Trinity Biotech PLC (TRIB) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello and welcome to the Trinity Biotech first quarter fiscal year 2023 financial results. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Joe Diaz with Lytham Partners. Please go ahead.

您好，歡迎來到 Trinity Biotech 2023 財年第一季度財務業績。 （操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。我現在想將會議交給萊瑟姆合夥人公司的喬·迪亞茲 (Joe Diaz)。請繼續。

Thank you, MJ, and thanks to all of you for joining us today to review the financial results of Trinity Biotech for the first quarter of 2023. Joining us on today's call are Aris Kekedjian, Chief Executive Officer, and John Gillard, Chief Financial Officer. At the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a question-and-answer session. Before we begin, please note that statements made during this conference call may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are not subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in such statements.

謝謝 MJ，也感謝大家今天與我們一起回顧 Trinity Biotech 2023 年第一季度的財務業績。參加今天電話會議的有首席執行官 Aris Kekedjian 和首席財務官 John Gillard 。在今天準備好的發言結束後，我們將開始問答環節。在開始之前，請注意，本次電話會議期間發表的聲明可能被視為聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性聲明。這些陳述不受已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與此類陳述中明示或暗示的結果不同。

These risks include but are not limited to those set forth in the risk factors statements in the company's annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trinity Biotech undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after today or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

這些風險包括但不限於公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的 20-F 表格年度報告中風險因素聲明中列出的風險。 Trinity Biotech 沒有義務公開更新或修改這些前瞻性陳述以反映今天之後的事件或情況或意外事件的發生。

With that said, I will now turn the call over to CEO, Aris Kekedjian, for opening remarks. He will be followed by CFO, John Gillard, for a review of the financial result, and Mr. Kekedjian will provide additional background and will open the call for your questions. Aris, the floor is yours.

話雖如此，我現在將把電話轉給首席執行官 Aris Kekedjian，讓其致開幕詞。隨後首席財務官約翰·吉拉德 (John Gillard) 將對財務業績進行審查，Kekedjian 先生將提供更多背景信息，並開始電話提問。阿里斯，地板是你的。

Thank you, Joe. Good morning, everybody. I'd like to take a few minutes to update you on the summary highlights for the quarter and some of the strategic initiatives that we have underway. John will go through more detailed financials, and then we'll open up the call for questions.

謝謝你，喬。大家早上好。我想花幾分鐘時間向您介紹本季度的摘要要點以及我們正在進行的一些戰略舉措。約翰將詳細介紹財務狀況，然後我們將開始提問。

With respect to the quarter, starting with the revenue discussion. Revenues for the quarter for Q1 2023 was $17.2 million, excluding our COVID-focused PCR products and Fitzgerald Industries revenues, which was disposed in April 2023. Revenue for the quarter in terms of what is an ongoing business was about $14 million, about 2% higher than this period last year. Our performance in the quarter was led by year-over-year growth of approximately 35%, 15% and 10% respectively for autoimmune clinical chemistry and the diabetes HbA1C consumable products.

關於本季度，首先從收入討論開始。 2023 年第一季度的收入為 1720 萬美元，不包括我們專注於新冠肺炎的 PCR 產品和 Fitzgerald Industries 的收入，這些收入於 2023 年 4 月處置。就持續業務而言，本季度的收入約為 1400 萬美元，約佔 2%高於去年同期。我們本季度的業績主要得益於自身免疫臨床化學和糖尿病 HbA1C 消費品分別同比增長約 35%、15% 和 10%。

Strong demand from key accounts and a focus on clearing order backlogs drove an increase of over 80% in revenues for the US autoimmune business compared to Q1 2022. And approximately 45% increase in deliveries for diabetes consumables in Brazil compared to Q1 of 2022. These were partly offset by revenue gains that we had last year on instrument sales were to China that were at a significantly lower margin. Those sales did not repeat this year and that sale differential offset some of the benefits I just spoke to you about. gross margin, excluding Fitzgerald was broadly flat compared to Q1 2022. But we've had a approximately four-point improvement over Q4 of 2022 as we increased prices and stabilized our manufacturing and supply chain processes.

與 2022 年第一季度相比，大客戶的強勁需求以及對清理積壓訂單的重視推動美國自身免疫業務的收入增長了 80% 以上。與 2022 年第一季度相比，巴西糖尿病耗材的交付量增長了約 45%。去年我們向中國銷售儀器的收入增長部分抵消了這一收入增長，而中國的利潤率明顯較低。這些銷售今年沒有重複，銷售差異抵消了我剛才與您談到的一些好處。與 2022 年第一季度相比，不包括 Fitzgerald 的毛利率基本持平。但隨著我們提高價格並穩定製造和供應鏈流程，我們比 2022 年第四季度提高了約四個百分點。

I'd like to take a moment to talk about our hemoglobins product activities. We continue to work closely with the FDA to gain clearance of our 510(k) submission for the Premier Resolution hemoglobin variant instrument. In addition to a US market introduction in the second half of the year, we expect FDA approval will drive significant global order activity as many of our distributors await approval. We are repositioning technical sales capability for the post-FDA rollout.

我想花點時間談談我們的血紅蛋白產品活動。我們將繼續與 FDA 密切合作，以獲取我們針對 Premier Resolution 血紅蛋白變異儀器提交的 510(k) 申請的批准。除了下半年進入美國市場外，我們預計 FDA 的批准將推動全球訂單活動的大幅增長，因為我們的許多分銷商正在等待批准。我們正在重新定位 FDA 後推出的技術銷售能力。

The development of the next generation of our flagship diabetes HbA1C instrument, the Premier 9210 is also on track for an expected rollout in early 2024. The instrument is expected to feature an improved backward compatible reagent column system that should feature up to three times the injection capacity and stability, limited calibration, and an improved user interface. This is the first step of a multigenerational product development plan aimed at expanding the target market, driving lower service downtime and cost while significantly expanding operating margins. And these improvements, we expect will have a significant improvement -- impact in terms of COGS on our core diabetes franchise business. So that's one of the most important priorities we've got going on in the Company.

我們的下一代旗艦糖尿病 HbA1C 儀器 Premier 9210 的開發也已步入正軌，預計將於 2024 年初推出。該儀器預計將採用改進的向後兼容試劑柱系統，其註射量最多可達三倍容量和穩定性、有限的校準以及改進的用戶界面。這是多代產品開發計劃的第一步，旨在擴大目標市場，降低服務停機時間和成本，同時顯著擴大運營利潤。我們預計這些改進將對我們的核心糖尿病特許經營業務的 COGS 產生重大影響。因此，這是我們公司最重要的優先事項之一。

In addition, with respect to hemoglobins, both China and Brazil are markets of particular focus for both product line expansion as well as footprint expansion in both markets, both to drive cost competitiveness, streamlined regulatory pathways, and expand market access. We already do some reagent activity, manufacturing activity in Brazil. We're looking at optimizing that platform and potentially looking at some opportunities for assembly in China.

此外，就血紅蛋白而言，中國和巴西都是產品線擴張和足跡擴張的特別關注市場，以提高成本競爭力、簡化監管途徑並擴大市場准入。我們已經在巴西開展了一些試劑活動和製造活動。我們正在考慮優化該平台，並可能尋找一些在中國組裝的機會。

I'd like to take a moment to talk about our TrinScreen HIV product, which is a ready to be launched. We are focused on executing on the launch and distribution of this test following the announcement by the Kenyan Ministry of Health of the adoption of our new rapid testing algorithm. The algorithm establishes Trinity Biotech as the HIV screening standard to test in Kenya under World Health Organization guidelines. There have been some delays as the government currently is addressing some legal challenges to the HIV testing algorithm changes. And we expect to receive significant orders in the second half of 2023 upon resolution of these legal matters.

我想花點時間談談我們即將推出的 TrinScreen HIV 產品。在肯尼亞衛生部宣布採用我們新的快速檢測算法後，我們專注於執行該檢測的啟動和分發。該算法將 Trinity Biotech 確立為艾滋病毒篩查標準，根據世界衛生組織的指導方針在肯尼亞進行測試。由於政府目前正在解決艾滋病毒檢測算法變更的一些法律挑戰，因此出現了一些延誤。在解決這些法律問題後，我們預計將在 2023 年下半年收到重要訂單。

The Kenyan HIV screening program is one of the largest in Africa. There's a potential of up to 9 million tests a year. And the intention is to immediately ramp up to deliver several million tests and initial orders in the coming months.

肯尼亞的艾滋病毒篩查項目是非洲最大的項目之一。每年有可能進行多達 900 萬次測試。其目的是在未來幾個月內立即增加數百萬次測試和初始訂單。

I'd like to take a moment to discuss portfolio transformation initiatives and our capital structure. In April, the company completed the sale of Fitzgerald Industries, generating approximately $30 million of proceeds that were partially used to further reduce debt by approximately $10 million. This exit is the first of several strategic moves aimed at focusing the current portfolio around our core hemoglobins and HIV franchises, streamlining our cost structure, reducing debt, and providing firepower for M&A.

我想花點時間討論投資組合轉型計劃和我們的資本結構。 4月份，該公司完成了菲茨杰拉德工業公司的出售，產生了約3000萬美元的收益，其中部分收益用於進一步減少約1000萬美元的債務。這次退出是多項戰略舉措中的第一項，旨在將當前的投資組合集中在我們的核心血紅蛋白和艾滋病毒特許經營權上，精簡我們的成本結構，減少債務，並為併購提供火力。

Our pipeline of attractive M&A opportunities is aimed at disruptive adjacencies where the total addressable markets or TAMs are significant and matter. They also potentially provide us access to next-generation diagnostic product platforms and provide us an opportunity where we can leverage our global manufacturing and distribution footprint.

我們一系列有吸引力的併購機會針對的是顛覆性的鄰近地區，這些地區的潛在市場總量或 TAM 非常重要。它們還有可能為我們提供訪問下一代診斷產品平台的機會，並為我們提供一個利用我們的全球製造和分銷足蹟的機會。

In February, the company secured $20 million flexible term facilities specifically to provide the ability to move quickly when opportunities for transactions arise.

2 月份，該公司獲得了 2000 萬美元的靈活期限貸款，專門用於在交易機會出現時提供快速行動的能力。

I'd like to take another moment to highlight and give an update on our structural operational initiatives. Multiple initiatives are underway to significantly reduce cost of goods sold in our core hemoglobins and HIV franchises. These include instrument and consumables design updates to supply chain optimization, outsource and localized manufacturing as well as overall streamlining of processes that support these businesses. All these initiatives are aimed at driving significantly higher operating margins in these platforms. We are pushing both platforms to have gross margins at or around 40% to 50% and operating margins in the 20% range. Those are our targets. Those are what we're working toward. And these initiatives will help us get there.

我想再花一點時間強調並介紹我們的結構性運營舉措的最新情況。我們正在採取多項舉措，以顯著降低我們核心血紅蛋白和艾滋病毒特許經營店的銷售成本。其中包括儀器和耗材設計更新，以優化供應鏈、外包和本地化製造，以及支持這些業務的流程的整體簡化。所有這些舉措都旨在大幅提高這些平台的運營利潤率。我們正在推動這兩個平台的毛利率在 40% 至 50% 左右，營業利潤率在 20% 範圍內。這些是我們的目標。這些就是我們正在努力的目標。這些舉措將幫助我們實現這一目標。

As a final reminder, I'd like to let everyone on the call know that Trinity Biotech will be participating at the American Association of Clinical Chemistry, otherwise known as AACC Annual [Client] Conference, taking place in Anaheim in the 23rd to the 27th of this month. We hope to see some of you there.

最後提醒一下，我想讓大家知道 Trinity Biotech 將參加 23 日至 27 日在阿納海姆舉行的美國臨床化學協會（也稱為 AACC 年度[客戶]會議）這個月的。我們希望在那裡見到你們中的一些人。

With that summary, I'd like to pass it on to John to give you a more detailed review of our financials. And I'll be back at the end of the call.

有了這份總結，我想將其轉交給約翰，讓您更詳細地了解我們的財務狀況。通話結束後我會回來。

Thank you, Aris. Good morning, everyone. Now I will take you through the results for Q1 2023. I would like to start by talking about the sale of our Fitzgerald Industries Life Sciences supply business, which was completed on April 27 last. We consider that life sciences supply was no longer core to the group's refined long-term strategy and pursued this transaction as part of our plan to transform into a high-growth innovator in diabetes care and decentralized diagnostic solutions.

謝謝你，阿里斯。大家，早安。現在我將向您介紹 2023 年第一季度的結果。我想首先談談我們於 4 月 27 日完成的 Fitzgerald Industries 生命科學供應業務的出售。我們認為生命科學供應不再是該集團完善的長期戰略的核心，並將此次交易作為我們轉型為糖尿病護理和分散診斷解決方案領域高增長創新者計劃的一部分。

As Aris mentioned, we achieved cash proceeds of approximately $30 million, which represented a multiple of approximately 10 times Fitzgerald EBITDA on a historical basis. Fitzgerald generated revenue of approximately $12 million in fiscal year 2022. In our income statement for quarter one 2023, the results of Fitzgerald have been reported separately as discontinued operations. Therefore, the revenue gross profit and operating loss numbers I will talk about today are stated without Fitzgerald for both the Q1 '23 and comparative quarter.

正如阿里斯提到的，我們實現了約 3000 萬美元的現金收益，相當於歷史上菲茨杰拉德 EBITDA 的約 10 倍。 Fitzgerald 在 2022 財年創造了約 1200 萬美元的收入。在我們 2023 年第一季度的損益表中，Fitzgerald 的業績已單獨報告為已終止經營業務。因此，我今天要討論的收入毛利潤和營業虧損數字是在沒有菲茨杰拉德的情況下列出的 23 年第一季度和比較季度的收入毛利潤和營業虧損數據。

Moving on to our results for Q1. Starting with revenues, as Aris outlined, total revenues for the quarter were $14.8 million compared with $15.7 million in Q1 2022. Gross margin for the quarter was 36.7% compared to 38.2% in Q1 2022. The reduction in gross margin is largely due to change in the sales mix and the lower sales activity. I would point out that gross margin in Q1 2023 is substantially higher than Q4 2022 margin of 33.4%. And here we are seeing the benefit of price increases and cost optimization initiatives implemented in mid to late 2022.

繼續我們第一季度的結果。從收入開始，正如 Aris 概述的那樣，本季度的總收入為 1480 萬美元，而 2022 年第一季度為 1570 萬美元。本季度的毛利率為 36.7%，而 2022 年第一季度為 38.2%。毛利率的下降主要是由於變化銷售組合和較低的銷售活動。我想指出的是，2023 年第一季度的毛利率大大高於 2022 年第四季度 33.4% 的毛利率。在這裡，我們看到了 2022 年中後期實施的價格上漲和成本優化舉措的好處。

Moving on to R&D expenditure, which was $900,000 in the quarter, down by $100,000 compared to Q1 2022. Meanwhile, SG&A expense in the quarter were $8.6 million, up $2.4 million compared to Q1 2022. Of this increase, half of this, or approximately $1.2 million was due to higher share-based payments expense. This is a non-cash accounting charge relating largely to performance share-based compensation awards, which are intended to closely align the goals of our team with those of our shareholders and the creation of shareowner value.

接下來是研發支出，本季度為 900,000 美元，比 2022 年第一季度減少 100,000 美元。同時，本季度的 SG&A 支出為 860 萬美元，比 2022 年第一季度增加 240 萬美元。其中，其中一半或大約120 萬美元是由於股份支付費用增加。這是一項非現金會計費用，主要與基於績效股份的薪酬獎勵相關，旨在使我們團隊的目標與股東的目標以及股東價值的創造緊密結合。

The majority of these options granted in Q4 2022 and in Q1 2023 are performance share options and are structured such that they are exercisable only if the company's ADS price increases to certain levels, $3, $4 and $5 per ADS during the life of the option. None of these performance share options are currently exercisable. The remaining increase in SG&A expense was largely due to higher travel and expenses following the lifted of COVID travel restrictions, higher salary costs filing, senior leadership team appointments in late 2022.

2022 年第四季度和 2023 年第一季度授予的這些期權大部分都是績效股票期權，其結構只有當公司的 ADS 價格上漲到一定水平（在期權有效期內每 ADS 為 3 美元、4 美元和 5 美元）時才可以行使。這些績效股票期權目前均不可行使。 SG&A 費用的剩餘增長主要是由於新冠疫情旅行限制取消後差旅和費用增加、薪資成本增加以及 2022 年底高級領導團隊任命。

And lastly, the foreign exchange loss largely relates to the accounting-driven requirement to mark-to-market Euro-denominated lease liabilities for right-of-use assets. This resulted in an operating loss for Q1 2023 of $3.9 million compared to an operating loss of $1.2 million reported in Q1 2022.

最後，外匯損失很大程度上與會計驅動的使用權資產以歐元計價的租賃負債的市場要求有關。這導致 2023 年第一季度的運營虧損為 390 萬美元，而 2022 年第一季度報告的運營虧損為 120 萬美元。

Moving on to net financial expenses of $2.4 million in Q1 2023 compared to $12 million in Q1 2022. The decrease of $9.6 million is because the comparative period included a loss on disposal of exchangeable notes of $9.7 million. Excluding this nonrecurring financial expense, financial expenses for Q1 2022 were $2.5 million compared to $2.6 in Q1 2023. Although our borrowings are now significantly smaller following our payments of debt, the interest expense is broadly similar for Q1 as our main borrowing accrued interest at a significantly higher interest rate than during Q1 2022 due to base interest rate increases. Given our repayment of debt on sort of the Fitzgerald transaction, we should see a reduction in those interest costs, assuming stable interest rates in the following quarters.

2023 年第一季度的淨財務費用為 240 萬美元，而 2022 年第一季度為 1200 萬美元。減少 960 萬美元是因為比較期間包括 970 萬美元的可交換票據處置損失。不包括這一非經常性財務費用，2022 年第一季度的財務費用為 250 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季度為 2.6 美元。儘管我們的借款在償還債務後明顯減少，但利息費用與第一季度大致相似，因為我們的主要藉款應計利息為由於基本利率上調，利率顯著高於 2022 年第一季度。鑑於我們通過菲茨杰拉德交易償還了債務，假設接下來幾個季度的利率穩定，我們應該會看到這些利息成本的下降。

Profit for the period in discontinued operations was $0.5 million in Q1 2023, down from $0.8 million in Q1 2022 due to lower profitability of the now disposed Fitzgerald business. In Q1 2023, the loss per ADS is $0.152 compared to $0.50 loss per ADS in Q1 2022.

由於現已出售的菲茨杰拉德業務的盈利能力較低，2023 年第一季度終止經營業務的利潤為 50 萬美元，低於 2022 年第一季度的 80 萬美元。 2023 年第一季度，每份 ADS 的損失為 0.152 美元，而 2022 年第一季度每份 ADS 的損失為 0.50 美元。

I will now move on to address some of the main balance sheet movements we have seen since quarter four of 2022. Assets and liabilities attributed to Fitzgerald Industries have been separately presented within assets included in disposal group held for sale and liabilities included in disposal group held for sale separately in the balance sheet at March 31, 2023. Intangible assets decreased by $13.9 million. This is made up of the Fitzgerald Industries. intangible assets of $14.1 million, which are now shown in assets included in disposal group held for sale. Amortization was $0.3 million. And this is partly offset by additions of $0.5 million, which mainly comprises capitalized R&D expenditure.

我現在將繼續討論自 2022 年第四季度以來我們看到的一些主要資產負債表變動。歸屬於菲茨杰拉德工業公司的資產和負債已分別在持有待售處置組中包含的資產和持有待售處置組中包含的負債中單獨列報於 2023 年 3 月 31 日在資產負債表中單獨出售。無形資產減少 1,390 萬美元。它由菲茨杰拉德工業公司組成。無形資產1,410萬美元，現已顯示在持有待售處置組中的資產中。攤銷額為 30 萬美元。這被增加的 50 萬美元部分抵消，其中主要包括資本化研發支出。

Financial assets have increased by $1.5 million. This relates to our investment in imaware which we announced in January 2023. At March 31, '23, $0.7 million have been invested with the $0.8 million balance recorded in current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. I must note that the convertible note investment, which represents an investment in unquoted equity instruments, is presented as a financial asset on the consolidated balance sheet. As the instruments do not have a quarter price in an active market for an identical instrument, the determination of fair value involves the use of appropriate valuation methods and certain unobservable inputs requires significant management judgment and estimation and may change over time.

金融資產增加了 150 萬美元。這與我們於 2023 年 1 月宣布的對 imaware 的投資有關。截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日，已投資 70 萬美元，80 萬美元餘額記錄在合併資產負債表上的流動負債中。我必須指出，可轉換票據投資代表對非上市權益工具的投資，在合併資產負債表中作為金融資產列報。由於這些工具在活躍市場上沒有相同工具的季度價格，因此公允價值的確定涉及使用適當的估值方法，並且某些不可觀察輸入值需要管理層進行重大判斷和估計，並且可能會隨著時間的推移而發生變化。

I would highlight that the valuation of this asset may be subject to a wide range of possible fair value measurements and may fluctuate significantly due to changes in market variables as well as available entity specific information.

我想強調的是，該資產的估值可能會受到各種可能的公允價值計量的影響，並且可能會因市場變量以及可用的實體特定信息的變化而大幅波動。

The senior secured term loan liabilities increased by $4.9 million during the quarter following the drawdown of an additional $5 million facility from Perceptive Advisors in February 2023. Also in the quarter, the company secured from our lenders a new $20 million facility to fund potential acquisitions as Aris mentioned. None of this $20 million facility has been drawn down to date, although as we've discussed, we are actively looking at potential acquisitions.

繼 2023 年 2 月從 Perceptive Advisors 額外提取 500 萬美元融資後，本季度高級擔保定期貸款負債增加了 490 萬美元。同樣在本季度，該公司從貸款人那裡獲得了新的 2000 萬美元融資，為潛在收購提供資金阿里斯提到。儘管正如我們所討論的，我們正在積極尋找潛在的收購，但迄今為止，這筆 2000 萬美元的融資尚未動用。

Finally, I will discuss our cash flow for the quarter. Our cash balance, including cash held by Fitzgerald, decreased by $2.4 million to $4.2 million in Q1 2023. Cash used by operations for the quarter was $2.7 million, an increase of about $1.2 compared to Q2 2022. Capital expenditure, cash outflows comprising PP&E and R&D spend and the investment in the imaware were $1.3 million, a reduction of $400,000 compared to the comparative period. Interest payments in the quarter were $2.6 million.

最後，我將討論本季度的現金流。 2023 年第一季度，我們的現金餘額（包括菲茨杰拉德持有的現金）減少了 240 萬美元，降至 420 萬美元。本季度運營使用的現金為 270 萬美元，比 2022 年第二季度增加約 1.2 美元。資本支出、現金流出包括財產、設備和設備以及研發支出和imaware投資為130萬美元，同比減少40萬美元。本季度支付的利息為 260 萬美元。

I will now hand it back to Joe. Thank you.

我現在將把它還給喬。謝謝。

Thank you, John. We will now go ahead and begin the Q&A session. MJ, please set it up.

謝謝你，約翰。我們現在開始問答環節。 MJ，請設置一下。

(Operator Instructions) Jim Sidoti, Sidoti & Company.

（操作員說明）Jim Sidoti，Sidoti & Company。

Hi, good afternoon. Can you break out what the COVID, the VTM revenue was in the quarter? I think it was about $200,000 or $300,000. Is that right?

嗨，下午好。您能否透露一下該季度的 COVID 和 VTM 收入是多少？我認為大約是20萬或30萬美元。是對的嗎？

Just a second. I believe it was for the quarter, which was $780,000, which was just slightly higher than last year, about a couple of hundred thousand.

等一下。我相信是本季度的費用，為 78 萬美元，僅比去年略高，大約是幾十萬美元。

So down about $1.2 million from a year ago?

那麼比一年前減少了約 120 萬美元？

From a year ago? Yeah, definitely down by $1.29 million last year.

從一年前開始？是的，去年確實減少了 129 萬美元。

Okay.

好的。

I mean our expectations on COVID right now are very hard to predict and nothing we're relying on.

我的意思是，我們現在對新冠病毒的期望很難預測，而且我們無法依賴任何東西。

Okay. You talked a little bit about Kenya, felt like there's a lot of legal hurdle you have to get past. When do you think you'll start shipping product to Kenya?

好的。你談到了一些關於肯尼亞的事情，感覺你必須克服很多法律障礙。您認為什麼時候開始將產品運送到肯尼亞？

Well, look, all I know is that the government is confident that this challenge is going to get ruled in their favor. They're putting significant pressure on us to be ready and available to deliver. There's like millions of tasks between now and the end of the year. They've indicated they'd like to start with a 1 million test order immediately. So, we are literally gearing up and ready. And I believe -- there's a key court date.

好吧，我所知道的是，政府有信心這一挑戰將得到對他們有利的裁決。他們給我們施加了巨大的壓力，要求我們做好交付的準備。從現在到今年年底，大約有數百萬個任務。他們表示希望立即開始下達 100 萬份測試訂單。所以，我們確實正在做好準備。我相信——有一個關鍵的開庭日期。

John, I believe it's the second week in July, if I'm not mistaken. Next week.

約翰，如果我沒記錯的話，我相信這是七月的第二週。下週。

July 10.

7 月 10 日。

Yeah.

是的。

Okay. So, it sounds like you do expect revenue in 2023 from Kenya?

好的。那麼，聽起來您確實預計 2023 年來自肯尼亞的收入是？

Yeah. Definitely. I mean, at least from the standpoint of what we are gauging from the government's actions, activities, expectations. And at the end of day, this is their battle, right, at some point. So and they're feeling confident. So based on that, what we are getting is feedback and we've got guys on the ground who are in contact on a regular basis. You know, the view is that there's no merit behind the case. And they will prevail, and this will go through. It's not unexpected. You would expect an incumbent who has had this business for a while to push back as hard as they can.

是的。確實。我的意思是，至少從我們從政府的行動、活動和期望來衡量的角度來看。歸根結底，這就是他們的戰鬥，對吧，在某個時刻。所以他們感到自信。因此，基於此，我們得到的是反饋，並且我們有定期聯繫的現場人員。你知道，人們認為此案沒有任何依據。他們將會獲勝，這一切將會成功。這並不意外。你會期望一個已經經營這項業務一段時間的現任者會盡其所能地反擊。

Got it. And then with the new diabetes instrument, can you give us a little color on when you think those products hit the market?

知道了。然後，對於新的糖尿病儀器，當您認為這些產品進入市場時，您能給我們一些說明嗎？

Well, look, we've done, I believe, a large number of reviews with the FDA around the Premier Resolution. I think those have been concluded now is our understanding. And so, we are expecting some news imminently from them. And we are gearing up our team appropriately to be prepared at AACC to highlight the product. And we are gearing up our technical sales resources to be ready to go immediately. So those are all in place. And yeah, our expectation is to be ready for this coming quarter.

好吧，我相信，我們已經與 FDA 圍繞首要決議進行了大量審查。我想這些現在已經是我們的理解了。因此，我們期待他們即將傳來一些消息。我們正在為我們的團隊做好適當的準備，以便在 AACC 上突出展示我們的產品。我們正在準備我們的技術銷售資源，以便立即投入使用。所以這些都已就位。是的，我們的期望是為下一個季度做好準備。

And then on --

然後——

And that's on the hemoglobin variant that's going on. On the diabetes instrument, on the 9210, our core products, we are in stability testing around the columns. We are in the process of the key redesigns are almost done with the testing that will significantly improve the service quality maintenance aspect and costs of the product. And John would probably give you a little context around some of the supply chain initiatives and the insourcing activities that are underway. But my expectation is that we will be in the market with the column updates and the quality redesigns in terms of the Phase 1 improvements in early '24. And I think the supply chain improvements and those COGS benefit should start trickling in by second quarter or so. Is that fair?

這就是正在發生的血紅蛋白變體。在糖尿病儀上，在我們的核心產品9210上，我們正​​在圍繞柱子進行穩定性測試。我們正在進行關鍵的重新設計和測試，這將顯著提高產品的服務質量、維護方面和成本。約翰可能會向您提供一些有關一些供應鏈計劃和正在進行的內包活動的背景信息。但我的期望是，我們將在 24 年初的第一階段改進方面進行專欄更新和質量重新設計。我認為供應鏈的改善和這些銷貨成本收益應該會在第二季度左右開始顯現。這公平嗎？

Yes. So, in terms of the insourcing of the column which we expect to significantly reduce down our cost of production of our consumable, and that's towards its final stage in terms of quality review, the technical review. We've given notice to our existing supplier that we will be moving away from them. And so, that's very real. And we would expect that the supplier decreasing financial benefit probably towards the end of Q3.

是的。因此，就色譜柱的內包而言，我們預計將顯著降低我們的耗材生產成本，這正接近質量審查和技術審查的最後階段。我們已通知現有供應商，我們將不再與他們合作。所以，這是非常真實的。我們預計供應商的財務收益可能會在第三季度末下降。

And in terms of the supply chain around our instrument [table], we are very much looking at outsourcing and offshoring certain aspects of those instruments to much lower-cost locations in terms of supply chain. We are well advanced in Phase 1 on that and are currently testing samples and prototypes in terms of these modules. And then we're also actively examining supply chain changes for Phase 2. Our core objective around that is to make our instrument cheaper to produce, which then should allow us to supply that to our customers and distributors at a lower cost, which should effectively increase the total addressable market for our instrument.

就我們儀器[表]周圍的供應鏈而言，我們非常關注將這些儀器的某些方面外包和離岸外包到供應鏈方面成本低得多的地點。我們在第一階段已經取得了很大進展，目前正在測試這些模塊的樣本和原型。然後我們還在積極研究第二階段的供應鏈變化。我們的核心目標是使我們的儀器生產成本更低，這將使我們能夠以更低的成本向我們的客戶和分銷商供應該儀器，這應該有效增加我們儀器的總潛在市場。

And that, coupled with the increased injection per column and the increased reliability that we're also pursuing, and we think we'll give this (technical difficulty) another lease of life and allow us to compete at a lower price point while continuing to deliver healthy margins.

再加上我們也在追求的每柱進樣量的增加和可靠性的提高，我們認為我們將給這個（技術難度）另一個生命，讓我們能夠以更低的價格進行競爭，同時繼續提供健康的利潤。

Okay. On the autoimmune business, which I believe you said was up about 35% in the quarter, is that the business in upstate New York, the lab business?

好的。關於自身免疫業務，我相信您所說的本季度增長了約 35%，那是紐約州北部的實驗室業務嗎？

It's the associated test manufacturing business connected to the lab, yes. And a lot of that activity was a rebound in our US order book and clearing of some backlogs.

是的，這是與實驗室相連的相關測試製造業務。其中很多活動是我們美國訂單的反彈和一些積壓訂單的清理。

So, it sounds like you have multiple areas where you expect things to improve. You just reported Q1 around $15 million. I would imagine you have a pretty good handle on what you think revenues are for Q2. Can you give us any kind of range where you think revenues come in for the year or is it still too early to provide guidance?

所以，聽起來您希望在多個方面有所改進。您剛剛報告第一季度約為 1500 萬美元。我想您對第二季度的收入有很好的把握。您能否告訴我們您認為本年度收入的範圍，或者現在提供指導還為時過早？

I think it's too early to give you guidance for the year. This is -- I think revenues for this quarter for Q2 will be [ramped on] around close to $14 million, something like that, I would imagine. $13 million, $14 million. But we're still closing the books. But in terms of how the profile plays out, a lot of what we're talking about here, the inflection points play out in the second half.

我認為現在給你今年的指導還為時過早。我認為第二季度的收入將接近 1400 萬美元，我想是這樣的。 1300萬美元，1400萬美元。但我們仍在結賬。但就概況如何展開而言，我們在這裡討論的很多內容，拐點都在下半場出現。

Okay. So, Kenya and TrinScreen and scaling of that business plays out in the second half. All of the changes that John and I talked about with respect to both the hemoglobins product launch, sorry, the launch of the hemoglobins product is also second half play and all the changes around the 9210 are happening in the next six months, and we should be in the market in 2024. So, I don't expect an immediate rebound of these things, but I do expect key milestones that you'll be able to see in the coming quarters that we can point to where we get traction around orders, and we get traction on the COGS benefits. And we'll highlight those as we go here in the coming month.

好的。因此，肯尼亞和 TrinScreen 以及該業務的擴展將在下半年發揮作用。約翰和我談到的關於血紅蛋白產品發布的所有變化，抱歉，血紅蛋白產品的發布也是下半場比賽，圍繞 9210 的所有變化都將在接下來的六個月內發生，我們應該2024 年進入市場。因此，我預計這些事情不會立即反彈，但我確實預計您將在未來幾個季度看到關鍵的里程碑，我們可以指出我們在訂單方面獲得牽引力的地方，我們對銷貨成本效益產生了興趣。我們將在下個月來到這裡時強調這些內容。

Okay. All right. Thank you. That was it for me.

好的。好的。謝謝。對我來說就是這樣。

(Operator Instructions) Seeing no further questions in the queue, I would like to turn the call back over to Aris Kekedjian for closing remarks.

（操作員說明）看到隊列中沒有其他問題，我想將電話轉回給 Aris Kekedjian 進行結束語。

Thank you for attending our call today. I know it's a bit of a tight Hollywood holiday week for a number of people in the US. I will say that I will apologize ahead of time. I've said to people, we will report on a more timely basis. This quarter was on me. We got caught up on a number of corporate development initiatives and travel and I'll take blame for that and ensure it doesn't happen again. But that being said, thank you for being on this journey with us. And we will keep you posted as developments arise. Have a good day.

感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議。我知道對於美國的許多人來說，這是一個有點緊張的好萊塢假期週。我會說我會提前道歉。我已經對人們說過，我們會更及時地進行報告。這個季度是我的。我們陷入了一些企業發展計劃和旅行中，我將為此承擔責任並確保這種情況不再發生。但話雖這麼說，感謝您與我們一起踏上這段旅程。隨著事態的發展，我們將及時通知您。祝你有美好的一天。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。