Skillsoft Corp (SKIL) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by and welcome to SkillSoft's second quarter fiscal 2026 results conference call.

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 SkillSoft 2026 財年第二季業績電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Please note that today's call is being recorded (Operator Instructions).

（操作員指示）請注意，今天的通話正在錄音（操作員指令）。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Steven Poe, Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，投資者關係部的 Steven Poe。謝謝。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good day and thank you for joining us to discuss the results for the second quarter ending July 31, 2025.

謝謝您，接線生。大家好，感謝您加入我們討論截至 2025 年 7 月 31 日的第二季業績。

Before we jump in, I want to remind you that today's call will contain forward-looking statements about the company's business outlook and our expectations that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning financial and business trends, our expected future business and financial performance, financial condition, and market outlook.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的電話會議將包含有關公司業務前景和我們預期的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述構成美國 1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法案所定義的前瞻性陳述，包括有關財務和業務趨勢、我們預期的未來業務和財務表現、財務狀況和市場前景的陳述。

These forward-looking statements and all statements that are not historical facts reflect management's current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions and therefore are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the conclusions, forecasts, estimates, or projections in the forward-looking statements made today.

這些前瞻性陳述以及所有非歷史事實的陳述均反映了管理層當前的信念、期望和假設，因此存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與今天做出的前瞻性陳述中的結論、預測、估計或預期存在重大差異。

For a discussion of the material risks and other important factors that can affect our actual results, we refer you to our most recent Form 10-K and other documents that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information which speak as of their respective dates.

有關可能影響我們實際結果的重大風險和其他重要因素的討論，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 表格和其他文件。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明或資訊的義務，這些聲明或資訊截至其各自日期為止均有效。

During the call, unless otherwise noted, all financial metrics we discussed will be non-GAAP financial measures which are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. For example, listeners should be cautioned that references to phrases such as adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow denote non-GAAP financial measures.

在電話會議期間，除非另有說明，我們討論的所有財務指標均為非 GAAP 財務指標，並非依照公認會計原則編製。例如，聽眾應該注意，調整後的 EBITDA 和自由現金流等短語指的是非 GAAP 財務指標。

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial measures. A presentation of the most directly comparable financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP, as well as the definitions, uses, and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures included in today's commentary to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is included in our earnings press release, which has been furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K and is available at www.sc.com and is also available on our website at www.skillsoft.com.

非公認會計準則財務指標不應被單獨考慮或作為公認會計準則財務指標的替代。我們的收益新聞稿中介紹了根據 GAAP 確定的最直接可比較財務指標，以及今天對最直接可比 GAAP 財務指標的評論中包含的非 GAAP 財務指標的定義、使用和調節，該新聞​​稿已以 8-K 表格形式提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC)，可在 www.sc.com 上查閱，也可在我們的網站上查閱，也可在我們的網站 www.skill.com 上查閱，也可在我們的網站上查閱，也可在 www.skill.com 上查閱

Following today's prepared remarks, Ron Hovsepian, SkillSoft's Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer; and John Frederick, SkillSoft's Chief Financial Officer will be available for Q&A.

在今天的準備好的發言之後，SkillSoft 的執行主席兼執行長 Ron Hovsepian 和 SkillSoft 的財務長 John Frederick 將接受問答。

With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Ron.

說完這些，我很高興將電話轉給羅恩。

Thanks, Steven. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. Economic uncertainty extended Q1 headwinds into Q2 and weighed on revenue primarily through lower customer discretionary training spending. The impact was most pronounced on our live learning offers, which include nearly all of global knowledge products while affecting only one product, coaching and TDS.

謝謝，史蒂文。下午好，感謝您加入我們。經濟不確定性將第一季的不利因素延續到第二季​​度，並主要透過降低客戶可自由支配的培訓支出來拖累收入。對我們的現場學習服務影響最為明顯，其中包括幾乎所有的全球知識產品，但只影響一種產品，即輔導和 TDS。

With clearer visibility and established buying patterns and given Q1 and Q2 contribute 30% to 40% of our annual bookings, we are updating our full year revenue guidance. Despite a lower revenue base, we delivered consistent profitability and improved adjusted EBITDA margins, which reflects the success of our expense reduction, operational improvement, and resource allocation initiatives executed to date.

由於可見度更加清晰、購買模式更加成熟，考慮到第一季和第二季占我們年度預訂量的 30% 至 40%，我們正在更新全年收入預期。儘管收入基數較低，我們仍實現了持續盈利並提高了調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率，這反映了我們迄今為止實施的費用削減、營運改善和資源配置舉措的成功。

As a result, we are maintaining our full year expectations for adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, which John will cover in more detail. Ahead of our results, we want to update you on our transformation. We're about one year into our execution plan, which is producing encouraging proof points, most notably a fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth in our TDS enterprise solution, which represents more than 90% of the TDS segment.

因此，我們維持對全年調整後 EBITDA 和自由現金流的預期，John 將對此進行更詳細的介紹。在公佈結果之前，我們想向您通報我們的轉型。我們的執行計劃已經進行了大約一年，並產生了令人鼓舞的證據，最值得注意的是我們的 TDS 企業解決方案連續第四個季度實現收入增長，佔 TDS 細分市場的 90% 以上。

The people transformation and new roles are foundational to the next phase of our transformation, which are driving the new AI innovation-based product roadmap and our new positioning that will focus on intelligent learning design, skills intelligence, and immersive learning experiences.

人員轉型和新角色是我們下一階段轉型的基礎，它們推動著基於人工智慧創新的新產品路線圖和我們的新定位，重點是智慧學習設計、技能智慧和沈浸式學習體驗。

To summarize our key transformation actions since launched last August, we've created and implemented a dual business unit structure, improved our operational execution, conducted a significant shift in critical resources, and recently finished building out our talented bench of leaders to drive our strategy forward. In total, these actions helped deliver $45 million in expense reductions, contributed significantly to profitability and margin expansion, and we have begun to stabilize our core TDS enterprise segment.

總結自去年八月啟動以來我們採取的關鍵轉型措施，我們創建並實施了雙業務部門結構，改進了運營執行，對關鍵資源進行了重大轉變，並且最近完成了人才隊伍的建設，以推動我們的戰略向前發展。總的來說，這些舉措幫助我們削減了 4500 萬美元的費用，對盈利能力和利潤率的提高做出了重大貢獻，並且我們已經開始穩定我們的核心 TDS 企業部門。

Turning to the second quarter, broad macro and geopolitical headwinds weighed heavily on GK during the first quarter and continued into the second quarter, with the largest impact coming from slower demand in North America and in the Middle East.

展望第二季度，廣泛的宏觀和地緣政治逆風在第一季度對 GK 造成了沉重打擊，並持續到第二季​​度，其中最大的影響來自北美和中東的需求放緩。

These were driven by external factors. As a result, we are updating the revenue guidance. John will provide the specifics. Our teams continue to deliver on our strategic priorities. First, we have focused on leveraging the existing scale of our platform and our relationship management teams that already serve nearly 3,000 customers.

這些都是由外在因素驅動的。因此，我們正在更新收入指引。約翰將提供具體細節。我們的團隊繼續履行我們的戰略重點。首先，我們專注於利用我們平台的現有規模和已經為近 3,000 名客戶提供服務的關係管理團隊。

I'd like to share three examples of customer wins from Q2. All more than $1 million of total contract value which validate our strength in providing value to enterprise organizations. A global athletic apparel brand partnered with us to enhance leadership capabilities and drive cultural transformation. Our unified learning solution integrated risk-based compliance, inclusive leadership development, and innovation training.

我想分享第二季客戶成功的三個例子。合約總價值超過 100 萬美元，證明了我們為企業組織提供價值的實力。全球運動服飾品牌與我們合作，以增強領導能力並推動文化轉型。我們的統一學習解決方案整合了基於風險的合規性、包容性領導力發展和創新培訓。

Our personalized learning pathways and analytical tools help the organization to track progress and elevate engagement while streamlining global compliance. A global semiconductor manufacturer engaged our team to enhance their learning ecosystem for 43,000 employees with a focused AI-powered content and personalized learning paths.

我們個人化的學習途徑和分析工具可協助組織追蹤進度並提高參與度，同時簡化全球合規性。一家全球半導體製造商與我們的團隊合作，透過專注的人工智慧內容和個人化學習路徑，增強其 43,000 名員工的學習生態系統。

The program includes certifications in cloud, cybersecurity, and agile methodologies. Our ability to deliver high impact learning at scale is helping the customer meet aggressive innovation timelines and improve cross functional collaboration. A leading European provider of digital services partnered with us to launch a large scale workforce transformation initiative. We were selected for our ability to deliver strategic learning at scale, which we accomplished with them.

該計劃包括雲端、網路安全和敏捷方法方面的認證。我們能夠大規模地提供高影響力的學習，幫助客戶滿足積極的創新時間表並改善跨職能協作。一家領先的歐洲數位服務供應商與我們合作，啟動了一項大規模的勞動力轉型計畫。我們之所以被選中，是因為我們有能力大規模地進行策略學習，並且我們與他們一起實現了這一目標。

In just 18 months, the company's global workforce earned over 20,000 certifications in cybersecurity, cloud, data, and AI, and service management. These wins reflect the growing demand for scalable, high impact learning solutions as organizations adapt to rapid shifts in workforce and AI technology. To meet this need, we are evolving our product strategy to focus on AI native design, skills intelligence, and enterprise grade flexibility.

在短短 18 個月內，該公司的全球員工就獲得了網路安全、雲端、數據、人工智慧和服務管理領域的 20,000 多項認證。這些勝利反映出，隨著企業適應勞動力和人工智慧技術的快速變化，對可擴展、高影響力的學習解決方案的需求日益增長。為了滿足這項需求，我們正在改進我們的產品策略，專注於人工智慧原生設計、技能智慧和企業級靈活性。

This shift is not limited to an enterprise HR team. It is increasingly relevant to the executives across the organization who are focused on building workforce capabilities that directly link to measurable outcomes. Later this month, we will share details about a new AI authoring experience designed to change the way organizations create and deliver learning. This innovation is part of a broader roadmap focused on personalized skills development, scalable certification, and advanced analytics.

這種轉變不僅限於企業人力資源團隊。它對於整個組織中專注於建立與可衡量結果直接相關的勞動力能力的高階主管來說越來越重要。本月晚些時候，我們將分享有關全新 AI 創作體驗的詳細信息，旨在改變組織創建和提供學習的方式。這項創新是更廣泛路線圖的一部分，重點關注個人化技能開發、可擴展認證和高級分析。

These capabilities will enable enterprises to produce high quality content faster at a lower cost, localize and govern it at scale, shorten time to competency, and quantify the ROI through deeper skills and compliance insights.

這些功能將使企業能夠以更低的成本更快地製作高品質的內容，大規模地在地化和管理內容，縮短能力實現時間，並透過更深入的技能和合規性洞察來量化投資回報率。

As part of our roadmap, we advanced KC by adding full voice mode, five level proficiency scoring, an improved feedback rubric and a new behavior trait for more dynamic conversations. For enterprises, this scales realistic role play. Delivers consistent and audible proficiency signals, speeds time to competency, lowers coaching costs, and links skills progress to faster sales ramp, higher customer satisfaction, and stronger compliance.

作為我們路線圖的一部分，我們透過添加全語音模式、五級熟練度評分、改進的回饋標準和新的行為特徵來實現更動態的對話，從而改進了 KC。對企業來說，這可以擴大現實角色的發揮。提供一致且可聽見的熟練程度訊號，加快達到熟練程度的時間，降低培訓成本，並將技能進步與更快的銷售成長、更高的客戶滿意度和更強的合規性聯繫起來。

We expanded global learner support with unified language experience and over 50 languages. We launched an intuitive page builder for custom enterprise landing pages and broadened HR and technology certifications with comparative dashboards by department geography, each having custom attributes as desired.

我們透過統一的語言體驗和超過 50 種語言擴展了全球學習者支援。我們推出了一個直覺的頁面建立器，用於自訂企業登入頁面，並透過按部門地理位置比較的儀表板擴大了人力資源和技術認證，每個儀表板都可以根據需求自訂屬性。

For enterprises, this delivers faster global rollouts, higher adoption and completion, consistent governance, and clearer ROI from skills and compliance gains. Skillsoft [Precipio] platform momentum continues with technology learners up 50% year over year, AI learners up 74%, and AI learning hours up 158%.

對於企業而言，這可以實現更快的全球推廣、更高的採用率和完成度、一致的治理以及更清晰的技能和合規性收益投資回報率。Skillsoft [Precipio] 平台動能持續，科技學習者年增 50%，人工智慧學習者成長 74%，人工智慧學習時長成長 158%。

Enterprises are scaling with Skillsoft to close the skill gaps, reach competency faster, adopt AI more broadly, cut training and onboarding costs, and improve their KPIs. Bringing it all together, we're confident in our core business's durability and in the strategic investments in our go to market and product portfolio, all of which will enable us to return to market growth rates.

企業正在利用 Skillsoft 擴大規模，以縮小技能差距、更快地達到能力、更廣泛地採用人工智慧、降低培訓和入職成本並提高其 KPI。總而言之，我們對核心業務的持久性以及對市場和產品組合的策略性投資充滿信心，所有這些都將使我們能夠恢復市場成長率。

With that, now let me hand the call over to John to cover our financial results in more detail, John?

好了，現在讓我把電話交給約翰，讓他更詳細地介紹我們的財務結果，約翰？

Thank you, Ron, and good afternoon everyone. As a reminder and as noted at the opening of the call, consistent with prior quarters, this section covers non-GAAP measures unless otherwise stated.

謝謝你，羅恩，大家下午好。需要提醒的是，正如電話會議開始時所指出的，與前幾季一致，本節涵蓋非 GAAP 指標，除非另有說明。

As Ron noted, we continue to advance our transformation and are seeing encouraging signs even amid persistent macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, particularly in public sector spending within our global knowledge segment.

正如羅恩所指出的，我們繼續推動轉型，即使在持續的宏觀經濟和地緣政治挑戰中，我們也看到了令人鼓舞的跡象，特別是在我們全球知識領域的公共部門支出方面。

We have made considerable investments in our go to market enterprise customer resources and products, and while it's too early to conclude on the efficacy of these investments, I wanted to share some initial insights.

我們對市場導向的企業客戶資源和產品進行了大量投資，雖然現在對這些投資的效果下結論還為時過早，但我想分享一些初步見解。

With respect to enterprise customers, we invested in specialized subject matter experts, SMEs to help our customers make the most of their talent development journey. These SMEs improved dollar retention rates by more than 10 percentage points, better than the average. The investments made in Q2 will need time and market for us to see the effects, aiding this rollout of key investments, we now have a new marketing leader and expect to make some exciting product announcements in the upcoming weeks as Ron referenced earlier.

對於企業客戶，我們投資了專業主題專家和中小企業，以幫助我們的客戶充分利用他們的人才發展之旅。這些中小企業的美元留存率提高了10個百分點以上，高於平均水準。我們在第二季度進行的投資需要時間和市場才能看到效果，這有助於推出關鍵投資，我們現在有了一位新的行銷領導者，並期望在未來幾週內發布一些令人興奮的產品公告，正如羅恩之前提到的。

Now turning to the results, revenue for Talent Development Solutions, or TDS was $101.2 million in the second quarter, slightly down year over year. Our TDS performance continues to benefit from our efforts to capitalize on the evolving market shift from traditional learning and skills development towards more comprehensive talent development solutions. However, during the quarter, growth in our TDS enterprise solutions was masked by declines in our learner product line reflecting fundamental changes in the B2C market over time.

現在來看看業績，人才發展解決方案（TDS）第二季的營收為 1.012 億美元，比去年同期略有下降。我們的 TDS 業績繼續受益於我們努力利用市場從傳統學習和技能發展向更全面的人才發展解決方案的轉變。然而，在本季度，我們的 TDS 企業解決方案的成長被我們的學習者產品線的下滑所掩蓋，這反映了 B2C 市場隨著時間的推移而發生的根本變化。

Global knowledge revenue of $27.6 million in the quarter was down approximately $2.9 million, or 9.6% year over year. We continue to see softening demand, reflecting lower discretionary spending, particularly in North America, and from geopolitical instability in the Middle East which impacted GK during the quarter. These market conditions are central to our view on full year guidance, which we'll cover shortly.

本季全球知識收入為 2,760 萬美元，年減約 290 萬美元，降幅為 9.6%。我們繼續看到需求疲軟，反映出可自由支配支出的減少，特別是在北美，以及中東地緣政治不穩定在本季對 GK 產生了影響。這些市場狀況是我們對全年指引的看法的核心，我們將很快對此進行介紹。

Total revenue of $128.8 million in the second quarter was down $3.4 million or 2.6% year over year. Our TDS LTM dollar retention rate, or DRR as of the second quarter was 99%. This compares to 99% last quarter and 98.4% one year ago.

第二季總營收為 1.288 億美元，年減 340 萬美元，降幅為 2.6%。截至第二季度，我們的 TDS LTM 美元保留率（DRR）為 99%。相較之下，上一季這一比例為 99%，去年同期為 98.4%。

Churn and erosion in our federal business had a material effect on DRR in the quarter, reducing our performance within the quarter by approximately 4 percentage points, putting the materiality of this in the proper context.

我們聯邦業務的流失和侵蝕對本季的 DRR 產生了重大影響，導致我們本季的業績下降了約 4 個百分點，這在適當的背景下體現了其重要性。

Now I'll walk through expense measures which again saw a year over year improvement as a result of the cost reduction initiatives we executed in the back half of last year. Cost of revenue of $32.7 million in the second quarter or 25% of revenue was up 1.6% year over year, reflecting higher utilization of certain platform features by our customers.

現在，我將介紹一下費用指標，由於我們去年下半年實施的成本削減舉措，這些指標再次出現了同比改善。第二季的營收成本為 3,270 萬美元，佔營收的 25%，年增 1.6%，反映出我們的客戶對某些平台功能的利用率更高。

Content and software development expenses of $13.2 million in the quarter or 10% of revenue were down approximately 5.9% year over year. These improvements largely reflected productivity gains from leveraging AI and a sharper focus.

本季內容和軟體開發費用為 1,320 萬美元，佔營收的 10%，年減約 5.9%。這些改進很大程度上反映了利用人工智慧和更敏銳的關注度所帶來的生產力提升。

Selling and marketing expenses of $38.5 million in the second quarter where 30% of revenue were down approximately 3% year over year. General and administrative expenses were $16.1 million in the second quarter, or 12% of revenue, down approximately 10.5% year over year.

第二季銷售和行銷費用為 3,850 萬美元，佔營收的 30%，年減約 3%。第二季的一般及行政開支為 1,610 萬美元，佔營收的 12%，年減約 10.5%。

Total operating expenses were $100.5 million in the second quarter, or 78% of revenue, down $3.4 million or 3.2% year over year. Despite the lower revenue base compared to the prior year period, we once again delivered strong profitability with adjusted EBITDA of $28.3 million flat compared to last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of revenue for the quarter was 22% compared to 21.4% last year.

第二季總營運費用為 1.005 億美元，佔營收的 78%，年減 340 萬美元，降幅為 3.2%。儘管與去年同期相比營收基數較低，但我們再次實現了強勁的獲利能力，調整後的 EBITDA 為 2,830 萬美元，與去年持平。本季調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率佔營收的百分比為 22%，而去年同期為 21.4%。

GAAP net loss was $23.8 million in the second quarter compared to a GAAP net loss of $39.6 million in the prior year period. GAAP net loss per share was $2.78 compared to $4.84 per share in the prior year period. Adjusted net income of $7.9 million in the second quarter compared to adjusted net income of $7.1 million in the prior year. Adjusted net income per share of $0.92 in the second quarter compared to adjusted net income per share of $0.87 in the prior year.

第二季 GAAP 淨虧損為 2,380 萬美元，去年同期 GAAP 淨虧損為 3,960 萬美元。以美國通用會計準則計算，每股淨虧損為 2.78 美元，而去年同期每股淨虧損為 4.84 美元。第二季調整後淨收入為 790 萬美元，去年同期調整後淨收入為 710 萬美元。第二季調整後每股淨收益為 0.92 美元，去年同期調整後每股淨收益為 0.87 美元。

Moving to cash flow and balance sheet highlights, free cash flow for the quarter was negative$22.6 million compared to negative $16.1 million in the prior year period. As we anticipated and as we alluded to in the last quarter's call, most of the positive pre-cash flow we generated in the first quarter reversed in Q2. However, year-to-date pre-cash flow remains positive and was approximately $3.5 million as compared to a cash usage in the prior year of $5.7 million.

轉向現金流和資產負債表亮點，本季自由現金流為負 2,260 萬美元，去年同期為負 1,610 萬美元。正如我們預期的那樣，正如我們在上個季度的電話會議中提到的那樣，我們在第一季產生的大部分正預現金流在第二季度發生了逆轉。然而，年初至今的預付現金流仍為正，約 350 萬美元，而前一年的現金使用量為 570 萬美元。

Again, this was driven largely by normal seasonality as Q2 is typically our weakest cash flow quarter, as well as timing of collections and certain disbursements in the quarter. Looking to the balance of the year, improving free cash flow and generating consistent positive free cash flow continues to be a top priority. And accordingly, we're reiterating our expectation of $13 million to $18 million for the full year.

同樣，這主要是由正常的季節性因素造成的，因為第二季度通常是我們現金流最弱的季度，以及本季收款和某些支出的時間。展望今年的平衡，改善自由現金流並產生持續的正自由現金流仍然是首要任務。因此，我們重申全年 1,300 萬至 1,800 萬美元的預期。

GAAP cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash was $103.4 million at quarter end. (inaudible) on a GAAP basis, which includes borrowings on our term loan and accounts receivables facility was $579 million at the end of Q2, down slightly from approximately $581 million at the end of fiscal '25, reflecting normal amortization.

本季末，以 GAAP 計算的現金、現金等價物和受限現金為 1.034 億美元。 （聽不清楚）以 GAAP 計算，包括定期貸款和應收帳款融資在內的借款在本季末為 5.79 億美元，較 25 財年末的約 5.81 億美元略有下降，反映了正常的攤銷。

Federal net debt, which includes borrowings on our term loan and accounts receivable facility, net of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, was approximately $475 million, down from approximately $477 million at the end of fiscal '25.

聯邦淨債務（包括定期貸款和應收帳款貸款的借款，扣除現金、現金等價物和受限現金）約為 4.75 億美元，低於 25 財年末的約 4.77 億美元。

Turning to the outlook for the full year, as Ron already mentioned, we are adjusting our previously communicated revenue range outlook for fiscal '26 to account for the now anticipated continued softness in federal spending. We now expect revenue of $510 million to $530 million for the full year.

談到全年前景，正如羅恩已經提到的，我們正在調整先前傳達的 26 財年收入範圍前景，以考慮到現在預期的聯邦支出持續疲軟。我們現在預計全年收入為 5.1 億美元至 5.3 億美元。

However, because of continued operational execution and cost optimization, we're reiterating our expectations for adjusted EBITDA of $112 million to $118 million. We also remain confident in our ability to drive positive free cash flow in fiscal '26 and are reiterating our expectation of $13 million to $18 million for the full year.

然而，由於持續的營運執行和成本優化，我們重申對調整後 EBITDA 1.12 億美元至 1.18 億美元的預期。我們也對在 26 財年實現正自由現金流的能力充滿信心，並重申我們對全年 1,300 萬至 1,800 萬美元的預期。

We're continuing to monitor our external market conditions and impacts to our business and are diligently focused on continuing to accelerate our transformation and optimizing our performance, including examining all areas of the business for profitability improvements.

我們將繼續監控外部市場狀況及其對我們業務的影響，並努力專注於繼續加速轉型和優化業績，包括審查業務的所有領域以提高獲利能力。

With that, operator, please open the call up to questions.

接線員，請開始回答問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Ken Wong, Oppenheimer.

肯·黃，奧本海默。

Okay, fantastic. Thanks for taking my question. Ron, I wanted to touch on your comments about the softer live learning environment. Appreciate the color in North America and the Middle East. Are you able to give any additional color on if any particular sectors stood out in terms of, kind of material softening? I know last quarter we saw some softer government discretionary, but I'd love a sense of kind of what end markets might be impacted.

好的，太棒了。感謝您回答我的問題。羅恩，我想談談你對更柔和的現場學習環境的評論。欣賞北美和中東的色彩。您能否進一步說明一下，在材料軟化方面，是否有哪個特定產業表現突出？我知道上個季度我們看到政府的自由裁量權減弱，但我很想知道哪些終端市場可能會受到影響。

Yeah, no, thank you, Ken. The answer is yeah, it's kind of an interesting story. It's a tale of two cities here. What I see in North America specifically, I did see public sector get affected in North America and the Middle East in terms of live learning, right? That that was a direct hit there.

是的，不，謝謝你，肯。答案是肯定的，這是一個有趣的故事。這是兩個城市的故事。具體來說，我在北美看到，北美和中東的公共部門在現場學習方面受到了影響，對嗎？那是一次直接打擊。

When I look at what's happening in our live learning, in particular in Europe, we're actually showing good progress there, I think, as John referenced in his comments. So it's interesting we've been, and that's a booking statement is what you're hearing from me. We're seeing that progress, so it gives me confidence we see a clear path on how to fix that business and get that business to growth again and proof points that we can do it and we'll give more color in the near term on what we'll see then we'll have some things to share.

當我看到我們的現場學習中發生的事情時，特別是在歐洲，我認為我們實際上在那裡取得了良好的進展，正如約翰在他的評論中提到的那樣。所以這很有趣，這就是您從我這裡聽到的預訂聲明。我們看到了這一進展，因此它給了我信心，我們看到了一條關於如何修復該業務並使其再次增長的清晰道路，並證明我們可以做到這一點，我們將在短期內對我們將看到的情況給出更多的說明，然後我們會有一些東西可以分享。

The interesting part is where we got really hit in the quarter was really public sector. The uncertainty in the Middle East was a big one on that piece of it. And then in North America, the uncertainty that we're all familiar with and the expense got.

有趣的是，本季我們真正受到打擊的是公共部門。中東地區的不確定性是其中的一大因素。然後在北美，我們都熟悉的不確定性和費用。

Got it. And any, I'm sure that the natural question from some investors might be kind of why you're confident that this might be more of a macro dynamic versus potentially a competitive situation here. Any color you're seeing in the pipeline or just your your deal commentary with customers that suggests that it's more the former rather than the latter.

知道了。而且，我相信一些投資者自然會問，為什麼您有信心這可能更多的是一種宏觀動態，而不是潛在的競爭局面。您在管道中看到的任何顏色，或者您與客戶的交易評論都表明前者比後者更甚。

Yeah, when I look down into the bookings and what I'm seeing happens specifically in Europe, which is probably six to nine months ahead of its recovery compared to like the US, what I see there is actually really nice large dedicated public sector deals being signed by the team. And that will become revenue and convert over time, and those are nice numbers.

是的，當我查看預訂情況時，我發現歐洲的情況尤其如此，與美國相比，歐洲的復甦可能要提前六到九個月，我看到團隊實際上簽署了非常好的大型專用公共部門交易。隨著時間的推移，這些都會轉化為收入和轉化，這些都是不錯的數字。

We haven't shared those numbers publicly and we'll figure out when and where, if any of that gets shared. But I can tell you that part I know is working. So that's where I'm getting the confidence from when you hear me say that and that is where we're really seeing good progress. I would share with you that the rest of the market when I look inside the sector of virtual instructor led training and physical instructor led training, those two pieces of it.

我們還沒有公開分享這些數字，如果分享的話，我們會確定何時何地分享。但我可以告訴你，我知道的部分正在發揮作用。所以，當我這麼說的時候，我感到很有信心，而且我們也確實看到了良好的進展。當我觀察虛擬教練主導訓練和實體教練主導訓練領域時，我想與你們分享其餘的市場，也就是其中的兩個部分。

It's the people who deliver it are also seeing. I looked at about six companies that deliver portions of it, and I saw a range of negatives from those companies reporting in that one specific live learning bucket is what I'm referring to. So I saw four out of the six not have growth, one of them have growth at 1%.

送貨的人也看到了。我調查了大約六家提供部分服務的公司，發現這些公司在報告某個特定的即時學習內容時存在一系列負面情況，而這正是我所指的。因此，我看到六個中有四個沒有成長，其中一個成長了 1%。

So I didn't feel like we were out of way out of line with what's the market occurring across the market again in that narrow sector. There's another four or five companies I track, but they don't publish numbers. So that's a very important piece, Ken, of what I saw happening inside the market as well as I think about it.

因此，我並不覺得我們與這個狹窄領域的整個市場行情脫節。我還追蹤了另外四、五家公司，但他們沒有公佈數據。肯，這是我所看到的市場內部發生的事情以及我所思考的事情中非常重要的一部分。

Yeah, and I think, so I can take this John, a couple of things. So first, from a confidence perspective, we did see some green shoes as Ron alluded to in Europe, with respect to GK. So we're starting to see some improvement from a bookings perspective such that business is largely that piece of the business is largely inflected in that quarter. So that's a one quarter reflection point. I wouldn't call it a full inflection, but it certainly gives us a reason to feel a little bit more confident with some of the transformation activities that we're conducting in that region.

是的，我想，所以我可以接受約翰的幾件事。首先，從信心的角度來看，正如羅恩在歐洲提到的，就 GK 而言，我們確實看到了一些綠色鞋子。因此，從預訂的角度來看，我們開始看到一些改善，業務在很大程度上是該季度業務的主要影響因素。這就是四分之一的反射點。我不會稱之為徹底的轉變，但它確實讓我們有理由對我們在該地區進行的一些轉型活動更有信心。

The second piece really is around confidence. When we adjusted our guidance down, almost all of that guidance adjustment pertained to GK specifically, so we're really trying to do our best to be careful and thoughtful about taking that piece of the risk profile of the forecasting out of the mix, if you will.

第二點確實與信心有關。當我們下調指導意見時，幾乎所有指導意見的調整都與 GK 有關，因此，我們確實在盡力謹慎和深思熟慮地將預測中的風險狀況部分從組合中剔除，如果你願意的話。

Got it. Okay, perfect. And that somewhat segues into my next question, John, and just, you feel that $17 million, that 3% cut to revenue, that feels appropriately fenced off. I mean, would you characterize that as being based on what you saw in your bookings in the quarter, or did you guys embed some further erosion as a potential safeguard?

知道了。好的，完美。這有點引出了我的下一個問題，約翰，您覺得那 1700 萬美元，即 3% 的收入削減，是被適當地隔離了。我的意思是，您是否認為這是基於您在本季度的預訂情況，還是您嵌入了進一步的侵蝕作為潛在的保障措施？

Yeah, so it's a great question. Thank you. So first half revenue for the company was down about $7 million. When you think about this business from a normal seasonality perspective, from a bookings perspective, about 35% of our business is in the first half, about 65% is in the second half. So we have a bunch of commercial activity happening in the back half of the year.

是的，這是一個很好的問題。謝謝。因此該公司上半年的營收下降了約 700 萬美元。當你從正常的季節性角度和預訂角度來考慮這項業務時，我們大約 35% 的業務是在上半年，大約 65% 是在下半年。因此，我們在今年下半年會進行大量商業活動。

So we took that into consideration when we set the low end of our guidance range. So you said differently and more directly, first half down $7 million, that implies the back half being down [13] to get to the low end of our guidance. So we tried to take that heavier seasonality in the back half of the year into consideration, if you will.

因此，我們在設定指導範圍的低端時考慮到了這一點。所以你的說法更直接，上半年下降了 700 萬美元，這意味著下半年也會下降 [13] 以達到我們指導的低端。因此，如果您願意的話，我們會嘗試將下半年更嚴重的季節性因素納入考量。

Perfect. Okay, I really appreciate the color there. I think that makes a lot of sense. And then, I guess this could go for either you, Ron, or John, but with, you guys were projecting to a little bit of growth previously and now the new guy, a bit of a decline from fiscal '24, and I know that the aim with with all the moving pieces, the first part of the year was to get back to growth, Roan, do you think that that timeline is now hugely dependent on macro or do you feel there's still elements that are within your control to potentially get this business back on track?

完美的。好的，我真的很欣賞那裡的顏色。我認為這很有道理。然後，我想這可能適用於你、羅恩或約翰，但是，你們之前預測會有一點增長，而現在新人預測會比 24 財年有所下滑，而且我知道所有變動因素的目標是今年上半年恢復增長，羅恩，你認為這個時間表現在很大程度上取決於宏觀因素，還是你覺得仍有一些因素在你的控制範圍內，有可能讓這項業務重回正軌？

Ken, this is John. So great question. Why don't we start with what our strategic aim was last year. So we started with the transformation. We reduced some costs. We made a bunch of investments in the first half of the year, predominantly in the second quarter. So we haven't had quite enough time in the market to see what how those investments were really going to pay off. We certainly expect that they will.

肯，這是約翰。這個問題問得真好。我們為什麼不從去年的策略目標開始呢？因此我們開始轉型。我們降低了一些成本。我們在今年上半年進行了大量投資，主要是在第二季。因此，我們還沒有足夠的時間來觀察這些投資究竟會帶來什麼樣的回報。我們當然希望他們會這麼做。

And when you kind of play this out, I'd say that we've tried to do our very best to -- so actually really want to shift to a different topic here, but, to give you a little bit more context, but I think what we really want to do is make the investments. We have confidence in the investments that we've made. We've seen some green shoots in the business.

當你把這件事情進行下去時，我想說我們已經盡力了——所以實際上我們真的想轉到另一個話題，但是為了給你更多的背景信息，我認為我們真正想做的是進行投資。我們對所做的投資充滿信心。我們已經看到了該行業一些復甦的跡象。

We've also seen in the TDS Enterprise product line. That business has continued to grow over the last four quarters, and that gives us a lot of confidence and given that's 90% of the TDS segment, when you kind of break the two pieces out, we de-res the forecasts on the GK side. We've got the transformation seeming to work on the TDS Enterprise product side.

我們也在 TDS Enterprise 產品線中看到了這一點。這項業務在過去四個季度中持續成長，這給了我們很大的信心，考慮到它佔 TDS 部門的 90%，當你將這兩個部分分開時，我們會降低 GK 方面的預測。我們的轉型似乎在 TDS Enterprise 產品方面發揮了作用。

Our strategic target was that enterprise customer. If you go back to that beginning last August. So to kind of just summarize, target was the enterprise customer. That segment of the customer is growing. We de-risked the GK side. So I think we're feeling pretty good about what the outlook is.

我們的策略目標是企業客戶。如果你回顧去年八月的開始。總結一下，目標就是企業客戶。這部分客戶正在不斷成長。我們降低了 GK 方面的風險。所以我認為我們對前景感到十分樂觀。

Yeah, and just to finish answering your question on the macro uncertainty and the impact on the long term or near term plan. From my perspective, this macro uncertainty has hit us for about three to six months on timing roughly, as I look out into it. We were a little slow in some of the hiring, the macro uncertainty piece hit, so that that piece of it is what I would contextualize it in.

是的，我只是想回答你關於宏觀不確定性及其對長期或近期計劃的影響的問題。從我的角度來看，這種宏觀不確定性已經對我們造成了大約三到六個月的影響，據我觀察。由於受到宏觀不確定性的影響，我們在招募方面進展有些緩慢，因此我將這種情況放在這個背景下進行分析。

I feel very comfortable over the next 12 months to 18 months we can make up at least one quarter of that. So I'm not, I'm going to let the economy do its thing and as I shared with the with you and the rest of the group at the beginning of the year. We did not account for macro uncertainty because it was too difficult to predict at the beginning of the year.

我非常有信心，在未來 12 個月到 18 個月內，我們至少可以彌補其中的四分之一。所以我不會，我會讓經濟自己發展，就像我在年初與你們和其他人分享的那樣。我們沒有考慮宏觀不確定性，因為年初預測起來太難了。

As we got through the first half here, we had a lot more facts in our patterns. We could see things and everything John said then kicked in in his prepared comments and just now. But when I look at it, I'm just looking at the time window of it. I see it hitting us for about six months right now, and I believe we can easily make up one of those quarters over the next 12 to 18 months, right?

當我們完成上半部時，我們的模式中已經有了更多的事實。我們可以看到，約翰剛才在準備好的評論中所說的一切都發揮了作用。但當我看它時，我只是在看它的時間窗口。我認為它目前對我們的影響將持續大約六個月，我相信我們可以在未來 12 到 18 個月內輕鬆彌補其中一個季度的影響，對嗎？

I don't want to act like we can get back time, but some of that we can make up, and that's a financial statement in terms of getting back to the growth plans that we have. That's not, I don't see it making a big shift or a tectonic plate shift, which is what you're, I think, really asking.

我不想表現得好像我們可以挽回時間，但我們可以彌補一些損失，這是一份關於恢復我們現有成長計畫的財務報表。這並不是說，我沒有看到它發生巨大的轉變或板塊移動，我認為這才是你真正想問的。

Perfect. Okay, fantastic. And then maybe shifting to a more positive note does sound like TDS, especially the enterprise customers was tracking the plan. Any update or any incremental color on maybe how the dollar retention rate looks for that business, and then to the extent that there's any color on maybe the 10% that's not the enterprise mix, any color on how that performs.

完美的。好的，太棒了。然後也許轉向更積極的態度聽起來確實像 TDS，特別是企業客戶正在追蹤該計劃。是否有任何更新或增量資訊表明該業務的美元保留率如何，以及是否對 10% 的非企業組合做出任何說明，是否對其表現做出任何說明。

Yeah, great question. So our year-to-date DRR was around 99, as you probably heard. And within the quarter we had a fairly significant impact from our North American Federal business. I think in terms of the prepared remarks we were that had about a 4 percentage point impact negative in the quarter.

是的，很好的問題。因此，正如您可能聽說的那樣，我們今年迄今為止的 DRR 約為 99。在本季度，我們的北美聯邦業務對我們產生了相當大的影響。我認為，就我們準備好的發言而言，這給了本季帶來約 4 個百分點的負面影響。

So obviously we're absent that effect. We would have had a bit better DRR. When I think about it relative to the competitive set in the marketplace, I think we're really holding our own nicely from a DRR perspective and setting the table for future growth, for sure.

所以顯然我們沒有這種效果。我們的 DRR 本來會更好。當我考慮到市場上的競爭對手時，我認為從 DRR 的角度來看，我們確實表現良好，並且肯定為未來的成長奠定了基礎。

I think when you look at the smaller piece of the business that remaining less than 10% of the TDS business, which is really the B2C business. If you just kind of run the math, that business is down double digits on a year to year basis, so that was putting some fairly intense pressure on the TDS segment. Having said that, our real focus is on the enterprise test.

我認為，當你看較小的業務部分時，剩下的不到 10% 的 TDS 業務，實際上是 B2C 業務。如果你算一下，你會發現該業務的年比下降了兩位數，因此這給 TDS 部門帶來了相當大的壓力。話雖如此，我們真正的重點是企業測試。

Got it. Okay. Perfect.

知道了。好的。完美的。

Good, keep going.

很好，繼續。

Yeah, I was going to, and I know this is always, it's always tricky, but I mean, given the cuts that you guys have laid out there, obviously embedding some incremental weakness to account for the seasonality in the second half.

是的，我本來打算這麼做，我知道這總是很棘手，但我的意思是，考慮到你們已經制定的削減計劃，顯然會嵌入一些漸進的弱點來應對下半年的季節性。

I mean, would it be fair to call Q2 a trough or I guess it'd be more, I guess it could be maybe 3Q depending on how we weight the guidance, but how would you help us kind of frame kind of where we are in terms of the magnitude of headwinds that you're facing?

我的意思是，將第二季度稱為低谷是否公平，或者我猜應該更確切地說是第三季度，這取決於我們如何權衡指導，但就您所面臨的逆風程度而言，您如何幫助我們確定我們所處的位置？

Yeah, I think we've programmed in a bit of reduction in the back half of the year for sure. So if we were to kind of separate the two segments, we don't obviously we don't give segment guidance, but we're certainly more negative in our outlook on the GKPs in terms of the guidance adjustment that we made.

是的，我認為我們肯定會在今年下半年進行一些削減。因此，如果我們要將這兩個部分分開，我們顯然不會給出部分指導，但就我們所做的指導調整而言，我們對 GKP 的展望肯定更為消極。

I think in the end, we can certainly expect that the TDS business should continue to perform at about the level it's been from a revenue perspective. It's, the seasonality is relatively modest in that business. It's basically a 50-50 business. We can, it has some predictability to it, so I don't see a lot of negativity coming the way of TDS.

我認為最終，我們當然可以預期，TDS 業務的收入水準將繼續保持目前的水準。該行業的季節性相對較弱。這基本上是一個各佔一半份額的生意。我們可以，它具有一定的可預測性，因此我認為 TDS 不會帶來太多負面影響。

With respect to a trough, we programmed in more of a trough on the GK side in the back half of the year. So I think the way to think about it is kind of the tale of two cities again with TDS performing reasonable to expectations. In fact, I'll say it more directly. Had we not had some of the headwinds on GK, we probably wouldn't be having the conversation about reducing guidance.

關於低谷，我們在下半年對 GK 方面的低谷進行了更多的規劃。因此，我認為思考這個問題的方式有點像是兩個城市的故事，TDS 的表現符合預期。事實上，我會​​說得更直接一些。如果我們沒有遇到 GK 方面的一些阻力，我們可能就不會討論減少指導。

Got it. Understood.

知道了。明白了。

And I think on the guidance, Ken, I think John answered that perfectly, so I don't think anything to add there, but just, I just want to remind everybody, we're balancing in this conversation your trough question when I look at it at the top level, we're balancing macro uncertainty right that we talked about which your question was built on, but I'm also balancing a transformation at the same time.

我認為，關於指導，肯，我認為約翰的回答非常完美，所以我認為沒有什麼可補充的，但是，我只是想提醒大家，我們在這次談話中平衡了你的問題，當我從最高層次來看它時，我們正在平衡宏觀不確定性，我們討論過你的問題是基於什麼建立的，但同時我也在平衡轉型。

So, your question about is it the trough, we're right in the middle of that transformation as well, right, as I indicated in my comments, you'll see a product setup announcements shortly, very shortly. You will, we are hiring, as John pointed out in his things very quickly, right in this past quarter in particular, right? So as you look at it, I see the transformation also happening that'll add to a little bit of the trough here that we're in.

所以，你的問題是，這是低谷嗎？我們也處於轉型的中間階段，對吧，正如我在評論中指出的那樣，你很快就會看到產品設定公告。你會的，我們正在招聘，正如約翰在他的文章中很快指出的那樣，特別是在上個季度，對吧？所以當你看到它時，我看到轉變也在發生，這將加劇我們所處的低潮。

And so there's a financial part you're asking and then there's the transformational part, and I think we just got to remember we're doing both at once, which has a little, extra degree of difficulty to what we're getting done from an overall business perspective.

所以，你問的是財務部分，然後是轉型部分，我認為我們必須記住，我們同時在做這兩件事，從整體業務角度來看，這為我們所做的事情增加了一點額外的難度。

So in terms of the transformation layer of it, I believe we're hitting. As we enter next year, I feel very good about the overall strategy. And the execution of the go to market changes, the product changes, and the overall business changes that we're making, and those things will start to then be, they'll be fully instantiated as we hit next year, and we will begin to see those things start to pay off. So I'll let you design the timing on the trough on that one.

因此，就其轉型層面而言，我相信我們正在取得成功。進入明年，我對整體策略感到非常滿意。我們正在實施的市場變革、產品變革和整體業務變革，這些事情將會開始實施，到明年它們將會完全實現，我們將開始看到這些事情開始產生回報。所以我會讓你設計那個波谷的時間。

I understand. I appreciate the (Inaudible - microphone inaccessible), and then maybe the last question for me just, while a little disappointing on the revenue side, you guys were able to maintain EBITDA. It sounds like cash flow will still be on the positive end. How is think about kind of the levers that were pulled to the extent that there's further softening. I mean, do you feel there's still some capacity to kind of sustain the kind of profitability that you guys have been pushing for since the start of the year?

我明白。我很感謝（聽不清楚 - 麥克風無法使用），然後也許對我來說最後一個問題只是，雖然收入方面有點令人失望，但你們能夠保持 EBITDA。聽起來現金流仍將為正。想想那些被拉動到一定程度的槓桿會如何，以致於進一步軟化。我的意思是，您是否覺得仍有能力維持自今年年初以來一直追求的獲利能力？

Yeah, so Ken, we're certainly always cognizant of how we can become more efficient during the course of the year. So we're almost in a constant mode of assessing, particularly as part of this transformation as we make these investments trying to become, continuing to be more efficient, and so you can reasonably expect that will have a business model that comports with the current trajectory of the business.

是的，肯，我們當然始終清楚如何在一年的時間內提高效率。因此，我們幾乎處於一種持續評估的模式，特別是作為這種轉型的一部分，我們進行這些投資試圖變得更加高效，因此你可以合理地預期，我們將擁有一個與當前業務軌跡相符的商業模式。

Yeah. Understood. And I guess maybe a follow up to that, I guess, how much of the cost management, incremental productivity is just simply, like there's a variable component to your cost structure if obviously if your bookings and the revenue do not align with a certain compensation level for sales and marketing up, you can dial that back versus what might have been more deliberately cut, whether it's on G&A or product again align with kind of the current conditions.

是的。明白了。我想也許可以跟進一下，我想，成本管理、增量生產力在多大程度上只是簡單的，就像你的成本結構中有一個可變的組成部分，如果你的預訂量和收入顯然與銷售和營銷的某個補償水平不一致，你可以將其撥回，而不是更刻意地削減，無論是在一般行政費用還是產品方面，再次與當前條件保持一致。

Actually very little that was pure variable cost changes as a result of revenue. It was mostly the effects of fixed costs that we've taken out previously.

實際上，由於收入而導致的純粹變動成本變化非常少。這主要是我們之前消除的固定成本的影響。

All right, perfect. I think that's it on my end, guys, really appreciate the incremental color there. And yeah, best of luck on the back half.

好的，完美。我想這就是我的目的，夥計們，真的很欣賞那裡的增量色彩。是的，祝你後半段好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you, and there are no further questions at this time. I'll hand the floor back to Ron Hovsepian for closing remarks. Thank you.

謝謝，目前沒有其他問題。我將把發言權交還給 Ron Hovsepian，請他做最後發言。謝謝。

Thank you, Diego. I'm I'm as excited as ever about the opportunities in front of us at Skillsoft. While the challenging macroeconomic headwinds in some markets have caused chopppiness in our revenues over the short term, the disciplined execution of our transformation, key investments in the up and coming product announcements put us on sound footing to participate in the AI fueled opportunities emerging in this market, allowing us to really return the company to market growth in line with our long range plan. So I'm confident where we're heading, and I look forward to seeing where and when and how fast we can get ourselves there. With that, thank you all for participating in the call today. Talk soon.

謝謝你，迭戈。我對 Skillsoft 帶給我們的機會感到一如既往的興奮。雖然一些市場面臨的宏觀經濟逆風在短期內導致我們的收入出現波動，但我們對轉型的嚴格執行以及對即將發布的產品的重點投資，使我們有充分的基礎參與到這個市場新興的人工智能機遇中，使我們能夠真正按照我們的長期計劃讓公司恢復市場增長。因此，我對我們的目標充滿信心，並且期待看到我們能夠在何時何地、以多快的速度實現這一目標。最後，感謝大家今天參加電話會議。很快再談。

Thank you. This concludes today's call. All participants may disconnect. Have a good day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。所有參與者均可斷開連線。祝你有美好的一天。