威富公司 (VFC) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the fourth quarter 2023 VF Corporation Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Allegra Perry, you may begin.

問候。歡迎來到 VF Corporation 2023 年第四季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在錄製此會議。我現在將會議轉交給您的主持人 Allegra Perry，您可以開始了。

Good afternoon, and welcome to VF Corporation's Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023 Conference Call. Participants on today's call will make forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These uncertainties are detailed in documents filed regularly with the SEC.

下午好，歡迎來到威富公司 2023 財年第四季度電話會議。今天電話會議的參與者將發表前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於當前的預期，並受到可能導致實際結果存在重大差異的不確定性的影響。這些不確定性在定期向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中有詳細說明。

Unless otherwise noted, amounts referred to on today's call will be on an adjusted constant dollar basis, which we've defined in the press release that was issued this afternoon and which we use as lead numbers in our discussion because we believe they more accurately represent the true operational performance and underlying results of our business.

除非另有說明，否則今天電話會議中提到的金額將以調整後的不變美元為基礎，我們在今天下午發布的新聞稿中對此進行了定義，我們在討論中將其用作領先數字，因為我們相信它們更準確地代表我們業務的真實運營績效和基本結果。

You may also hear us refer to reported amounts, which are in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Reconciliations of GAAP measures to adjusted amounts can be found in the supplemental financial tables included in the press release, which identify and quantify all excluded items and provide management's view on why this information is useful to investors.

您可能還會聽到我們提到報告的金額，這些金額符合美國公認會計原則。 GAAP 措施與調整後金額的對賬可以在新聞稿中的補充財務表中找到，這些表格確定並量化了所有排除的項目，並提供了管理層關於為什麼這些信息對投資者有用的看法。

Unless otherwise noted, results presented on today's call are based on continuing operations. Joining me on the call will be VF's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Benno Dorer; and EVP and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Puckett. Following our prepared remarks, we'll open the call for questions. I'll now hand over to Benno.

除非另有說明，否則今天電話會議上公佈的結果基於持續經營。與我一起參加電話會議的還有 VF 的臨時總裁兼首席執行官 Benno Dorer；執行副總裁兼首席財務官 Matt Puckett。在我們準備好的評論之後，我們將開始提問。我現在將交給 Benno。

Hello, everyone. It's been nearly 6 months into my interim role as CEO of VF. I'm proud to be part of this beautiful company of the products that we create for our consumers, the difference we make to so many people's lives, to witness so many highly skilled and committed people create engaging styles and shopping experiences for our consumers and how people know, wear and love our brands on streets, trails and mountains around the world.

大家好。我擔任 VF 首席執行官的臨時職位已經將近 6 個月了。我很自豪能成為這家美麗公司的一員，我們為消費者創造產品，我們為這麼多人的生活帶來改變，見證這麼多高技能和忠誠的人為我們的消費者創造引人入勝的風格和購物體驗，人們如何在世界各地的街道、小徑和山區了解、佩戴和喜愛我們的品牌。

Having an even deeper appreciation of VF's possibilities now, I'm incredibly optimistic about the company's future. I'm pleased to report that VF is stable, delivering against our commitments with strong discipline and making solid progress against our executional priorities. Today, I will build on themes introduced in February and highlight progress to sharpen our focus on the biggest consumer opportunities within our brand portfolio and on enhanced operational performance.

現在我對 VF 的可能性有了更深入的了解，我對公司的未來非常樂觀。我很高興地報告 VF 是穩定的，以嚴格的紀律兌現我們的承諾，並在我們的執行重點方面取得穩固的進展。今天，我將以 2 月份推出的主題為基礎，強調我們在加強對品牌組合中最大的消費者機會和提昇運營績效的關注方面取得的進展。

I will cover 3 areas: First, an overview of VF's performance in Q4 fiscal year '23 and an update on work underway in pursuit of our near-term priorities; second, an outline of the primary objectives for fiscal year '24, which will be a year of transition and progress; and third, why I believe even more today in VF's unique value proposition and our plan to return to strong growth and long-term shareholder value creation.

我將涵蓋 3 個方面：首先，概述 VF 在 23 財年第四季度的業績以及為追求我們的近期優先事項而正在進行的工作的最新情況；其次，24 財年的主要目標概述，這將是過渡和進步的一年；第三，為什麼我今天更加相信 VF 獨特的價值主張以及我們恢復強勁增長和長期股東價值創造的計劃。

First, we delivered revenue and profits in line with guidance for Q4 to close out fiscal year '23, and we've made solid progress towards our priority areas of focus. Against the backdrop of continued challenging macroeconomic conditions, we grew full year revenue by 3% in constant dollars, with 10 out of our 12 global brands flat or growing revenue, 5 of them double digits, and delivered earnings per share of $2.10 at the midpoint of our guidance.

首先，我們根據第四季度結束 23 財年的指導交付了收入和利潤，並且我們在優先重點領域取得了穩步進展。在宏觀經濟條件持續充滿挑戰的背景下，我們以不變美元計算的全年收入增長了 3%，我們 12 個全球品牌中有 10 個收入持平或增長，其中 5 個是兩位數，每股收益中點為 2.10 美元我們的指導。

Revenue in Q4 was flat in constant dollars. Some highlights from our quarter performance to close out the fiscal year. Outdoor saw ongoing strength, led by continued stellar performance at The North Face. Vans was down in Q4 as expected, but we saw encouraging green shoots from new product launches and our increased focus on maximizing existing product platforms.

按不變美元計算，第四季度的收入持平。我們季度業績的一些亮點結束了本財年。在 The North Face 的持續出色表現的帶動下，Outdoor 業務持續增長。正如預期的那樣，Vans 在第四季度出現下滑，但我們看到新產品發布令人鼓舞，並且我們更加關注最大化現有產品平台。

We delivered sequential improvement in both Dickies and Supreme, which stabilized in Q4 behind very strong growth in our key markets, Japan. EMEA continue to execute well with its eighth consecutive quarter of strong growth, and Greater China's emerging momentum coming out of Q3 accelerated with Q4 revenue returning to positive growth.

我們在 Dickies 和 Supreme 中實現了連續改善，在我們的主要市場日本的強勁增長之後，它們在第四季度穩定下來。歐洲、中東和非洲地區繼續表現良好，連續第八個季度實現強勁增長，大中華區第三季度的新興勢頭加速，第四季度收入恢復正增長。

The North Face continues to execute strongly with engaging marketing and a steady stream of innovative styles. Our core snow sports category was a standout in Q4, while the iconic Nuptse jacket continued its strong momentum. We saw further growth in trail running footwear, particularly behind our proprietary active technology, underlying the brand's significant opportunity in footwear.

The North Face 繼續通過引人入勝的營銷和源源不斷的創新風格強勢執行。我們的核心雪上運動類別在第四季度表現突出，而標誌性的努子夾克繼續保持強勁勢頭。我們看到越野跑鞋的進一步增長，特別是在我們專有的活性技術的支持下，奠定了該品牌在鞋類領域的重大機遇。

The North Face continues to resonate with a growing consumer base with the XPLR PASS adding over 1 million new members to surpass 18.5 million global members at the end of Q4. Shifting to the near-term priorities outlined in February. Importantly, our company's supply chain performance improved significantly and our work to turn around Vans is on track. We are on or ahead of plan on our work to restore excellence in the area of supply chain.

The North Face 繼續與不斷增長的消費者群產生共鳴，XPLR PASS 在第四季度末增加了超過 100 萬新會員，全球會員超過 1850 萬。轉向 2 月份概述的近期優先事項。重要的是，我們公司的供應鏈績效顯著改善，我們扭轉 Vans 的工作正在按計劃進行。我們正在或提前完成恢復供應鏈領域卓越工作的計劃。

In Q4, we reached our target to reduce inventory by about $300 million. And while it remains elevated, trends are good. We talked about our unsatisfactory customer service in Q3. I am pleased that our on-term performance has generally returned to target levels of full 2 quarters ahead of plan. And finally, while our costs remain elevated in Q4, our cost focus and planning discipline are starting to bear fruit, and we are on track to see lower costs in fiscal year '24.

在第四季度，我們實現了將庫存減少約 3 億美元的目標。雖然它仍然很高，但趨勢是好的。我們在第三季度談到了我們不滿意的客戶服務。我很高興我們的準時業績總體上比計劃提前了整整 2 個季度回到了目標水平。最後，雖然我們的成本在第四季度仍然居高不下，但我們的成本重點和規劃紀律開始取得成果，我們有望在 24 財年看到更低的成本。

On Vans, there are some positive developments. Our 2 emerging product lines of focus, UltraRange and MTE were up 51% and 34%, respectively. We are just scratching the surface on these. We also demonstrated that we can energize Vans fan-based when we have meaningful product news. In Q4, we had a highly successful start of our retro inspired Knu Skool platform. This [Knu] shoe shows the potential to grow into a meaningful growth driver for Vans over time. Our global Vans Family membership grew to 28 million members by end of Q4, nearly twice the number from 2 years ago. Clearly, there is much work ahead of us, but they are encouraging signs for us to build on.

在 Vans 上，有一些積極的發展。我們的 2 個新興產品線 UltraRange 和 MTE 分別增長了 51% 和 34%。我們只是在這些方面觸及表面。我們還證明，當我們有有意義的產品新聞時，我們可以激發基於 Vans 粉絲的活力。在第四季度，我們以復古為靈感的 Knu Skool 平台取得了非常成功的開端。隨著時間的推移，這款 [Knu] 鞋展示了成為 Vans 有意義的增長動力的潛力。截至第四季度末，我們的全球 Vans Family 會員人數增至 2800 萬，幾乎是兩年前的兩倍。顯然，我們還有很多工作要做，但它們是令人鼓舞的跡象，讓我們可以繼續前進。

My second message is that fiscal year '24 will be a year of transition and progress, positioning us to accelerate profitable growth in fiscal year '25 and beyond. We have an appropriately balanced plan in place for this fiscal year, considering our organizational transition. We will show progress in several areas with sensible revenue projections, increased marketing investment and a sharp focus on margin, leading to solid operating profit growth and cash flow generation.

我的第二個信息是，24 財年將是過渡和進步的一年，使我們能夠在 25 財年及以後加速盈利增長。考慮到我們的組織轉型，我們為本財年制定了一個適當平衡的計劃。我們將通過合理的收入預測、增加營銷投資和高度關注利潤率在多個領域取得進展，從而實現穩健的營業利潤增長和現金流產生。

Here are some highlights from our 2 biggest brands. On Vans, we continue to expect the brand to return to growth during the course of the second half of the fiscal year. Importantly, Vans will return to profit growth for the full fiscal year and even ahead of its return to revenue growth, aided by cost savings and SKU simplification. The Vans team is operating with a great sense of urgency and projects are on track. We continue to strengthen our team.

以下是我們兩個最大品牌的一些亮點。在 Vans 方面，我們繼續預計該品牌將在本財年下半年恢復增長。重要的是，在成本節約和 SKU 簡化的幫助下，Vans 將在整個財政年度恢復利潤增長，甚至會提前恢復收入增長。 Vans 團隊正在以極大的緊迫感開展工作，項目正在按計劃進行。我們繼續加強我們的團隊。

Our new brand campaign launched in April. We are sharpening our go-to-market process with a focus on digital. We will increase our product development investment in fiscal year '24, (inaudible) our new Pinnacle premium line at the Paris Fashion Show next month and aggressively drive UltraRange, MTE and new school, while seeding the style 93 Women's Sandal launch now for a full launch this fall. More innovation will follow.

我們的新品牌活動於 4 月啟動。我們正在加強我們的上市流程，重點是數字化。我們將在 24 財年增加我們的產品開發投資，（聽不清）我們下個月在巴黎時裝秀上推出的新 Pinnacle 高端系列，並積極推動 UltraRange、MTE 和新學校，同時為現在推出的 93 款女式涼鞋播下完整的種子今年秋天推出。更多的創新將隨之而來。

Our consumer understanding work is in progress, sharpening our focus later this calendar year, and we are improving our shopping experience with a significantly reduced SKU count throughout 2023. Moving on to The North Face. We are increasing product and marketing investments to support consumer acquisition, innovation and marketplace sell-through and the expansion of the brand into new adjacent categories based on the clear permission from consumers to do so.

我們的消費者了解工作正在進行中，將在本日曆年晚些時候加強我們的關注點，並且我們將在整個 2023 年通過大幅減少 SKU 數量來改善我們的購物體驗。繼續 The North Face。我們正在增加產品和營銷投資，以支持消費者獲取、創新和市場銷售，並在消費者明確同意的情況下將品牌擴展到新的相鄰類別。

Regionally, our focus is to improve execution in the Americas. The first quarter will be difficult here as we work to regain the confidence of an already cautious set of U.S. wholesale customers [inability] to deliver full customer service after a difficult 2022 in that respect, but we should see significant improvements starting this fall. The recent appointment of Jen McLaren to a newly created role to lead our U.S. key account management will bring stronger focus as we work with customers to capitalize on the many available partnership opportunities that exist.

在區域方面，我們的重點是提高美洲的執行力。第一季度在這裡將很困難，因為我們努力重新獲得已經謹慎的美國批發客戶的信心[無法]在這方面的困難 2022 年之後提供全面的客戶服務，但我們應該會看到從今年秋天開始的顯著改善。最近任命 Jen McLaren 擔任新設立的職位，領導我們的美國大客戶管理工作，這將使我們更加專注於與客戶合作，利用現有的許多合作機會。

We expect EMEA to be resilient and generate profitable revenue growth in fiscal year '24 behind its hallmark execution strength. And APAC is anticipated to grow double digits this fiscal year, which we will fuel with increased brand investments. What is important to us is that VF grows the right way, meaning profitably and sustainably, expanding margins and generating significant cash flow in fiscal year '24.

我們預計 EMEA 將在 24 財年保持彈性並在其標誌性的執行力之後產生盈利性收入增長。預計本財年亞太地區將實現兩位數增長，我們將通過增加品牌投資來推動這一增長。對我們來說重要的是 VF 以正確的方式增長，這意味著盈利和可持續發展，擴大利潤率並在 24 財年產生可觀的現金流。

To do so, while supporting strong investments in the business, we are leaning into the more profitable parts of the portfolio and implementing a strong cost savings plan with a more systematic and ongoing cross-functional approach to eliminate costs that have lower value to consumers. VF's fiscal year '24 will be about progress and focus on what we can control in a difficult macroeconomic environment.

為此，在支持對業務進行大量投資的同時，我們正傾向於投資組合中利潤更高的部分，並通過更系統和持續的跨職能方法實施強有力的成本節約計劃，以消除對消費者價值較低的成本。 VF 的 24 財年將關注進步，並將重點放在我們在艱難的宏觀經濟環境中可以控制的事情上。

Steadily, methodically and with discipline, we will set the stage for an acceleration of value creation in fiscal year '25 and beyond. Finally, I'm more confident than I was even 6 months ago in VF's value proposition and our plan to return to strong growth and long-term shareholder value creation. VF's distinctive business model unites a portfolio of iconic and deeply loved brands in profitable, large and growing spaces with strong enterprise capabilities for speed, consistency and scale efficiencies.

我們將穩步、有條不紊、有紀律地為在 25 財年及以後加速價值創造奠定基礎。最後，我對 VF 的價值主張以及我們恢復強勁增長和長期股東價值創造的計劃比 6 個月前更有信心。 VF 獨特的商業模式將一系列標誌性的和深受喜愛的品牌組合在盈利、龐大和不斷增長的空間中，並具有強大的企業能力，以實現速度、一致性和規模效率。

We have significant growth opportunities in APAC and particularly in Greater China, where we have strong category tailwinds and tremendous brand penetration upside. VF's enterprise capabilities in supply chain, digital and technology and international go-to-market platforms give us a competitive advantage, which we will fuel with strong investments in our brands and consumer capabilities. We are disciplined and dynamic capital allocators with a history of long-term value creation.

我們在亞太地區，尤其是大中華區擁有巨大的增長機會，我們在該地區擁有強大的品類順風和巨大的品牌滲透率。 VF 在供應鏈、數字和技術以及國際上市平台方面的企業能力為我們提供了競爭優勢，我們將通過對品牌和消費者能力的大力投資來推動這一優勢。我們是紀律嚴明、充滿活力的資本配置者，擁有長期創造價值的歷史。

Near term, we will invest in organic growth to maximize the potential of our unique portfolio, while returning to disciplined M&A midterm to further strengthen our roster of brands. And we will continue to generate strong cash flow to reduce debt to target levels midterm and to return cash to shareholders through a competitive dividend. We believe that this is a solid long-term investment thesis, especially when combined with our clear plan to accelerate a return to profitable growth with strong operational discipline, an increase in product and marketing investments and an expansion in margins through cost savings and more differential portfolio management.

近期，我們將投資於有機增長，以最大限度地發揮我們獨特產品組合的潛力，同時在中期回歸有紀律的併購，以進一步加強我們的品牌陣容。我們將繼續產生強勁的現金流，以將債務減少到中期目標水平，並通過有競爭力的股息向股東返還現金。我們認為，這是一個可靠的長期投資論點，尤其是結合我們明確的計劃，即通過強有力的運營紀律加速恢復盈利增長、增加產品和營銷投資以及通過成本節約和更多差別擴大利潤率投資組合管理。

Lastly, we remain strongly committed to our company's purpose, not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it drives value for shareholders. In summary, I'm confident VF is well positioned to return to strong long-term shareholder value creation. Thank you. I'll now hand it over to Matt to talk through the financials.

最後，我們仍然堅定地致力於實現公司的宗旨，不僅因為這是正確的做法，還因為它可以為股東創造價值。總而言之，我相信 VF 能夠很好地恢復強大的長期股東價值創造。謝謝。我現在將它交給馬特來討論財務問題。

Thank you, Benno, and good afternoon, everyone. We are pleased to have delivered Q4 results in line with our guidance, but acknowledge we still have much to do to fulfill the full potential of the portfolio. The end of the fiscal year was characterized by an ongoing challenged macro environment, particularly in the U.S. The business continued to excel in certain areas. And importantly, we are seeing progress against our near-term priorities, although aspects of the business are still underperforming.

謝謝你，Benno，大家下午好。我們很高興根據我們的指導交付了第四季度的業績，但我們承認，要充分發揮投資組合的潛力，我們還有很多工作要做。本財年末的特點是宏觀環境持續充滿挑戰，尤其是在美國。該業務在某些領域繼續表現出色。重要的是，儘管業務的某些方面仍然表現不佳，但我們在近期優先事項方面取得了進展。

During the fiscal year, revenue was up 3% in constant dollars, with growth in both wholesale and direct-to-consumer. Despite softer results in the Americas, we saw strong growth in The North Face. In Outdoor emerging brands, which saw growth of 12%, both in the quarter and the year and in the international business, highlighted by exceptional results in Europe and steady sequential recovery in the APAC region.

在本財年，收入按不變美元計算增長了 3%，批發和直接面向消費者的業務均有增長。儘管美洲的業績較為疲軟，但我們看到了 The North Face 的強勁增長。在戶外新興品牌中，本季度和年度以及國際業務均增長了 12%，突出體現在歐洲的出色業績和亞太地區的穩步復甦。

Adjusted gross margin was down 220 basis points, and adjusted operating margin declined by 330 basis points, which led to adjusted earnings per share of $2.10 compared to $3.18 in fiscal year '22. As anticipated, liquidity was slightly above $3 billion at the end of Q4, benefiting from our Eurobond offering, but impacted during the year by lower earnings and a significant inventory build.

調整後的毛利率下降了 220 個基點，調整後的營業利潤率下降了 330 個基點，這導致調整後的每股收益為 2.10 美元，而 22 財年為 3.18 美元。正如預期的那樣，第四季度末的流動性略高於 30 億美元，這得益於我們的歐洲債券發行，但在這一年中受到收益下降和庫存大量增加的影響。

I also want to mention the Supreme impairment of $313 million recorded in the quarter. The business performance was clearly uneven in fiscal '23. We are now planning more modest growth in fiscal '24 before accelerating in fiscal '25, benefiting from geographic expansion, the pace of which will begin to quicken starting this fall. We remain confident in the brand's long-term growth potential, which will benefit from increasing access to the brand through both geographic expansion and further penetration in current markets, along with product category extension opportunities with current consumers.

我還想提及本季度記錄的 3.13 億美元的 Supreme 減值。 23 財年的業務表現顯然參差不齊。我們現在計劃在 25 財年加速之前在 24 財年實現更溫和的增長，這得益於地域擴張，其步伐將從今年秋天開始加快。我們仍然對該品牌的長期增長潛力充滿信心，這將受益於通過地理擴張和對當前市場的進一步滲透增加品牌的訪問，以及與當前消費者的產品類別擴展機會。

Now diving into the fourth quarter results. Revenue performed in line with our expectations, flat in constant dollars, led by the international business up 8% and outstanding performance in The North Face. I'd be remiss not to mention that the brand grew by double digits across all channels and all regions on a global basis in fiscal year '23. Our Outdoor emerging brands continued to deliver strong performance and Dickies and Supreme had improving results relative to the third quarter.

現在深入研究第四季度的結果。收入表現符合我們的預期，按不變美元計算持平，其中國際業務增長 8%，The North Face 表現出色。更不用說該品牌在 23 財年在全球所有渠道和所有地區都實現了兩位數的增長。我們的戶外新興品牌繼續表現強勁，Dickies 和 Supreme 的業績較第三季度有所改善。

As anticipated, Vans was down 12% and Timberland declined by 6%. Adjusted gross margin was down 260 basis points and adjusted operating margins declined by 230 basis points, with adjusted EPS of $0.17 compared to Q4 fiscal '22 of $0.45. Taking a closer look at the regions in the fourth quarter, our results reflected a mixed performance across geographies. As expected, the Americas region was soft with revenue down 7% during the quarter. Americas results were particularly impacted at wholesale, where regular price distribution was down 17%.

正如預期的那樣，Vans 下跌了 12%，Timberland 下跌了 6%。調整後的毛利率下降了 260 個基點，調整後的營業利潤率下降了 230 個基點，調整後的每股收益為 0.17 美元，而 22 財年第四季度為 0.45 美元。仔細觀察第四季度的地區，我們的結果反映出不同地區的表現參差不齊。正如預期的那樣，美洲地區表現疲軟，本季度收入下降 7%。美洲的業績尤其受到批發的影響，常規價格分銷下降了 17%。

North America remained challenging advance, which declined 18% in Q4 in the region. Timberland was also muted in the quarter at down 6%, while Dickies showed improvement to down 4%. EMEA continued to deliver strong results, up 8% in Q4, reflecting growth from most brands in the quarter and from all brands on a full year basis. While we are starting to see some impact from macro pressures on consumer spending, most countries saw continued revenue growth in the fourth quarter and all grew for the fiscal year.

北美仍然具有挑戰性的進步，該地區第四季度下降了 18%。 Timberland 在本季度也保持低迷，下降了 6%，而 Dickies 則下降了 4%。歐洲、中東和非洲地區繼續取得強勁業績，第四季度增長 8%，反映了本季度大多數品牌和所有品牌全年的增長。雖然我們開始看到宏觀壓力對消費者支出的一些影響，但大多數國家/地區的收入在第四季度持續增長，並且本財年均實現增長。

EMEA's revenue was up 12% for the year while delivering strong profitability. Last but not least, we were encouraged to see our business in APAC further strengthen and show sequential progress in Q4 with revenue up 10%, driven by a return to positive growth in Greater China in the quarter, which was also up 10%. In particular, The North Face delivered a standout performance in Greater China, up nearly 40% as the brand continues to fuel demand with the local consumer and achieve high sales productivity amidst the recovering marketplace environment.

歐洲、中東和非洲地區的收入今年增長了 12%，同時實現了強勁的盈利能力。最後但並非最不重要的一點是，我們很高興看到我們在亞太地區的業務進一步加強並在第四季度取得連續進展，收入增長 10%，這得益於本季度大中華區恢復正增長，該地區也增長了 10%。特別是 The North Face 在大中華區的表現非常出色，增長近 40%，因為該品牌繼續推動當地消費者的需求，並在市場環境復甦的情況下實現高銷售效率。

Across the rest of the region, we saw broad-based growth in major markets during the quarter. Further unpacking operating performance, Q4 gross margin was down 260 basis points. As expected, business mix remained a positive contributor to margin in the quarter of 60 basis points, driven primarily by the growth of our international business. This was more than offset by rate, down 310 basis points, due to the impact of a more promotional environment, transactional FX and higher product costs, partially offset by strategic pricing actions.

在該地區的其他地區，我們在本季度看到了主要市場的廣泛增長。進一步剖析經營業績，第四季度毛利率下降了 260 個基點。正如預期的那樣，主要受我們國際業務增長的推動，業務組合仍然對本季度 60 個基點的利潤率做出了積極貢獻。由於更多的促銷環境、交易外彙和更高的產品成本的影響，這被利率下降 310 個基點所抵消，部分被戰略定價行動所抵消。

Moving on to adjusted operating margin, which was down 230 basis points in the fourth quarter, reflecting the impact of the lower gross margin, partially offset by 50 basis points of SG&A leverage. SG&A declined slightly in the quarter as higher distribution costs and investments in advertising were more than offset by lower general and administrative costs, along with realized gains on sales of assets. Also negatively impacting the comparison was 30 basis points of FX.

繼續調整後的營業利潤率，第四季度下降了 230 個基點，反映了較低毛利率的影響，部分被 SG&A 槓桿的 50 個基點所抵消。 SG&A 在本季度略有下降，因為較高的分銷成本和廣告投資被較低的一般和行政成本以及資產銷售的已實現收益所抵消。同樣對比較產生負面影響的是 30 個基點的外匯。

Now to share an update on the supply chain environment. We've seen some stabilization in the operating environment since Q3. And as Benno mentioned earlier in the call, some initial signs of improvement are visible since taking aggressive action to return to our hallmark standard of excellence in this area. As we outlined in February, we are returning to a more rigorous approach to planning and coordination between brand operations, sales and finance leaders, which is benefiting our inventory management and forecast accuracy as we progress through future seasons.

現在分享供應鏈環境的更新。自第三季度以來，我們已經看到運營環境有所穩定。正如本諾早些時候在電話會議中提到的那樣，自從採取積極行動恢復我們在該領域的標誌性卓越標準以來，一些初步的改善跡像是顯而易見的。正如我們在 2 月份所概述的那樣，我們將重新採用更嚴格的方法來規劃和協調品牌運營、銷售和財務領導之間的關係，這有利於我們的庫存管理和預測準確性，因為我們會在未來的季節中取得進展。

While we're still continuing with the impact on the business today from higher lead times affecting our planning and buying calendar last year, manufacturing and freight times are now consistently trending down and contributing to better on-time performance and improved customer service with the arrival of Spring product.

雖然我們仍在繼續處理去年交貨時間延長對我們的計劃和採購日曆產生的影響，但製造和貨運時間現在一直呈下降趨勢，並有助於提高準時性能和改善客戶服務彈簧產品。

Further on logistics, we've seen reliability rates continue to improve, although they still remain below historical levels. And collectively, these trends are expected to continue as we move toward the important back-to-school and fall holiday seasons. We are well on track to achieving our goal outlined last quarter of returning to our targeted on-time performance rates and service levels by the first half of the fiscal year.

在物流方面，我們看到可靠性率繼續提高，儘管它們仍低於歷史水平。總的來說，隨著我們邁向重要的返校和秋季假期，這些趨勢預計將繼續下去。我們正在順利實現我們上個季度概述的目標，即在本財年上半年恢復到我們的目標準時率和服務水平。

The Houston cost of air freight is now more normalized. At the same time, ocean rates are coming down, and we'll see additional benefits moving into fiscal year '24. FOB inflation remains a factor, but it has moderated to a lower rate for both raw materials and labor costs. We have strategic pricing actions planned in fiscal '24 that will continue to be an offset to these increases.

休斯頓的空運成本現在更加正常化。與此同時，海運費率正在下降，我們將看到額外的收益進入 24 財年。 FOB 通脹仍然是一個因素，但原材料和勞動力成本的通脹率已經放緩。我們計劃在 24 財年採取戰略定價行動，這些行動將繼續抵消這些增長。

Now a few words on inventory. We achieved the forecasted reduction signaled in February of $299 million during Q4. At the end of the quarter, net inventory was up 62% versus last year, which reflects the continued higher amount of core carryover replenishment inventory, particularly at The North Face and Dickies. Excluding the increase relating to the change in eco terms to support the supply chain financing program implemented in Q1 of fiscal '23, inventory was up $620 million or 46%, a moderation from the year-over increase of 75% at the end of Q3.

現在談談庫存。我們在第四季度實現了 2 月份提出的 2.99 億美元的預測削減。本季度末，淨庫存比去年增長 62%，這反映出核心結轉補貨庫存量持續增加，尤其是 The North Face 和 Dickies。不包括為支持 23 財年第一季度實施的供應鏈融資計劃而與生態條款變化相關的增加，庫存增加了 6.2 億美元或 46%，較第三季度末 75% 的同比增幅有所放緩.

Moving on to the outlook for this fiscal year, which we expect to be a year of progress as we both continue to advance towards achieving our long-term goals and navigate a set of near-term macro and micro challenges. Revenue of flat to up slightly reflects the following: a growing direct-to-consumer business globally and in the U.S.; a modest decline in the Americas for the year behind a weaker U.S. wholesale business in an increasingly challenging environment; a cautious posture by most retail partners and the effects of our supply chain missteps from last fall.

繼續展望本財年，我們預計這將是取得進展的一年，因為我們都將繼續朝著實現我們的長期目標邁進，並應對一系列近期的宏觀和微觀挑戰。收入持平或略有上升反映了以下情況：全球和美國不斷增長的直接面向消費者的業務；由於美國批發業務在日益具有挑戰性的環境中疲軟，因此今年美洲市場略有下降；大多數零售合作夥伴的謹慎態度以及去年秋天我們供應鏈失誤的影響。

We expect growth in Europe for the year, although we do anticipate some deceleration considering our evolved view of macro pressures, and continued progressive improvement in China, which we've seen gain momentum in recent quarters and expect that to continue. We anticipate gross margin to be up at least 100 basis points, reflecting lower promotions, which we expect to trend toward more historical levels beginning in the fall season with benefits from mix, lower freight costs and strategic pricing actions, all partially offset by higher FOB costs and FX transaction headwinds.

我們預計今年歐洲將實現增長，但考慮到我們對宏觀壓力的看法的演變以及中國的持續逐步改善，我們確實預計會出現一些減速，我們在最近幾個季度看到了增長勢頭，並預計這種情況將繼續下去。我們預計毛利率將至少上升 100 個基點，反映出促銷活動減少，我們預計從秋季開始，毛利率將趨向於更高的歷史水平，受益於混合、較低的運費和戰略定價行動，所有這些都被更高的 FOB 部分抵消成本和外匯交易逆風。

Operating margin will expand, reflecting the higher gross margin supporting targeted investments in our largest value-creating opportunities, namely The North Face and advance turnaround. We have continued to invest in key capabilities and support momentum within the portfolio, particularly in the areas of innovation and demand creation, while exercising careful cost management in light of the ongoing challenged macro environment.

營業利潤率將擴大，反映出較高的毛利率支持對我們最大的價值創造機會進行有針對性的投資，即 The North Face 和 advance turnaround。我們繼續投資於投資組合中的關鍵能力和支持勢頭，特別是在創新和需求創造領域，同時根據持續充滿挑戰的宏觀環境進行謹慎的成本管理。

Earnings per share is expected to be in the $2.05 to $2.25 range, which includes more than $0.30 of negative impact from higher interest, unfavorable foreign currency affecting operating results, normalized incentive compensation and a modestly higher tax rate. To further help shape fiscal '24, I want to provide some operational guardrails related to our Q1 expectations. Largely in line with the revenue curve we anticipated in February, we expect Q1 to be down high single digits in constant dollars.

每股收益預計在 2.05 美元至 2.25 美元之間，其中包括超過 0.30 美元的負面影響，包括更高的利息、影響經營業績的不利外匯、正常化的激勵薪酬和適度提高的稅率。為了進一步幫助塑造 24 財年，我想提供一些與我們第一季度預期相關的運營護欄。與我們 2 月份預期的收入曲線基本一致，我們預計第一季度以不變美元計算將下降高個位數。

Notably, VF reported its strongest quarter of last year in Q1 at plus 7%, it's wholesale was plus 18%. This is exacerbated by wholesale shipment timing that benefited Q1 of fiscal '23 due to supply chain unpredictability at that time. With Q1 being our smallest quarter, results are also subject to greater volatility. In addition, we have an unfavorable brand mix in the quarter with a bigger (inaudible), which will have a disproportionate impact from U.S. wholesale as we expect the brand's revenue to be particularly affected by a continuation of lower wholesale sales in the spring season as we work to right size inventories.

值得注意的是，VF 在第一季度報告了去年最強勁的季度增長 7%，批發增長了 18%。由於當時供應鏈的不可預測性，批發發貨時間使 23 財年第一季度受益，這加劇了這種情況。由於第一季度是我們最小的季度，因此結果也可能會出現更大的波動。此外，我們在本季度有一個不利的品牌組合，更大（聽不清），這將對美國批發產生不成比例的影響，因為我們預計該品牌的收入將特別受到春季批發銷售持續下降的影響，因為我們努力調整庫存規模。

As anticipated, we expect wholesale across the (inaudible) pressure through the first half of the fiscal year, particularly in the U.S., which will impact all of our brands with a meaningful U.S. wholesale penetration. While gross margin is expected to be similar year-over-year in the quarter, SG&A will deleverage from the revenue decline, which will pressure operating margins. This performance in Q1 has been anticipated and is contemplated within our expectations for fiscal year '24.

正如預期的那樣，我們預計整個財政年度上半年的批發（聽不清）壓力，特別是在美國，這將影響我們所有具有有意義的美國批發滲透率的品牌。雖然本季度的毛利率預計與去年同期持平，但 SG&A 將因收入下降而去槓桿化，這將對營業利潤率構成壓力。第一季度的這一表現已經在我們對 24 財年的預期中得到預期和考慮。

Now moving back to the full year. Our free cash flow is expected to be about $900 million, driven by growth in EBITDA and a reduction in working capital, primarily from activities to further right size inventory levels as we migrate through fiscal year '24. We continue to expect inventory to be near to normalized levels by the end of the calendar year and fully recovered by fiscal year-end, down more than 10% year-over-year at the end of fiscal year '24.

現在回到全年。在 EBITDA 增長和營運資本減少的推動下，我們的自由現金流量預計約為 9 億美元，主要是隨著我們在 24 財年的遷移，進一步調整庫存水平的活動。我們繼續預計庫存將在日曆年年底接近正常水平，並在財政年度結束時完全恢復，在 24 財政年度結束時同比下降超過 10%。

These 2 benefits will be offset by higher tax payments and interest. Noteworthy and as continuously contemplated, the $900 million of free cash flow includes the impact of anticipated tax payments of approximately $290 million relating to intercompany IP transfers completed in a prior period. VF's strong anticipated cash generation supported by decisive actions we've already taken and will continue to take will ensure a path towards deleverage over the next 24 months.

這兩項好處將被更高的稅收和利息所抵消。值得注意的是，正如持續預期的那樣，9 億美元的自由現金流包括與前期完成的公司間知識產權轉讓相關的約 2.9 億美元的預期稅款的影響。在我們已經採取並將繼續採取的果斷行動的支持下，VF 強勁的預期現金生成將確保在未來 24 個月內實現去槓桿化。

And specific to the balance sheet and expected cash evolution for fiscal '24, we ended this year with about $3 billion in liquidity. And throughout the year, we anticipate using our free cash flow to pay off debt and continue to return cash to shareholders through the dividend, which we project will result in liquidity of at least $2.5 billion at fiscal year-end.

具體到 24 財年的資產負債表和預期現金變化，我們今年結束時的流動資金約為 30 億美元。全年，我們預計將使用我們的自由現金流來償還債務並繼續通過股息向股東返還現金，我們預計這將在財政年度末帶來至少 25 億美元的流動資金。

Now a brief update on the Timberland tax appeal of the tax court decision regarding the tax treatment of the acquisition of Timberland in 2011. The U.S. government filed a brief on May 4, and we'll be filing our response to this brief in early June. We and the government have requested an oral hearing of the case, which we expect will be granted for this fall.

現在簡要更新 Timberland 稅務法庭對 2011 年收購 Timberland 的稅務處理決定的稅務上訴。美國政府於 5 月 4 日提交了一份簡報，我們將在 6 月初提交對此簡報的回應.我們和政府已要求對案件進行口頭聽證，我們預計將於今年秋天批准。

In summary, our focus is clearer than ever on the road ahead. Fiscal year '24 will be a year of progress, where we'll advance our key strategic priorities as we continue to focus on the consistent execution of our plans. We will deliver improved operating performance and financial results, fueled by an expansion in gross margins, EBITDA growth and strong cash generation, all of which supports our path to delever and strengthen our balance sheet.

總之，我們的重點比以往任何時候都更加明確。 24 財年將是進步的一年，我們將推進我們的關鍵戰略重點，因為我們將繼續專注於我們計劃的一致執行。在毛利率擴大、EBITDA 增長和強勁的現金生成的推動下，我們將提供更好的經營業績和財務業績，所有這些都支持我們去槓桿化和加強資產負債表的道路。

Fiscal year '23 was certainly a challenging year in our business and for our teams. But I'm consistently impressed by the resilience and strength of our more than 30,000 associates, which further increases my confidence in the actions we have implemented to enable VF to generate long-term, sustainable and profitable growth beginning in fiscal year '24. With that, we'll now open the line to your questions.

對於我們的業務和我們的團隊而言，23 財年無疑是充滿挑戰的一年。但我一直對我們 30,000 多名員工的韌性和實力印象深刻，這進一步增強了我對我們為使 VF 從 24 財年開始實現長期、可持續和盈利增長而採取的行動的信心。有了這個，我們現在將打開您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Abbie Zvejnieks with Piper Sandler.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Abbie Zvejnieks 和 Piper Sandler 的台詞。

So I guess, just can you talk a little bit about the wholesale behavior in the U.S.? I mean it sounds like next quarter will be challenging from both the footwear and apparel perspective. Can you just really talk about the differences, I guess, between what you're seeing in footwear with both Vans and Timberland and the difference between that and North Face? And then I guess, complement to that, how willing are retailers then to take on like new product advance since that will be driving kind of the second half growth?

所以我想，你能談談美國的批發行為嗎？我的意思是，從鞋類和服裝的角度來看，下個季度聽起來都將充滿挑戰。我想，你能真正談談你在 Vans 和 Timberland 鞋類產品中看到的差異，以及它與 North Face 之間的差異嗎？然後我想，作為補充，零售商將如何推動新產品的發展，因為這將推動下半年的增長？

Abbie, I'll start that one and certainly, Benno can add if he wants to on the new product in particular. I would say, overall, the environment generally is challenging, right? I think that's well understood. In the near term, I would say, I'd highlight kind of 2 main issues for us. Certainly, the macro wholesale partners generally taking a more cautious approach to order book. That's certainly prevalent in the U.S. But beyond in Europe, we're seeing some of that as well.

Abbie，我會開始那個，當然，如果 Benno 特別想在新產品上添加，他可以添加。我會說，總的來說，環境通常是具有挑戰性的，對吧？我想這很好理解。在短期內，我會說，我會為我們強調 2 個主要問題。當然，宏觀批發合作夥伴通常對訂單採取更謹慎的態度。這在美國當然很普遍。但在歐洲以外，我們也看到了其中的一些。

And as they think about the fall order book positions, they're being very cautious and very careful. And certainly coming off of a year last year where inventories got distorted way too high and created a really heavy promotional environment, certainly reacting to that, I think, is one thing. And then I think just a general kind of cautious tone around consumer.

當他們考慮秋季訂單頭寸時，他們非常謹慎和小心。當然，在去年庫存扭曲得太高並創造了一個非常沉重的促銷環境的一年之後，我認為當然對此做出反應是一回事。然後我認為只是圍繞消費者的一種普遍的謹慎態度。

But for us, at VF, we're also dealing with, quite honestly, the effects certainly in our first half of our own missteps from fall last year. Our supply chain in fall of '22 didn't perform to the level that we expect and kind of our own expectations and our own bar. And -- but we'll largely be past that now moving over the next couple of quarters. And. certainly, as we move toward the holiday sales season, we'll be in a much better place.

但對我們來說，在 VF，我們也在處理，老實說，我們去年秋天以來的上半年失誤肯定會產生影響。我們在 22 年秋季的供應鏈沒有達到我們預期的水平，也沒有達到我們自己的期望和我們自己的標準。而且 - 但我們將在很大程度上超越現在在接下來的幾個季度中移動。和。當然，隨著假期銷售旺季的臨近，我們的處境會好得多。

As it relates to footwear versus apparel, I don't think we're seeing a discernible difference in terms of how retailers are responding. And I would say, generally speaking, to answer your question, certainly, a new compelling, interesting product, they're always eager to understand what we have to offer there and willing to take those things because that certainly helps from a traffic driving perspective.

由於它涉及鞋類與服裝，我認為我們在零售商的反應方式方面沒有看到明顯的差異。我想說，一般來說，回答你的問題，當然，一個新的引人注目的、有趣的產品，他們總是渴望了解我們在那裡必須提供什麼，並願意接受這些東西，因為從交通驅動的角度來看，這肯定有幫助.

Our next question comes from the line of Brooke Roach with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自布魯克羅奇與高盛的合作。

Can you talk to the confidence that you have in the drivers of margin inflection forecasted in your outlook today against a choppy macro? What levers do you still have to pull if the consumer environment gets weaker? And Matt, can you quantify your expectation for each of the moving pieces in gross margin, particularly the lower promotional effect that you're anticipating in the back half?

您能否談談您對今天展望中預測的利潤率變化驅動因素的信心，以應對動蕩的宏觀經濟？如果消費環境變弱，您還需要採取哪些措施？ Matt，您能否量化您對毛利率中每個移動部分的期望，尤其是您預期在後半部分的較低促銷效果？

Yes, certainly, Brooke. I would say gross margin up at least 100 basis points is certainly the biggest driver of margin expansion as we look at fiscal '24. As I unpack that, a moderating promotional environment is assumed to some degree, beginning from fall, I would say, beginning from fall, not back to, I would say, normal levels, but certainly moderating and improving from there. And we have a lot of confidence in that, especially kind of in terms of our view and visibility to where we think inventories will be positioned, certainly our own inventories, but the market itself. So that's a good guide for us.

是的，當然，布魯克。我想說毛利率至少上升 100 個基點肯定是我們看 24 財年利潤率擴張的最大驅動力。當我打開它時，在某種程度上假設了一個適度的促銷環境，從秋天開始，我會說，從秋天開始，而不是回到，我會說，正常水平，但肯定會從那裡緩和和改進。我們對此充滿信心，尤其是在我們對庫存將定位的觀點和可見性方面，當然是我們自己的庫存，但市場本身。所以這對我們來說是一個很好的指南。

I think we're being fairly cautious in our projection of that, but that's -- that's a big part of the gross margin increase. That's certainly not getting recovering everything we lost this year. We talked about significant reductions in margin over the last couple of quarters being heavily driven by promotions. So while some improvement, not all of it, business mix will continue to be a benefit. Think about that kind of in the 0.5 a point range. I think it's fair on a full year basis.

我認為我們對此的預測相當謹慎，但那是毛利率增長的很大一部分。這當然無法挽回我們今年失去的一切。我們談到過去幾個季度的利潤率大幅下降，這在很大程度上是由促銷活動推動的。因此，雖然有一些改進，但不是全部，業務組合將繼續帶來好處。想想那種在 0.5 個點範圍內的情況。我認為這對全年來說是公平的。

And then we've got the benefit of lower freight costs coming into the margins and strategic price increases, which will largely offset continued higher FOBs, although moderating, and some foreign currency headwinds inside of product cost. But gross margin clearly is the big driver for us. SG&A will be fairly cautious in terms of how we think about spending as we move through the year, given the environment. But we're continuing to drive.

然後我們得到了較低的運費成本進入利潤率和戰略價格上漲的好處，這將在很大程度上抵消持續上漲的離岸價，儘管有所緩和，以及產品成本中的一些外匯逆風。但毛利率顯然是我們的主要推動力。鑑於環境，SG&A 將在我們如何看待今年的支出方面相當謹慎。但我們繼續開車。

It's becoming kind of a routine discipline here as part of our revised and I would say revamped planning process in some way to really get after cost savings on an ongoing basis. So we're never stopping there, and we're looking for ways to reduce cost to funnel investments back towards the consumer and quite honestly, back towards the things that are working.

作為我們修訂的一部分，它正在成為一種常規紀律，我會說以某種方式改進規劃流程，以真正持續地節省成本。因此，我們永遠不會就此止步，我們正在尋找降低成本的方法，將投資回流給消費者，老實說，回流到正在發揮作用的事情上。

And if I could just follow up, can you provide a little bit more color on your leverage targets and actions that you're taking to strengthen the balance sheet throughout the year?

如果我可以跟進，你能否提供更多關於你全年為加強資產負債表而採取的槓桿目標和行動的顏色？

Yes. So accelerating our path towards our target leverage, which is 2.5x gross over time, that work is one of our top priorities and certainly a focus of our capital allocation. So the next couple of years, it's a heavy emphasis. We're going to generate strong free cash flow this year, and we'll use that to pay -- we'll pay a dividend as we announced a continuation of the dividend, but more commensurate and in line with our policy of kind of a 50% payout target.

是的。因此，加快實現我們的目標槓桿率（隨著時間的推移達到總槓桿率的 2.5 倍），這項工作是我們的首要任務之一，當然也是我們資本配置的重點。所以在接下來的幾年裡，這是一個重點。今年我們將產生強勁的自由現金流，我們將用它來支付——我們將支付股息，因為我們宣布繼續派發股息，但更相稱，也符合我們的政策50% 的支出目標。

And then beyond that, we'll pay down debt. The drivers of free cash flow going to be consistent EBITDA growth. Certainly, good progress in '24. I expect to see that further accelerating beyond their big working capital benefits this year, both from an inventory unwind standpoint, but also we've got a benefit in accounts payable as we get the full anniversary of the terms change that we put into place over the last few months and a continued sharpened focus on capital investments.

然後除此之外，我們將償還債務。自由現金流的驅動力將是持續的 EBITDA 增長。當然，24 年取得了良好進展。我預計今年會進一步加速超越他們的巨大營運資本收益，無論是從庫存平倉的角度來看，而且隨著我們實施的條款變更滿週年紀念日，我們在應付賬款方面也有收益過去幾個月，並繼續加強對資本投資的關注。

We expect to spend about $200 million this year on CapEx, which is a little lower than our kind of long-term average spend and really all geared towards the consumer. So those are the things we're thinking about. I would expect at the end of this year, our gross leverage would be under 4x and our net would be in the mid-3s and then kind of sequentially similar kind of progress as you move into fiscal '25.

我們預計今年將在資本支出上花費約 2 億美元，這比我們的長期平均支出略低，而且實際上都是面向消費者的。所以這些就是我們正在考慮的事情。我預計到今年年底，我們的總槓桿率將低於 4 倍，而我們的淨槓桿率將處於 3 年代中期，然後在進入 25 財年時會出現類似的連續進展。

Our next question comes from the line of Paul Lejuez with Citigroup.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Paul Lejuez。

Curious if you can talk about what you're seeing in your DTC channel for each brand? And how that compares to the sell-through that you're seeing at the wholesale channel? And then one other, just bigger picture. You guys have purchased businesses, you've spun off businesses, you've done both of those things. I'm curious where your heads are at in terms of whether or not you're in the mindset of still acquiring more at some point or maybe likely to sell or spend something off?

想知道您是否可以談談您在每個品牌的 DTC 頻道中看到的內容？這與您在批發渠道看到的銷售情況相比如何？然後是另一個，更大的圖景。你們收購了企業，剝離了企業，這兩件事你們都做過。我很好奇你的頭腦在想什麼時候你是否仍然想在某個時候獲得更多，或者可能會出售或花掉一些東西？

Yes, I'll take the first part and let Benno talk about the second part of your question. DTC is a growth driver for us and will continue to be. It's approaching 50% of the business, certainly, and over time, we expect will be half of the business and beyond as we think about our long-term plan. Q4 was another strong result overall and consistent with the last couple of quarters, up low single digits. And despite the challenges at Vans and to some degree, the choppiness that we've seen over the last few quarters in China.

是的，我先講第一部分，讓Benno 談談你問題的第二部分。 DTC 是我們的增長動力，並將繼續如此。當然，它接近業務的 50%，隨著時間的推移，我們預計將佔業務的一半，甚至更多，因為我們考慮了我們的長期計劃。第四季度是另一個強勁的整體結果，與過去幾個季度一致，呈低個位數增長。儘管 Vans 面臨挑戰，在某種程度上，我們在過去幾個季度在中國看到的動盪不安。

So we're really seeing good results across most of the portfolio. That will continue. And we're benefiting from the investments that we've made in DTC. And I think about digital and data analytics, brand loyalty programs, consumer insights, a sharper focus on ROI, the omni capabilities, so we feel good about the progress that we're making and the opportunity here that will be further fueled as Vans begins to turn around its business later this year.

因此，我們確實在大部分投資組合中看到了良好的結果。那將繼續。我們正受益於我們在 DTC 上的投資。我想到了數字和數據分析、品牌忠誠度計劃、消費者洞察、更加關注投資回報率、全能能力，所以我們對我們正在取得的進步以及隨著 Vans 開始而進一步推動的機會感到滿意在今年晚些時候扭虧為盈。

As it relates to wholesale and sell-through, I mean, we're continually seeing consistently good results in the businesses that are consistently performing. Vans has been challenged. And I think we -- continues to be that way in its classic products in many cases. But (inaudible) and strengthened, obviously, by newness and some of the things that we've put into place. And Benno talked about some of those things in his prepared comments. But I think the underlying sell-through in the businesses that are performing is pretty consistent across DTC and wholesale.

由於它涉及批發和銷售，我的意思是，我們不斷地在持續表現的企業中看到持續良好的結果。范斯受到了挑戰。而且我認為我們 - 在許多情況下，其經典產品仍將採用這種方式。但是（聽不清）並且很明顯，通過新事物和我們已經實施的一些事情得到加強。 Benno 在他準備好的評論中談到了其中的一些事情。但我認為，在 DTC 和批發業務中，表現良好的企業的潛在銷售情況非常一致。

Then Paul, regarding M&A. So near term, clearly, we're focused on organic growth to pay down debt. Also, that's based on the belief that M&A should come on top of a strong operating performance, and we're in the process of making significant progress on that. And then we'll turn M&A back on once we're close to target debt, we certainly want to get bigger, not smaller. We feel like we're in an attractive space with a lot of interesting targets. And our promise to our investors is that we're going to continue to do M&A with a lot of discipline.

然後是保羅，關於併購。所以在短期內，很明顯，我們專注於有機增長以償還債務。此外，這是基於這樣一種信念，即併購應該建立在強勁的經營業績之上，我們正在這方面取得重大進展。然後，一旦我們接近目標債務，我們就會重新啟動併購，我們當然希望變得更大，而不是更小。我們覺得我們處在一個有很多有趣目標的有吸引力的空間中。我們對投資者的承諾是，我們將繼續以嚴格的紀律進行併購。

We're looking for a sustained growth, margin accretive growth and ongoing consumer tailwinds. So near term, it's all about organic growth investments and then M&A, we'll turn back on mid-term.

我們正在尋找持續增長、利潤增長和持續的消費者順風。所以在短期內，一切都是關於有機增長投資，然後是併購，我們將在中期回歸。

Our next question comes from the line of Laurent Vasilescu with BNP Paribas.

我們的下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Laurent Vasilescu。

In your press release, you talked about how 10 of the 12 brands were flat or actually grew for fiscal year '23. A lot of us model for -- at least for the big 4 brands. Can you maybe just give us some context of just how we should think about at least the 4 big brands so we can get confidence around the full year guide? And then maybe just, Matt, if you can give a little bit of shape of the curve of the year, how should it unfold by quarter? And then I have a follow-up question.

在你的新聞稿中，你談到了 12 個品牌中有 10 個在 23 財年持平或實際增長。我們中的很多人都為——至少為四大品牌做模特。您能否給我們一些背景信息，說明我們應該如何考慮至少 4 個大品牌，以便我們對全年指南充滿信心？然後也許只是，馬特，如果你能給出一些年度曲線的形狀，它應該如何按季度展開？然後我有一個後續問題。

Okay. Thanks, Laurent. Great to talk to you. First off, let me just click up in terms of your question about brands and the outlook. We've got a realistic plan. It's not an easy external environment certainly in the near term, but we've got a lot of confidence in the things that we're doing. The initiatives and the actions we've been driving are working and many parts of our portfolio are performing. The North Face consistently is delivering outstanding results. Our EMEA business has grown strongly for the last several years, including 12% in fiscal '23.

好的。謝謝，洛朗。很高興和你交談。首先，讓我就你關於品牌和前景的問題點擊一下。我們有一個現實的計劃。這在短期內肯定不是一個輕鬆的外部環境，但我們對我們正在做的事情充滿信心。我們一直在推動的舉措和行動正在發揮作用，我們投資組合的許多部分都在發揮作用。 The North Face 始終如一地提供出色的成果。我們的 EMEA 業務在過去幾年中增長強勁，包括 23 財年的 12%。

Our direct-to-consumer business, we continue to make investments is consistently growing. Our operational execution continues to improve with better planning now firmly in place and impacting the go forward. Our supply chain performance improved a lot in Q4 with better on-time performance and customer service. We met our guidance now for the last couple of quarters, including a large inventory reduction here recently. We took decisive actions to strengthen our financial position and have a clear plan to reduce our leverage levels, as I talked about.

我們的直接面向消費者的業務，我們繼續進行投資，持續增長。我們的運營執行力不斷提高，現在已經有了更好的規劃，並影響著未來的發展。我們的供應鏈性能在第四季度有了很大改善，準時性能和客戶服務更好。我們現在在過去幾個季度達到了我們的指導，包括最近這裡的大量庫存減少。正如我所說，我們採取了果斷的行動來加強我們的財務狀況，並製定了降低杠桿水平的明確計劃。

The right work against our strategy at Vans is progressing and will lead to that business starting to turn around later this year. We've got a powerful portfolio of brands positioned to benefit from strong and growing tailwind marketplaces. And our 30,000 associates around the world are consistently delivering the things that are necessary to win in the marketplace today and set us up for growth into the future.

Vans 針對我們戰略的正確工作正在取得進展，並將導致該業務在今年晚些時候開始好轉。我們擁有強大的品牌組合，可以從強大且不斷增長的順風市場中獲益。我們在世界各地的 30,000 名員工始終如一地提供贏得當今市場所必需的產品，並為我們未來的發展做好準備。

So our plan is working, we're on track. We feel really good about where we are and the direction that we're heading and the opportunity ahead. And from an outlook standpoint, that kind of summarizes how we think about it. Your question is a little more specifically. It certainly was in -- I laid out some of the assumptions, which are probably more channel-based and macro and the like. But The North Face momentum [will] continue. We'll continue to have really good results there. It's not immune to some of the wholesale challenges that we mentioned in the short term in the U.S. to a lesser degree, but to some degree, in Europe.

所以我們的計劃正在奏效，我們走上了正軌。我們對自己所處的位置、前進的方向以及未來的機會感到非常滿意。從前景的角度來看，這種總結了我們的想法。你的問題更具體一點。它肯定是——我提出了一些假設，這些假設可能更多地基於渠道和宏觀等。但 The North Face 的勢頭[將]繼續下去。我們將繼續在那裡取得非常好的結果。它不能免受我們在短期內在美國提到的一些批發挑戰的影響，但在某種程度上，在歐洲。

We said we expect Vans to return to growth during the course of the second half. We're going to see improving results in both Supreme and Dickies. And in both of those brands, we expect to grow, and we'll continue to see good performance in the Outdoor emerging brands and as we begin to even evolve our operating model there to accelerate value creation in those brands. As it relates to the curve, Q1 will clearly be the toughest compare versus last year and also probably most severely and acutely impacted by kind of the rightsizing of inventories in the wholesale channel and the actions that wholesale partners are taking.

我們說過，我們預計 Vans 將在下半年恢復增長。我們將在 Supreme 和 Dickies 中看到改進的結果。在這兩個品牌中，我們預計都會增長，我們將繼續看到戶外新興品牌的良好表現，並且我們甚至開始在那裡發展我們的運營模式以加速這些品牌的價值創造。就曲線而言，與去年相比，第一季度顯然將是最艱難的，也可能受到批發渠道庫存調整和批發合作夥伴正在採取的行動的最嚴重和最尖銳的影響。

So that will begin to ease and sequentially improve. And then it will be, I think, a more consistent performance as we move kind of in the latter part of the year. But clearly, Q1 will be a bit more challenged.

因此，這將開始緩解並依次改善。然後，我認為，隨著我們在今年下半年的移動，這將是一個更穩定的表現。但顯然，Q1 將面臨更多挑戰。

Very helpful, Matt. And just a quick follow-up. I'm Just curious to know how the permanent CEO search is progressing. Should we anticipate some news at some point this summer? Or should we anticipate it for later this fall?

非常有幫助，馬特。并快速跟進。我只是想知道永久 CEO 搜索的進展情況。我們應該在今年夏天的某個時候期待一些消息嗎？或者我們應該在今年秋天晚些時候預料到它嗎？

I'm not going to give better forecast, but we said 6 to 12 months, and now we're still short of 6 months. It's a rigorous process. We're casting on -- we have cast through (inaudible), internal candidates, external candidates. The process consists of interviews and leadership assessments. What I can say is that we make strong -- we are making strong progress. What I also can say is that my confidence in the ability to hire great new CEO has never been higher. We'll update you when the news is ready.

我不會給出更好的預測，但我們說 6 到 12 個月，現在我們還差 6 個月。這是一個嚴格的過程。我們正在選拔——我們選拔了（聽不清）內部候選人、外部候選人。該過程包括訪談和領導力評估。我能說的是我們變得強大——我們正在取得巨大進步。我還可以說的是，我對聘請優秀的新 CEO 的能力充滿信心，從未如此高漲。新聞準備好後，我們會通知您。

And in the meantime, as you hopefully can see from today's report, this team is stable, very committed and engaged. And the business progress is very solid as is our progress on engaging the organization. So the goal here is to find the right CEO, not a fast CEO, and we're very much on track to deliver that in the time that -- in the time range that we talked about at the beginning of this process.

同時，正如您希望從今天的報告中看到的那樣，這個團隊非常穩定、非常投入和投入。業務進展非常穩固，我們在參與組織方面也取得了進展。因此，這裡的目標是找到合適的 CEO，而不是快速的 CEO，我們非常有可能在這個過程開始時談到的時間範圍內實現這一目標。

Our next question comes from the line of Janine Stichter with BTIG.

我們的下一個問題來自 BTIG 的 Janine Stichter。

On Vans returning to growth in the back half of the year, I want to know how we should think about the pacing in terms of DTC versus wholesale? And then I know you tested some changes to the storage business for Vans in terms of reduced SKUs and some of the in-store merchandising. I want to get an update on what you were seeing there in terms of early reads?

關於 Vans 在下半年恢復增長，我想知道我們應該如何考慮 DTC 與批發方面的節奏？然後我知道你在減少 SKU 和一些店內銷售方面測試了 Vans 存儲業務的一些變化。我想了解您在那裡看到的早期閱讀的最新情況？

Yes, Janine, thanks for that. So as you think about the fiscal year, what we've commented on is that we'll return to sales growth sometime during the course of the back half, but that will be growing profit in the full year, even ahead of sales growth. That's what we predicted in February. That's what we're predicting today. So the plan is really unchanged. And the work is on track and executed with great sense of urgency.

是的，珍妮，謝謝你。因此，當你考慮本財年時，我們的評論是，我們將在下半年的某個時候恢復銷售增長，但這將在全年實現利潤增長，甚至超過銷售增長。這就是我們在 2 月份的預測。這就是我們今天的預測。所以計劃真的沒變。各項工作進展順利，緊迫感得到落實。

As you think about DTC versus wholesale, we certainly expect DTC to grow quite a bit ahead of wholesale, given the issues that Matt reported on, which affect Vans, but frankly affect our whole industry. But in DTC, you should see the movement earliest, and you should see growth in the channel for the fiscal year. Everything else, all the work, including SKU simplification, is on track. We are rolling out a new store layout with improved merchandising, and we will be done with that by the end of 2023.

當你考慮 DTC 與批發時，考慮到 Matt 報告的問題影響 Vans，但坦率地說影響我們整個行業，我們當然希望 DTC 比批發增長更多。但在 DTC 中，您應該最早看到變化，並且應該看到該財年渠道的增長。其他所有工作，包括 SKU 簡化，都在按計劃進行。我們正在推出改進商品陳列的新店面佈局，我們將在 2023 年底完成這項工作。

And we expect the SKU count by the end of fiscal year '24 to be about 30% lower than what it was at the end of fiscal year '23, all very consistent with what we talked about, all very consistent. All focused on product and consumer engagement, on productivity, on organization, on cost efficiencies, all on track and proceeding with a great sense of urgency.

我們預計到 24 財年末的 SKU 數量將比 23 財年末減少約 30%，這與我們所說的非常一致，非常一致。所有這些都集中在產品和消費者參與、生產力、組織、成本效率上，所有這些都在軌道上並以強烈的緊迫感繼續進行。

Our next question comes from the line of Bob Drbul with Guggenheim.

我們的下一個問題來自 Bob Drbul 和 Guggenheim 的對話。

I was just hoping that you could elaborate a little bit more on China, either by brand sort of Q4 into Q1, just what you're seeing there? I know you said, I think, double digit for the year for '24. But if you could maybe just address some of the recent performance and really how you're feeling within what you're seeing, that would be great?

我只是希望你能更詳細地介紹中國，無論是從第 4 季度到第 1 季度的品牌，你在那裡看到了什麼？我知道你說過，我認為 24 年的年度兩位數。但是，如果您可以談談最近的一些表現以及您在所看到的情況下的真實感受，那會很棒嗎？

And then just a second quick question is just on Supreme. I know you wrote some -- you took a write-down $300-some million. Just how you feel about that business and sort of what you're really seeing real time with the strength of the brand at this point?

然後是關於 Supreme 的第二個快速問題。我知道你寫了一些——你減記了 300 到幾百萬美元。您對這項業務有何看法，以及此時您真正看到的品牌實力？

Yes, feeling bullish about China. As we turn to growth in Q4 at plus 10%, let's recall, in Q3, it was minus 10%, so a positive inflection. The North Face might not surprise you, is also leading a growth year, was up nearly 40% in Q4. And we certainly expect continued momentum in fiscal year '24. First, we have a lot of under-penetrated brands with a tremendous amount of upside.

是的，看好中國。當我們轉向第四季度的增長 10% 時，讓我們回想一下，在第三季度，它是負 10%，這是一個積極的變化。 The North Face 可能不會讓您感到驚訝，它也是一個增長年，第四季度增長了近 40%。我們當然預計 24 財年將繼續保持增長勢頭。首先，我們有很多滲透率低但潛力巨大的品牌。

Second, there's a lot of category tailwinds with government support. And three, we're certainly also reaping the benefits of our own focus. As you probably know, we've moved our headquarter to Shanghai for the region with a local leader in that city. We have more localized innovation and marketing plans, and we're certainly investing to fuel into that long-term growth opportunities. So very bullish about [Greater] China and feel very good about where we stand and what it will do for the business in fiscal year '24.

其次，在政府支持下有很多品類順風。第三，我們當然也從我們自己的關注中獲益。正如您可能知道的那樣，我們已將總部遷至上海，負責該地區的工作，並在該市設立了當地負責人。我們有更多本地化的創新和營銷計劃，我們肯定會投資以推動長期增長機會。非常看好[大]中國，對我們的立場以及它將在 24 財年為企業帶來的影響感到非常滿意。

Supreme, the best way that I would describe it is, it remains a great brand and acquisition. There's no doubt about it. We saw sequential improvement in Q4, which is good. And we're expecting growth from the business margin accretive growth for the company in fiscal year '24. And we're very confident in our grow-wide strategy. We call that our goal is to increase global access to the brand from today, 20% of global consumers to 40% in 3 years.

Supreme，我會用最好的方式來描述它，它仍然是一個偉大的品牌和收購。毫無疑問。我們在第四季度看到了連續改善，這很好。我們預計公司在 24 財年的業務利潤率增長會帶來增長。我們對我們的增長戰略非常有信心。我們稱我們的目標是從今天開始增加全球對品牌的訪問，在 3 年內將 20% 的全球消費者增加到 40%。

And there are 3 strategic pillars behind it: First, grow brand awareness; second, expand the new categories, including footwear; and last but not least, geographic expansion with keen (inaudible) and focus on Asia. The key to that is store openings, which, of course, is the key -- the big reason why our performance, as Matt said earlier, was perhaps a little more uneven in the last couple of years. We've done very little of that, given COVID, but we'll reaccelerate that work. Stores are performing really well.

其背後有 3 個戰略支柱：第一，提高品牌知名度；第二，拓展新品類，包括鞋類；最後但並非最不重要的一點是，熱衷於（聽不清）並專注於亞洲的地域擴張。關鍵是開店，這當然是關鍵——正如馬特早些時候所說，我們的業績在過去幾年中可能有點不平衡的主要原因。考慮到 COVID，我們在這方面做的很少，但我們會重新加速這項工作。商店的表現非常好。

Our best market is Japan these days, which is growing strongly, and it's no surprise that that's also the market where we have the most stores, even more stores than in the United States. We recently entered the Beijing market and that store is performing well. The latest store openings in the U.S. in Los Angeles, where we've moved the previous location and in Chicago performing well. And we're now focused on opening more markets in Asia. So long-term growth tailwinds on a great brand with a lot of opportunities ahead.

這些天我們最好的市場是日本，它增長強勁，這也是我們擁有最多門店的市場，甚至比美國更多的市場也就不足為奇了。我們最近進入了北京市場，那家店表現不錯。在美國洛杉磯的最新門店開業，我們已經搬遷了之前的位置，在芝加哥表現良好。我們現在專注於在亞洲開拓更多市場。因此，一個偉大品牌的長期增長順風，未來有很多機會。

Our next question comes from the line of Adrienne Yih with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Adrienne Yih。

Benno, my question is on sort of the wholesale business in general. Clearly, last year, the retailers were kind of building up safety stock, and I think that's what that you were referring to kind of destocking. Is this -- should we think about it as sort of the normalization of kind of the timing shift that happened last year? And it would seem that after we go through this next 4 quarters, that by this time next year, right, the retail channel has to grow sales, and they would be back on potentially buying flat to up. So if you can just kind of help contextualize that.

Benno，我的問題是關於一般的批發業務。很明顯，去年，零售商在某種程度上增加了安全庫存，我認為這就是你所說的去庫存。這是——我們是否應該將其視為去年發生的某種時間轉變的正常化？似乎在我們經歷了接下來的 4 個季度之後，到明年的這個時候，零售渠道必須增加銷售額，他們可能會重新購買持平或上漲。因此，如果您能提供一些幫助，請將其背景化。

And then, Matt, with regards to the promo comment, 2 things. When did you strategically raise prices? I think it was maybe fall of last year. And are you already seeing sort of reduced pricing concessions or any of that type of thing for the back-to-school or fall order book that gives you comfort?

然後，馬特，關於促銷評論，有兩件事。你什麼時候戰略性地提高價格？我想那可能是去年秋天。您是否已經看到某種降低的價格優惠或任何讓您感到舒適的返校或秋季訂單的東西？

Yes. Thank you. I'll take the one on U.S. wholesale. I think we've commented on this. Customers clearly a little cautious. Everybody is sitting on higher inventories so that will depress the business short term for everybody in our categories. And I think a particular challenge that we have at VF is that we're dealing with the hangover from our 2022 customer service issues. We have to regain the customer's confidence back in our ability to fully meet their needs and that's sort of a wait and see.

是的。謝謝。我要在美國批發的那個。我想我們已經對此發表了評論。客戶顯然有點謹慎。每個人都坐擁更高的庫存，因此這將抑制我們類別中每個人的短期業務。我認為我們在 VF 面臨的一個特殊挑戰是我們正在處理 2022 年客戶服務問題的遺留問題。我們必須重新獲得客戶對我們完全滿足他們需求的能力的信心，這有點像觀望。

We think that, that's going to certainly have a negative impact during the first half of the fiscal year, where we'll see a very [market] difference between DTC and a more cautious outlook on wholesale. And then as we get to the back half of the fiscal year, we expect the 2 to move more in line, and we expect a significant recovery in U.S. wholesale and certainly continued strength in the DTC channel.

我們認為，這肯定會在本財年上半年產生負面影響，我們將看到 DTC 與更謹慎的批發前景之間存在非常 [市場] 差異。然後，當我們進入本財年的後半部分時，我們預計 2 將更加一致，我們預計美國批發將顯著復甦，並且 DTC 渠道肯定會持續走強。

Yes. If I understood your pricing question, I'll answer what I think I heard if I'm not capturing it, you can let me know. But we took quite a bit of pricing action this past year. I think we talked about mid-single-digit price increases kind of broadly speaking, broad based. I would tell you, at the end of the day, probably 95% of what we planned occurred. So those price increases went into the market and have stuck and products generally have performed, notwithstanding kind of the overall macro.

是的。如果我理解你的定價問題，我會回答我認為我聽到的，如果我沒有捕捉到它，你可以告訴我。但我們在過去一年採取了相當多的定價行動。我認為我們談到了中個位數的價格上漲，這是一種廣泛的、廣泛的基礎。我會告訴你，在一天結束時，我們計劃的可能發生了 95%。因此，這些價格上漲進入市場並停滯不前，產品總體上表現良好，儘管總體宏觀形勢有所不同。

But in terms of the evaluation of the individual products themselves, we feel really good with what we got done there. We're a little bit more modest this year in terms of price increases, not as broad based I would suggest and probably more in the low single digit, a couple of percent range is what we've got baked in. So kind of more normalized. That's about what we see on a normal year. So price increases this year are certainly a little bit lower.

但就個別產品本身的評估而言，我們對在那裡所做的事情感到非常滿意。就價格上漲而言，今年我們的漲幅要溫和一些，不像我建議的那樣廣泛，而且可能更多是在較低的個位數範圍內，幾個百分點的範圍是我們已經考慮到的。所以有點多歸一化。這就是我們在正常年份看到的情況。所以今年的漲價幅度肯定會低一些。

But yes, we feel good about what we've gotten done there. And we have a rigorous process, as we've talked about a lot in terms of how we do this work and how we make those decisions. So we feel good about how that will play out.

但是，是的，我們對我們在那裡所做的事情感到滿意。我們有一個嚴格的流程，因為我們已經就我們如何開展這項工作以及我們如何做出這些決定進行了很多討論。所以我們對結果如何感到滿意。

Okay. And then the second part of that was just the confidence in promos. Is that coming from the DTC business and evidence there? Or are you actually giving fewer kind of pricing concessions on the fall/back-to-school kind of orders?

好的。然後第二部分就是對促銷的信心。這是來自 DTC 業務和那裡的證據嗎？或者你實際上是在為秋季/返校訂單提供更少的價格優惠？

Yes, yes. Well, I think it's both, right? We are giving fewer concessions at this stage. I mean, we're seeing the order books stick. And our expectation moving into the fall season is that we won't have the issues. Remember, our issues were exaggerated last year. We were late. We were -- honestly, we were late on delivering product and particularly in the Outdoor segment. Our Outdoor brands, in particular, suffered there, and we had to offer a lot of additional pricing concessions to get product in and on the floor. We won't have to do that this year. We're well positioned.

是的是的。好吧，我認為兩者都是，對吧？我們在這個階段給予的讓步較少。我的意思是，我們看到訂單簿堅持下去。進入秋季，我們的期望是我們不會遇到這些問題。請記住，去年我們的問題被誇大了。我們遲了。我們——老實說，我們在交付產品方面很晚，尤其是在戶外領域。我們的戶外品牌尤其受到影響，我們不得不提供很多額外的價格優惠才能讓產品進場和上架。今年我們不必這樣做。我們的位置很好。

Our supply chain is in a good place, and we fully expect it will be on time or even maybe above our targets from a kind of service level perspective. So we've got our normal expectation of discounts and maybe a little bit of excess to give us some room. But overall, we feel good. And certainly, to your point, DTC, which is nearly half the business, fully in our control, and we feel good about how we've got that positioned, both from an inventory and a merchandise plan standpoint.

我們的供應鏈狀況良好，從某種服務水平的角度來看，我們完全希望它能準時甚至超過我們的目標。所以我們有正常的折扣預期，也許還有一點多餘的折扣給我們一些空間。但總的來說，我們感覺很好。當然，就你的觀點而言，佔業務近一半的 DTC 完全在我們的控制之下，我們對我們如何定位這一點感到滿意，無論是從庫存還是商品計劃的角度來看。

Yes we're building on Matt's point. So clearly, as inventories ease up in the category, it is very consistent with past behavior that the promotions are lower, that's what we're assuming. That said, we assume that promotions are still elevated from '22. We think that's prudent. We're also not assuming that we're recapturing the full margin benefit from the higher '22 promotions. So this is another example of being financially prudent and disciplined and having a balanced plan that gives us room to react should things get worse, but also room to do a lot better if things perhaps saw a little friendlier than we currently assume. So we think our plan is straight down the middle with perhaps a slight eye on being conservative.

是的，我們正在建立 Matt 的觀點。很明顯，隨著該類別的庫存減少，促銷活動減少與過去的行為非常一致，這就是我們的假設。也就是說，我們假設促銷活動仍高於 22 年。我們認為這是謹慎的。我們也沒有假設我們正在從 22 年更高的促銷活動中重新獲得全部利潤收益。因此，這是另一個在財務上審慎和紀律嚴明的例子，並製定了一個平衡的計劃，讓我們有空間在事情變得更糟時做出反應，但也有空間在事情比我們目前想像的要好一些時做得更好。所以我們認為我們的計劃是直截了當的，可能有點保守。

Our next question comes from the line of Gabby Carbone with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Gabby Carbone。

I just want to follow up on Vans. You mentioned some big growth numbers for [Altra] and MTE. How do you view the opportunity to build those franchises? And what do you think is making them so successful?

我只想跟進Vans。你提到了 [Altra] 和 MTE 的一些大增長數字。您如何看待建立這些特許經營權的機會？您認為是什麼讓他們如此成功？

Could you repeat the very last question, please -- the very last part of your question. I did not get that.

請重複最後一個問題 - 你問題的最後一部分。我不明白。

Yes, just how do you view the opportunity to build those franchises? What do you think is making them so successful?

是的，您如何看待建立這些特許經營權的機會？你認為是什麼讓他們如此成功？

Yes. So as we analyze where we stand with the consumer, which is what we've done a lot of over the last 6 months, we realized that there's a big opportunity taking franchises that are out there but have a very low awareness to the next level. And that's why there's a bullish on MTE and on Ultra Vans. Awareness generally on both platforms, even though they've been around for several years, hovers at around 10% and even loyalist advance show awareness of below 30% on those 2.

是的。因此，當我們分析我們與消費者的立場時，這就是我們在過去 6 個月中所做的很多工作，我們意識到有很大的機會將那些已經存在但意識很低的特許經營權提升到一個新的水平.這就是為什麼看好 MTE 和 Ultra Vans 的原因。儘管這兩個平台已經存在多年，但它們的認知度總體上徘徊在 10% 左右，甚至忠誠者的進步也顯示在這兩個平台上的認知度低於 30%。

So what we're focused on, in general, in Vans is to tell fewer bigger stories and dedicate ourselves more to platforms, an MTE and UltraRange are 2. So we're building awareness, and we're backing it up with new products and news, and we're reintroducing these platforms to consumers, and that's what's working. UltraRange plus 51%, MTE plus 34%. And they're both part of what we call Progression, and Progression is about 30% of Vans.

因此，總的來說，我們在 Vans 中關注的是少講大故事，更多地致力於平台，MTE 和 UltraRange 是 2。所以我們正在建立意識，我們正在用新產品支持它和新聞，我們正在將這些平台重新介紹給消費者，這就是有效的方法。 UltraRange 增加 51%，MTE 增加 34%。它們都是我們所說的 Progression 的一部分，Progression 大約佔 Vans 的 30%。

So these absolutely have the potential to be very meaningful for the brand in the future. And that's perhaps the model, this platform approach and building awareness over a longer period of time that we're also applying with new schools, which we've seeded in Q4 very successful, sold out within 2 weeks. We are leaning into inventory and think that could be meaningful.

所以這些絕對有可能在未來對品牌非常有意義。這也許就是模型、這種平台方法和在更長時間內建立意識，我們也在新學校中應用，我們在第四季度播種非常成功，在 2 週內售罄。我們正在研究庫存，並認為這可能是有意義的。

And just this last week, we began [seeding] a new women's sandal. We call it Style 93 that is going to see a full launch this fall. And we're also very bullish about this and the ability to turn into a meaningful platform. So this is a change in how we treat new products. Fewer stories, bigger stories backed with more money over a longer period of time in order to make them more sticky. This is a good approach that's showing some really strong green shoots as a proof point that we're effectively able to engage consumers when we have relevant product news, and we tell stories in an engaging way.

就在上週，我們開始 [播種] 一款新的女式涼鞋。我們稱之為 Style 93，將於今年秋季全面推出。我們也非常看好這一點以及轉變為一個有意義的平台的能力。所以這是我們對待新產品方式的改變。更少的故事，更大的故事在更長的時間內得到更多的資金支持，以使它們更具粘性。這是一個很好的方法，它展示了一些非常強大的萌芽作為證明，當我們有相關的產品新聞時，我們能夠有效地吸引消費者，並且我們以一種引人入勝的方式講述故事。

And our last question will be from Jim Duffy with Stifel.

我們的最後一個問題將來自 Stifel 的 Jim Duffy。

I'm hoping you can speak more on the inventory posture. What's the carryover seasonal inventory composition? Can you give some directional commentary on how inventories mix between brands and regions? And then maybe if you could give us a sense for purchase orders for new receipts? I presume that down meaningfully versus a year ago. Can you perhaps give us an order of magnitude on that?

我希望你能多談談庫存狀況。結轉的季節性庫存構成是什麼？您能否就品牌和地區之間的庫存如何混合給出一些方向性的評論？然後也許您可以讓我們了解新收據的採購訂單嗎？我認為與一年前相比有意義地下降。你能給我們一個數量級嗎？

Jim, inventory, we said we're going to reduce inventory in Q4, and we did that. So we feel good about kind of having our arms around what we're going to get done here. We continue to carry higher levels of core and carryover in excess, much of which is in The North Face and Dickies, to a much lesser degree, honestly, in Timberland and Vans.

吉姆，庫存，我們說我們將在第四季度減少庫存，我們做到了。因此，我們很高興能夠支持我們將在這裡完成的工作。我們繼續攜帶更高水平的核心和過剩結轉，其中大部分在 The North Face 和 Dickies，老實說，在較小程度上，在 Timberland 和 Vans。

And I've said -- we've said a few times, we're comfortable carrying this into '24 because we've got plans to consume this inventory within kind of normal planned assortments across channels through the balance of spring and then really into fall holiday. So that's -- yes, that doesn't give us a lot of concern. I mean, certainly, I'd rather not have that inventory and rather have that cash and manage it differently, but we'll be able to work our way through that.

而且我已經說過 - 我們已經說過幾次，我們很樂意將其帶入 24 世紀，因為我們計劃在春季平衡期間跨渠道以正常計劃的分類方式消耗這些庫存，然後真的進入秋季假期。所以那是 - 是的，這並沒有給我們帶來太多關注。我的意思是，當然，我寧願沒有庫存，而是擁有現金並以不同的方式管理它，但我們將能夠解決這個問題。

I mentioned, I think, in my prepared comments up about $600 million or $620 million x in transit at the end of the year, which equated to 46%. To give you a little bit of color there, about 15% of that increase of that $620 million is what I call prior season discontinued product, all right? So that's a number, right, not nothing, but it's not unmanageable at all and will be sold primarily through our own outlets and at normal intervals in the excess channel as we normally would.

我認為，我在準備好的評論中提到，年底時在途中增加了約 6 億美元或 6.2 億美元，相當於 46%。給你一點顏色，這 6.2 億美元的增長中約有 15% 是我所說的上一季停產產品，好嗎？所以這是一個數字，對，不是什麼都沒有，但它一點也不難管理，將主要通過我們自己的網點銷售，並像往常一樣以正常間隔在過剩渠道中銷售。

So we've got plans to move through this inventory. We're on track, as we'd laid out a few months ago, to reduce inventory levels, to reduce days of supply while protecting brand equity. And we'll continue to do that over the next few quarters. We expect to make strong product -- strong progress by the middle of our fiscal year with inventories actually inflecting and declining at that point, near to normalized levels by the end of the calendar year and really kind of fully recovered by the end of the fiscal year.

所以我們有計劃通過這個清單。正如我們幾個月前計劃的那樣，我們正走上正軌，以降低庫存水平，減少供應天數，同時保護品牌資產。我們將在接下來的幾個季度繼續這樣做。我們預計將取得強勁的產品——到我們財政年度的中期取得強勁進展，屆時庫存實際上會發生變化和下降，到日曆年年底接近正常水平，並在財政年度結束時真正完全恢復年。

And I would suggest down more than 10% year-over-year at that point in time. So that kind of gives you a little bit of the glide path of how we're thinking about it. Hopefully, that's helpful.

我建議在那個時間點同比下降 10% 以上。因此，這可以讓您了解我們如何考慮它的一些滑行路徑。希望這會有所幫助。

It is. Can you comment on the purchase orders for new receipt?

這是。你能對新收據的採購訂單發表評論嗎？

Right. No, you're right. Purchase orders are down. I'm not going to quantify that, but they're down. If you think about a reduction of inventory of a little over 10%, what that means from a COGS consumption standpoint, you can kind of do the math there and tie that into -- tie that into what we've laid out in terms of -- from a revenue standpoint, flat to up low single with some improving margins. All that adds up to a fairly meaningful reduction in purchases for sure.

正確的。不，你是對的。採購訂單減少了。我不打算對此進行量化，但它們正在下降。如果你考慮將庫存減少 10% 以上，從 COGS 消耗的角度來看這意味著什麼，你可以在那裡做數學並將其與 - 與我們根據--從收入的角度來看，持平到低單，利潤率有所提高。所有這些加起來肯定會相當有意義地減少購買量。

And we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Benno Dorer for closing remarks.

我們已經結束了問答環節。我現在將電話轉回給 Benno Dorer 作結束語。

Thank you all for joining us today. We appreciate you. I look forward to speaking with you again in early August when we'll report fiscal year '24 Q1 earnings. And until then, please be well and be safe. Take good care.

感謝大家今天加入我們。我們感謝你。我期待在 8 月初再次與您交談，屆時我們將報告 24 財年第一季度的收益。在那之前，請安好並保持安全。多保重。

And this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，此時你們可以掛斷電話。感謝您的參與。