Vera Bradley Inc (VRA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Vera Bradley Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year-End Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

早上好，女士們，先生們。謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Vera Bradley 第四季度和財年末電話會議。 （操作員說明）

As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mark Dely, Vera Bradley's Chief Administrative Officer. Please go ahead.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議正在錄製中。我現在想把電話轉給 Vera Bradley 的首席行政官 Mark Dely。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome, everyone. We'd like to thank you for joining us for today's call. Some of the statements made during our prepared remarks and in response to your questions may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to and within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expect.

早上好，歡迎大家。感謝您加入我們今天的電話會議。在我們準備好的評論和回答您的問題時所做的一些陳述可能構成前瞻性陳述，這些陳述是根據經修訂的 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款並在其含義內作出的。此類前瞻性陳述受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與我們預期的結果存在重大差異。

Please refer to today's press release and the company's most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC for a discussion of known risks and uncertainties. Investors should not assume that the statements made during the call will remain operative at a later time. We undertake no obligation to update any information discussed on today's call.

請參閱今天的新聞稿和公司最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格，了解對已知風險和不確定性的討論。投資者不應假定電話會議期間所作的聲明將在以後繼續有效。我們沒有義務更新今天電話會議上討論的任何信息。

I will now turn the call over to Vera Bradley's CEO, Jackie Audrey. Jackie?

我現在將把電話轉給 Vera Bradley 的首席執行官 Jackie Audrey。成龍？

Thank you, Mark. Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's call. We focused on driving revenues in the fourth quarter through targeted strategic promotions on seasonal, giftable and key items.

謝謝你，馬克。早上好，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。我們專注於通過對季節性、禮品和關鍵項目進行有針對性的戰略促銷來推動第四季度的收入。

As a result, total company's fourth quarter revenues outperformed our guidance, although gross margins remained under pressure. Diligent expense control enabled us to deliver fourth quarter non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.16, which was nearly flat with last year.

因此，儘管毛利率仍面臨壓力，但公司第四季度的總收入優於我們的指引。勤奮的費用控制使我們能夠實現第四季度非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益 0.16 美元，與去年幾乎持平。

In the fourth quarter, sales trends at both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida improved over prior quarters, with Vera Bradley total sales down just 1% and Pura Vida sales down less than 5% on a year-over-year basis. For the fourth consecutive quarter, the Vera Bradley Indirect Channel experienced year-over-year revenue growth. Targeted customer retention efforts led to increased Vera Bradley e-commerce revenues, while Full-Line and Factory store revenues continued to be negatively affected by traffic levels, although trends improved throughout the quarter.

第四季度，Vera Bradley 和 Pura Vida 的銷售趨勢均比前幾個季度有所改善，Vera Bradley 的總銷售額僅下降 1%，Pura Vida 的銷售額同比下降不到 5%。 Vera Bradley Indirect Channel 連續第四個季度實現收入同比增長。有針對性的客戶保留工作導致 Vera Bradley 電子商務收入增加，而全線和工廠商店的收入繼續受到流量水平的負面影響，儘管整個季度的趨勢有所改善。

At Pura Vida, e-commerce trends improved over previous quarters due to strategic promotions; however, overall challenges continued to persist in our social and digital media effectiveness coupled with rising digital media costs. And, we experienced a year-over-year sales decline in our wholesale channel. On the plus side, Pura Vida Full-Line retail stores continued to perform ahead of our expectations, and they drove

在 Pura Vida，由於戰略促銷，電子商務趨勢比前幾個季度有所改善；然而，整體挑戰繼續存在於我們的社交和數字媒體有效性以及不斷上升的數字媒體成本中。而且，我們的批發渠道銷售額同比下降。從好的方面來看，Pura Vida 全線零售店的表現繼續超出我們的預期，他們帶動了

improved e-commerce traffic and revenues in their markets

改善其市場的電子商務流量和收入

We also took the opportunity in the fourth quarter to reset and appropriately position the Pura Vida business for the future, by recording goodwill and tradename impairments and necessary inventory write-offs.

我們還利用第四季度的機會，通過記錄商譽和商號減值以及必要的庫存註銷，為未來重置和適當定位 Pura Vida 業務。

We ended the fiscal year with consolidated revenues of $500 million which exceeded our guidance. During the year, we began to see stabilization in our supply chain, diligently

我們以 5 億美元的綜合收入結束了本財年，超出了我們的預期。在這一年裡，我們開始看到我們的供應鏈穩定下來，努力

controlled our expenses, and carefully managed our cash. During the fourth quarter, we meaningfully reduced our year-end inventory levels from the third quarter.

控制我們的開支，謹慎地管理我們的現金。在第四季度，我們從第三季度開始顯著降低了年終庫存水平。

Although fiscal 2023 had its challenges, we took actions and laid the groundwork to position the company for the future. In mid-2022, we collaboratively identified $25 million in annualized cost reduction initiatives and efficiency processes. The expense savings were derived across various areas of the Company, including payroll reductions, retail store efficiencies, marketing expense, information technology contracts and projects, professional services and logistics and operational costs. Many of these savings were realized in fiscal 2023.

儘管 2023 財年面臨挑戰，但我們採取了行動並為公司的未來定位奠定了基礎。 2022 年年中，我們合作確定了 2500 萬美元的年度成本削減計劃和效率流程。費用節省來自公司的各個領域，包括工資削減、零售店效率、營銷費用、信息技術合同和項目、專業服務以及物流和運營成本。其中許多節省是在 2023 財年實現的。

In January 2023, we further streamlined our corporate structure by eliminating the positions of Vera Bradley Brand President, Chief Creative Officer and Chief Revenue Officer; and by adding the position of Chief Marketing Officer, all designed to drive annual cost savings of approximately $2 million, add more focus on marketing and merchandising and position the company to deliver steady top- and bottom-line growth. These decisions were made in order to right-size our leadership team and cross structure for the size of our business to address the continuing challenging macro environment and to best position us to achieve our long-term strategic plans.

2023 年 1 月，我們進一步精簡了公司結構，取消了 Vera Bradley 品牌總裁、首席創意官和首席營收官的職位；通過增加首席營銷官的職位，所有這些都旨在推動每年節省約 200 萬美元的成本，更加註重營銷和銷售，並使公司能夠實現穩定的收入和利潤增長。做出這些決定是為了根據我們的業務規模調整我們的領導團隊和交叉結構，以應對持續具有挑戰性的宏觀環境，並使我們處於最佳位置以實現我們的長期戰略計劃。

Subsequent to the end of fiscal 2023, in January 2023, we acquired the remaining 25% interest in Pura Vida from Founders Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman for $10 million.

在 2023 財年結束後的 2023 年 1 月，我們以 1000 萬美元的價格從創始人 Griffin Thall 和 Paul Goodman 手中收購了 Pura Vida 剩餘的 25% 股權。

We continued to make investments in customer data science, business analytics and pricing optimization, allowing us to collect and analyze data and make fact-based decisions to more efficiently run our business.

我們繼續在客戶數據科學、業務分析和定價優化方面進行投資，使我們能夠收集和分析數據並做出基於事實的決策，從而更有效地開展業務。

At the Vera Bradley brand, we expanded our robust product innovation pipeline, including launching our featherweight collection and continued another year of product collaborations with iconic brands like Disney, Harry Potter and Crocs and also expanded our cozy sleep and outerwear collections. We continue to strengthen and rationalize our store base. We opened 5 new factory stores and closed 19 underperforming Full-Line stores and 1 factory store, ending the fiscal year with 51 full-line and 79 factory locations.

在 Vera Bradley 品牌中，我們擴大了強大的產品創新渠道，包括推出輕量級系列，並繼續與迪士尼、哈利波特和 Crocs 等標誌性品牌進行又一年的產品合作，還擴大了我們舒適的睡眠和外套系列。我們繼續加強和合理化我們的商店基礎。我們新開了 5 家工廠店，關閉了 19 家表現不佳的全線商店和 1 家工廠店，本財年結束時擁有 51 家全線店和 79 家工廠店。

We also continued to expand options for customers to shop, like, enhancing our presence in third-party marketplaces, including Amazon and adding boutiques in select high-traffic airports. At the Pura Vida brand, we entered into several high-profile product collaborations with brands such as Hello Kitty, Disney and Harry Potter and expanded our product offerings by launching our demi-fine collection and expanding our assortment of engravable jewelry, all designed to bring new customers to our brand.

我們還繼續擴大客戶的購物選擇，例如，加強我們在第三方市場（包括亞馬遜）的影響力，以及在特定的高客流量機場增加精品店。在 Pura Vida 品牌中，我們與 Hello Kitty、迪士尼和哈利波特等品牌進行了多項備受矚目的產品合作，並通過推出我們的半精品系列和擴展我們的可雕刻珠寶種類來擴展我們的產品供應，所有這些都旨在帶來我們品牌的新客戶。

We focused on building a more diverse, innovative, effective and performance-based marketing program to drive Pura Vita e-commerce sales. We began the process of implementing a comprehensive customer data platform to build a single,

我們專注於構建更加多樣化、創新、有效和基於績效的營銷計劃，以推動 Pura Vita 電子商務銷售。我們開始實施全面的客戶數據平台，以構建一個單一的、

coherent, complete view of each Pura Vida customer so that we can better target and personalize marketing and become

每個 Pura Vida 客戶的一致、完整的視圖，以便我們可以更好地定位和個性化營銷，並成為

less reliant on third-party marketing. This project is scheduled for completion this spring. We continued to engage our

較少依賴第三方營銷。該項目計劃於今年春天完成。我們繼續參與我們的

micro influencers, significantly expanded our TikTok presence, launched impactful ads on connected TV, optimized SMS,

微型影響者，顯著擴大了我們的 TikTok 影響力，在聯網電視上投放有影響力的廣告，優化短信，

and aggressively explored other methods to effectively reach our customers.

並積極探索其他有效接觸客戶的方法。

We also opened 3 Pura Vida Full-Line stores during the year, bringing our Full-Line store count to four, which collectively exceeded our expectations. These four stores are playing a role in driving new customer acquisition as we continue to diversify our marketing platforms, and they demonstrate the power of retail presence can have in driving digital sales, omni-channel loyalty, and spending.

我們還在年內開設了 3 家 Pura Vida 全線門店，使我們的全線門店數量達到四家，總體上超出了我們的預期。隨著我們繼續使營銷平台多樣化，這四家商店在推動新客戶獲取方面發揮著作用，它們展示了零售業務在推動數字銷售、全渠道忠誠度和支出方面的力量。

Now let me turn the call over to John to review the financial results. John?

現在讓我把電話轉給約翰審查財務結果。約翰？

Thanks. Let me go over a few highlights for the fiscal year. The numbers I will discuss today are all non-GAAP and excluded charges outlined in today's release. For a complete detail of items excluded from the non-GAAP numbers as well as a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP numbers, please reference today's press release. Consolidated net revenues totaled $500 million for fiscal 2023 compared to $540.5 million for fiscal 2022. Consolidated net income totaled $7.6 million or $0.24 per diluted share compared to $19.7 million or $0.57 per diluted share last year.

謝謝。讓我回顧一下本財年的一些亮點。我今天要討論的數字都是非 GAAP 和今天新聞稿中概述的排除費用。有關從非 GAAP 數字中排除的項目的完整詳細信息以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 數字的調節，請參考今天的新聞稿。 2023 財年的合併淨收入總計 5 億美元，而 2022 財年為 5.405 億美元。合併淨收入總計 760 萬美元或攤薄後每股收益 0.24 美元，而去年為 1970 萬美元或攤薄後每股收益 0.57 美元。

Vera Bradley Direct segment revenues totaled $328.2 million this year, a 7.5% decrease from $354.9 million in the prior year. Comparable sales declined 9.5%. Vera Bradley Indirect segment revenues totaled $73.3 million, up 11.1% over $66 million last year, reflecting an increase in certain key account orders. Pura Vida segment revenues totaled $98.4 million, a 17.7% decrease from $119.6 million in the prior year. Pura Vida's e-commerce revenues were negatively impacted by the shift in social and digital media effectiveness and rising digital media costs as well as a decline in sales to wholesale accounts.

Vera Bradley Direct 部門今年的總收入為 3.282 億美元，比去年的 3.549 億美元下降 7.5%。可比銷售額下降 9.5%。 Vera Bradley Indirect 部門的收入總計為 7330 萬美元，比去年的 6600 萬美元增長 11.1%，反映出某些大客戶訂單的增加。 Pura Vida 分部收入總計 9840 萬美元，比上年的 1.196 億美元下降 17.7%。 Pura Vida 的電子商務收入受到社交和數字媒體有效性轉變、數字媒體成本上升以及批發賬戶銷售額下降的負面影響。

This year's gross profit totaled $257.2 million or 51.4% of net revenues compared to $287.9 million or 53.3% of net revenues last year. The current year gross margin rate was negatively affected by higher inbound and outbound freight expense and increased promotional activity, partially offset by price increases. SG&A expenses totaled $245.3 million or 49.1% of net revenues compared to $258.8 million or 47.9% of net revenues in the prior year.

今年的毛利潤總計為 2.572 億美元，占淨收入的 51.4%，而去年為 2.879 億美元，占淨收入的 53.3%。本年度的毛利率受到進出境運費增加和促銷活動增加的負面影響，部分被價格上漲所抵消。 SG&A 費用總計 2.453 億美元，占淨收入的 49.1%，上年同期為 2.588 億美元，占淨收入的 47.9%。

Current year expenses were lower than prior year, primarily due to cost reduction initiatives and a reduction in variable related expenses due to lower sales volume. For the fiscal year, consolidated operating profit was $12.3 million or 2.5% of net revenues compared to $30.1 million or 5.6% of net revenues last year.

本年度支出低於上一年，這主要是由於降低成本的舉措以及因銷量下降而導致的可變相關費用減少。本財年，綜合營業利潤為 1230 萬美元，占淨收入的 2.5%，而去年為 3010 萬美元，占淨收入的 5.6%。

Now, let's turn to the balance sheet. Year-end cash and cash equivalents totaled $46.6 million compared to $88.4 million at prior year fiscal year-end. We had no borrowings on our $75 million credit facility at fiscal year-end. Total fiscal year inventory was $142.3 million compared to a $144.9 million at last year at last fiscal year-end. Total current year inventory was lower than the prior year, primarily due to inventory adjustments associated with excess and discounted inventory, partially offset by incremental logistics costs burning overall inventory.

現在，讓我們轉向資產負債表。年終現金和現金等價物總計 4660 萬美元，上一財年末為 8840 萬美元。截至財年末，我們的 7500 萬美元信貸額度沒有借款。本財年總庫存為 1.423 億美元，而上一財年末為 1.449 億美元。本年度總庫存低於上一年，這主要是由於與庫存過剩和折扣庫存相關的庫存調整，部分被燃燒整體庫存的增量物流成本所抵消。

Inventories were $36 million lower than the end of the fiscal third quarter. During fiscal 2023, we repurchased $18.1 million of common stock, representing approximately 2.8 million shares at an average price of $6.40. We will continue to take a conservative approach to cash, particularly in this volatile environment. Now let's shift our focus to 2024 outlook. We are providing estimates for the full year based on current macroeconomic trends and expectations.

庫存比第三財季末減少了 3600 萬美元。在 2023 財年，我們以 6.40 美元的平均價格回購了 1810 萬美元的普通股，約合 280 萬股。我們將繼續對現金采取保守的態度，尤其是在這種動蕩的環境中。現在讓我們將注意力轉移到 2024 年展望上。我們根據當前的宏觀經濟趨勢和預期提供全年預測。

We anticipate the macroeconomic environment to continue to be unpredictable and that this year will be a rebuilding year for both of our brands. However, we expect to take advantage of gross margin improvement opportunities and manage our expense structure diligently. We are not providing detailed guidance for the first fiscal quarter of 2024, but we expect revenues and diluted loss per share to be roughly in line with the prior year. The first quarter is a rebuilding quarter as we work to stabilize the business. We hope to see momentum build as the year progresses.

我們預計宏觀經濟環境將繼續變幻莫測，今年將是我們兩個品牌的重建年。但是，我們希望利用提高毛利率的機會並努力管理我們的費用結構。我們沒有提供 2024 年第一財季的詳細指導，但我們預計收入和每股攤薄虧損將與上年大致持平。第一季度是重建季度，我們努力穩定業務。隨著時間的推移，我們希望看到勢頭增強。

All forward-looking guidance numbers are non-GAAP. For fiscal 2024, we expect total revenues of $490 million to $510 million, revenues totaled $500 million in fiscal 2023. Both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida revenues are expected to be approximately flat on a year-over-year basis. Gross margin of 52.6% to 53.6% compared to 51.4% in last year. The expected year-over-year increase is primarily related to reduced inbound freight expense, partially offset by deleveraged overhead costs related to inventory purchases.

所有前瞻性指導數字均為非 GAAP。對於 2024 財年，我們預計總收入為 4.9 億美元至 5.1 億美元，2023 財年總收入為 5 億美元。Vera Bradley 和 Pura Vida 的收入預計與去年同期基本持平。毛利率為 52.6% 至 53.6%，而去年為 51.4%。預期的同比增長主要與入境運費減少有關，部分被與庫存採購相關的去槓桿化間接費用所抵消。

SG&A expense of $241 million to $251 million compared to $245.3 million last year. Year-over-year changes in SG&A expense primarily are driven by restoring short-term and long-term incentive compensation to normal levels, offset by company-wide cost reduction initiatives. Consolidated operating income was $17.3 million to $21.7 million compared to $12.3 million last year. Free cash flow of between $25 million and $30 million compared to a cash usage of $21.7 million in fiscal 2023.

SG&A 費用為 2.41 億美元至 2.51 億美元，而去年為 2.453 億美元。 SG&A 費用的同比變化主要是由於將短期和長期激勵薪酬恢復到正常水平，被全公司範圍內的成本削減舉措所抵消。綜合營業收入為 1730 萬美元至 2170 萬美元，而去年為 1230 萬美元。自由現金流在 2500 萬美元至 3000 萬美元之間，而 2023 財年的現金使用量為 2170 萬美元。

Diluted EPS of $0.40 to $0.50 based on diluted weighted shares outstanding of $31 million and effective tax rate of approximately 28%; diluted EPS totaled $0.24 last year. Net capital spending of approximately $5 million compared to $8.2 million in the prior year, reflecting investments associated with new Vera Bradley factory stores and technology and logistics enhancements.

基於 3100 萬美元的稀釋加權流通股和約 28% 的有效稅率，稀釋每股收益為 0.40 美元至 0.50 美元；去年攤薄每股收益總計 0.24 美元。淨資本支出約為 500 萬美元，而上一年為 820 萬美元，反映了與新 Vera Bradley 工廠店以及技術和物流改進相關的投資。

Let me turn the call back over to Jackie to share more about our go-forward strategies. Jackie?

讓我把電話轉回給傑基，分享更多關於我們前進戰略的信息。成龍？

Thanks, John. As Bill for Vera Bradley and Pura Vida brands, we are embarking on project restoration and we'll focus on 4 key pillars: consumer, brand, product and channel to drive long-term top and bottom line growth.

謝謝，約翰。作為 Vera Bradley 和 Pura Vida 品牌的比爾，我們正在著手恢復項目，我們將專注於 4 個關鍵支柱：消費者、品牌、產品和渠道，以推動長期的收入和利潤增長。

First, at Vera Bradley. Regarding the consumer, we will focus on restoring brand relevancy, targeting the casual and feminine 35- to 54-year-old women who not only value fashion and style, but also function. With this strategy, we will also inspire and retain our loyal customers outside of this age group. As we think about our brand, we will strategically market our distinctive and unique positioning as a colorful, feminine, fashionable brand that connects the customer on a deep emotional level.

首先，在維拉布拉德利。在消費者方面，我們將專注於恢復品牌相關性，目標人群是 35 至 54 歲的休閒女性，她們不僅重視時尚和風格，而且重視功能。通過這一戰略，我們還將激勵和留住這個年齡段以外的忠實客戶。當我們考慮我們的品牌時，我們將戰略性地營銷我們獨特而獨特的定位，即一個色彩繽紛、女性化、時尚的品牌，在深層次的情感層面上與客戶聯繫在一起。

We will refocus on core product categories and items we are best at by innovating and expanding within our core products. We will elevate our colorful feminine heritage, keeping it distinctive but more trend relevant through updated print and design. We will innovate into strategic adjacent lifestyle item introductions that make sense for our customers. And we will continue to pursue collaborations and partnerships that align with our target customers.

我們將通過在我們的核心產品中進行創新和擴展，重新專注於我們最擅長的核心產品類別和項目。我們將提升我們豐富多彩的女性傳統，通過更新的印刷和設計保持其獨特性，但更貼近潮流。我們將創新為對我們的客戶有意義的戰略性相鄰生活方式項目介紹。我們將繼續尋求與我們的目標客戶保持一致的合作和夥伴關係。

From a channel perspective, we will accelerate our digital first focus and online presence through a mix of brand storytelling and product messaging. We will build a balanced footprint that more clearly differentiates full line from factory stores through differentiated pattern and color, product functionality, sustainably sourced fabrics and pricing, and we will target new or strengthen existing relationships with strategically aligned wholesale partners.

從渠道的角度來看，我們將通過品牌故事和產品信息的結合來加速我們的數字優先重點和在線業務。我們將建立一個平衡的足跡，通過差異化的圖案和顏色、產品功能、可持續採購的面料和定價，更清楚地將全線產品與工廠店區分開來，我們將瞄準新的或加強與戰略一致的批發合作夥伴的現有關係。

At Pura Vida, on the consumer front, we will sharpen our focus on the Carefree 18- to 24-year-old collegiate girl, who both those younger and older aspire to be. Our target customer is free spirited, a trendsetter and focused on living her best life. Pura Vida jewelry is a way of expressing herself and fits her personality. We will refresh our brand image with a focus on showing what living free looks and feels like, showing real places, real moments and real faces that are authentic, diverse and inclusive.

在 Pura Vida，在消費者方面，我們將更加關注 18 至 24 歲的無憂無慮的女大學生，無論年齡大小，她們都渴望成為這樣的人。我們的目標客戶是自由奔放的，引領潮流的，專注於過上最美好的生活。 Pura Vida 珠寶是表達自我的一種方式，符合她的個性。我們將更新我們的品牌形象，重點展示自由生活的面貌和感覺，展示真實、多樣和包容的真實地點、真實時刻和真實面孔。

We will recenter our brand ethos on living life to the fullest as well as Pura Vida's hallmark of supporting charities and social responsibility. We will focus on delivering unique, fun, playful product designs that are affordable and accessible. We will continue to deepen our expertise and innovate in our hero core category of string bracelets as well as other jewelry items, and we will opportunistically explore additional close-in adjacent categories that make sense for our business and our customers.

我們將把我們的品牌精神重新融入到最充實的生活中，以及 Pura Vida 支持慈善事業和社會責任的標誌。我們將專注於提供價格實惠且易於使用的獨特、有趣、有趣的產品設計。我們將繼續深化我們的專業知識並在我們的主打核心品類手鍊和其他珠寶產品上進行創新，我們將適時探索對我們的業務和客戶有意義的其他鄰近品類。

As we look at channel distribution, we will have a strong focus on restoring e-commerce growth, utilizing our new comprehensive customer data platform to strategically target and personalized marketing. We will drive strategic growth of wholesale by pursuing larger, more strategic partnerships and expansion of our larger existing account. In addition, we will refine our store model to further drive top and bottom line growth, pausing new store growth this year to determine how big our store base should be and what infrastructure is needed to support that base.

在我們審視渠道分銷時，我們將重點關注恢復電子商務增長，利用我們新的綜合客戶數據平台進行戰略性目標和個性化營銷。我們將通過尋求更大、更具戰略性的合作夥伴關係和擴大現有客戶來推動批發業務的戰略增長。此外，我們將改進我們的商店模式以進一步推動收入和利潤增長，今年暫停新店增長以確定我們的商店基礎應該有多大以及需要什麼基礎設施來支持該基礎。

To support growth and development of our 2 brands on a corporate basis, we will continue to make strategic investments in the right talent to help drive the transformation and diligently manage our supply chain, gross margin, SG&A expenses and cash flow. This year, by focusing on stabilizing sales, gross margin expansion and expense control, we believe we can increase year-over-year operating income by at least 40% and EPS by at least 65%. We are in the process of more fully developing our strategic plans, and we'll share with you more details, along with long-term financial targets later this year.

為了在公司基礎上支持我們兩個品牌的增長和發展，我們將繼續對合適的人才進行戰略投資，以幫助推動轉型並努力管理我們的供應鏈、毛利率、SG&A 費用和現金流。今年，通過穩銷、擴大毛利率和控制費用，我們相信我們可以將營業收入同比增長至少40%，每股收益至少增長65%。我們正在更全面地制定我們的戰略計劃，我們將在今年晚些時候與您分享更多細節以及長期財務目標。

Operator, we will now open up the call to questions.

接線員，我們現在將打開問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) We'll go with our first question, Eric Beder from SCC Research.

（操作員說明）我們將回答第一個問題，來自 SCC Research 的 Eric Beder。

All right. When you talk -- I guess in terms of the reduction in expenses, how far along are you on the $25 million and how much of that should we incrementally see in this year?

好的。當你談論 - 我想就減少開支而言，你在 2500 萬美元上走了多遠，我們應該在今年逐步看到多少？

So the majority of the initial $25 million we actually saw we pulled through in fiscal '23. As Jackie kind of alluded to near the end of our prepared remarks, we are looking at kind of additional opportunities. So that's why we gave the expense range of the $241 million to $251 million to offset some of the incremental costs that were built into our budget associated with normalizing incentive compensation. But we think there's additional opportunities that we're going after, we just haven't identified them fully and execute them. That's why we gave that range.

因此，我們實際看到的最初 2500 萬美元的大部分是在 23 財年完成的。正如傑基在我們準備好的發言接近尾聲時提到的那樣，我們正在尋找更多的機會。因此，這就是為什麼我們給出 2.41 億美元至 2.51 億美元的費用範圍，以抵消我們預算中與標準化激勵薪酬相關的部分增量成本。但我們認為我們正在追求更多的機會，只是我們還沒有完全確定並執行它們。這就是我們給出該範圍的原因。

Okay. When you look at -- I know you talked about going to hold off on Pura Vida's store openings. What should we be thinking about in terms of store openings and closures for the Vera Bradley chain this year?

好的。當你看——我知道你談到要推遲 Pura Vida 的商店開業。在今年 Vera Bradley 連鎖店的開店和關店方面，我們應該考慮什麼？

Yes. So we have 3 identified factory stores that we're going to open in regards to closures for full line. We're working towards minimizing this number. But right now, we're probably close to about 10 that we're going to plan to close. It could be a little bit more, a little bit less than that, but we're working with landlords to see if we can work through some rent negotiations and to continue to move those stores out from a closure perspective as we look at fixing some of the products or improving some of the product that we sell through our full price brand. So we're actively having conversations with some of our major landlords to reduce that number, but you can probably think of it from a model perspective, Eric, of about 10.

是的。因此，我們有 3 家確定的工廠店，我們將在全線關閉方面開設這些店。我們正在努力盡量減少這個數字。但現在，我們可能接近計劃關閉的大約 10 個。可能多一點，少一點，但我們正在與房東合作，看看我們是否可以通過一些租金談判，並在我們考慮修復一些問題時，繼續從關閉的角度搬出這些商店產品或改進我們通過全價品牌銷售的某些產品。因此，我們正在積極與我們的一些主要房東進行對話，以減少這個數字，但你可能會從模型的角度來考慮它，Eric，大約 10 個。

Okay. And in terms of, I guess, the Vera Bradley product, you mentioned adjacencies. You mentioned trying to kind of get it to be more focused. What should we be thinking as we go to the stores in terms of what the product mix and the category should be doing?

好的。就 Vera Bradley 產品而言，我猜你提到了鄰接關係。你提到試圖讓它更專注。當我們去商店時，我們應該如何考慮產品組合和品類應該做什麼？

So Eric, I think in the short term, you won't see too much change as we kind of leverage our product development time line, we're making adjustments based on sales data, customer data as quickly as we can. But in the short term, you probably won't see too much. I think it's a little early right now. We want to make sure that we have the right data to drive the decisions around what those product adjacencies should be.

所以埃里克，我認為在短期內，你不會看到太多變化，因為我們有點利用我們的產品開發時間線，我們正在根據銷售數據和客戶數據盡快進行調整。但在短期內，你可能不會看到太多。我覺得現在有點早。我們希望確保我們擁有正確的數據來推動圍繞這些產品鄰接應該是什麼的決策。

What we have now, you know, may look a little bit different in the future, but we just want to make sure we have all the data to make those decisions. So it's a little early to speculate on what -- how things might be different. But I think you can count on seeing a more focused outlook from our -- in our product projection. So we really want to help people shop when they come into our stores and make clear what's important for the Vera Bradley brand.

你知道，我們現在擁有的東西在未來可能會有所不同，但我們只想確保我們擁有做出這些決定的所有數據。因此，現在推測事情可能有何不同還為時過早。但我認為你可以指望從我們的產品預測中看到更集中的前景。因此，我們真的很想幫助人們在進入我們的商店時購物，並弄清楚對 Vera Bradley 品牌來說什麼是重要的。

Okay. What's -- thinking about in terms of collaborations for both Pura Vida and Vera Bradley, I know that you -- the Harry Potter collaboration of Vera Bradley is no longer appearing and you had continued Disney collaborations and other pieces. What's going to be kind of the criteria going forward in terms of who you're going to partner with and how they can provide, I guess, increase relevance to your customer.

好的。什麼是 - 考慮 Pura Vida 和 Vera Bradley 的合作，我知道你 - Vera Bradley 的哈利波特合作不再出現，你繼續與迪士尼合作和其他作品。就您將與誰合作以及他們如何提供服務而言，未來的標準會是什麼，我想，會增加與您的客戶的相關性。

Yes, that's a great question, Eric. And I think right now, we're looking for our future partnerships to really resonate with the customer that we want. Sort of using -- again, using data to define how our customers interacted with the past collaborations, what the long-term value of those customers ended up to be. We're doing all that work right now to have input into what's our future IP lineup.

是的，這是一個很好的問題，埃里克。我認為現在，我們正在尋找未來的合作夥伴關係，以真正引起我們想要的客戶的共鳴。有點使用 - 再次使用數據來定義我們的客戶如何與過去的合作進行交互，這些客戶的長期價值最終是什麼。我們現在正在做所有這些工作，以投入到我們未來的 IP 陣容中。

Okay. Congrats and good luck for the rest of the year.

好的。恭喜你，祝你在今年剩下的時間裡好運。

And our next question comes from Joe Gomes from Noble Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Noble Capital 的 Joe Gomes。

So I wanted to kind of follow along here on the question about Vera Bradley in the store opening/closing. You guys have said in the past that the Full-Line stores are the ones that attract the higher household income customers as opposed to the factory stores. That -- if you cut 10%, that's 20% this year alone on the Full-Line stores. I mean, are you seeing those customer higher household income customers go to the factory stores or how are you attracting into the factory stores and what are you doing not to lose that higher household income customer?

所以我想在這裡跟進關於 Vera Bradley 在商店開/關的問題。你們過去曾說過，與工廠店相比，全線店更能吸引高家庭收入的顧客。那——如果你削減 10%，那麼僅今年全線商店就削減 20%。我的意思是，你是否看到那些家庭收入較高的客戶去工廠店，或者你是如何吸引到工廠店的，你在做什麼才不會失去那些家庭收入較高的客戶？

Yes, I think that's a great question. And I think the short answer to that is that we're really relying on e-commerce to help fill that gap and to identify the customers that we want at the demographic that's appealing for our brand. And again, that's how we'll be able to more effectively target those customers.

是的，我認為這是一個很好的問題。我認為對此的簡短回答是，我們真的依靠電子商務來幫助填補這一空白，並在對我們的品牌有吸引力的人群中確定我們想要的客戶。再一次，這就是我們能夠更有效地瞄準這些客戶的方式。

Okay. You talked about the focus on core categories. One of the things that you had introduced at the end -- towards the end of last year was your footwear line. Wondering, one, is that something you would look at as a, look at as a core category? And two, how has the footwear line been doing in the fourth -- how did it do in the fourth quarter? So footwear was a product expansion that we were very excited about and continue to be excited about.

好的。您談到了對核心類別的關注。你在去年年底推出的其中一件事是你的鞋類產品線。想知道，一個，你會把它看作是一個核心類別嗎？第二，鞋類產品線在第四季度的表現如何——第四季度的表現如何？所以鞋類是我們非常興奮並繼續興奮的產品擴展。

Our spring footwear has started off very strong. So again, we want to look at all of these programs and in relationship not only to sales but to really identifying in a targeted way what is happening with the customer and how it's driving her value over time. So those are -- that's analysis that's happening right now.

我們的春季鞋履開局強勁。因此，我們要再次審視所有這些計劃，不僅要考慮與銷售的關係，還要真正有針對性地確定客戶正在發生什麼，以及它如何隨著時間的推移推動她的價值。所以那些是 - 那是現在正在發生的分析。

Okay. And maybe switch over to Pura Vida for a second. You mentioned there, one of the challenges in the quarter was your wholesale account. Maybe you could just give us a little more color or detail of what was happening on the wholesale side over Pura Vida and what we're looking to do to see that line -- that segment turned back up for Pura Vida as opposed to going down.

好的。也許切換到 Pura Vida 一秒鐘。你在那裡提到，本季度的挑戰之一是你的批發賬戶。也許你可以給我們更多的顏色或細節，說明 Pura Vida 批發方面正在發生的事情，以及我們希望做些什麼來看到這條線——該部分為 Pura Vida 恢復了增長，而不是下降.

Sure. I think in Q4, we definitely saw some hesitancy in our retail partners just due to the macroeconomic environment and people just holding their open-to-buy dollars tightly. And that definitely had an impact on Pura Vida, much more than it did on Vera Bradley, but we did see early in the quarter that that was the case at Vera Bradley as well. What we've seen since then is a little more positivity from our retail partners. So we've definitely seen that pipeline increase since the beginning of the year.

當然。我認為在第四季度，我們的零售合作夥伴肯定會因為宏觀經濟環境而猶豫不決，而且人們只是緊握他們的公開購買美元。這肯定對 Pura Vida 產生了影響，遠遠超過對 Vera Bradley 的影響，但我們確實在本季度初看到 Vera Bradley 的情況也是如此。從那時起，我們所看到的是我們的零售合作夥伴更加積極。因此，自今年年初以來，我們肯定已經看到了管道的增加。

That's good news. And one last one from me. Great job on the inventory levels, seeing what the projections are for fiscal '24, John, are you looking for additional leverage there on the inventory being able to reduce that even more from where you are? Do you think that where we are today is at year-end is a good level?

那是好消息。最後一張是我的。庫存水平做得很好，看看 24 財年的預測，約翰，你是否正在尋找額外的庫存槓桿，以便能夠從你所在的地方進一步減少庫存？你認為我們今天的水平是年底的好水平嗎？

No. I think we're going to continue to look for opportunities to reduce that level to improve our turn. So as we built out the cash flow associated -- the free cash flow associated with next year's guidance, we expect inventory levels to drop from where it is today.

不，我認為我們將繼續尋找機會降低該水平以改善我們的轉向。因此，當我們建立相關的現金流量——與明年的指導相關的自由現金流量時，我們預計庫存水平將從今天的水平下降。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Jackie for any closing remarks.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給傑基，聽取任何結束語。

Thank you. We are committed to returning Vera Bradley and Pura Vida to profitable growth and generating strong cash flow as a company, which I believe will deliver value to our shareholders over the long term.

謝謝。我們致力於讓 Vera Bradley 和 Pura Vida 恢復盈利增長並產生強勁的現金流，我相信這將為我們的股東帶來長期價值。

Since joining the company in November, I am more convinced than ever that both brands have enormous potential, and I'm very excited about the future of Vera Bradley, Inc. We have a portfolio of 2 iconic lifestyle brands, multigenerational customers with remarkable loyalty and devotion, impressive brand recognition, a solid balance sheet and an extraordinary culture.

自從 11 月加入公司以來，我比以往任何時候都更加相信這兩個品牌都具有巨大的潛力，我對 Vera Bradley, Inc. 的未來感到非常興奮。我們擁有兩個標誌性的生活方式品牌組合，擁有非凡忠誠度的多代客戶和奉獻精神、令人印象深刻的品牌知名度、穩健的資產負債表和非凡的文化。

We have some heavy lifting to do in fiscal 2024, but I'm confident that we will emerge a stronger company. I want to thank our associates for their commitment to driving change and all they do to make our company a great place to work. We are proud to once again be recognized by Forbes as one of the best midsized employers in America.

我們在 2024 財年有一些繁重的工作要做，但我相信我們將成為一家更強大的公司。我要感謝我們的員工致力於推動變革，感謝他們為使我們的公司成為一個理想的工作場所所做的一切。我們很自豪再次被福布斯評為美國最佳中型雇主之一。

Thank you for joining us today, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you in the quarters ahead.

感謝您今天加入我們，我們期待在未來幾個季度與您分享我們的進展。

Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's conference. We appreciate your participation. Have a wonderful day.

謝謝。女士們，先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。祝你有美好的一天。