UniFirst Corp (UNF) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the UniFirst Corp. Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

您好，歡迎來到 UniFirst Corp. 第四季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）

It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Steven Sintros, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我很高興將會議轉交給總裁兼首席執行官 Steven Sintros。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning. I'm Steven Sintros, UniFirst's President and Chief Executive Officer. Joining me today is Shane O'Connor, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I'd like to welcome you to UniFirst Corporation's Conference Call to review our fourth quarter results for fiscal year 2022. This call will be on a listen-only mode until we complete our prepared remarks, but first, a brief disclaimer. This conference call may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. The words anticipate, optimistic, believe, estimate, expect, intend and similar expressions that indicate future events and trends identify forward-looking statements. Actual future results may differ materially from those anticipated depending on a variety of risk factors. For more information, please refer to the discussion of these risk factors in our most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

謝謝，早上好。我是 Steven Sintros，UniFirst 的總裁兼首席執行官。今天加入我的是執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Shane O'Connor。歡迎您參加 UniFirst Corporation 的電話會議，回顧我們 2022 財年第四季度的業績。在我們完成準備好的發言之前，本次電話會議將採用只聽模式，但首先是一個簡短的免責聲明。本次電話會議可能包含反映公司當前對未來事件和財務業績的看法的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受某些風險和不確定因素的影響。預期、樂觀、相信、估計、期望、打算和表明未來事件和趨勢的類似表達可識別前瞻性陳述。實際的未來結果可能與預期的結果存在重大差異，具體取決於各種風險因素。有關更多信息，請參閱我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 和 10-Q 文件中對這些風險因素的討論。

We are very excited to be announcing today that we have officially reached another major milestone as a company as we reported just over $2 billion in annual revenues for our fiscal 2022. UniFirst has come a long way from our humble beginnings back in 1936, operating out of a single location in Boston, Massachusetts, and we are very -- we continue to be very excited about our future. I want to thank our thousands of team partners who in the face of a challenging operating environment continue to always deliver for each other and our customers. They are the engine that makes UniFirst go and they deserve all the credit for our ability to be celebrating this milestone today.

我們今天非常高興地宣布，我們已經正式達到了公司的另一個重要里程碑，因為我們報告了 2022 財年的年收入剛剛超過 20 億美元。UniFirst 從我們 1936 年的卑微起點開始，已經走了很長一段路，經營在馬薩諸塞州波士頓的一個單一地點，我們非常 - 我們繼續對我們的未來感到非常興奮。我要感謝我們數以千計的團隊合作夥伴，他們在充滿挑戰的運營環境中繼續始終為彼此和我們的客戶提供服務。他們是推動 UniFirst 前進的引擎，他們值得我們今天慶祝這一里程碑的能力。

During the quarter, as always, our team focused on providing industry-leading service to our customers as well as selling prospective customers on the value that UniFirst can bring to their businesses. Our fourth quarter results reflect a strong top line performance that allowed us to hit that $2 billion mark with consolidated revenues growing 11%. We are pleased with the execution of our team, which delivered solid performances in both new account sales as well as customer retention in fiscal '22.

在本季度，我們的團隊一如既往地專注於為我們的客戶提供行業領先的服務，並向潛在客戶推銷 UniFirst 可以為他們的業務帶來的價值。我們第四季度的業績反映了強勁的收入表現，使我們能夠達到 20 億美元大關，綜合收入增長 11%。我們對我們團隊的執行力感到滿意，該團隊在 22 財年的新客戶銷售和客戶保留方面均表現出色。

Continuing the trend from prior quarters, the strong revenue growth also reflects the impact of price adjustments from throughout the year as we continue to work with our customers to share in cost increases related to the inflationary environment.

延續前幾個季度的趨勢，強勁的收入增長也反映了全年價格調整的影響，因為我們繼續與客戶合作，分擔與通貨膨脹環境相關的成本增加。

As we have discussed in prior calls, we continued to be focused on 3 large initiatives designed to transform the company in terms of our overall capabilities and competitive positioning. These initiatives are the rollout of our new CRM system, a corporate-wide ERP system and investments in the UniFirst brand. As we've talked about over the last few years, we continue to be focused on making good investments in our people, our infrastructure and our technologies.

正如我們在之前的電話會議中所討論的那樣，我們繼續專注於 3 項旨在改變公司整體能力和競爭定位的大型計劃。這些舉措包括推出我們新的 CRM 系統、全公司範圍的 ERP 系統以及對 UniFirst 品牌的投資。正如我們在過去幾年中談到的那樣，我們將繼續專注於對我們的人員、基礎設施和技術進行良好的投資。

With respect to our CRM systems project, we are making good progress deploying our new system in line with our internal schedule. As of our fiscal year-end, over 50% of our U.S. laundry locations have been deployed and we expect the remaining U.S. locations to be deployed by the end of fiscal '23. The deployment of our smaller Canadian and cleanroom operations will carry into fiscal '24.

關於我們的 CRM 系統項目，我們在按照內部計劃部署新系統方面取得了良好進展。截至我們的財年末，我們已經部署了超過 50% 的美國洗衣店，我們預計其餘的美國洗衣店將在 23 財年末部署完畢。我們較小的加拿大和潔淨室業務的部署將進入 24 財年。

During fiscal '23, we will also be focused on the global design phase of our ERP initiative. Our new Oracle Cloud ERP system project will be a multiyear initiative designed to transform our supply chain and procurement capabilities as well as provide an overall technology foundation for growth and efficiency. And finally, as we discussed on prior earnings calls, during fiscal '22, we officially launched our new brand through a series of national TV ads featuring real UniFirst customers and employees. Our message focuses on serving people who always deliver for their companies, their customers and their families. At UniFirst, our ongoing focus will be to Always Deliver for them. Although some costs related to this brand transformation will extend into fiscal '23, the larger onetime expenditures are mostly behind us.

在 23 財年期間，我們還將專注於 ERP 計劃的全球設計階段。我們新的 Oracle 雲 ERP 系統項目將是一項多年計劃，旨在轉變我們的供應鍊和採購能力，並為增長和效率提供整體技術基礎。最後，正如我們在之前的財報電話會議上討論的那樣，在 22 財年期間，我們通過一系列以真正的 UniFirst 客戶和員工為特色的全國電視廣告正式推出了我們的新品牌。我們的信息側重於為始終為公司、客戶和家人提供服務的人們服務。在 UniFirst，我們持續關注的是始終為他們提供服務。儘管與此品牌轉型相關的一些成本將延續到 23 財年，但更大的一次性支出大多已經過去。

All of our investments are designed to deliver solid long-term returns for UniFirst stakeholders and are integral components of our primary long-term objective to be universally recognized as the best service provider in our industry. We continue to report result adjusted for the direct impact of these costs related to these investments.

我們所有的投資都旨在為 UniFirst 利益相關者帶來可觀的長期回報，並且是我們成為業內公認的最佳服務提供商這一主要長期目標不可或缺的組成部分。我們繼續報告根據與這些投資相關的這些成本的直接影響調整後的結果。

Similar to our message last quarter, our adjusted profitability continues to be challenged by the broad impact that the inflationary environment is having on many of our costs as well as the challenging labor environment. The largest item impacting our margins compared to the prior year is higher merchandise amortization that is being influenced both by the inflationary effect on the cost of our products as well as higher levels of merchandise being put in service with our customers. These higher levels are partially being driven by a number of growth-related factors, including a pickup in activity in our energy-dependent markets, solid new account sales, elevated wearer additions at our customers as well as certain national account investments.

與我們上個季度的信息類似，我們調整後的盈利能力繼續受到通貨膨脹環境對我們許多成本的廣泛影響以及具有挑戰性的勞動力環境的挑戰。與上一年相比，影響我們利潤率的最大項目是更高的商品攤銷，它受到通貨膨脹對我們產品成本的影響以及為我們的客戶提供服務的更高水平的商品的影響。這些較高的水平部分是由許多與增長相關的因素推動的，包括我們依賴能源的市場活動的回升、穩健的新客戶銷售、我們客戶增加的佩戴者以及某些國民賬戶投資。

As we look ahead into fiscal '23, we'll be watching the dynamic market environment closely. Although there have been some signs that the higher interest rate environment will slow overall economic demand and hopefully moderate cost, we have yet to see any significant change in our business. As a result, we are not assuming any change to the current economic conditions in our forecast. Shane will provide further details shortly, but in summary, our outlook for fiscal '23 reflects solid continued momentum on the top line and a similar operating margin as fiscal '22.

在我們展望 23 財年時，我們將密切關注充滿活力的市場環境。儘管有一些跡象表明較高的利率環境將減緩整體經濟需求並有望降低成本，但我們尚未看到我們的業務發生任何重大變化。因此，我們在預測中不假設當前經濟狀況有任何變化。 Shane 將在短期內提供更多細節，但總而言之，我們對 23 財年的展望反映了收入持續強勁的勢頭以及與 22 財年相似的營業利潤率。

Despite the challenges in the overall operating environment, we continue to manage through these obstacles and execute against our plan. We will continue to manage costs in areas we can control while assuring we don't impact the ability to execute on our transformational initiatives or adversely affect our customer service levels. As always, we maintain a sharp focus on taking care of our employees, our customers and bring new customers to the UniFirst family. And while we are confident that we'll ultimately be able to improve our operating margins back to more historical levels and beyond, we also firmly believe that building a stronger company for the future will take a certain level of time and investment.

儘管整體運營環境面臨挑戰，但我們繼續克服這些障礙並按照我們的計劃執行。我們將繼續在我們可以控制的領域管理成本，同時確保我們不會影響執行轉型計劃的能力或對我們的客戶服務水平產生不利影響。一如既往，我們始終專注於照顧我們的員工和客戶，並為 UniFirst 大家庭帶來新客戶。雖然我們有信心最終能夠將營業利潤率提高到歷史水平甚至更高，但我們也堅信，為未來打造更強大的公司需要一定的時間和投資。

And with that, I would like to turn the call over to Shane, who will provide the details of our results for the fourth quarter and our outlook for fiscal 2023.

因此，我想將電話轉給 Shane，他將提供我們第四季度業績的詳細信息以及我們對 2023 財年的展望。

Thanks, Steve. Consolidated revenues in our fourth quarter of 2022 were $516.4 million, an increase of 11% from $465.3 million a year ago. And consolidated operating income decreased to $33.3 million from $44.9 million or 26%. Net income for the quarter decreased to $26.2 million or $1.39 per diluted share from $34.6 million or $1.82 per diluted share.

謝謝，史蒂夫。我們 2022 年第四季度的綜合收入為 5.164 億美元，比一年前的 4.653 億美元增長 11%。綜合營業收入從 4490 萬美元下降至 3330 萬美元，降幅為 26%。本季度淨收入從 3460 萬美元或稀釋後每股收益 1.82 美元降至 2620 萬美元或稀釋後每股收益 1.39 美元。

Our financial results in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 included $9.1 million of costs directly attributable to our 3 key initiatives that Steve discussed. Excluding these initiative costs, adjusted operating income was $42.3 million. Adjusted net income was $33.7 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.79. Although our financial results in the prior year may have included direct costs related to these key initiatives, the company did not specifically track the amounts that were being expensed. This was because the amount was less significant in value, and a number of costs were still being capitalized. As a result, similar to previous quarters this fiscal year, we will not be providing adjusted amounts for the prior year comparable period.

我們 2022 財年第四季度的財務業績包括 910 萬美元的成本，直接歸因於史蒂夫討論的我們的 3 項關鍵舉措。不包括這些初始成本，調整後的營業收入為 4230 萬美元。調整後淨收入為 3370 萬美元，調整後攤薄每股收益為 1.79 美元。儘管我們上一年的財務業績可能包括與這些關鍵舉措相關的直接成本，但公司並未具體追踪支出的金額。這是因為該金額的價值不那麼重要，而且一些成本仍在資本化。因此，與本財年的前幾個季度類似，我們將不會提供上一年可比期間的調整後金額。

Our Core Laundry Operations revenues for the quarter were $458.6 million, an increase of 10.5% from the fourth quarter of 2021. Core Laundry organic growth, which adjusts for the estimated effect of acquisitions as well as fluctuations in the CAD was 9.9%. Our organic growth rates continue to benefit from solid sales performance and improved customer retention in fiscal 2022 as well as efforts to share with our customers the inflationary cost increases that we have been experiencing in our business.

我們本季度的核心洗衣業務收入為 4.586 億美元，比 2021 年第四季度增長 10.5%。核心洗衣業務有機增長（根據收購的估計影響以及加元波動進行調整）為 9.9%。我們的有機增長率繼續受益於穩健的銷售業績和 2022 財年客戶保留率的提高，以及與客戶分擔我們在業務中經歷的通貨膨脹成本增加的努力。

Core Laundry operating margin decreased to 6.3% for the quarter or $29 million from 10.1% in prior year or $41.8 million. The costs we incurred during the quarter related to our key initiatives were recorded to the Core Laundry Operations segment and excluding these costs, the segment's adjusted operating margin was 8.3%. As Steve discussed, merchandise amortization continues to be the most significant item impacting our adjusted operating margin in the quarter.

本季度 Core Laundry 營業利潤率從上年同期的 10.1% 或 4180 萬美元下降至 6.3% 或 2900 萬美元。我們在本季度發生的與我們的關鍵舉措相關的成本被記錄在核心洗衣業務部門，不包括這些成本，該部門調整後的營業利潤率為 8.3%。正如史蒂夫所討論的那樣，商品攤銷仍然是影響我們本季度調整後營業利潤率的最重要項目。

In addition, our operating results were also impacted by higher energy costs as a percentage of revenues as well as increased input and labor costs due to the current inflationary environment. These cost increases were partially offset by lower healthcare and payroll-related costs as a percentage of revenues. Energy costs increased to 5.3% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2022, up from 4.2% a year ago.

此外，我們的經營業績還受到能源成本佔收入百分比上升以及由於當前通貨膨脹環境導致投入和勞動力成本增加的影響。這些成本增加部分被較低的醫療保健和工資相關成本佔收入的百分比所抵消。到 2022 年第四季度，能源成本佔收入的比例從一年前的 4.2% 上升到 5.3%。

Revenues from our Specialty Garments segment, which delivers specialized nuclear decontamination and cleanroom products and services, were $36.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, an increase of 8.3% over 2021. Segment's top line growth was primarily driven by its cleanroom operations. Segment's operating income during the quarter was $4 million, relatively consistent with prior year. As we've mentioned in the past, this segment's results can vary significantly from period to period due to seasonality as well as the timing and profitability of nuclear reactor outages and projects.

2022 財年第四季度，我們提供專業核淨化和潔淨室產品和服務的特種服裝部門的收入為 3670 萬美元，比 2021 年增長 8.3%。該部門的收入增長主要由其潔淨室業務推動。該部門本季度的營業收入為 400 萬美元，與上年同期基本持平。正如我們過去提到的那樣，由於季節性以及核反應堆停運和項目的時間和盈利能力，該部門的結果可能因時期而有很大差異。

Our First Aid segment's revenues in the fourth quarter of 2022 increased to $21.2 million from $16.3 million with both the wholesale and van operations contributing to this growth. However, the segment's operating income was nominal during the quarter due to our continued investment in the segment van business. We continue to maintain a solid balance sheet and financial position with no long-term debt and cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $376.4 million at the end of fiscal 2022. Cash provided by operating activities for the year was $122.6 million, a decrease of $89.7 million from the prior year. This decrease was primarily due to reduced profitability, including the impact of our key initiative costs as well as heavier than normal working capital needs of the business.

我們的急救部門在 2022 年第四季度的收入從 1630 萬美元增加到 2120 萬美元，批發和貨車業務都為這一增長做出了貢獻。然而，由於我們繼續投資於廂式貨車業務，本季度該部門的營業收入只是名義上的。我們繼續保持穩健的資產負債表和財務狀況，截至 2022 財年末，無長期債務和現金、現金等價物和短期投資總計 3.764 億美元。當年經營活動提供的現金為 1.226 億美元，比上年減少 8970 萬美元。這一減少主要是由於盈利能力下降，包括我們的關鍵計劃成本的影響以及比正常業務營運資金需求更大的影響。

In fiscal 2022, we continue to invest in our future capital expenditures totaling $144.3 million and the acquisition of 13 businesses for which we paid a total of $44.2 million.

在 2022 財年，我們繼續投資於總計 1.443 億美元的未來資本支出，並收購了 13 家企業，我們為此支付了總計 4420 萬美元。

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, we repurchased 47,775 shares of common stock for $8 million under our previously announced stock repurchase program and also repurchased 35,714 shares of Class B Common Stock for $6 million in a privately negotiated transaction.

在 2022 財年第四季度，我們根據之前宣布的股票回購計劃以 800 萬美元的價格回購了 47,775 股普通股，並在私下協商的交易中以 600 萬美元的價格回購了 35,714 股 B 類普通股。

I'd like to take this opportunity to provide our outlook for fiscal 2023. At this time, we anticipate our full year revenues will be between $2.145 billion and $2.16 billion. This top line guidance assumes Core Laundry revenue growth at the midpoint of the range is 7.7% and organic growth to be 8.3%. For fiscal 2023, we further expect that our diluted earnings per share will be between $5.50 and $5.90. This guidance includes $40 million of costs that we expect to incur in the fiscal year directly attributable to our 3 key initiatives.

我想藉此機會提供我們對 2023 財年的展望。目前，我們預計全年收入將在 21.45 億美元至 21.6 億美元之間。這一頂線指導假設 Core Laundry 收入增長在範圍的中點為 7.7%，有機增長為 8.3%。對於 2023 財年，我們進一步預計每股攤薄收益將在 5.50 美元至 5.90 美元之間。該指南包括我們預計在本財年直接因我們的 3 項關鍵舉措而產生的 4000 萬美元成本。

Excluding these transitionary investment costs, our Core Laundry Operations' adjusted operating margin assumption at the midpoint of the range is 8.1%. This adjusted operating margin reflects continued pressure from the current inflationary environment, higher levels of merchandise amortization, elevated energy costs, indirect costs we are incurring related to our key initiatives as well as additional investments we are making in strengthening our overall capabilities.

不包括這些過渡性投資成本，我們的核心洗衣業務調整後的經營利潤率假設在範圍的中點為 8.1%。這一調整後的營業利潤率反映了當前通貨膨脹環境、更高水平的商品攤銷、更高的能源成本、與我們的關鍵舉措相關的間接成本以及我們為加強整體能力而進行的額外投資帶來的持續壓力。

Based on the current energy prices, we are modeling the energy costs will be 4.7% of revenues in fiscal 2023 compared to 4.9% in 2022. Next year's effective tax rate is assumed to be 25%.

根據當前的能源價格，我們正在建模能源成本將佔 2023 財年收入的 4.7%，而 2022 年為 4.9%。假設明年的有效稅率為 25%。

Our Specialty Garments revenues are forecast to be relatively flat compared to 2022, however, the segment's operating income is expected to be down approximately 5%, primarily due to the timing and relative profitability of its planned outages and project work.

我們的特種服裝收入預計與 2022 年相比持平，但是，該部門的營業收入預計將下降約 5%，這主要是由於其計劃停運和項目工作的時間安排和相對盈利能力。

Our First Aid segment's revenues are expected to be up approximately 18% compared to 2022. However, this segment's profitability is once again expected to be relatively marginal in 2023 as a result of the investments we continue to make in building out the infrastructure to support a national geographic footprint for our brand operations.

與 2022 年相比，我們的急救部門的收入預計將增長約 18%。但是，由於我們繼續投資建設基礎設施以支持我們品牌運營的國家地理足跡。

We expect that our capital expenditures in 2023 will approximate $140 million. And our guidance assumes our current level of outstanding common shares and no deterioration in the current economic environment.

我們預計 2023 年的資本支出將約為 1.4 億美元。我們的指導假設我們目前的流通普通股水平和當前經濟環境沒有惡化。

This concludes our prepared remarks, and we would now be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

我們準備好的發言到此結束，現在我們很樂意回答您可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from Andrew Steinerman with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Andrew Steinerman。

Two questions. One, would you be willing to quantify for us the merchandise amortization drag in the fourth quarter? And assumed in '23?

兩個問題。第一，您願意為我們量化第四季度的商品攤銷拖累嗎？並假設在 23 年？

And then I have a second question. You were very good at going over the key initiatives and what's driving fiscal year '23 spend. Could you just tell us how much spend there should be and meaning in terms of investments in the key initiatives past '23?

然後我有第二個問題。您非常擅長回顧關鍵舉措以及推動 23 財年支出的因素。你能告訴我們在 23 年後的關鍵計劃中應該有多少支出以及投資的意義嗎？

So let me start with the key initiatives and then I'll turn the merchandise over to Shane.

因此，讓我從關鍵舉措開始，然後我會將商品交給 Shane。

From a key initiative standpoint, as I talked about, about 2/3 of the key initiative cost this year will be related to completing or mostly completing our CRM systems rollout. A lot of that will fall off as we get into '24. The other large chunk of '23 initiative cost is related to ERP system. As we get to '24, the ERP system will transition more from the design phase into a build and implementation phase where more costs will likely be capitalized in '24 than '23. So I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, but there'll probably be some less direct cost initiative costs that are growing through the P&L in 2024 than '23.

從關鍵計劃的角度來看，正如我所說，今年約 2/3 的關鍵計劃成本將與完成或大部分完成我們的 CRM 系統推出有關。隨著我們進入 24 世紀，其中很多都會消失。 '23 計劃成本的另一大塊與 ERP 系統有關。隨著我們進入 24 世紀，ERP 系統將更多地從設計階段過渡到構建和實施階段，在 24 世紀比 23 世紀更多的成本可能會被資本化。所以我有點超前了，但與 23 年相比，2024 年通過損益表增長的直接成本計劃成本可能會更少。

So we do expect, in short, for '23 to be the high watermark of initiative costs going through the P&L although in '24 and '25, as we continue to work through our -- excuse me, our ERP, there will be higher levels of capitalization related to that initiative. Hopefully, that sort of makes sense, Andrew.

因此，簡而言之，我們確實希望 23 年成為通過 P&L 的主動成本的高水位線，儘管在 24 年和 25 年，隨著我們繼續努力——對不起，我們的 ERP，將會有更高的與該計劃相關的資本化水平。希望這樣說是有道理的，安德魯。

Yes. Sure.

是的。當然。

And I'll turn it to Shane on the merchandise.

我會把它轉給 Shane 的商品。

Yes. So as it relates to the merchandise drag for both the fourth quarter as well as we look into 2023. Yes, when I take a look at the fourth quarter, carving out the actual amount related to merchandise amortization. I don't think it's as meaningful when I compare that to prior year, just some of the disruption that we were still incurring at that point in time. What I will say is that as you can see from my comments, my energy drag during that quarter was about 110 basis points. And my merchandise amortization headwind exceeded that, right? So it was a significant (inaudible)

是的。因此，這與第四季度的商品拖累以及我們對 2023 年的展望有關。是的，當我看一下第四季度時，計算出與商品攤銷相關的實際金額。當我將它與前一年進行比較時，我認為它沒有意義，只是我們在那個時間點仍在遭受的一些破壞。我要說的是，正如你從我的評論中看到的那樣，我在那個季度的能量阻力約為 110 個基點。而我的商品攤銷逆風超過了，對吧？所以這是一個重要的（聽不清）

As we look into next year, my merchandise amortization is the largest headwind that we're seeing. And the expected headwind there is about 1 point to our margin. Again, a lot of the things that Steve had articulated in his prepared comments are continuing to impact our merchandise amortization. And as that ramps throughout the year, yes, it's carrying into 2023.

當我們展望明年時，我的商品攤銷是我們看到的最大逆風。預期的逆風對我們的保證金有大約 1 個百分點。同樣，史蒂夫在他準備好的評論中闡述的很多事情正在繼續影響我們的商品攤銷。隨著這一年的增加，是的，它會持續到 2023 年。

A couple of other quick comments there, Andrew, on the merchandise. As Shane talked about, it's really being impacted, as I said in my prepared remarks, it's a combination of higher cost of merchandise and more being placed in service as well as some of the older tranches related to the pandemic time that are dropping off that represented much lower merchandise being placed in service, particularly for some of our longer lived garments in the FR flame-resistant area that last 24 months. So you're just still having some of that natural build going on during '23.

安德魯，還有一些關於商品的其他快速評論。正如 Shane 所說，它確實受到了影響，正如我在準備好的發言中所說的那樣，這是商品成本上升和更多投入使用以及與大流行時間相關的一些較舊的付款正在減少的結合代表投入使用的商品要少得多，特別是我們在 FR 阻燃區域使用時間更長的一些服裝，使用壽命長達 24 個月。因此，在 23 年期間，您仍然在進行一些自然構建。

Right. And if you don't mind, I'm just -- Steve, I just guess one quick follow-up. And when you think about '24, the CRM system being in place for all of U.S. laundry by the end of '23. Just talk about the benefits that you expect from the new CRM system as we go a year out.

正確的。如果你不介意的話，我只是——史蒂夫，我只是想快速跟進一下。當您想到 24 世紀時，CRM 系統將在 23 年底前為所有美國洗衣店部署到位。只需談談您對新 CRM 系統的期望，因為我們將結束一年。

Yes. I think one of the things we've always talked about and it actually ties back to merchandise is continued improvement of merchandise controls. Obviously, we're already starting to see some of the benefit. Maybe it's a little more intangible on our team, shorter hours for the route drivers, more ability to provide automation and transparency to the customers. So the route efficiency of the route day has improved quite a bit as we deploy.

是的。我認為我們一直在談論的一件事實際上與商品有關，那就是商品控制的持續改進。顯然，我們已經開始看到一些好處。也許這對我們的團隊來說更無形，路線司機的工作時間更短，為客戶提供自動化和透明度的能力更強。所以路由日的路由效率隨著我們的部署提高了不少。

Now some of that's being offset, that there's a lot of learning and change going on going from our old system. But we expect that to really help once they have sort of, in many cases, a full year of the new system under their belt and really start taking advantage of the benefits.

現在其中一些正在被抵消，我們的舊系統正在發生很多學習和變化。但我們希望，一旦他們在許多情況下使用了整整一年的新系統並真正開始利用這些好處，這將真正有所幫助。

The next question comes from Andy Wittmann of Baird.

下一個問題來自 Baird 的 Andy Wittmann。

I guess I wanted to talk about cash flow a little bit here, a couple of things. Could you just talk about the reasons behind the working capital investment this past year in '22 being higher than normal? And if you expect in '23, if you could just give us kind of the net of what you're expecting, maybe a range on free cash flow?

我想我想在這裡稍微談談現金流，幾件事。您能否談談去年 22 年營運資本投資高於正常水平的原因？如果你期望在 23 年，如果你能給我們一些你期望的淨值，也許是自由現金流的範圍？

You gave us kind of the components here, but maybe there's a working capital drawdown that you'll be able to pick up next year. So I wanted to just get your sense of what a reasonable range of free cash flow for '23 might be.

你在這裡給了我們一些組成部分，但也許明年你可以提取營運資金。所以我想讓你了解 23 年自由現金流的合理範圍是多少。

Yes. So as we look into 2023, our expectations, clearly, in 2022, we had a significant amount of working capital needs for the business. And when you take a look at those, those relate to I guess, first and foremost, our merchandise and service. We've been talking about our merchandise amortization ramping. And as we put more products into service, you can see the adjustment and the investment reflected on our balance sheet.

是的。因此，當我們展望 2023 年時，我們的預期很明顯，在 2022 年，我們的業務需要大量營運資金。當您查看這些時，我想這些首先與我們的商品和服務有關。我們一直在談論我們的商品攤銷斜坡。隨著我們將更多產品投入使用，您可以在我們的資產負債表上看到調整和投資。

During 2023, our expectation around that is that it will be more normalized and less significant than it was in 2022. We also have elevated accounts receivable balances. And some of that relates to the deployment of our system as we continue to work through some of that change management, et cetera.

在 2023 年，我們的預期是它會比 2022 年更加正常化和不那麼重要。我們的應收賬款餘額也有所增加。其中一些與我們系統的部署有關，因為我們繼續通過一些變更管理等工作。

And then there were -- one of the things that I had mentioned last quarter was we had deferred some FICA payments under some of the stimulus related to the pandemic that we had to pay back last year.

然後是——我上個季度提到的一件事是，根據我們去年不得不償還的與大流行相關的一些刺激措施，我們推遲了一些 FICA 付款。

So again, our expectations coming into 2023 is that there's going to be significantly less working capital needs of the business compared to 2022, not necessarily forecasting that there is going to be a draw down, which is going to result in a cash infusion. But when we take a look at our expectations around free cash flow, it's probably around $75 million, right? And that's obviously still being impacted by the investment in our initiatives and our current profitability as well as the elevated capital expenditures that we're expecting as we advance some of these initiatives.

同樣，我們對 2023 年的預期是，與 2022 年相比，企業的營運資金需求將大大減少，不一定預測會出現縮減，這將導致現金注入。但是當我們看看我們對自由現金流的預期時，它可能在 7500 萬美元左右，對吧？這顯然仍然受到對我們計劃的投資和我們目前的盈利能力以及我們在推進其中一些計劃時預期的資本支出增加的影響。

And there's another FICA payment coming here in the next couple of months too, Shane?

在接下來的幾個月裡還會有另一筆 FICA 付款嗎，Shane？

The second half of that payment is expected in December of this year, yes.

該付款的下半年預計在今年 12 月，是的。

And how much was that again?

那又是多少？

It's a little over $12 million.

略高於 1200 萬美元。

Okay. And then maybe, Steve, as my follow-up. Can you talk about price cost dynamics? When do you feel like you're going to be able to get on the right side, is the guidance for the year that you gave here for like the core margin -- the Core Laundry segment margins, is that kind of down a little bit in the front half of the year and then you think in the second half of the year that margins can start comping positively? I guess I'd like to hear a little bit more about that and any initiatives that you've got going on price, whether it's fuel surcharges or anything like that would just be helpful context for, I think, for us all to know.

好的。然後也許，史蒂夫，作為我的後續行動。你能談談價格成本動態嗎？你覺得你什麼時候能夠站在正確的一邊，是你在這裡給出的核心利潤率的年度指導 - 核心洗衣部門的利潤率，有點下降在今年上半年然後你認為在今年下半年利潤率可以開始積極補償？我想我想听聽更多關於這方面的信息，以及你在價格方面採取的任何舉措，無論是燃油附加費還是類似的東西，我認為，這對我們所有人來說都是有幫助的。

Yes, I think what you said about the trajectory of the margin during the year is somewhat embedded into our forecast. I think when you look at the environment, again, we're forecasting sort of current status quo. And I think -- I sort of made this comment in my prepared remarks, you're seeing some signs that certain things may be reducing, certain freight costs, certain -- even some raw material costs potentially. Now some of those may not take hold until later in the year, and you think about supply chain, buying fabric and things like that, there's sort of a long, long cycle of that before you start to see it in your merchandise amortization. But we're hopeful that some of that stuff starts to take hold later in the year, and you start to see some turnaround there. And -- from a price environment perspective, I mean, I think we continue to do multiple things. You talked about fuel surcharges to try to stay on top of the situation. And we'll continue to do that. I think -- our customers have worked with us well through the environment, and it's just an ongoing effort as we work through the dynamic environment, right? You talk about fuel, it goes down, it goes up. We're really trying just to evaluate what makes sense as we go forward and we build that strategy for '23.

是的，我認為你所說的這一年的利潤率軌跡在某種程度上已經融入了我們的預測中。我認為當你再次審視環境時，我們正在預測某種當前的現狀。而且我認為 - 我在準備好的發言中做了這樣的評論，你看到一些跡象表明某些事情可能會減少，某些運費，某些 - 甚至可能是一些原材料成本。現在，其中一些可能要到今年晚些時候才會站穩腳跟，你會考慮供應鏈、購買麵料和類似的東西，在你開始在你的商品攤銷中看到它之前，會有很長很長的周期。但我們希望其中一些東西在今年晚些時候開始站穩腳跟，你會開始看到一些轉機。而且——從價格環境的角度來看，我的意思是，我認為我們會繼續做很多事情。你談到了燃油附加費，試圖掌握情況。我們將繼續這樣做。我認為 - 我們的客戶在環境中與我們合作良好，這只是我們在動態環境中工作的持續努力，對嗎？你談論燃料，它下降，它上升。我們真的只是在努力評估在我們前進的過程中什麼是有意義的，我們為 23 年制定了該戰略。

Yes, Andy, the only thing that I would add to that is, back to your margin question as it relates to the quarters. We've mentioned this before that the profitability of our quarters has some seasonality to it. With oftentimes our first quarter being more profitable, and our second quarter being our least profitable.

是的，安迪，我唯一要補充的是，回到你的保證金問題，因為它與季度有關。我們之前已經提到過，我們季度的盈利能力具有一定的季節性。通常我們的第一季度利潤更高，而第二季度利潤最低。

Again, back to Steve's comment about the trajectory, I would say that, that trajectory is the quarterly comparisons to the comparable prior year period, meaning the -- I guess, the momentum or the improvement that we're seeing is really the delta between the current or any individual quarter and the prior year comparable, if that makes sense.

再一次，回到史蒂夫關於軌蹟的評論，我想說的是，軌跡是與去年同期相比的季度比較，這意味著——我想，我們看到的勢頭或改進實際上是兩者之間的增量當前或任何單個季度與上一年的可比性（如果有意義的話）。

Right. You're basically saying the year-over-year margin change will be potentially more negative in the earlier quarters and then hopefully turn more positive in the second half of the year. I think -- kind of what we're just trying to say.

正確的。你基本上是說，較上年同期的利潤率變化在前幾個季度可能會更加消極，然後有望在下半年變得更加積極。我想——這就是我們想表達的意思。

Yes, exactly.

對，就是這樣。

And what we're just trying to say.

而我們只是想說的。

Yes. I'm glad you were able to get it.

是的。我很高興你能得到它。

The next question comes from Jack Boyle, North Coast.

下一個問題來自北海岸的 Jack Boyle。

Just real quick, I have a question here. You guys are great on answering some of the seasonal cadence here. Just have a question about stabilizing the margins. Is there -- in terms of continuing to grow the revenue, do you guys believe that -- is there any time of -- type of minimal revenue growth that you guys believe that you would need to attain -- or continue attaining to stabilize the margins or improve them?

真的很快，我在這裡有一個問題。你們很擅長在這裡回答一些季節性的節奏。只是有一個關於穩定利潤率的問題。有沒有——就繼續增加收入而言，你們是否相信——有沒有任何時間——你們認為你們需要達到的最小收入增長類型——或者繼續實現以穩定利潤率或提高它們？

Yes, it's a good question. I mean, we've obviously been through a period of higher growth here over the last year or so tied to the inflationary environment. But you're right, you have to continue to keep that top line momentum, say, beyond the periods that the higher inflation takes hold, let's say, things slow down a bit, and we're back to more of a normal operating environment.

是的，這是個好問題。我的意思是，在過去一年左右的時間裡，我們顯然經歷了一段與通脹環境相關的高速增長時期。但你是對的，你必須繼續保持頂線勢頭，比如說，在高通脹持續的時期之後，比方說，事情放緩了一點，我們又回到了更正常的經營環境.

Yes, we still have to be pushing growth towards the mid-single digits to get those margins to recover, right? You're not going to really be able to do low single digits growth and improve the margins.

是的，我們仍然必須將增長推向中個位數才能使這些利潤率恢復，對嗎？你不會真的能夠實現低個位數的增長並提高利潤率。

The one thing I will say is that there are a number of sort of countercyclical influences of our cost when the business does slow down, like some of the things we're talking about with fuel, if we went into somewhat of a slowdown and you have to be careful because no one wants a deep recession, right? But obviously, what's going on now is trying to cool the economy appropriately, I guess. And sometimes, that can help our costs because I talked about merchandise being placed in service. When you think about how we put merchandise and service with our customers, the more -- our customers are adding employees, the more garments we're putting in service and there's sort of an upfront cost associated with that. The more turnover there is amongst our customers' employees which a lot of companies are experiencing elevated turnover in this environment, there's more merchandise placed in service.

我要說的一件事是，當業務確實放緩時，我們的成本會受到多種反週期影響，就像我們正在談論的燃料方面的一些事情，如果我們進入某種程度的放緩並且你必須小心，因為沒有人希望出現深度衰退，對吧？但很明顯，我猜現在正在發生的事情是試圖適當地給經濟降溫。有時，這可以幫助我們降低成本，因為我談到了投入使用的商品。當您考慮我們如何向客戶提供商品和服務時，我們的客戶增加員工的次數越多，我們投入服務的服裝就越多，並且與此相關的前期成本。我們客戶的員工流動率越高（許多公司在這種環境下的流動率都在上升），就會有更多的商品投入使用。

So Yes. That being said, to answer your real question, you do need to maintain some healthy growth to continue to move the margins in the right direction. And as we move past the true inflationary period, it will be back to that core of selling retention and making sure we're getting appropriate pricing along the way.

所以是的。話雖如此，要回答你真正的問題，你確實需要保持一些健康的增長才能繼續將利潤率朝正確的方向移動。隨著我們度過真正的通貨膨脹時期，它將回到銷售保留率的核心，並確保我們在此過程中獲得適當的定價。

Very good. And just as a quick follow-up to your merchandise comment there. Are you guys seeing any kind of elongation and how long you're having to store that merchandise? Is there any change in the length of the sales process?

非常好。就像快速跟進您的商品評論一樣。你們是否看到任何形式的伸長以及您必須將這些商品存放多長時間？銷售過程的長度是否有變化？

I would say, no, I think we continue to work on utilizing our used garments, which is a key part of improving our profitability. And -- and quite frankly, as we move into our ERP systems project, one of the key areas of focus is improved utilization of used inventory across our locations. So -- but no, I wouldn't say we're seeing a significant change there.

我會說，不，我認為我們會繼續致力於利用我們用過的服裝，這是提高我們盈利能力的關鍵部分。而且 - 坦率地說，當我們進入我們的 ERP 系統項目時，重點關注的領域之一是提高我們各個地點的二手庫存的利用率。所以 - 但不，我不會說我們在那裡看到了重大變化。

(Operator Instructions) And the next question comes from Tim Mulrooney of William Blair.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Tim Mulrooney。

Yes. Shane, Steve. Two quick questions from me. Can you talk about trends in new customer account growth? I'm assuming that ad stops with customers is still okay given that unemployment remains so low. But I'm thinking maybe where you'd start to see signs of macro weakness first might be with new customer leads. So if you could just comment on how that's trended over the last quarter.

是的。謝恩，史蒂夫。我有兩個簡短的問題。您能談談新客戶帳戶增長的趨勢嗎？考慮到失業率仍然很低，我假設廣告停止在客戶面前仍然可以。但我在想，也許你首先會開始看到宏觀疲軟跡象的地方可能是新的客戶線索。所以，如果你能評論一下上個季度的趨勢。

Yes. No. I would say new customer wins continues to be very solid. I mean for the full year, we sold more new business than we did in fiscal '21. And I think that trend was reasonably consistent over the back half of the year. So I wouldn't say we're seeing a slowdown there.

是的。不，我想說新客戶的贏得仍然非常穩固。我的意思是，就全年而言，我們銷售的新業務比 21 財年還要多。而且我認為這種趨勢在今年下半年相當一致。所以我不會說我們在那裡看到了放緩。

In a typical environment where we do start to see economic slowdown, it really does show up typically in the wearers first. Now this environment might be a little different, right? And this is sort of the dynamic where people are expecting a slowdown with the higher interest rates, but hiring is still pretty good, unemployment is still very low. So you're right, we have not seen that real slowdown or pullback in wearer levels that is our normal indicator that the slowdown is coming.

在我們確實開始看到經濟放緩的典型環境中，它確實通常首先出現在佩戴者身上。現在這個環境可能有點不同，對吧？這是一種動態，人們預計利率上升會放緩，但招聘仍然相當不錯，失業率仍然很低。所以你是對的，我們還沒有看到佩戴者水平真正的放緩或回落，這是我們放緩即將到來的正常指標。

But obviously, we're keeping a sharp eye open for it, and it's something that I'm sure will be a factor eventually during the year one way or another.

但顯然，我們對此保持敏銳的眼光，我相信這最終會以某種方式成為一個因素。

Right. No, that's helpful. So the way I should think about it normally is you actually do see it in that ad stop first. But given this type of environment, it might be different this time around. So -- maybe I'll ask you about it again next quarter.

正確的。不，那很有幫助。所以我通常應該考慮的方式是你確實首先在那個廣告停止中看到它。但考慮到這種環境，這一次可能會有所不同。所以 - 也許我會在下個季度再次問你這個問題。

Yes, absolutely. When you think about the last 15 years, the recession in 2008, 2009, we certainly saw it in the wearers first. I would say the other time we saw wearers pullback was when energy sort of tanked in 2015, '16, after the many years of an energy boom, we saw some were pull back pretty quickly. So yes, it's usually our leading indicator.

是的，一點沒錯。當你回想過去 15 年，2008 年、2009 年的經濟衰退時，我們肯定首先在佩戴者身上看到了它。我想說的是，我們看到佩戴者退縮的另一次是在 2015 年、16 年能量下降的時候，在經歷了多年的能源繁榮之後，我們看到一些人很快就退縮了。所以是的，它通常是我們的領先指標。

That's great. And just as my follow-up, I wanted to ask about just if labor availability has eased at all in recent months, we've heard from some folks that the labor environment has gotten a touch better, while others say it's -- it was just as difficult as it's ever been all year. So curious to hear your thoughts as it relates to maybe both your route drivers and your production plant workers.

那太棒了。正如我的後續行動一樣，我想問的是最近幾個月勞動力供應是否有所緩解，我們從一些人那裡聽說勞動力環境有所改善，而其他人則說 - 它是就像全年一樣困難。很想听聽你的想法，因為它可能與你的路線司機和你的生產工廠工人有關。

Yes. No, great question. And I think I'd say our experience is very consistent with what I've been sort of reading in the broader economy, which is we are seeing more applicants. And so we are better staffed today than we were 6, 9 months ago. There's no question on both the route driver and the production side.

是的。不，很好的問題。而且我想我會說我們的經歷與我在更廣泛的經濟中所讀到的內容非常一致，即我們看到了更多的申請人。因此，與 6、9 個月前相比，我們今天的人員配備更好。路線司機和生產方都沒有問題。

I will say turnover is not -- was not really better in the fourth quarter though. Turnover continues to be high, but we continue to -- or we're seeing improvement in the ability to fill those physicians and find applicants. So I think you're -- your -- it seems very consistent with what I'm seeing from other companies. There's a little bit of an improvement in the ability to find people.

我要說的是，第四季度的營業額並沒有真正好轉。營業額仍然很高，但我們繼續 - 或者我們看到填補這些醫生和尋找申請人的能力有所提高。所以我認為你 - 你的 - 這似乎與我從其他公司看到的非常一致。找人的能力有了一點提高。

Thank you. That was our final phone question. I'll turn the call back over for any closing remarks.

謝謝你。那是我們最後的電話問題。我會把電話轉回去聽取任何結束語。

Yes, I'd like to thank everyone for joining us today for our fourth quarter results, and we look forward to speaking with you again in January when we expect to be reporting our first quarter performance.

是的，我要感謝大家今天加入我們，了解我們的第四季度業績，我們期待在 1 月份再次與您交談，屆時我們將報告我們的第一季度業績。

Thank you all, and have a great day.

謝謝大家，祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you. This does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Thank you, and have a good day.

謝謝你。這確實結束了今天的電話會議。我們感謝您的參與，並請您斷開您的線路。謝謝你，有一個美好的一天。