Vestis Corp (VSTS) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to the Vestis Corporation fiscal first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to Michael Aurelio, Vice President, Investor Relations.

歡迎參加 Vestis Corporation 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）現在，我想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Michael Aurelio。

Thank you, Madison, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Vestis Corporation fiscal first quarter 2025 earnings call. With me here today are our President and CEO, Kim Scott; and our CFO, Rick Dillon. As a reminder, a telephonic replay of this call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the vestis.com website shortly after the completion of the call. Also, access to the materials discussed on today's call are available on the Vestis' website under the Investor Relations section.

謝謝你，麥迪遜，大家早安。歡迎參加 Vestis Corporation 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。今天和我一起在場的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Kim Scott 和我們的財務長 Rick Dillon。提醒一下，本次電話會議的電話回放將在電話會議結束後不久在 vestis.com 網站的投資者關係部分提供。此外，您還可以在 Vestis 網站的「投資者關係」部分存取今天電話會議上討論的資料。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include remarks about management's future expectations, beliefs, estimates, plans and prospects. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such statements. Such risks and other factors are set forth in our periodic and current reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any duty to update them.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，本次電話會議可能包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性陳述。其中包括對管理層未來期望、信念、估計、計劃和前景的評論。此類聲明受各種風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與此類聲明所顯示或暗示的結果有重大差異。此類風險和其他因素在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的定期和當前報告中列出。我們不承擔任何更新它們的義務。

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

說完這些，我想把電話轉給金。

Thank you, Michael. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our fiscal first quarter 2025 earnings call. As always, I want to start by thanking our 20,000 dedicated teammates for their hard work as we continue to execute against the tremendous opportunity ahead for Vestis.

謝謝你，麥可。大家早安。感謝您參加我們的 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議。像往常一樣，首先我要感謝我們 20,000 名敬業的隊友，感謝他們的辛勤工作，我們將繼續抓住 Vestis 未來的巨大機會。

Our Q1 results came in as we expected last quarter, we communicated Q1 revenue and EBITDA would look similar to the fourth quarter of FY24. We delivered results in line with this commentary with Q1 revenue of $684 million, flat sequentially from fourth quarter 2024 and adjusted EBITDA of $81.2 million, up approximately 1% sequentially from fourth quarter 2024.

我們第一季的業績與我們上個季度的預期一致，我們表示第一季的營收和 EBITDA 將與 24 財年第四季相似。我們實現了與此評論一致的業績，第一季營收為 6.84 億美元，與 2024 年第四季持平，調整後 EBITDA 為 8,120 萬美元，比 2024 年第四季環比成長約 1%。

We also note our Q1 revenue was impacted by unfavorable movement in the Canadian dollar exchange rate, which had a negative impact relative to last year and the assumption in our guidance. Compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2024, revenue was down 4.7% or 4.5% on a constant currency basis. As we previously discussed, our 2025 results exclude the benefit of onetime customer exit billings and revenue from the large direct sales customer that we exited in FY24 as part of our profit improvement plan for this line of business.

我們也注意到，我們的第一季營收受到加幣匯率不利變動的影響，這與去年和我們指引中的假設相比產生了負面影響。與 2024 財年第一季相比，營收下降了 4.7%，以固定匯率計算則下降了 4.5%。正如我們之前所討論的，我們的 2025 年業績不包括一次性客戶退出帳單的收益以及我們在 24 財年退出的大型直銷客戶的收入，這是我們針對該業務線的利潤改善計劃的一部分。

Adjusted for these items, which we believe represents a more accurate reflection of the underlying performance of our business, first quarter revenue declined 2.8% on a normalized constant currency basis and what we expect will be both the toughest comp and the low point for our quarterly revenue in fiscal 2025.

經過這些項目的調整，我們認為這更準確地反映了我們業務的基本表現，第一季收入按正常化固定匯率計算下降了 2.8%，我們預計這將是我們 2025 財年季度收入中最艱難的一次，也是最低點。

From a profitability perspective, Q1 adjusted EBITDA was $81.2 million. Our Q1 EBITDA margin was 11.9%, down 180 basis points year-over-year and up 10 basis points sequentially versus the fourth quarter. Q1 cash flow was impacted by normal seasonality as well as timing that shifted some cash collection into the second quarter, which Rick will discuss in more detail.

從獲利能力角度來看，第一季調整後的 EBITDA 為 8,120 萬美元。我們第一季的 EBITDA 利潤率為 11.9%，年減 180 個基點，季減 10 個基點。第一季的現金流量受到正常季節性以及時間因素的影響，導致部分現金收款轉移到第二季度，Rick 將對此進行更詳細的討論。

On an underlying basis, we expect the business to remain highly cash generative and see no change in our outlook for the full year given this was a Q1 timing dynamics. We were pleased to continue to improve our balance sheet during the quarter with our gross and net debt declining to $1.29 billion and $1.27 billion, respectively, and Q1 net debt to EBITDA of 3.8 times.

從根本上講，我們預計該業務將保持較高的現金創造能力，考慮到這是第一季的時間動態，我們對全年的展望不會改變。我們很高興看到本季我們的資產負債表繼續改善，總債務和淨債務分別下降至 12.9 億美元和 12.7 億美元，第一季淨債務與 EBITDA 比率為 3.8 倍。

Now that I've summarized our Q1 results, I want to look ahead to the rest of the year. I'm excited by all aspects of our business, but especially by a particular milestone we expect to hit in Q2. Toward the end of the second quarter, we expect new volume growth will exceed lost business driven by field sales productivity, national account wins, new frontline sales headcount growth and solid retention metrics.

現在我已經總結了我們第一季的業績，我想展望一下今年剩餘的時間。我對我們業務的各個方面都感到興奮，尤其是我們預計在第二季將達到的特定里程碑。到第二季末，我們預計新的銷售量成長將超過業務損失，這得益於現場銷售效率、全國帳戶勝利、新的一線銷售人員數量增長和穩健的保留指標。

Further, we started taking price in Q1, which held well and will continue through the year. In addition to core volume growth and price, we have cost savings benefits throughout the year. And to that end, we are reaffirming our full year FY25 guidance for revenue and EBITDA.

此外，我們在第一季就開始採取價格措施，這一情況保持良好並將持續全年。除了核心銷售成長和價格之外，我們全年還享有成本節約效益。為此，我們重申 2025 財年全年營收和 EBITDA 指引。

We expect our business will grow sales at a rate of 3% to 4% with EBITDA growth approaching or exceeding 10% in the second half of the year. For FY25 revenues, there are four main drivers that will support our sequential ramp. The first driver is strong new volume wins across SME field sales and national accounts.

我們預計下半年我們的業務銷售額將以 3% 至 4% 的速度成長，EBITDA 成長率將接近或超過 10%。對於 2025 財年的收入，有四個主要驅動因素將支持我們的持續成長。第一個驅動因素是中小企業現場銷售和全國帳戶的強勁新銷售勝利。

On billed sales, we're seeing the positive effects from organizational changes made last year, with year-over-year productivity improving 20% this quarter. We believe there is more room to go as we saw some of our regions achieve a 40% increase.

在帳單銷售額方面，我們看到了去年組織變革帶來的正面影響，本季生產力年增了 20%。我們看到部分地區實現了 40% 的成長，因此我們相信還有更大的發展空間。

On national accounts, we are accelerating new business installations and continue to convert our pipeline into new wins. These customers drive route density and leverage our excess plant capacity in our network, which in turn drives operating leverage in our business. Some significant wins from this quarter include a new lane expansion with a large restaurant customer, where Vestis will more than triple its recurring revenue. This customer will ramp in Q2 and throughout the year.

在全國範圍內，我們正在加速新業務的安裝，並繼續將我們的管道轉化為新的勝利。這些客戶推動了路線密度並利用了我們網路中的過剩工廠產能，從而推動了我們業務的營運槓桿。本季的一些重大勝利包括與一家大型餐廳客戶的新通道擴張，Vestis 的經常性收入將增加兩倍以上。該客戶將在第二季及全年加大產能。

We also won a number of new customers in health care and industrial verticals. Our pipeline with National Accounts is the strongest it's been since I joined Vestis. The second driver in our sequential acceleration is growth with existing customers.

我們還在醫療保健和工業垂直領域贏得了許多新客戶。自從我加入 Vestis 以來，我們與國家帳戶的聯繫最為密切。我們連續加速的第二個驅動力是現有客戶的成長。

During Q1, our revenue from route sales to existing customers increased by more than 50% year-over-year. The third driver is our hiring pipeline for frontline sales teammates. After intentionally slowing our frontline sales hiring in 2024, we have once again resumed hiring in 2025. January marks the first month since pausing in 2024, that we've had a positive net change in sales head count. These new hires will drive sales in 2025 and beyond, as we introduce these teammates into a more professionalized selling environment.

第一季度，我們向現有客戶銷售航線的收入年增了50%以上。第三個驅動力是我們為前線銷售團隊成員招募的管道。在 2024 年有意放緩第一線銷售人員的招募後，我們於 2025 年再次恢復招募。1 月是自 2024 年暫停以來，我們的銷售人員數量首次出現淨變化。隨著我們將這些新員工引入更專業的銷售環境，他們將推動 2025 年及以後的銷售。

The fifth driver is our retention metric. In the first quarter, our customer retention rate was 92.9%, up 30 basis points year-over-year and up 280 basis points versus the fourth quarter. As we've mentioned in the past, we feel it is most useful to evaluate retention on a full year basis. which we believe is most indicative of our underlying performance. Going forward, we will continue to report customer retention on an annual basis with quarterly disclosure focused on the in-period revenue impact from lost business.

第五個驅動因素是我們的保留指標。第一季度，我們的客戶留存率為92.9%，較去年同期成長30個基點，較上季成長280個基點。正如我們過去提到的那樣，我們認為以全年為基礎評估保留率是最有用的。我們認為這最能說明我們的基本表現。展望未來，我們將繼續按年度報告客戶保留率，並在季度揭露中重點關注業務損失對期內收入的影響。

To recap, I believe in our sequential revenue guidance because of the new customers we're winning across SMEs and national accounts, our ramp in sales force hiring, our growth with existing customers and our Q1 retention metrics. For FY25 EBITDA, in addition to the net volume improvement, there are three main drivers that support our sequential ramp.

總而言之，我相信我們的連續收入指引，因為我們在中小企業和全國客戶中贏得了新客戶，我們的銷售人員招聘增加，現有客戶的成長以及我們的第一季保留指標。對於 FY25 EBITDA，除了淨銷售改善之外，還有三個主要驅動因素支持我們的連續成長。

The first driver is meaningful cost savings from operating more efficiently. We are pulling several levers, including driving merchandise reuse programs and logistics optimization initiatives. The second driver is optimizing our workforce to further drive cost performance and structural profitability of our business.

第一個驅動因素是透過更有效率的營運實現顯著的成本節約。我們正在採取多種措施，包括推動商品再利用計劃和物流優化計劃。第二個驅動力是優化我們的勞動力，以進一步提高業務的成本績效和結構獲利能力。

During Q1, we took further action to rationalize, build operations and back office G&A where appropriate, with the majority of P&L benefits to come in future quarters. The final driver of our EBITDA ramp is our in select in-year pricing. We have improved our market segmentation, and we observed pricing in Q1 stock better than in other quarters.

在第一季度，我們採取了進一步的措施，在適當的情況下合理化、建立營運和後台管理部門的一般及行政管理，大部分損益表收益將在未來幾個季度實現。我們的 EBITDA 成長的最終驅動力是我們選擇的年內定價。我們已經改善了市場細分，我們觀察到第一季的股票定價優於其他季度。

We expect to continue to realize net positive price increases with our existing customer base in FY25. To recap, a lot is working well at Vestis. Churn is in line with our expectations. Field sales productivity is ramping nicely. Our sales hiring pipeline is robust. We're winning with national accounts and we have pricing and cost savings through the rest of the year. We're excited by our business fundamentals and the sequential ramp we expect for the year.

我們預計在 25 財年，現有客戶群將持續實現淨正價格上漲。總而言之，Vestis 的許多工作都進展順利。客戶流失符合我們的預期。現場銷售效率正在穩步提升。我們的銷售招募管道十分充足。我們憑藉全國客戶贏得了勝利，並在今年剩餘時間內實現了定價和成本的節省。我們對我們的業務基本面以及今年預期的連續成長感到興奮。

Before I turn the call over to Rick to discuss the financials, I'd like to provide some additional color on our outlook. For the full year, we continue to expect the underlying business to deliver 1% to 2% core revenue growth and 40 basis points of core adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, normalized for the fiscal '24 customer exit billings and direct sales impact that I previously discussed.

在我將電話轉給里克討論財務狀況之前，我想對我們的前景提供一些額外的說明。對於全年而言，我們繼續預計基礎業務將實現 1% 至 2% 的核心收入增長和 40 個基點的核心調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴張，以我之前討論過的 24 財年客戶退出賬單和直接銷售影響為標準。

We continue to expect this core performance to be driven by positive contributions from both net volume and pricing for the full year fiscal 2025. As we deliver on our plan, we expect to see sequential improvement in both revenue and EBITDA through the balance of the year, with our strongest performance in the fourth quarter.

我們繼續預期這項核心業績將受到 2025 財年全年淨銷售量和定價的正面貢獻所推動。隨著我們計劃的實施，我們預計今年全年營收和 EBITDA 將連續改善，其中第四季度的表現最為強勁。

On a year-over-year basis, we continue to anticipate 3% to 4% top line growth and EBITDA growth approaching or exceeding 10% in the second half of the year. Finally, I want to discuss two personnel changes that we announced this morning.

與去年同期相比，我們繼續預計下半年營收將成長 3% 至 4%，EBITDA 成長將接近或超過 10%。最後，我想討論一下我們今天上午宣布的兩項人事變動。

First, our Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Tim Donovan, will be retiring next month. I'm pleased to announce that Butch Bechard will soon be appointed as Vestis' Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Butch brings over 30 years of public company legal experience and was most recently Chief Legal Officer at Team Inc., which is a global industrial services company. We're excited to welcome Busch to the team, and we thank him and wish him all the best in his retirement.

首先，我們的首席法律官兼總法律顧問 Tim Donovan 將於下個月退休。我很高興地宣布，Butch Bechard 很快就會被任命為 Vestis 的首席法律官、總法律顧問和公司秘書。布奇擁有超過 30 年的上市公司法律經驗，最近擔任全球工業服務公司 Team Inc. 的首席法律長。我們很高興歡迎布希加入團隊，我們感謝他並祝他退休後一切順利。

Additionally, we announced that our Chief Financial Officer, Rick Dillon, will be leading the company as a part of the transition of the CFO role. I want to sincerely thank Rick for his significant contributions to Vestis. His leadership in preparing for Vestis' separation as a stand-alone public company and building out our public company finance capabilities will have a lasting positive impact on our company. We remain grateful for his service to the company, and we wish him continued success.

此外，我們宣布，作為財務長角色過渡的一部分，我們的財務長 Rick Dillon 將領導公司。我要真誠感謝 Rick 對 Vestis 的重大貢獻。他在為 Vestis 分離為獨立上市公司做準備以及建立我們的上市公司融資能力方面所發揮的領導作用將對我們公司產生持久的積極影響。我們仍然感謝他為公司做出的貢獻，並祝他繼續取得成功。

I'm also excited to announce that Kelly Janssen will be joining Vestis as our new CFO. Kelly has over 25 years of financial leadership experience. And since October, she has been supporting us as a finance consultant. Previously, Kelly worked in the industrial distribution space as the CFO of BlueLinx from 2020 to 2023. Kelly brings a tremendous skill set, particularly in financial and business process optimization. And under her proven leadership, we believe we will be able to significantly advance our finance organization in support of future value creation.

我還很高興地宣布，凱利詹森 (Kelly Janssen) 將加入 Vestis 擔任我們的新任財務長。凱利擁有超過 25 年的財務領導經驗。自十月以來，她一直擔任我們的財務顧問，為我們提供支援。在此之前，Kelly 曾於 2020 年至 2023 年在工業分銷領域擔任 BlueLinx 的財務長。Kelly 擁有豐富的技能，特別是在財務和業務流程優化方面。在她卓越的領導下，我們相信我們將能夠顯著地推進我們的財務組織，以支持未來的價值創造。

Lastly, regarding our comments last quarter about potential interest in Vestis. We continue to have strategic advisers retained and are focused on our operations and delivering on our 2025 financial outlook we will not be commenting further.

最後，關於我們上個季度對 Vestis 的潛在興趣的評論。我們將繼續聘用策略顧問，並專注於我們的營運和實現 2025 年財務展望，我們不會進一步發表評論。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Rick. Rick?

說完這些，我想把電話轉給瑞克。瑞克？

Thanks, Kim, and good morning, everyone. So let's start with the first quarter revenue bridge on slide 9. Revenue of $684 million was up 10 basis points sequentially versus the fourth quarter on a constant currency basis and in line with expectations with favorable customer retention having a positive impact on our sequential results.

謝謝，金，大家早安。那麼讓我們從幻燈片 9 上的第一季收入橋開始。以固定匯率計算，營收為 6.84 億美元，比第四季環比成長 10 個基點，符合預期，良好的客戶保留率對我們的環比業績產生了積極影響。

Excluding the onetime exit billings and the large direct sale customer loss from the prior year, revenues were down 2.8% year-over-year. The impact of rental growth was offset by lower pricing year-over-year and the impact of lost business. Volume growth from recurring revenue, including new customers and expanding our services with existing customers, provided approximately 730 basis points of growth in the quarter.

不包括一次性退出費用和上一年的大量直銷客戶損失，收入較去年同期下降 2.8%。租金成長的影響被同比價格下降和業務損失的影響所抵消。經常性收入（包括新客戶和擴大現有客戶服務）的銷售成長為本季帶來了約 730 個基點的成長。

New customer growth contributing approximately 600 basis points and existing customer growth contributed 140 basis points with revenue from route sales up over 50% year-over-year. The gap between new customer growth and loss business is closing with the impact of lost business exceeding the contribution from volume growth by only $8 million in this quarter.

新客戶成長貢獻了約 600 個基點，現有客戶成長貢獻了 140 個基點，航線銷售收入較去年同期成長超過 50%。新客戶成長與業務損失之間的差距正在縮小，本季業務損失的影響僅超過交易量成長的貢獻 800 萬美元。

Our first quarter net volume performance represents a 39% improvement from the prior year and a 43% sequential improvement, marking the first sequential improvement since fiscal 2023. Our first quarter retention also improved by 40 basis points year-over-year and 280 basis points sequentially. The improved retention during fiscal '24 and in the first quarter of 2025 resulted in a 16% reduction in the overall impact of lost business. As expected, basis points of in-year pricing actions was more than offset by the negative impact from the rollback of prior year pricing actions.

我們第一季的淨銷量表現比去年同期成長了 39%，比上一季成長了 43%，這是自 2023 財年以來首次連續成長。我們第一季的留存率也比去年同期提高了 40 個基點，比上一季提高了 280 個基點。24 財年和 2025 年第一季留存率的提高使業務損失的整體影響減少了 16%。正如預期的那樣，年內定價行動的基點被上一年定價行動回滾帶來的負面影響所抵消。

We expect to see positive pricing in the back half of the year as we lap difficult comps in the first two quarters. Direct sales drilled in approximately 120 basis points decline in the first quarter year-over-year driven primarily by the lost revenue from the large direct sale national account previously disclosed.

由於我們在前兩個季度克服了困難，我們預計下半年的定價將呈現積極態勢。第一季直銷額年減約 120 個基點，主要原因是先前揭露的大型直銷全國帳戶的收入損失。

FX was a 20 basis point headwind during the quarter with the Canadian exchange rate lower than the prior year and the rate assumed in our guidance.

本季度，外匯面臨 20 個基點的阻力，加拿大匯率低於去年同期和我們指引中假設的匯率。

Moving on to slide 11 and adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $81.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal '25, in line with our expectations for sequential performance relative to Q4 and resulting in a decrease of approximately $17 million from the first quarter of fiscal '24.

轉到投影片 11 和調整後的 EBITDA。25 財年第一季的調整後 EBITDA 約為 8,120 萬美元，與我們對第四季季比業績的預期一致，較 24 財年第一季減少約 1,700 萬美元。

The operating leverage on new business was more than offset by the impact of lost business and the rollback of prior year pricing actions. Cost reduction initiatives, continued network optimization efforts and lower energy costs were partially offset by the impact of prior year onetime exit billings, expected labor increases and increased freight costs associated with positioning inventory in our network for new business installs.

新業務的營運槓桿被業務損失和前一年定價行動的回滾所抵消。成本削減措施、持續的網路優化工作和較低的能源成本被上一年一次性退出費用、預期勞動力增加以及與在我們的網路中定位庫存以安裝新業務相關的運費增加的影響部分抵消。

On a sequential basis, EBITDA margins increased 10 basis points to 11.9% in the first quarter of 2025. The EBITDA margins were 13.7% in the first quarter of '24.

以環比計算，2025 年第一季 EBITDA 利潤率成長 10 個基點，達到 11.9%。24 年第一季的 EBITDA 利潤率為 13.7%。

Turning to cash flow on slide 11. We generated approximately $4 million in cash from operations in the first quarter compared to $52 million in the first quarter of last year. This excludes the cash from the sale of the Japan joint venture completed during the quarter. Q1 is seasonally our lowest cash-generating quarter due to certain annual payments, including things like insurance premiums and incentive compensation.

轉向幻燈片 11 上的現金流。我們第一季的經營活動產生的現金約為 400 萬美元，而去年第一季為 5,200 萬美元。這還不包括本季完成的出售日本合資企業所得的現金。由於某些年度支出（包括保險費和獎勵薪酬等），第一季是我們季節性現金流量最低的季度。

The decrease year-over-year reflects lower EBITDA between years and a $6 million investment in inventory to support growth. In addition, there was approximately $20 million of cash collections on trade and other receivables that shifted into January due to the timing of the holidays and our quarter end date.

與去年同期相比的下降反映了年度間 EBITDA 的下降以及為支持增長而對庫存的 600 萬美元投資。此外，由於假期時間和季度結束日期，約有 2000 萬美元的貿易和其他應收款現金收款轉移到 1 月。

We continue to focus on inventory management through sales and operations planning and garment reuse initiatives. The increase during the quarter is to position the right inventory in our facilities to support growth as we prepare for several large installs. Net capital expenditures were approximately $15 million during the first quarter, officially flat with Q1 of 2024.

我們繼續透過銷售和營運規劃以及服裝再利用計劃來專注於庫存管理。本季的成長是為了在我們的設施中放置正確的庫存，以支援成長，因為我們正在為幾次大型安裝做準備。第一季淨資本支出約為 1,500 萬美元，與 2024 年第一季基本持平。

The negative free cash flow in the quarter was driven by the receivable timing previously mentioned. In January, we recovered the $20 million collections deficit from the last week of December. This was simply a timing shift. We continue to expect our cash conversion rate to be on average approximately 50% on an annual basis. On an underlying basis, we expect the business to remain highly cash generative and see no change in our outlook for the full year.

本季的負自由現金流是由前面提到的應收帳款時間造成的。一月份，我們彌補了十二月最後一週的2,000萬美元收款赤字。這僅僅是時間上的轉變。我們繼續預期我們的現金轉換率每年平均約為 50%。從根本上講，我們預計該業務將保持較高的現金創造能力，並且我們對全年的展望不會發生任何變化。

We utilized proceeds from the sale of the Japan GP to make voluntary principal payments of approximately $20 million during the quarter, reducing our net debt to $1.274 billion. We ended the quarter with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 3.8 times.

我們利用出售日本 GP 的收益在本季度自願支付了約 2000 萬美元的本金，將我們的淨債務減少到 12.74 億美元。本季末，我們的淨負債與 EBITDA 比率為 3.8 倍。

Given the expected increase in LTM EBITDA and cash generation, we expect this to be the high point of our leverage ratio as we progress through the year. We remain confident in our ability to meet our targeted leverage level of 1.5 to 2.5 times by the end of fiscal '26.

鑑於 LTM EBITDA 和現金產生的預期成長，我們預計這將成為我們全年槓桿率的最高點。我們仍有信心在 26 財年末實現 1.5 至 2.5 倍的目標槓桿水準。

I will conclude by providing a few more details on our fiscal 2025 outlook on slide 14. We remain on track to deliver our guidance for the year. We continue to expect revenue of $2.8 billion to $2.83 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $345 million to $360 million. This would result in revenue growth from approximately 0% to 1% and an EBITDA margin of 12.3% to 12.7%.

最後，我將在第 14 張投影片上提供更多有關我們 2025 財年展望的細節。我們仍有望實現今年的預期。我們繼續預期營收為 28 億美元至 28.3 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 3.45 億美元至 3.6 億美元。這將導致營收成長約 0% 至 1%，EBITDA 利潤率成長 12.3% 至 12.7%。

As a reminder, our Q1 included a 20 basis point headwind related to Canadian dollar exchange rates versus prior year and the rate assumed in our guidance. We expect this to continue to be a headwind as we progress through the year. We believe our growth and cost initiatives support sequential improvement in our results as we progress through the year, including Q2, which is typically our lowest growth quarter.

提醒一下，我們的第一季出現了與加幣匯率（相對於上年度和我們指導中假設的匯率）相關的 20 個基點的逆風。我們預計，隨著今年的進展，這種情況將繼續成為一種阻力。我們相信，隨著我們全年的發展，我們的成長和成本措施將支持我們的業績持續改善，包括通常為成長最低的季度——第二季。

We expect to return to year-over-year growth in the back half of the year. Kim talked about the many drivers of this sequential growth, including field sales productivity, improvements, national account wins, new hires and selected price increases. We remain excited about the momentum in our business and the trajectory of the business heading into 2026.

我們預計今年下半年將恢復年增。Kim 談到了這一連續增長的諸多驅動因素，包括現場銷售效率、改進、全國帳戶勝利、新員工招聘和部分價格上漲。我們對我們的業務發展勢頭以及 2026 年的業務發展軌跡感到興奮。

Lastly, as Kim mentioned, I will leave Vestis on February 14. It gives me great pride to see the green shoots and underlying momentum in our business. I'm glad to be leading the company in a strong position, delivering against its financial commitments with a long runway to capitalize on value-creation opportunity ahead.

最後，正如 Kim 所提到的，我將於 2 月 14 日離開 Vestis。看到我們業務的復甦和潛在發展勢頭，我感到非常自豪。我很高興能夠領導公司，使其處於強勢地位，履行其財務承諾，並長期利用未來的價值創造機會。

I'm especially proud of the finance team and their contributions and accomplishments over the last three years. I've had the chance to work with Kelly for the last few months, and I'm confident I leave them in good hands. So I want to say publicly. Thank you, Tim, and the rest of my Vestis teammates, and I wish you and the company continues success. That concludes our prepared remarks for today. We thank everyone for joining us, so we will now open the line for questions.

我對財務團隊及其過去三年的貢獻和成就感到特別自豪。過去幾個月我有機會與凱利合作，我相信我會把他們交給可靠的人。所以我想公開地說。謝謝你，提姆，還有我的其他 Vestis 隊友，我祝福你們和公司繼續取得成功。我們今天的準備演講到此結束。感謝大家的參與，我們現在開始回答大家的提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Andy Wittmann, Baird.

安迪‧維特曼，貝爾德。

Hi, good. Thanks for taking our questions. I had a question on pricing. I guess I want to start there. I saw that the in-year pricing contribution to the first quarter results was up 0.4%, pretty similar to the 0.6% of last quarter, but down kind of just a smidge.

你好，很好。感謝您回答我們的問題。我對定價有疑問。我想從那裡開始。我發現，第一季業績的年內定價貢獻上升了 0.4%，與上一季的 0.6% 非常相似，但略有下降。

Kim, you mentioned in your script that you're expecting to kind of get more pricing and that it was well received. Is the pricing ramp that you're expecting here in fiscal '25 kind of more back-end loaded? Or maybe you could give some detail about the cadence and a little bit more color on what you're seeing on the pricing absorption there?

金，你在劇本中提到你期望獲得更高的定價，而且它受到了好評。您預計 25 財年的價格上漲是否會更依賴後端？或者也許您可以提供一些有關節奏的細節，並更詳細地說明您所看到的價格吸收？

Yeah, sure. So thank you for your question, Andy. It's great to hear from you this morning. I would start by saying you're right in my message around the fact that we are demonstrating the ability to stick price and maintain higher levels of pricing. We expect that, that will continue, not accelerate, but continue through the balance of the year. We will lap negative pricing comp that are happening in the first and second quarter of the year, in the back half of the year. So we'll net positive pricing overall for the full year.

是的，當然。謝謝你的提問，安迪。很高興今天早上收到您的來信。首先我想說，您說的很對，我們確實展示了堅持價格和維持較高定價水平的能力。我們預計，這種情況將會持續下去，不會加速，而是會持續到今年底。我們將在今年下半年彌補第一季和第二季出現的負價格補償。因此，我們全年的整體淨定價將為正值。

And the way we're doing that is really through the ability to hold on to that price better with our existing customers. You'll recall that we spoke a lot about improving our service performance, earning the right to take price, and we feel really confident that we've gained a great deal of traction in terms of improving the customer experience. And so that is earning us the right to take and hold that price.

我們這樣做的目的是透過更好地向現有客戶維持價格。您會記得，我們談了很多關於改善我們的服務績效、贏得定價權的事情，我們非常有信心，我們在改善客戶體驗方面已經取得了很大的進展。因此，我們有權利接受並維持該價格。

We've also spent time with our frontline teammates training them and helping them have those conversations with customers and understand how to discuss and explain pricing tactics. So we feel really good about the ability to generate net positive pricing in the full year. And you should expect that, that will be generally in line with our normal annual price increasing levels.

我們也花時間對我們的一線隊友進行培訓，幫助他們與客戶進行對話，並了解如何討論和解釋定價策略。因此，我們對全年產生淨正定價的能力感到非常滿意。您應該預料到，這與我們正常的年度價格上漲水準基本一致。

Okay. That's helpful. Just for my follow-up, I guess I want to kind of ask on the cost side of the ledger here as well. I mean just looking at the P&L, like the SG&A line and other things, it looks like there have been some pretty significant cost reductions. I guess two part question. One is, can you talk a little bit about what areas that you address specifically for efficiency here in the last three months? And you did mention that you're not quite done with some of your efficiency actions. And I was wondering kind of what you still see in the future as the areas that need -- that can be addressed?

好的。這很有幫助。只是為了跟進，我想我也想問一下這裡的分類帳的成本方面。我的意思是，只要看一下損益表，例如銷售、一般及行政費用和其他項目，看起來成本已經大幅削減。我想這個問題由兩個部分組成。一是，您能否談談過去三個月來您在提高效率方面具體採取了哪些措施？您確實提到過，您還沒有完成一些效率行動。我想知道您認為未來還有哪些領域需要解決？

Yes, certainly. So we are really generating tremendous momentum in many cost takeout areas as well as productivity areas of our business. So we continue down the path of our logistics optimization strategy. We continue to accelerate that work. So we've gotten significant footing around optimizing our network, and we continue to conduct those activities across our facilities.

是的，當然。因此，我們確實在業務的許多成本削減領域和生產力領域中產生了巨大的發展勢頭。因此，我們持續推進物流優化策略。我們將繼續加快這項工作。因此，我們在優化網路方面取得了重要進展，並且我們將繼續在我們的設施中進行這些活動。

So we're generating savings and productivity from being more efficient from a logistics perspective. We continue to improve the use of existing garments. So our merchandise reuse initiative related to improving our used fill rate metric drives also cash benefits as well as cost outs in the period. And then we did take some specific action around optimizing our workforce out in the field as well as in our back office G&A. And we did not enjoy a full quarter of those activities in the first quarter.

因此，從物流角度來看，我們透過提高效率來節省成本並提高生產力。我們不斷改進現有服裝的使用。因此，我們的商品再利用計劃與提高我們的使用填充率指標有關，同時也推動了現金收益以及期間成本支出。然後，我們確實採取了一些具體措施來優化我們在現場以及後台辦公室的勞動力。而我們在第一季並沒有享受到這些活動的全部。

So we will see full quarters of those benefits flow through in the second, third and fourth quarter. And then the final area is around plant operations and working to become more efficient in our plants related to labor efficiencies and productivity with our frontline workforce. So Andy, we've got a really full portfolio of productivity and cost-out initiatives, and we continue to fill that pipeline and we continue to optimize, and we will always do that. But in particular, you're going to see a full second, third and fourth quarter of those cost takeout initiatives that we did in the first quarter, only seeing a partial contribution in Q1.

因此，我們將在第二、第三和第四季看到這些收益的全面體現。最後一個領域是工廠運營，致力於提高工廠的效率，包括第一線員工的勞動效率和生產力。所以安迪，我們有一個真正完整的生產力和成本削減計劃組合，我們會繼續填補這個管道，繼續優化，我們會一直這樣做。但具體來說，你會看到我們在第一季實施的成本削減措施將在第二、第三和第四季全面實施，而在第一季只看到部分貢獻。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Andrew Steinerman, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的安德魯‧施泰納曼。

Hi, Kim, could you comment on the direction of the NPS scores? I remember the last time you commented on them with this group. You said they were at 12-month high. That was a couple of quarters ago. Could you just remind us how often these scores are measured at a company level? And then give us some qualitative comment, has there been a reduction of service issues and how that was achieved?

你好，Kim，你能評論一下 NPS 分數的方向嗎？我記得上次你和這個小組一起對他們進行了評論。您說它們處於 12 個月以來的最高水平。那是幾個季度前的事了。您能否提醒我們這些分數在公司層面的測量頻率是多少？然後給我們一些定性的評論，服務問題是否減少了以及如何實現的？

Yeah, great question. So we really look at NPS at the most macro level on an annual basis. So we'll come back to that and talk about that annually. But we look every day at leading indicators around service-related requests. So as a customer calls in with a service need of some store, we call those SRs and we manage service requests on a very tactical and daily basis. And those service requests have very specific reason codes attached to them and those recent codes help us generate great bars and understand what are the key drivers of customer service requests.

是的，很好的問題。因此，我們確實會以年度為單位，從最宏觀的層面來審視 NPS。因此，我們每年都會回顧並討論這個問題。但我們每天都會關注與服務相關的請求的領先指標。因此，當客戶打電話詢問某家商店的服務需求時，我們會打電話給這些 SR，並以非常策略性和日常的方式管理服務要求。這些服務請求都附有非常具體的原因代碼，這些代碼可幫助我們產生出色的標準並了解客戶服務請求的關鍵驅動因素。

You might recall in the past, I spoke about those, and I specifically called out on-time delivery and shortages as being key opportunities to improve the customer experience and to reduce those service requests. And I'm really proud to say that we are reducing those service requests related to those key (technical difficulty) in those key areas around on-time delivery and around shortages.

您可能還記得，過去我曾談論過這些，我特別指出準時交貨和短缺是改善客戶體驗和減少服務請求的關鍵機會。我很自豪地說，我們正在減少與準時交貨和短缺等關鍵領域的關鍵（技術難題）相關的服務請求。

So overall, we are seeing continued improvement in the customer experience, and we can see that daily in the reduction of service requests related to these key focus areas. And also, I will add some more color around that, Andrew, as we're seeing great success, cross-selling our existing customers, multiple products and services. And that is also a great indicator that our customers are having a good experience because they're choosing to buy more from Vestis.

因此，總體而言，我們看到客戶體驗不斷改善，並且我們每天都可以看到與這些關鍵關注領域相關的服務請求的減少。此外，安德魯，我還要補充一些內容，因為我們在向現有客戶交叉銷售多種產品和服務方面取得了巨大的成功。這也是一個很好的指標，表明我們的客戶擁有良好的體驗，因為他們選擇從 Vestis 購買更多產品。

Okay. Thanks Kim.

好的。謝謝金。

You're welcome. Thanks, Andrew.

不客氣。謝謝，安德魯。

Shlomo Rosenbaum, Stifel.

施蒂費爾的什洛莫·羅森鮑姆。

Hi. Thank you very much. Hey, Kim, could you dig in a little bit more to some of the efficiency efforts. I can talk about 15 logistics optimization events and merchandise reuse, up to 10% to record high. That's in the slide deck. How much do those two items move the needle? In other words, with those things happening in the quarter, did that add $5 million of EBITDA? I'm just trying to figure out how material the items are that you've already done? And how should we think about that going forward?

你好。非常感謝。嘿，Kim，你能否更深入地談談一些提高效率的努力。我可以講15個物流優化事件，商品再利用率達10%左右，創歷史新高。這是投影片裡的內容。這兩件事對指針的影響有多大？換句話說，本季發生的這些事情是否增加了 500 萬美元的 EBITDA？我只是想弄清楚您已經完成的項目有多重要？我們今後該如何看待這個問題？

Yeah, so well, we will always continue to focus on this portfolio productivity initiatives and cost-out initiatives. So I also think you should think of it as a never-ending program. So every year, I'll be challenging my team to identify these opportunities and to execute against them. we were very explicit about the logistics optimization opportunity as we were preparing to spin the company out. You might recall, we did a pretty significant network optimization study and we found a tremendous opportunity to consolidate, in some cases, depots into existing market centers.

是的，我們將始終持續關注這項投資組合的生產力計劃和成本削減計劃。所以我也認為你應該把它看作是一個永無止境的程序。因此，每年我都會挑戰我的團隊去發現這些機會並去執行它們。當我們準備分拆公司時，我們非常明確地意識到了物流優化的機會。您可能還記得，我們進行了一項非常重要的網路優化研究，我們發現了一個巨大的機會，在某些情況下，可以將倉庫整合到現有的市場中心。

We found opportunities to optimize customer routes and to serve them more efficiently. And so we are very splicitly moving down that path, and we've been doing that for several years now. So you'll continue to see cost out from that program over the next probably three years, and then we'll continue to optimize that network as we grow. So that is a gift that keeps giving as we move through the quarters.

我們發現了優化客戶路線並更有效率地為他們服務的機會。因此，我們正非常明確地沿著這條道路前進，而且我們已經這樣做了好幾年。因此，您將在接下來的三年內繼續看到該計劃的成本，然後我們將隨著業務的成長繼續優化該網路。因此，這是我們在各個季度中不斷給予的禮物。

The cost takeout program was very explicit. And while I'm not going to give specifics around the actual contribution of that cost takeout, it was significant in the year. And I believe there is more opportunity to continue to optimize our workforce and to optimize the way that our teams operate. The next level of that is really going to be through automation and through really eliminating work and digitizing work.

成本扣除計劃非常明確。雖然我不會具體說明這筆成本支出的實際貢獻，但它在當年的貢獻是巨大的。我相信，我們還有更多的機會來繼續優化我們的勞動力和團隊的運作方式。下一個層次將真正透過自動化、透過真正消除工作和數位化工作來實現。

So more to do there before we hit the next leg of the back office G&A cost out. And then as it relates to used fill rate, we did get the full year numbers last year. So I think it's important just to note that as we continue to reuse existing garments, we will continue to lower amortization. So you'll be able to see that in our financials as we report amortization numbers. So I would just point you to that and encourage you to continue to watch that amortization cost line as a function of revenue, and you'll be able to see what we're driving there related to use fill rate.

因此，在我們進入後台 G&A 成本的下一階段之前，還有很多工作要做。然後，就使用填充率而言，我們去年確實獲得了全年數據。因此我認為重要的是要注意，隨著我們繼續重複使用現有服裝，我們將繼續降低攤銷。因此，當我們報告攤銷數字時，您將能夠在財務報表中看到這一點。因此，我只是想指出這一點，並鼓勵您繼續觀察攤銷成本線作為收入的函數，您將能夠看到我們在使用填充率方面所採取的措施。

Okay. And then can you just talk a little bit about what's going to drive the revenue growth? Like how much should we expect to be able to come over time from pricing? And what will it take to get like the volumes to really materially go up from here? Are you thinking about hiring much more aggressively now? I know you talked about net hiring is up. Is this going to be more of a selective? Or do you feel a program -- or do you feel like with the leadership you have in sales now, you're at a point where it makes sense to really implement a much more aggressive hiring program?

好的。那麼，您能否簡單談談推動營收成長的因素有哪些？例如，我們應該預期定價能夠隨著時間的推移而上漲多少？那麼，怎樣才能讓交易量真正大幅上升呢？現在您是否正在考慮更積極地招募？我知道您談到淨招募人數上升了。這是否會更具選擇性？或者您覺得——或者您是否覺得，以您目前在銷售領域的領導力，您已經到了真正實施更積極的招聘計劃的階段了？

So I'll start with the broad macro question around price and volume and how they contribute to our strategy to create value. So we will take pricing at normal pricing levels as we did historically prepaid and we feel very confident that we've achieved the ability to do that, and we saw good pricing stick in Q1 per normal pricing levels. So I think of pricing as a normal activity that we'll do on an annual basis. and it is not the key to our strategy.

因此，我將從價格和數量等宏觀問題開始，以及它們如何促進我們的價值創造策略。因此，我們將按照正常的定價水平進行定價，就像我們歷史上的預付費一樣，我們非常有信心我們已經實現了這一點，並且我們看到第一季的定價保持在正常的定價水平上。因此，我認為定價是我們每年都會進行的正常活動，但它並不是我們策略的關鍵。

And then I'll point you to the key to our strategy, which is to drive volume through our system. So volume is incredibly important. I was very pleased to share on the call this morning that we expect new volume wins to outweigh losses as we kind of exit the second quarter. So we're very pleased that we expect to see that shift, and we'll start to see positive volume growth in the system. The reason that is so important to us and powerful for us is because we are sitting on roughly 35% idle plant capacity.

然後我會向你指出我們策略的關鍵，那就是透過我們的系統來推動銷售。因此音量非常重要。我很高興在今天上午的電話會議上分享，我們預計，隨著第二季的結束，新的銷售成長將超過損失。因此，我們很高興看到這種轉變，並且我們將開始看到系統中的正向交易量成長。這對我們來說如此重要且有力的原因在於，我們有大約 35% 的工廠產能處於閒置狀態。

So we're going to generate significant operating leverage as this volume looks positive and we push volume through the system. So it is definitely about generating incremental volume and driving that volume. How are we doing that? I think, is the second part of your question. And we're doing that really through three legs of the stool. So first, I would think about national account volume. We've talked a great deal about accelerating our pipeline, the health of our pipeline, some of these key customer wins that we've been highlighting for you and we feel extremely confident about the power of our national account pipeline and our ability to convert that to new wins and to install that business. We are seeing great results there, and we're very, very pleased with the work the national account team is doing.

因此，當這個交易量看起來是正數並且我們透過系統推動交易量時，我們將產生顯著的營運槓桿。因此，這肯定是關於產生增量量並推動該量。我們該如何做呢？我認為這是你的問題的第二部分。我們確實透過凳子的三條腿來實現這一點。因此首先，我會考慮全國帳戶規模。我們已經討論了很多有關加速我們的管道、我們的管道的健康狀況、我們一直向您強調的一些關鍵客戶勝利，我們對我們的國家帳戶管道的力量以及將其轉化為新勝利和安裝該業務的能力非常有信心。我們在那裡看到了巨大的成果，我們對國家帳戶團隊所做的工作非常非常滿意。

The second leg of the stool is SME sales through our frontline field team, and we talked a lot about that over the past year. That team has been revamped. That team has been professionalized under our new sales leadership and they are starting to drive higher levels of revenue per head or productivity per head. We are now at the point where we would like to add more teammates to that team, putting them into a professionalized selling environment where they're going to be highly productive.

凳子的第二條腿是透過我們的一線現場團隊進行的中小企業銷售，我們在過去的一年裡對此進行了很多討論。該團隊已進行改組。在我們新的銷售領導層的帶領下，該團隊已經實現了專業化，並開始推動更高水準的人均收入或人均生產力。我們現在想為團隊增加更多的隊友，讓他們處於專業化的銷售環境中，從而提高他們的工作效率。

So we do aim to grow the sales team. I spoke about the fact that we've seen a positive add of sales headcount now in January, and we're going to continue to add that headcount. But when you think about what should the size of the team be, it really depends on three knobs. It depends on what type of turnover you're seeing, it depends on what type of productivity you're seeing and then how fast are you hiring them and how productive are they.

因此，我們確實致力於擴大銷售團隊。我談到了這樣一個事實，即我們在一月份就看到了銷售人員數量的積極增長，而且我們將繼續增加員工數量。但是當你考慮團隊規模應該有多大時，它實際上取決於三個因素。這取決於您所看到的營業額類型，取決於您所看到的生產力類型，然後取決於您僱用他們的速度有多快以及他們的生產力有多高。

So we're going to just keep dialing those knobs and turning those knobs until we get the right formula. But we are going to add teammates to that team. And then the third leg of the stool is retention, and we're very pleased to see the fruits of our labor around improving the customer experience. We're seeing positive improvement in customer retention rates, and that will also contribute to our volume strategy.

因此，我們將繼續調節這些旋鈕，直到我們得到正確的公式。但我們會為該團隊增加隊友。然後凳子的第三條腿是保留，我們很高興看到我們在改善客戶體驗方面所取得的成果。我們看到客戶保留率正在積極提高，這也將有助於我們的批量策略。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

史蒂芬妮摩爾，傑富瑞集團。

This is Harold Antor on for Stephanie Moore. So I guess just on the pension front, I know you saw an improvement in the quarter. I guess could you talk about the factors the contribution to that improvement? And then how should we think about the retention throughout improvement during the rest of the year? And I guess, what are you underwriting your attention for the fiscal year?

我是哈羅德·安托 (Harold Antor)，為 Stephanie Moore 主持節目。所以我想僅在養老金方面，我知道您看到了本季的改善。我想您能談談促成這種改善的因素嗎？那麼，我們應該如何考慮在今年剩餘時間內的保留和改進？我想，您在本財政年度關注的重點是什麼？

So I think I got your question there, Harold. So your question is, what are we doing to drive retention improvements in the system? And what do we expect for the balance of the year? Is that your question?

所以我想我已經明白你的問題了，哈羅德。所以您的問題是，我們正在做什麼來提高系統的保留率？我們對今年剩下的時間有何期待？這是你的問題嗎？

Yeah.

是的。

So I'll point you back to all of the efforts that we really undertook really the second quarter of last year, shifting the team to focus very aggressively on enhancing the customer experience. And so we have been hyper focused as a team on really driving a delightful experience for our customers. From on-time performance, to rolling out standard operating procedures to improve shortages and to make sure our customers get everything they want the first time that it's delivered and really shifting our team's focus around delighting the customer.

因此，我要向大家回顧我們在去年第二季真正做出的所有努力，讓團隊更積極地專注於提升客戶體驗。因此，作為一個團隊，我們一直高度專注於為客戶帶來愉快的體驗。從準時履行，到推出標準作業程序以改善短缺問題，並確保我們的客戶在第一次交付時就得到他們想要的一切，並真正將我們團隊的重點轉移到讓客戶滿意上。

We are definitely seeing that, that body of work is making a difference, and we are seeing improvements in service requests and our customers are responding very positively to the work that we are doing to take great care of them.

我們確實看到，這項工作正在產生影響，我們看到服務請求有所改善，我們的客戶對我們為他們提供的優質服務做出了非常積極的回應。

So I would point to that as the key reason around why our customers are staying I would also point you to the fact that we've been very thoughtful in our pricing strategies and about how we take price and how we approach that pricing activity with the customer. So we feel that we've taken a very balanced approach to pricing and appropriate approach as well as driving an enhanced customer experience. And both of those factors are contributing to improved customer retention. Through the balance of the year, we continue to expect good performance related to retention. We saw improvement in Q1, and we expect that we will hold that improvement and we will always be focused on retaining as many customers as we can. So we won't be satisfied with our performance for the year, but we do expect to see improved retention this year, and we will continue to drive that number up in the coming years.

因此，我認為這是我們客戶留下來的主要原因，我還要指出的是，我們在定價策略、定價方式以及如何與客戶進行定價活動方面都非常周到。因此，我們認為我們在定價和適當性方面採取了非常平衡的方法，同時也提升了客戶體驗。這兩個因素都有助於提高客戶保留率。在今年餘下的時間裡，我們將繼續期待與保留相關的良好表現。我們在第一季看到了改善，我們預計我們將保持這種改善，並且我們將始終專注於留住盡可能多的客戶。因此，我們不會對今年的表現感到滿意，但我們確實希望今年的保留率會有所提高，並且我們將在未來幾年繼續提高這一數字。

Manav Patnaik, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的馬納夫·帕特奈克（Manav Patnaik）。

Hi, good morning. This is [Ronan Kennedy] on for Manav. Could I just please ask how you would characterize the macro and the demand environment and conversations with customers? And then if there's any particular regions or key strategic sub verticals of particular strength or weakness? And then one more element to the question, please. Any implications or impacts of -- that you're seeing already or potentially a new policy from the new presidential administration, such as the 25% tariffs in Mexico? If I'm not mistaken, I think you have manufacturing facilities there.

嗨，早安。我是 [Ronan Kennedy]，代表 Manav 報道。可以問一下您如何描述宏觀需求環境和與客戶的對話嗎？那麼是否存在具有特定優勢或劣勢的特定區域或關鍵策略子垂直領域？然後請再回答一個問題。您已經看到或可能看到新總統政府的新政策（例如對墨西哥徵收 25% 的關稅）有何影響或影響？如果我沒記錯的話，我認為你們在那裡有製造設施。

Okay, Ronan, I will try to take that. I think that's four questions, but I'm with you. So let me start with the first one. It's good to hear from you. The first one, I believe, is around demand and are we seeing any shift in the macroeconomic environment. And I would just point everyone back to this $48 billion market that we estimate we are participating in. There is plenty of opportunity for growth, and we are not seeing a shortage of leads or the ability to go out and hunt and find opportunities for new business.

好的，羅南，我會盡力接受的。我認為這是四個問題，但我同意你的看法。那麼讓我從第一個開始。很高興收到你的來信。我認為，第一個問題與需求有關，我們是否看到宏觀經濟環境有任何轉變。我只是想讓大家回顧一下我們估計正在參與的這個價值 480 億美元的市場。有大量成長機會，我們並不缺乏銷售線索，也不缺乏出去尋找新業務機會的能力。

So I feel very confident that there's lots of market share out there for us and we're attacking that. And I spoke a moment ago about our very strong national account pipeline and the fact that we're generating great new wins off of that pipeline, and we're seeing our salespeople sell more. So we feel really good about that. I would also point you to the diversification of our end markets. So we operate in many verticals, as you guys all know.

因此我非常有信心，我們擁有很大的市場份額，我們正在努力爭取。我剛才談到了我們非常強大的全國客戶管道，以及我們透過該管道獲得巨大新勝利的事實，而且我們看到我們的銷售人員銷售了更多產品。所以我們對此感到非常高興。我還要指出的是，我們的終端市場是多樣化的。如大家所知，我們在許多垂直領域開展業務。

So even if a particular industry is negatively impacted for some reason, we have lots of end markets and verticals to hunt in. So we feel really confident that we're well insulated from some type of particular downturn in one particular industry. So feeling good about sub verticals. I think that was the second part of your question. Are we seeing any particular weakness in any particular vertical or end market? I would say not at this time. We are very diligent about measuring the performance with existing customers, understanding what's happening with teammates and wearers that are using our products with those customers, and we're not seeing any significant shift there.

因此，即使某個行業由於某種原因受到負面影響，我們仍然有許多終端市場和垂直市場可供探索。因此，我們非常有信心，我們能夠很好地抵禦某個特定行業某種特定衰退的影響。因此對子垂直行業感覺良好。我認為這是你問題的第二部分。我們是否看到任何特定垂直市場或終端市場有特別的弱點？我想說目前還不行。我們非常認真地衡量現有客戶的表現，並了解與這些客戶一起使用我們產品的隊友和佩戴者的情況，但我們沒有看到任何顯著的變化。

As it relates to your question around tariffs and policy and are we seeing any impact of the new administration affecting us. At this time, there is no specific effect on our business. But we are closely monitoring all of the actions that the administration is taking. We're keenly aware of the conversations that are taking place around tariffs. We've been working to derisk our supply chain and very mindful of this well before the election. I feel really confident that we are in a good place as it relates to that.

因為這與您關於關稅和政策的問題有關，我們是否看到新政府對我們的任何影響。目前，這對我們的業務沒有具體影響。但我們正在密切關注政府採取的所有行動。我們敏銳地意識到圍繞關稅正在進行的討論。我們一直在努力降低供應鏈的風險，並且在選舉之前就非常注意這一點。我非常有信心，就這一點而言，我們處於良好的狀態。

I appreciate you covering all aspects of that multifaceted question. For the CapEx, the guidance of 3% of revenues, could you confirm what the priority areas of investment are?

感謝您涵蓋了這個多方面問題的各個方面。對於資本支出，指導價為收入的 3%，您能否確認投資的重點領域為何？

Yes, I can do that. And Rick, feel free to jump in here as well if needed. But essentially, our CapEx is supporting a couple of key areas. We have general maintenance CapEx, always, of course; and we have CapEx related to kind of keep the light one, if you want to think about it that way. Then we have some CapEx that goes towards our optimization efforts. So as our logistics team is working on plant consolidation, we may need to buy a linen press and move it into a facility as an example. We might need to replace a roof on a building. So these are very basic general maintenance-type activities for the most part that consume our 3%.

是的，我可以這麼做。瑞克，如果需要的話，你也可以加入進來。但本質上，我們的資本支出支持幾個關鍵領域。當然，我們始終都有一般維護資本支出；如果您願意這樣想的話，我們還有與保持燈光相關的資本支出。然後，我們會有一些資本支出用於我們的最佳化工作。因此，當我們的物流團隊致力於工廠整合時，我們可能需要購買亞麻壓榨機並將其搬到工廠。我們可能需要更換建築物的屋頂。因此，這些大部分都是非常基本的一般維護類型的活動，消耗了我們的 3%。

Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.

好的，謝謝。我很感激。

Thanks for your question. It's good to hear from you.

謝謝你的提問。很高興收到你的來信。

Thank you. And our next question is coming from Sam (technical difficulty) with William Blair. Please go ahead.

謝謝。我們的下一個問題來自 William Blair 的 Sam（技術難題）。請繼續。

Just a few short ones here. I was hoping you could comment just a bit more on the health of the international account pipeline. And just maybe any industries or markets where seeing that particular strength occurring and possibly where specifically you're trying to target for the remainder of the year?

這裡僅列舉幾個簡短的例子。我希望您能對國際帳戶管道的健康狀況發表更多評論。是否有任何產業或市場會出現這種特殊優勢？今年剩餘時間您具體想瞄準哪些產業或市場？

Yeah. Sam, it's great to hear from you and thank you for your question. I feel incredibly energized to be quite frank, around our national account pipeline and the leadership of that team is doing an incredible job. I would put it in a few buckets the way that you should think about it. One of those buckets is existing national account customers and further penetrating them.

是的。山姆，很高興收到您的來信，感謝您的提問。坦白說，我感到精力充沛，圍繞著我們的國家帳戶管道，該團隊的領導層做得非常出色。我會按照你應該考慮的方式把它放在幾個桶子裡。其中一個目標是現有的全國帳戶客戶並進一步滲透到他們當中。

So you would have heard the example that I used about the restaurant customer and continuing to gain new business with that customer and tripling our revenue with them in due course. That is a target area for us. So we have built out existing customer share of wallet opportunities, so you should think about that as one leg of the stool. Also, we are very focused on large customers that have the opportunity to be a preferred account customer, meaning they have multiple locations we can establish national account pricing with them, and then we can go and target their local branches.

所以你可能聽過我所舉的關於餐廳顧客的例子，我們繼續與該顧客開展新業務，並在適當的時候將我們的收入增加兩倍。那是我們的目標區域。因此，我們已經建立了現有客戶的錢包份額機會，所以您應該將其視為凳子的一條腿。此外，我們非常關注有機會成為優先帳戶客戶的大客戶，這意味著他們擁有多個地點，我們可以與他們建立全國帳戶定價，然後我們可以瞄準他們的當地分行。

So think about that as a large bucket of customers. Those could also be GPO customers and other types. We mentioned a store food services company last quarter, that would be a great example of a large parent company that has multiple child locations that we can go after and target. And then we are also seeing really strong performance in health care, not only in our industrial rental business but also in our Cleanroom business.

所以，可以將其想像為一大群客戶。這些人也可能是 GPO 客戶和其他類型的客戶。我們在上個季度提到了一家商店食品服務公司，這是一個很好的例子，它是一家擁有多個子店的大型母公司，我們可以追蹤和定位。我們也看到醫療保健領域表現非常強勁，不僅在我們的工業租賃業務中，而且在我們的無塵室業務中也是如此。

Got it. A couple of color. Last one for us. Maybe just provide an update as it relates to your merchandise for use initiatives. And maybe just speak to the progress there as it relates to operating efficiency.

知道了。幾種顏色。對我們來說是最後一個。也許只是提供與您的商品使用計劃相關的更新。也許只是談談與營運效率相關的進展。

Yeah, I'm really proud of the team. So this is a multi-unit location efforts. So think about more than 115 locations who have a stock room and we're trying to teach those teammates how to reuse existing garments, garments that we have already purchased and already started amortizing or maybe already fully amortized in our system.

是的，我為這個團隊感到驕傲。因此，這是一項多單位合作的定位努力。想想有超過 115 個地點設有庫房，我們正試圖教導這些隊友如何重複使用現有服裝，這些服裝是我們已經購買並已開始攤銷或可能已在我們的系統中完全攤銷的服裝。

So the entire notion of the program of merchandise reuses don't buy new stuff and inject it into the system and start amortizing again, use the products that you already have. And so this has been a groundswell of an effort with an army down on the ground in each of our market centers, working with our great stock gain managers to help them understand and prioritize reuse of existing garments. So we continue to focus on fast-moving SKUs we continue to make sure we're also selling fast-moving SKUs that are in our system so that we can reuse those products, and we will have a bulk of those in the stock rooms over time. So it's about prioritizing what we sell upfront and then ensuring that we reuse those like SKUs that are in our stock room as much as we possibly can.

因此，商品再利用計劃的整個概念是不要購買新產品並將其註入系統並再次開始攤銷，而是使用您已有的產品。因此，這是一項艱苦的努力，我們在每個市場中心都部署了一支隊伍，與我們優秀的庫存收益經理合作，幫助他們了解和優先考慮現有服裝的再利用。因此，我們將繼續專注於快速移動的 SKU，我們將繼續確保我們也銷售系統中的快速移動 SKU，以便我們可以重複使用這些產品，並且隨著時間的推移，我們將在庫房中擁有大量此類產品。因此，我們需要先確定銷售產品的優先順序，然後確保盡可能重複使用庫房中的 SKU。

So we just keep driving that number up as we improve performance in each stock room. And as each of our stock ran managers becomes more skilled in this area, we continue to see that number move up. And we think there is more room to go. But again, I'll point you back to amortization and also to cash because it improves our need to put inventory on the floor and to invest capital and inventory. So you're going to see benefits over time based on cash flow related to inventory and on amortization costs.

因此，隨著我們提高每個庫房的性能，我們將不斷提高這個數字。隨著我們每位庫存管理經理在此領域的技能不斷提高，我們看到這個數字不斷上升。我們認為還有更大的發展空間。但是，我再次提醒大家注意攤銷和現金，因為它可以提高我們將庫存放到地板上以及投資資本和庫存的需要。因此，隨著時間的推移，您將看到基於與庫存和攤銷成本相關的現金流的收益。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

George Tong, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的喬治通 (George Tong)。

Hi, thanks. Good morning. You talked about making progress with on-time deliveries and shortages. Can you elaborate on your progress with these and other initiatives to improve customer service quality?

你好，謝謝。早安.您談到了在準時交貨和解決短缺問題方面取得的進展。您能否詳細說明您在這些舉措以及其他提高客戶服務品質的措施方面取得的進展？

Yeah. Hey, George, thank you for your question. I'll start with on-time delivery because we're incredibly excited about the way that we're interfacing with our customers related to on-time delivery. So around the third, fourth quarter of last year of FY24, we actually launched an automated notification to our customers real time, letting them know that we have bumper docs, we had delivered their product, and we were now leaving their facility. And so our customers have responded incredibly well to this because it holds us accountable. It provides great transparency to the customer that we did what we said we were going to do and we delivered on the promise. And so we're actually providing these real-time notifications.

是的。嘿，喬治，謝謝你的提問。我首先要談的是準時交貨，因為我們對與準時交貨相關的客戶互動方式感到非常興奮。因此，在去年 24 財年的第三、第四季左右，我們實際上向客戶即時發布了自動通知，讓他們知道我們有保險桿文件，我們已經交付了他們的產品，現在我們正在離開他們的工廠。因此，我們的客戶對此反應非常好，因為這讓我們承擔了責任。它為客戶提供了極大的透明度，讓他們知道我們做到了我們說過要做的事，並且兌現了承諾。因此我們實際上提供這些即時通知。

The other thing that it does, George, is that holds our own team accountable because now we're going to notify the customer real time when we bump and leave their docs. And so we have to be on time, and we have to deliver that promise because we're measuring it and we're holding ourselves accountable in front of our customers. So we are seeing a great response both from our customers and from our front-line RSRs who are delivering those products and services, and we feel really, really positive about the work we're doing there. Our national account team is also seeing a great benefit in this feature. And as they're outselling customers, we're really proud to highlight this is something that we offer that we think is really a gain future for our business.

喬治，它做的另一件事是讓我們自己的團隊承擔責任，因為現在當我們碰到並留下他們的文件時，我們會即時通知客戶。因此，我們必須準時，必須兌現承諾，因為我們正在衡量它，我們要在客戶面前對自己負責。因此，我們看到客戶和提供這些產品和服務的一線 RSR 都做出了積極的反應，我們對我們在那裡所做的工作感到非常非常積極。我們的國家客戶團隊也看到了此功能帶來的巨大好處。由於他們的銷售量超過了客戶，我們非常自豪地強調，這是我們提供的產品，我們認為這對我們的業務來說確實是一個有利可圖的未來。

Secondly, on shortages, we have been working really hard around helping our teams learn better operating procedures around how to load trucks. And so we have rolled out a very robust standard operating procedure in the locations that have been using that standard operating procedure for an extended period of time. We are actually seeing a step change in improvement related to shortages. We're also seeing an improvement related to shortages for those who have mastered the on-time delivery and the notification. So those two things are working really well hand in hand. So we feel really good about where we are related to the customer experience.

其次，關於短缺問題，我們一直在努力幫助我們的團隊學習如何裝載卡車的更好的操作程序。因此，我們在長期使用此標準作業程序的地點推出了非常強大的標準作業程序。我們實際上看到了與短缺相關的改善的逐步變化。對於那些掌握了準時交貨和通知的人來說，我們也看到與短缺相關的改善。所以這兩件事確實相輔相成，效果很好。因此，我們對於自己在客戶體驗方面所取得的成就感到非常滿意。

Got it. That's helpful. And then earlier, you noted that sales force headcount this hiring has resumed this year. Can you discuss how quickly you plan to increase sales force headcount? And what strategies you have to increase sales headcount retention?

知道了。這很有幫助。之前您曾提到，今年銷售人員的招募工作已經恢復。您能談談您計劃多快增加銷售人員數量嗎？您有什麼策略來提高銷售人員的留任率？

Yeah. We've done a great deal of work around several areas that we believe are supporting our frontline field sales team. I will start with our new leader, Pete Rigo, who came in at the end, I think, around third quarter of last year. He has done an exceptional job of really institutionalizing the playbook around how we sell, how we onboard teammates, how we train those teammates, even how we recruit those teammates and what types of teammates we recruit to ensure that they're going to be successful in the selling environment here.

是的。我們在多個領域做了大量工作，我們相信這些工作能夠支援我們的第一線現場銷售團隊。首先從我們的新領導人 Pete Rigo 開始，我想他是在去年第三季末左右上任的。他出色地完成了工作，真正將我們的銷售方式、如何招募隊友、如何培訓隊友，甚至如何招募隊友以及招募什麼類型的隊友制度化，以確保他們能夠在這裡的銷售環境中取得成功。

And so we feel outstanding that we are now onboarding teammates through what I would call somewhat of a sales food camp we're literally bringing them here into the teammate support center here at the corporate headquarters where I sit, and we're training those teammates, one by one individually and in groups as they come into our team. We've also enhanced our recruiting procedures. So we have a talent acquisition team that has been very focused on making sure that we recruit the right type of teammate that's going to be successful in our environment.

因此，我們感到非常高興，我們現在透過一種我稱之為「銷售食物營」的方式招募隊友，我們實際上是把他們帶到我所在的公司總部的隊友支援中心，我們對這些隊友進行培訓，當他們加入我們的團隊時，我們會對他們進行單獨或分組的培訓。我們也加強了招募程序。因此，我們有一個人才招募團隊，非常注重確保我們招募到能夠在我們的環境中取得成功的合適類型的隊友。

So we've changed the profile of who we are recruiting, what type of background and skills they have, then we're training them better as they onboard, and we're seeing great signs of not only improving turnover but improving that teammates productivity earlier in their life cycle with Vestis. So we are now ramping up our hiring practices. As I mentioned, we added more sales teammates in January, and we will continue to build that sales team over the coming year.

因此，我們改變了招募人員的概況、他們的背景和技能，然後在他們入職時對他們進行更好的培訓，我們看到了不僅提高人員流動率而且在 Vestis 的生命週期早期提高團隊成員生產力的明顯跡象。因此，我們現在正在加強招募力度。正如我所提到的，我們在一月份增加了更多的銷售團隊成員，並且我們將在來年繼續建立這個銷售團隊。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Thanks George. Appreciate your questions.

謝謝喬治。感謝您的提問。

Thank you. This concludes the Q&A portion of today's call. This concludes today's Vestis Corporation fiscal first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Please disconnect your line at this time, and have a wonderful day.

謝謝。今天電話會議的問答部分到此結束。今天的 Vestis Corporation 2025 財年第一季財報電話會議到此結束。此時請斷開您的線路，祝您有美好的一天。