Startek Inc (SRT) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for participating in today's conference call to discuss the Startek financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. Joining us today are Startek Global CEO, Bharat Rao; and the company's Global CFO, Neeraj Jain. Following their remarks, we'll open the call for your questions.

大家下午好，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議，討論 Startek 截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日的第二季度財務業績。今天加入我們的是 Startek 全球首席執行官 Bharat Rao；以及該公司的全球財務長 Neeraj Jain。在他們發表講話後，我們將開始電話詢問您的問題。

Before we continue, we would like to remind all participants that the discussion today may contain statements, which are forward-looking in nature pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities law. These statements are based on information currently available to us and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Startek advises all those listening to this call to review the latest 10-K posted on its website for a summary of these risks and uncertainties. Startek does not undertake the responsibility to update any forward-looking statements.

在繼續之前，我們想提醒所有參與者，今天的討論可能包含根據聯邦證券法安全港條款前瞻性的陳述。這些陳述基於我們目前掌握的信息，並受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果出現重大差異。 Startek 建議所有收聽本次電話會議的人員查看其網站上發布的最新 10-K，以了解這些風險和不確定性的摘要。 Startek 不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的責任。

Further, the discussion today may include some non-GAAP measures. In accordance with Regulation G, the company has reconciled these amounts back to the closest GAAP-based measurement. These reconciliations can be found in the earnings release on the Investors section of their website.

此外，今天的討論可能包括一些非公認會計準則措施。根據 G 條例，該公司已將這些金額調整回最接近的基於 GAAP 的衡量標準。這些調節可以在其網站投資者部分的收益發布中找到。

I would like to remind everyone that a webcast replay of today's call will be available via the Investors section of the company's website at www.startek.com. Additionally, the company has included a presentation to accompany the call, which can be found via the webcast link and on the Investors section of the company's website.

我想提醒大家，今天電話會議的網路廣播重播將透過公司網站 www.startek.com 的投資者部分提供。此外，該公司還在電話會議中附上了一份演示文稿，可以透過網路廣播連結和該公司網站的投資者部分找到該演示文稿。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Startek Global CEO, Bharat Rao. Bharat, please proceed.

現在我想將電話轉給 Startek Global 執行長 Bharat Rao。巴拉特，請繼續。

Thank you, Paul, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you all for joining. As Paul just mentioned, we encourage everyone to follow along with the quarterly investor presentation, that can be accessed through the webcast link as well as the IR site.

謝謝保羅，大家下午好，謝謝大家的加入。正如保羅剛才提到的，我們鼓勵每個人關注季度投資者演示，可以透過網路廣播連結和投資者關係網站存取該演示。

Let's start on Slide 2 and recap our Q2 highlights along with some recent events. Overall, we continue to provide best-in-class services to our customer base, and I'm proud to report our data showing us in top quartile of performance with our top 20 clients.

讓我們從幻燈片 2 開始，回顧第二季度的亮點以及最近發生的一些事件。總體而言，我們繼續為客戶群提供一流的服務，我很自豪地報告我們的數據，顯示我們在排名前 20 名的客戶中排名前四分之一。

The investments we've made in our platform over the past 18 months have really begun to take hold, and it's great to see these investments translating into a better customer experience across the board. As we've discussed at length, 2022 was about investing in our capabilities and rightsizing our footprint to ensure our entire organization was focused on driving growth through our core competencies.

過去 18 個月，我們在平台上進行的投資已經真正開始發揮作用，很高興看到這些投資全面轉化為更好的客戶體驗。正如我們詳細討論的那樣，2022 年是對我們的能力進行投資並調整我們的足跡，以確保我們整個組織專注於透過我們的核心能力推動成長。

In 2023, our goal is to put our foot on the gas to grow our client base and continue looking for ways to expand offerings with current clients. To start the year, we made meaningful progress with the consolidation of our digital and sales team under one umbrella led by our Chief Growth Officer, Abhi Jain.

2023 年，我們的目標是加強擴大客戶群，並繼續尋找方法擴大現有客戶的產品範圍。今年伊始，我們在首席成長長 Abhi Jain 的領導下，將數位和銷售團隊整合到了一個整體中，取得了有意義的進展。

Although it is still in the early innings of the transition, we are seeing positive signs that this organizational shift is benefiting starting from an efficiency and a pipeline conversion perspective. In fact, our momentum from the first quarter continued into quarter 2 as we successfully ramped up services with new clients and worked on increasing volumes with existing clients.

儘管仍處於過渡的早期階段，但我們看到了積極的跡象，表明這種組織轉變正在從效率和管道轉換的角度中受益。事實上，我們從第一季開始的勢頭一直持續到第二季​​度，我們成功地加強了對新客戶的服務，並致力於增加現有客戶的數量。

One of these ramps included a large client in the cable sector, expanding delivery to 4 additional geographies. We also gained 4 new logos, which are all set to be delivered offshore. While I'll dive into further details about our growth initiatives later on, it is encouraging to see that we have been able to sustain margins despite the decline in our revenue base as a result of our strategic divestitures that we have already made and plan to make.

其中一個斜坡包括有線電視行業的大客戶，將交付範圍擴大到另外 4 個地區。我們還獲得了 4 個新徽標，這些徽標都將在海外交付。雖然我稍後將進一步詳細介紹我們的成長計劃，但令人鼓舞的是，儘管我們已經進行併計劃進行戰略剝離，導致我們的收入基礎下降，但我們仍然能夠維持利潤率。製作。

Before we move on, I want to address what is probably top of mind for everyone. Subsequent to quarter end, our majority shareholder, CSP, made another take private offer to our Board of Directors. Within the proposal, CSP is offering $3.8 per share for remaining shares not already owned by them. As a result, our Board has put together a special committee comprising 3 independent directors to evaluate the offer and determine if it is suitable for our shareholders. At this time, I have no further updates and the special committee has commenced their deliberation process.

在我們繼續之前，我想解決每個人最關心的問題。季度末後，我們的大股東 CSP 向我們的董事會再次提出非公開要約。在提案中，CSP 提出以每股 3.8 美元的價格收購其尚未擁有的剩餘股份。因此，我們的董事會成立了一個由 3 名獨立董事組成的特別委員會來評估該要約並確定是否適合我們的股東。目前，我沒有進一步的更新，特別委員會已經開始審議程序。

Turning to Slide 3. We are always proud to be recognized by our team's hard work, innovation and workplace culture. We won a Stevie Award for our new products and a handful of Comparably awards for everything from culture to career growth. We also participated in Customer Contact Week where we were able to interact and exchange ideas with clients and industry participants.

轉向幻燈片 3。我們團隊的辛勤工作、創新和工作文化得到認可，我們始終感到自豪。我們的新產品贏得了史蒂夫獎，並贏得了從文化到職業發展等各個方面的一些同類獎項。我們也參加了客戶接觸週，與客戶和行業參與者互動並交流想法。

Notably, many of the conversations were centered around the broader impact of artificial intelligence and how we can better leverage this groundbreaking technology to deliver enhanced customer experience. We are grateful to be recognized as a leader in our industry for the way we treat our employees and the impact we make when it comes to new innovations. We expect our reputation for success to benefit us as we continue to scale our sales pipeline.

值得注意的是，許多對話都圍繞著人工智慧的更廣泛影響以及我們如何更好地利用這項突破性技術來提供增強的客戶體驗。我們很高興因我們對待員工的方式以及我們在新創新方面所產生的影響而被公認為行業領導者。我們預計，隨著我們繼續擴大銷售管道，我們的成功聲譽將使我們受益。

Moving to Slide 4. I wanted to dive a bit deeper into our growth initiatives. As I mentioned earlier, our strategy of consolidating our sales and digital teams under 1 umbrella of growth reporting into our Chief Growth Officer, is beginning to show results. If you look at the momentum we've already generated in the first half of 2023, we have more than doubled our new logo wins from 2021 and have already reached 75% of the total new logo wins we had in all of 2022.

前往投影片 4。我想更深入地了解我們的成長計劃。正如我之前提到的，我們將銷售和數位團隊整合到首席成長長的成長報告之下的策略已開始顯現成效。如果您看看我們在 2023 年上半年已經產生的勢頭，您會發現我們的新徽標贏得數量比 2021 年增加了一倍多，並且已經達到 2022 年全年新徽標贏得總數的 75%。

In quarter 2 alone, we signed 14 new campaigns and 4 new logos. Our year-to-date new logo wins have a contract value in excess of USD 57 million. We firmly believe that we are well positioned to capitalize on the opportunity in the long term and weather short-term headwinds. With uncertainty persisting in the global macro economy, we are seeing longer sales cycles and delayed decision-making with current and potential clients.

光是第二季度，我們就簽署了 14 個新活動和 4 個新標誌。我們今年迄今贏得的新標誌合約價值超過 5700 萬美元。我們堅信，我們處於有利地位，能夠充分利用長期機會並應對短期阻力。由於全球宏觀經濟持續存在不確定性，我們看到銷售週期更長，當前和潛在客戶的決策延遲。

With cost reduction being at the forefront of many discussions with customers, we believe the investments we have made to expand our nearshore and offshore services positions us well. We are able to provide a compelling offer that can reduce a company's expenses, while simultaneously enhancing the overall customer experience.

由於降低成本是與客戶進行的許多討論的首要問題，我們相信，我們為擴大近岸和離岸服務而進行的投資使我們處於有利地位。我們能夠提供令人信服的報價，減少公司的開支，同時增強整體客戶體驗。

To further supplement these conversations, we are also focusing on expanding our technological capabilities through continued internal investment, along with entering into advantageous partnerships.

為了進一步補充這些對話，我們還致力於透過持續的內部投資以及建立有利的合作夥伴關係來擴大我們的技術能力。

Looking at the game-changing technology like AI, we need to ensure we remain at the forefront of leveraging this appropriately and passing on the efficiencies to our clients. We are in discussions with our digital partners to build modules around AI that can further help us elevate agent performance, efficiency and engagement. We are also building vertical-specific models alongside Startek Cloud and Startek AI platforms, leveraging our deep expertise in select verticals to enable transformation solutions.

著眼於人工智慧等改變遊戲規則的技術，我們需要確保我們始終處於適當利用這項技術並將效率傳遞給客戶的最前沿。我們正在與數位合作夥伴討論圍繞人工智慧建立模組，以進一步幫助我們提高客服人員的績效、效率和參與度。我們也與 Startek Cloud 和 Startek AI 平台一起建立特定於垂直產業的模式，利用我們在特定垂直產業的深厚專業知識來實現轉型解決方案。

On the topic of investing in our capabilities, let's look at Slide 5. I wanted to highlight an important milestone we accomplished this quarter. As many of you are aware, security has always been top of mind for our organization, and it's only getting more important in this day and age.

關於投資我們的能力的主題，讓我們看一下投影片 5。我想強調我們本季實現的一個重要里程碑。正如你們許多人所知，安全一直是我們組織的首要考慮因素，並且在當今時代它只會變得更加重要。

We have spent a considerable amount of time upgrading our security apparatus to ensure it is best in class. As a result, we received a rating of A or 97 out of 100 from Security Scorecard, exceeding our industry average and continuing on trend upwards. We also received a Bitsight Security Rating of 750, which is also above the industry average of 720 and considered an advanced security score on the lowest end of the risk spectrum.

我們花了大量的時間來升級我們的安全設備，以確保它是同類中最好的。因此，我們在安全記分卡中獲得了 A 級評級，即 97 分（滿分 100 分），超過了行業平均水平，並且繼續呈上升趨勢。我們還獲得了 750 分的 Bitsight 安全評級，這也高於 720 分的行業平均水平，被認為是風險譜最低端的高級安全分數。

While these high ratings are not new for us, the continued improvement and commitment to investing in this kind of business serves as a reminder of the premium we place on the security of our customer data and platform. Overall, I'm proud of the progress we have made in the second quarter. Whilst there may be some choppiness in the short term, we are continuing to push forward aggressively and execute the long-term goals we have set for ourselves.

雖然這些高評級對我們來說並不新鮮，但對此類業務的持續改進和投資承諾提醒我們對客戶資料和平台安全的重視。總的來說，我對我們在第二季取得的進展感到自豪。儘管短期內可能會出現一些波動，但我們將繼續積極推進並執行我們為自己設定的長期目標。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to our new CFO, Neeraj Jain. Neeraj brings to us more than 2 decades of experience in corporate development, organizational transformation and financial leadership. We are happy to have his extensive experience and leadership on board as we enter this next phase of our growth strategy. Neeraj will now provide further details on our second quarter financial results, of which you can see a recap starting on Slide 6.

現在我想將電話轉給我們的新任財務長 Neeraj Jain。 Neeraj 為我們帶來了 20 多年在企業發展、組織轉型和財務領導方面的經驗。當我們進入下一階段的成長策略時，我們很高興有他豐富的經驗和領導能力。 Neeraj 現在將提供有關我們第二季度財務業績的更多詳細信息，您可以從幻燈片 6 開始看到回顧。

Thank you all for joining us, and I'll be available to answer questions you may have during the Q&A session at the end of this call. Neeraj, I'll now pass over the call to you.

感謝大家加入我們，我將在本次電話會議結束時的問答環節回答您可能提出的問題。 Neeraj，我現在將電話轉給您。

Thanks for the introduction, Bharat. I have only been CFO for a couple of months. But in that time, I've been impressed with the team's determination and rigor. I'm happy to be here and excited to play a role in the company's growth as we look forward to a promising future ahead.

謝謝你的介紹，巴拉特。我擔任財務長才幾個月。但在那段時間，我對團隊的決心和嚴謹印象深刻。我很高興來到這裡，並很高興能夠在公司的發展中發揮作用，因為我們期待著美好的未來。

I would like to note that as a result of our current and planned divestitures, we have adjusted our financial statements to exclude revenue from discontinued operations in the current and prior year periods. For a full reconciliation of our second quarter results, please see the financial tables listed in our quarterly earnings release or 10-Q that will be posted on the Investor Relations section of our website.

我想指出的是，由於我們目前和計劃中的資產剝離，我們已經調整了財務報表，以排除本期和上一年期間已終止業務的收入。有關我們第二季業績的完整核對錶，請參閱我們的季度收益報告或 10-Q 中列出的財務表格，這些表格將發佈在我們網站的投資者關係部分。

Starting on Slide 6. Looking at our top line. Net revenue in Q2 was $91.1 million compared to $96.2 million in the year ago quarter. If you adjust for the high revenue basis, in the prior year period, resulting from an unexpected client churn, along with FX impacts, revenue actually increased 3% year-over-year on a constant currency basis.

從投影片 6 開始。看看我們的頂行。第二季淨收入為 9,110 萬美元，而去年同期淨收入為 9,620 萬美元。如果根據高收入基礎進行調整，則在上一年期間，由於意外的客戶流失以及外匯影響，按固定匯率計算，收入實際上同比增長了 3%。

Gross profit in the second quarter increased 5.7% to $11.7 million compared to $11 million in the year ago quarter. Gross profit margin increased 130 basis points to 12.8% compared to 11.5% in the year ago quarter. The improvement in gross profit and gross margin is primarily attributable to lower employee cost, resulting from a higher portion of service delivered nearshore and offshore along with proactive pricing adjustments to account for the inflation of the environment (sic) [inflationary environment].

第二季毛利成長 5.7%，達到 1,170 萬美元，去年同期為 1,100 萬美元。毛利率較去年同期的 11.5% 成長 130 個基點，達到 12.8%。毛利和毛利率的改善主要歸因於員工成本的降低，這是由於近岸和離岸交付的服務比例增加，以及針對環境通貨膨脹（原文如此）[通貨膨脹環境]而進行的主動定價調整。

Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations in the second quarter was $7.7 million compared to $7.9 million in the year ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 20 basis points to 8.4% compared to 8.2% in the year ago quarter. Please note that second quarter typically is a low-margin quarter, given it has lowest count of working days.

第二季持續經營業務調整後的 EBITDA 為 770 萬美元，去年同期為 790 萬美元。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率成長 20 個基點，達到 8.4%，而去年同期為 8.2%。請注意，第二季度通常是利潤率較低的季度，因為它的工作天數最少。

As a result of the efficiencies that we have built into our platform over the past year, our focus will be on maintaining the full year adjusted EBITDA margins in the similar range as last year. Despite increasing cost towards upgrading our technology and security, additionally, as we expand our offshore, nearshore mix, we should continue to see improvements with our adjusted EBITDA margins over time.

由於我們在過去一年中提高了平台的效率，我們的重點將是將全年調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率維持在與去年類似的範圍內。儘管升級我們的技術和安全性的成本不斷增加，此外，隨著我們擴大離岸、近岸組合，隨著時間的推移，我們應該會繼續看到調整後的EBITDA 利潤率有所改善。

Adjusted net income attributable to Startek shareholders from continuing operations was $1.5 million compared to $6.2 million in the year ago quarter. At a consolidated level, including discontinued operations, adjusted net income decreased to $1.5 million or $0.04 per diluted share compared to $6.3 million or $0.15 per diluted share in the year ago quarter.

持續經營業務中歸屬於 Startek 股東的調整後淨利為 150 萬美元，去年同期為 620 萬美元。在合併層面（包括終止經營業務），調整後淨利潤下降至 150 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.04 美元，而去年同期為 630 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.15 美元。

Turning to Slide 7. You will see a breakdown of our revenue by vertical and geography for the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022. Please note that much of these declines were expected as we navigated the transition of our asset base and focused on higher-margin offerings. In addition to many of the wins we experienced in the first half of 2023, not flowing through to our financial results until the back half of the year end 2024.

轉向投影片 7。您將看到與 2022 年上半年相比，我們 2023 年上半年按垂直和地理劃分的收入明細。請注意，這些下降大部分是在我們推動資產基礎轉型和專注於利潤率較高的產品。除了我們在 2023 年上半年取得的許多勝利之外，直到 2024 年下半年才體現出我們的財務表現。

Turning to Slide 8. You will see in the first half of 2023, we have been able to sustain a healthy adjusted EBITDA margin despite the decline in revenue base compared to the prior year period. We are improving our internal processes to make us more agile and proactive in managing our cost to align with revenue movements.

轉向投影片 8。您將看到，在 2023 年上半年，儘管收入基礎與上年同期相比有所下降，但我們仍能夠維持健康的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。我們正在改進我們的內部流程，使我們在管理成本方面更加敏捷和主動，以與收入變動保持一致。

Lastly, turning to Slide 9 for a look into our balance sheet. As of June 30, 2023, our cash and restricted cash balance stood at $39.1 million compared to $24.9 million on March 31, 2023. Our total debt on June 30, 2023 improved to $78.5 million as compared to $130.7 million on March 31, 2023.

最後，轉向投影片 9 查看我們的資產負債表。截至2023年6月30日，我們的現金和限制性現金餘額為3910萬美元，而2023年3月31日為2490萬美元。2023年6月30日，我們的總債務從2023年3月31日的1.307億美元改善至7,850萬美元。

You will see we have significantly paid down our debt since the start of the year, leading to our current net debt position of $39.4 million and a net leverage ratio of 1.1x. This has played a crucial role in improving our cash flow in the current interest rate environment, and we expect to continue deleveraging the balance sheet going forward.

您會發現，自今年年初以來，我們已大幅償還債務，導致我們目前的淨債務部位為 3,940 萬美元，淨槓桿率為 1.1 倍。這對於改善當前利率環境下的現金流量發揮了至關重要的作用，我們預計未來將繼續將資產負債表去槓桿化。

With that, we will now open the call for questions. Paul, over to you.

現在，我們將開始提問。保羅，交給你了。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question is from Alex Paris of Barrington Research.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Barrington Research 的 Alex Paris。

And Neeraj, I'm pleased to meet you and look forward to working with you. Welcome to Startek.

Neeraj，我很高興見到您並期待與您合作。歡迎來到斯塔泰克。

Likewise. Thank you so much.

同樣地。太感謝了。

I have a couple of questions. I'll start with the bigger picture questions first, and it is the macro. Bharat, you said in your prepared comments that in this current macroeconomic environment, we're seeing longer sales cycles and delayed decision-making, which is not surprising. Most companies are seeing that in this environment. But I'd like to just get an update of your new wins, new business wins overall and your new logo wins specifically. You seem to be really bringing in new ones despite that macroeconomic headwind. What do you attribute that to? And what does the pipeline look like for the rest of the year?

我有一些問題。我將首先從更大的問題開始，這是宏觀的。巴拉特，您在準備好的評論中表示，在當前的宏觀經濟環境下，我們看到銷售週期更長，決策延遲，這並不奇怪。大多數公司都在這種環境下看到了這一點。但我只想了解您的新勝利、整體新業務勝利以及具體新徽標勝利的最新情況。儘管存在宏觀經濟逆風，但你們似乎確實在引進新員工。您認為這歸因於什麼？今年剩餘時間的管線狀況如何？

Sure. Thanks. I think the new wins, I would attribute to a lot of work that has gone into, a, building our pipeline. As I talked about strengthening our nearshore and offshore capabilities on the one hand. And secondly, pressure on some of our customers to essentially look at optimizing their delivery costs without necessarily compromising the customer experience is leading many of our customers or prospective customers to explore options from an outsourcing and offshoring perspective.

當然。謝謝。我認為新的勝利歸功於我們在建造管道方面所做的大量工作。正如我所談到的，一方面要加強我們的近岸和離岸能力。其次，我們的一些客戶面臨著在不影響客戶體驗的情況下優化交付成本的壓力，這導致我們的許多客戶或潛在客戶從外包和離岸的角度探索選擇。

So what we have seen is customers who were hitherto operating effectively captives have started looking at outsourcing. Those who are looking at outsourcing onshore are now actively looking at nearshore, offshore solutions from a cost optimization perspective. For exactly the same reason that everyone else is looking at, a, reducing volumes, cost pressures and therefore, looking at how do you optimize your delivery cost without compromising quality, which is where some of our wins and ramps have happened really off the back of not just what we can do onshore but essentially our strengthened based nearshore and offshore. Does that kind of resonate with what you're hearing in the industry and from some of our competitors as well?

因此，我們看到的是，迄今為止一直有效營運的客戶已經開始尋求外包。那些尋求在岸外包的企業現在正從成本優化的角度積極尋找近岸、離岸解決方案。出於與其他人完全相同的原因，a，減少數量，降低成本壓力，因此，研究如何在不影響質量的情況下優化交付成本，這就是我們的一些勝利和坡道真正發生的地方不僅是我們在陸上可以做的事情，而且本質上是我們加強的近岸和近海基礎設施。這是否與您在行業內以及我們的一些競爭對手那裡聽到的內容產生共鳴？

Yes. No, that was helpful. I appreciate the additional color there. And then just to be clear, today, you announced 4 new logos all offshore and nearshore. And in addition to that, 14 new campaigns. So I just want to put it on the same apples-to-apples with the first quarter. In the first quarter, I believe, you had 5 new logos, which were a part of 12 business wins. Is that right?

是的。不，那很有幫助。我很欣賞那裡的額外顏色。需要澄清的是，今天，你們宣布了 4 個新徽標，全部是近海和近海。除此之外，還有 14 個新活動。所以我只想將其與第一季進行比較。我相信，第一季你們有 5 個新徽標，這是 12 項業務勝利的一部分。是對的嗎？

Correct. So we have 5 new logos in the first quarter, and we had 4 new logos coming in this quarter.

正確的。第一季我們有 5 個新徽標，本季我們有 4 個新徽標。

And then -- but in addition to that, in the first quarter, you had 7 additional engagements. And in the second quarter, you had 14 additional engagements or campaigns, so to speak.

然後 - 但除此之外，在第一季度，您還有 7 個額外的約定。可以這麼說，在第二季度，您還有 14 項額外的活動或活動。

Right. I mean these are lines of -- new lines of business and lines of service where we augment with existing customers as well. So typically, we tend to look at new lines that we launch with the existing customers and new logos.

正確的。我的意思是，這些是新的業務線和服務線，我們也在這些領域擴大了現有客戶的規模。因此，通常情況下，我們傾向於專注於與現有客戶一起推出的新產品線和新徽標。

Got you. That's helpful. And then last quarter, I think we talked a little bit about inflation and its impact on your business as well as the impact of your customers. You had said that 2023, you're not going to have the same impact from employee wages as you did in 2022. But -- and you're trying to recapture price as contracts come up for renewal. And I'm wondering where are you in that process? Have -- are you halfway through the process, for example, of renegotiating price on renewals? Because I'm assuming they renew it different times throughout the year.

明白你了。這很有幫助。然後上個季度，我想我們討論了一些關於通貨膨脹及其對您的業務以及客戶的影響的影響。您曾說過，到 2023 年，您不會像 2022 年那樣受到員工薪資的影響。但是，隨著合約的續簽，您正試圖重新奪回價格。我想知道你在這個過程中處於什麼位置？例如，您是否已經完成了續訂價格重新協商的過程？因為我假設他們在一年中的不同時間更新它。

Yes. So as they come up, that process is an ongoing cycle. So as the contracts come up for renewal, there are 2 ways of really looking at it. One, as contracts come up for renewal, we talk about, including whether aspects such as not just [COLA], but also looking at repricing. The other one is when we look at contracts and there is -- there are contracts that are moving towards transaction-based pricing. There we talk about if you're able to deliver efficiencies for customers, what kind of gain share models are we going to build in. And it's not just us, I think the industry over has been talking really about the impact of generative AI and how customers can benefit from it. And if you're able to deliver value, how do we ensure that we and our customers, both partake in the benefits arising from that.

是的。因此，當它們出現時，這個過程就是一個持續的循環。因此，當合約需要續約時，有兩種方法可以真正看待它。第一，當合約需要續約時，我們討論的不僅是[可樂]等方面，還包括重新定價等方面。另一個是當我們查看合約時，有些合約正在轉向基於交易的定價。在那裡我們討論如果你能夠為客戶提供效率，我們將建立什麼樣的收益分享模型。不僅僅是我們，我認為整個行業一直在真正討論生成式人工智慧的影響和客戶如何從中受益。如果您能夠提供價值，我們如何確保我們和我們的客戶都能分享由此帶來的好處。

So that kind of gives a sense that, a, contracts as they come up, will be subject to kind of negotiations and various aspects of contract renewal. And the second aspect is with respect to inflationary trends. I think what we're doing is -- has to counter some of that, we are focusing more on nearshore and offshore delivery locations, which essentially helps us to a certain extent, balance that and keep our margins stable. Hope that provides you some context in terms of contracts and the cost management part of it.

因此，這給人一種感覺，合約一旦簽訂，將受到某種談判和合約續約的各個方面的影響。第二個面向是關於通貨膨脹趨勢。我認為我們正在做的是——必須應對其中的一些問題，我們更專注於近岸和離岸交貨地點，這在一定程度上幫助我們平衡這一點並保持利潤穩定。希望這能為您提供一些有關合約及其成本管理部分的背景資訊。

Absolutely. And then one last big picture question. With regard to AI, you brought it up. It's on almost every conference call these days. You want to make sure that you're at the forefront of developments in AI. Is there a time line? When should we expect a Startek answer to AI, built into your service offering?

絕對地。然後是最後一個大問題。關於人工智慧，你提到了。如今，幾乎每次電話會議都會出現這種情況。您希望確保自己處於人工智慧發展的最前線。有時間軸嗎？我們什麼時候應該期待 Startek 對人工智慧的回答，內建在您的服務產品中？

I think we are already building our elements of AI into our service offerings. If you look at what we are doing with respect to our agent amplification tools for instance and the stuff that we have talked about in the past, I think that those investments and the effect of those investments on improving the quality of our support to the agents continues.

我認為我們已經將人工智慧元素融入我們的服務中。例如，如果您看看我們在代理放大工具方面所做的事情以及我們過去討論過的內容，我認為這些投資以及這些投資對提高我們對代理的支持質量的影響繼續。

So I think -- and that's something that we have also talked about in some of the content that we have released, that we expect generative AI and AI-driven models to essentially help us improve the quality of customer experience arising from better tools being available to agents to be able to respond. So essentially, what you would expect and that's what we see with our customers as we go through discussions with them, whether it's for contracts, new business, there is an expectation of improvement in efficiency.

所以我認為，我們在發布的一些內容中也談到了這一點，我們期望生成式人工智慧和人工智慧驅動的模型能夠從根本上幫助我們透過更好的工具來提高客戶體驗的品質以便代理能夠做出響應。因此，從本質上講，您會期望什麼，這就是我們在與客戶討論時所看到的，無論是合約還是新業務，都期望提高效率。

And what I mean by that is faster resolution of queries, lower average handling times, lower transfer rates, the ability of agents to take more complex calls and therefore, multiskilling of agents. And all that is the result of inducting AI and AI-enabled tools into the entire customer experience ecosystem.

我的意思是更快地解決查詢、更低的平均處理時間、更低的傳輸率、座席處理更複雜呼叫的能力，以及座席的多技能。而這一切都是將人工智慧和支援人工智慧的工具引入整個客戶體驗生態系統的結果。

So I wouldn't necessarily say that you draw almost a line in sand and say, post this particular point, we have AI getting into our system. AI is already into our system, an integral part of offering today assumes and actually inducts AI into the offering suite.

所以我不一定會說，你在沙上畫了一條線，然後說，發布這個特定的點，我們已經讓人工智慧進入了我們的系統。人工智慧已經進入我們的系統，今天的產品的一個組成部分假設並實際上將人工智慧引入產品套件中。

Great. And then my last question, I promise, is I wonder if we could get an Argentina update of the 3 noncore assets that you were selling. That was the last one that you began the process on, and I was wondering how that's coming.

偉大的。我保證，我的最後一個問題是，我想知道我們是否可以獲得阿根廷關於您出售的 3 項非核心資產的最新資訊。這是您開始該過程的最後一個，我想知道這是如何發生的。

Sure. We are going through a process there, I mean, in terms of interest from various parties and are at various stages of discussion because we have to make sure, obviously, that we pass that on to the right party that continues a tradition because we are not looking at just winding down operations. We have a good set of employees, a good set of customers. We have made the investments there. We want to ensure that when we sell our interest in Argentina, we want to make sure that it passes into the right hands who are able to continue the -- with the team and the performance.

當然。我的意思是，我們正在經歷一個過程，就各方的利益而言，並且處於不同的討論階段，因為我們必須確保，顯然，我們將其傳遞給延續傳統的正確政黨，因為我們是不只是考慮結束業務。我們擁有一群優秀的員工，一群優秀的客戶。我們已經在那裡進行了投資。我們希望確保，當我們出售在阿根廷的權益時，我們希望確保它會落在能夠繼續保持團隊和表現的合適人手中。

So in terms of discussions, those discussions are on. I wouldn't be able to give you a sense. Clearly, the plan is for that to conclude this year. In terms of the kind of discussions that we have had with a few interested parties, those are currently underway and fairly actively.

因此，就討論而言，這些討論正在進行中。我無法給你任何感覺。顯然，計劃是在今年結束。就我們與一些有興趣的各方進行的討論而言，這些討論目前正在進行中，而且相當活躍。

We have a question from Zach Cummins of B. Riley Security.

B. Riley Security 的 Zach Cummins 向我們提出了一個問題。

Great. Bharat, can I just ask you about the anticipated revenue ramp, how we should be thinking about that in the second half of the year just related to your new business wins from the first half of this year and then building upon the logos that you secured in 4Q of last year with the large cable customer and utility customer?

偉大的。 Bharat，我可以問一下您預期的收入增長嗎？我們應該如何考慮下半年與您今年上半年贏得的新業務相關的問題，然後在您獲得的徽標的基礎上進行構建去年第四季度與大型電纜客戶和公用事業客戶？

Sure. That -- see the issue that we have at the moment is whilst we've got -- and I'm very happy that we've been able to secure the kind of wins that we had talked about. I think these -- the ramp in these wins in the -- from these wins will continue as will the ramp from the customers that we won towards the end of last year. But what we do see this year is that the holiday season volumes that we normally saw getting into quarter 3 are looking a lot softer.

當然。那 - 看到我們目前遇到的問題是我們已經獲得的 - 我很高興我們能夠獲得我們所談論的那種勝利。我認為這些勝利的成長將繼續下去，我們在去年年底贏得的客戶的成長也將持續下去。但今年我們確實看到的是，我們通常看到的進入第三季的假期季節銷量看起來要軟得多。

So to that extent, typically, quarter 2 for us in the past has been a lot -- has been softer, leading to stronger quarter 3 and quarter 4. I would expect that, that kind of holiday ramp, holidays, so getting into the holiday season that essentially increases the volumes is going to be a bit softer this year.

因此，從這個意義上說，過去的第二季度對我們來說通常是比較疲軟的，導致第三季度和第四季度走強。我預計，這種假期的增長，假期，所以進入本質上增加銷量的假期季節今年將變得更加疲軟。

Secondly, we have an active pipeline, but what we have seen is that the decision making is getting extended because people are -- there seems to be a general tendency to currently on a wait and watch. So I would think that the traditional increases that we had going into quarter 3 and quarter 4 might be a little more muted this time.

其次，我們有一個活躍的管道，但我們看到的是決策正在延長，因為人們目前似乎普遍傾向於觀望。因此，我認為我們進入第三季和第四季的傳統成長這次可能會更加溫和。

It's more the question of timing. And over the next 2 quarters, people are -- I think for 2 reasons. One, people are trying to figure out spending inflation, cost increases, et cetera. And secondly, customers are also trying to figure out what does generative AI do? How much can you use that to deflect volumes to automated channels? And therefore, can you actually set yourself targets? Because while we are bracing ourselves, I think so our customers in terms of what generative AI is capable of. So I think everybody is dealing with "the new beast."

這更多的是時機問題。在接下來的兩個季度裡，人們——我認為有兩個原因。第一，人們試圖弄清楚支出通膨、成本增加等等。其次，客戶也在試圖弄清楚生成式人工智慧有什麼作用？您可以使用它將流量轉移到自動化管道多少？因此，你真的能為自己設定目標嗎？因為當我們做好準備時，我認為我們的客戶也對生成式人工智慧的能力做好了準備。所以我認為每個人都在應對「新野獸」。

I understand that. Got it. Got it. And final question for me is just really around gross margin. I mean, should we think of Q2 is typically the trough when it comes to gross margin for the year? Or how are you thinking about those dynamics with a potentially softer revenue ramp in the second half and increasing mix of nearshore and offshore delivery engagements?

我明白那個。知道了。知道了。對我來說，最後一個問題實際上是關於毛利率的。我的意思是，我們是否應該認為第二季通常是今年毛利率的低谷？或者，您如何看待下半年收入成長可能放緩以及近岸和離岸交付業務組合不斷增加的動態？

Gross margins, we should be able to continue unless where our gross margins really get affected is if you were to make substantially more investments in our technology, in some of our delivery capabilities, right? That's where you have typically an impact on gross margins.

毛利率，我們應該能夠繼續下去，除非我們的毛利率真正受到影響的是，如果你要對我們的技術、我們的一些交付能力進行更多的投資，對嗎？這通常是對毛利率產生影響的地方。

Now what -- where the gross margins get an uplift is more work around nearshore or delivered from nearshore and offshore locations. So to the extent that our nearshore and offshore locations dominate our delivery, you would see an improvement, but equally because volumes are going to be softer and the investments we have made and will continue to make, we won't strip that off.

現在，毛利率提高的地方是在近岸附近或從近岸和離岸地點交付更多工作。因此，就我們的近岸和離岸地點在我們的交付中占主導地位而言，您會看到有所改善，但同樣，由於數量將會減少，而且我們已經並將繼續進行投資，我們不會剝奪這一點。

I don't think we are going to look at significantly improved margins if that's where you're coming from. But I don't think equally, we would have significant decline either because of the investments we're making. So I would think the -- there'll be a bit of a counterbalance between 8 -- ramps happening nearshore and offshore, which will effectively offset the softness that we see in volumes.

如果您來自那裡，我認為我們不會考慮顯著提高利潤率。但我不認為，由於我們正在進行的投資，我們也會出現顯著下降。因此，我認為近岸和近海發生的 8 個坡道之間將會產生一定的平衡，這將有效抵消我們看到的銷售疲軟。

Neeraj Jain, if you've got -- if you would like to chime in to that, please feel free.

Neeraj Jain，如果您願意參與其中，請隨意。

Yes. Yes. I will just add, but I think you have rightly said that as we see for the full year, basically, this is the counter that will happen wherein -- because of the nearshore and offshore that we will basically be using the investments that we have made in technology, the volume drop and the seasonality will definitely be counted. So I agree with you. We don't foresee any major drop in our margins because of the operating efficiencies that we are currently driving, which we have done in H1, and that is what has resulted in our margins in H1. And if we continue to do focus on those areas where we look at our employee costs, we look at our operating efficiencies, including the IT cost, and we should be able to held on to our margins. So I agree with you.

是的。是的。我只想補充一點，但我認為你說得對，正如我們看到的全年情況，基本上，這就是將要發生的情況——因為近岸和離岸，我們基本上將使用我們擁有的投資技術製造，量的下降和季節性肯定會被計算在內。所以我同意你的觀點。我們預計我們的利潤率不會大幅下降，因為我們目前正在提高營運效率，我們在上半年已經做到了這一點，這也是我們上半年利潤率的原因。如果我們持續關注員工成本、營運效率（包括 IT 成本）的領域，我們應該能夠維持利潤。所以我同意你的觀點。

And I'm seeing no further questions. I'll turn the call back over to Mr. Rao for closing remarks.

我沒有看到更多問題。我會將電話轉回給饒先生做總結發言。

Thank you all for -- thank you, Paul, and thank you all for joining us this afternoon and for your continued support of Startek. I look forward to speaking with you when we report our third quarter 2023 results.

謝謝大家——謝謝 Paul，謝謝大家今天下午加入我們並感謝你們對 Startek 的持續支持。我期待在我們報告 2023 年第三季業績時與您交談。

The meeting has now concluded. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.

會議現已結束。感謝您的加入，祝您有個愉快的一天。