Vince Holding Corp (VNCE) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Vince Holding Corp's third-quarter fiscal 2024 results call. My name is Lydia, and I will be your operator today. After the prepared remarks, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 Vince Holding Corp 的 2024 財年第三季業績電話會議。我叫莉迪亞，今天我將成為你們的接線生。準備好發言後，將有機會提問。（操作員說明）

I'll now hand you over to Akiko Okuma, Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Investor Relations, to begin. Please go ahead.

現在我將把您交給首席行政官兼投資者關係主管 Akiko Okuma 開始。請繼續。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Vince Holding Corp's third-quarter fiscal 2024 results conference call. Hosting the call today is Dave Stefko, Interim Chief Executive Officer; and John Szczepanski, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝大家，大家早安。歡迎參加 Vince Holding Corp 的 2024 財年第三季業績電話會議。今天主持電話會議的是臨時執行長 Dave Stefko；和財務長 John Szczepanski。

Before we begin, let me remind you that certain statements made on this call may constitute forward-looking which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those that the company expects. Those risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in the company's SEC filings, which are available on the company's website.

在我們開始之前，請允許我提醒您，本次電話會議中所做的某些陳述可能構成前瞻性，這些陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與公司預期有所不同。這些風險和不確定性在今天的新聞稿和公司向 SEC 提交的文件中進行了描述，這些文件可在公司網站上查看。

Investors should not assume that statements made during the call will remain operative at a later time, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed on the call. In addition, in today's discussion, the company is presenting its financial results in conformity with GAAP and on an adjusted basis.

投資者不應假設電話會議期間所做的聲明在以後仍然有效，並且公司不承擔更新電話會議中討論的任何資訊的義務。此外，在今天的討論中，該公司將按照公認會計準則並在調整後的基礎上公佈其財務業績。

The adjusted results that the company presents today are non-GAAP measures. Discussions of these non-GAAP measures and information on reconciliations of them to their most comparable GAAP measures are included in today's press release and related schedules, which are available in the Investors section of the company's website at investors.vince.com.

該公司今天公佈的調整後業績是非公認會計原則衡量標準。對這些非GAAP 衡量標準的討論以及有關這些非GAAP 衡量標準與最具可比性GAAP 衡量標準的調節信息均包含在今天的新聞稿和相關時間表中，這些內容可在公司網站Investors.vince.com的投資者部分查看。

Now I'll turn the call over to Dave.

現在我將把電話轉給戴夫。

Thank you, Akiko, and thank you everyone for joining us this morning. I will begin with a review of highlights from our third-quarter performance before turning the call over to John to discuss our financial results and outlook in more detail. Our third-quarter results reflect our ongoing focus on driving a stronger full price business, while executing an increasingly more efficient operating model through our transformation efforts.

謝謝你，Akiko，也謝謝大家今天早上加入我們。我將首先回顧我們第三季業績的亮點，然後將電話轉給約翰，更詳細地討論我們的財務表現和前景。我們第三季的業績反映了我們持續致力於推動更強大的全價業務，同時透過轉型努力執行日益高效的營運模式。

Despite our top-line performance falling slightly short of our expectations driven by lower than expected in season reorders in our international wholesale business as well as lower than expected sales in our outlet channel, we delivered profitability results in line with our prior guidance range driven entirely by gross margin expansion.

儘管由於國際批發業務的季節性再訂單低於預期以及直銷渠道的銷售額低於預期，我們的營收業績略低於預期，但我們的盈利結果與我們之前的指導範圍完全一致透過毛利率擴張。

Within our direct to consumer channel, we made the strategic decision to pull back promotional activity even more than originally planned in our outlet channel which led to the lower-than-expected sales mentioned, but yielded a much healthier margin performance for the quarter. With the ongoing work and focusing on a stronger full price business, we were pleased to see growth in our full price customer file accelerate to the high single digit range outpacing the trends we delivered in the first half of the year.

在我們的直接面向消費者的管道中，我們做出了策略決定，取消促銷活動，甚至比原計劃在直銷管道中的促銷活動還要多，這導致了上述銷售額低於預期，但本季度的利潤率表現卻健康得多。透過持續的工作並專注於更強大的全價業務，我們很高興地看到我們的全價客戶檔案的增長加速到高個位數範圍，超過了我們上半年的趨勢。

This growth was spread fairly evenly between our stores and e-commerce channels. With respect to our wholesale performance, as we mentioned on our last earnings call, we expected our third-quarter sales to be lower than the prior quarter given the earlier timing of shipments.

這種增長在我們的商店和電子商務管道之間相當均勻地分佈。關於我們的批發業績，正如我們在上次財報電話會議上提到的那樣，鑑於發貨時間較早，我們預計第三季的銷售額將低於上一季。

In addition, we saw lower than expected in season reorders with our international partners particularly in Asia. We believe this was largely due to the impact the stronger US dollar had on our partners purchasing decisions in season. Despite these top line dynamics similar to our DTC channel, we saw strong full price performance across wholesale during the period.

此外，我們與國際合作夥伴（尤其是亞洲合作夥伴）的季度重新訂購量低於預期。我們認為這主要是由於美元走強對我們合作夥伴當季採購決策的影響。儘管這些收入動態與我們的 DTC 通路類似，但我們在此期間看到整個批發市場的全價表現強勁。

We are continuing to see customer demand shift from the higher end designer luxury assortments into contemporary brands like Vince. Our relationships with our key wholesale partners remain strong and we were again highlighted by Nordstrom as a leading brand supporting the mid teen sales growth they delivered in their women's apparel business in the third quarter.

我們不斷看到客戶需求從高端設計師奢侈品牌轉向 Vince 等當代品牌。我們與主要批發合作夥伴的關係依然牢固，Nordstrom 再次強調我們是領先品牌，支持他們第三季在女裝業務中實現的青少年銷售成長。

We were also excited to have Jill Norton, our President of North American sales recently participate in the Nordi pod hosted by Pete Nordstrom where they discussed the long history we have with the iconic department store over the past 20-plus years. In women's and men's, our knits assortments outperformed as customers continue to demonstrate buy now wear now behavior.

我們也很高興北美銷售總裁吉爾·諾頓(Jill Norton) 最近參加了由皮特·諾德斯特龍(Pete Nordstrom) 主持的Nordi pod，他們在會上討論了我們與這家標誌性百貨商店在過去20 多年的悠久歷史。在女裝和男裝方面，我們的針織品類表現出色，因為客戶繼續表現出「現買現穿」的行為。

While the first half of the quarter is typically a more transitional period from summer to fall in retail, we were pleased to successfully continue to sell through the summer assortment at full price as customers responded to the fabrications and color palette of our offering.

雖然本季上半季通常是零售業從夏季到秋季的過渡期，但我們很高興能夠繼續以全價成功銷售整個夏季品種，因為客戶對我們產品的製作和調色板做出了反應。

While we did see a slower start to our sweaters and outerwear assortments given the unseasonably warm weather this fall, we entered the fourth quarter with a strong full price assortment that we believe will now resonate with the colder temperatures.

儘管由於今年秋天反常的溫暖天氣，我們的毛衣和外套品種確實開始銷售放緩，但進入第四季度時，我們的全價品種表現強勁，我們相信現在將與寒冷的氣溫產生共鳴。

In addition, we also continue to see opportunity in expanding our men's business, which currently exceeds 20% of our total sales. During the quarter, we successfully launched our new men's pants program which highlighted a broader range of fits with superior Italian fabrics at a competitive retail price. In conjunction with this launch, we introduced a pant guide to communicate set names and measurements more clearly to the customer in order to increase cost satisfaction and decrease returns.

此外，我們也持續看到擴大男裝業務的機會，目前該業務占我們總銷售額的 20% 以上。在本季度，我們成功推出了新的男褲計劃，該計劃突出了採用優質意大利面料、具有競爭力的零售價格提供的更廣泛的款式。結合此次發布，我們推出了褲子指南，以便更清楚地向客戶傳達套裝名稱和尺寸，以提高成本滿意度並減少退貨。

We have been very pleased with the initial response to this offering and helps to further support our goal in expanding our men's business to 30% of total revenues. As we look to further progress our strategic growth initiatives with the strength we are seeing in our customer file, we're even more confident in the opportunity we have with the Vince brand and our ability to acquire a higher value customer.

我們對此產品的初步反應感到非常滿意，並有助於進一步支持我們將男裝業務擴大到總收入 30% 的目標。當我們希望利用我們在客戶檔案中看到的實力進一步推進我們的策略性成長計畫時，我們對 Vince 品牌的機會以及我們獲得更高價值客戶的能力更加充滿信心。

To support these efforts, we have continued to look for opportunity to further enhance our customer acquisition efforts through more personalized and targeted initiatives focused on increasing lifetime value across our customer base, especially amongst our top 10% of customers or DICs we represent nearly 40% of demand across the full-price direct-to-consumer channel.

為了支持這些努力，我們繼續尋找機會，透過更個人化和有針對性的措施進一步加強我們的客戶獲取工作，這些措施專注於提高整個客戶群的終身價值，特別是在我們佔近40% 的前10% 客戶或DIC 中全價直接面向消費者通路的需求。

During the quarter and heading into the holidays, we have introduced early access events, encourage traffic to stores through exclusive offerings and are exploring other engagement opportunities that we believe will resonate with this cohort.

在本季和假期前夕，我們推出了搶先體驗活動，透過獨家產品鼓勵商店客流量，並正在探索其他我們相信會引起該群體共鳴的參與機會。

Our most recent direct mill campaign, which ran through November and ended on December 2 saw outsized performance from our VICs with a redemption rate 4 times that of our non-VIC audience and a 50% higher average order value than our non-VIC audience.

我們最近的直銷活動從 11 月持續到 12 月 2 日，我們的 VIC 受眾表現出色，兌換率是非 VIC 受眾的 4 倍，平均訂單價值比非 VIC 受眾高出 50%。

As we have discussed before, another vehicle for customer acquisition is through new stores, and we are actively working to identify white space opportunities for the brand. Our recent market analysis completed with Cushman & Wakefield, evaluated our e-commerce and wholesale sales data by zip code, along with demographic information to identify the most promising markets for store expansion in the US.

正如我們之前討論的，獲取客戶的另一種方式是透過新店，我們正在積極努力為該品牌尋找空白機會。我們最近與高緯環球​​ (Cushman & Wakefield) 合作完成了市場分析，透過郵政編碼評估了我們的電子商務和批發銷售數據以及人口統計信息，以確定美國最有前景的商店擴張市場。

Through this analysis, we identified Nashville as one of our top five untapped markets. We recently executed a lease for our first Nashville store, which will open in late fiscal 2025. We are hopeful to also open a store for an additional top five market in 2025.

透過這項分析，我們將納許維爾確定為我們五個尚未開發的市場之一。我們最近簽署了第一家納許維爾商店的租約，該商店將於 2025 財年末開業。我們希望在 2025 年為另外的前五名市場開設一家商店。

In addition, we are also expanding our presence in London with the opening of our second location in the region. This new London store located on Merrill Bone High Street, a faint destination known for its unique blend of history, culture and shopping were officially opened in the spring of fiscal 2025.

此外，我們還擴大了在倫敦的業務，開設了該地區的第二家辦事處。這家倫敦新店於 2025 財年春季正式開業，該店位於 Merrill Bone High Street，這是一個以獨特的歷史、文化和購物融合而聞名的目的地。

We have temporarily opened it as a pop up location for the holiday shopping season and look forward to expanding our reach in this important metro market. As we look ahead, we will continue to explore other opportunities to expand our presence and enhance our omnichannel experience weakening both new and existing customers to the brand.

我們已將其暫時開放為假日購物季的快閃店，並期待擴大我們在這個重要地鐵市場的影響力。展望未來，我們將繼續探索其他機會來擴大我們的影響力並增強我們的全通路體驗，從而削弱新舊客戶對該品牌的影響。

As we continue to position Vince for long-term sustainable growth, we also remain committed to delivering on our transformation plan. At the end of the third quarter, we are ahead of our plans to achieve our target for fiscal 2024. In addition to the improvements we are making within our cost of goods as part of the transformation plan, we have also been working on strategies to diversify our geographical exposure in light of the ongoing discussions regarding tariffs. As we begin to take actions for 2025 product seasons, we believe we will see a reduction of nearly 40% in our production of product in China.

在我們繼續讓 Vince 實現長期永續成長的同時，我們也仍致力於實現我們的轉型計畫。在第三季末，我們提前實現了 2024 財年的目標。作為轉型計劃的一部分，我們除了在商品成本方面做出改進外，我們還根據正在進行的關稅討論制定策略，使我們的地域風險多元化。隨著我們開始為 2025 年產品季採取行動，我們相信我們在中國的產品產量將減少近 40%。

Further reduction strategies are being discussed. Looking ahead, we expect to continue to execute a healthy full price business across all channels and are very encouraged by the results we have driven thus far this quarter, including across the Black Friday, Cyber Monday period.

進一步的減排策略正在討論中。展望未來，我們預計將繼續在所有管道上開展健康的全價業務，並對本季度迄今為止（包括黑色星期五和網路星期一期間）所取得的業績感到非常鼓舞。

While we are enthused by our results to date, we remain cautious with our outlook given the shortened holiday season and the ongoing uncertainty around the consumer. We do believe we are well positioned to deliver on our objectives for this year.

儘管我們對迄今為止的業績感到興奮，但考慮到假期的縮短和消費者持續的不確定性，我們對前景仍持謹慎態度。我們確實相信我們有能力實現今年的目標。

Before I turn the call over to John, I would like to acknowledge our team for their continued efforts towards achieving our goals while prioritizing and enhancing our relationships with our customers, vendors, and wholesale partners. We are highly confident in Vince's future and together remain dedicated to ensuring its long-term success.

在將電話轉給約翰之前，我要感謝我們的團隊為實現我們的目標而不斷努力，同時優先考慮並加強我們與客戶、供應商和批發合作夥伴的關係。我們對 Vince 的未來充滿信心，並將繼續共同致力於確保其長期成功。

I'll now turn it over to John to discuss our financial results and outlook in more detail. John?

我現在將把它交給約翰，更詳細地討論我們的財務表現和前景。約翰？

Thank you, Dave, and good morning, everyone. As Dave discussed, our disciplined approach to full price selling and execution of our transformation plans continue to strengthen our financial foundation this quarter. While total revenue declined compared to the prior year period, we achieved meaningful bottom-line improvements highlighted by substantial gross margin expansion.

謝謝戴夫，大家早安。正如戴夫所討論的，我們嚴格的全價銷售和執行轉型計劃的方法繼續加強了我們本季度的財務基礎。儘管總收入與去年同期相比有所下降，但我們實現了顯著的利潤改善，毛利率大幅增長凸顯了這一點。

Let me walk you through the key financial metrics and provide additional color on our performance for the quarter. Total company net sales for the third quarter decreased 4.7% to $80.2 million compared to $84.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2023. The year-over-year decrease in total company net sales was driven by an 8.3% decrease in our direct-to-consumer segment and a 2.2% decrease in our wholesale segment.

讓我向您介紹關鍵的財務指標，並為我們本季的業績提供更多資訊。第三季公司淨銷售額總額下降 4.7%，至 8,020 萬美元，而 2023 財年第三季為 8,410 萬美元。公司總淨銷售額較去年同期下降的原因是我們的直接面向消費者部門下降 8.3%，批發部門下降 2.2%。

As Dave reviewed, these results were slightly below our expectations, driven by lower than expected in season reorders in our international wholesale business as well as lower than expected revenues in our outlet channel.

正如戴夫所評論的，這些結果略低於我們的預期，這是由於我們的國際批發業務的季節再訂單低於預期以及我們的直銷渠道的收入低於預期。

Combined, these factors negatively impacted sales growth in the quarter by 300 basis points. Excluding these factors, revenue trends would have been more in line to our expectations, which incorporated ongoing headwinds in our direct-to-consumer segment from store closures, which was a 163 basis point impact on the quarter as well as the pullback in promotional activity compared to the prior year.

這些因素綜合起來，對該季度的銷售成長產生了 300 個基點的負面影響。排除這些因素，收入趨勢將更符合我們的預期，其中包括商店關閉對我們的直接面向消費者細分市場帶來的持續阻力，這對本季度造成了 163 個基點的影響，而且促銷活動​​也有所減少與上一年相比。

With respect to our wholesale business, we had expected a deceleration in the top line from the prior quarter given the earlier timing of shipments that we previously discussed on our last call. Gross profit in the third quarter was $40.1 million or 50% of net sales. This compares to $37.2 million or 44.2% of net sales in the third quarter of last year.

就我們的批發業務而言，鑑於我們之前在上次電話會議上討論過的發貨時間提前，我們預計營收將較上一季放緩。第三季毛利為 4,010 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 50%。相比之下，去年第三季的淨銷售額為 3,720 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 44.2%。

The increase in gross margin rate was driven by approximately 480 basis points related to lower product costing and freight costs and 80 basis points related to lower promotional activity in the direct-to-consumer segment and lower discounting.

毛利率上升約 480 個基點與較低的產品成本和貨運成本有關，以及 80 個基點與直接面向消費者的促銷活動減少和較低的折扣有關。

These factors were partially offset by approximately 50 basis points attributable to channel mix. Selling, general and administrative expenses in the quarter were $34.3 million or 42.8% of net sales as compared to $34.4 million or 40.9% of net sales for the third quarter of last year. SG&A dollars were relatively flat compared to the prior year as a $0.5 million decrease in marketing and advertising expenses.

這些因素因渠道混合而被約 50 個基點部分抵消。本季的銷售、一般和管理費用為 3,430 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 42.8%，而去年第三季的銷售、一般和管理費用為 3,440 萬美元，佔淨銷售額的 40.9%。SG&A 美元與前一年相比相對持平，行銷和廣告費用減少了 50 萬美元。

A $0.3 million decrease in rent and occupancy costs and $0.2 million of expense favorability compared to last year given the transaction-related expenses with the authentic transaction was offset by $0.8 million in increased compensation and benefits due primarily to higher severance and incentive compensation. Operating income for the third quarter was $5.8 million compared to an operating income of $2.8 million in the same period last year.

考慮到真實交易的交易相關費用，與去年相比，租金和占用成本減少了30 萬美元，費用優惠減少了20 萬美元，但補償和福利增加了80 萬美元，這主要是由於遣散費和激勵補償的增加。第三季營業收入為 580 萬美元，去年同期營業收入為 280 萬美元。

Excluding the transaction related expenses incurred in the prior year period, adjusted operating income for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 was $3.1 million. Adjusted operating margin increased approximately 350 basis points compared to the prior year driven by the gross margin expansion, which was partially offset by SG&A deleverage in the quarter given the dividend revenue. Net interest expense for the third quarter decreased $1.7 million compared to $2 million in the prior year.

不包括上年同期發生的交易相關費用，2023財年第三季調整後營業收入為310萬美元。受毛利率擴張的推動，調整後營業利潤率較上年同期增長約 350 個基點，但考慮到股息收入，本季的 SG&A 去槓桿化部分抵消了這一影響。第三季淨利息支出比去年同期的 200 萬美元減少了 170 萬美元。

The decrease was primarily driven by expenses related to the refinancing transactions in the prior year as well as the year-over-year reduction in debt. There was no provision for income taxes this quarter as given our year-to-date ordinary pre-tax losses for the interim period and our expectation for annual ordinary pre-tax income for the fiscal year.

減少的主要原因是與前一年再融資交易相關的費用以及債務年減。鑑於我們中期至今的普通稅前虧損以及我們對本財政年度普通稅前收入的預期，本季度沒有所得稅撥備。

We determined that it is more likely than not that the tax benefit of the year-to-date loss will not be realized in the current or future years. And as such, tax provisions for the interim period should not be recognized until we have year-to-date ordinary pre-tax income.

我們確定，年初至今虧損的稅收優惠很可能不會在當前或未來幾年實現。因此，在我們擁有年初至今的普通稅前收入之前，不應確認中期的稅務撥備。

This compares to an income tax benefit of $0.5 million in the same period last year. Net income for the third quarter was $4.3 million or earnings per share of $0.34 compared to net income of $1 million or earnings per share of $0.08 in the third quarter last year.

相比之下，去年同期的所得稅優惠為 50 萬美元。第三季淨利為 430 萬美元，每股收益為 0.34 美元，而去年第三季淨利為 100 萬美元，每股收益為 0.08 美元。

The prior year period includes onetime items related to transaction expenses. Excluding these items, adjusted net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 was $1.8 million or income per share of $0.15. Moving to the balance sheet. Net inventory was $63.8 million at the end of the third quarter as compared to $69.6 million at the end of the third quarter last year.

上一年期間包括與交易費用相關的一次性項目。排除這些項目，2023 財年第三季調整後淨利為 180 萬美元，或每股收益 0.15 美元。轉向資產負債表。第三季末的淨庫存為 6,380 萬美元，而去年第三季末的淨庫存為 6,960 萬美元。

As we are continuing to take a disciplined approach to investing back into inventory to support the growth in both DTC and wholesale channels, we now expect inventory for fiscal 2024 to be up high single digits to fiscal 2023. Turning now to our outlook for the balance of the year. For Q4 fiscal 2024, we expect total net sales to be down mid-single digits to up low single digits compared to $75.3 million in the prior year quarter.

由於我們繼續採取嚴格的方法重新投資庫存，以支援 DTC 和批發管道的成長，我們現在預計 2024 財年的庫存將比 2023 財年增長高個位數。現在轉向我們對今年餘下時間的展望。對於 2024 財年第四季度，我們預計與去年同期的 7,530 萬美元相比，總淨銷售額將下降中個位數到低個位數。

With respect to operating margin, we expect Q4 fiscal 2024 operating margin to increase approximately 200 to 300 basis points compared to last year's adjusted operating margin of negative 2.2%. We expect improved full price penetration, disciplined promotions and the impact of our transformation initiatives to be the primary drivers of the operating margin increase, somewhat offset by SG&A deleverage from incentive compensation.

就營業利潤率而言，我們預計 2024 財年第四季的營業利潤率將比去年調整後的負 2.2% 的營業利潤率增加約 200 至 300 個基點。我們預計，全價滲透率的提高、嚴格的促銷活動以及轉型舉措的影響將成為營業利潤率增長的主要驅動力，但激勵性薪酬的 SG&A 去槓桿化在一定程度上抵消了這一影響。

With respect to our full year fiscal 2024 outlook, which, as a reminder is a 52 week fiscal year, we continue to expect total net sales to decline in the low single-digit range compared to $292.9 million in fiscal 2023, which included a 53rd week, which represented approximately $2.2 million in net sales.

就我們的2024 財年全年展望而言（提醒一下，這是一個為期52 週的財年），與2023 財年的2.929 億美元（其中包括第53 個季度的銷售額）相比，我們仍然預計淨銷售額總額將在低個位數範圍內下降。

We also continue to expect adjusted operating margin to increase 25 to 50 basis points compared to fiscal 2023 adjusted operating margin of 1.4%. This outlook includes a negative impact of approximately 140 basis points from non-comparable royalty expenses through May 2024 that we expect to offset through ongoing gross margin expansion and disciplined expense management, driven in part by our transformation efforts.

我們也繼續預期調整後的營業利潤率將比 2023 財年調整後的營業利潤率 1.4% 增加 25 至 50 個基點。這一前景包括截至 2024 年 5 月不可比特許權使用費支出約 140 個基點的負面影響，我們預計將透過持續的毛利率擴張和嚴格的費用管理來抵消，部分原因是我們的轉型努力。

As Dave reviewed, we are pleased with the progress we are making with our transformation plan and are ahead of our plan to achieve our annual target as we enter the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. As a reminder, about half of our total benefits from the transformation plan are expected to come from product cost efficiencies with no compromises to quality with the balance driven by targeted initiatives to improve pricing and promotions and reduce operating expenses.

正如 Dave 所評論的那樣，我們對轉型計劃所取得的進展感到滿意，並在進入 2024 財年第四季時提前實現了年度目標。提醒一下，我們從轉型計畫中獲得的總收益中約有一半預計將來自於不影響品質的產品成本效率，而平衡則由改善定價和促銷以及減少營運費用的有針對性的舉措驅動。

This concludes our remarks. And I will now turn it over to the operator to open the call for questions.

我們的發言到此結束。現在我將把它交給接線員以開始提問。

(Operator instructions)

（操作員說明）

Eric Beder, SCC Research.

貝爾德 (Eric Beder)，SCC 研究中心。

Good morning. Congratulations on the progress. Let's talk a little bit about AVG Vince. I want talk about AVG Vince. I know that some of the products have started to come in. Some of the licensed products have started to come into the stores in Q3, Q4. Curious what the response has been to that? And then what should we be thinking about next year in terms of potential new product categories for the retail channel going forward?

早安.祝賀取得的進展。我們來談談AVG Vince。我想談談 AVG Vince。我知道有些產品已經開始上市。部分授權產品已於第三季、第四季開始進入商店。好奇對此有何反應？那麼明年我們應該在零售通路潛在的新產品類別考慮什麼？

Thanks, Eric. So at this time through fall season and now prespring is, will be starting to ship. It's really the licensed products have been coming in, they've really been around shoes and cold weather goods, which are licenses that we've had for a few years. So as we indicated in our remarks, we're happy with our Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the licensed products continue to perform.

謝謝，埃里克。因此，此時已進入秋季，現在是早春，將開始出貨。這確實是許可產品的出現，它們確實涉及鞋子和寒冷天氣商品，這些許可我們已經擁有了幾年。因此，正如我們在評論中指出的那樣，我們對黑色星期五、網路星期一以及授權產品的持續表現感到滿意。

When you'll see new licenses that AVG Vince entered into since the transaction, there will be belts and leather goods that will launch with the spring season. And then handbags license has been signed, but that's not expected to ship until fall of 2025.

當您看到 AVG Vince 自交易以來獲得的新許可時，將在春季推出腰帶和皮革製品。然後手袋許可證已經簽署，但預計要到 2025 年秋季才能發貨。

Okay. In terms of store potential, I'm excited that you're opening stores in both the UK and in the US, how should we be thinking about longer term, the potential for expanding out the store base even a little bit more aggressively? And the potential in terms of returns, I saw there was in Q3 a significant increase in profitability on the operating line for the DTC. Thank you.

好的。就商店潛力而言，我很高興你們在英國和美國都開設了商店，我們應該如何考慮更長期的、更積極地擴大商店基礎的潛力？就回報潛力而言，我看到第三季 DTC 營運線的獲利能力顯著增加。謝謝。

I'll address the stores and then John can talk about the results from Q3. So from a store perspective, when you look at the US, as we implied, we completed a study midyear with Cushman & Wakefield, where we looked at the entire US market and with only 60 stores and a heavy concentration in New York and Los Angeles. We have a lot of white space in the US where we can fill in stores.

我將向商店發表講話，然後約翰可以談論第三季的結果。因此，從商店的角度來看，當你看美國時，正如我們所暗示的，我們在年中與Cushman & Wakefield 完成了一項研究，我們研究了整個美國市場，只有60 家商店，主要集中在紐約和洛杉磯。我們在美國有很多空白空間，可以用來填充商店。

And as we said in our remarks, we've kind of allowed our e-commerce sales and our wholesale sales. We kind of combined where those happen across the states, along with markets and in today's age of technology, you can define down to malls and shopping centers, where the demographics cross with who our consumer is.

正如我們在發言中所說，我們已經允許了電子商務銷售和批發銷售。我們將各州發生的情況與市場以及當今的科技時代結合起來，您可以定義到購物中心和購物中心，那裡的人口統計數據與我們的消費者是誰。

So we feel really good understanding what markets are good for us. And you can imagine, looking at a map, we have opportunities in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest to name a few. So Nashville became one of the top markets.

因此，我們非常高興了解哪些市場對我們有利。你可以想像，看看地圖，我們在中西部和太平洋西北地區都有機會。因此納許維爾成為頂級市場之一。

And so we're focused on looking at not just the top five markets, but the top markets and looking at opportunities. We'll still let economics drive us as to decision-making. When you look outside the US and you look at the UK, we're much more opportunistic.

因此，我們不僅關注前五個市場，還關注頂級市場並尋找機會。我們仍然會讓經濟因素來推動我們做出決策。當你看看美國以外和英國時，你會發現我們更有機會主義。

We just thought Marylebone is a fabulous shopping location similar to being on Madison Avenue here in New York City. It was an opportunity that we felt was important for the brand, especially looking at the results in our existing Dracut store that's been open for about five years now. So we thought it was the right time to make that investment.

我們只是認為馬里波恩是一個絕佳的購物地點，類似於紐約市的麥迪遜大道。我們認為這是一個對品牌很重要的機會，特別是看看我們現有的 Dracut 商店的結果，該商店已經開業大約五年了。所以我們認為現在是進行這項投資的正確時機。

As we talked last quarter, Eric, we also looked at a market like China and where we're testing stores, we pulled back in China because of the economic conditions and economic situations going on in China. So that's how we view the world and the US from a new store opportunity.

正如我們上個季度所說，埃里克，我們也關注了像中國這樣的市場，我們正在測試商店，但由於中國的經濟狀況和經濟形勢，我們撤回了中國市場。這就是我們透過新店機會看待世界和美國的方式。

And Eric, just to add on that, when we're talking about store performance. Sorry, you wanted to ask a follow-up.

艾瑞克（Eric）補充說，當我們談論商店績效時。抱歉，您想問後續情況。

No, go ahead.

不，繼續吧。

No, I was just going to mention in terms of the financial side of store performance. What we're seeing today even though our top line we see was impacted by the store closures that we had in the fleet as well as the pullback in promotional activity, what we're really seeing is a really positive bottom-line impact from that full price selling strategy and all the efforts around transformation that is driving our overall margin results.

不，我只是想提一下商店業績的財務方面。我們今天所看到的，儘管我們看到的營收受到我們車隊中的商店關閉以及促銷活動縮減的影響，但我們真正看到的是真正積極的盈利影響全價銷售策略以及圍繞轉型所做的所有努力正在推動我們的整體利潤率成果。

And the other thing that we're seeing is being able to invest back in the right inventory in season is really helping us give a balanced offer to the customer. So all of those factors are really driving the performance in stores.

我們看到的另一件事是，能夠及時投資正確的庫存，確實有助於我們為客戶提供均衡的報價。因此，所有這些因素都真正推動了商店的表現。

Okay. And one last question, men's, congrats on getting over 20%. How did the expansion into all the Nordstrom stores go and how should we be thinking about the opportunity for men's in your own stores going forward in terms of expanding that out? Thank you.

好的。最後一個問題，男士問題，恭喜您獲得超過 20%。向所有諾德斯特龍 (Nordstrom) 商店的擴張進展如何？謝謝。

Yes. Thanks, Eric. So from a Nordstrom perspective, it's early. I mean the results, we're very, very pleased with our Nordstrom results across the board. That includes men's. So we certainly are seeing growth, but from our view, it still is a little bit early.

是的。謝謝，埃里克。因此，從 Nordstrom 的角度來看，現在還為時過早。我的意思是結果，我們對 Nordstrom 的整體業績非常非常滿意。其中包括男士。因此，我們確實看到了成長，但從我們看來，現在還為時過早。

In our own stores, again, men's is performing well. The pant program was a critical investment and launch that we've made this year. We're reacting to results that we're seeing and making adjustments where needed.

在我們自己的商店中，男裝再次表現良好。褲子計畫是我們今年做出的一項重要投資和推出。我們正在對所看到的結果做出反應，並在需要時進行調整。

But we certainly expect to see continued expansion, not just on men's in our stores, but as you know, Eric, we have one standalone men's store that we're evaluating also its performance and how that fits into the strategy going forward.

但我們當然希望看到持續的擴張，不僅僅是我們商店的男裝商店，而且正如你所知，埃里克，我們有一家獨立的男裝商店，我們也在評估它的業績以及它如何適應未來的戰略。

Great, thanks.

太好了，謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes our Q&A session. So I'll now turn the call back over to Dave Stefko for any closing comments.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。因此，我現在將把電話轉回戴夫·斯特夫科（Dave Stefko）以徵求結束意見。

Okay. Thank you for joining us today, and we look forward to updating you on our 2024 fiscal year-end results in our April year-end call. Happy holidays, everyone.

好的。感謝您今天加入我們，我們期待在 4 月的年終電話會議上向您通報我們 2024 財年年終業績的最新情況。大家節日快樂。

Thank you. This concludes today's call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your line.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的加入。現在您可以斷開線路。