UniFirst Corp (UNF) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the third quarter 2024 UniFirst earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 UniFirst 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Steven Sintros, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人、總裁兼執行長史蒂文·辛特羅斯 (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 third quarter results for fiscal year 2024.

謝謝你，早安。我是史蒂文‧辛特羅斯 (Steven Sintros)，UniFirst 總裁兼執行長。今天與我一起出席的是執行副總裁兼財務長 Shane O'Connor。歡迎您參加 UniFirst Corporation 的電話會議，回顧我們 2024 財年第三季的業績。

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.

在我們完成準備好的發言之前，本次電話會議將以只聽模式進行，但首先是一個簡短的免責聲明。本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，反映本公司目前對未來事件和財務表現的看法。這些前瞻性陳述存在一定的風險和不確定性。

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 these -- to the discussion of these risk factors in our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

預期、樂觀、相信、估計、期望、打算等詞語以及表明未來事件和趨勢的類似表達方式均屬於前瞻性陳述。根據各種風險因素，未來的實際結果可能與預期結果有重大差異。欲了解更多信息，請參閱我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格中對這些風險因素的討論。

At UniFirst, we are the people who always deliver. We serve the people who do the hard work as they are the workforce that keeps our communities up and running. They are existing and prospective customers as well as our own UniFirst team partners. Our mission is to enable those employees and their organizations by providing the right products and services to do their job successfully and safely. Whether that means providing uniforms, workwear, facility services, First Aid and Safety, cleanroom or other products and services.

在 UniFirst，我們是始終交付成果的人。我們為辛勤工作的人們提供服務，因為他們是維持我們社區正常運作的勞動力。他們是現有和潛在客戶以及我們自己的 UniFirst 團隊合作夥伴。我們的使命是透過提供正確的產品和服務來幫助這些員工及其組織成功且安全地完成工作。無論這意味著提供製服、工作服、設施服務、急救和安全、無塵室或其他產品和服務。

Our goal is to partner with our customers to ensure that we structure the right program, products and services for their businesses and their team, all while providing an enhanced customer service experience. I want to sincerely thank all of our Team Partners and our customers as we strive towards our vision of being universally recognized as the best service provider in the industry, all while living our mission.

我們的目標是與客戶合作，確保我們為他們的企業和團隊建立正確的計劃、產品和服務，同時提供增強的客戶服務體驗。我要真誠地感謝我們所有的團隊合作夥伴和客戶，我們努力實現我們的願景，成為公認的業內最佳服務提供者，同時履行我們的使命。

We are pleased to report the results from our third quarter of 2024, which showed solid growth in the top line and strong improvement in our bottom line. Overall revenues in the third quarter were up 4.6% compared to the third quarter of 2023 and our core laundry operations organic growth totalled 4.7%. Operating income and EBITDA increased significantly in the quarter compared to a year ago, benefiting from lower costs expended during the quarter related to key initiatives as well as favorable comparisons to the third quarter of last year related to elevated health care and legal costs a year ago.

我們很高興地報告 2024 年第三季的業績，顯示營收穩健成長，利潤大幅改善。與 2023 年第三季相比，第三季的整體營收成長了 4.6%，我們的核心洗衣業務有機成長總計 4.7%。與去年同期相比，本季的營業收入和EBITDA 顯著成長，這得益於本季與關鍵措施相關的成本降低，以及與去年第三季相比與去年同期較高的醫療保健和法律成本相關的有利情況。

Excluding these benefits, we still have experienced strong operating income and EBITDA growth during the quarter as well as year-to-date. We are also very pleased with the improvement in cash flows from operating activities compared to 2023, which were up 35.2%. As a reminder, we've been incurring costs over the last couple of years related to our technology transformation. As expected, the expense we are incurring related to these key initiatives is declining due to activities surrounding the deployment of our CRM largely winding down and the amounts we are spending on our ERP project now being largely capitalized as we enter the implementation phases of the project.

排除這些好處，我們在本季以及年初至今仍然實現了強勁的營業收入和 EBITDA 成長。我們也對經營活動現金流量較 2023 年成長 35.2% 的改善感到非常高興。提醒一下，過去幾年我們一直在承擔與技術轉型相關的成本。正如預期的那樣，我們與這些關鍵措施相關的費用正在下降，因為圍繞 CRM 部署的活動已基本結束，而且隨著我們進入專案的實施階段，我們在 ERP 專案上的支出現在已大部分資本化。

During the quarter, our sales organization continued to perform well, selling prospects on the value that UniFirst can bring to their businesses. Overall, we are pleased with the solid organic growth for the quarter, delivering strong results despite a more challenging pricing environment. Although we would classify our wearer levels as mostly stable, we have seen a bit of a decline in our net wearer metrics during the quarter.

本季度，我們的銷售組織繼續表現良好，向潛在客戶推銷 UniFirst 可以為其業務帶來的價值。總體而言，我們對本季的穩健有機成長感到滿意，儘管定價環境更具挑戰性，但仍取得了強勁的業績。儘管我們將佩戴者水平歸為基本穩定，但本季我們的淨佩戴者指標略有下降。

Our updated full year guidance, which Shane will discuss shortly implies Core Laundry Operations' organic growth in our fourth quarter to be approximately 3.5% at the midpoint of the range. During the last few quarters, as the market has emerged from a period of significantly elevated inflation levels, we have discussed a more challenging pricing environment and its impact on our sequential organic growth rates. Although it is too early to be making too many comments about next year, we did want to communicate that based on these trends, we currently expect organic growth in fiscal '25 to be more modest than our fourth quarter.

Shane 稍後將討論我們更新的全年指引，這表明核心洗衣業務第四季度的有機增長約為 3.5%，處於該範圍的中點。在過去的幾個季度中，隨著市場擺脫了通貨膨脹水準顯著升高的時期，我們討論了更具挑戰性的定價環境及其對我們連續有機成長率的影響。儘管現在對明年做出太多評論還為時過早，但我們確實想傳達的是，根據這些趨勢，我們目前預計 25 財年的有機成長將比第四季更為溫和。

At the same time, we continue to focus on investments in the business to enhance our ability to track new customers, sell additional products to existing customers as well as enhance our customers' experience and drive improved retention. Opportunities to win national account customers remains healthy, and we have had very good success adding a number of large programs this year, including a top three account in our first quarter. Although the sale of these accounts can be difficult to predict, we are well positioned to take advantage of opportunities in the market.

同時，我們繼續專注於業務投資，以增強我們追蹤新客戶、向現有客戶銷售更多產品以及增強客戶體驗和提高保留率的能力。贏得國民帳戶客戶的機會依然存在，今年我們在增加許多大型專案方面取得了非常好的成功，其中包括第一季的前三名客戶。儘管這些帳戶的銷售情況可能很難預測，但我們已做好充分準備來利用市場機會。

In addition to our ongoing efforts to drive growth, we continue to focus on our operating excellence and cost reductions to enhance our margin profile. We are pleased with some of the progress and recent trends in key cost areas such as merchandise as well as other input costs. Our team continues to be more proficient, utilizing and optimizing the capabilities of our new CRM, including leveraging some of Clean's proprietary technology across all UniFirst, with all efforts focused on deploying standard processes across our local operations and driving productivity.

除了持續努力推動成長之外，我們還繼續專注於卓越營運和降低成本，以提高我們的利潤率。我們對商品和其他投入成本等關鍵成本領域的一些進展和最新趨勢感到滿意。我們的團隊繼續更熟練地利用和優化新 CRM 的功能，包括在所有 UniFirst 中利用 Clean 的一些專有技術，所有努力都集中在在我們的本地運營中部署標準流程並提高生產力。

In addition, areas such as strategic pricing and account profitability as well as strategic manufacturing and sourcing represent significant margin enhancement opportunities. Although some of these benefits going forward will be more significantly enabled due to the implementation of our ERP, we continue to focus on these areas and others, we feel can move the needle in the near to midterm.

此外，策略定價和客戶獲利能力以及策略製造和採購等領域也代表著顯著的利潤提升機會。儘管由於我們 ERP 的實施，未來的一些好處將得到更顯著的實現，但我們繼續專注於這些領域和其他領域，我們認為可以在近期到中期取得進展。

We are also excited about the opening of new facilities this year in New York, Michigan and Ontario, Canada. These projects are good examples of investments designed to not only enhance our service execution and customer experience, but also improve our capacity for growth, operational efficiency and profitability. We continue to believe strongly in the bright future of our First Aid and Safety division. We continue to make investments in the sales and service infrastructure of the van operations to expand our footprint and ensure we can reach existing UniFirst customers as well as new prospects in the market that have a strong need for these products and services.

我們也對今年在紐約、密西根州和加拿大安大略省開設新工廠感到興奮。這些項目是投資的良好範例，旨在不僅增強我們的服務執行和客戶體驗，而且提高我們的成長能力、營運效率和獲利能力。我們仍然堅信急救和安全部門的光明未來。我們繼續對貨車業務的銷售和服務基礎設施進行投資，以擴大我們的足跡，並確保我們能夠接觸到現有的 UniFirst 客戶以及市場上對這些產品和服務有強烈需求的新潛在客戶。

Customers expect solutions to their most pressing issues and First Aid and Safety are important contributors to these integrated solutions. These investments have delivered the strong growth that we once again achieved in the quarter. As we progress increasing route density in addition to penetrating customers with the full breadth of services that we provide will be critical steps in building the profitability of this segment.

客戶期望解決他們最迫切的問題，而急救和安全是這些整合解決方案的重要貢獻者。這些投資使我們在本季再次實現了強勁成長。隨著我們不斷提高航線密度以及透過我們提供的全方位服務滲透客戶，這將是建立該細分市場獲利能力的關鍵步驟。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Shane, who will provide more details on our third quarter as well as the updated outlook for the remainder of the year.

因此，我想將電話轉給肖恩，他將提供有關我們第三季度的更多詳細資訊以及今年剩餘時間的最新展望。

Thanks, Steve. In our third quarter of 2024, consolidated revenues were $603.3 million, a 4.6% from $576.7 million a year ago. And consolidated operating income increased to $48.5 million from $33.4 million or 45.1%. Net income for the quarter increased to $38.1 million or $2.03 per diluted share from $24.3 million or $1.29 per diluted share.

謝謝，史蒂夫。 2024 年第三季度，合併收入為 6.033 億美元，比一年前的 5.767 億美元成長 4.6%。綜合營業收入從 3,340 萬美元增至 4,850 萬美元，增幅為 45.1%。該季度淨利潤從 2,430 萬美元或稀釋每股 1.29 美元增至 3,810 萬美元或稀釋每股 2.03 美元。

Consolidated EBITDA increased to $82.5 million from $64 million in the prior year or 29%. Our financial results in the third quarters of fiscal 2024 and 2023 included approximately $3.9 million and $8.4 million, respectively, of costs directly attributable to our key initiatives. In addition, we incurred costs related to the acquisition of Clean Uniform during the third quarter of fiscal 2023 of approximately $0.7 million. The effect of these items on the third quarters of fiscal 2024 and 2023 combined to decrease both operating income and EBITDA by $3.9 million and $9.1 million, respectively. Net income by $2.9 million and $6.8 million, respectively, and EPS by $0.16 and $0.37, respectively.

合併 EBITDA 從前一年的 6,400 萬美元增至 8,250 萬美元，增幅為 29%。我們 2024 財年和 2023 財年第三季的財務業績分別包括約 390 萬美元和 840 萬美元的直接歸因於我們關鍵措施的成本。此外，我們在 2023 財年第三季也產生了與收購 Clean Uniform 相關的成本約 70 萬美元。這些項目對 2024 財年和 2023 財年第三季的影響合計導致營業收入和 EBITDA 分別減少 390 萬美元和 910 萬美元。淨利潤分別增加 290 萬美元和 680 萬美元，每股收益分別增加 0.16 美元和 0.37 美元。

Our effective tax rate in the quarter was 22.9% compared to 27.2% in the prior year. As a reminder, our tax rate can move from period to period based on discrete events, including adjustments to our tax reserves and excess tax benefits and deficiencies associated with employee share-based payments.

本季我們的有效稅率為 22.9%，而前一年為 27.2%。提醒一下，我們的稅率可能會根據離散事件而從一個時期到另一個時期變化，包括對我們的稅收儲備和超額稅收優惠以及與員工股份支付相關的缺陷的調整。

Our Core Laundry Operations revenues for the quarter were $528.5 million, up 5.3% from the third quarter of 2023. Core Laundry organic growth, which adjusts for the estimated effect of acquisitions as well as fluctuations in the Canadian dollar was 4.7%. This solid organic growth rate was primarily the result of solid new account sales, including a large national account we installed in our first fiscal quarter of 2024 and the impact of pricing efforts over the last year.

我們本季的核心洗衣業務收入為 5.285 億美元，比 2023 年第三季成長 5.3%。這種穩健的有機成長率主要歸功於穩健的新客戶銷售，包括我們在 2024 年第一財季安裝的大型國民帳戶以及去年定價工作的影響。

Core Laundry operating margin increased to 7% for the quarter or $36.9 million from 4.2% in prior year or $21 million. The segment's EBITDA margin increased to 13.1% from 9.9%. The costs we incurred related to our key initiatives and the Clean acquisition were recorded to the Core Laundry Operations segment and combined to decrease both the Core Laundry operating and EBITDA margins for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 and 2023 by 0.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

本季核心洗衣店營業利潤率從去年同期的 4.2%（2,100 萬美元）增至 7%（3,690 萬美元）。該部門的 EBITDA 利潤率從 9.9% 增加到 13.1%。我們產生的與關鍵措施和Clean 收購相關的成本已記錄到核心洗衣營運部門，合併起來導致2024 財年第三季和2023 財年第三季的核心洗衣營運利潤率和EBITDA 利潤率分別下降0.7%和1.8% 。

Segment's operating and EBITDA margin comparisons benefited from elevated expense in the prior year related to high health care claims and costs incurred related to a legal matter. Excluding these items, our segment's operating results also reflected favorable trends in merchandise, payroll and other operating input costs.

該部門的營業利潤率和 EBITDA 利潤率比較受益於上一年與高額醫療保健索賠相關的費用增加以及與法律事務相關的費用。排除這些項目，我們部門的經營績效也反映了商品、薪資和其他經營投入成本的有利趨勢。

Energy costs in both the third quarter of 2024 and 2023 were 4.3% of revenues. Revenues from our Specialty Garments segment, which delivers specialized nuclear decontamination and cleanroom products and services, decreased to $47.6 million from $49.4 million in prior year or 3.7%. At the same time, the segment's operating margin decreased to 23.9% from 25.2%. This performance was due to a decline in revenues and profitability in the segment's North American nuclear business. As we 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.

2024 年和 2023 年第三季的能源成本均佔營收的 4.3%。我們的特種服裝部門提供專門的核淨化和無塵室產品和服務，其收入從上一年的 4,940 萬美元下降至 4,760 萬美元，下降了 3.7%。同時，該部門的營業利潤率從 25.2% 下降至 23.9%。這一業績是由於該部門北美核能業務的收入和獲利能力下降所致。正如我們過去所提到的，由於季節性以及核反應器停駛和項目的時間和盈利能力，該部門的表現在不同時期可能會有很大差異。

Our First Aid segment's revenues increased to $27.3 million from $25.5 million in prior year or 6.9% due to strong growth in our van operations. Segment had a nominal operating profit of $0.1 million during the quarter as the segment's results continue to reflect the investments we are making in our First Aid van business. At the end of our third fiscal quarter, we continued to reflect a solid balance sheet and financial position with no long-term debt and cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $125.4 million.

由於貨車業務的強勁成長，我們的急救部門的收入從上一年的 2,550 萬美元增至 2,730 萬美元，增幅為 6.9%。該部門本季的名義營業利潤為 10 萬美元，因為該部門的業績繼續反映了我們對急救車業務的投資。在第三財季末，我們繼續保持穩健的資產負債表和財務狀況，沒有長期債務，現金、現金等價物和短期投資總計 1.254 億美元。

In the first 9 months of fiscal 2024, we saw significant improvement in our cash flow from operating activities, which increased 35.2% to $193 million, primarily due to improved profitability and lower working capital needs of the business. We also continue to invest in our future with capital expenditures of $121.9 million and repurchased $16 million worth of common stock. I'd like to take this opportunity to provide an update on our outlook. We continue to expect our revenues for fiscal 2024 to be between $2.415 billion and $2.425 billion. However, we now expect that our diluted earnings per share will be between $7.17 and $7.49.

在 2024 財年的前 9 個月，我們的營運活動現金流量顯著改善，成長 35.2% 至 1.93 億美元，這主要是由於業務獲利能力提高和營運資金需求降低。我們也繼續投資於我們的未來，資本支出為 1.219 億美元，並回購了價值 1,600 萬美元的普通股。我想藉此機會更新我們的前景。我們仍預期 2024 財年的營收將在 24.15 億美元至 24.25 億美元之間。然而，我們現在預計稀釋後每股收益將在 7.17 美元至 7.49 美元之間。

Our outlook for fiscal 2024 includes an extra week of operations in our fourth fiscal quarter compared to 2023 due to the timing of our fiscal calendar. This outlook also assumes core laundry operations, organic growth at the midpoint of the range will be 4.5%. Core Laundry Operations operating and EBITDA margin at the midpoint of the range will be 6.6% and 12.7%, respectively. An estimate of $12 million of costs directly attributable to our key initiatives that will be expensed in fiscal 2024 and will decrease both the Core Laundry Operations operating and EBITDA margins by 0.6% and an effective tax rate of 24.5% and no future share buybacks or unexpected significantly adverse economic developments.

由於我們的財政日曆時間安排，我們對 2024 財年的展望包括第四財季的營運時間比 2023 年多一週。該展望也假設核心洗衣業務的有機成長範圍中點將為 4.5%。核心洗衣業務營運利潤率和 EBITDA 利潤率處於該範圍的中點，分別為 6.6% 和 12.7%。預計我們的關鍵措施將直接產生1,200 萬美元的成本，這些成本將在2024 財年支出，並將使核心洗衣業務營運利潤率和EBITDA 利潤率降低0.6%，有效稅率為24.5%，並且未來不會進行股票回購或意外情況顯著不利的經濟發展。

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

我們準備好的演講到此結束，我們現在很樂意回答您可能提出的任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

（操作員指令）Manav Patnaik，巴克萊銀行。

This is Ronan Kennedy on for Manav. Can I just get some further context on 2 of the things you talked about, the challenging pricing environment, so the dynamics at play, whether that's inflation moderation, new wins coming on at lower pricing. And then also, some further context around the lower wearer metrics and kind of the drivers of some potential weakness there?

我是馬納夫的羅南肯尼迪。我能否進一步了解您談到的兩件事，即具有挑戰性的定價環境，以及正在發揮作用的動態，無論是通膨放緩，還是以較低的價格取得新的勝利。然後，還有一些關於較低配戴者指標的進一步背景以及潛在弱點的驅動因素？

Sure. Let me hit those one at a time. I think when we talk about the more challenging pricing environment, it's primarily inflation -- emerging from this inflationary period, right? I think about it from how we're managing our vendors and after multiple years of higher cost, we're putting more programs out to bid with our vendors. And I think you're just seeing some of that in general in the marketplace, and that's leading to somewhat of a more challenging pricing environment, which probably isn't surprising.

當然。讓我一次擊打那些人。我認為，當我們談論更具挑戰性的定價環境時，主要是通貨膨脹——從這個通貨膨脹時期出現，對嗎？我從我們管理供應商的方式來思考這個問題，經過多年的成本上漲，我們正在推出更多項目與供應商競標。我認為您只是在市場上看到了其中的一些情況，這導致了更具挑戰性的定價環境，這可能並不奇怪。

From a new account perspective, I wouldn't say there's really been a significant change. We've talked about over the years, new account acquisition is often a competitive situation. But I wouldn't say there's any significant change in that pricing environment over the last few quarters. And as far as the adds versus reductions, I don't want to overestimate that. But we have been talking about, if you go back over the last couple of years. A year ago, we were getting some more pull from add versus reductions. In the last couple of quarters, we have been saying it's been mostly stable. And although, again, as I said in my prepared remarks, I would still say it's mostly stable. We have seen a little bit of weakening there during the quarter. It didn't have a significant impact, but wanted to mention it just as we think it may be a precursor of a little bit weaker hiring environment.

從新帳戶的角度來看，我不會說確實發生了重大變化。多年來我們一直在談論，獲取新客戶通常是一種競爭局面。但我不會說過去幾季的定價環境有任何重大變化。至於增加與減少，我不想高估這一點。但我們一直在談論，如果你回顧過去幾年。一年前，我們從增加而不是減少中獲得了更多的動力。在過去的幾個季度中，我們一直說它基本上穩定。儘管正如我在準備好的發言中所說，我仍然會說它基本上是穩定的。我們在本季看到了一些疲軟的情況。它沒有產生重大影響，但想提一下，因為我們認為這可能是招募環境稍弱的前兆。

Yes, that leads into my next question. That's what you've talked about on the prior or the most recent calls is kind of a cautious tone out there with respect to hiring, but not seeing broad calls for reductions. Can you just kind of characterize or comment on the demand environment and how that informs your outlook for 4Q. Obviously, that was within the full year guide, but your comments on the expectation for more modest growth in '25?

是的，這引出了我的下一個問題。這就是您在之前或最近的電話會議中所說的，對於招聘採取謹慎的態度，但沒有看到廣泛的裁員呼聲。您能否描述或評論需求環境以及這如何影響您對第四季的展望。顯然，這在全年指南之內，但您對 25 年經濟成長更為溫和的預期有何評論？

Sure. I don't think we're over building in any impact from softer adds reductions or sort of overall demand over the next quarter or even into '25. Although I'd say that context as we look toward next year, we don't expect to be getting a significant pull from higher wearer levels. But we're also not building in at this point nor do we typically -- a more significant pullback in wearer levels.

當然。我認為我們不會過度增加下個季度甚至 25 年的疲軟增量減少或整體需求的影響。儘管我會在展望明年時提到這一點，但我們預計不會從更高的佩戴者水平中獲得顯著的拉動。但我們目前也沒有進行構建，通常也不會進行構建——佩戴者水平會出現更顯著的回調。

And we're really not seeing that yet. We're just seeing somewhat of a downtick. The only thing I will say there is a little bit less hiring in the market does have some advantages. We're seeing less turnover in our own employees, and we're seeing less turnover in our customers' employees, which also does lead to a little bit of a better ability to manage merchandise cost with your customer when you're not dealing with sort of high turnover of employees within our customer base.

我們確實還沒有看到這一點。我們只是看到了一些下滑。我唯一要說的是，市場上招募人數少一點確實有一些優勢。我們發現我們自己的員工流動率越來越低，我們客戶的員工流動率也越來越低，這也確實使您在不與客戶打交道時能夠更好地管理與客戶的商品成本。群中員工流動率很高。

That's very helpful. And then if I may just sneak in a third, please. Are there any end markets where you are seeing particular weakness or strength for that matter?

這非常有幫助。那麼請允許我偷偷加入第三個。您是否發現任何終端市場在這方面特別弱勢或強勢？

No, it's really around the edges. I wouldn't say -- in the past, we've talked about oil or manufacturing. I wouldn't say there is any one area that is sort of outweighted in what we're seeing.

不，它確實處於邊緣。我不會說——過去，我們談論過石油或製造業。我不會說有任何一個領域在我們所看到的情況中被忽視了。

Andrew Wittmann, Baird.

安德魯·惠特曼，貝爾德。

I have a couple of questions here, just to understand quarter a little bit better, then I'll go to a little bit broader picture. But I guess maybe could you just help remind us on the year-over-year margin comparison. You mentioned that last year's health care costs and legal costs were elevated. So that was kind of a known easy margin comp. But want to understand that you actually had leverage in these other areas. So just to level set a little bit, can you help us quantify or understand what you think the unusual amount of health care or legal costs were in the prior year, so we can understand maybe what the underlying benefit from merchandise, labor, those things were, energy would be another thing to comment on that as well?

我在這裡有幾個問題，只是為了更好地理解季度，然後我將討論更廣泛的情況。但我想也許您可以幫助提醒我們有關同比利潤率的比較。您提到去年的醫療費用和法律費用增加了。所以這是一種眾所周知的輕鬆利潤補償。但想要了解您實際上在這些其他領域擁有影響力。因此，為了設定一點水平，您能否幫助我們量化或了解您認為前一年不尋常的醫療保健或法律費用是多少，以便我們可以了解商品、勞動力等的潛在好處是什麼那麼，能源也是對這發表評論的另一件事嗎？

Yes, I'll take that, Andy. When you take a look at our comparison in our core year-over-year, the comparison is about 170 basis points. So last year, in our third quarter, as I had mentioned, as you just mentioned, health care claims ran high. And as a result, we had a corresponding high expense related to that as well as that reserve. Those 2 items when we compare with this year account for about 100 basis points to that better point.

是的，我會接受的，安迪。當您查看我們的核心同比比較時，您會發現該比較約為 170 個基點。所以去年，在我們的第三季度，正如我所提到的，正如你剛才提到的，醫療保健索賠很高。因此，我們相應地產生了與此相關的高額費用以及儲備金。當我們與今年比較時，這兩項比今年更好的點高出約 100 個基點。

The other items that I had mentioned, which were the favorable trends in our merchandise, our payrolls and other operating input costs account for that 70 basis points of difference. And really, those 3 factors are contributing equally to the favorable comp.

我提到的其他項目，即我們的商品、工資和其他營運投入成本的有利趨勢，導致了 70 個基點的差異。事實上，這三個因素對有利的競爭同樣有貢獻。

Okay. That's super helpful. I guess you guys always know I ask that question. So thanks for that.

好的。這非常有幫助。我想你們一直都知道我問這個問題。所以謝謝你。

You had asked about energy, I haven't spoken to that. Energy was 4.3% of revenues in both quarters. So that was a consistent comparison.

你問過能量的問題，我沒有談過。兩季能源業務均佔營收的 4.3%。所以這是一個一致的比較。

That's helpful. I guess just -- I mean, given that 70 basis points for these other factors, is still pretty good leverage. I guess I look at the fourth quarter margin guidance, you guys beat by a lot here. I got to think that you came in a little bit better than your plan. Obviously, you did because you raised the guidance. But you didn't really pass through any of the margin benefits that you saw in the fiscal third quarter to a change in your fiscal fourth quarter margin outlook.

這很有幫助。我想，我的意思是，考慮到這些其他因素的 70 個基點，仍然是相當不錯的槓桿。我想我看看第四季度的利潤指導，你們在這裡擊敗了很多。我認為你的表現比你的計劃好一些。顯然，你這樣做是因為你提出了指導。但您並沒有真正將第三財季看到的任何利潤率收益轉嫁給第四財季利潤率前景的變化。

So I just was wondering if you could give the thought process behind that if you're being conservative or if there's an offset somewhere else in the P&L, it would suggest that this margin benefit that you saw in the quarter, is it going to come through in 4Q.

因此，我只是想知道，如果您持保守態度，或者損益表中其他地方存在抵消，您是否可以給出背後的思考過程，這表明您在本季度看到的利潤率收益是否會出現第四季度通過。

Yes. When we take a look at our outperformance in the third quarter, some of that was informed by the performance in our specialty Garments as well as our First Aid business. As we've mentioned, specialty garments is usually seasonal and has it down fourth quarter. So sequentially, obviously, that performance would be a headwind. So we weren't expecting that the benefit that we saw in the third quarter to carry over.

是的。當我們審視第三季的優異表現時，我們的專業服裝和急救業務的表現在一定程度上說明了這一點。正如我們所提到的，特種服裝通常是季節性的，並且在第四季度有所下降。因此，顯然，這種表現將是一個逆風。因此，我們並沒有期望第三季看到的好處能延續下去。

Core Laundry did contribute some of that. But again, when we talk about things like our merchandise or our payrolls, some of that was actually anticipated. Those merchandise trends that we've been talking about. We've sort of been receiving as we've gone throughout the year, and that favorable trend continued into the third quarter. A lot of that was anticipated to carry forward into the fourth.

Core Laundry 確實做出了一些貢獻。但同樣，當我們談論我們的商品或薪資等事情時，其中一些實際上是預期的。我們一直在談論的那些商品趨勢。我們的業績與全年一樣，而且這種有利的趨勢一直持續到第三季。其中許多內容預計將延續到第四季。

Our other operating input costs that trended favorably in the quarter, some of that, we were pleased to see, and some of that, we believe, relates to some of the sourcing. And as Steve had mentioned, we are putting more things out to bid. But they do tend to be variable from quarter-to-quarter as well. So some of the favorability that we saw in the third quarter, we were cautious as it relates to the forecast for the fourth just to make sure that they weren't being influenced by timing items.

我們的其他營運投入成本在本季趨勢良好，其中一些是我們很高興看到的，而其中一些我們認為與某些採購有關。正如史蒂夫所提到的，我們正在競標更多的東西。但它們也往往會隨著季度的變化而變化。因此，我們在第三季度看到的一些有利因素，我們持謹慎態度，因為這與第四季度的預測有關，只是為了確保它們不會受到時間項目的影響。

Okay. I appreciate that. And then I guess maybe, Steve, one for you here. I guess I just wanted to dig into some of your comments on the national accounts that you had in your prepared remarks. You mentioned that you installed in your fiscal first quarter of '24 large national account, I think you guys kind of talked about this before. I think by my calculation, it's around 50 basis points of revenue just for that large account, you said top 3, I think is what you said in the script. But it sounded like you had other comments on national accounts, maybe you talk about the pipeline.

好的。我很欣賞這一點。然後我想，史蒂夫，也許，這裡有一個適合你。我想我只是想深入了解您在準備好的發言中對國民帳戶的一些評論。您提到您在 24 年第一財季的大型國民帳戶中進行了安裝，我想您之前已經討論過這一點。我認為根據我的計算，對於那個大帳戶來說，收入大約是 50 個基點，你說的是前 3 個，我想這就是你在腳本中所說的。但聽起來您對國民帳戶還有其他評論，也許您談論了管道。

So I just wanted you to clarify were your comments on the National Account business referring retroactively to things that you've already won? Or is the comment about your enthusiasm or your positivity on the National Accounts, looking at what you've got out in terms of bids or quotes for these national accounts, maybe the number of those or stuff that you've won that hasn't yet been installed. And maybe if you wanted to talk more broadly what you're seeing going on in the National Accounts are more of them changing hands today? And what's the competitive dynamic around that?

所以我只是想讓你澄清一下，你對國民帳戶業務的評論是否追溯至你已經贏得的事情？或者是關於您對國民帳戶的熱情或積極性的評論，看看您在這些國民帳戶的出價或報價方面得到了什麼，也許是您贏得的那些或東西的數量，但還沒有尚未安裝。如果你想更廣泛地談論你在國民帳戶中看到的情況，也許今天更多的人易手了？圍繞這一點的競爭動態是什麼？

Yes. So I think the comment was a little bit of all of the above, right? So we definitely have had good success during this year, and again, wanted to highlight that account from earlier in the year because that accounts being installed early in the year, really right at the beginning of our last -- or this fiscal year, will provide a difficult comp on growth as we head into next year. But the commentary was also around what we are seeing is good opportunities materializing in the market. I guess, I would say the pipeline. It wasn't really specifically about accounts that we've signed that have yet to install, but it's just more about the activity.

是的。所以我認為這個評論是以上所有內容的一部分，對嗎？因此，我們今年肯定取得了良好的成功，並且想再次強調今年早些時候的帳戶，因為在今年年初安裝的帳戶，實際上是在我們上一財年或本財年的開始時，將當我們進入明年時，我們將面臨艱難的成長。但評論也圍繞著我們所看到的市場中出現的良好機會。我想，我會說管道。這並不是專門針對我們已簽署但尚未安裝的帳戶，而是更多關於活動。

And yes, we probably are seeing on balance, maybe a few more programs out there and available with some opportunities, probably falling into the category of folks again, coming through an inflationary time and looking for opportunities.

是的，我們可能會平衡地看到，也許會有更多的項目存在，並且有一些機會，可能會再次落入人們的類別，度過通貨膨脹時期並尋找機會。

Okay. I'll leave it there.

好的。我會把它留在那裡。

Kartik Mehta, Northcoast Research.

Kartik Mehta，北海岸研究中心。

I just wanted to go back to your comments on pricing and just to understand a little bit. I know during the inflationary period, you were getting a little bit more than normal pricing today is the competition increase that you're not getting price increases? Or are you getting price increases and they're modest?

我只是想回顧一下您對定價的評論並了解一點。我知道在通膨時期，你們今天的價格比正常價格高一點，是競爭加劇導致你們沒有漲價嗎？還是你的價格漲了，漲幅不大？

We certainly continue to get price, right? But I think when you think about price increases and you think about the environment, we're consistently going through a cycle where we're renewing accounts and going through annual escalators. And so in general, as you go through those cycles, yes, it's a balance between getting more price from your customers appropriately based on the profile of the customer, also trying to secure renewals in the face of potentially competition.

我們當然會繼續獲得價格，對吧？但我認為，當你考慮價格上漲和環境時，我們一直在經歷一個更新帳戶和年度自動扶梯的周期。因此，總的來說，當您經歷這些週期時，是的，這是一種平衡，既根據客戶的情況適當地從客戶那裡獲得更多價格，又在面臨潛在競爭時嘗試確保續訂。

And again, I think just customers out there looking at all costs. I mean we've all gone through years of sort of mounting cost in many, many areas. And I think there's just more activity out there right now. And continuing to develop and maintain relationships with our customers and show the value of the service is really a big focus to make sure we can secure renewals at appropriate pricing going forward. But it's really just more activity out there in the market.

再說一遍，我認為只有客戶才會考慮所有成本。我的意思是，多年來我們在許多領域都經歷了成本不斷增加的情況。我認為現在有更多的活動。繼續發展和維持與客戶的關係並展示服務的價值確實是一個重點，以確保我們能夠以適當的價格獲得續約。但這其實只是市場上更多的活動。

When you look at kind of new large accounts or your product accounts, are you seeing more opportunity there as well? And could that result in greater price competition? I know new accounts have always been something competitive. I'm wondering if that environment changes at all as companies kind of try to look for curtailing costs.

當您查看新的大型客戶或產品客戶時，您是否也看到了更多機會？這會導致更激烈的價格競爭嗎？我知道新帳戶一直具有競爭力。我想知道隨著公司試圖尋求削減成本，這種環境是否會改變。

Yes. No, I think we are in a unique cycle right now. I think coming off of inflation at the levels that were experienced over the last couple of years. I mean if you think about it, we went through COVID which was a cycle where, in general, customers were very happy if their service providers were able to show up and service them, which I think we did a great job through that cycle. And then you hit a period where costs really escalated very significantly.

是的。不，我認為我們現在正處於一個獨特的周期。我認為通膨已經擺脫了過去幾年的水平。我的意思是，如果你仔細想想，我們經歷了新冠疫情，這是一個週期，總的來說，如果他們的服務提供者能夠出現並為他們提供服務，客戶會非常高興，我認為我們在這個週期中做得很好。然後你就進入了一個成本確實大幅上升的時期。

And now as things are settling down in both areas, I think, yes, I think you are entering a period of elevated competition and focus by customers on cost. And that does provide sales opportunities, and we're probably seeing some of that as well, but it does provide some other challenges in those other areas.

現在，隨著這兩個領域的情況都穩定下來，我認為，是的，我認為您正在進入一個競爭加劇且客戶關注成本的時期。這確實提供了銷售機會，我們可能也看到了其中的一些機會，但它確實在其他領域帶來了一些其他挑戰。

And just one last one. On your FY '25 comment, when you say modest growth, would you anticipate kind of growth similar to what you're going to see in the fourth quarter? Or would you define it a little bit differently.

還有最後一張。在您對 25 財年的評論中，當您提到適度增長時，您是否預計會出現與第四季度類似的增長？或者你會稍微不同地定義它嗎？

I think in the prepared remarks, I said that we expect growth next year to be more modest than our fourth quarter. And again, we do want to highlight that it's early to be giving that outlook and we just in the nature of transparency, we want to make sure we're communicating that trend. And obviously, there's a lot that can happen between now and then and over the course of fiscal '25, which is part of the reason I mentioned opportunities for national accounts that could materialize and other things that could impact that trajectory. But just based on the tough annualization of a higher pricing environment as well as the account we installed early last year, those comps are tougher heading into the year.

我認為在準備好的發言中，我說過我們預計明年的成長將比第四季更為溫和。再次，我們確實想強調，現在給出這種前景還為時過早，我們只是出於透明度的性質，我們希望確保我們正在傳達這一趨勢。顯然，從現在到那時以及整個 25 財年期間可能會發生很多事情，這也是我提到國民帳戶可能實現的機會以及可能影響這一軌蹟的其他事情的部分原因。但僅基於較高定價環境的艱難年化以及我們去年初安裝的帳戶，這些比較在今年會更加艱難。

Luke McFadden, William Blair.

盧克·麥克法登，威廉·布萊爾。

This is Luke McFadden on for Tim Mulrooney with William Blair. I wanted to ask, with the 1-year anniversary of the Clean acquisition, we're curious if the business has met expectations relative to when you first closed the deal. Were there any surprises that a positive or negative relating to the business operations or the integration process?

這是盧克·麥克法登（Luke McFadden）代表蒂姆·莫魯尼（Tim Mulrooney）和威廉·布萊爾（William Blair）。我想問一下，在 Clean 收購一周年之際，我們很好奇該業務是否達到了相對於您第一次完成交易時的預期。與業務營運或整合過程相關的正面或負面方面是否有任何意外情況？

Yes. Good question. No, we've been very happy, and I would say virtually everything has met our expectations. We talked a year ago how we're going to be patient on some of the more complex aspects of the integration due to the technology work that we're doing more broadly as a company. So some of those facilities continue to run separately from some of our facilities and there's still integration activities to come. But our expectations in the first year were to be able to kind of pick off that a little bit more low-hanging fruit type synergies of purchasing power and supply chain and some other areas. As well as make sure that we're maintaining the employees and the customers that all are very important assets from that acquisition. And we've been very successful doing that.

是的。好問題。不，我們非常高興，我想說幾乎一切都達到了我們的期望。一年前我們討論過，由於我們作為一家公司正在更廣泛地開展技術工作，因此我們將如何對整合的一些更複雜的方面保持耐心。因此，其中一些設施繼續與我們的一些設施分開運行，並且仍將進行整合活動。但我們在第一年的期望是能夠在購買力、供應鏈和其他一些領域實現更容易實現的協同效應。並確保我們保留員工和客戶，他們都是此次收購中非常重要的資產。我們在這方面非常成功。

And I know it's not the largest piece of our overall business, but it has performed ahead of where we thought it would coming into the year.

我知道這不是我們整體業務中最大的部分，但它的表現超出了我們今年的預期。

Great. Very helpful. And then just kind of sticking with kind of inorganic growth here. How are you seeing the shape of the M&A environment from where you sit today? And how would you characterize your appetite for acquisitions maybe as we move through the end of the year here and into 2025?

偉大的。非常有幫助。然後就堅持這裡的無機增長。您對現今的併購環境有何看法？隨著今年年底和 2025 年的到來，您會如何描述您對收購的興趣？

Yes. Certainly, the appetite is still strong. I think as we've talked about over the years, I would say that the activity right now is a little spotty. We see some interest, but I wouldn't say there's an overwhelming amount of activity out there right now. But the Clean acquisition materialized somewhat out of nowhere very quickly, several months before we did that deal.

是的。當然，胃口還是很旺盛的。我認為正如我們多年來所討論的那樣，我想說現在的活動有點參差不齊。我們看到了一些興趣，但我不會說現在有大量的活動。但 Clean 的收購很快就突然實現了，比我們完成那筆交易早了幾個月。

So we continue to develop and keep the relationships in the marketplace and certainly have an appetite. I talked about our cash flows improving and the healthy balance sheet. We certainly are interested for good assets as they become available.

因此，我們繼續發展並維持市場關係，當然也有興趣。我談到了我們的現金流改善和健康的資產負債表。我們當然對可用的優質資產感興趣。

Andrew Steinerman, JPMorgan.

安德魯‧史坦納曼，摩根大通。

It's Andrew. Two questions. One on merchandise amortization, one on customer service. Merchandise amortization, could you just quantify that a little bit for the third quarter, I know thinking back to the second quarter, it was like flat to maybe slightly up. It just sounds like we're really at an inflection point in merchandise amortization being a tailwind. Would you characterize it that way.

是安德魯。兩個問題。一項是關於商品攤銷，一項是關於顧客服務。商品攤銷，你能稍微量化一下第三季度的情況嗎？聽起來我們確實正處於商品攤銷成為順風的轉折點。你會這樣描述它嗎？

My second question is about customer service. I know it's long been your goal and our vision to become the best service provider. And in your prepared remarks, you talked about enhanced customer service experience. How do you measure customer service experience? Like is it NPS? Is it a client retention score, like where are you currently on that service experience journey?

我的第二個問題是關於客戶服務的。我知道成為最好的服務提供者一直是您的目標和我們的願景。在您準備好的發言中，您談到了增強的客戶服務體驗。您如何衡量客戶服務體驗？就像 NPS 一樣嗎？它是客戶保留分數嗎？

Yes. So Andrew, as it relates to the merchandise, you're right, earlier in the year when we were talking about the impact of merchandise on our operating income. It was relatively flat. As we've gone through the year, the benefit that we've seen there has continued to expand, it's still relatively nominal. The impact on the quarter was a favorable benefit of about 20 basis points to 30 basis points.

是的。因此，安德魯，就商品而言，你是對的，今年早些時候，當我們談論商品對我們營業收入的影響時。它相對平坦。回顧這一年，我們看到的效益持續擴大，但仍相對名義上。對本季的影響是約 20 個基點至 30 個基點的有利收益。

Okay.

好的。

Yes. As I had mentioned, aside from that health care claims expense comparison and the legal, the other items, the benefit from those other items. We're equally shared accounting for that 70 basis point comparison.

是的。正如我所提到的，除了醫療保健索賠費用比較和法律之外，其他項目以及這些其他項目的好處。對於 70 個基點的比較，我們的看法是平等的。

Yes, I'll take the customer service question, Andrew. In terms of how we measure ourselves, retention has always been a key factor. And over the last year, we have introduced for the first time, a more formal NPS program with our customers. And I would say it's growing in terms of responses and so on. So we're not at the point yet where we'd be communicating results. But we've been pleased with the early results that we've been getting.

是的，我會回答客戶服務問題，安德魯。就我們如何衡量自己而言，保留率一直是關鍵因素。去年，我們首次向客戶推出了更正式的 NPS 計畫。我想說的是，它在回應等方面正在增長。所以我們還沒到溝通結果的地步。但我們對所獲得的早期結果感到滿意。

And I think that lines up with our feeling that overall in the market, we have a pretty good service reputation. But that being said, and as we've talked about before, with over 250 locations out there, the goal is really consistency, location by location, state-to-state, coast-to-coast to really get to the point where as we go out to bid for services, that reputation is differentiated and that our retention can match.

我認為這與我們的感覺一致，總體而言，我們在市場上擁有良好的服務聲譽。但話雖這麼說，正如我們之前討論過的那樣，我們的目標是真正實現一致性，每個地點、州與州、東海岸都如此，以真正達到這樣的程度：我們出去競標服務，聲譽是與眾不同的，我們的保留率也可以與之匹配。

And a lot of investments we're making in, whether it's facilities, technology, and people are all designed around really enhancing that outcome. So again, I think it's always been a focus of the company, but as we invest in technology in some additional ways to measure true customer satisfaction, it's becoming an even bigger focus.

我們正在進行的大量投資，無論是設施、技術或人員，都是為了真正提高這項成果而設計的。再說一遍，我認為這一直是公司的重點，但隨著我們以其他方式投資技術來衡量真正的客戶滿意度，它正在成為更大的焦點。

Josh Chan, UBS.

喬許陳，瑞銀。

On retention levels, are you successful at maintaining your typical retention rates now even though you might have to concede some on price? Or is retention starting to dip below your normal levels?

在保留水平方面，即使您可能必須在價格上做出一些讓步，您現在能否成功地維持典型的保留率？或留存率是否開始低於正常水準？

Yes. I would say we've said it in the last couple of quarters, it has ticked up and I think a lot of it is around the pricing environment and the more competitive nature. I don't want to overestimate that. But I think, yes, I would have to say it's up a bit as well, lost accounts, I should say, compared to maybe our, not as much our historical, but I would say we went through a cycle where we really saw improved results in that area. But again, I think the environment we're in right now is on balance a bit more competitive based on some of the factors I mentioned earlier.

是的。我想說的是，我們在過去幾個季度已經說過了，它已經上升，我認為很大程度上是圍繞著定價環境和更具競爭力的性質。我不想高估這一點。但我認為，是的，我不得不說它也有所上升，我應該說，與我們的歷史相比，丟失的帳戶可能沒有那麼多，但我想說我們經歷了一個週期，我們確實看到了改進結果在該區域。但同樣，我認為基於我之前提到的一些因素，我們現在所處的環境整體上更具競爭力。

All right. Appreciate that color. And then, I guess, looking forward, how should we think about margin expansion in the face of slower growth? Is there any way that you can kind of ballpark or quantify that for us going forward?

好的。欣賞那個顏色。然後，我想，展望未來，面對成長放緩，我們該如何考慮利潤率擴張？有沒有什麼方法可以幫助我們對未來進行大概或量化？

Yes. I think at this point, looking into next year, we're really not in a position to make additional comments about margins or the results going forward. I think as I mentioned in our prepared remarks, and as Shane mentioned, we are pleased with some of the trends of cost someone mentioned before, sort of hitting the inflection point on merchandise, which is somewhat cyclical, but also we're doing a number of things from a sourcing perspective and an operational execution perspective, that we continue, we focus on to drive cost improvements, particularly if growth is going to be slower.

是的。我認為，在這一點上，展望明年，我們確實無法對利潤率或未來的結果發表更多評論。我認為，正如我在準備好的發言中提到的，正如肖恩所提到的，我們對之前有人提到的一些成本趨勢感到高興，有點達到商品的拐點，這在某種程度上是周期性的，但我們也在做從採購角度和營運執行角度來看，我們繼續致力於推動成本改善，特別是在成長放緩的情況下。

Okay. Yes. And then maybe just one more technical question your comment that the fiscal '25 growth could be more modest than the fourth quarter. Is that inclusive of lapping the extra week this year? Or is that (inaudible)?

好的。是的。然後也許只是一個技術性問題，您的評論是 25 財年的成長可能比第四季更為溫和。這包括今年多跑一周嗎？還是就是這樣（聽不清楚）？

Yes. Everything we're talking about there is sort of apples-to-apples sort of excluding the impact of the extra week.

是的。我們所談論的一切都在某種程度上排除了額外一週的影響。

I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Steve for any closing remarks.

我目前不會提出任何進一步的問題。我想將電話轉回給史蒂夫，讓他發表結束語。

Great. I'd just like to thank everyone for joining us today to review our results. We look forward to speaking with everyone again in October when we expect to report our fourth quarter as well as provide our outlook for fiscal '25. Thank you, and have a great day.

偉大的。我只想感謝大家今天加入我們來審查我們的結果。我們期待在 10 月再次與大家交談，屆時我們將報告第四季度的情況並提供 25 財年的展望。謝謝您，祝您有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's presentation. You may now disconnect, and have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，今天的演講到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。