets, they are not really selling a lot yet. And so really, when March kicks in, it really determines the quarter. But with regards to that, we are off to a slower start than I would say less -- certainly less than last year in January, but also less than a normal year from a weather perspective.

現在我要提醒大家的是，現在說這還處於賽季初期。我們正處於平季，所以就像我們的許多市場一樣，他們的銷量還不是很多。事實上，當三月開始時，它確實決定了這個季度。但就這一點而言，我們的起步速度比我想說的要慢——肯定比去年一月份要少，但從天氣角度來看也比正常年份要少。

Okay. And my follow-up here is on Pioneer, Doug or maybe Scott, could you give us an overview of that business? It's my understanding that it's not really a traditional kind of bolt-on acquisition. It's more of an aggregates business. And could you just overview the opportunities and challenges here 6 months in?

好的。我的後續行動是關於先鋒公司的，Doug 或者 Scott，您能給我們介紹一下該業務的概況嗎？據我了解，這並不是真正的傳統補強收購。它更像是一個聚合業務。能否概述一下 6 個月後的機會和挑戰？

Yes. So Pioneer at 34 locations, about $160 million in sales in both Arizona and Colorado. So they have a terrific network of branches and locations in 2 extremely high-growth markets, where we have a -- we already have a significant presence. And you're right, they're mostly a bulk materials business, but they do sell our traditional hardscapes and that's the synergies. We can really ramp up that business in the hardscape side. We can add lighting and other product lines that fit in addition to continuing to grow the bulk business.

是的。因此，Pioneer 在亞利桑那州和科羅拉多州擁有 34 個銷售點，銷售額約為 1.6 億美元。因此，他們在兩個高速成長的市場擁有出色的分支機構和地點網絡，我們已經在這兩個市場佔據了重要地位。你是對的，他們主要是一家散裝材料企業，但他們確實銷售我們的傳統硬景觀，這就是協同效應。我們確實可以在硬景觀方面擴大業務。除了繼續發展大宗業務之外，我們還可以添加適合的照明和其他產品線。

They were an integrated company where they had the quarries and the distribution, and they really ran it for profitability of the quarries. And so there was the other opportunity.

他們是一家綜合性公司，擁有採石場和分銷權，他們的營運實際上是為了採石場的利潤。所以還有另一個機會。

It's not our normal acquisition, where they're kind of already at or above where we are on EBITDA -- that they underperformed from an EBITDA standpoint. That was reflected in the acquisition investment that we made. But we see a clear line of sight for ramping them up and getting them up to our average or above over the next couple of years. So there's the opportunity.

這不是我們的正常收購，他們的 EBITDA 已經等於或高於我們的水平——從 EBITDA 的角度來看，他們的表現不佳。這反映在我們進行的收購投資中。但我們看到了明確的目標，在未來幾年內提​​高它們並使其達到我們的平均水平或更高。所以有機會。

When we bought it late last year, -- so they contributed negative EBITDA. It was -- they're going into kind of the loss-making part of their season, if you will. And this year -- the synergies -- this year, we'll have synergies, we'll have -- their SG&A was higher than it should be. And so we've done some significant -- taken some significant actions there. But we'll get a full -- the benefit of full year, the synergies, SG&A reductions, et cetera, in 2024.

當我們去年年底購買它時，他們貢獻了負 EBITDA。如果你願意的話，他們將進入本賽季的虧損階段。今年——協同效應——今年，我們將產生協同效應，我們將——他們的SG&A 高於應有的水平。因此，我們已經做了一些重要的事情，並採取了一些重要的行動。但我們將在 2024 年獲得全年效益、協同效應、SG&A 削減等等。

So we're excited about it, but that's the nature of the business and some of the background and color.

所以我們對此感到興奮，但這就是業務的本質以及一些背景和色彩。

Our next question comes from Ryan Merkel with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞安·默克爾和威廉·布萊爾。

I wanted to start off on the price outlook. Doug, the last time we spoke, you thought that raws were bottoming. Just curious if that's exactly what you've seen? And then I think you mentioned price would be positive in the second half of '24, is that because you're seeing the finished goods suppliers raise prices?

我想從價格前景開始。道格，上次我們談話時，你認為生食已經觸底。只是好奇這是否正是您所看到的？然後我認為您提到 24 年下半年價格將會上漲，是因為您看到成品供應商提高了價格嗎？

We're seeing a few of the finished good products raise prices. It's primarily the fact that a lot of the price decreases in last year, we will have lapped. I would say, in general, it seems like mostly -- even for the commodity products have somewhat stabilized. The one exception is we are still seeing some decreases this year in PVC pipe, some price going. But otherwise, there is not as much action with regards to even the commodity products, and we are seeing some puts and takes with regards to kind of the more manufactured products.

我們看到一些成品價格上漲。主要是去年價格大幅下跌，我們已經落後了。我想說，總的來說，即使是大宗商品，似乎已經有所穩定。唯一的例外是，今年 PVC 管材價格仍然下降，價格有所上漲。但除此之外，即使是大宗商品也沒有那麼多的行動，而且我們看到一些製造程度較高的產品出現了一些波動。

Yes. So we're kind of seeing it slowly -- pricing, slowly improve kind of month-to-month. And we think it will be a gradual march through the year, turning positive in the second half and net positive, we believe, in the second half. But we do see the improvement kind of month-to-month, but it's gradual. And like John mentioned, pipe kind of took another leg down. That's slowed down the improvement, if you will, a bit, but we still see it happening here in the last couple of months.

是的。所以我們慢慢地看到它——定價，逐月緩慢地改善。我們認為這將是全年的逐步進展，下半年將轉為正值，我們相信下半年將出現淨正值。但我們確實看到了逐月的改善，但這是漸進的。正如約翰所提到的，管道有點拖垮了另一條腿。如果你願意的話，這會稍微減緩改進的速度，但我們仍然在過去幾個月中看到這種情況發生。

Okay. That's helpful. And then I wanted to follow up on 1Q as well. Dave asked about margins, so that's pretty clear. But I think you said down mid-single digits to start for organic daily sales. And you mentioned weather. Can you just unpack the weather? Is it the lack of snow? Was the weather just too cold? And then what are you assuming sort of the rest of the way? Do you -- are you assuming it gets better? And I realize March is kind of the whole quarter. So just curious how you're thinking about that?

好的。這很有幫助。然後我也想跟進第一季。戴夫詢問了利潤率，所以這很清楚。但我認為你說過要降低中個位數以開始有機每日銷售。你還提到了天氣。你能解開天氣嗎？是因為缺雪嗎？是不是天氣太冷了？那你對剩下的事情有何假設？你認為情況會變得更好嗎？我意識到三月是整個季度。所以只是好奇你怎麼想的？

We would expect it to get better. I think where it's really impacted us is in the southern markets, especially Florida, here in the Southeast, North Carolinas and Texas. We've got more rain and had slightly colder weather, which has prevented sales. Even I would say we were expecting a big a relatively large bounce back in California and then, if you will, the Pineapple Express hit it, California also.

我們預計它會變得更好。我認為它真正影響我們的是南部市場，尤其是佛羅裡達州、東南部、北卡羅來納州和德克薩斯州。我們降雨較多，天氣稍冷，阻礙了銷售。即使我想說，我們預計加州會出現相對較大的反彈，然後，如果你願意的話，菠蘿快車也能實現這一目標，加州也是如此。

So it's been primarily rain and colder weather. Even when we've had good sales in the north, it's not enough to offset the rain and cold weather in the south this summer year.

所以主要是下雨和寒冷的天氣。即使我們在北方銷售不錯，也不足以抵銷今年夏季南方的降雨和寒冷天氣。

But Ryan, you said it, I mean, it's always -- January and February can be way up or way down. It kind of happens every year. But the quarter is really defined by March, and when spring hits. And if spring hits late, then the sales moved to the second quarter from the first. If spring comes early, we could have -- it could come all the way back.

但是瑞安，你說過，我的意思是，一月和二月總是可以大幅上漲或大幅下跌。這種事每年都會發生。但這個季度其實是由三月和春天來臨時定義的。如果春天來得晚，那麼銷售就會從第一季轉移到第二季。如果春天來得早，我們就可以——它可以一路回來。

So we're just noting that the progression is the typical weather volatility that we get, especially in these slow overall sales months in the winter.

因此，我們只是注意到，這種進展是我們遇到的典型天氣波動，特別是在冬季總體銷售緩慢的月份。

Our next question comes from Stephen Volkmann with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自傑弗里斯的史蒂芬·福克曼。

I'm going to switch over to the M&A, if I could. And I'm curious about a couple of things. One, Scott, are there other sort of larger acquisition opportunities in the pipeline all [our] Pioneer? Or should we expect things to kind of go back to maybe the smaller average size?

如果可以的話，我將轉向併購。我對一些事情很好奇。第一，史考特，[我們的]先鋒公司是否還有其他更大的收購機會？或者我們應該期望事情會回到較小的平均規模？

And then the second question is, I'm just curious, it seems like perhaps there's a little bit less competition these days for some of these properties. I just don't see as much happening in the PE space, and I'm curious if you guys would agree with that or not? So those are my 2 questions.

第二個問題是，我只是很好奇，現在這些房產的競爭似乎有點少了。我只是沒有看到 PE 領域發生太多事情，我很好奇你們是否同意這一點？這是我的兩個問題。

Yes. Thank you. Taking your first question, it's always hard to tell when certain acquisitions might become available. But I definitely think there are still some larger opportunities out there that could become active this year. Certainly, we always hope for that, but you can never guarantee that. So it's no reason why it would have to return back to our lower average. There are some opportunities, I think.

是的。謝謝。回答你的第一個問題，總是很難判斷某些收購何時可以實現。但我絕對認為今年仍然有一些更大的機會可能會變得活躍。當然，我們總是希望如此，但你永遠不能保證這一點。因此，它沒有理由必須回到我們較低的平均值。我認為有一些機會。

And then with respect to competition, it's difficult to get an exact read out there. When you do have a competitive situation with a broker, you don't really know who's on the other side. I do know that some of the more active folks did acquire fewer companies in 2023 than 2022, but I would fully expect them to be in the market with good strength in 2024. So I wouldn't see anything structurally different over the coming years.

然後就競爭而言，很難獲得準確的讀數。當您確實與經紀人存在競爭時，您並不真正知道誰是對手。我確實知道，一些更活躍的人在2023 年收購的公司確實比2022 年要少，但我完全希望他們在2024 年能夠以良好的實力進入市場。因此，未來幾年我不會看到任何結構上的不同。

Our next question comes from Mike Dahl with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的麥克達爾。

I want to first focus on SG&A. So if I think about kind of the backdrop that you're outlining, a little price deflation, some volume growth to offset that, but low single-digit total organic.

我想先關注 SG&A。因此，如果我考慮一下您所概述的背景，一點點價格通貨緊縮，一些銷量增長來抵消這一點，但有機總量較低。

In the past, that's been an environment where you haven't really leveraged SG&A with those puts and takes with the M&A mix that you have coming in with the level of investments, the level of wage inflation. It sounds like maybe you've got some other initiatives that have started to take hold, John, your comments about kind of base business SG&A dollars being down? Maybe -- can you just further elaborate on that and then kind of the bridge or puts and takes around how you're thinking about getting SG&A leverage this year?

在過去，在這樣的環境下，你並沒有真正利用投資水準和薪資通膨水準的併購組合中的看跌選擇權和認購選擇權來真正利用SG&A。約翰，聽起來您可能已經開始採取一些其他舉措，您對基本業務 SG&A 美元下降的評論？也許——您能否進一步詳細說明這一點，然後介紹一下您今年如何考慮如何獲得 SG&A 槓桿？

Yes. Great question. The -- we do have -- obviously, there's a heavy focus on that. As the market slowed down in '23, we had to make those adjustments. And so we did those through the year in our base business. And I think through that, we're entering 2024 in better shape, if you will, or more matched to the market than we entered 2023. So that's a tailwind to SG&A.

是的。很好的問題。顯然，我們確實非常關注這一點。隨著 23 年市場放緩，我們必須做出這些調整。因此，我們全年在基礎業務中都做到了這些。我認為，透過這一點，我們將以更好的狀態進入 2024 年（如果你願意的話），或者比我們進入 2023 年時更符合市場。因此，這對 SG&A 來說是有利的。

You also have, for example, we noted at the Pioneer acquisition that really brought a lot of SG&A and not as much sales. That's the timing of that. As meaningful as we go and get the full year there, while at the same time, adjusting their levels to be more appropriate.

例如，我們在收購先鋒公司時注意到，這確實帶來了大量的銷售管理費用，但銷售卻沒有那麼多。這就是那個時機。我們去那裡度過一整年是很有意義的，同時調整他們的水平以使其更合適。

And then I think our initiatives more and more start to take hold in terms of the MobilePro, DispatchTrack or siteone.com. We feel better about where those are, and they're fully deployed now and the productivity that we're able to get out of those in the field has increased.

然後我認為我們的舉措越來越多地開始在 MobilePro、DispatchTrack 或 siteone.com 方面發揮作用。我們對它們的位置感覺更好，它們現在已經完全部署，我們能夠從現場獲得的生產力已經提高。

So I think when you put those together, we feel good about our ability to drive leverage, where maybe we hadn't in years past. I think we just got better and we're better capable of doing it now.

所以我認為，當你把這些放在一起時，我們對我們推動槓桿的能力感到滿意，而過去幾年我們可能沒有這樣做。我認為我們現在變得更好了，並且更有能力做到這一點。

Okay. That's helpful, Doug. And then just a follow-up on Pioneer, more specifically, given your comments on -- it was a negative net contribution to EBITDA in '23, given the timing, and you just spoke to some of the positives.

好的。這很有幫助，道格。然後是先鋒公司的後續行動，更具體地說，考慮到您對 23 年 EBITDA 的淨貢獻為負，考慮到時間安排，您剛剛談到了一些積極的方面。

So -- should -- in dollar terms, is Pioneer alone like a $15 million to $20 million positive swing in EBITDA this year, when we think about kind of a negative 23 contribution versus a more normalized and potentially synergized margin for this year?

那麼，以美元計算，當我們考慮今年的 23 負貢獻與更正常化和潛在的協同利潤率時，先鋒公司今年的 EBITDA 是否會出現 1500 萬至 2000 萬美元的正向波動？

I think that would be a little high, but you're directionally in the right ballpark. I mean.

我認為這個數字有點高，但你的方向是正確的。我是說。

Our next question comes from Damian Karas with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的達米安卡拉斯。

So I think you said you're expecting repair and upgrade to be more or less flat this year. There are some concerns out there on homeowner R&R spend, just given where rates are and the supercharge demand that resulted from the pandemic. So I'm just curious what gives you confidence that, that part of the business can hold steady this year?

所以我想你說過你預計今年的維修和升級或多或少會持平。考慮到費率水準以及疫情帶來的增壓需求，人們對房主的 R&R 支出有一些擔憂。所以我很好奇是什麼讓您有信心這部分業務今年能夠保持穩定？

Yes. Well, we saw, if you will, the drop in '23, right? So as it turned out for the year, repair and remodel, at least for us, was down, it was weaker, and we saw that kind of across the country with high interest rates, low housing turnover. And like I said, just an adjustment from the go-go days of COVID. But we really feel like that's stabilized, and that's just talking to our customers and seeing the sales that we're getting and backlogs, et cetera. We feel like it's just kind of adjusted and that now it will be fairly stable.

是的。好吧，如果你願意的話，我們看到了 23 年的下降，對吧？因此，從今年的結果來看，至少對我們來說，維修和改造是下降的，而且是疲軟的，我們在全國範圍內看到了這種情況，利率高，住房週轉率低。就像我說的，這只是疫情期間的一個調整。但我們確實覺得情況已經穩定了，這只是與我們的客戶交談並查看我們獲得的銷售額和積壓的訂單等等。我們覺得它只是做了一些調整，現在它會相當穩定。

So we don't see it getting worse. And again, we're playing at the higher end of homes. You can see interest rates start to come down a bit. We can see projects in the pipeline, at least for kind of the first quarter or first half of the year. So it's just the read that we're getting from customers that we feel like it will be flattish in 2024, coming off of a down year in '23.

所以我們認為情況不會變得更糟。再說一次，我們是在高端家庭中玩。您可以看到利率開始略有下降。我們可以看到正在醞釀中的項目，至少在第一季或上半年是這樣。因此，我們從客戶那裡得到的訊息是，我們認為 2024 年的情況將持平，結束了 23 年的下滑。

Got it. That makes sense. And then I want to ask you specifically about hardscapes, which continues to become an increasing proportion of your business. If my math on the slides is right, hardscapes was up something like mid-teens in '23? That's not about right? And I was wondering if you may be able to give us a sense for how much of that is, coming from acquisitions versus the underlying hardscaping business, how it's been performing?

知道了。這就說得通了。然後我想具體問一下您有關硬景觀的問題，硬景觀在您的業務中所佔的比例越來越大。如果我在幻燈片上的計算是正確的，那麼硬景觀在 23 年就達到了十幾歲左右？這不太對吧？我想知道您是否能讓我們了解其中有多少來自收購與基礎硬景觀業務，其表現如何？

Yes. Well, I think -- I don't know the specific math, John might, but that would be mostly through acquisitions. We saw hardscapes kind of hanging in there. Obviously, hardscapes is tied to repair and remodel. So the market was going the other way for hardscapes.

是的。嗯，我想——約翰可能不知道具體的數學原理，但這主要是透過收購。我們看到硬景觀掛在那裡。顯然，硬景觀與修復和改造息息相關。因此，硬景觀市場正走向相反的方向。

I would say hardscapes for us, longer term, is a great product line. Net-net, it's going to grow faster than the market because you still have some penetration going on there. It's a good, profitable part of our business, and we're excited to continue to increase the amount of hardscapes we have in our overall mix.

我想說，從長遠來看，硬景觀對我們來說是一個很棒的產品線。 Net-net，它將比市場成長得更快，因為那裡仍然有一定的滲透力。這是我們業務中一個很好的、有利可圖的部分，我們很高興能夠繼續增加我們整體組合中的硬景觀數量。

But those types of numbers, that would have been additions through acquisitions, not an organic type of performance for 2023.

但這些類型的數字是透過收購增加的，而不是 2023 年的有機業績。

Yes. Up until '23 hardscapes has been one of our strongest grower in '23. It's primarily, as Doug mentioned, tied to repair and remodel. So there was a pullback slight on a volume basis.

是的。直到 23 年，硬景觀一直是我們 23 年最強的種植者之一。正如道格所提到的，它主要與修復和改造有關。因此，成交量略有回落。

The other aspect of it, just in the mix percentage is that the one big drop was fertilized and it's because of the deflation. So it kind of came down, hardscape grew through acquisitions. That -- those are the primary mechanics that drove this switch in our product mix.

另一方面，就混合百分比而言，一個大的下降是受精的，這是因為通貨緊縮。所以它有點下降，硬景觀透過收購成長。這些都是推動我們產品組合轉變的主要機制。

Did that answer your question?

這回答了你的問題嗎？

Yes, thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

是的，謝謝，夥計們。欣賞它。

Our next question comes from Andrew Carter with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自安德魯·卡特和斯蒂菲爾。

Pricing got worse in the quarter, though. I know it's not perfect, but the index price has actually got a little better. So what I wanted to ask is, is the dislocation issue getting worse -- did that get worse of trying to kind of price down to the competition? And if you could, there's a headwind there from the mismatch of you have to match the market, but then not get the full favorability in input cost. How big is that headwind in gross margin? Did it grow? Does it improve from here? Anything you can help me -- us out on that?

不過，本季的定價情況變得更糟。我知道它並不完美，但指數價格實際上已經好一點了。所以我想問的是，錯位問題是否變得更糟——嘗試降低價格以適應競爭是否會變得更糟？如果可以的話，就會有一個逆風，因為你必須與市場相匹配，但在投入成本上卻得不到充分的優惠。毛利率的阻力有多大？它長大了嗎？從這裡開始有改善嗎？你能幫我什麼忙嗎？

I would say, the price difference was similar in Q3 -- in Q4 as in Q3, maybe not as tough as it was at the end of Q3, but -- and maybe it got a little bit better as we finish the year than it was in the beginning of the quarter. But in general, we were still in a deflationary environment, it was 5%, which is kind of where we thought it would be and it's -- we are seeing improving so far this year, though, obviously, the year is still there.

我想說，第三季的價格差異是相似的——第四季和第三季一樣，也許不像第三季末那麼艱難，但是——也許隨著我們今年的結束，價格差異會比去年好一點是在本季初。但總的來說，我們仍然處於通貨緊縮環境中，為 5%，這正是我們預期的情況，而且今年到目前為止，我們看到情況有所改善，但顯然，這一年仍然存在。

We had previously talked about kind of the dynamic where we look back on kind of price cost and that variance relative to like pre-COVID. And that dynamic, we were probably 40 to 50 basis points below kind of the price cost ratio there that we had there. And this is a variance to kind of like, I would call it, equilibrium, where we were above equilibrium and then now we're probably 40 to 50 basis points below equilibrium from that standpoint.

我們之前曾討論過我們回顧價格成本的動態以及相對於新冠疫情之前的差異。從這種動態來看，我們的價格成本比可能比我們在那裡的價格成本低 40 到 50 個基點。這是一種差異，我稱之為均衡，我們高於均衡，但現在從這個角度來看，我們可能低於均衡 40 到 50 個基點。

We expect that kind of that kind of switch in the second half of this year, which is what we talked about on the last call. That has not changed.

我們預計今年下半年會出現這種轉變，這也是我們在上次電話會議中討論的內容。這一點沒有改變。

Second question I have, and then if I put like the high end of your EBITDA guidance on what I think is the low end of your sales, I get a 10% EBITDA margin. You've said 13% to 15% in the past. So at best, we're looking at 50 basis points EBITDA margin expansion this year. Is it going to be a slow plod consistent of getting there? Is there some kind of step change initiative once you reach some kind of scale? And is there any way you could give us kind of the margin differential by vintage, i.e., branches that have been in the portfolio for 6 years versus 2 years? Anything to help us and give confidence in that path to 13% to 15%.

我的第二個問題是，如果我把你的 EBITDA 指導的高端放在我認為的你的銷售額的低端上，我會得到 10% 的 EBITDA 利潤率。你過去說過13%到15%。因此，我們預計今年 EBITDA 利潤率最多可擴張 50 個基點。到達那裡會是一個緩慢而緩慢的過程嗎？一旦達到某種規模，是否會採取某種階躍變革舉措？您是否可以透過任何方式向我們提供按年份劃分的保證金差異，即在投資組合中已存在 6 年與 2 年的分支？任何可以幫助我們並讓我們對這條通往 13% 至 15% 的道路充滿信心的事情。

Yes. So I think it will be a gradual steady climb. As John mentioned, we switched from the price realization tailwind, which obviously carried us in '21 and '22. So '23 becoming a headwind, that headwind will continue in '24. We'll make progress in '24 despite that, but that will come back to us in '25. So we got some juice, if you will, for '25 that comes from that headwind going away and going back to equilibrium. And then I think you'll just see us -- a steady climb.

是的。所以我認為這將是一個逐步穩定的攀升。正如約翰所提到的，我們從價格實現的順風轉向，這顯然在 21 和 22 年為我們帶來了幫助。因此，23 年成為逆風，這種逆風將在 24 年繼續。儘管如此，我們仍將在 24 年取得進展，但這將在 25 年回到我們身邊。因此，如果你願意的話，我們在 25 年獲得了一些動力，這些動力來自於逆風消失並恢復平衡。然後我想你就會看到我們──穩定地攀登。

There's no one event. There's a lot of things pointed at that. On the gross margin side, as we grow with our small customers, we drive our private label brands. And as we do some of our own initiatives in freight and otherwise, we attack that gross margin.

沒有一個活動。有很多事情都指出了這一點。在毛利率方面，隨著我們與小客戶一起成長，我們推動了自有品牌的發展。當我們在貨運和其他方面採取一些自己的舉措時，我們會攻擊毛利率。

And on the SG&A side, with siteone.com and MobilePro and the technologies that we've deployed, with our TMS and freight management, which we're now focused on the last leg of delivery, and that's going to help us on the overhead there. As we further leverage our DCs and our center, we're going to get SG&A leverage there. And quite frankly, as we spread best practices across nursery and hardscapes, which are the more operating-intensive parts of our business. So with the combination of those, we had kind of steadily toward that.

在 SG&A 方面，透過 siteone.com 和 MobilePro 以及我們部署的技術，以及我們的 TMS 和貨運管理，我們現在專注於交付的最後一站，這將幫助我們減少管理費用在那裡。隨著我們進一步利用我們的 DC 和中心，我們將在那裡獲得 SG&A 槓桿。坦白說，我們在苗圃和硬景觀中傳播最佳實踐，這是我們業務中運作更密集的部分。因此，透過這些因素的結合，我們穩步實現了這一目標。

And just to give confidence, we have whole regions that are $500 million, $600 million of sales already in that, and they're fully loaded with our overhead and our head office overhead, et cetera, already operating there. So we've got hundreds of branches already operating. We've got many operating above that.

為了給人信心，我們整個地區的銷售額已經達到 5 億美元，其中已經有 6 億美元的銷售額，而且它們已經滿載了我們的管理費用和總部管理費用等，已經在那裡運營。因此，我們已經有數百家分公司正在運作。我們有很多在上面操作的。

So we see it all over SiteOne. It's just getting the average up to that level, and we're very confident we can do that.

所以我們在 SiteOne 上隨處可見。只是讓平均值達到這個水平，我們非常有信心能夠做到這一點。

Our next question comes from Matthew Bouley with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Matthew Bouley。

I just wanted to ask on the volume cadence. I think to the extent, your organic daily sales are down mid-single digits year-to-date and assuming you're kind of in the same price bucket, I don't know if that means your volumes are kind of flattish so far this year. And so the question is, as you move forward, I do think the comparisons on volumes year-over-year perhaps get a little bit tougher as your volumes did grow for most of last year. So how are you guys thinking about that cadence of volumes in Q1, Q2? And kind of what's assumed in the guide from a volume perspective in the second half?

我只是想問音量節奏。我認為，在某種程度上，今年迄今為止，你們的有機日銷售額下降了中個位數，假設你們處於相同的價格區間，我不知道這是否意味著你們的銷量到目前為止持平今年。所以問題是，隨著你的前進，我確實認為同比銷量的比較可能會變得更加困難，因為去年大部分時間你的銷量確實有所增長。那麼你們如何看待第一季、第二季的銷售節奏呢？從下半年的數量角度來看，指南中假設了什麼？

Yes. I think, again, the near-term sales and the weather don't give you a read on volume. So I wouldn't take too much into -- well, we're here in January, et cetera, et cetera, because the weather really moves things around in January and February, and it can change from week to week and then you hit March, and it could change even further.

是的。我再次認為，近期的銷售和天氣並不能讓你了解成交量。所以我不會想太多——好吧，我們在一月份，等等，等等，因為一月和二月的天氣確實會發生變化，而且每週都會發生變化，然後你會發現三月，情況可能會進一步變化。

So I think what we believe is that the market is stronger, right? Residential is going to be stronger. We think repair and remodel will be net stronger, meaning it won't be down. We think it will be flattish. Maintenance is solid and commercial is still solid, right?

所以我認為我們相信市場更強勁，對吧？住宅將會更加強大。我們認為修復和改造將更加強勁，這意味著它不會下降。我們認為它會很平坦。維護工作很穩定，商業也很穩定，對嗎？

And so if we take that backdrop and we look at the comps from the prior year, we think the volume growth that we've seen in the third and fourth quarter is going to continue. And as we hit the third and fourth quarter of 2024, we've got price, we've got the price headwind abating and we still have strong markets, and we've got stronger teams where we can drive more volume. So that's kind of how we think the year will play out outside some of the weather movements that we're seeing here today.

因此，如果我們考慮到這一背景並查看上一年的比較，我們認為第三季和第四季的銷售成長將繼續下去。當我們進入 2024 年第三季和第四季時，我們已經得到了價格，我們的價格逆風減弱了，我們仍然擁有強勁的市場，我們擁有更強大的團隊，可以推動更多的銷售。這就是我們認為今年將如何在我們今天看到的一些天氣變化之外進行的情況。

So in general, we feel good about the forecast there and our ability to go generate consistent volumes throughout the year.

因此，總的來說，我們對那裡的預測以及我們全年保持穩定產量的能力感到滿意。

Got you. Okay. That's helpful. Then second one, the -- I don't know if it's possible to kind of call the ball on gross margins beyond Q1 on a quarterly basis. But I guess my question is, given you still have some deflation rolling into the second quarter, and I know you're saying that, that should turn positive by the second half, is it possible for gross margins to expand on a year-over-year basis when you still have deflation? And so is the assumption that really all the gross margin expansion would come in the second half because you're past the deflation headwind. Just kind of any color on how that dynamic might play out.

明白你了。好的。這很有幫助。然後是第二個，我不知道是否有可能按季度確定第一季之後的毛利率。但我想我的問題是，考慮到第二季度仍然存在一些通貨緊縮，而且我知道你是說，到下半年應該會轉為正數，毛利率是否有可能同比擴大以年為基礎，您何時仍存在通貨緊縮？因此，我們假設所有的毛利率擴張都將出現在下半年，因為你已經克服了通貨緊縮的逆風。只是關於這種動態如何發揮的任何顏色。

I think directionally, you're correct. I think there will be more outperformance in the second half of the year. I think Q2 is a little too early to call, but we're certainly, I would say we will on a -- just on a year-over-year basis, we will be in a whole in Q1. Q2 we'll be digging ourselves out, maybe slightly positive, then we would expect outperformance in the second half of the year.

我認為從方向上來說，你是對的。我認為下半年會有更多表現。我認為第二季的預測還為時過早，但我們肯定，我想說，我們會在逐年基礎上，我們將在第一季實現整體成長。第二季我們將挖掘自己，也許稍微積極一些，然後我們預計下半年會有優異的表現。

There are no further questions at this time. And I would now like to turn the floor back over to Doug Black for closing comments.

目前沒有其他問題。現在我想將發言權交還給道格布萊克（Doug Black）發表最後評論。

Okay. Thank you, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We appreciate your interest in SiteOne, and we look forward to speaking to you again after our first quarter.

好的。謝謝大家，謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們感謝您對 SiteOne 的興趣，我們期待在第一季結束後再次與您交談。

We'd like to once again thank our terrific associates for all that they do to make us a great company. Our customers and suppliers, we certainly appreciate them as well. Thank you. Bye.

我們要再次感謝我們出色的員工為使我們成為一家偉大的公司所做的一切。我們當然也感謝我們的客戶和供應商。謝謝。再見。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。