威瑞信 (VRSN) 2019 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone. Welcome to VeriSign's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. Recording of this call is not permitted unless preauthorized. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. David Atchley, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Treasurer. Please go ahead, sir.

大家好。歡迎參加 VeriSign 2019 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。除非預先授權，否則不允許本次通話進行錄音。現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係副總裁兼公司財務主管 David Atchley 先生主持。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to VeriSign's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Earnings Call. With me are Jim Bidzos, Executive Chairman, President and CEO; Todd Strubbe, Executive Vice President and COO; and George Kilguss, Executive Vice President and CFO. This call and presentation are being webcast from the Investor Relations website, which is available under About VeriSign on verisign.com. There, you will also find our fourth quarter and full year 2019 earnings release. At the end of this call, the presentation will be available on that site, and within a few hours, the replay of the call will be posted.

謝謝接線員，大家下午好。歡迎參加 VeriSign 2019 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。和我在一起的有執行董事長、總裁兼執行長吉姆‧比佐斯 (Jim Bidzos)； Todd Strubbe，執行副總裁兼營運長；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 George Kilguss。本次電話會議和簡報透過投資者關係網站進行網路直播，網站可在 verisign.com 上的「關於威瑞信」下找到。在那裡，您還可以找到我們發布的 2019 年第四季和全年財報。本次電話會議結束後，該簡報將在該網站上發布，幾個小時內，將發布電話會議的重播。

Financial results and our earnings release are unaudited, and our remarks include forward-looking statements that are subject to the risks and uncertainties that we discuss in detail in our documents filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, which identify risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. VeriSign retains its long-standing policy not to comment on financial performance or guidance during the quarter unless it is done through a public disclosure.

財務表現和我們的收益發布未經審計，我們的言論包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受到我們在向SEC 提交的文件中詳細討論的風險和不確定性的影響，特別是表格10-K 和10 的最新報告-Q，確定可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中包含的結果有重大差異的風險因素。威瑞信保留其長期政策，除非透過公開揭露的方式，否則不會對本季的財務業績或指引發表評論。

The financial results in today's call and the matters we will be discussing today include GAAP and non-GAAP measures used by VeriSign. GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation information is appended to our earnings release and slide presentation, as applicable, each of which can be found in the Investor Relations section of our website. In a moment, Jim and George will provide some prepared remarks, and afterward, we will open the call for your questions.

今天電話會議的財務表現以及我們今天將討論的事項包括威瑞信使用的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 衡量標準。GAAP 與非 GAAP 調節資訊附加在我們的收益發布和幻燈片簡報中（如果適用），每個資訊都可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。稍後，吉姆和喬治將提供一些準備好的發言，然後，我們將開始電話詢問您的問題。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Jim.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉給吉姆。

Thanks, David. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm pleased to report another solid quarter for VeriSign that caps off not only a solid year, but also a strong decade in which we focused on our core business, expanded the domain name base and returned value to our shareholders. In 2019, we marked more than 22 years of uninterrupted availability for the VeriSign DNS for .com and .net. 2019 was also a strong year for the .com and .net domain name base as we processed a record 40.3 million registrations and concluded the year with 158.8 million names. Finally, 2019 was characterized by solid financial performance with revenues of $1.232 billion and free cash flow of $714 million.

謝謝，大衛。大家下午好。我很高興地向大家報告威瑞信又一個穩健的季度，它不僅為堅實的一年劃上句號，而且為我們專注於核心業務、擴大域名基礎並向股東回報價值的強勁十年劃上了句號。2019 年，我們慶祝 .com 和 .net 的 VeriSign DNS 連續可用超過 22 年。2019 年對 .com 和 .net 網域庫來說也是強勁的一年，我們處理了創紀錄的 4,030 萬個註冊，並以 1.588 億個網域結束這一年。最後，2019 年的特點是財務表現穩健，收入為 12.32 億美元，自由現金流為 7.14 億美元。

On January 3, VeriSign and ICANN announced a proposed agreement to amend the .com Registry Agreement and a new proposed framework for working together on initiatives related to the security, stability and resiliency of the domain name system in the form of a binding letter of intent between the 2 organizations. Together, these agreements fulfill commitments that ICANN and VeriSign made in 2016 when the .com Registry Agreement was previously amended. The new proposed amendment updates the .com Registry Agreement to reflect certain changes under Amendment 35 to the Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, including the pricing changes.

1 月3 日，VeriSign 和ICANN 宣布了一項修訂.com 註冊管理機構協議的擬議協議，以及一個新的擬議框架，以具有約束力的意向書的形式共同開展與域名系統的安全性、穩定性和彈性相關的舉措2 個組織之間。這些協議共同履行了 ICANN 和 VeriSign 在 2016 年修訂 .com 註冊管理機構協議時所做的承諾。新提議的修正案更新了 .com 註冊管理機構協議，以反映與美國商務部合作協議第 35 號修正案中的某些變更，包括定價變更。

According to the terms of the proposed letter of intent, VeriSign will have a onetime commitment to provide $4 million per year over 5 years beginning on January 1, 2021, for ICANN to support activities to preserve and enhance the security, stability and resiliency of the DNS and the Internet. We believe that the activities funded by this commitment will benefit the entire Internet community.

根據擬議意向書的條款，VeriSign 將一次性承諾自 2021 年 1 月 1 日起的 5 年內每年提供 400 萬美元，用於支持 ICANN 維護和增強網路安全、穩定和彈性的活動。我們相信，這項承諾資助的活動將使整個網路社群受益。

ICANN's public comment period for these 2 documents closes February 14. The steps that follow the comment period's closing, according to ICANN's website, are that ICANN staff will prepare a report of the public comments by March 6, 2020, and then ICANN will submit the report to its Board of Directors.

ICANN 對這兩份文件的公眾評議期將於 2 月 14 日結束。根據 ICANN 網站的信息，意見徵詢期結束後的步驟是，ICANN 工作人員將在 2020 年 3 月 6 日之前準備一份公眾意見報告，然後 ICANN 將將該報告提交給董事會。

Now I'll discuss fourth quarter operational highlights. At the end of December, the domain name base in .com and .net totaled 158.8 million consisting of 145.4 million names for .com and 13.4 million names for .net, with a year-over-year growth rate of 3.9%. During the fourth quarter, we processed 10.3 million new registrations, and the domain name base increased by 1.46 million names. Although renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter, we believe that the renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2019 will be approximately 73.7%. This preliminary rate compares to 74.3% achieved in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 72.2% in the fourth quarter of 2017.

現在我將討論第四季的營運亮點。截至12月底，.com和.net網域總數達1.588億個，其中.com網域1.454億個，.net網域1,340萬個，年增3.9%。第四季度，我們處理了 1,030 萬個新註冊，網域庫增加了 146 萬個名稱。儘管續訂率要到季度結束後 45 天才能完全衡量，但我們認為 2019 年第四季的續訂率將約為 73.7%。相比之下，2018 年第四季為 74.3%，2017 年第四季為 72.2%。

Looking forward to 2020, we expect the domain name base growth rate of between 2% and 4%. During the fourth quarter, we repurchased 1 million shares of common stock for $195 million. During the full year 2019, we repurchased 3.9 million shares for $738 million. Effective today, the Board of Directors increased the amount of VeriSign common stock authorized for share repurchase by approximately $743 million to a total of $1 billion authorized and available under the share repurchase program, which has no expiration.

展望2020年，我們預期域名基數成長率介於2%至4%之間。第四季度，我們以 1.95 億美元回購了 100 萬股普通股。2019 年全年，我們以 7.38 億美元回購了 390 萬股股票。即日起，董事會將授權用於股票回購的 VeriSign 普通股金額增加了約 7.43 億美元，使根據無限期的股票回購計畫授權和可用的總額達到 10 億美元。

Our financial position remains strong with $1.218 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of the quarter. We continually evaluate the overall cash and investing needs of the business and consider the best uses for our cash, including potential share repurchases.

我們的財務狀況依然強勁，截至本季末現金、現金等價物及有價證券為 12.18 億美元。我們不斷評估業務的整體現金和投資需求，並考慮現金的最佳用途，包括潛在的股票回購。

Lastly, regarding .web, as we mentioned last quarter, a hearing on VeriSign and NDC's request to participate in the arbitration process was held last year. We expected a ruling on our request in 2019, but we have been told by the panel that it now hopes to issue its ruling this month.

最後，關於 .web，正如我們上季度提到的，去年就 VeriSign 和 NDC 請求參與仲裁程序舉行了聽證會。我們預計 2019 年會對我們的請求做出裁決，但專家小組告訴我們，現在希望在本月發布裁決。

And now I'd like to turn the call over to George.

現在我想把電話轉給喬治。

Thanks, Jim, and good afternoon, everyone. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the company generated revenue of $1.232 billion, up 1.4% from 2018; and delivered GAAP operating income of $806 million, up 5% from $767 million a year ago. As a reminder, revenue growth during 2019 was partially offset by lower revenue from our divested Security Services business as most customers' contracts transitioned to the buyer during the year.

謝謝吉姆，大家下午好。截至2019年12月31日止年度，該公司營收12.32億美元，較2018年成長1.4%；並實現 GAAP 營業收入 8.06 億美元，比一年前的 7.67 億美元成長 5%。需要提醒的是，2019 年的收入成長被我們剝離的安全服務業務的收入下降部分抵消，因為大多數客戶的合約在這一年轉移給了買方。

For the full year 2019, revenue from U.S. customers was 63% of total, with 37% coming from foreign customers. Fourth quarter revenue came to $311 million, up 1% year-over-year. GAAP operating expense totaled $112 million compared to $103 million last quarter and $113 million in the fourth quarter a year ago.

2019年全年，來自美國客戶的收入佔總收入的63%，其中37%來自外國客戶。第四季營收達到 3.11 億美元，年增 1%。GAAP 營運費用總計 1.12 億美元，上季為 1.03 億美元，去年第四季為 1.13 億美元。

The quarter-over-quarter increase in operating expense is primarily a result of increased investment in our business, including increased sales and marketing programs as well as investments in our operational infrastructure and security capabilities.

營運費用的環比增長主要是由於我們的業務投資增加，包括增加銷售和行銷計劃以及對營運基礎設施和安全能力的投資。

Fourth quarter operating income totaled $199 million compared with $194 million in the same quarter of 2018. The operating margin in the quarter came to 63.9% compared to 63.1% in the same quarter a year ago. Net income totaled $148 million compared to $182 million a year earlier, which produced diluted earnings per share of $1.26 in the fourth quarter this year compared to $1.5 for the same quarter last year. For the year-over-year comparative results, remember that 2018 results included the gain of our -- on the sale of our Security Services business, which increased fourth quarter 2018 GAAP net income by $52 million and earnings per share by $0.43.

第四季營業收入總計 1.99 億美元，而 2018 年同期為 1.94 億美元。本季營業利益率為 63.9%，而去年同期為 63.1%。淨利潤總計 1.48 億美元，而去年同期為 1.82 億美元，今年第四季攤薄後每股收益為 1.26 美元，去年同期為 1.5 美元。對於同比比較結果，請記住，2018 年的結果包括我們出售安全服務業務的收益，該收益使 2018 年第四季 GAAP 淨利潤增加了 5,200 萬美元，每股收益增加了 0.43 美元。

Related to non-GAAP results, fourth quarter 2019 non-GAAP operating expense, which excludes $12 million of stock-based compensation, totaled $100 million and was higher sequentially for the reasons I discussed earlier and slightly lower than fourth quarter 2018 levels.

與非GAAP 業績相關，2019 年第四季非GAAP 營運費用（不包括1,200 萬美元的股票薪酬）總計1 億美元，並且由於我之前討論過的原因而環比較高，略低於2018 年第四季度的水平。

Non-GAAP operating margin for the fourth quarter was 67.9%. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $154 million, resulting in non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.31. Finally, the full year 2019 non-GAAP operating margin was 69.6%.

第四季非公認會計準則營業利益率為 67.9%。該季度非 GAAP 淨利潤為 1.54 億美元，非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益為 1.31 美元。最後，2019 年全年非 GAAP 營業利益率為 69.6%。

As a reminder, beginning with the first quarter of 2020 results, we will no longer be presenting nor discussing non-GAAP metrics, with the exception of free cash flow and adjusted EBITDA. As of December 31, 2019, the company maintained total assets of $1.854 billion and total liabilities of $3.344 billion. Assets included $1.218 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

提醒一下，從 2020 年第一季業績開始，我們將不再展示或討論非 GAAP 指標，自由現金流和調整後 EBITDA 除外。截至2019年12月31日，公司總資產為18.54億美元，總負債為33.44億美元。資產包括 12.18 億美元的現金、現金等價物和有價證券。

Operating cash flow for the fourth quarter was $194 million, and free cash flow was $185 million compared with $219 million and $211 million, respectively, for the fourth quarter last year. The year-over-year difference was primarily related to higher cash taxes in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a lower working capital benefit.

第四季營運現金流為 1.94 億美元，自由現金流為 1.85 億美元，去年第四季分別為 2.19 億美元和 2.11 億美元。年比差異主要與 2019 年第四季現金稅增加和營運資本利得減少有關。

I will now discuss full year 2020 guidance, which is now based solely on GAAP metrics. Revenue is expected to be in the range of $1.250 billion to $1.265 billion. This revenue range forecast reflects a growth rate slightly below the expected domain name base growth rate of between 2% and 4% as 2020 revenue no longer reflects any residual revenue from the Security Services business, which in 2019 was about $10 million.

我現在將討論 2020 年全年指導，該指導現在僅基於 GAAP 指標。預計收入在12.5億美元至12.65億美元之間。此收入範圍預測反映的成長率略低於 2% 至 4% 之間的預期網域基礎成長率，因為 2020 年收入不再反映安全服務業務的任何剩餘收入（2019 年約為 1,000 萬美元）。

GAAP operating margin, which includes stock-based compensation, is expected to be between 64.5% and 65.5%. This guidance range reflects our expectation of incremental investment in our operational infrastructure and security capabilities during 2020.

包括股票薪酬在內的 GAAP 營業利潤率預計在 64.5% 至 65.5% 之間。這項指導範圍反映了我們對 2020 年營運基礎設施和安全能力增量投資的預期。

Interest expense and nonoperating income net is expected to be an expense of between $68 million and $75 million. This range reflects both lower nonoperating income from the transition services agreement, which will cease during the first quarter, and lower expected interest income on cash balances. Capital expenditures are expected to be between $45 million and $55 million.

利息支出和營業外收入淨額預計為 6,800 萬至 7,500 萬美元。這一範圍反映了過渡服務協議（協議將在第一季終止）的非營業收入下降，以及現金餘額的預期利息收入下降。資本支出預計在 4500 萬至 5500 萬美元之間。

The GAAP effective tax rate is expected to be between 18% and 21%. We expect the cash tax rate for 2020 to also be within the same range.

GAAP 有效稅率預計在 18% 至 21% 之間。我們預計 2020 年的現金稅率也將在同一範圍內。

In summary, VeriSign continue to demonstrate sound financial performance during 2019, and we look forward to continuing strong execution in 2020.

總之，威瑞信在 2019 年繼續展現出良好的財務業績，我們期待在 2020 年繼續保持強勁的執行力。

Now I'll turn the call back to Jim for his closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給吉姆，讓他作結束語。

Thank you, George. The fourth quarter was another solid quarter for VeriSign, capping a solid year for the company. There was further expansion of the domain name base and year-over-year revenue growth. We generated and efficiently returned value to shareholders. We continued our work to protect, grow and manage the business while continuing our focus on providing long-term value to our shareholders.

謝謝你，喬治。第四季是威瑞信又一個穩健的季度，為該公司穩健的一年畫下句點。域名基礎進一步擴大，營收年增。我們為股東創造並有效地回報了價值。我們繼續努力保護、發展和管理業務，同時繼續專注於為股東提供長期價值。

We'll now take your questions. Operator, we're ready for the first question.

我們現在將回答您的問題。接線員，我們準備好回答第一個問題了。

(Operator Instructions) And we'll take our first question today from Rob Oliver with Baird.

（操作員說明）今天我們將回答 Rob Oliver 和 Baird 提出的第一個問題。

A question for you, George. Just on the full year guidance, just curious if you could help us understand what might be in there in terms of -- because we're expecting price increases to roll in starting later this year and if that's been factored in. And additionally, on .web, I know tough to know exactly when that closes, but expecting that it would in '20, obviously less meaningful, but just curious whether those were included in the guide. And then I just had a quick follow-up.

有個問題問你，喬治。就全年指導而言，只是好奇您是否可以幫助我們了解其中可能包含的內容 - 因為我們預計從今年晚些時候開始價格上漲，並且是否已將其考慮在內。此外，在 .web 上，我知道很難確切知道它何時關閉，但預計它會在 20 年關閉，顯然意義不大，但只是好奇這些是否包含在指南中。然後我就進行了快速跟進。

Yes, Rob, we don't guide to price increases. But I can tell you, in our guidance, there are no price increases in the guidance.

是的，羅布，我們不指導價格上漲。但我可以告訴你，在我們的指導中，指導中沒有提價的情況。

And there's no -- none of the guidance that you've been given includes any revenue from .web at this point.

目前，您獲得的所有指導均不包含來自 .web 的任何收入。

Okay. Great. Very helpful. And then just as a follow-up, I know you also mentioned in your prepared remarks increase in sales and marketing. And just was wondering if -- and domain growth obviously was strong, coming in stronger than expected. Just wondering if that's just kind of normal channel incentive activity or if there's anything else structural going on in terms of driving increased sales and marketing and potential increased spend going forward.

好的。偉大的。非常有幫助。作為後續行動，我知道您在準備好的發言中也提到了銷售和行銷的增加。只是想知道網域成長是否明顯強勁，強於預期。只是想知道這是否只是一種正常的通路激勵活動，或者在推動銷售和行銷以及未來潛在支出增加方面是否存在其他結構性因素。

Yes, Rob. So from a marketing perspective, I would say, in general, the programs and types of programs that we ran this year were similar to last year. So there's really not a huge change in what we're doing. Again, if you recall last year, we also had some seasonal increase in sales and marketing in the fourth quarter, and we articulated that in our 10-Q that we filed last quarter, that we expected that to go up as a percent of sales as well.

是的，羅布。所以從行銷的角度來看，我想說，總的來說，我們今年舉辦的專案和專案類型與去年是相似的。所以我們正在做的事情實際上並沒有太大的變化。同樣，如果您還記得去年，我們第四季度的銷售和行銷也出現了一些季節性增長，並且我們在上季度提交的 10-Q 中明確表示，我們預計其占銷售額的百分比將上升以及。

Next, we'll hear from Nick Jones with Citi.

接下來，我們將聽取花旗銀行尼克瓊斯 (Nick Jones) 的演講。

First, I guess, is there anything noteworthy as far as geographic mix goes? I know China has had an impact on renewal rates. And I guess, given kind of the coronavirus issue there, is that creating any challenges with registrations in that region?

首先，我想，就地理組合而言，有什麼值得注意的地方嗎？我知道中國對續訂率產生了影響。我想，考慮到那裡的冠狀病毒問題，這是否會為該地區的註冊帶來任何挑戰？

I'm sorry, I didn't catch the second part of the question.

抱歉，我沒聽清楚問題的第二部分。

I'm just wondering if the kind of health care issues in China is having an impact on registrations or renewals.

我只是想知道中國的醫療保健問題是否會對註冊或續約產生影響。

Okay. So yes, I mean, in the fourth quarter, we had a very strong fourth quarter. As Jim alluded to, 10.3 million new additions, which was up from 9.5 million in the fourth quarter of '18. When we look at where that demand came from, it came from registrars based in the United States, Asia Pacific region and EMEA. So as far as renewal rates, again, they vary by geography. It's something we keep an eye on. But as it relates to any virus over in China, we're not seeing any impact to date, but it's something we'll keep an eye on.

好的。所以，是的，我的意思是，在第四季度，我們的第四季度非常強勁。正如吉姆所提到的，新增人數為 1,030 萬，高於 18 年第四季的 950 萬。當我們查看需求的來源時，我們發現它來自美國、亞太地區和歐洲、中東和非洲地區的註冊商。因此，就續訂率而言，它們又因地理位置而異。這是我們密切關注的事情。但由於它與中國的任何病毒有關，迄今為止我們還沒有看到任何影響，但我們會密切關注。

Got it. And then one more. The investment with ICANN, can you provide a little more color around kind of what needs improvement and preservation? Is it mostly on growing CapEx? Or is there anything kind of figure that you can call out?

知道了。然後還有一張。對於 ICANN 的投資，您能否為需要改進和保留的內容提供更多的資訊？主要是資本支出成長嗎？或是有什麼可以叫出來的數字嗎？

So the question, Nick, that was about -- spend on the infrastructure? Was that the question?

尼克，問題是──在基礎建設的支出？是這個問題嗎？

Yes. The $4 million per year over 5 years.

是的。5年內每年400萬美元。

Okay. The...

好的。這...

Yes, I'm sorry. Can you just...

是的，對不起。你能不能就...

The question about the letter of intent, the $4 million over 5 years.

關於意向書的問題，5年400萬美元。

Yes. If you can give a little more color on what exactly the money is going to be going towards and what needs to be improved, what needs to be preserved. Is there any kind of additional color you can provide there?

是的。如果你能更詳細地說明這筆錢將用於哪些方面、哪些方面需要改進、哪些方面需要保留。你們可以提供任何額外的顏色嗎？

Well, it's security and stability for both the DNS and for the Internet. There's a broad variety of areas where that funding will go. There's things such as root governance, which impacts everybody, every relying party on the global Internet. ICANN's core mission is security and stability, and that's where this funding is going. That -- you may have followed last year, for example, ICANN executed on something called the KSK rollover, refreshing a critical part of the global security system for the Internet. There's a broad variety of areas that need additional funding that everybody, including VeriSign, that the entire global Internet community will benefit from. And so the funding in the LOI is specifically targeted in that broad security, stability and resiliency area in ICANN's core mission.

嗯，這對 DNS 和互聯網來說都是安全和穩定的。這些資金將流向多個領域。諸如根治理之類的事情會影響全球網路上的每個人、每個依賴方。ICANN 的核心使命是安全和穩定，這也是這筆資金的用途。例如，您可能去年就注意到了，ICANN 執行了名為 KSK 輪轉的操作，刷新了全球網路安全系統的關鍵部分。有很多領域需要額外的資金，包括威瑞信在內的每個人都將從中受益。因此，意向書的資金專門針對 ICANN 核心使命中廣泛的安全、穩定和彈性領域。

We will take our last question from Sterling Auty with JPMorgan.

我們將回答摩根大通的斯特林奧蒂提出的最後一個問題。

Got a couple of questions. First one, to revisit the renewal rate. I know you mentioned that renewal rate varies by geography. But given that it was down year-on-year, any more color that you can give? Is it just mix-driven, where the renewal rates in each of the geography is consistent with last year? Or did you see any changes in any of the renewal rates in those geographies?

有幾個問題。第一，重新檢視續訂率。我知道您提到續訂率因地理位置而異。但鑑於同比下降，您還能提供更多顏色嗎？是否只是混合驅動，每個地區的續訂率與去年一致？或者您發現這些地區的續訂率有任何變化？

Sterling, I mean, as you know, renewal rates vacillate period to period. But I think from a big picture perspective, as we articulated last quarter, it really is -- it seems to be a mixture of the names that we sold in the prior year coming up for renewal. We had more names being sold last year in the Asia Pacific and China region that are becoming a slightly larger proportion of the base, and so they are having a slight impact there. But other than that, we're not seeing huge variances. Again, I would just remind you, if you look back over the last couple of years, the company's renewal rate has been around 72% and has recently increased up into the 74% range. And while it is down year-over-year by about 60 basis points, it's still, in general, improving as the base ages. So I would just remind folks that we have a pretty stable renewal rate within the company.

英鎊，我的意思是，正如你所知，續訂率會隨著時間的推移而波動。但我認為，從大局角度來看，正如我們上季度所闡述的那樣，它確實是——它似乎是我們在上一年出售的即將續訂的名稱的混合體。去年，我們在亞太地區和中國地區銷售了更多的名字，這些名字在我們的基數中所佔的比例略大，因此它們在那裡產生了輕微的影響。但除此之外，我們沒有看到巨大的差異。我再次提醒您，如果您回顧過去幾年，該公司的續約率一直在 72% 左右，最近已上升至 74%。雖然年減約 60 個基點，但總體而言，隨著基數老化，其仍在改善。所以我只想提醒大家，我們公司內部的續約率相當穩定。

Okay. And then following up on the 10.3 million gross additions. You basically said there's growth out of U.S., Asia Pacific and EMEA. But can you peel that back a little bit more? So 10.3 million is better than what we have been seeing. I think it's the first time you've done over 10 million in quite some time. Which area contributed more than what you have been seeing? In other words, which geography generated incremental growth this quarter?

好的。然後跟進 1030 萬的總增量。您基本上說的是美國、亞太地區和歐洲、中東和非洲地區的成長。但你能把它再剝離一點嗎？所以 1030 萬比我們之前看到的要好。我認為這是相當長一段時間以來你們第一次突破 1000 萬。哪個領域的貢獻比您所看到的更多？換句話說，哪個地區在本季帶來了增量成長？

Well, as I said, those 3 were the largest contributors to the growth. Again, recall, we're a thin registry. So what we're reporting on is the registrations by our registrars, where they are domiciled to do business. So to some degree, it may not be completely transparent to where the end users are. The registrars have that information, not necessarily us. But our customers, the registrars, in the fourth quarter, the U.S. continued to remain strong, as did Asia Pacific and EMEA.

嗯，正如我所說，這三個人是成長的最大貢獻者。再次提醒您，我們的註冊機構很薄弱。因此，我們報告的是我們的註冊商的註冊情況，他們的註冊地點是開展業務的地方。因此在某種程度上，對於最終用戶的位置可能並不完全透明。註冊商擁有這些信息，不一定是我們。但我們的客戶（註冊商）在第四季度繼續保持強勁勢頭，亞太地區和歐洲、中東和非洲地區也是如此。

And the other thing I'll just comment on is, also, what happens sometimes from year-to-year is you have new companies becoming registrars, and they tend to pop up in new markets. And we have sometimes consolidation in a market where one registrar may acquire some business from another registrar. So -- but those 3 regions performed well for us in the quarter.

我要評論的另一件事是，每年有時會發生的情況是，有新公司成為註冊商，而且它們往往會出現在新市場中。有時，我們會在一個註冊商可能會從另一個註冊商收購一些業務的市場中進行整合。所以——但這三個地區在本季對我們來說表現良好。

Okay. Got it. And then I wanted to clarify. Jim, you mentioned in terms of the panel decision on .web, that's just the final decision as to whether you can be a party to the process? Or what is that decision that you're waiting for this month on?

好的。知道了。然後我想澄清一下。Jim，您提到 .web 上的小組決定，這只是您是否可以參與流程的最終決定？或者這個月你等待的決定是什麼？

Yes, Sterling, that's the issue before the panel. They indicated that they could rule before the end of the year. That didn't happen. The indication now is that they hope to rule this month. But the issue before them that they will be ruling on is the active participation by VeriSign in this process.

是的，斯特林，這就是專家組面臨的問題。他們表示他們可以在年底前執政。那沒有發生。現在的跡像是他們希望在本月執政。但擺在他們面前的問題是他們要裁決的問題是威瑞信在這過程中的積極參與。

Okay. And then back -- operationally, you mentioned the investments that you're making both in sales and marketing as well as some infrastructure investments. Can you kind of parse out, where was the bigger portion of that investment, in which of those 2 areas?

好的。然後回到營運方面，您提到了您在銷售和行銷方面的投資以及一些基礎設施投資。您能否分析一下，該投資的較大部分在哪裡，在這兩個領域中的哪一個？

We're not prepared to talk about that level of detail. There are a lot of different components to the security infrastructure investments. As you know, Sterling, we're very different than most other registries. Many of them are actually marketing registries rather than operating registries. We operate the .com and .net infrastructure, which requires stringent performance requirements. So we make investments that are, I think, far beyond what most others do. There are a lot of scheduled investments that we make. But as you know, the cybersecurity threat environment is dynamic and ever-changing. If there are new threats, if there are new technologies, new products that strengthen our infrastructure and our core mission, we're not going to hesitate to make those investments. We had all of the above in the quarter -- in the quarter, along with sales and marketing. But we haven't, and I don't think we're prepared now, to break that out in any detail.

我們不准備討論這種程度的細節。安全基礎設施投資有很多不同的組成部分。如您所知，Sterling，我們與大多數其他註冊管理機構非常不同。其中許多實際上是行銷註冊機構而不是經營註冊機構。我們經營 .com 和 .net 基礎設施，這需要嚴格的效能要求。因此，我認為我們所做的投資遠遠超出了大多數其他公司的投資。我們進行了很多預定的投資。但如您所知，網路安全威脅環境是動態且不斷變化的。如果出現新的威脅，如果有新技術、新產品可以加強我們的基礎設施和我們的核心使命，我們將毫不猶豫地進行這些投資。我們在本季擁有上述所有內容，以及銷售和行銷。但我們還沒有，而且我認為我們現在還沒有準備好詳細地解決這個問題。

Last question is, one of the questions I get frequently from investors is what your appetite and what your view would be on acquisitions and being a consolidator in the market, especially now that you've got the ability to be a vertically integrated company outside of .com. What's your interest level in pursuing those opportunities?

最後一個問題是，我經常從投資者那裡得到的問題之一是，你的興趣是什麼，你對收購和成為市場整合者的看法是什麼，特別是現在你有能力成為一家垂直整合的公司。 .com。您對尋求這些機會的興趣程度如何？

I don't think there's any update we can provide you. There's certainly no guidance or particular interest. As you know, our focus is on. com and. net. We've actually made divestments in our VSS business. We are pursuing .web as a growth opportunity. We do have additional IDNs that we expect to deploy in the future. I think security and stability in our current growth plans that we've talked about are what we're prepared to talk about. There's not anything else that I would speculate about or guide to. I would just say that, as you heard George and myself commented earlier, the guidance that we've given for 2020 does not include any provision for price increases, doesn't include any revenue from .web. So we tend to be more conservative in those areas, and that's probably as much as I can tell you at this time.

我認為我們無法為您提供任何更新。當然沒有指導或特別的興趣。如您所知，我們的重點是。com 和.網。我們實際上已經撤資了 VSS 業務。我們將 .web 作為成長機會。我們確實有其他 IDN，預計將來會部署。我認為我們已經討論過的當前成長計劃的安全性和穩定性是我們準備討論的。我不會推測或指導任何其他事情。我只想說，正如您聽到喬治和我自己之前評論的那樣，我們為 2020 年提供的指導不包括任何價格上漲的規定，也不包括來自 .web 的任何收入。因此，我們在這些領域往往更加保守，這可能是我目前可以告訴你的。

That will conclude today's question-and-answer session. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. David Atchley for any additional closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我現在將把會議轉交給 David Atchley 先生，讓他發表更多結案的詞。

Thank you, operator. Please call the Investor Relations department with any follow-up questions from this call. Thank you for your participation. This concludes our call. Have a good evening.

謝謝你，接線生。如果本次電話會議有任何後續問題，請致電投資者關係部門。感謝您的參與。我們的通話到此結束。祝你晚上愉快。

That does conclude today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。