TTEC Holdings Inc (TTEC) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to TTECH third quarter, 2024 earnings conference call. I would like to remind all parties that you will be in a listen-only mode until the question and answer session. This call is being recorded at the request of TTECH. I would now like to turn the call over to Paul Miller TTE's senior Vice President, treasurer and investor relations officer. Thank you, sir. And you may begin.

歡迎參加 TTECH 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。我想提醒各方，在問答環節之前，你們將處於只聽模式。應 TTECH 的要求對本次通話進行錄音。我現在想將電話轉給 Paul Miller TTE 的高級副總裁、財務主管和投資者關係官。謝謝您，先生。你可以開始了。

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. TTECH is hosting this call to discuss its third quarter results for the period ended September 30th 2024 participating on today's call are Ken Tuchman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TTECH. Kenny Wagers, Chief Financial Officer of TTECH and Shelly Swanback, Chief Executive Officer of TTECH. Engage yesterday, TTECH issued a press release announcing its financial results while this call will reflect items discussed within that document for complete information about our financial performance. We also encourage you to read our third quarter, 2024 quarterly report on form 10-Q.

早安，感謝您今天加入我們。TTECH 主持本次電話會議，討論截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日的第三季業績，參加今天電話會議的有 TTECH 董事長兼執行長 Ken Tuchman。TTECH 財務長 Kenny Wagers 和 TTECH 執行長 Shelly Swanback。昨天，TTECH 發布了一份新聞稿，宣布其財務業績，而本次電話會議將反映該文件中討論的項目，以獲取有關我們財務業績的完整資訊。我們也鼓勵您閱讀我們 10-Q 表格中的 2024 年第三季報告。

Before we begin, I want to remind you that matters discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements related to our operating performance financial goals and business outlook which are based on management's current beliefs and assumptions. Please note that these forward-looking statements reflect our opinions as of the date of this call and we undertake no obligation to revise this information as a result of new developments that may occur. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected and described today for a more detailed description of our risk factors. Please review our 2023 annual report on form 10-K.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的電話會議討論的事項可能包括與我們的經營業績、財務目標和業務前景相關的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於管理層當前的信念和假設。請注意，這些前瞻性陳述反映了我們截至本次電話會議之日的意見，我們不承擔因可能發生的新事態發展而修改此資訊的義務。前瞻性陳述受到各種風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致我們的實際結果與今天對我們的風險因素進行更詳細描述的預期和描述的結果有重大差異。請查看我們 10-K 表中的 2023 年年度報告。

Before we proceed, I want to mention that our call today will not address any questions about Mr Tuchman's September 27th, 2024 proposal to the company's board of directors to take TTECH Private as the company shared in the press release on September 30th. The board formed a special committee of independent directors to consider Mr Tuchman's proposal and the committee in consultation with independent legal and financial advisers is evaluating and considering that proposal, a replay of this conference call will be available on our website under the investor relations section. I will now turn the call over to Ken.

在我們繼續之前，我想提一下，我們今天的電話會議不會解決有關Tuchman 先生於2024 年9 月27 日向公司董事會提出的收購TTECH Private 提案的任何問題，正如該公司在9 月30 日的新聞稿中所分享的那樣。董事會成立了一個由獨立董事組成的特別委員會來考慮塔奇曼先生的提議，該委員會正在與獨立法律和財務顧問協商，評估並考慮該提議，本次電話會議的重播將在我們網站的投資者關係部分提供。我現在會把電話轉給肯。

Good morning and thank you for joining us today as shared in prior quarters. 2024 is a transitional year for TTECH across the company. We remain focused on our four priorities, winning new clients and continuing to execute our diversification strategy, enhancing our portfolio of AI enabled CX solutions, improving our operational agility and strengthening our financial performance.

早安，感謝您今天加入我們，正如前幾季所分享的那樣。2024年是TTECH整個公司的過渡年。我們仍然專注於我們的四個優先事項，贏得新客戶並繼續執行我們的多元化策略，增強我們的人工智慧支援的客戶體驗解決方案組合，提高我們的營運敏捷性並增強我們的財務表現。

In the third quarter of 2024 revenue was $529 million and nongaap adjusted EBITDA was $50 million. The dynamics of the CX industry and the macroeconomic environment continue to create headwinds as select clients delayed decision making and or focus on near term cost savings.

2024 年第三季營收為 5.29 億美元，非公認會計準則調整後 EBITDA 為 5,000 萬美元。由於部分客戶推遲了決策或專注於短期成本節約，客戶體驗產業的動態和宏觀經濟環境持續帶來阻力。

The uncertainties around the election and the Fed's monetary policies have added to this wait and see mindset. Despite these market realities, our teams continue to close new business CX remains a high priority as we engage in productive CX conversations with current and potential new clients. We believe these initiatives will normalize over the course of the next six months and lead to a more attractive demand environment. We recently held one of our regularly scheduled client advisory board meetings which included CX operational and technology focused leaders from many of our largest clients.

大選和聯準會貨幣政策的不確定性加劇了這種觀望心態。儘管存在這些市場現實，我們的團隊仍在繼續完成新業務，當我們與當前和潛在的新客戶進行富有成效的 CX 對話時，CX 仍然是重中之重。我們相信這些措施將在未來六個月內正常化，並帶來更具吸引力的需求環境。我們最近召開了一次定期的客戶顧問委員會會議，其中包括來自我們許多最大客戶的 CX 營運和技術領導者。

The conversations highlighted their business priorities and focus areas as they navigate the current environment and set their priorities. For 2025.

這些對話強調了他們在應對當前環境並設定優先事項時的業務優先事項和重點領域。2025 年。

Let me share a few recurring themes.

讓我分享一些重複出現的主題。

Clients are weighing the promise of AI against the necessary work required in their systems, data architecture and CX infrastructure to realize the full benefits. Pilots are delivering encouraging results however, expense accuracy, data protection and organizational readiness concerns continue to be top of mind.

客戶正在權衡人工智慧的前景與系統、資料架構和客戶體驗基礎設施所需的必要工作，以實現全部優勢。試點工作取得了令人鼓舞的成果，但費用準確性、資料保護和組織準備情況仍然是首要考慮因素。

A more integrated and holistic view of CX processes and technology stack are a priority. Regardless of their current landscape, clients are looking for ways to get more value from their CX investments. They're focused on activating new A I enabled capabilities as well as building tighter integrations between their contact center CRM and analytics platforms.

對 CX 流程和技術堆疊進行更整合和全面的了解是當務之急。無論當前情況如何，客戶都在尋找從 CX 投資中獲得更多價值的方法。他們專注於啟動新的人工智慧支援功能，以及在聯絡中心 CRM 和分析平台之間建立更緊密的整合。

With limited near term budget increases, clients are pursuing savings to invest in future innovation. This approach will increase operating efficiencies, improve the quality of the customer experience and strengthen the brand differentiation.

由於近期預算成長有限，客戶正在尋求節省資金以投資未來的創新。這種方法將提高營運效率、改善客戶體驗品質並加強品牌差異化。

I deeply value these in person discussions with our advisory board and appreciate hearing what is top of mind for these CX executives and their companies as the market continues to evolve, these discussions help validate our innovation agenda as well as uncover new growth opportunities for both of our business segments.

我非常重視與我們的顧問委員會進行的面對面討論，並且很高興聽到這些CX 高管及其公司隨著市場的不斷發展而最關心的問題，這些討論有助於驗證我們的創新議程，並為雙方發現新的成長機會我們的業務部門。

Now let's discuss TTECH engage.

現在讓我們來討論一下TTECHengage。

Despite the current wait and see mindset in some pockets of the market, we continue to win new clients and expand our relationship in our embedded base. We are on track to meet our goal of a dozen new meaningful client relationships. By year end, these wins are strategic and diversified across industries including financial services, health care and retail. As we've shared before, we're keenly focused on winning new clients that will scale profitably as we leverage our expanded geographic footprint.

儘管目前市場上一些地區存在觀望心態，但我們仍在繼續贏得新客戶並擴大我們在嵌入式基礎上的關係。我們有望實現建立十幾個新的有意義的客戶關係的目標。到年底，這些勝利將在金融服務、醫療保健和零售等行業中實現策略性和多元化。正如我們之前所分享的，我們非常專注於贏得新客戶，隨著我們擴大地理覆蓋範圍，這些客戶將實現盈利。

In addition, we continue to make progress selling new work types into our embedded base. This new business includes A I enabled solutions for back office revenue generation fraud prevention learning and knowledge services as well. As work in new lines of business within several of our vertical portfolios.

此外，我們在向嵌入式基礎銷售新工作類型方面繼續取得進展。這項新業務包括人工智慧支援的後台創收解決方案、詐欺預防學習和知識服務。在我們的幾個垂直投資組合中從事新業務線的工作。

For example, in fourth quarter of 2023 we launched a loan origination support program with a leading digital financial services brand based on our strong performance. The account has grown to hundreds of associates delivering five different work types including care, quality, tech support, knowledge, and workforce management as a service.

例如，基於我們的強勁表現，我們在 2023 年第四季與領先的數位金融服務品牌推出了貸款發放支援計畫。該客戶已發展到數百名員工，提供五種不同的工作類型，包括護理、品質、技術支援、知識和勞動力管理即服務。

Another example includes a recent win with a long term health care client. This exciting new opportunity extends our footprint into the provider market with patient access and back office support services. Increasingly, our new and existing business opportunities are offshore and leverage our expanded geographic footprint. The head count in our new geographies has scaled 43% from the second to third quarter of this year.

另一個例子包括最近贏得了一位長期醫療保健客戶。這個令人興奮的新機會透過患者訪問和後台支援服務將我們的足跡擴展到提供者市場。我們的新的和現有的商業機會越來越多地位於海外，並利用我們擴大的地理足跡。從今年第二季到第三季度，我們新地區的員工人數增加了 43%。

In addition, more than 60% of the annual contract value of our five new client wins this quarter will be delivered offshore while we're excited about this trend. It is important to note that the deal size of our offshore contracts are initially smaller as illustrated. In previous examples, these relationships have the potential to grow as we introduce new work types into the account.

此外，本季度我們贏得的五個新客戶的年度合約價值的 60% 以上將在海外交付，我們對這一趨勢感到興奮。值得注意的是，如圖所示，我們的離岸合約的交易規模最初較小。在前面的範例中，當我們向帳戶中引入新的工作類型時，這些關係有可能發展。

Our focus on innovation continues to be a priority with an emphasis on practical use cases and applications. Our product and engineering teams have built a deep understanding of the evolving AI landscape for CX and have prioritized our road map based on what solutions are ready today and what will be potentially viable in the future. Above all, we're focused on delivering solutions that can be implemented successfully and will return a positive roi for our clients and our business.

我們對創新的關注仍然是我們的首要任務，重點是實際用例和應用程式。我們的產品和工程團隊對 CX 不斷發展的 AI 格局有了深入的了解，並根據目前已準備好的解決方案以及未來可能可行的解決方案確定了我們的路線圖的優先順序。最重要的是，我們專注於提供可以成功實施的解決方案，並為我們的客戶和我們的業務帶來積極的投資回報。

Let me share a few examples. The ability to process call and digital transcripts at scale using AI is fueling operational efficiencies and revenue growth opportunities for our clients insights glean from real time customer interactions are delivering benefits across multiple industries. These benefits include improving coaching effectiveness in e-commerce, identifying customer journey, pain points in luxury retail and accelerating sales in automotive. We anticipate the impact from these insights will continue to grow as pilot programs move into production with our clients.

讓我分享幾個例子。使用人工智慧大規模處理通話和數位文字記錄的能力正在提高營運效率，為我們的客戶帶來收入成長機會，從即時客戶互動中收集的見解正在為多個行業帶來好處。這些好處包括提高電子商務的輔導效率、識別客戶旅程、奢侈品零售的痛點以及加速汽車銷售。我們預計，隨著試點計畫與客戶一起投入生產，這些見解的影響將繼續擴大。

We're also making progress with voice and digital language translation. As the quality of these A I enhanced services rapidly evolves and improves we're developing native language translation tools to meet our clients', practical use cases and cost requirements and see language translation is a substantial area of future opportunity.

我們在語音和數位語言翻譯方面也取得了進展。隨著這些人工智慧增強服務的品質迅速發展和提高，我們正在開發母語翻譯工具，以滿足客戶的實際用例和成本要求，並看到語言翻譯是未來機會的重要領域。

Now let me switch gears to TTECH Digital where we create value at the intersection of contact center CRM A I and analytics underpinned with software engineering and led with consulting as the CX technology landscape continues to evolve, clients are leaning into our deep CX expertise to help them navigate their path forward. Here are a few highlights. We're on pace to close more than 60 new strategic clients in 2024 these clients typically begin their relationship with us in one specific CX solution and have the potential to expand with adjacent services.

現在讓我切換到TTECH Digital，我們在聯絡中心CRM A I 和分析的交叉點上創造價值，以軟體工程為基礎，並以諮詢為主導，隨著CX 技術領域的不斷發展，客戶正在依靠我們深厚的CX 專業知識來幫助他們引導他們前進的道路。以下是一些亮點。我們計劃在 2024 年關閉 60 多個新策略客戶，這些客戶通常透過特定的 CX 解決方案開始與我們建立關係，並有潛力透過相鄰服務進行擴展。

More than 75% of our bookings last quarter were with existing clients who are choosing us for additional CX solutions year-to-date through September. The total number of clients with revenues greater than $1 million continues to grow and our recurring revenue has increased quarter over quarter and year over year.

上季超過 75% 的訂單來自現有客戶，他們從年初至今一直選擇我們提供額外的 CX 解決方案。收入超過 100 萬美元的客戶總數持續成長，我們的經常性收入逐季逐年成長。

While we've made progress, we also faced some headwinds in the second half of the quarter with delayed decision making by clients on several of our larger deals. Consequently, our digital professional services revenue was lower than expected in the third quarter.

儘管我們取得了進展，但我們在本季度下半年也面臨一些阻力，客戶對我們的幾筆較大交易的決策延遲。因此，我們第三季的數位專業服務收入低於預期。

As many of our current clients complete their contact center cloud migrations, they're considering the next CRM contact center or AI investment as I mentioned earlier. While clients are enthusiastic about the potential of AI, they must address data and organizational readiness before they commit to full scale rollouts to provide clients with a low risk environment to test learn and deploy their AI solutions. We built a technology innovation environment, we call Sandcastle CX. And when combined with our technology management approach called surround CX, we're providing innovation and continuous technology optimization. So clients can easily create change tailor and evolve their cloud based AICC platforms. Over time.

正如我之前提到的，隨著我們目前的許多客戶完成聯絡中心雲端遷移，他們正在考慮下一個 CRM 聯絡中心或人工智慧投資。雖然客戶對人工智慧的潛力充滿熱情，但他們必須在承諾全面部署之前解決資料和組織準備問題，為客戶提供低風險環境來測試學習和部署其人工智慧解決方案。我們建構了一個技術創新環境，我們稱之為 Sandcastle CX。當與我們稱為「環繞 CX」的技術管理方法相結合時，我們將提供創新和持續的技術最佳化。因此，客戶可以輕鬆創建變更客製化並發展其基於雲端的 AICC 平台。隨著時間的推移。

This year, approximately 45% of our TOP 100 clients have deployed well defined A I projects. With us, these projects are yielding positive results and are making the case for full scale implementations.

今年，我們的 100 強客戶中約有 45% 部署了明確的人工智慧專案。在我們的幫助下，這些計畫正在取得積極成果，並為全面實施提供了理由。

Our ability to help clients integrate their myriad of technology solutions and activate relevant A I capabilities. Continues to set TTECH digital apart. For example, we closed an exciting new opportunity with a professional services firm using our enterprise knowledge engineering and content intelligence solutions.

我們有能力幫助客戶整合無數的技術解決方案並啟動相關的人工智慧功能。繼續讓 TTECH digital 脫穎而出。例如，我們使用我們的企業知識工程和內容智慧解決方案與專業服務公司達成了令人興奮的新機會。

This three year CX engagement includes a comprehensive overall and reclassification of all the clients unstructured data. So it can be used for various CX and A I applications for a global technology integrator. We modernized their CRM systems and created a data driven sales optimization solution that serves 700 sales executives in 62 countries with a 92% adoption rate. The program has delivered over 150,000 new sales opportunities with substantial increases in data accuracy and win rates and with a large media and entertainment client.

這項為期三年的客戶體驗活動包括對所有客戶非結構化資料進行全面的整體和重新分類。因此它可以用於全球技術整合商的各種CX和AI應用。我們對他們的 CRM 系統進行了現代化改造，並創建了數據驅動的銷售優化解決方案，為 62 個國家/地區的 700 名銷售主管提供服務，採用率高達 92%。該計劃已提供超過 150,000 個新的銷售機會，數據準確性和獲勝率大幅提高，並擁有大型媒體和娛樂客戶。

We're in the midst of a multi phase transformation in which we're migrating over 4,000 on premise, contact center associates to a cloud platform.

我們正處於多階段轉型之中，我們正在將 4,000 多名本地聯絡中心員工遷移到雲端平台。

Once that phase is complete, we will be launching several AI capabilities including self service bots, agent assist and analytics. These are just a few of the many AI enabled transformation initiatives underway through our ongoing partner diversification strategy. We've added new capabilities to our portfolio of CX solutions. We're excited about the growth in these new partnerships and are now selling and implementing projects with all of the leading CX technology platforms.

這個階段完成後，我們將推出多項人工智慧功能，包括自助服務機器人、代理協助和分析。這些只是我們持續的合作夥伴多元化策略所實施的眾多人工智慧轉型措施中的一小部分。我們為 CX 解決方案組合新增了新功能。我們對這些新合作關係的發展感到興奮，現在正在使用所有領先的 CX 技術平台銷售和實施專案。

Before I hand it over to Kenny, I'd like to recognize and thank Shelly Swanback for her many contributions to the company over the past two years. As we previously shared, Shelley has made a personal decision to leave TTECH at the end of this year for health reasons. She will be missed and we wish her all the best as she takes a well deserved break.

在將其交給 Kenny 之前，我要感謝 Shelly Swanback 在過去兩年為公司做出的許多貢獻。正如我們之前分享的那樣，Shelley 因健康原因做出了在今年年底離開 TTECH 的個人決定。我們會想念她，我們祝她一切順利，因為她得到了應得的休息。

Supporting a smooth transition. I'd like to formally welcome John Abu to our company as President of TTECH, engage a 27 year industry veteran and proven leader in the BPO space. John joined us several months ago and is already making a material impact. A great cultural fit. John brings both growth and operational expertise to his role. Leading our engage go to market and operational teams in conclusion, while taking more time than expected, we're prudently working through various challenges during this transition year, we are executing against our top strategic priorities while also taking the necessary cost reductions and profit improvement actions to strengthen our balance sheet and return the company to long term revenue growth and increased profitability. As a management team, we're focused on our path forward and are actively executing on our strategy and improvement initiatives. On behalf of the board of directors, our leadership team and our employees around the world. We look forward to continuing to share our progress in the quarters to come. I will now turn the call over to Kenny.

支持平穩過渡。我謹正式歡迎 John Abu 加入我們公司，擔任 TTECH 總裁，他是一位擁有 27 年行業經驗的資深人士，也是 BPO 領域久經考驗的領導者。約翰幾個月前加入我們，並且已經產生了重大影響。文化契合度很高。約翰為他的角色帶來了成長和營運方面的專業知識。最後，領導我們的參與市場和營運團隊，雖然花費了比預期更多的時間，但我們在這個過渡的一年中謹慎地應對各種挑戰，我們正在執行我們的首要戰略重點，同時也採取必要的成本削減和利潤提高加強我們的資產負債表並使公司恢復長期收入成長並提高獲利能力的行動。作為管理團隊，我們專注於前進的道路，並積極執行我們的策略和改進措施。代表董事會、我們的領導團隊以及我們在世界各地的員工。我們期待在未來幾季繼續分享我們的進展。我現在將把電話轉給肯尼。

Thank you, Ken and good morning. I will start with a review of our third quarter financial results before discussing our full year 2024 financial outlook.

謝謝你，肯，早安。我將首先回顧我們第三季度的財務業績，然後討論我們 2024 年全年的財務展望。

In my discussion of the third quarter, financial results reference to revenue is on a GAAP basis. While EBIDA operating income and earnings per share are on a non-GAAP adjusted basis. A full reconciliation of our GAAP to non-GAAP results is included in the tables attached to our earnings press release.

在我對第三季的討論中，財務績效參考的收入是基於公認的會計原則（GAAP）。而 EBIDA 營業收入和每股盈餘是根據非公認的會計準則調整後。我們的 GAAP 與非 GAAP 結果的完整調整包含在我們的收益新聞稿所附的表格中。

Turning to our consolidated third quarter, 2024 financial results revenue was 529 million. A decrease of 12.2% over the prior year period and relatively unchanged, sequentially adjusted EBITA was 50 million or 9.5% of revenue. A decrease from 64 million or 10.6% of revenue in the prior year period and an increase from 46 million or 8.7% of revenue in the prior quarter.

轉向我們2024年第三季合併財務業績收入為5.29億美元。比上年同期下降 12.2%，相對不變，經連續調整的 EBITA 為 5,000 萬歐元，佔營收的 9.5%。較去年同期的 6,400 萬美元有所下降，佔營收的 10.6%；較上季的 4,600 萬美元有所增加，佔營收的 8.7%。

EPS was 11¢ compared to 48¢ in the prior year period and 14¢ in the prior quarter.

每股收益為 11 美分，去年同期為 48 美分，上一季為 14 美分。

Foreign exchange had a nominal impact on revenue in the third quarter over the prior year period. While positively impacting adjusted ebida by 2 million primarily in our engage segment at the company level. We delivered the third quarter within our performance expectations in our digital segment. Our recurring managed service offerings continue to deliver double digit revenue growth. However, for the reasons mentioned by Canin, our professional services revenue was negatively impacted by the unanticipated delays in closing select larger deals in our engage segment. Top line performance met our expectations and was relatively in line with the prior quarter.

與去年同期相比，外匯對第三季的收入產生了名義影響。同時主要在公司層面的參與部門對調整後的 EBID 產生 200 萬美元的正面影響。我們在數位領域的第三季業績符合預期。我們的經常性託管服務產品持續實現兩位數的收入成長。然而，由於 Canin 提到的原因，我們的專業服務收入受到了我們參與部門中選定的較大交易的意外延遲的負面影響。營收表現符合我們的預期，並且與上一季相對一致。

We are encouraged by the improved profitability in both our digital and engage segments, reflecting the early benefits from our profit optimization initiatives.

我們對數位和互動領域的獲利能力提高感到鼓舞，這反映了我們利潤優化計畫的早期效益。

Turning to our third quarter, 2024 segment results our digital segment's third quarter, 2024 revenue was 116 million down 13.2% over the prior year period and relatively unchanged. Sequentially, the year over year results are a difficult comparison. As the reduction primarily relates to a large one time on premise product sale in the prior year period for one of our existing clients as previously communicated for our 2024 outlook. The one time on premise related revenue is declining overall as more clients migrate to cloud based CX delivery, partially offset by the growth in recurring revenue related to cloud infrastructure, TTECH, digital professional services and recurring revenue together increased by 5.9% year over year. In the third quarter, we continue to deliver solid results in our recurring managed services offerings which increased 12.9% year over year and 4.2%. Sequentially managed services represented approximately 65% of digital's total revenue in the third quarter of 2024 compared to 51% in the prior year period.

談到我們 2024 年第三季的業績，我們的數位部門 2024 年第三季的營收為 1.16 億美元，比去年同期下降 13.2%，相對持平。因此，逐年結果很難進行比較。由於這項減少主要與我們先前就 2024 年展望所傳達的現有客戶的上一年期間的大量一次性產品銷售有關。隨著越來越多的客戶遷移到基於雲端的CX 交付，一次性相關收入總體下降，但部分被與雲端基礎設施、TTECH、數位專業服務相關的經常性收入成長所抵消，經常性收入同比增長5.9%。第三季度，我們的經常性託管服務產品持續取得穩健的業績，年增 12.9%，年增 4.2%。2024 年第三季度，連續託管服務約佔數位化總收入的 65%，而去年同期為 51%。

We are pleased with the demand for our CCA managed services solutions related to our CX professional services offerings revenue declined over the prior year and sequentially by 6.4 and 5.1% respectively.

我們很高興看到與我們的 CX 專業服務產品相關的 CCA 託管服務解決方案的需求比上一年和上一季分別下降了 6.4% 和 5.1%。

As shared, select clients unexpectedly delayed the timing of larger engagements which impacted the third quarter and is adding pressure to our fourth quarter outlook.

正如所分享的那樣，部分客戶意外地推遲了大型活動的時間，這影響了第三季度，並給我們第四季度的前景增加了壓力。

While we continue to view this dynamic as temporary, the trend could take a few quarters before normalizing as it is influenced by many macro factors.

雖然我們仍然認為這種動態是暫時的，但由於受到許多宏觀因素的影響，這種趨勢可能需要幾個季度才能正常化。

Digital's third quarter, 2024 operating income was 14 million or 12.5% of revenue. This compares to 19 million or 14.5% in the prior year period and 15 million or 12.8% in the prior quarter.

Digital 2024 年第三季營業收入為 1,400 萬美元，佔營收的 12.5%。相較之下，去年同期為 1,900 萬，即 14.5%；上一季為 1,500 萬，即 12.8%。

While we had a healthier revenue mix than the prior year, it was offset by the lower revenue previously mentioned and the investment in talent to support our continuous effort to diversify our offerings for 2025.

雖然我們的收入結構比前一年更健康，但它被前面提到的收入下降以及為支持我們在 2025 年持續努力實現產品多元化而進行的人才投資所抵消。

Digital's backlog for the full year is 446 million or 92% of our 2024 revenue guidance at the midpoint. In line with the prior year, we're encouraged by digital's overall strong pipeline that has been growing in terms of the number of deals but has reduced in average deal size due to the growing number of pilot projects attached to A I initiatives.

Digital 全年的積壓訂單為 4.46 億，占我們 2024 年營收指引中位數的 92%。與去年一樣，我們對數位化整體強勁的管道感到鼓舞，該管道的交易數量一直在增長，但由於人工智慧倡議附帶的試點項目數量不斷增加，平均交易規模有所減少。

Our engage segment revenue was 414 million in the third quarter of 2024 down 11.9% over the prior year period and relatively unchanged. Sequentially operating income was 20 million or 4.8% of revenue compared to 28 million or 5.9% of revenue in the prior year.

2024 年第三季度，我們的互動業務收入為 4.14 億美元，比去年同期下降 11.9%，基本持平。營業收入隨後為 2,000 萬美元，佔收入的 4.8%，而前一年為 2,800 萬美元，佔收入的 5.9%。

Sequentially operating income increased 35% with an approximate 130 basis point improvement. As a percentage of revenue overall, we are encouraged by our engaged segment sequential performance. And most importantly, the increase in profitability.

隨後營業收入成長了 35%，提高了約 130 個基點。作為整體收入的百分比，我們對我們參與的部門的連續業績感到鼓舞。最重要的是，獲利能力的提高。

This is primarily a function of our efforts to transition through the headwinds shared earlier this year and executing upon our profit optimization initiatives without impacting our delivery quality.

這主要是我們努力克服今年早些時候出現的不利因素並在不影響交付品質的情況下執行利潤優化計劃的結果。

We are more effectively managing our operations and overall cost structure by further enabling technology and improving our processes.

透過進一步支援技術和改進我們的流程，我們可以更有效地管理我們的營運和整體成本結構。

We also strengthened our leadership team with tenured industry hires to continue accelerating our efforts and advancing our performance in key areas consistent with our messaging last quarter, the quality of engage opportunities remain strong and we are seeing encouraging signs based on clients discussions around CX delivery strategies. However, clients are prioritizing initiatives that will yield cost savings near term and postponing new program investments into next year.

我們還透過行業終身聘用人員加強了我們的領導團隊，以繼續加快我們的努力並提高我們在關鍵領域的績效，這與我們上季度所傳達的信息一致，參與機會的質量仍然強勁，並且根據客戶圍繞著CX 交付策略的討論，我們看到了令人鼓舞的跡象。然而，客戶正在優先考慮能夠在短期內節省成本的舉措，並將新專案投資推遲到明年。

Engage's last 12 month revenue retention rate was 85% compared to 96% in the prior year.

Engage 過去 12 個月的收入保留率為 85%，而前一年為 96%。

The decline is primarily explained by the revenue reduction from one large client in financial services mentioned earlier this year and declines in our seasonal health care volumes primarily due to changes by clients to moderate the level of customer support to address cost pressures. I will now share other third quarter, 2024 metrics before discussing our outlook free cash flow in the third quarter of 2024 was a negative 100 million compared to a negative 53 million in the prior year. The decline was primarily related to the impact of the accounts receivable. Factoring facility. Discontinuation previously communicated when we announced the latest amendment to our credit agreement, this discontinuation negatively impacted our cash flow by 82 million for the three months ended September 30th 2024 and by 101 million for the nine months ended September 30th 2024 normalized free cash flow in the third quarter of 2024 was a negative 19 million and positive 7 million year-to-date.

下降的主要原因是今年稍早提到的金融服務大客戶的收入減少，以及我們的季節性醫療保健量的下降，這主要是由於客戶為緩解成本壓力而調整了客戶支援水平。在討論我們的展望之前，我現在將分享 2024 年第三季的其他指標，2024 年第三季的自由現金流為負 1 億，而前一年為負 5,300 萬。下降主要與應收帳款的影響有關。保理設施。當我們宣布對信貸協議的最新修訂時，我們之前曾傳達過終止協議，此次終止對我們截至2024 年9 月30 日止三個月的現金流量產生了8200 萬美元的負面影響，對截至2024年9 月30 日止九個月的現金流量產生了1.01 億美元的負面影響。

The year over year improvement reflects improved working capital conversion and lower capital expenditures partially offset by lower profitability.

同比改善反映了營運資本轉換率的提高和資本支出的降低，但部分被獲利能力的下降所抵消。

Capital expenditures were 9 million or 1.7% of revenue for the third quarter 2024 compared to 22 million or 3.6% in the prior year. With most expenses related to our geographic expansion.

2024 年第三季的資本支出為 900 萬美元，佔營收的 1.7%，而前一年為 2,200 萬美元，佔營收的 3.6%。大部分費用與我們的地域擴張有關。

Our normalized tax rate was 58.3% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to 20.5% in the prior year.

2024 年第三季我們的標準化稅率為 58.3%，而前一年為 20.5%。

The increase is primarily a function of the ongoing impact of the US valuation allowance recorded during the second quarter, whereby the benefits of the future tax credits from the US pretax losses couldn't be recognized.

這一增長主要是由於第二季度記錄的美國估價備抵的持續影響，美國稅前虧損的未來稅收抵免的好處無法得到確認。

In addition, there were several profitable foreign jurisdictions where the income tax expense was driven higher.

此外，在一些有利可圖的外國司法管轄區，所得稅費用也被推高。

As a result, we ended up with a low global pre tax income in relation to the net positive tax expense for which the US tax loss couldn't be offset.

結果，我們的全球稅前收入相對於淨正稅收支出較低，而美國稅收損失無法抵銷。

As of September 30th 2024 cash was 97 million with 1.028 billion of debt, primarily representing borrowings under our 1.2 billion credit facility partially offset by positive cash flow from operations. Net debt increased 116 million over the prior year. Largely due to higher interest expense and the discontinuation of our accounts receivable factoring facility. Last quarter, we ended the quarter with a net debt to ebita ratio of 4.49 times in line with our internal forecasts looking forward, we anticipate our net debt and leverage to decline in the fourth quarter and into next year due to the positive cash flow from operations, prudent capital allocation proceeds from assets held for sale including a large real estate asset that was not used in operations as disclosed in our form eight K filing and disciplined working capital management.

截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，現金為 9,700 萬美元，債務為 10.28 億美元，主要是我們 12 億信貸額度下的借款，部分被營運產生的正現金流所抵銷。淨負債比上年增加1.16億。主要是由於利息支出增加以及我們的應收帳款保理設施終止。上個季度，我們的淨債務與 EBITA 比率為 4.49 倍，與我們內部的未來預測一致，我們預計我們的淨債務和槓桿率將在第四季度和明年下降，因為來自營運、審慎的資本配置收益（包括我們在8 K 表格備案中揭露的未用於營運的大型房地產資產）以及嚴格的營運資本管理。

Lower anticipated interest rates will also support our free cash flow and debt reduction efforts.

較低的預期利率也將支持我們的自由現金流和債務削減努力。

Further on November 4th 2024 TTE's board of directors suspended the company's semiannual dividend as part of its ongoing shift to prioritize debt reduction.

此外，2024 年 11 月 4 日，TTE 董事會暫停了公司半年度股息，作為其持續優先考慮債務削減的一部分。

Turning to our outlook and closing remarks at the company level, we are reiterating full year 2024 guidance but expect revenue and profitability to be towards the lower end of the ranges provided last quarter at the segment level, the appropriate contribution adjustments are made to reflect our third quarter, actual results and updated fourth quarter forecast for TTECH on a consolidated basis. The midpoint of our guidance range is unchanged with revenue at 2.235 billion and Ebida at 209 million or 9.3% in our digital business. We are forecasting revenue in EBIDA of 483 million and 66 million or 13.8% at the midpoint of our updated guidance range down from 490 million and 73 million or 15% respectively.

談到公司層面的展望和結束語，我們重申2024 年全年指引，但預計收入和盈利能力將接近上季度在細分市場層面提供的範圍的下限，因此會做出適當的貢獻調整以反映我們的業績TTECH 第三季實際業績和更新的第四季合併預測。我們的指導範圍中位數維持不變，數位業務收入為 22.35 億美元，稅息折舊攤提前利潤為 2.09 億美元，即 9.3%。我們預計 EBIDA 營收將分別為 4.83 億美元和 6,600 萬美元，即 13.8%，低於更新指引範圍的中點，分別為 4.90 億美元和 7,300 萬美元，即 15%。

This is below our prior guidance range, primarily impacted by the previously mentioned revenue moderation in our professional service offerings in our engage business. We are forecasting revenue in Ebida of 1.752 billion and 142 million or 8.1% at the midpoint of our updated guidance range up from 1.745 billion and 135 million or 7.8% respectively.

這低於我們先前的指導範圍，主要受到前面提到的我們參與業務的專業服務產品收入放緩的影響。我們預計 Ebida 的營收將分別為 17.52 億美元和 1.42 億美元，即 8.1%，高於我們更新指導範圍的中位數，分別為 17.45 億美元和 1.35 億美元，即 7.8%。

This is slightly above the midpoint of our prior guidance range.

這略高於我們先前指導範圍的中點。

Please reference our commentary in the business outlook section. Of our third quarter, 2024 earnings press release for our expectations for our 2024 full year guidance at the consolidated and segment level.

請參考我們在業務展望部分的評論。在我們發布的 2024 年第三季財報新聞稿中，我們對 2024 年全年綜合和細分市場指引做出了預期。

In closing, we are achieving many of our key objectives that we set forth during this transitional year in TTECH Digital. We are diversifying our CX technology partnerships and broadening our expertise and capabilities across contact center, Cr MA I and Analytics solutions and remain confident in the long term market demand for our CX technology and service capabilities in TTECH engage. We are winning and launching new client programs across our expanded geographic footprint. Working through the previously mentioned headwinds and executing upon our profit optimization initiatives.

最後，我們正在實現我們在 TTECH Digital 過渡的一年中製定的許多關鍵目標。我們正在使我們的CX 技術合作夥伴關係多元化，並擴大我們在聯絡中心、Cr MA I 和分析解決方案方面的專業知識和能力，並對TTECH 參與中的CX 技術和服務能力的長期市場需求保持信心。我們正在擴大的地理範圍內贏得並推出新的客戶計劃。克服前面提到的不利因素並執行我們的利潤優化計劃。

As we transition to 2025 we remain focused on our strategic priorities and resolute in our ability to return TTECH to long term organic growth and increased profitability.

當我們過渡到 2025 年時，我們仍然專注於我們的策略重點，並堅定我們有能力使 TTECH 恢復長期有機成長並提高獲利能力。

I will now turn the call back to Paul.

現在我將把電話轉回給保羅。

Thanks Kenny. I want to remind everyone that our call today will not address any questions about Mr Tuchman's proposal to take TTECH private. As we open up the call, we ask that you limit your questions to one or two at a time operator. You may open the line.

謝謝肯尼。我想提醒大家，我們今天的電話會議不會解決有關 Tuchman 先生將 TTECH 私有化的提議的任何問題。當我們開始通話時，我們要求您每次只向一兩個接線員提出問題。你可以打開線路。

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star and then the number one, please unmute your phone and record your name and company name clearly even prompted your name and company name or record. Introduce your question to cancel your request. Please press star. And then the number two, our first question comes from Mike Latimore of Northland Capital Market. Your line is still open.

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節。如果您想提問，請按星號，然後按數字一，請將您的手機取消靜音並清楚記錄您的姓名和公司名稱，甚至提示您的姓名和公司名稱或記錄。提出您的問題以取消您的要求。請按星號。第二個問題，我們的第一個問題來自 Northland Capital Market 的 Mike Latimore。您的線路仍然開放。

All right, great. Good morning.

好吧，太好了。早安.

I just had a couple questions on the digital business. You know, your guidance seems to imply a nice acceleration in the fourth quarter here. So I guess and potentially even like getting to double digit growth year over year. What are, what kind of gives you confidence that could occur? You know, is there are some of these deals that didn't close, going to close, you know, like what's what's driving them?

我只是有幾個關於數位業務的問題。您知道，您的指導似乎意味著第四季將出現良好的加速。所以我想，甚至可能希望逐年實現兩位數的成長。什麼是，什麼樣的給你信心可能會發生？你知道，是否有一些交易沒有完成、即將完成，你知道，是什麼推動了它們？

Good morning. Yeah, look, we, we're bullish obviously on digital, we've been bullish all year from an outlook perspective. Our Q3, you know, when you get closer towards the end of the year, obviously, when, you know, we have our Q3 results, we have Q4 sitting in front of us, we did have some, some deals slide from three. And you know, Dave is very confident in those deals closing in Q4 or Q1. It gets a little tricky at the end of the year with these, with these big consulting engagements on whether or not they, you know, close to the magic date of December 31st versus January 1. So the trajectory as you alluded to, we do feel confident in over the longer next 2 to 3 quarters based on where we're at, with bookings and where we're at with our backlog.

早安.是的，看，我們顯然看好數位化，從前景的角度來看，我們一整年都看好。我們的第三季度，你知道，當你接近年底時，顯然，當你知道，我們有了第三季度的結果，我們面前有第四季度，我們確實有一些，一些交易從三季度下滑。你知道，戴夫對第四季或第一季完成的交易非常有信心。到了年底，事情會變得有點棘手，因為這些大型諮詢活動會決定它們是否接近 12 月 31 日和 1 月 1 日這個神奇的日期。因此，正如您所提到的那樣，根據我們的預訂情況和積壓情況，我們確實對未來 2 到 3 個季度的較長時期充滿信心。

So assuming you do even hit the lower end of the digital guidance, You, you know, you can get back to growth. Is that something that, you know, maybe it's sustainable where we could see kind of that business growing year over year going forward?

因此，假設你確實達到了數位指導的下限，你知道，你可以恢復成長。您知道，這是否是可持續的，我們可以看到該業務在未來逐年增長？

Yes, my, I mean, we do. Absolutely. You know, there's a lot of mix involved with, with product sales versus the consulting business. And so, you know, we are in obviously 2025 planning season right now. And so as we work through the practices, as we work through a lot of the upside that we see in 2025 with the new practices and the tail winds that we have, we just, we have to obviously also work through the product sales falling off. And so, that, you know, gives us a mixed result at the top line, but the health of the business that we have going forward, we're, we're very confident in.

是的，我的意思是，我們確實這麼做了。絕對地。您知道，產品銷售與諮詢業務涉及許多混合內容。所以，你知道，我們現在顯然正處於 2025 年規劃季節。因此，當我們研究這些實踐時，當我們研究 2025 年我們看到的新實踐和順風的許多好處時，我們顯然還必須解決產品銷售下降的問題。因此，你知道，這為我們的營收帶來了好壞參半的結果，但我們對未來業務的健康發展非常有信心。

I think in particular Mike, if we, you know, continue on our initiatives for diversifying the business inside of digital, with the new partners that we've talked about, I think we're very bullish on all the A I projects starting. And Ken mentioned earlier that 75% of our deals are coming from existing clients we like that because that helps, you know, that's a good indicator that we can have multiple projects with existing clients. Obviously, those deals typically are faster to close. So I think that all in a positive trajectory as well, if you look at our pipeline continues to be healthy, in fact, we have more opportunities coming into the top of the funnel and really, really healthy deals that we're working with our partners. So I think overall positive, but like you said, this, this time of year is always tricky, right? Q4 was a big one for us last year in terms of closing deals and we're Dave and team are really focused on, on getting everything over the line that we can here in Q4.

我特別認為麥克，如果我們，你知道，繼續與我們討論過的新合作夥伴一起實現數位化業務多元化的舉措，我認為我們非常看好所有人工智慧專案的啟動。Ken 之前提到，我們 75% 的交易來自現有客戶，我們喜歡這樣，因為這有幫助，你知道，這是一個很好的指標，表明我們可以與現有客戶進行多個專案。顯然，這些交易通常會更快完成。因此，我認為一切都在積極的軌道上，如果你看看我們的管道仍然健康，事實上，我們有更多的機會進入漏斗的頂部，並且我們正在與我們合作的真正非常健康的交易合作夥伴。所以我認為總體上是積極的，但就像你說的，每年的這個時候總是很棘手，對吧？就完成交易而言，去年第四季對我們來說是重要的一年，我們戴夫和團隊真正專注於在第四季度盡我們所能地完成一切。

Yeah, I, I think Hi Mike. I think it, it, we should point out the fact as I said in my script that clients in general have been focused on cost in 2024. And so in many cases, they've been kicking the can on projects, you read about this through all the different it, services companies, etcetera. I think where we feel more confident just is as we get into 2025 as interest rates start to come down as we, you know, as the all this political stuff is hopefully behind us, et cetera. That there'll be a much more focused mindset on, on launching larger projects, et cetera. And so that's that's where we see things starting to accelerate. Is, is next year etcetera based on just the feedback that we're hearing from clients that their budgets are a bit constrained and therefore they've been delaying projects and kicking the can a bit. But but that said they can only kick the can for so long until they have no choice but to start to adapt to this new technology or unfortunately, they can't stay competitive.

是的，我，我想嗨，麥克。我認為，我們應該指出這樣一個事實，正如我在腳本中所說，客戶總體上一直關注 2024 年的成本。因此，在很多情況下，他們一直在專案上擱置，你可以透過各種不同的 IT、服務公司等了解這一點。我認為，當我們進入 2025 年時，我們會感到更有信心，因為利率開始下降，因為所有這些政治問題有望成為過去，等等。人們將會更加專注於啟動更大的專案等等。這就是我們看到事情開始加速的地方。是，是明年等等，基於我們從客戶那裡聽到的回饋，他們的預算有點緊張，因此他們一直在推遲專案並稍微拖延。但這意味著他們只能堅持這麼長時間，直到他們別無選擇，只能開始適應這項新技術，或者不幸的是，他們無法保持競爭力。

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, great. Thanks very much.

是的。是的。好的，太好了。非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question comes from Maggie Nolan of William Blair. Your line is not open.

謝謝。我們的下一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的瑪姬·諾蘭。您的線路未開通。

Hi, everyone. It's Kate Krosin on from Maggie. I had a question about health care payer clients that were a weak spot last quarter. Can you touch a little bit on what you're seeing in this client cohort this quarter?

大家好。凱特·克羅辛（Kate Krosin）來自瑪吉（Maggie）。我有一個關於醫療保健付款人客戶的問題，這是上個季度的薄弱環節。您能否談談您在本季的客戶群中看到的情況？

Yeah. Hi. Hi there. Well, last quarter, we talked about a lot of our payer clients just making some decisions relative to saving money, right? That the cost pressures that they have and staffing differently for our seasonal ramp, which is Q4 and into Q1 a bit. And so I say no change there. I mean, things have played out this quarter and we see Q4 similar to what we talked about last quarter. I mean, they're continuing to, to face a lot of cost pressure in the health care industry. And so, you know, they're making choices in terms of cutting costs. And now the good news is there's lots of conversations that we're having about starting to think about using offshore talent, offshore resources. Some technology things that have typically been a little bit off limits if you will from a health care payer perspective. And so those are early conversations, but I expect that we'll continue to have those conversations here through the end of the year and into next year and see some proof of concepts underway in the next couple quarters.

是的。你好。你好呀。好吧，上個季度，我們談到了很多付款客戶只是做出了一些與省錢相關的決定，對吧？他們所面臨的成本壓力和我們的季節性成長（第四季和第一季）的人員配置有所不同。所以我說沒有改變。我的意思是，本季的情況已經發生，我們看到第四季與我們上季討論的類似。我的意思是，他們將繼續面臨醫療保健行業的巨大成本壓力。所以，你知道，他們正在做出削減成本的選擇。現在好消息是，我們正在進行許多關於開始考慮使用離岸人才、離岸資源的對話。如果你從醫療保健支付者的角度來看，一些技術通常有點不受限制。這些都是早期的對話，但我預計我們將在今年年底和明年繼續進行這些對話，並在接下來的幾個季度看到一些概念驗證正在進行中。

Okay, great. Thank you, Shelley. And then one final question on the cost saving initiatives, do you guys still expect that those will provide roughly $30 million in savings in 2025 or has that expectation changed at all?

好的，太好了。謝謝你，雪萊。關於成本節約措施的最後一個問題是，你們是否仍預期這些措施將在 2025 年節省約 3,000 萬美元，或者這種預期是否發生了變化？

No, as we mentioned last quarter, 10 year of in year savings in 2024 and annualized savings of 30 million in 2025. And we've executed well on that to our internal numbers coming out of Q2 into the Q3 results. And so we do expect that those, those numbers to manifest in 2025.

不會，正如我們上個季度提到的，2024 年可實現 10 年同比節省，2025 年年化可節省 3000 萬美元。從第二季到第三季的內部數據來看，我們在這方面執行得很好。因此，我們確實預期這些數字將在 2025 年顯現出來。

Okay, great. Thank you both.

好的，太好了。謝謝你們倆。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Once again to all participants. If you would like to ask a question, please press star and then the number one record your name and company name clearly once prompted and to cancel your request, please press star. And then the number 21 moment, please once again to ask a question. Please press star and then the number one, our next question comes from the line of Cassie Chen. Your line is now open from Bank of America.

謝謝。再次向所有參與者致謝。如果您想提出問題，請按星號，然後出現提示後，第一名人員會清楚地記錄您的姓名和公司名稱，要取消您的請求，請按星號。然後到了21號的時刻，請再提問。請按星號，然後按第一個，我們的下一個問題來自 Cassie Chen。您的美國銀行線路現已開通。

Project. You know, are you also expecting a longer ramp up here for these as well? And you mentioned some macro issues that they're concerned about. Can you just elaborate a little bit more about that and, and why you expect that? You know, why, why you wouldn't expect that to persist and maybe, you know, all those coming up in other client conversations that you're having as well, not just the new, you know, the newer one. Thank you.

專案.您知道嗎，您是否也期待這些產品的成長時間更長？您提到了一些他們關心的宏觀問題。您能否詳細說明一下這一點以及為什麼您會這樣期望？你知道，為什麼，為什麼你不希望這種情況持續下去，也許，你知道，所有這些都出現在你正在進行的其他客戶對話中，而不僅僅是新的，你知道的，較新的。謝謝。

I couldn't hear the beginning part of your question. Sorry about that. You might have been on mute. Can you just repeat your question?

我聽不到你問題的開頭部分。對此感到抱歉。你可能一直處於靜音狀態。你能重複一下你的問題嗎？

Yeah. So I just wanted to ask a little bit about the select client delay projects and implementations that you guys had mentioned. So the first part is just, you know, are you sort of expecting a longer ramp up period for those as well, even after they close in fourth quarter or first quarter of next year? And you know, you mentioned some macro issues that they're concerned about. So what are those, you know, are you hearing those in other client conversations as well?

是的。所以我只是想問一些關於你們提到的精選客戶端延遲專案和實施的問題。所以第一部分只是，你知道，你是否也期望這些產品有更長的增長期，即使它們在第四季度或明年第一季關閉之後？你知道，你提到了他們關心的一些宏觀問題。那麼這些是什麼，你知道嗎，你在其他客戶的對話中也聽過這些嗎？

Okay. Well, so let, let me just take it in each business segment on the engage side as we've been talking about for some time. The last couple quarters, right? Pleased with being on target to, to bring on a dozen or so new meaningful client relationships. They are starting small in terms of the, and part of that is also because many of them are leveraging our new offshore geographies. And so I'd say no change really. There is just kind of more of the same in terms of getting those client launches, right? And then, you know, scaling as we go, some of a couple of those new clients that we've brought in on the engage side, we're already you know, expanding the services that we're providing for them. So I'd say that's pretty much the same as what we've described over the over the last couple of quarters on the digital side, Ken's comments and Kenny's comments were really around some delays in some of those, those projects going forward. And so that's not necessarily meant to be a delay in, in terms of ramping and doing the projects, just a delay and getting them started. And so again, we're really focused on getting those deals closed here in Q4 so that we can start them here at the latter half of this year and early into next year.

好的。好吧，讓我來談談參與方面的每個業務部門，正如我們已經討論了一段時間一樣。最後幾個季度，對吧？很高興能夠實現目標，建立十幾個新的有意義的客戶關係。他們從小規模起步，部分原因是他們中的許多人正在利用我們新的離岸地區。所以我想說真的沒有改變。在啟動這些客戶方面，還有更多相同的事情，對嗎？然後，你知道，隨著我們的發展，我們在參與方面引入了一些新客戶，我們已經知道了，正在擴展我們為他們提供的服務。所以我想說，這與我們過去幾季在數字方面所描述的情況幾乎相同，肯的評論和肯尼的評論實際上是圍繞其中一些項目的一些延遲而展開的。因此，這並不一定意味著專案進度和實施方面的延遲，而只是延遲和啟動專案。再說一次，我們真正專注於在第四季度完成這些交易，以便我們可以在今年下半年和明年初在這裡開始這些交易。

Okay. That's helpful. And then I guess the higher tax rate, the 40% to 46% just talk a little bit more about that. Is that also the right way that we should think about in terms of 2025 modeling purposes and is Q4 kind of a good, you know, jumping off point that we should think about in terms of at least the first half of 2025 understanding that you're not obviously providing formal guidance right now.

好的。這很有幫助。然後我想更高的稅率，40% 到 46% 只是談更多。這也是我們應該考慮 2025 年建模目的的正確方式嗎？

Thanks for the caveat at the end. Yes. The, the normalized tax rate, the, the, what I said in, in the, in the call is exactly where we see over the next couple of quarters. And so to your point, with the deferred tax asset or with the valuation allowance that we had in the previous quarter, it's just really a mix issue between our pre tax income in the US versus our income and the rest of the world and what that effective tax rate is. And so again, not giving guidance on to what we're looking at into the future. Just yet for 2025. But that's where we're at in, in our Q3 results and we anticipate relatively the same in Q4.

感謝最後的警告。是的。我在電話中所說的標準化稅率正是我們在接下來的幾個季度中看到的情況。因此，就您的觀點而言，透過遞延稅項資產或我們上一季的估價津貼，這實際上是我們在美國的稅前收入與我們的收入和世界其他地區的收入之間的混合問題。再說一遍，沒有為我們對未來的展望提供指導。還沒到 2025 年。但這就是我們第三季業績的現狀，我們預期第四季的業績相對相同。

Okay, that's helpful. Thank.

好的，這很有幫助。感謝。

You.

你。

Thank you. Our next question comes from Joe Johnson of Kor. Your line is now open.

謝謝。我們的下一個問題來自 Kor 的 Joe Johnson。您的線路現已開通。

Morning. This will Johnson on for Joe. Thanks for taking our questions. Nice to see the strong growth in New geos this quarter. Do you mind just giving us a sense for your offshore investment program in 2025? And do you think you could potentially accelerate this program? Given the demand dynamic this quarter.

早晨。這將由約翰遜代替喬。感謝您回答我們的問題。很高興看到本季 New geos 的強勁成長。您介意向我們介紹一下你們 2025 年的離岸投資計畫嗎？您認為您有可能加速該計劃嗎？鑑於本季的需求動態。

Well, I, I would say this. I, I think the commentary throughout the year that we've had about our GEO expansion in 2024 still holds. We're very happy with how those GEOS are performing. I think I've said it since the first quarter. That, that, that I got here earlier this year is the investments that were made in 22 and in 23 to set the company up for the the offshore diversification and, and all those products and the services and offerings that now we provide in the marketplace because the customer demand is in that space on an offshore basis and new lines of business we've executed well on it this year. The groundwork is there. You, you see our CapEx spend for the quarter as as we're starting to trend down on that because we've made the investment. So I would just say how we have performed offshore this year is going to be the continuation of 2025. It is the diversification is definitely one of our top four priorities as Ken mentioned earlier. And so you will see more of that offshore into 2025 because that's where the demand is that, that's what the customers are asking us for for various reasons. And so we're meeting them with great products and great services and offshore Environment.

嗯，我，我會這麼說。我，我認為我們全年關於 2024 年 GEO 擴張的評論仍然有效。我們對這些 GEOS 的表現非常滿意。我想我從第一季就已經說過了。我今年早些時候在這裡進行的投資是在 22 和 23 年進行的投資，目的是讓公司實現離岸多元化，以及我們現在在市場上提供的所有這些產品、服務和產品因為客戶的需求是在離岸基礎上的，而且我們今年在新業務領域執行得很好。基礎就在那裡。您會看到我們本季的資本支出支出，因為我們已經進行了投資，因此我們的資本支出支出開始下降。所以我只想說，我們今年在海外的表現將是 2025 年的延續。正如肯恩之前提到的，多元化絕對是我們的四大優先事項之一。因此，到 2025 年，您將看到更多的離岸業務，因為這就是需求所在，這就是客戶出於各種原因向我們提出的要求。因此，我們以優質的產品、優質的服務和海上環境來滿足他們的需求。

Great. And are you seeing any changing dynamics and kind of the cadence of scaling smaller deal sizes offshore.

偉大的。您是否看到任何變化的動態以及擴大海外較小交易規模的節奏。

Yeah, I don't, I don't know if I'd say any changes. I think just, you know, obviously offshore programs, offshore re, the revenue scale from offshore services scale faster than onshore. But that's the first thing we've talked about over the last couple quarters. But you know what we have, it sort of just varies on the client. We have some clients that want to start with, you know, 50 agents to start with some 100. So it just, it really is sort of client dependent. What I would just say is lots still continue to have lots of interest in our new geographies, as Kenny said, particularly Latin America Africa, and we have a couple of clients in the our banking, financial services and insurance sector where we're already expanding in terms of the lines of business that we're supporting them. So I say sort of the dynamics continue similar to what we've been talking about the last quarter or two.

是的，我不知道，我不知道我是否會說任何改變。我認為，顯然，離岸專案、離岸服務、離岸服務的收入規模比在岸成長得更快。但這是我們過去幾季討論的第一件事。但你知道我們有什麼，只是因為客戶而異。我們有一些客戶想要從 50 名代理商開始，從大約 100 名代理商開始。所以它確實有點依賴客戶。我想說的是，正如肯尼所說，很多人仍然對我們的新地區抱有很大的興趣，特別是拉丁美洲和非洲，我們在銀行、金融服務和保險領域有一些客戶，我們已經在這些領域擴大我們支持他們的業務範圍。所以我說，這種動態仍然類似於我們過去一、兩個季度所討論的情況。

Great, thanks.

太好了，謝謝。

Thank you. Our last question is from Jonathan lee of Guggenheim. Your line is not open.

謝謝。我們的最後一個問題來自古根漢的喬納森李。您的線路未開通。

Great. Thanks for taking our questions. Tremendous to see the uptick in offshore here. And thanks for the color there so far, but to clarify our further investments needed to ramp offshore revenue. And are you seeing any existing onshore customers, maybe think about moving some of their volumes offshore?

偉大的。感謝您回答我們的問題。看到這裡近海的成長真是太棒了。感謝到目前為止的顏色，但為了澄清我們需要進一步的投資來增加離岸收入。您是否看到任何現有的境內客戶，也許考慮將部分銷售轉移到海外？

Yeah, and I'll take the investments first and I'll let Shelley take the second half of your question. What, what I would say is the footprint has been laid, right? We are in the countries and in the tier one, tier two cities that, that we are very happy with, right? The customers want to be in the cities that we expanded into over the last two years. And so from an investment standpoint, I would tell you at this point now that the foundation is laid, the facilities are there, the, the, the human capital infrastructure is in those companies, if you will to support growth and scale, any investment would be specific to new revenue and growth on a customer by customer basis. Ie you know, internally, Jonathan, I would say we can go across the parking lot, in South Africa or Rwanda because if we're, we're, you know, expanding beyond the building that we currently have. So I would say it's a, it's a good matching of revenue and expense from an investment standpoint, all based on new clients growing with us in the footprint that we have.

是的，我會先接受投資，然後讓雪萊回答你問題的後半部。什麼，我想說的是足跡已經奠定了，對嗎？我們在那些我們非常滿意的國家和一二線城市，對吧？客戶希望留在我們過去兩年擴張到的城市。因此，從投資的角度來看，我現在可以告訴你，基礎已經奠定，設施已經到位，人力資本基礎設施就在這些公司中，如果你願意支持增長和規模，任何投資將具體針對每個客戶的新收入和成長。也就是說，你知道，在內部，喬納森，我會說我們可以穿過南非或盧安達的停車場，因為如果我們，我們，你知道，擴展到我們目前擁有的建築之外。所以我想說，從投資的角度來看，這是收入和支出的良好匹配，所有這些都基於與我們一起成長的新客戶。

Yeah, I mean, I mean, I guess maybe what I would just add, Jonathan is as we've talked about previously, right? We have, a good percentage of our work that is with regulated in the regulated industries which has to stay on shore. So that hasn't changed. I would say though some of our clients and some of our clients were being very proactive about being able to serve them offshore for work that might have been previously done onshore. But so far, we're still seeing that the offshore work that we're winning and doing with our clients is not, it's not instead of the work that we're doing onshore. It's in addition, now, you know those dynamics, we'll see how those play out. Again. We're being very proactive with our clients. So where we think onshore work can be done offshore, that's higher, will be higher, profitable work for us. We're we're being very thoughtful about that.

是的，我的意思是，我的意思是，我想也許我要補充一點，喬納森就像我們之前討論過的那樣，對嗎？我們有很大一部分工作受到受監管行業的監管，這些行業必須留在岸上。所以這並沒有改變。我想說的是，儘管我們的一些客戶和我們的一些客戶非常積極主動地為他們提供離岸服務，以完成以前可能在岸上完成的工作。但到目前為止，我們仍然看到我們贏得的並與客戶一起完成的離岸工作並不能取代我們在岸上所做的工作。此外，現在你知道了這些動態，我們將看看它們如何發揮作用。再次。我們對客戶非常積極主動。因此，我們認為陸上工作可以在海上完成，這對我們來說是更高、更有利可圖的工作。我們對此非常深思熟慮。

Appreciate that. And secondly, can you share more color on the velocity of debt reduction you'd expect in the coming quarters, maybe some of the drivers of your ability to pay that down just given where cash flow is today versus some of the investments needed to drive some of your expansion.

很欣賞這一點。其次，您能否分享更多有關您預計在未來幾個季度減少債務的速度的信息，考慮到目前的現金流與驅動所需的一些投資，也許是您償還債務能力的一些驅動因素您的一些擴展。

Yeah, Jonathan, I I don't know if I can expand much more than, than what's in the press release or what's out there, right? We are committed to debt reduction. You know, as you see our profitability increase, as you see our free cash flow from operations increase. We have the the asset sale you, you saw the disclosure on the dividend and so as we've been talking over the previous quarters during this transition year, we are focused on debt reduction. We are focused on our capital structure and it is those input metrics if you will, that we will continue to double down on to, to continue to drive down those ratios to the levels that we would be happy with over the coming quarters.

是的，喬納森，我不知道我是否可以擴展比新聞稿或現有內容更多的內容，對吧？我們致力於減少債務。你知道，當你看到我們的獲利能力增加時，當你看到我們來自營運的自由現金流增加時。我們向您出售了資產，您看到了有關股息的披露，因此正如我們在這個過渡年的前幾季所討論的那樣，我們的重點是減少債務。我們專注於我們的資本結構，如果你願意的話，我們將繼續加倍努力，繼續將這些比率降低到我們在未來幾季感到滿意的水平。

Thanks for that.

謝謝你。

Thank you for your questions. That is all the time we have today. This concludes detects a third quarter, 2024 earnings conference call. You may disconnect at this time.

謝謝您的提問。這就是我們今天所擁有的全部時間。2024 年第三季財報電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開連線。