Valvoline Inc (VVV) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome, everyone, to the Valvoline's 4Q earnings conference call and webcast. My name is Becky, and I'll be your operator today. (Operator Instructions)

大家好，歡迎參加 Valvoline 第四季財報電話會議和網路直播。我叫貝基，今天由我來為您接聽電話。（操作說明）

I will now hand over to your host, Elizabeth Clevinger with Investor Relations, to begin. Please go ahead.

現在我將把發言權交給投資者關係部門的伊麗莎白·克萊文格，由她來開始。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Valvoline's fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 conference call and webcast.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 Valvoline 2025 財年第四季電話會議和網路直播。

This morning, Valvoline released results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. This presentation should be viewed in conjunction with that earnings release, a copy of which is available on our Investor Relations website at investors.valvoline.com. Please note that these results are preliminary until we file our Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天上午，Valvoline 公佈了截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的第四季和財政年度表現。這份簡報應與獲利報告一併閱讀，獲利報告副本可在我們的投資者關係網站 investors.valvoline.com 上取得。請注意，在向美國證券交易委員會提交 10-K 表格之前，這些結果均為初步結果。

On this morning's call is Lori Flees, our President and CEO; and Kevin Willis, our CFO. As shown on slide 2, any of our remarks today that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current assumptions as of the date of this presentation and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.

今天早上參加電話會議的還有我們的總裁兼執行長 Lori Flees 和我們的財務長 Kevin Willis。如投影片 2 所示，我們今天發表的任何非歷史事實的言論均為前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述是基於截至本次演示之日的當前假設，並受到某些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此類陳述有重大差異。

Valvoline assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements unless required by law. In this presentation and in our remarks, we will be discussing our results on an adjusted non-GAAP basis, unless otherwise noted. Non-GAAP results are adjusted for key items, which are unusual, non-operational, or restructuring in nature.

除非法律要求，否則 Valvoline 不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。除非另有說明，本次演示和我們的發言中，我們將以調整後的非GAAP準則為基礎討論我們的業績。非GAAP績效已根據關鍵項目進行調整，這些項目性質特殊，屬於非經營性或重組性質。

We believe this approach enhances the understanding of our ongoing business. A reconciliation of our GAAP to adjusted non-GAAP results and a discussion of management's use of non-GAAP and key business measures is included in the presentation appendix. The information provided is used by our management and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies.

我們相信這種方法有助於更好地了解我們正在進行的業務。本簡報附錄中包含了 GAAP 與調整後的非 GAAP 結果的調整表，以及管理階層對非 GAAP 和關鍵業務指標的使用情況的討論。所提供的資訊僅供我公司管理階層使用，可能與其他公司使用的類似措施不具可比性。

With that, I will turn it over to Lori.

接下來，我將把麥克風交給洛莉。

Thank you, Elizabeth, and thank you for joining us today. Let's start with a look at some key highlights for fiscal year 2025 on slide 3. System-wide store sales again saw a double-digit increase to $3.5 billion. And we delivered our 19th consecutive year of system-wide same-store sales growth.

謝謝你，伊莉莎白，也謝謝你今天加入我們。讓我們先來看看第 3 頁投影片，了解一下 2025 財年的一些關鍵亮點。系統內門市銷售額再次達到兩位數成長，達到 35 億美元。我們實現了系統內同店銷售額連續第 19 年成長。

This nearly two-decade-long streak accounts for almost half of our Retail businesses' history and puts us in a special category of retailers. The network continues to grow with the addition of 170 system-wide stores this year, bringing the total to 2,180 across the US and Canada.

這近二十年的連勝紀錄幾乎占我們零售業務歷史的一半，使我們躋身零售商的特殊行列。該網路持續發展，今年新增了 170 家系統內門市，使美國和加拿大的門市總數達到 2,180 家。

We also saw double-digit growth in adjusted EBITDA, taking into account the impacts of refranchising and including the investments in technology we made this year. This would not be possible without our team and our strong franchise partners. And I'd like to thank both groups for all of their work that went into driving these results.

考慮到特許經營權轉移的影響以及我們今年在技術方面的投資，我們的調整後 EBITDA 也實現了兩位數的成長。如果沒有我們的團隊和強大的加盟合作夥伴，這一切都不可能實現。我還要感謝這兩個團隊為取得這些成果所付出的所有努力。

Slide 4 shows our performance over time on key metrics. Our historical performance shows our track record of steady new store growth, strong same-store sales comps, and compelling net sales and profit growth. This performance is a function of the attractive market we operate in and the capabilities we've built over time, which allow us to deliver best-in-class customer, employee, and franchisee experiences.

幻燈片 4 顯示了我們關鍵指標隨時間推移的表現。我們的歷史業績表明，我們在新店穩步增長、同店銷售額強勁增長以及淨銷售額和利潤增長方面都取得了顯著成就。這項業績得益於我們所處的市場環境優越，以及我們多年來累積的能力，這使我們能夠為客戶、員工和加盟商提供一流的體驗。

Turning to slide 5, we'll take a look at our fiscal year 2025 performance compared to our updated guidance from August. Net revenues and system-wide same-store sales growth came in at the midpoint of the guidance range, while adjusted EBITDA landed above the midpoint. System-wide store additions of 170 demonstrate meaningful progress in new franchise store growth.

接下來請看第 5 張投影片，我們將比較 2025 財年的業績與我們 8 月更新的業績指引。淨收入和系統內同店銷售成長均處於預期範圍的中點，而調整後的 EBITDA 則高於預期範圍的中點。全系統新增門市 170 家，顯示新加盟店成長取得了顯著進展。

They added 71 net new stores and 104 total stores this year, including transfers. Adjusted EPS came in at the low end of the range at $1.59 per share. And our capital expenditures were above the range, driven by the timing and mix of new store additions at the end of the year.

今年他們淨增門市 71 家，包括轉院在內，門市總數達到 104 家。調整後每股收益為 1.59 美元，處於預期範圍的低端。由於年底新店開幕的時間和組合，我們的資本支出超出了預期範圍。

Overall, we're pleased with our fiscal year 2025 results and the continued growth of our business. Now I'd like to provide an update on the progress we've made against our strategic priorities this year. Our strategic priorities remain the same.

總體而言，我們對 2025 財年的業績以及業務的持續成長感到滿意。現在我想向大家報告我們今年在策略重點方面的進展。我們的策略重點保持不變。

First, drive the full potential of our core business. We are the retail leader in automotive preventative maintenance services. And we'll continue to drive transaction and ticket growth with increased store-level efficiency.

首先，充分發揮我們核心業務的潛力。我們是汽車預防性維修服務的零售領導者。我們將繼續透過提高門市效率來推動交易量和客單價的成長。

Second, deliver sustainable network growth. We'll continue to extend our reach to more customers across North America. And we'll do that in a way that maximizes return on invested capital. And last, we will continue to innovate to meet the evolving needs of our customers and the car park.

第二，實現可持續的網路成長。我們將持續擴大服務範圍，並惠及北美更多客戶。我們將以最大化投資回報率的方式來實現這一目標。最後，我們將繼續創新，以滿足客戶和停車場不斷變化的需求。

We made very good progress in fiscal 2025 to drive the full potential of our core business. And we continue to believe we have a lot more opportunity in front of us. This past year, we saw strong same-store sales growth with a healthy balance from transaction and ticket. Transaction growth continued across the network, including in our mature store base.

我們在 2025 財年取得了非常好的進展，充分發揮了我們核心業務的潛力。我們仍然相信，我們面前還有更多機會。去年，我們的同店銷售額實現了強勁成長，交易額和客單價也維持了良好的平衡。整個網路的交易量持續成長，包括我們成熟的門市網路。

We also saw ticket growth across the network, with contributions from premiumization, net pricing, and increased NOCR penetration. Our efficiency initiatives within company-operated stores in fiscal 2025 included a continued focus on labor productivity. Workday implementation, combined with scheduling process improvements already underway, drove meaningful efficiencies in our largest cost category.

我們也看到整個網路的票務量有所成長，這得益於高端化、淨價定價和 NOCR 滲透率的提高。2025 財年，我們在公司自營門市的效率提升措施包括持續關注勞動生產力。Workday 的實施，加上已經在進行的排班流程改進，顯著提高了我們最大成本類別的效率。

As of Q4, all US company-owned stores have migrated to use Workday's forecasting and automated scheduling tools that enable our field leadership to more easily monitor and optimize schedules to match both team member availability and experience with expected customer demand.

截至第四季度，所有美國公司自營門市都已遷移到使用 Workday 的預測和自動排班工具，使我們的現場管理人員能夠更輕鬆地監控和優化排班，使團隊成員的可用性和經驗與預期的客戶需求相匹配。

We recently spent time with both our operations leadership team and our franchise partners across the US and Canada. We spent time celebrating our accomplishments in 2025 and getting focused on 2026. Our core business remains focused on four key things.

我們最近與美國和加拿大的營運領導團隊和加盟合作夥伴進行了交流。我們花時間慶祝了 2025 年的成就，並著手規劃 2026 年。我們的核心業務仍然專注於四個關鍵方面。

One, consistent process execution. Our technology-enabled SuperPro process earns a 4.7-star rating from customers, and this builds loyalty. Two, increased store efficiency by leveraging fully the work started in FY25 in both labor and store-level expense management. Three, enhanced return on marketing spend as we gain benefits from our network scale and reach. And four, continued team member retention to help improve store throughput and NOCR penetration.

第一，流程執行始終如一。我們採用技術手段的 SuperPro 流程獲得了客戶 4.7 顆星的評價，這有助於建立客戶忠誠度。第二，透過充分利用 2025 財年開始在勞動力和門市層級費用管理所做的工作，提高了門市效率。第三，隨著我們利用網路規模和覆蓋範圍獲益，行銷支出回報率將會提高。第四，持續留住團隊成員有助於提高門市吞吐量和 NOCR 滲透率。

As it relates to network growth, we closed fiscal 2025 with a strong Q4, delivering 56 net new system-wide stores in the quarter and bringing our total to 170 additions for the year. Over 60% of this year's new stores across the system were ground-up builds, a testament to our real estate analytics capabilities and our proven playbook for successfully opened new construction sites.

就網路成長而言，我們在 2025 財年第四季表現強勁，該季度新增 56 家全系統門市，使全年新增門市總數達到 170 家。今年全系統新建門市中，超過 60% 為新建門市，證明了我們的房地產分析能力以及我們在成功開設新建築工地方面行之有效的策略。

Franchise ground-ups drove much of the increase year over year, as they had 41 greenfield additions this year. At the end of 2024 and beginning of fiscal 2025, we refranchised three markets: Denver, Las Vegas, and West Texas. Our franchise partners for these markets committed to significant development agreements to grow the market by two to three times in size.

特許經營店的新建業務是推動年成長的主要因素，今年新增了 41 家新店。在 2024 年底和 2025 財年年初，我們對三個市場進行了特許經營權的重新授予：丹佛、拉斯維加斯和西德克薩斯。我們在這些市場的特許經營夥伴已簽署重大發展協議，將市場規模擴大兩到三倍。

Since the closing of the refranchising transactions, we have seen the new store additions in these markets grow by more than 150% over prior year. And these franchise partners' pipelines continue to grow. And our new store growth will continue to ramp in FY26, with continued momentum across our franchise partners.

自特許經營交易完成以來，這些市場的新店數量比前一年增長了 150% 以上。這些加盟合作夥伴的業務管道也不斷成長。2026 財年，我們的新店成長將持續加速，加盟合作夥伴也將維持持續成長動能。

Fiscal '26 will also include the expected closing of the Breeze Autocare acquisition. As we shared previously, bringing a year's worth of store growth in one step will allow us to leverage many of the investments we've already put in place across a larger store base, including retail-specific technology investments and fleet sales expansion.

2026 財年還將包括 Breeze Autocare 收購案的預期完成。正如我們之前分享的那樣，一步實現一年的門市成長，將使我們能夠利用我們已經在更大的門市基礎中投入的許多資金，包括零售專用技術投資和車隊銷售擴張。

At the end of last week, we received regulatory clearance from the FTC and plan to close the transaction on December 1. As part of the agreement with the FTC, we will divest 45 stores, bringing the net additions to 162. Although we had to reduce the number of store additions in order to gain FTC approval, we believe this is still a good use of capital and will create long-term shareholder value.

上週末，我們獲得了聯邦貿易委員會的監管批准，計劃於 12 月 1 日完成交易。作為與聯邦貿易委員會達成的協議的一部分，我們將剝離 45 家門市，淨增門店數量將達到 162 家。雖然為了獲得聯邦貿易委員會的批准，我們不得不減少新增門市的數量，但我們相信這仍然是對資金的合理利用，並將創造長期的股東價值。

Turning to the third priority, fleet growth continues to outpace the growth in our consumer business. Our fleet customers tell us that they value the speed and convenience of our service to maximize the productivity of their assets. This year, we've increased our work with our franchise partners to grow our fleet business across their geographies. Early days, but significant opportunity for growth.

再來看第三個優先事項，車隊成長速度持續超過我們消費者業務的成長速度。我們的車隊客戶告訴我們，他們重視我們服務的快速便利，以最大限度地提高其資產的生產力。今年，我們加強了與加盟合作夥伴的合作力度，以擴大我們在他們所在地區的車隊業務。雖然尚處於早期階段，但發展潛力巨大。

Before I turn it over to Kevin to discuss our financial results in more detail, I want to invite you to a planned investor update on December 11. We'll introduce you to more of our management team and provide a deeper look at our strategic priorities, long-term growth targets, and the initiatives driving our business forward.

在將發言權交給凱文，讓他更詳細地討論我們的財務表現之前，我想邀請各位參加計劃於 12 月 11 日舉行的投資者更新會議。我們將向您介紹更多管理團隊成員，並深入了解我們的策略重點、長期成長目標以及推動業務發展的各項舉措。

Now I'll turn it over to Kevin.

現在我把麥克風交給凱文。

Thanks, Lori. Let's turn to slide 8 and start with a more detailed look at our financial results. For the fourth quarter, net sales grew to $454 million, increasing 4% on a reported basis and 10% when adjusted for the impacts of refranchising.

謝謝你，洛瑞。讓我們翻到第 8 張投影片，開始更詳細地了解我們的財務表現。第四季淨銷售額成長至 4.54 億美元，按報告數據計算成長 4%，按重新特許經營的影響調整後成長 10%。

System-wide same-store sales increased 6%, with about one-third coming from transaction growth. We do continue to see transaction growth across the portfolio. For the fiscal year, net sales grew 12% when adjusted for the impacts of refranchising to $1.7 billion.

系統內同店銷售額成長 6%，其中約三分之一來自交易量的成長。我們看到整個投資組合的交易量持續成長。經調整以消除特許經營權重新分配的影響後，本財年淨銷售額成長 12%，達到 17 億美元。

System-wide same-store sales grew 6.1% and over 13% on a two-year stack. For the year, transaction growth accounted for just over one-third of the comp also across the portfolio. On the ticket side, we saw contributions from all three levers: premiumization, net price, and NOCR service penetration.

全系統同店銷售額成長了 6.1%，兩年累計成長超過 13%。今年，整個投資組合的交易成長佔同業比較的三分之一多一點。在票務方面，我們看到了所有三個因素的貢獻：高端化、淨價和 NOCR 服務滲透率。

Slide 9 looks at the other drivers of the financial results for the quarter. The gross margin rate of 39.1% was flat year over year, driven by leverage at the labor line of about 120 basis points, offset by increased product costs. We continue to drive operating leverage, generating a 60-basis-point year-over-year improvement, excluding increased depreciation expense.

第 9 張投影片著重於本季財務表現的其他驅動因素。毛利率為 39.1%，與去年持平，主要得益於勞動成本約 120 個基點的槓桿效應，但被產品成本的增加所抵銷。我們持續提高營運槓桿，在不計入增加的折舊費用的情況下，實現了同比 60 個基點的改善。

SG&A as a percentage of sales increased 40 basis points year over year to 18.2%. Sequentially, SG&A as a percentage of sales decreased 30 basis points, as we continue to see our SG&A growth to moderate. Overall, adjusted EBITDA margin increased 20 basis points to 28.7%.

銷售、一般及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比年增 40 個基點，達到 18.2%。與上一季相比，銷售、一般及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比下降了 30 個基點，我們繼續看到銷售、一般及行政費用的成長趨於緩和。總體而言，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率提高了 20 個基點，達到 28.7%。

Turning to the next slide, we'll take a look at the financial drivers for the full fiscal year. We'll start with gross margin. We are very pleased with the benefit coming from labor leverage for the year, which drove 90 basis points of margin expansion.

接下來，我們將翻到下一張投影片，看看整個財政年度的財務驅動因素。我們先從毛利率說起。我們對今年勞動力槓桿作用帶來的好處非常滿意，這推動了利潤率成長 90 個基點。

Operating leverage improved 70 basis points year over year, excluding increased depreciation expense. SG&A as a percentage of net sales increased 80 basis points from the investments in both teams and technology to support growth and provide a better operational foundation for the future.

不計增加的折舊費用，營運槓桿率年增了 70 個基點。由於對團隊和技術的投資，為支持成長並為未來提供更好的營運基礎，銷售、一般及行政費用佔淨銷售額的百分比增加了 80 個基點。

As we look forward to fiscal 2026, we will continue to invest in growth, but do continue to expect SG&A growth to moderate. Adjusted EBITDA margin was flat, with SG&A investments offsetting gross margin expansion.

展望 2026 財年，我們將繼續投資於成長，但預期銷售、一般及行政費用成長將放緩。調整後 EBITDA 利潤率持平，銷售、管理及行政費用的增加抵銷了毛利率的擴張。

On slide 11, we'll take a look at our overall profitability for the year, adjusted for refranchising. In fiscal 2025, adjusted EBITDA increased 11%. Adjusted net income increased 6%, impacted by increased new store depreciation. On a recast basis, adjusted EPS increased 8%.

在第 11 張投影片中，我們將查看我們今年的整體獲利能力，並根據特許經營權的變更進行調整。2025財年調整後EBITDA成長11%。經調整後的淨收入增加了 6%，主要受新店折舊增加的影響。依重述後的數據，調整後每股盈餘成長 8%。

Turning to slide 12, we'll take a look at the details of our balance sheet and cash flow and cover the Breeze acquisition. We ended fiscal 2025 with a leverage ratio of 3.4 times on a rating agency-adjusted basis. Our capital allocation priorities have not changed: first, fund growth with a focus on strong returns on invested capital; second, to stay within our target leverage ratio; and third, to use share repurchase as a way to return value to shareholders.

接下來請看第 12 張投影片，我們將詳細了解我們的資產負債表和現金流量，並介紹 Breeze 的收購情況。截至 2025 財年末，經評級機構調整後的槓桿率為 3.4 倍。我們的資本配置重點沒有改變：第一，以強勁的投資資本回報為重點，實現基金成長；第二，維持在目標槓桿率範圍內；第三，利用股票回購作為向股東返還價值的一種方式。

Turning to cash, our CapEx for the year was $259 million. About 70% of the spend was for new store additions. Now let's take a look at some details of the Breeze acquisition. As Lori mentioned, we plan to close on December 1.

現金方面，我們今年的資本支出為 2.59 億美元。約70%的支出用於新增門市。現在讓我們來看看 Breeze 收購案的一些細節。正如Lori所提到的，我們計劃在12月1日完成交割。

We will acquire 162 stores following the divestitures required by the FTC for a net purchase price of $593 million, subject to adjustments for acquisitions and sale-leaseback transactions completed by Breeze since signing and customary closing adjustments.

在完成聯邦貿易委員會要求的資產剝離後，我們將收購 162 家門市，淨收購價格為 5.93 億美元，但需根據 Breeze 自簽署協議以來完成的收購和售後回租交易以及慣例成交調整進行調整。

We will fund the purchase price entirely with a newly issued $740 million term loan B. The excess proceeds will initially be used to pay down the revolving credit facility. The additional debt will increase our leverage ratio to approximately 4.2 times. We expect it to take approximately 18 to 24 months to return to the target leverage ratio through a combination of EBITDA growth and debt reduction.

我們將以新發行的 7.4 億美元 B 類定期貸款全額支付收購價款。超額收益最初將用於償還循環信貸額度。新增債務將使我們的槓桿率提高到約 4.2 倍。我們預計，透過 EBITDA 成長和債務減少相結合的方式，大約需要 18 到 24 個月才能恢復到目標槓桿率。

Now let's take a look at our outlook for fiscal year '26 on the next slide. These amounts include the Breeze acquisition, which makes some of the ranges broader than they might normally be. We expect system-wide same-store sales growth of 4% to 6% and overall network growth of 330 to 360 new stores.

現在讓我們在下一張投影片上看看我們對 2026 財年的展望。這些金額包括 Breeze 的收購，這使得某些範圍比通常情況下要寬。我們預期系統內同店銷售額將成長 4% 至 6%，整體網路新增門市 330 至 360 家。

The low end of this range reflects the need to carefully consider our overall capacity in light of the Breeze acquisition. At the midpoint, we expect sales to grow by about 20%, with EBITDA growth of approximately 15%. Including Breeze and our planned company store growth, we expect fiscal 2026 CapEx of $250 million to $280 million.

該範圍的下限反映了考慮到 Breeze 的收購，我們需要仔細考慮我們的整體產能。預計年中，銷售額將成長約 20%，EBITDA 將成長約 15%。包括 Breeze 和我們計劃中的公司門市成長在內，我們預計 2026 財年的資本支出為 2.5 億至 2.8 億美元。

We expect adjusted EPS of $1.60 to $1.70 per share. At the midpoint, this represents a 4% growth over the prior year, including an impact of approximately $0.20 per share related to interest expense for the acquisition.

我們預計調整後每股收益為 1.60 美元至 1.70 美元。以中位數計算，這比前一年增長了 4%，其中包括與收購相關的每股約 0.20 美元的利息支出。

Similar to prior years, we anticipate approximately 40% to 45% of adjusted EBITDA dollars to come in the front half of the year. As we move into fiscal 2026, we are excited by the opportunities in front of us and are confident in our ability to execute. We look forward to sharing more details about our long-term outlook at our planned investor update on December 11.

與往年類似，我們預計調整後 EBITDA 金額的 40% 至 45% 將在上半年實現。展望 2026 財年，我們對擺在我們面前的機會感到興奮，並對我們的執行能力充滿信心。我們期待在12月11日舉行的投資者更新會議上分享更多關於我們長期展望的細節。

I'll now turn it back over to Lori to wrap up.

現在我把麥克風交還給洛莉，讓她來總結。

Thanks, Kevin. As we wrap up this fiscal year, I want to again thank our team and our franchise partners. Their dedication to delivering a quick, easy, and trusted experience to our guests remains a key driver of our long-term growth.

謝謝你，凱文。在本財年即將結束之際，我想再次感謝我們的團隊和加盟合作夥伴。他們致力於為顧客提供快速、方便、值得信賴的體驗，這仍然是我們長期發展的關鍵驅動力。

In fiscal year 2025, we delivered compelling growth and financial results while making investments to support our future. The fiscal year 2026 guidance Kevin laid out underscores our commitment to drive continued financial performance.

在 2025 財年，我們實現了令人矚目的成長和財務業績，同時進行了投資以支持我們的未來發展。凱文提出的 2026 財年業績指引，凸顯了我們致力於持續提升財務表現的決心。

Our resilient and durable business model positions us for ongoing growth in fiscal year '26 and beyond. We look forward to sharing more with you at our planned investor update. With that, I'll turn it over to Elizabeth to begin Q&A.

我們具有韌性和永續性的商業模式，使我們能夠在 2026 財年及以後持續成長。我們期待在計劃中的投資者更新會議上與您分享更多資訊。接下來，我將把問答環節交給伊莉莎白。

Thanks, Lori. Before we start the Q&A, I'd like to remind everyone to limit your questions to one and a follow-up so that we can get to everyone on the line. With that, can the operator please open the line?

謝謝你，洛瑞。在問答環節開始之前，我想提醒大家，請將問題數量限制在一個問題和一個後續問題上，以便我們能夠照顧到每一位線上參與者。那麼，請接線生開通線路好嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Justin Kleber, Baird.

（操作說明）賈斯汀·克萊伯，貝爾德。

Hey, good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking the questions. Just a few on the outlook. I was hoping you could maybe frame the revenue and EBITDA contribution from Breeze, just so we can understand the core Valvoline business is expected to perform.

嘿，大家早安。感謝您回答這些問題。僅就前景做一些簡要說明。我希望您能分析 Breeze 的營收和 EBITDA 貢獻，以便我們了解 Valvoline 核心業務的預期表現。

And then a follow-up related to the guidance. Just what's driving the decline in EBITDA margins in fiscal '26? It looks like about 100 basis points. How much of that is kind of core Valvoline versus simply including the Breeze business in your consolidated results?

然後是關於該指導意見的後續後續。究竟是什麼原因導致 2026 財年 EBITDA 利潤率下降？看起來大約是100個基點。其中有多少是 Valvoline 的核心業務，又有多少只是將 Breeze 業務計入合併業績？

Yeah, I'll take that one. First, we do expect the core business to continue to perform well in fiscal '26; really no change in that.

好的，我選那個。首先，我們預期核心業務在 2026 財年將繼續表現良好；這一點確實沒有變化。

In terms of how we considered what to include for the Breeze transaction, it's still early days. We haven't closed on the deal yet. We have received recent financial updates on how the business is doing. And as part of the conclusion of the FTC second request process, we're getting reengaged with the team.

至於我們如何考慮哪些內容納入 Breeze 交易，現在還處於早期階段。我們還沒有完成交易。我們收到了有關公司近期財務狀況的最新資訊。作為 FTC 第二次請求程序的結束，我們將重新與該團隊合作。

And we tried to take all of that into account and be measured in our approach in terms of what we included in the outlook for Breeze. And that's partly why some of the ranges are admittedly a little bit broader than we would normally make them without the inclusion of an acquisition like this.

我們努力將所有這些因素考慮在內，並在對 Breeze 的展望中採取審慎的態度。部分原因在於，如果沒有進行像這樣的收購，我們通常會制定一些範圍，而現在這些範圍確實比我們通常制定的範圍要寬一些。

So we're not prepared at this point to really talk specifically about Breeze in terms of what exactly is included in there. But rest assured, we did take a measured approach and consider that very carefully as we included Breeze to the end of the numbers for the 10 months we expect to own that business in fiscal '26.

所以目前我們還不方便具體討論 Breeze 的具體內容。但請放心，我們採取了審慎的方法，並非常仔細地考慮了這一點，因為我們將 Breeze 納入了我們預計在 2026 財年擁有該業務的 10 個月的數字中。

Okay. Thanks for that, Kevin. And then just as it relates to the acquisition, I'm not sure how much you could share given you haven't closed the deal yet. But it looks like the divested locations, right, if we compare the net purchase price relative to what was discussed back in February, it seems like you're divesting those locations for less than $1 million a box and you're acquiring the remaining stores at close to $4 million a box?

好的。謝謝你，凱文。至於收購事宜，鑑於交易尚未完成，我不確定您能透露多少資訊。但看起來，如果將剝離的門市的淨收購價格與二月份討論的價格進行比較，那麼剝離這些門市的價格似乎低於每家 100 萬美元，而收購剩餘門市的價格接近每家 400 萬美元？

So can you just help us reconcile those two numbers and maybe why the divested locations look like you're selling them at such a lower price relative to what you're buying the remaining outlets for? Thank you.

所以，您能否幫我們解釋一下這兩個數字之間的矛盾，以及為什麼剝離的門市的售價看起來比您收購剩餘門市的價格低這麼多？謝謝。

Yeah. The FTC, when they do their review, they really were looking at maintaining a level of competition across all the markets that oil changers is located. And they defined competition significantly more narrowly than what we do and what we see when we open stores or when we operate stores in the market.

是的。美國聯邦貿易委員會在進行審查時，實際上是在關注如何維持換油服務所在所有市場的競爭水平。他們對競爭的定義比我們在市場上開設或經營門市時所看到的要狹窄得多。

However, we had -- the process requires us to go out and divest the 45 stores that have been agreed to with the FTC. And so we conducted that process. It was a competitive process. And that's where the outcome is and where the numbers that Kevin shared, where the net acquisition price is $593 million, which reflects the sale price of the locations that we have to divest.

但是，按照規定，我們需要剝離與聯邦貿易委員會達成協議的 45 家門市。於是我們便開展了這項工作。這是一個競爭激烈的過程。這就是最終結果，也是凱文分享的數字，淨收購價格為 5.93 億美元，這反映了我們必須剝離的地點的出售價格。

I will just underscore what I said in my prepared remarks is that we know where the stores are that we will be integrating them into our portfolio. We've assessed them with our real estate analytics capability. And when you take that analysis with our proven playbook around integrating acquisitions, which we have been doing pretty much since we started the business, we have confidence that we're going to deliver long-term shareholder returns.

我只想強調一下我在準備好的演講稿中所說的，我們知道這些門市在哪裡，我們將把它們整合到我們的產品組合中。我們利用自身的房地產分析能力對它們進行了評估。結合我們自公司成立以來一直在使用的、經過驗證的收購整合策略，我們有信心能為股東帶來長期回報。

At the outset, as Kevin mentioned, we do have the latest information through August of the performance of the business that we will be integrating. But we have not been able to spend time and detail with their leadership team because of the FTC review.

首先，正如凱文所提到的，我們掌握了截至八月我們將要整合的業務的最新業績資訊。但由於聯邦貿易委員會的審查，我們一直無法花時間與他們的領導團隊進行深入交流。

So as Kevin mentioned, we've tried to incorporate what we know and what we believe we can accomplish in this fiscal year, with the new assets that we'll be adding to our portfolio. But we have been appropriately measured in how we incorporated them in the ranges that we're providing.

正如凱文所提到的那樣，我們已經嘗試將我們所知道的以及我們認為在本財年可以實現的成就，與我們將添加到投資組合中的新資產結合起來。但是，我們在將它們納入我們提供的產品範圍時，已經採取了適當的衡量標準。

Okay. Thanks for all that color, and I look forward to seeing everyone next month.

好的。感謝大家帶來的繽紛色彩，期待下個月與大家再次相聚。

Yes, thanks.

好的，謝謝。

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

西蒙古特曼，摩根士丹利。

Hi, Lori. My question is, we have, I guess, a slightly lower outlook or algo than what we used to do. And frankly, I think the market has been hoping to have something that's like a little bit more conservative. So we are getting together, it sounds like, in a few weeks.

嗨，洛瑞。我的問題是，我們現在的預期或演算法似乎比以前略低一些。坦白說，我認為市場一直希望看到一些更保守的政策。聽起來，我們會在幾週後見面。

So can you talk about expectations for the core business? It sounds like nothing is changing; I want to confirm. But how do you think about the core business? Is the algo change reflective of anything structural or tactical? Or it is just being prudent in setting up a reasonable range for the business to grow off of? Thanks.

那麼，您能談談對核心業務的預期嗎？聽起來好像沒有任何變化；我想確認一下。但您如何看待核心業務？演算法的改變是否反映了任何結構性或戰術性的變化？或者，這只是為了謹慎起見，為企業未來的發展設定一個合理的範圍？謝謝。

Yeah. Thanks, Simeon. The same-store sales guide has really been the material difference in our longer-term algorithm and our current-year algorithm. And as we look at FY26, we're very confident in the 4% to 6% range. We will be sharing more of the longer-term algorithm, probably more medium term. But the fundamentals of our business remain incredibly strong.

是的。謝謝你，西蒙。同店銷售指南確實是我們長期演算法和當年演算法之間真正的實質差異。展望 2026 財年，我們非常有信心達到 4% 至 6% 的成長。我們將分享更多長期演算法，可能更多是中期演算法。但我們業務的基本面依然非常強勁。

And when you compare it to where we were in 2022, the material difference is twofold. One, is the percentage of new stores within our network. Obviously, new store ramping contributes to higher same-store sales for those stores than our mature stores. And so as we continue to scale our business and the new stores become a smaller part of the overall same-store sales, you would expect that to naturally come down.

而與 2022 年的情況相比，實質的差異體現在兩個方面。第一點是我們在網路中新店所佔的百分比。顯然，新店開幕初期，其同店銷售額會高於成熟門市。因此，隨著我們不斷擴大業務規模，新店在整體同店銷售額中所佔比例越來越小，自然而然地，同店銷售額也會下降。

The second is the interest in the inflation environment. When we were coming off of the COVID era, there was significant inflation that was running through our same-store sales comp. And we're back down to a more moderate normal level.

第二點是對通膨環境的關注。在新冠疫情時代結束後，我們的同店銷售額出現了嚴重的通貨膨脹。現在我們已經恢復到較正常的水平了。

Now obviously, that could change. We don't expect it to change. But we expect if that changes, it will only go up. So I think we feel very good about the 4% to 6% guide. I think we'll be able to share our longer-term outlook in December. And we'll be able to break down why we have confidence in that longer perspective.

當然，這種情況可能會改變。我們預計情況不會改變。但我們預計，如果這種情況發生變化，價格只會上漲。所以我覺得我們對 4% 到 6% 的指導目標很有信心。我認為我們可以在12月份分享我們的長期展望。我們將能夠詳細分析我們為何對這種更長遠的視角充滿信心。

And then a follow-up. Can we talk about the, I guess, the number of stores in the market and expansion by you and others? It looks like capacity or number of oil changes is increasing steadily. Curious how you look at that, how your own cannibalization rates look, and if there are any markets that you are not going to enter or you have thinking twice because a competitor is already well positioned there?

然後還有後續報道。我們可以談談市場上的門市數量以及您和其他公司的擴張計劃嗎？看起來換油次數或換油量正在穩定增加。很好奇您是如何看待這個問題的，您自身的市場蠶食率如何，以及是否存在您不打算進入或因為競爭對手已經佔據有利地位而猶豫不決的市場？

Yeah. Simeon, we look at every new unit both in terms of the demographics of that geographic areas, the travel patterns, the household growth, the income, and what's been happening with the income levels. We look at broad competition, not just quick-lube competition, but others that are competing for customers' preventative maintenance business.

是的。西蒙，我們會從地理區域的人口統計、出行模式、家庭成長、收入以及收入水準的變化來檢視每一個新單位。我們關注的是廣泛的競爭，不僅是快速潤滑領域的競爭，還包括其他爭奪客戶預防性維護業務的競爭。

And we look at where our stores are in proximity with any location. We know that customers will seek out quick, easy, trusted service in the most convenient locations. So we know when we add a store, we're pretty high precision around knowing what transfers will happen from our existing stores. And we also know what the impact of potential competitive entry are.

我們會考慮我們的門市與任何地點之間的距離。我們知道顧客會尋求在最方便的地點獲得快速、方便、值得信賴的服務。所以我們知道，當我們新增一家門市時，我們能夠非常精確地知道現有門市的商品調撥情況。我們也知道潛在的競爭對手進入市場會帶來哪些影響。

Sometimes, we have a pretty long lead time with that with construction timing and sometimes, a little less so if it's an acquisition. But what's been happening in the market is not changing. So the competitive environment that we operate has been relatively consistent.

有時，由於施工進度的原因，我們需要較長的準備時間；而如果是收購的話，準備時間則會稍短一些。但市場現狀並沒有改變。因此，我們所處的競爭環境一直相對穩定。

The competitive -- it's very fragmented. There's still a significant number of customers that are not going to the most convenient, stay-in-your-car, quick-easy-trusted service. So whenever we add a site, 70% or more of the customers are coming from outside our specific category, our specific channel. But we see normal behaviors from our competitors as it relates to adding sites.

競爭格局非常分散。仍有相當多的顧客沒有選擇最方便、無需下車、快速、簡單、值得信賴的服務。因此，每當我們新增網站時，70% 或更多的客戶都來自我們特定類別、特定管道之外。但我們看到競爭對手在增加網站數量方面的行為是正常的。

And we know what the impact is in the short term. They typically have high promotions. And we may have customers that go and try it in order to take advantage of a new store opening promotion, but then they return. They return back to their trusted service provider.

我們知道短期內會產生什麼影響。他們通常會有很高的晉昇機會。我們可能會有一些顧客為了享受新店開幕促銷活動而去嘗試，但之後他們又會回來。他們重新回到他們信任的服務提供者那裡。

So there's really not any changes that we're seeing. And there are no [markets] we stay away from because of the competitive environment. Again, the quick-lube channel has such a small percentage of the preventative maintenance market. But there is a lot of share to be captured by the category, and we have been capturing that share right along with it or more so.

所以，我們實際上並沒有看到任何變化。我們不會因為競爭環境而避開任何市場。再次強調，快速潤滑通路在預防性維護市場中所佔比重非常小。但該品類還有很大的市佔率可以爭取，而我們一直在努力爭取，甚至超過了它。

Thank you. Good luck.

謝謝。祝你好運。

Steven Zaccone, Citi.

史蒂文‧扎科內，花旗集團。

Great. Good morning. Thanks very much for taking my question. Can you help us think through the margin outlook for '26 with the new 4% to 6% same-store sales guidance? There was some prior commentary that you were hopeful to see SG&A leverage at some point in '26. So how does that stack up with the new guidance?

偉大的。早安.非常感謝您回答我的問題。您能否幫我們分析一下，在新的同店銷售額成長預期為 4% 至 6% 的情況下，2026 年的利潤率前景如何？之前有一些評論說，你希望看到 SG&A 在 2026 年的某個時候獲得槓桿作用。那麼，這與新的指導方針相比如何？

I'll take that one. And we were really pleased with how we continue to see SG&A growth improvement -- or SG&A growth moderate in Q4, continue to moderate versus what we saw in Q3. And that's -- we think that's a very good sign.

我選那個。我們對第四季度銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 成長持續改善感到非常滿意——或者說，第四季度 SG&A 成長有所緩和，與第三季相比繼續保持緩和。我們認為這是一個非常好的跡象。

We're going to continue to invest in the growth of the business. But as we said before, we do expect to return to leverage in fiscal '26. I think a comment, though, worth making is that with the inclusion of the Breeze acquisition in the numbers, that's going to be more difficult to tease out. And we'll continue to provide color around that.

我們將繼續投資於業務成長。但正如我們之前所說，我們預計將在 2026 財政年度恢復槓桿作用。不過，我認為值得一提的是，由於 Breeze 的收購也計​​入了這些數字，因此要將其區分開來就更加困難了。我們將繼續圍繞這個主題展開討論。

As we've said before, we would expect to lap the technology investments that we've made sometime in Q1, again, while continuing to invest in the growth of the overall business. So we do see some opportunities there. I think from a gross margin perspective, we continue to see opportunities, good progress, great progress really, has been made from a labor perspective.

正如我們之前所說，我們預計在第一季某個時候，我們將再次收回我們在技術方面的投資，同時繼續投資於整體業務的成長。所以我們看到了一些機會。我認為從毛利率的角度來看，我們仍然看到很多機會，取得了良好的進展，實際上，從勞動力角度來看，也取得了巨大的進步。

But we continue to see room to improve in the overall store operating profit as well, and we're focused on that. We're going to continue to work that fiscal '26 and beyond, as we operate the business and find new ways to improve the profitability.

但我們認為門市整體營業利潤仍有提升空間，這也是我們關注的重點。我們將繼續努力，在 2026 財年及以後，隨著業務的運營，尋找提高盈利能力的新方法。

The key thing, Steve -- just to add on to what Kevin -- sorry. The key thing to add on to what Kevin is saying is whenever we do acquisitions or start new stores, it typically has a lower-margin four-wall EBITDA and any new store we acquire or we build, and that ramps over time.

關鍵是，史蒂夫——我只是想補充凱文的觀點——抱歉。凱文所說的關鍵一點是，每當我們進行收購或開設新店時，其四牆 EBITDA 通常利潤率較低，而我們收購或新建的任何新店的利潤率都會隨著時間的推移而提高。

In this case, we are adding 162 stores that have a lower-margin profile than our existing base. And so as those stores, as we can apply our playbook, you should fully expect that margin improvement to happen. We're just taking on a significant increase in new stores in the overall mix.

在這種情況下，我們將新增 162 家利潤率低於我們現有門市的門市。因此，隨著我們運用我們的策略，這些門市的利潤率應該會得到提升。我們整體門市組合中新店數量將大幅增加。

But from an SG&A standpoint, we will be levering relative to the business without the Breeze addition. And we'll work through continuing to leverage SG&A as we integrate.

但從銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）的角度來看，與沒有收購 Breeze 的情況下，我們將獲得槓桿收益。我們將繼續努力，在整合過程中充分利用銷售、一般及行政費用。

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. The follow-up I had is just on the same-store sales guidance. Last year, you faced a difficult compare in the first quarter. So if we think about the quarterly cadence of comps, is there anything to be mindful of below or above that guidance range as we go each quarter?

好的。那很有幫助。謝謝。我後續跟進的內容僅涉及同店銷售指導。去年第一季度，你們面臨著一個很難比較的年份。因此，如果我們考慮季度比較的節奏，在每個季度中，高於或低於該指導範圍的情況，我們是否需要注意什麼？

As we look at it based upon our current view of the fiscal year, we would expect the same-store sales growth to be pretty consistent across all four quarters. We don't really see any reason for there to be much variance around that throughout the course of the year.

根據我們對本財年的當前看法，我們預計同店銷售成長在所有四個季度都將相當穩定。我們認為，在一年中，這種情況不太可能出現太大的變化。

Obviously, weather can be an impact if it happens. But typically, that just changes timing. It doesn't necessarily change what our guests actually do. As we look at where we are -- obviously, it's still relatively early in Q1 -- we're seeing that play out. So far, the core business is operating as we would expect it to in Q1. So that does help support the commentary, I think.

顯然，如果天氣狀況惡化，可能會產生影響。但通常情況下，這只是改變了時間安排。這不一定會改變客人實際的行為。看看我們目前所處的位置——顯然，現在還處於第一季的早期階段——我們看到這種情況正在發生。到目前為止，核心業務的營運狀況符合我們對第一季的預期。所以我認為這確實有助於佐證評論。

Okay. Thanks very much. Best of luck.

好的。非常感謝。祝你好運。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Mark Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

馬克喬丹，高盛集團。

Thank you very much for taking my questions, and I'm looking forward to the investor update. For the same-store sales guidance, I wanted to dig to a little bit. But how do you build to that 4% to 6%? What's the mix like between traffic and ticket? Is it more ticket heavy? And how should we think about the mix of franchise versus company operated?

非常感謝您回答我的問題，我期待投資者更新報告。為了獲得同店銷售指導，我想深入研究。但如何才能達到 4% 到 6% 的成長率呢？交通違規和罰單的比例如何？票務負擔更重嗎？我們該如何看待加盟店與公司直營店的組合？

Yeah, I'll try to give you a little bit of color on that. As we look at both Q4 and the year, we had a nice balance between transactions and ticket across the system. Q4, it was about a third. The same-store sales growth was about one-third transaction and two-thirds ticket. And again, that's consistent with both company and franchise.

好的，我會盡量詳細地解釋一下。回顧第四季和全年情況，我們發現整個系統的交易量和工單量都保持了良好的平衡。第四季度，大約是三分之一。同店銷售成長約三分之一來自交易量，三分之二來自客單價。再次強調，這與公司和加盟店的營運模式是一致的。

As you look at the full year, very similar. Again, the core business is operating and performing as we'd expect it to. And so as we look at fiscal '26 on an overall basis, I wouldn't really expect that to change materially over the course of the year for the business as we're operating it today.

從全年來看，情況非常相似。再次強調，核心業務的營運和績效都符合我們的預期。因此，從整體來看 2026 財年，我預計就我們目前的經營方式而言，這一年內業務不會發生實質變化。

Okay. Perfect. And then just one quick follow-up, I guess, kind of on your current trends, health of the consumer, you're seeing. We've heard a little bit about concerns around deferral and non-oil change services or just an extension oil change intervals. Is there anything you're seeing there in your current business?

好的。完美的。然後，我想再快速問一個後續問題，關於您目前觀察到的趨勢和消費者健康狀況。我們聽說了一些關於延期保養和非換油服務或延長換油週期的擔憂。您在目前的業務中看到了什麼類似的例子嗎？

Yeah. Thanks, Mark. Automotive maintenance is a nondiscretionary spend for consumers, and the demand for our services has been very resilient over this more uncertain macro environment. We continue to see the same dynamics. So we are not seeing customers trade down or defer.

是的。謝謝你，馬克。汽車保養是消費者不可或缺的支出，即使在當前宏觀環境更不確定的情況下，對我們服務的需求也展現了強烈的韌性。我們持續看到同樣的動態。因此，我們沒有看到客戶降低購買檔次或推遲購買。

Premiumization is up across all customer types, which is a reflection of the car park. And we saw growth in customers across all levels of household income. I think the interesting thing when we look at the past five years, intervals between service have been largely stable; although in FY25, we saw slightly less days and miles between oil changes for our customers.

所有客戶類型的高端化程度都有所提高，這反映了停車場的狀況。我們看到各個收入階層的家庭客戶數量都有增加。我認為有趣的是，回顧過去五年，保養間隔基本上保持穩定；儘管在 2025 財年，我們發現客戶的換油間隔天數和里程數略有減少。

Again, we've been talking about car maintenance in almost like a peace of mind becomes a seasonal or time-of-year sort of consideration, less than an exact number of miles. And so what we've seen in FY25 is slightly less days in miles between oil changes.

我們再次談到汽車保養，幾乎就像安心感變成了季節性或一年中某個時間點的考慮因素，而不是確切的行駛里程數。因此，我們在 2025 財政年度看到的現像是，兩次換油之間的天數和行駛里程略有減少。

No, we are not expecting that to hold or continue to go down. We would expect for the days and miles to be more consistent. But in '25, it was interesting that we did see a shortening of the cycle.

不，我們預期這種情況不會持續，反而會繼續下跌。我們希望行程天數和里程數能更加穩定。但有趣的是，在 2025 年，我們確實看到了周期縮短的現象。

Perfect. Thank you very much.

完美的。非常感謝。

Chris O'Cull, Stifel.

克里斯·奧庫爾，斯蒂費爾。

Great. Thanks, guys. This is Patrick, on for Chris. I had a quick follow-up on the comp guidance. Lori, the company guided to 4% to 6% this year. And I'm just curious what factors you're seeing in the business that could get you to the lower end of that range, given kind of where you exited 4Q?

偉大的。謝謝各位。我是派崔克，代克里斯發言。我很快就薪酬指導方面的問題進行了跟進。Lori表示，該公司預計今年的成長率為4%至6%。我很好奇，鑑於你們第四季末的業績水平，你們認為哪些業務因素可能導致你們的業績達到該區間的下限？

Yeah. I think -- what we've talked about is at the low end, we would assume fairly more even balance between transaction and ticket. And on the high end, it might be a little bit more weighted to ticket. So some of the things that would factor in is the NOCR improvement year over year.

是的。我認為——我們討論的是在較低水平上，我們會假設交易和票據之間更加均衡。而對於高階產品來說，票務方面的投入可能會更多。因此，需要考慮的一些因素包括 NOCR 逐年改善的情況。

We've got a few things that our teams are executing against. But that would sort of -- depending on how that plays out, that would get us to the higher end of the range, just specifically on NOCR. And then there is some -- we are always doing pricing tests.

我們的團隊正在執行一些任務。但那將在某種程度上——取決於事情的發展——那將使我們達到範圍的高端，尤其是在 NOCR 方面。此外，我們一直在進行價格測試。

So again, assuming that our pricing tests show both from a competitive positioning as well as elasticity of demand, that we would move forward with some of the pricing that we have planned and that our franchisees would do the same. Those are the two things that I think pull you up to the high end of the range. But the other fundamentals are consistent across the low and bottom end.

因此，再次假設我們的定價測試從競爭定位和需求彈性兩方面都表明，我們將推進一些我們已經計劃好的定價，我們的加盟商也會這樣做。我認為正是這兩點讓你躋身高端行列。但其他基本面在低端和低端市場保持一致。

Got it. That's helpful. Thank you. And then can you provide an update on the company's efforts to improve new unit build costs? And just maybe help us understand how much savings you think you can achieve relative to current levels? And is there any other opportunity you see in terms of improving the new unit economics outside of improving the build costs?

知道了。那很有幫助。謝謝。那麼，您能否介紹一下公司在降低新設備建造成本所做的努力？您能否幫我們了解一下，您認為相對於目前的水平，還能節省多少費用？除了降低建造成本之外，您認為在提高新產品的單位經濟效益方面還有其他機會嗎？

Yeah, great question. And this is something that I know we'll spend more time on in December because it has been an area of focus for us for the past two years. When you look at our new unit costs relative to two years ago, we've actually reduced those costs by about 10% in this year.

嗯，問得好。我知道我們將在 12 月花更多時間在這上面，因為這在過去兩年一直是我們的關注重點。與兩年前相比，我們今年的單位成本實際上降低了約 10%。

And we're fairly early in our journey. Some of the things that we've done, like we've got -- I talked about it in the last quarter -- we had a new prototype design, which would reduce the cost of the building. We had bids out the last time we spoke. And we just opened our first new prototype design in June, which does deliver nice savings relative to the old building design.

我們才剛踏上這段旅程。我們做了一些事情，例如我們已經有了——我在上個季度談到過——我們有了一個新的原型設計，這將降低建築成本。上次我們談話時，我們已經發出了招標邀請。我們六月剛剛啟用了第一個新的原型設計，與舊建築設計相比，它確實節省了不少成本。

And so that was the first one in June. So when you look at where we will be in this year, those factor into our CapEx numbers. And we're in the early days. There's still additional work that we're doing, and so we look forward to sharing more of those plans and the impact that that will have on CapEx.

所以，那是六月的第一起事件。所以，當我們展望今年的發展前景時，這些因素都會影響我們的資本支出數字。我們現在還處於早期階段。我們仍在進行其他工作，因此我們期待與大家分享更多計劃及其對資本支出的影響。

I will just state, though, that when we look at returns, we've always talked about 30% cash-on-cash returns and/or mid- to high-teens IRR on a new unit. Even through the period of our CapEx or new unit capital costs going up, our returns have stayed high and improved in many cases.

不過，我要說明的是，當我們考慮回報時，我們一直在談論的是新單位 30% 的現金回報率和/或 15% 到 10% 的內部收益率。即使在資本支出或新單位資本成本上升的時期，我們的回報也保持在高位，並且在許多情況下還有所提高。

And this is because the fundamentals of the core business have gotten stronger. So each box is returning a higher four-wall EBITDA margin, again, over a slightly elevated CapEx that still delivered a really fantastic return for both us and franchisees.

這是因為核心業務的基本面變得更強了。因此，每個盒子都能帶來更高的四面牆 EBITDA 利潤率，而且資本支出略有增加，但仍然為我們和加盟商帶來了非常好的回報。

Now that will continue to improve as that denominator starts to get more optimized. So really excited to share more information on that in December.

隨著分母的優化，這種情況還會繼續改善。非常期待12月與大家分享更多相關資訊。

The only thing I would add to that is, there's also the aspect of converting acquired stores. There's been a lot of focus also on really sharpening the pencil around what we spend when we buy a store, which we typically do buy 30 to 40 stores in a normal year. Obviously, we'll be taking that into consideration as we think through the Breeze stores as well once that deal is closed.

我唯一要補充的是，還有收購店舖的轉換問題。此外，我們也非常注重精打細算地控制收購門市的支出，通常情況下，我們每年會收購 30 到 40 家門市。顯然，一旦交易完成，我們在考慮 Breeze 門市時也會考慮這一點。

Great. That's helpful. Thanks, guys.

偉大的。那很有幫助。謝謝各位。

Peter Keith, Piper Sandler.

彼得·基思，派珀·桑德勒。

Thanks. Good morning, and congratulations on getting the Breeze acquisition done. Just on a separate topic, I wanted to dig into a little bit on the higher product cost impact. It looked pretty impactful at around 120-basis-point drag for the quarter. Could you give a little more detail on what this was and if we're going to see this headwind continue or if there's any potential offsets as we step into the new fiscal year?

謝謝。早安，恭喜你們成功完成對 Breeze 的收購。另外，我想稍微探討一下產品成本上漲的影響。該季度業績下滑幅度似乎相當大，約 120 個基點。您能否詳細說明一下具體情況，以及這種不利因素是否會持續，或者隨著我們進入新的財政年度，是否有任何可能的抵消因素？

Yeah. As we look at product costs, there are several components to that. As we all know, crude oil pricing continues to be down versus prior year. And typically, we would expect to see base oil pricing come down as well. That typically takes some time -- three or four months is not uncommon -- for that curve to catch up.

是的。當我們審視產品成本時，會發現它由幾個部分組成。眾所周知，原油價格較上年同期持續下跌。通常情況下，我們預期基礎油價格也會下降。通常需要一段時間——三到四個月並不罕見——才能讓這種曲線趕上。

Unfortunately, we really haven't seen much there yet. And in the case of supply chain costs, we continue to see inflation there, which does create a drag on the product cost side. When base oil pricing does decline, and we would expect it to at some point, we would see some benefit from that as well as our franchise partners since our franchise partners will benefit from this as well as we pass those savings along to them.

可惜的是，我們目前在那裡還沒看到太多東西。而就供應鏈成本而言，我們持續看到通貨膨脹，確實對產品成本造成了拖累。當基礎油價格下降時（我們預計這種情況遲早會發生），我們以及我們的加盟合作夥伴都會從中受益，因為我們會將這些節省下來的成本轉嫁給他們。

Another component to this that has also been a drag and, I would say, marginally gotten worse, would be used oil pricing. It's also a component of product costs. Historically, it's been more of an offset as we sell the used oil.

另一個拖累因素，而且我認為情況略有惡化，就是廢油價格。它也是產品成本的一部分。從歷史上看，出售廢油起到的抵消作用更大。

Used oil prices do tend to move with crude oil pricing, and that has been the case even more so than the case. I would say, to the extreme, we've seen used oil pricing come down considerably to the point that some providers out there are starting to charge customers to pick up used oil versus actually buying that.

廢油價格確實會隨著原油價格的波動而變化，而且這種情況比其他情況更為明顯。可以說，在極端情況下，我們已經看到廢油價格大幅下降，以至於一些供應商開始向客戶收取廢油回收費，而不是直接購買廢油。

So just a function of the market dynamics. As crude has gone down and stayed down, there's just less demand on the used oil side, and so it becomes more of a drag. But we've seen an outsized impact to that as well.

所以這只是市場動態的一個函數。隨著原油價格下跌並持續走低，對廢油的需求也隨之減少，因此對廢油的需求造成了更大的拖累。但我們也看到這方面受到了巨大的影響。

We are not currently paying providers to pick up our oil, but we're also not realizing very much in terms of the sale of our used oil either. And we expect to see that trend continue for the time being and would expect to see that in fiscal '26. And we've included that in the consideration around our outlook as well.

我們目前沒有付費請供應商來回收廢油，但我們出售廢油的收入也不多。我們預計這一趨勢在短期內仍會持續，並預計在 2026 財年也會如此。我們也把這一點納入了我們對前景的考量。

Okay. All right. That's helpful. And then I guess, a simplistic question on optics. So the comp was quite good for the quarter, EBITDA at the high end, and then the EPS at the low end.

好的。好的。那很有幫助。然後，我想問一個關於光學的簡單問題。所以本季的業績比較情況相當不錯，EBITDA 處於較高水平，而 EPS 則處於較低水平。

So I guess, optics do matter. You did miss the EPS consensus estimates a bit. To me, it looks like you had a $0.02 headwind from higher interest expense. Maybe you can comment if -- why did interest expense jump up so much? And if there's anything in your model that maybe caused the drag on EPS?

所以我覺得，視覺效果確實很重要。你對每股盈餘的普遍預期確實有些偏差。在我看來，你似乎因為利息支出增加而面臨 0.02 美元的不利影響。您能否解釋一下—為什麼利息支出會大幅上漲？你的模型中是否有任何因素可能導致 EPS 性能下降？

Yeah, there were a couple of things in there. Depreciation in the quarter was a little higher than we expected because of the timing and mix of new store additions in the quarter. So that's part of it. The effective tax rate is also just a bit higher than what we expected as well.

是的，裡面有幾樣東西。由於本季新店開幕的時間和組合，本季折舊額略高於我們的預期。這是其中的一部分。實際稅率也比我們預期的略高一些。

And I would say, probably, from an interest perspective, I'd say net interest is probably a little bit higher; meaning, interest income that we would have expected to see was a bit lower as well. So it's really pieces of all of that that, I would say, contributed to us landing at the bottom end of the range for the full year.

而且，從利息的角度來看，我認為淨利息可能略高一些；也就是說，我們原本預期的利息收入也略低一些。所以，我認為正是所有這些因素的綜合作用，才導致我們全年的業績處於預期範圍的下限。

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. Good luck with the new fiscal year.

好的。那很有幫助。謝謝。祝您新財年一切順利。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This marks the end of our Q&A session for today. So I'll hand back to Lori for closing remarks.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。那麼，我將把發言權交還給洛里，請她做總結發言。

Well, thank you, everyone, for joining and for the questions. As we step back and look at FY25, we feel really good about what we delivered from compelling growth and financial results. And as we look at FY26, we know there's more to come as we continue to drive the core business and moderate the G&A growth and spend in our existing business.

謝謝大家的參與與提問。回顧 2025 財年，我們對所取得的令人矚目的成長和財務表現感到非常滿意。展望 2026 財年，我們知道未來還有更多發展空間，我們將繼續推動核心業務，並控制現有業務的一般及行政費用成長和支出。

Now with Breeze, while we're adding 162 stores to our network, this is not something that is new to us. We have been doing bolt-on acquisitions for a long time. This is obviously larger scale, but we have the playbook and the team ready. And we will -- following the close on December 1, we'll start our integration process.

現在，隨著 Breeze 的加入，雖然我們的網路新增了 162 家門市，但這對我們來說並不是新鮮事。我們長期以來一直在進行補充收購。這顯然規模更大，但我們已經制定了應對方案，團隊也準備就緒。12月1日交易完成後，我們將開始整合過程。

And I feel really good about the Breeze team. And again, the strategic rationale for that acquisition remains the same. When we closed the transaction, Valvoline will be the category leader in store count, revenue, and transactions, both on an absolute and an average per store basis. We'll have over 2,300 -- well over 2,300 stores which we can leverage our investments against.

我對Breeze團隊非常滿意。再次強調，此次收購的策略理由依然不變。交易完成後，Valvoline 將成為門市數量、收入和交易量的品類領導者，無論從絕對值或平均單店交易量來看都是如此。我們將擁有超過 2300 家門市——遠遠超過 2300 家，我們可以利用這些門市來發揮我們的投資效益。

So using our playbook, we'll bring these stores into the portfolio, and we do see significant growth opportunities ahead. Our resilient business model remains unchanged. And it will continue to position us for momentum in FY26 and beyond.

因此，我們將按照我們的策略，把這些門市納入我們的投資組合，我們看到了未來巨大的成長機會。我們穩健的商業模式保持不變。這將繼續為我們在 2026 財年及以後的發展奠定基礎。

So I want to thank you, all, again for joining us today. And I look forward to seeing you either virtually or in person at our investor update in December. Thanks, all.

所以，我再次感謝各位今天蒞臨本節目。我期待在12月的投資者更新會議上與您在線上或線下見面。謝謝大家。

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

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路了。