Viemed Healthcare Inc (VMD) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Viemed Healthcare first-quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加 Viemed Healthcare 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）

At this time, it is my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Trae Fitzgerald, CFO. Welcome, Trae. The floor is yours.

現在，我很高興將發言權交給主持人、財務長 Trae Fitzgerald。歡迎，Trae。現在輪到你了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Please note that our remarks in this conference call may include forward-looking statements under the US federal securities laws or forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation, which we collectively refer to as forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the company's current views and intentions with respect to future results or events that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to vary from those indicated in forward-looking statements.

謝謝大家，早安。感謝您今天加入我們。請注意，我們在本次電話會議中的言論可能包括美國聯邦證券法下的前瞻性陳述或適用加拿大證券法下的前瞻性信息，我們統稱為前瞻性陳述。此類聲明反映了公司對未來結果或事件的當前觀點和意向，這些觀點和意向受某些風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果或事件與前瞻性聲明中所示的結果或事件有所不同。

Examples of such risks and uncertainties are disclosed in our disclosure documents filed with the SEC or the security regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada. Because of these risks and uncertainties, investors should not produce undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this conference call are made as of today, and the company undertakes no obligations to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

我們向美國證券交易委員會或加拿大某些省份的證券監管機構提交的披露文件中披露了此類風險和不確定性的例子。由於這些風險和不確定性，投資者不應過度依賴前瞻性陳述。本次電話會議中所做的前瞻性陳述截至今日為止，除法律要求外，本公司不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

The first-quarter financial supplement and financial news release as well as the related financial statements are available on the SEC's website.

第一季財務補充報告和財務新聞稿以及相關財務報表均可在美國證券交易委員會網站上查閱。

I'll now turn it over to Viemed's CEO, Casey Hoyt, to get things started.

現在我將把工作交給 Viemed 的執行長 Casey Hoyt，讓他開始工作。

Okay. Thank you, Trae, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. I want to first give a huge thanks to our over 1,200 employees in the Viemed family and acknowledge how well they take care of our patients, providers and partners. We overcame the cyclical challenges the first quarter presents and continue to grow Viemed's place in the home with every single interaction. It does not go unnoticed. Thank you, team, for all that you do.

好的。謝謝你，Trae，大家早安。感謝您今天的到來。首先，我要衷心感謝Viemed大家庭的1,200多位員工，感謝他們為病患、醫護人員和合作夥伴提供的優質服務。我們克服了第一季出現的周期性挑戰，並透過每一次互動繼續擴大 Viemed 在家庭中的地位。它不會被忽視。謝謝團隊所做的一切。

The typical goal of any first-quarter earnings call is to declare that you had a solid start to the year and business objectives are on track relative to the overall business plan. This morning, I have the distinct pleasure of saying that we are ahead of where we anticipated in Q1 and have tightened our outlook upward for the year. The confidence in this outlook is based on the across-the-board strength and operations across our businesses that we expect to translate into even better financial results over the balance of the year.

任何第一季財報電話會議的典型目標都是宣布您今年有一個良好的開端，並且業務目標相對於整體業務計劃而言正在順利進行。今天早上，我非常高興地宣布，我們在第一季的業績超出了預期，並且已經上調了全年的業績展望。對這一前景的信心是基於我們各項業務的全面實力和運營，我們預計這將在今年餘下時間轉化為更好的財務業績。

I want to spend a few moments on the details of our strong business performance, and then I'll turn to the opportunities we're seeing and our views of the regulatory environment.

我想花一點時間詳細介紹我們強勁的業務表現，然後我將談論我們看到的機會以及我們對監管環境的看法。

Our vent business accounts for 54% of our revenues and was a strong performer once again this quarter. As expected, vent revenue was only down 3% sequentially and up 10% year over year. More telling is the fact that our total vent patients were up for the 16th straight quarter, and our new patient starts were up an impressive 9% sequentially. That's a direct result of the sales restructuring we implemented last year and bodes well for our future results in this business.

我們的通風口業務占我們營收的 54%，本季再次表現強勁。正如預期的那樣，通風口收入僅比上一季下降 3%，比去年同期成長 10%。更能說明問題的是，我們的呼吸器患者總數連續 16 個季度上升，而新患者數量則較上季增加了 9%。這是我們去年實施的銷售重組的直接結果，預示著我們未來在該業務上的表現將良好。

This is quite an achievement in light of how this product has shifted from 90% to 54% of our revenue over time. These vent patients represent a massively underserved population and one of the populations I refer to as a blue ocean of opportunity.

考慮到該產品在我們收入中所佔的比例隨著時間的推移從 90% 下降到 54%，這是一個相當大的成就。這些呼吸器患者代表著大量未被充分服務的族群，也是我所說的充滿機會的藍海人群之一。

We like to think that we're really good at sales, and we are. But the truth is that we're benefiting from our sales restructuring, recruiting and sales process that we launched in 2024. We're ahead of schedule on the hiring that we plan for 2025, and we're finding people in new territories we have targeted.

我們喜歡認為自己確實擅長銷售，事實也確實如此。但事實是，我們正從 2024 年推出的銷售重組、招募和銷售流程中受益。我們提前完成了 2025 年的招募計劃，並且正在我們目標的新地區尋找人才。

In our sleep business, we saw a 7% sequential increase in sleep therapy patients and a 46% increase year over year. We're excited about this continued trend going forward as we also saw a 40% increase year over year in new patient setups. While resupply patients were down sequentially due to the first quarter seasonality, they're up 21% year over year, and the new patient starts are an indicator for strong resupply growth later this year. The staffing business continued to grow both sequentially and year over year, reaching 10% of our net revenues for the quarter, reflecting strong demand in behavioral health and social service specialists.

在我們的睡眠業務中，睡眠治療患者數量較上季增加了 7%，年增了 46%。我們對這一持續的趨勢感到非常興奮，因為我們也看到新患者數量同比增長了 40%。雖然由於第一季的季節性因素，補給患者數量環比下降，但同比增長了 21%，新患者的開始就診預示著今年晚些時候補給將強勁增長。人員配備業務持續保持環比和同比增長，達到本季淨收入的 10%，反映出對行為健康和社會服務專家的強勁需求。

As strong as our combined businesses have been, it's worth addressing some of the recent regulatory announcements. While most of the health care industry is still trying to assess potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, we continue to believe that these pressures play to our strengths and drive demand for the unique services our respiratory therapists can provide in the home.

儘管我們的合併業務一直很強勁，但還是值得關註一些最近的監管公告。儘管大多數醫療保健行業仍在試圖評估醫療補助和醫療保險的潛在削減，但我們仍然相信，這些壓力發揮了我們的優勢，並推動了我們的呼吸治療師在家中提供的獨特服務的需求。

Unlike most HME providers who are selling virtually catalog medical equipment, our salespeople and RTs are in the halls of the hospitals, helping manage length of stay for these systems through helping them create efficiencies, improve outcomes and increase patient satisfaction.

與大多數銷售虛擬目錄醫療設備的 HME 提供者不同，我們的銷售人員和 RT 在醫院大廳裡，透過幫助他們提高效率、改善結果和提高病患滿意度來幫助管理這些系統的住院時間。

We have become a vital link between patients, providers and payers in this setting because we are working directly with them to deliver comprehensive patient-centered care. Business models only built on dropping off equipment don't address the real needs of the patients and providers. Our model addresses their pain points. And in the evolving regulatory environment, we are better positioned to flourish.

在這種情況下，我們已成為患者、提供者和付款人之間的重要紐帶，因為我們直接與他們合作，提供以患者為中心的全面護理。僅建立在投放設備基礎上的商業模式無法滿足患者和提供者的真正需求。我們的模型解決了他們的痛點。在不斷變化的監管環境中，我們更有能力蓬勃發展。

As we all saw in mid-March, CMS proposed their national policy coverage determination, or NCD, on noninvasive positive pressure ventilation. The industry had asked for this NCD to clarify the rules. There are some things that we like in the NCD, some we don't and some that definitely need further clarification. Public comments were due by April 10, and our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Frazier, submitted on behalf of Viemed.

正如我們在三月中旬看到的那樣，CMS 提出了針對非侵入性正壓通氣的國家政策覆蓋範圍決定，即 NCD。業界曾要求 NCD 澄清規則。我們喜歡 NCD 中的某些內容，但不喜歡某些內容，還有一些內容肯定需要進一步澄清。公眾意見徵詢截止日期為 4 月 10 日，我們的醫療官 Frazier 博士代表 Viemed 提交了意見。

In our opinion, overall, this is going in the right direction. Also, this is a great time for CMS to look at the actual data, see the savings and write a more fulsome reconsideration in the near future. We are hopeful that the end result is a set of formulary rules that gives the right patients access to an IV and ultimately saves the system money. We are actively monitoring the process. And what we can say is that this process has finally alerted CMS to the data and published research we built up. CMS is connecting with it for the first time and demonstrating a willingness to consider the evidence.

我們認為，總體而言，這是朝著正確的方向發展的。此外，這也是 CMS 查看實際數據、了解節省情況並在不久的將來進行更全面的重新考慮的好時機。我們希望最終的結果是製定一套處方規則，讓合適的患者能夠獲得靜脈注射，並最終節省系統資金。我們正在積極監控這一進程。我們可以肯定的是，這一進程最終讓CMS注意到了我們累積的數據和已發表的研究成果。CMS 首次與其建立聯繫並表現出考慮證據的意願。

We've already seen this data influence outcomes at the state level. For example, in mid-April, Arkansas Governor Sanders signed a bill prohibiting step therapy, a practice that requires patients to fail on a less effective device before accessing ventilation, for both Medicaid and commercial plans. The bill mandates that all MCOs reimburse NIV at 100% of the state Medicaid rate. Arkansas now joins Louisiana and Oklahoma in enacting similar legislation and other states are actively considering the comparable measures.

我們已經看到這些數據對州一級的治療結果產生了影響。例如，4月中旬，阿肯色州州長桑德斯簽署了一項法案，禁止醫療補助計劃和商業計劃中的階梯療法。階梯療法要求患者在使用效果較差的設備失敗後才能使用呼吸器。該法案要求所有 MCO 必須按照州醫療補助費率的 100% 報銷 NIV 費用。阿肯色州現在加入路易斯安那州和俄克拉荷馬州的行列，頒布類似的立法，其他州也積極考慮採取類似的措施。

I've said this before and it bears repeating today, when there's pressure to create efficiencies in health care, that plays into Viemed's capabilities. When there's transparency, overhauls and more rules to reduce waste, that is also very good for us. And when more care is being delivered in the home, that continues to position us for success.

我以前就說過這一點，今天也值得重複，當醫療保健面臨提高效率的壓力時，Viemed 的能力就發揮出來了。當有透明度、改革和更多減少浪費的規則時，這對我們來說也是非常有利的。當我們在家中得到更多的照護時，這將繼續為我們的成功奠定基礎。

I noted last quarter that we were looking for additional opportunities that will expand our products, services and our reach to diversify patient types as well as leverage a number of contracts we've built up over the years with our payer infrastructure and some diversification.

我上個季度指出，我們正在尋找更多機會，擴大我們的產品、服務和覆蓋範圍，以多樣化患者類型，並利用我們多年來與付款人基礎設施和一些多樣化建立的多項合約。

I also noted that we thought we could leverage the trust we've earned in the home throughout the country. The agreement we signed earlier this week to acquire Lehan's Medical Equipment for a base purchase price of $26 million checks all these boxes and then some.

我還指出，我們認為我們可以利用我們在全國各地贏得的信任。我們本週稍早簽署的以 2,600 萬美元基本購買價收購 Lehan 醫療設備的協議滿足了所有這些條件，甚至更多。

We put a separate release out on this acquisition, so I won't tread too much at that ground again this morning, but I do want to highlight the strategic nature of this transaction. Lehan is a nearly 80-year-old family-owned business, which has built up a tremendous reputation in the community in Northern Illinois and the West Chicagoland area with significant brand equity.

我們就此次收購發布了單獨的新聞稿，因此今天早上我不會再過多地談論這個話題，但我確實想強調此次交易的戰略性質。Lehan 是一家擁有近 80 年歷史的家族企業，憑藉其重要的品牌資產在伊利諾伊州北部和芝加哥西部地區建立了良好的聲譽。

They have specialties in respiratory care and women's health and sell other equipment that aligns nicely with us. They also have great relationships and contracts with payers in Illinois. The opportunity, as we see it, is to extend their business in women's health across our payer relationships and markets across the country.

他們專注於呼吸護理和婦女健康，並銷售與我們相符的其他設備。他們還與伊利諾伊州的付款人保持良好的關係並簽訂了合約。我們認為，機會在於透過我們在全國的付款人關係和市場擴展他們在女性健康領域的業務。

We also have the opportunity to grow their sleep and resupply business as well as introduce our complex respiratory care into their market. Historically, we've had a tough time breaking into the Chicago market. We believe this strong beachhead and this exceptional platform opens up a key market with significant embedded growth.

我們還有機會發展他們的睡眠和補給業務，並將我們複雜的呼吸照護引入他們的市場。從歷史上看，我們進入芝加哥市場一直很困難。我們相信，這強大的灘頭陣地和卓越的平台將開闢一個具有顯著內在成長的關鍵市場。

We visited Lehan's offices earlier this week to welcome the more than 90 employees to the Viemed family, and we're excited to see the response and eagerness to grow together. We look forward to sharing more of our plans for this acquisition after it closes, which we anticipate in Q3 of this year.

本週早些時候，我們參觀了 Lehan 的辦公室，歡迎 90 多名員工加入 Viemed 大家庭，我們很高興看到大家的反響和共同成長的渴望。我們期待在此次收購完成後分享更多計劃，並預計收購將在今年第三季完成。

We're ahead of pace on 2025 so far, but we have more we want to accomplish. There are more patients we could serve and more hospitals and health systems that need us.

到目前為止，我們在 2025 年的目標上已經取得了領先，但我們還有更多目標要實現。我們可以為更多的病人提供服務，也有更多的醫院和衛生系統需要我們。

For more on our operational and financial results for the quarter, I'll now turn it over to Todd Zehnder, our Chief Operating Officer. Todd?

有關本季度營運和財務業績的更多信息，我現在將問題交給我們的首席營運長 Todd Zehnder。托德？

All right. Thank you, Casey. In reviewing the financial results, all figures are in US dollars and the full results have been made available on the SEC's website. In my comments today, I'll reference disclosures that we have made available in our quarterly financial supplement. This supplement can be found on our IR website.

好的。謝謝你，凱西。在審查財務結果時，所有數字均以美元為單位，完整結果已在美國證券交易委員會的網站上公佈。在今天的評論中，我將參考我們在季度財務補充報告中所揭露的內容。您可在我們的 IR 網站上找到此補充資料。

Let's talk about revenue first. Our organic growth engine led the way in Q1, with organic revenue increasing 14.5% and total revenue increasing 16.9%. This was a strong performance for Q1, which is always our toughest due to lower utilization as we get patients off of hold and through open enrollment season. We also see a sequential impact from patients not hitting their deductibles early in the year.

我們先來談談收入。我們的有機成長引擎在第一季處於領先地位，有機收入成長了 14.5%，總營收成長了 16.9%。這是第一季的強勁表現，這始終是我們最艱難的季度，因為我們讓患者暫時離開並度過開放招生季節，導致利用率較低。我們也看到患者在年初未達到免賠額所帶來的連續影響。

All that said, we are right in line with our expectations. Our core vent business accounted for 54% of the revenue this quarter. The sleep business increased to 16% of revenues. The staffing business increased to 10% of revenues. And our oxygen business accounted for 10%.

綜上所述，我們完全符合我們的預期。我們的核心通風口業務佔本季營收的 54%。睡眠業務收入佔比增至16%。人員配備業務佔收入的比例增加到10%。其中氧氣業務佔10%。

Gross margin was 56.3% for the quarter compared with 58.9% for the first quarter of 2024 and 59.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024. While our margins remain quite strong and steady in our core vent business, its percentage of overall revenues has declined year over year by 330 basis points on a much larger base. The rapid growth of our sleep and staffing businesses, both of which are either CapEx-light or non-CapEx, is the primary factor in the gross margin evolution of the company.

本季毛利率為 56.3%，而 2024 年第一季為 58.9%，2024 年第四季為 59.5%。雖然我們核心通風口業務的利潤率仍然相當強勁和穩定，但其在總收入中所佔的百分比比去年同期下降了 330 個基點，而且基數要大得多。我們的睡眠和人員配備業務（均為輕資本支出或非資本支出）的快速成長是公司毛利率變化的主要因素。

The service and revenue mix slide we provided in the supplemental for Q1 '25 and Q1 '24 highlights how our businesses have grown and evolved. The year-over-year comparisons for us on the gross margin line are becoming less relevant as we focus more on these CapEx-light businesses that allow us to leverage SG&A and drive net income, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow growth.

我們在 2025 年第一季和 2024 年第一季補充報告中提供的服務和收入組合投影片重點介紹了我們的業務如何成長和發展。對我們來說，毛利率的同比比較變得越來越不重要，因為我們更加關注這些資本支出較少的業務，這些業務使我們能夠利用銷售、一般和行政費用 (SG&A) 並推動淨收入、調整後 EBITDA 和現金流成長。

To that end, adjusted EBITDA grew 26% for the quarter to $12.8 million driven by strong organic growth and contributions from each of our businesses. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 21.6%, up 160 basis points compared with a year ago. This margin is in line with full-year projections and with the evolving composition of our product and service mix.

為此，受強勁的有機成長和各項業務貢獻的推動，本季調整後的 EBITDA 成長了 26%，達到 1,280 萬美元。本季調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 21.6%，較去年同期上升 160 個基點。這一利潤率與全年預測以及我們產品和服務組合的演變相一致。

We continue to leverage our investments in new sales talent and technology with SG&A at 48% of revenue in the quarter, a 90 basis point improvement year over year. We are projecting a similar improvement for the full year, plus or minus a few basis points.

我們持續增加對新銷售人才和技術的投資，本季銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的 48%，比去年同期提高了 90 個基點。我們預計全年也會出現類似的改善，上下浮動幾個基點。

Turning to CapEx. I want to reinforce what's going on with our gross CapEx. We've provided some incremental disclosure in our supplemental for net CapEx over the past eight quarters. As we've talked about for some time, we accelerated our vent exchange program with the Philips program.

轉向資本支出。我想強調一下我們的總資本支出的情況。在過去八個季度的淨資本支出補充報告中，我們提供了一些增量揭露。正如我們一段時間以來所談論的，我們透過飛利浦計畫加速了我們的通風口交換計畫。

We saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to upgrade our vent fleet and significantly extend the life of the fleet as well. That is why we believe not only is our net CapEx number the right one to focus on until we complete these buybacks, but we should also take into account the 1,500 net vent patient adds we experienced during 2024 and the projected growth we're expecting in 2025.

我們認為這是一次千載難逢的機會，可以升級我們的通風機群並顯著延長其使用壽命。這就是為什麼我們認為，在完成這些回購之前，我們的淨資本支出數字不僅是值得關注的正確數字，而且我們還應該考慮到我們在 2024 年經歷的 1,500 名淨呼吸機患者的增加以及我們預計的 2025 年的增長。

By taking advantage of this program, we are preparing for both near- and long-term growth. This program has been wildly successful for us. From inception of the program in the second quarter of 2024 through the end of the current quarter, we've refreshed the life on close to half of our fleet at a net cost of approximately $1 million.

透過利用這個計劃，我們正在為近期和長期的成長做好準備。這個項目對我們來說非常成功。從 2024 年第二季計畫啟動到本季末，我們已經更新了近一半的機隊，淨成本約為 100 萬美元。

Our net CapEx in the quarter was $8.5 million or 14.4% of net revenue compared with $8.9 million or 14.7% of net revenue in Q4. This compares with $5.4 million or 10.6% of net revenue in Q1 of 2024. The trade-in program will likely end during the second quarter. Therefore, we expect our CapEx will normalize at that point. In Q1, we recorded a gain of $2.4 million that was primarily driven by the Trilogy return program. Recall that these gains are expected to continue until the project is completed by the end of Q2.

本季我們的淨資本支出為 850 萬美元，佔淨收入的 14.4%，而第四季為 890 萬美元，佔淨收入的 14.7%。相比之下，2024 年第一季的淨收入為 540 萬美元，佔淨收入的 10.6%。以舊換新計畫預計將於第二季結束。因此，我們預計屆時資本支出將恢復正常。在第一季度，我們實現了 240 萬美元的收益，這主要得益於 Trilogy 回報計劃。回想一下，這些收益預計將持續到第二季末專案完成為止。

We once again funded our CapEx out of discretionary cash flow and continue to manage the business in order to drop free cash flow onto the balance sheet. Recall for 2023, our percentage of net CapEx to adjusted EBITDA was 54.6%. That dropped to 53.7% in 2024. We're expecting a similar decline for full-year 2025. The first two quarters of this year are expected to be higher than that percentage due to the Trilogy return program and seasonality.

我們再次以可自由支配的現金流為我們的資本支出提供資金，並繼續管理業務，以便將自由現金流計入資產負債表。回想 2023 年，我們的淨資本支出佔調整後 EBITDA 的百分比為 54.6%。到 2024 年，這一比例將下降至 53.7%。我們預計 2025 年全年也會出現類似的下降。由於三部曲回歸計劃和季節性因素，預計今年前兩個季度的百分比將高於該百分比。

While we're on this topic, I should address the potential impact of tariffs. For 2025, our supplier contracts are already largely locked in. We're in constant contact with our suppliers should the tariff environment change. But for now, we're not expecting a material impact from the announced tariffs in the current year.

既然我們討論這個話題，我應該談談關稅的潛在影響。到2025年，我們的供應商合約已基本確定。如果關稅環境發生變化，我們會與供應商保持密切聯繫。但目前，我們預計今年宣布的關稅不會產生實質影響。

Our balance sheet remains a real asset for us and has created the optionality for us to continue to organically grow, to pursue the vent exchange program as well as announce the Lehan acquisition that Casey mentioned earlier.

我們的資產負債表對我們來說仍然是一項真正的資產，並為我們創造了繼續有機增長、推行通風口交換計劃以及宣布 Casey 之前提到的 Lehan 收購的選擇權。

We have $55 million available on our credit facilities, a $30 million accordion if needed, $10.2 million of cash on hand at quarter end and a working capital balance of $13.6 million. We take great pride in the fact that we are one of the few companies in health care services that has no net debt.

我們的信貸額度有 5,500 萬美元可用，如有需要，還有 3,000 萬美元的備用金，季度末有 1,020 萬美元現金，營運資金餘額為 1,360 萬美元。我們非常自豪，我們是醫療保健服務領域中少數幾家沒有淨債務的公司之一。

With the continued growth of our CapEx-light businesses and the vent exchange program drawing to a close by the end of Q2, the resulting free cash flow from these two factors gives us the confidence that we can not only partially fund the Lehan acquisition with cash on hand, but that we should be able to quickly pay down any borrowings associated with that anticipated acquisition as well.

隨著我們輕資本支出業務的持續增長和通風口交換計劃在第二季度末接近尾聲，這兩個因素產生的自由現金流讓我們有信心，我們不僅可以用手邊的現金為 Lehan 收購提供部分資金，而且我們還應該能夠迅速償還與預期收購相關的任何借款。

Based on our results from the first quarter, we've tightened our outlook for the full-year 2025. We've raised the bottom end of net revenue from the range of $254 million to $256 million and kept the top end of the range at $265 million, implying 16% growth over 2024 at the midpoint. We also raised the bottom end of the adjusted EBITDA range from $54 million to $55 million with the top end at $58 million. This new range would imply 11% growth over 2024 at the midpoint.

根據第一季的業績，我們收緊了 2025 年全年的展望。我們將淨收入的底線從 2.54 億美元提高到 2.56 億美元，並將最高線保持在 2.65 億美元，這意味著到 2024 年的中點成長率為 16%。我們還將調整後的 EBITDA 範圍的底線從 5400 萬美元提高到 5500 萬美元，最高線為 5800 萬美元。這一新範圍意味著 2024 年的中位數成長率為 11%。

In our quarterly supplemental, we've provided some additional commentary and assumptions on our guidance. I'll cover these briefly. First, we still expect year-over-year growth in each quarter to be roughly consistent with the increases we experienced in 2024. We expect sequential revenue growth in Q2 through Q4 to be in a range of 5% to 9%.

在我們的季度補充報告中，我們對我們的指導提供了一些額外的評論和假設。我將簡要介紹這些內容。首先，我們仍然預期每季的年成長將與 2024 年的增幅大致一致。我們預計第二季至第四季的連續營收成長率將在 5% 至 9% 之間。

The adjusted EBITDA ranges for the year assume an adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 21% to 23%, which remains unchanged from our expectations from last quarter. CapEx in the first half of 2025 is expected to be similar to what we experienced in the second half of 2024, while we continue to exchange out our ventilator fleet. We expect to complete these ventilator buybacks in June, which would mean that we should be receiving our final payments in early third quarter.

年度調整後的 EBITDA 範圍假設調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率在 21% 至 23% 之間，與我們上一季的預期保持不變。預計 2025 年上半年的資本支出將與 2024 年下半年的水平相似，同時我們將繼續更換呼吸器。我們預計將在 6 月完成這些呼吸器的回購，這意味著我們應該在第三季初收到最後一筆付款。

All of these assumptions are based on status quo of the business. They do not include expected contribution from $26 million in revenue or the $7.4 million in annual EBITDA that Lehan's Medical Equipment generated during 2024. Once that acquisition closes likely in the third quarter, we intend to update our forecast to include that expected contribution.

所有這些假設都是基於業務現狀。其中還不包括 Lehan 醫療設備在 2024 年預計產生的 2,600 萬美元收入或 740 萬美元年度 EBITDA 貢獻。一旦該收購可能在第三季完成，我們打算更新我們的預測以包括預期的貢獻。

As we look ahead to the balance of the year, we are well positioned to continue the growth in each of our businesses. Our balance sheet has proven to be a strategic asset in preparing us for both near-term and long-term growth. And the combination of organic growth and an expected layer of inorganic growth coming position us for another successful year.

展望今年餘下的時間，我們已準備好繼續推動各項業務的成長。事實證明，我們的資產負債表是一項策略性資產，可以幫助我們為短期和長期成長的準備。有機成長和預期的無機成長相結合，將使我們迎來另一個成功的一年。

Thank you for joining us today. This concludes our prepared remarks. We will now open up the floor for questions.

感謝您今天加入我們。我們的準備好的演講到此結束。我們現在開始回答大家的提問。

(Operator Instructions) Brooks O'Neil, Lake Street Capital.

（操作員指示）布魯克斯奧尼爾（Brooks O'Neil），Lake Street Capital。

Congratulations on the strong start to the year. I guess I'd start asking a bit about the strong hiring in the sales reorganization. It sounds like that's going really well. And I had some recollection that there were some staffing challenges in the past, but it sounds like maybe the environment is more conducive to your ability to grow the business and grow the company by internal hiring. Can you just comment on that a little bit?

恭喜您今年開局良好。我想先問一下銷售重組中招募情況如何。聽起來一切進展順利。我記得過去在人員配備方面遇到過一些挑戰，但聽起來也許現在的環境更有利於你透過內部招募來拓展業務和發展公司。您能對此發表一點評論嗎？

Yes. I mean the staffing challenges we experienced in the past were intentional last year, Brooks. While we're going through the restructuring, we kind of put a pause on aggressive recruiting while we dialed in all of our new sales managers that were in place, got them trained and out in the field up and running in their new territories, got all territories restructured. That's all past us now.

是的。我的意思是，布魯克斯，我們過去遇到的人員配備挑戰是去年故意造成的。在我們進行重組的同時，我們暫停了積極的招聘，同時我們聯繫了所有新到位的銷售經理，對他們進行了培訓，並讓他們到新的領域開展工作，對所有領域進行了重組。這些都已經過去了。

So we're back to aggressively hiring and recruiting and finding sales reps. And so I wouldn't call it a challenge. We always had the ability to find these people. It's just making sure that, once we got them, they were properly prepared to enter the field and set up for success.

因此，我們又開始積極招募和尋找銷售代表。所以我不會稱之為挑戰。我們總是有能力找到這些人。我們只是想確保，一旦我們得到他們，他們就做好充分準備進入該領域並為成功做好準備。

That's happening, lots of positive trends organically around the country, with those new folks getting up to speed at faster rates. Our managers are developing as good leaders and mentors. And we couldn't be more pleased with what we accomplished last year, and we're going to reap the benefits here in 2025 of really doubling down on that growth.

這種情況正在發生，全國各地自然而然地出現了許多積極的趨勢，新人正在以更快的速度跟上步伐。我們的經理正在成長為優秀的領導者和導師。我們對去年的成就感到非常滿意，我們將在 2025 年收穫雙倍成長的成果。

Great. That's fantastic. Are you seeing anything different from a competitive perspective in the marketplace right now?

偉大的。太棒了。從競爭角度來看，您現在看到市場有什麼不同嗎？

No, not necessarily. It's not like we wake up every day trying to go beat out our competitors. I mean sometimes that naturally happens whenever we enter into new markets just because our complex respiratory offering is so unique compared to the field. But what we're competing against or what we're losing sleep over is just the underserved population.

不，不一定。我們不是每天醒來就想著打敗我們的競爭對手。我的意思是，有時每當我們進入新市場時，這種情況自然就會發生，因為我們提供的複雜呼吸產品與該領域相比非常獨特。但我們所競爭的或令我們夜不能寐的正是那些服務不足的人群。

It continues to grow, and it continues to swell despite us having all this research and growth and so on and so forth. So it's good problems from that perspective, but it's less about beating out the competitor, it's just more about getting to the people who need us right now. And that's us and all of our competitors combined with that challenge right now.

儘管我們已經進行了所有這些研究和發展等等，它仍然繼續增長並且繼續膨脹。所以從這個角度來看，這是個好問題，但我們的目的不在於擊敗競爭對手，而是幫助現在需要我們的人。這就是我們和我們所有的競爭對手目前面臨的挑戰。

Great. That sounds good. So let's just talk a little bit, I know the acquisition is still pending, but when you mentioned the huge opportunity you have in the core respiratory business, talk a little bit about expanding into women's health, in particular, and how that business dovetails with your current business or not, how you're thinking about that in terms of realistically a different patient population or at least a somewhat different patient population, perhaps different payer group, different doctor referral sources. How are you thinking about that? And how do you see it fitting in with your existing operations?

偉大的。聽起來很好。那麼我們就簡單聊聊吧，我知道收購仍未完成，但是當您提到核心呼吸業務的巨大機會時，請您特別談談擴展到女性健康領域的情況，以及這項業務與您目前的業務是否相吻合，您是如何從現實的角度考慮不同的患者群體，或者至少是稍微不同的患者群體，也許是不同的付款人群體，不同的醫生轉診來源。您對此有何看法？您認為它與您現有的營運有何契合之處？

Yes. It's a pretty simple business, Brooks. It's similar to -- you can compare it to the resupply business. I mean you're talking about a maternal breast pump where that is accompanied with a resupply segment of products of its own. And so it becomes more about -- and it's a private insurance game versus a Medicare game.

是的。這是一件非常簡單的事情，布魯克斯。它類似於——你可以將它與補給業務進行比較。我的意思是，您談論的是帶有其自身補給產品的產婦吸乳器。因此，它變得更像是一場私人保險遊戲與醫療保險遊戲的較量。

So you have a little bit of a diversification by payer, even though Medicare is a great payer for us. You're leveraging -- or we are going to leverage all of our contracts, private contracts around the country that Lehan can expand to. And that was the genesis of why they were so excited about the transaction on the maternal side.

因此，儘管醫療保險對我們來說是一個很好的付款方，但付款方還是有點多樣化。您正在利用——或者我們將利用我們所有的合同，Lehan 可以擴展到的全國各地的私人合約。這就是他們為何對母系方面的交易如此興奮的根源。

And then 40% of their business is respiratory. And so we were really excited about teaching them how to do complex respiratory in a unique manner, helping them grow their sleep business in a different way, moving from the more traditional sleep lab referral source business to a home sleep referral model. That's something that we teach very well.

其中 40% 的業務與呼吸系統有關。因此，我們非常高興能夠以獨特的方式教導他們如何進行複雜的呼吸，幫助他們以不同的方式發展睡眠業務，從更傳統的睡眠實驗室轉診來源業務轉變為家庭睡眠轉診模式。這是我們教得很好的。

We were able to do that with HMP, our previous transaction, and have been reaping some benefits from that. So it's a similar business in terms of size to HMP with 90 employees, $26 million transaction. I believe HMP was about $31 million. They had roughly about 140 employees.

我們在先前的交易 HMP 中就做到了這一點，並且從中獲得了一定收益。因此，從規模來看，它與 HMP 類似，擁有 90 名員工，交易額為 2,600 萬美元。我相信 HMP 的價值約為 3100 萬美元。他們大約有 140 名員工。

But we see the same playbook with the respiratory business that we did and have been accomplishing with HMP. And then the maternal seems to be a really simple, not complicated, easy to double-down through our contract type of business line. So we're very excited about the expansion opportunity there.

但我們在呼吸系統業務方面看到了與我們在 HMP 所做的和已經實現的相同的策略。然後，母嬰似乎是一個非常簡單、不複雜、易於透過我們的合約類型的業務線加倍發展的業務。因此，我們對那裡的擴張機會感到非常興奮。

Great. Let me just ask one last one. So with the potential wind-down of the refurbishment of your equipment portfolio and the strong cash flows that are going to come, do you anticipate ramping up the pace of acquisitions? Or are you going to continue to take that on a measured basis?

偉大的。讓我問最後一個問題。那麼，隨著您的設備組合翻新工作可能逐漸結束，以及即將出現的強勁現金流，您是否預計會加快收購步伐？還是你打算繼續適度地採取這項措施？

I would say that we're always looking to ramp that up, but we are also very patient, Brooks. It's not like capital has slowed us down. I mean we have a pristine balance sheet. As I said in my prepared remarks, we've got plenty of capabilities. We're net debt zero and generating upwards of high 50s in EBITDA this year. So we're not really capital constrained from the acquisition standpoint, but we're also very diligent, and that's why we're very excited about the Lehan's deal.

我想說的是，我們一直在尋求提高這一點，但我們也非常有耐心，布魯克斯。這並不意味著資本阻礙了我們的發展。我的意思是我們有一份完美的資產負債表。正如我在準備好的演講中所說，我們擁有足夠的能力。我們的淨債務為零，今年的 EBITDA 達到 50% 以上。因此，從收購的角度來看，我們實際上並沒有受到資金限制，但我們也非常勤勉，這就是我們對 Lehan 的交易感到非常興奮的原因。

Great. Congratulations. I'm excited for the future.

偉大的。恭喜。我對未來充滿期待。

(Operator Instructions) Ryan Langston, Cowen.

（操作員指示）Ryan Langston，Cowen。

On Lehan's, I know it's a mix of respiratory and women's health. I think you said that the majority is breast pumps. Is there any other equipment or product types we should be thinking about there? And it sounds like this is sort of a longer-term family-owned business. I guess, was there anything else in particular that drew you to this particular asset?

關於 Lehan，我知道它涉及呼吸系統和女性健康的混合。我認為您說的是大多數是吸乳器。我們還應該考慮其他設備或產品類型嗎？聽起來這似乎是一個長期的家族企業。我想，還有什麼特別的東西吸引您關注這特定資產嗎？

Yes, I'll take it. Yes, they have six locations, full-line DME, similar to HMP. If you recall, we were able to leverage the full-line DME to help us get in with the East Alabama joint venture opportunity. That also expands our outreach for different payer contracts as well. So we're not turning our nose up to full-line DME. But yes, I would say they've got the rehab, they have the back braces, the wound care and so on and so forth that any other DME around the country will have. So we'll leverage that along the way as well.

是的，我會接受的。是的，他們有六個地點，全系列 DME，類似於 HMP。如果你還記得的話，我們能夠利用全系列 DME 來幫助我們獲得東阿拉巴馬合資機會。這也擴大了我們與不同付款人簽訂合約的範圍。所以我們不會對全線 DME 嗤之以鼻。但是的，我想說他們有復健治療，有背部支架，有傷口護理等等，這些都是全國任何其他 DME 都會有的。因此我們也會利用這一點。

Got it. And then just last one. I know on the last call, you said it was a little too early to kind of pontificate on the new administration. I know you gave some comments on tariffs. But just for sort of your business and maybe DME in general, is there anything else you've gleaned over the last few months here in terms of visibility? Or is it just still a little bit too early to know what this administration means?

知道了。還有最後一個問題。我知道在上次通話中，您說現在就對新政府發表高談闊論還為時過早。我知道您對關稅發表了一些評論。但是就您的業務以及 DME 總體而言，在過去幾個月中，您在可見性方面還有什麼收穫嗎？還是說現在要了解本屆政府的意思還為時過早？

It's kind of early, but I mean, we're in the process that we comment on the NCD. I'm not entirely sure if this administration launched that or not, but they've been positive from the standpoint of being receptive to hearing our position along with the rest of the industry and others on the pros, the cons and so forth of the NCD.

現在說這個還為時過早，但我的意思是，我們正在對 NCD 進行評論。我不完全確定這屆政府是否啟動了這項計劃，但他們一直持積極態度，願意聽取我們以及業內其他人士對 NCD 的利弊等的意見。

Look, we're all for the changes that are being made to run -- make processes more efficient, make departments more efficient. There's been a lot of speculation about Medicaid and so forth. We haven't heard anything, although we're always paying attention to that, and there could be changes. And outside of that, it's just really status quo. So I wouldn't say anything large that is impacting 2025, but some things that could be positive for our business going forward.

瞧，我們都贊成正在進行的變革——使流程更有效率，使部門更有效率。關於醫療補助等問題有很多猜測。我們沒有聽到任何消息，儘管我們一直在關注此事，而且可能會有變化。除此之外，一切真的只是現狀。因此，我不會說任何會對 2025 年產生重大影響的事情，但有些事情可能會對我們未來的業務產生正面影響。

(Operator Instructions) Andrew Rem, Odinson Partners.

（操作員指示） Andrew Rem，Odinson Partners。

Hey gentlemen, can you share like what the growth profile or the historical growth profile has been for Lehan?

嘿，先生們，您能分享一下 Lehan 的成長概況或歷史成長概況嗎？

It's been double digits, and we are expecting that to continue anywhere in the teens. They're coming off a smaller base, so there's been years where it's higher than that. I think last year was mid-double digits. We are hopeful that that continues in that local area. But what we're really excited about is what Casey said, can we go and push that growth rate higher around the country in some Viemed strong areas to increase that.

目前已經是兩位數了，我們預計這一數字還會繼續保持在十幾位。他們的基數較小，所以有些年份他們的收入會高於這個水準。我認為去年是兩位數左右。我們希望這種情況能夠在當地繼續下去。但我們真正興奮的是凱西所說的，我們能否在全國一些強勁地區提高成長率，從而增加這一數字。

And then can you also comment, you said or referenced kind of a Chicago beachhead. Can you talk about what the potential is to grow? I guess, if they're primarily servicing Chicago, is there more to go in the Chicago area, more in the Midwest?

然後你能否評論一下，你說過或提到芝加哥灘頭陣地。您能談談成長潛力嗎？我想，如果他們主要服務芝加哥，那麼芝加哥地區和中西部地區是否還有更多的業務可以開展？

Yes. I mean, like I'll give you an example. I mean they have six locations. They have four sales reps. In a coverage area that Lehan is responsible for, we would probably have at Viemed, I don't know, maybe 10 to 12. So there's a lot of room for growth to improve sales. We'll leverage some of their referral sources, their champion physicians and get some better education into their hands and teach their folks how we walk and talk.

是的。我的意思是，我會給你一個例子。我的意思是他們有六個地點。他們有四名銷售代表。在 Lehan 負責的覆蓋範圍內，我們可能在 Viemed 有 10 到 12 個，我不知道。因此，銷售額還有很大的成長空間。我們將利用他們的一些轉診來源、他們的冠軍醫生，為他們提供更好的教育，並教導他們的人如何走路和說話。

And so yes, I think it's a big opportunity to just kind of double-down on their local market around them from a respiratory standpoint, and then it's even probably a greater opportunity for us to leverage the maternal on our network throughout the country.

所以是的，我認為從呼吸的角度來看，這是一個很大的機會，可以加倍投入他們周圍的本地市場，然後這甚至可能是我們利用全國網絡上的母嬰市場的更大機會。

And then it looks like it has a margin, an EBITDA margin profile that's higher than Viemed. Can you just comment on what it is about that business that allows the higher margins?

然後看起來它的利潤率、EBITDA 利潤率高於 Viemed。您能否評論一下該業務為何能實現更高的利潤率？

Yes, I'll take that, Andrew. Yes, Lehan's, 70% of their total business when we think about not just their product mix, but sort of the revenue streams between rental and sale, they are much more transactional. 70% of their business is via sales, whether it be resupply from maternal or on the sleep side.

是的，我接受，安德魯。是的，當我們考慮 Lehan 的產品組合以及租賃和銷售之間的收入流時，其總業務的 70% 來自交易，他們的交易性更強。 70% 的業務是透過銷售實現的，無論是產婦補給還是睡眠用品。

And so really, their EBITDA margins reflect more of that less back office, using more technology on this transactional side that doesn't come with a higher margin of SG&A. And so you are correct in seeing that they have pretty good operational leverage in that business and carry a little bit higher EBITDA margins than we carry here consolidated.

因此，實際上，他們的 EBITDA 利潤率更反映了較少的後台辦公，在交易方面使用了更多的技術，而這並不會帶來更高的 SG&A 利潤率。因此，您說得對，他們在該業務中擁有相當好的營運槓桿，並且 EBITDA 利潤率比我們這裡的合併利潤率略高。

Maybe last one. You guys haven't talked for a while about the VA opportunity. Can you just give an update on where that is at, how things are going there?

也許是最後一個。你們有一段時間沒談論 VA 的機會了。您能否介紹一下那裡的情況以及進度如何？

The VA opportunity, I'm just going to go ahead and say it, is dead. We've had so many different folks coming and going through different administrations. It's been a broken system, a crying shame. At some point, we're going to -- they're going to have to come around back to us because we've had this thing at the one-yard line for multiple years, and it just hasn't come to fruition. So yes, I just -- we've moved on from that. And if they circle back with us, looking to take care of their veterans the right way, we'll be ready to do so. But at this point in time, we don't have a pursuit inside of the VA.

我只想說，VA 機會已經消失了。我們有許多不同的人在不同政府部門任職，又在不同政府部門任職。這是一個支離破碎的系統，令人痛心不已。在某個時候，我們將會——他們將不得不回到我們身邊，因為我們在第一碼線上已經擁有這個東西很多年了，但還沒有取得成果。是的，我只是──我們已經從那件事中走了出來。如果他們回到我們身邊，尋求以正確的方式照顧他們的退伍軍人，我們將做好準備。但目前，我們還沒有在 VA 內部進行追捕行動。

All right, well, thanks a lot you, guys. Another great boring quarter. Appreciate it.

好的，非常感謝你們。又是一個極度無聊的季度。非常感謝。

(Operator Instructions) And there appear to be no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the floor back to management for closing remarks.

（操作員指示）目前似乎沒有其他問題。我想將發言權交還給管理階層，請他們做最後發言。

All right. We want to thank everybody for joining us today. We're always available for follow-up calls. We hope everybody has a great day.

好的。我們要感謝今天與我們一起參加的各位。我們隨時可以接聽後續電話。我們希望每個人都度過愉快的一天。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. We thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time and have a great day.

謝謝大家。女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路並享受美好的一天。