沃博聯公司 (WBA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Krista, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call.

早安.我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 第四季和 2023 財年財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Thank you. Tiffany Kanaga, Vice President of Global Investor Relations, you may begin your conference.

謝謝。全球投資者關係副總裁 Tiffany Kanaga，您可以開始會議了。

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for the Walgreens Boots Alliance earnings call for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023. I'm Tiffany Kanaga, Vice President of Global Investor Relations.

早安.感謝您參加我們的 Walgreens Boots Alliance 2023 財年第四季財報電話會議。我是全球投資者關係副總裁 Tiffany Kanaga。

Joining me on today's call are Ginger Graham, our Interim Chief Executive Officer; Manmohan Mahajan, our Interim Global Chief Financial Officer; and John Driscoll, President of U.S. Healthcare. In addition, Rick Gates, Senior Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer of Walgreens; and Tracey Brown, President of Walgreens Retail and Chief Customer Officer, will participate in Q&A.

參加今天電話會議的還有我們的臨時執行長 Ginger Graham； Manmohan Mahajan，我們的臨時全球財務長；和美國醫療保健總裁約翰·德里斯科爾。此外，沃爾格林高級副總裁兼首席藥房官里克·蓋茨(Rick Gates)；沃爾格林零售總裁兼首席客戶長 Tracey Brown 將參與問答。

All references to the COVID-19 headwind on today's call include U.S. vaccines, drive-thru tests and OTC tests. As always, during the conference call, we anticipate making projections and forward-looking statements based on our current expectations. Our actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including those listed on Slide 2 and those outlined in our latest Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement after this presentation, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, or otherwise.

今天的電話會議中所有提到的 COVID-19 逆風都包括美國疫苗、得來速測試和 OTC 測試。與往常一樣，在電話會議期間，我們預計會根據當前的預期做出預測和前瞻性陳述。由於多種因素，包括投影片 2 中列出的因素以及我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 表格中概述的因素，我們的實際結果可能會存在重大差異。我們沒有義務在本次演示後公開更新任何前瞻性聲明，無論是由於新資訊、未來事件、假設變更或其他原因。

You can find our press release and the slides referenced on this call in the Investors section of the Walgreens Boots Alliance website. The slides in the press release also contain further information about the non-GAAP financial measures that we will discuss during this call.

您可以在沃爾格林博姿聯盟網站的投資者部分找到我們的新聞稿和本次電話會議引用的幻燈片。新聞稿中的投影片還包含有關我們將在本次電話會議中討論的非公認會計準則財務措施的更多資訊。

I will now turn the call over to Ginger.

我現在會把電話轉給 Ginger。

Thanks, Tiffany, and good morning, everyone. The good news you heard yesterday is that Tim Wentworth has agreed to join WBA as our new Chief Executive Officer effective October 23. We're thrilled to have Tim and believe he will make a meaningful contribution to the future of the company with his deep knowledge and expertise in health care.

謝謝蒂芙尼，大家早安。您昨天聽到的好消息是Tim Wentworth 已同意加入WBA 並於10 月23 日生效，擔任我們的新首席執行官。我們很高興蒂姆加入，並相信他將憑藉深厚的知識為公司的未來做出有意義的貢獻和醫療保健方面的專業知識。

We've asked him to make a few comments this morning, and I would like to turn it over to him now. Tim?

今天早上我們請他發表了一些評論，我現在想將其轉交給他。提姆？

Thanks, Ginger. I'm excited to join the call today and even more excited to get to work after next week.

謝謝，姜。我很高興今天能參加電話會議，更興奮能在下週後開始工作。

During my nearly 3 decades in health care, I've led efforts to create innovative and flexible health services to meet the needs of health plans, employers and government organizations as well as their employees and members. And you know whether building a team that grew the largest, most operationally efficient PBM in the country, or helping to establish Accredo as the most significant specialty pharmacy in the United States, or helping to put together Evernorth, a $100 billion-plus health services business, I've consistently built relationships and offered solutions both for customers who are looking for a trusted innovative partner who listens and for patients who are looking for access and affordability.

在我從事醫療保健行業的近 3 年來，我致力於創建創新且靈活的醫療服務，以滿足醫療計劃、雇主和政府組織及其員工和會員的需求。您知道是否要建立一個團隊來發展美國最大、運營效率最高的 PBM，或者幫助將 Accredo 打造成美國最重要的專業藥房，或者幫助組建 Evernorth，這是一個價值超過 1000 億美元的醫療服務機構在業務方面，我始終如一地與尋求可信賴的傾聽創新合作夥伴的客戶以及尋求可及性和負擔能力的患者建立關係並提供解決方案。

This impact was the direct result of having a winning team of employees and a culture that values patients. Now I know WBA. I have worked with Walgreens as a customer, partner, competitor, investor and family member, and I understand the challenges ahead for us as well as for the health care industry.

這種影響是擁有一支成功的員工團隊和重視病人的文化的直接結果。現在我知道了WBA。我曾作為客戶、合作夥伴、競爭對手、投資者和家庭成員與沃爾格林合作過，我了解我們以及醫療保健產業面臨的挑戰。

Walgreens was built on convenience, access and trust and has unique advantages in today's health care environment. I see the opportunities before us to build on our pharmacy strength and our trusted brand to evolve health care and the customer experience to deliver better outcomes at a lower cost.

沃爾格林建立在便利、可及和信任的基礎上，在當今的醫療保健環境中具有獨特的優勢。我看到了我們面前的機會，可以利用我們的藥房實力和值得信賴的品牌來發展醫療保健和客戶體驗，以更低的成本提供更好的結果。

Now I've learned a lot over the recent weeks. As you might imagine, I've spent time with each and every board member, talking about the future and their priorities, learning about our challenges and opportunities, and most importantly, the importance of execution. Those discussions inform my own research. And of course, I have my personal experiences.

最近幾週我學到了很多。正如您可能想像的那樣，我花時間與每位董事會成員交談，討論未來和他們的優先事項，了解我們的挑戰和機遇，最重要的是，執行力的重要性。這些討論為我自己的研究提供了資訊。當然，我也有我的個人經驗。

For example, just last week, Mave, a terrific store employee in Rochester, New York, professionally and cheerfully delivered to make a critical prescription to help my mother. It was the kind of experience I appreciate and everyone deserves. And I know that Mave is surrounded by the committed pharmacists and other team members, all of whom together can improve the lives of each person who walks through our door, in my mom's hometown, Walgreens, and Rochester, and in every store we operate.

例如，就在上週，紐約州羅徹斯特市一位出色的商店員工梅夫專業而愉快地為我母親開出了一份重要的處方。這是我欣賞的經歷，也是每個人都應得的。我知道 Mave 周圍都是忠誠的藥劑師和其他團隊成員，他們在一起可以改善每個走進我們家的人的生活，在我媽媽的家鄉沃爾格林和羅徹斯特，以及我們經營的每家商店。

All of these experiences together made my decision to join WBA, frankly, an easy one. There is a reservoir of goodwill for this company across communities and a substantial opportunity to return value to our customers, employees and shareholders.

坦白說，所有這些經歷讓我做出了加入 WBA 的決定，這很容易。該公司在各個社區都擁有大量商譽，並且有大量機會為我們的客戶、員工和股東回報價值。

Alongside the Board, our team members and partners, I'm enthusiastic about our future and realizing our health care strategy and vision. I'm humbled to serve as WBA's next CEO and look forward to speaking to many of you in the coming weeks.

我與董事會、我們的團隊成員和合作夥伴一起，對我們的未來以及實現我們的醫療保健策略和願景充滿熱情。我很榮幸能夠擔任 WBA 的下一任首席執行官，並期待在未來幾週內與你們中的許多人交談。

Ginger, thank you, and thank you to the entire WBA Board for this opportunity. I'll now turn it back to you.

金傑，謝謝你，也感謝整個 WBA 董事會給我這個機會。現在我會把它還給你。

Thanks, Tim. I'm excited and looking forward to working with you. While Tim won't be on the Q&A, I'm sure he will be talking with all of you soon after he joins the company.

謝謝，蒂姆。我很興奮並期待與您合作。雖然蒂姆不會參加問答，但我相信他加入公司後很快就會與大家交談。

With that, let me turn to our business results. My time here has been very focused on stabilizing our talent, addressing our level of spending relative to the scale of our business, and critically reviewing our capital allocation across the business.

接下來，讓我談談我們的業務成果。我在這裡的時間非常專注於穩定我們的人才，解決我們相對於業務規模的支出水平，並嚴格審查我們在整個業務中的資本配置。

With the benefit of having been on the Board, it has accelerated my ability to work with the team and make swift decisions and implement changes across many areas of our operations. We have focused on three near-term operational priorities. We must support our customer-facing activities, scrutinize every penny of spend that does not directly benefit the customer and improve cash management.

加入董事會的好處是，它提高了我與團隊合作的能力，並在我們營運的許多領域做出快速決策和實施變革。我們將重點放在三個近期營運重點。我們必須支持面向客戶的活動，仔細審查每一分錢不直接惠及客戶的支出，並改善現金管理。

I will restate what we know and is critical to our future. We believe the fundamentals of our core business remain strong. We dispensed over 1 billion prescriptions annually across our retail and specialty pharmacies. We play a key role in health care delivery in this country.

我將重申我們所知道的以及對我們的未來至關重要的事情。我們相信我們核心業務的基本面依然強勁。我們的零售和專業藥局每年發放超過 10 億張處方。我們在這個國家的醫療保健服務中發揮關鍵作用。

78% of Americans live within 5 miles of a Walgreens or a Duane Reade and 58% of us are likely to visit a local pharmacy as the first step for a nonemergency health need. Our trusted brand, deep community relationships and convenience form the foundation of our pharmacy business and our platform for growth as we expand throughout other areas of health care.

78% 的美國人居住在沃爾格林 (Walgreens) 或杜安·里德 (Duane Reade) 藥房 5 英里範圍內，並且 58% 的人可能會前往當地藥房作為滿足非緊急健康需求的第一步。我們值得信賴的品牌、深厚的社區關係和便利性構成了我們製藥業務的基礎，也是我們在醫療保健其他領域擴張時的成長平台。

I see significant opportunity to improve the cost base of this business. During the last 6 weeks, we have taken decisive actions to rightsize our cost structure. We expect over $1 billion of cost savings during fiscal year 2024 based on the actions we have already taken and are in progress.

我看到了改善該業務成本基礎的重大機會。在過去 6 週內，我們採取了果斷行動來調整我們的成本結構。根據我們已經採取和正在進行的行動，我們預計 2024 財年將節省超過 10 億美元的成本。

Examples include, reducing our headquarter costs going line by line, expense category by expense category and reducing all nonessential spend. We've reviewed and are reducing areas for contracted or project work. We are altering our store operating hours based on local market trends. We are closing unprofitable stores. We're driving supply chain efficiencies, including using AI to more accurately forecast demand and optimizing our transportation network. We're also implementing centralized services that control inventory, reduce workload and provide better customer support.

例如，逐條降低總部成本、逐一費用類別降低所有非必要支出。我們已經審查並正在減少合約或專案工作的區域。我們正在根據當地市場趨勢改變商店的營業時間。我們正在關閉不盈利的商店。我們正在提高供應鏈效率，包括使用人工智慧更準確地預測需求並優化我們的運輸網路。我們還實施集中服務來控制庫存、減少工作量並提供更好的客戶支援。

We're taking a hard look at all projects and stopping those that are not essential. These actions reduce expenses, but more importantly, they help focus our energy on the most important needs for the business and for our customers.

我們正在仔細審查所有項目並停止那些不必要的項目。這些行動減少了開支，但更重要的是，它們有助於我們將精力集中在業務和客戶最重要的需求上。

We are more aggressively managing decisions that impact cash. This includes working capital management, targeting over $500 million of improvement and defining near-term capital expenditure reductions, which we expect will bolster our balance sheet and support our priorities.

我們更積極管理影響現金的決策。這包括營運資本管理，目標是超過 5 億美元的改進和確定近期資本支出削減，我們預計這將改善我們的資產負債表並支持我們的優先事項。

Let me give you some examples. One major effort at Walgreens has been to introduce a perpetual pharmacy inventory system across the chain. As of last week, it is available to all 9,000 of our stores. This provides complete visibility of our inventory in the pharmacies and supports our work to reduce excess inventory and free up working capital. It also has many benefits for the pharmacy staff, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive as it simplifies workflows reducing store level activities.

讓我舉一些例子。沃爾格林的一項主要工作是在整個連鎖店引入永久的藥房庫存系統。截至上週，我們所有的 9,000 家商店均可使用該服務。這提供了我們在藥房的庫存的完整可見性，並支持我們減少過剩庫存和釋放營運資金的工作。它還為藥房工作人員帶來了許多好處，反饋非常積極，因為它簡化了工作流程，減少了商店級別的活動。

Another area where we have reduced working capital and impacted our workflow at the store level is related to regional micro fulfillment centers. These centers allow us to improve product availability, while, at the same time, reduce total inventory levels.

我們減少營運資金並影響商店層級工作流程的另一個領域與區域微型履行中心有關。這些中心使我們能夠提高產品可用性，同時降低總庫存水準。

Our 11th micro fulfillment center opened 3 weeks ago. These centers currently support more than 4,300 stores, filling over 2.3 million prescriptions each week across 29 states. As we fill more prescriptions centrally, it frees up our staff to spend more time with customers, offering other health-related products and services and it relieves some of the pressure on store staffing.

我們的第 11 個微型配送中心於 3 週前開幕。這些中心目前為 29 個州的 4,300 多家商店提供服務，每週提供超過 230 萬份處方藥。當我們集中配藥時，我們的員工可以騰出更多時間與顧客相處，提供其他與健康相關的產品和服務，並減輕商店人員配置的一些壓力。

It is important to note that we have paused further expansion of our fulfillment centers to first drive improvements in the rollout, so we may fully realize the many benefits the centers offer: working capital reduction, inventory tracking and control, customer service enhancements, workflow improvement and reduction in cost to fill. The team has defined threshold requirements of performance before we move to implement the final five locations.

值得注意的是，我們已經暫停了履行中心的進一步擴張，以首先推動部署的改進，因此我們可以充分實現中心提供的許多好處：減少營運資金、庫存追蹤和控制、增強客戶服務、改進工作流程並降低填充成本。在我們開始實施最後五個地點之前，團隊已經定義了效能的閾值要求。

There is significant opportunity to reduce retail inventory and optimize our retail product mix. We are reducing SKUs, addressing slow-moving product categories and moving e-commerce shipments to fulfillment by our stores, getting the delivery to the customer, in most cases, in less than 1 hour. This is augmented by real progress on our own brands, which offers a big opportunity that we have been slow to capture.

我們有很大的機會減少零售庫存並優化我們的零售產品組合。我們正在減少 SKU，解決滯銷產品類別問題，並將電子商務運送轉移至我們的商店，在大多數情況下，在不到 1 小時內將貨物交付給客戶。我們自有品牌的實際進展進一步增強了這一點，這提供了我們遲遲未能抓住的巨大機會。

All of these working capital improvements yield customer service benefits and workflow improvements for our staff. Cash is also influenced by our capital expenditure budgets, and we are reducing our capital expenditures in fiscal year 2024 compared to last year, down approximately $600 million. We have already identified many of the actions required to deliver this improvement and to ensure that we execute all capital and project expenses are now being reviewed and approved centrally.

所有這些營運資金的改進都為我們的員工帶來了客戶服務優勢和工作流程改善。現金也受到我們的資本支出預算的影響，與去年相比，我們正在減少 2024 財年的資本支出，減少約 6 億美元。我們已經確定了實現這項改進所需的許多行動，並確保我們執行所有資本和項目支出，現在正在集中審查和批准。

One other important action I want to mention is our return to the office. I have recently communicated that our leaders are expected to return to the office this month, and all other team members are expected back in late November. We are convinced that our ability to act quickly, deliver priority projects and respond to business demands will be improved by being together.

我想提及的另一個重要行動是我們回到辦公室。我最近通知，我們的領導預計將於本月返回辦公室，所有其他團隊成員預計將於 11 月底返回辦公室。我們相信，透過共同努力，我們快速行動、交付優先項目和回應業務需求的能力將會提高。

With that, I'll hand it over to Manmohan to review our financial results and our outlook for fiscal year 2024.

接下來，我將把它交給 Manmohan 來審查我們的財務表現和 2024 財年的前景。

Thank you, Ginger, and good morning. Fourth quarter adjusted EPS came in near the low end of the range provided on June 27 and in line with our update on September 1. Our results reflected a further slowdown in respiratory events, shifting consumer behaviors, driven by a challenging macroeconomic environment, and lower COVID-19-related contributions. Overall, we delivered 8.3% sales growth on a constant currency basis. This includes $1.4 billion in growth in our health care business versus the prior year.

謝謝你，姜，早安。第四季調整後每股盈餘接近6 月27 日提供的範圍的低端，與我們9 月1 日的更新一致。我們的結果反映出，在充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境和較低的推動下，呼吸系統事件進一步放緩，消費者行為改變。與 COVID-19 相關的貢獻。總體而言，以固定匯率計算，我們的銷售額成長了 8.3%。其中包括我們的醫療保健業務與前一年相比成長了 14 億美元。

Our U.S. retail pharmacy business grew 3.6% and our Boots U.K. business delivered 10.9% sales growth. Adjusted EPS of $0.67 was down 18% on a constant currency basis. The 18% decline was driven by lower COVID-19 contributions, lower sale leaseback gains, net of rent and a higher tax rate.

我們的美國零售藥局業務成長了 3.6%，Boots 英國業務的銷售額成長了 10.9%。調整後每股收益為 0.67 美元，以固定匯率計算下降 18%。下降 18% 的原因是新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 貢獻減少、售後回租收益（扣除租金後）減少以及稅率上升。

We saw positive results from underlying retail pharmacy performance, lower incentive accruals, strong international growth and improved profitability in U.S. health care. GAAP net loss of $180 million improved by $235 million compared to prior year. Remember that we had a $783 million noncash impairment charge in the year ago quarter. The loss in the quarter was driven by charges for certain legal and regulatory accruals and settlements and onetime charges related to transformational cost management program.

我們看到零售藥局的基本業績、較低的應計激勵、強勁的國際成長以及美國醫療保健獲利能力的提高帶來了積極的結果。 GAAP 淨虧損 1.8 億美元，較上年減少 2.35 億美元。請記住，去年同期我們有 7.83 億美元的非現金減損費用。本季度的虧損是由某些法律和監管應計費用和結算費用以及與轉型成本管理計劃相關的一次性費用造成的。

Now let's move to the year-to-date highlights. Fiscal '23 sales increased 5.6% on a constant currency basis. Adjusted EPS of $3.98 was down 20.3% on a constant currency basis. Our results reflected lower COVID-19 contributions and increased labor investments. These challenges were partly offset by lower incentive accruals, growth in international and retail performance in the U.S. GAAP net loss was $3.1 billion compared to net earnings of $4.3 billion in fiscal '22. Fiscal '23 included a $5.5 billion after-tax charge for opioid-related claims and lawsuits.

現在讓我們來看看今年迄今為止的亮點。以固定匯率計算，23 財年銷售額成長了 5.6%。調整後每股收益為 3.98 美元，以固定匯率計算下降 20.3%。我們的結果反映了 COVID-19 貢獻的減少和勞動力投資的增加。這些挑戰被應計激勵措施減少、美國國際和零售業績成長所部分抵銷。22 財年的淨利潤為 43 億美元，而 GAAP 淨虧損為 31 億美元。 23 財年包括 55 億美元的鴉片類藥物相關索賠和訴訟稅後費用。

Now let's move to the U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment. Comp sales growth was 5.7%, reflecting higher brand inflation and mix impacts in our pharmacy business and comp script growth. AOI was down 29.4% in the quarter, reflecting a 27% impact from lower COVID-19 contributions and a 17% impact from lower levels of sale leaseback gains, net of rent, higher underlying pharmacy gross profit and lower incentive accruals contributed positively to AOI. Let me now turn to U.S. pharmacy, pharmacy comp sales increased 9.2% in the quarter, driven by brand inflation and mix impacts and comp script growth.

現在讓我們轉向美國零售藥房領域。比較銷售成長率為 5.7%，反映出品牌通膨上升以及對我們的製藥業務和比較腳本成長的混合影響。本季AOI 下降29.4%，反映出COVID-19 貢獻減少造成27% 的影響，以及銷售回租收益水準降低（扣除租金）、較高的基礎藥房毛利和較低的應計獎勵對AOI 的積極貢獻，影響了17% 。現在讓我談談美國製藥業，在品牌通膨、組合影響和競爭腳本成長的推動下，本季製藥競爭銷售額成長了 9.2%。

A weaker-than-normal respiratory season and impact of Medicaid redeterminations resulted in a weaker overall prescription market during the quarter. Third-party market data showed flu, cold and respiratory activity down 35% compared to the prior year quarter. Despite these weaker trends, comp scripts grew 1.6%, excluding immunizations.

呼吸季節比正常情況弱以及醫療補助重新確定的影響導致本季整體處方藥市場疲軟。第三方市場數據顯示，流感、感冒和呼吸道活動與去年同期相比下降了 35%。儘管趨勢較弱，但不包括免疫接種，補償方案仍增加了 1.6%。

We administered roughly 400,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in the quarter down from 2.9 million in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of COVID-19, fourth quarter adjusted gross profit increased versus the prior year period.

本季我們接種了約 40 萬例 COVID-19 疫苗，低於去年同期的 290 萬例。排除COVID-19的影響，第四季調整後毛利較去年同期有所成長。

Turning next to our U.S. retail business. During the quarter, the retail business was impacted by a weaker-than-normal respiratory season and a continued shift in consumer behaviors, driven by a challenging macroeconomic environment. As a result, comparable sales declined 3.3% in the quarter.

接下來談談我們的美國零售業務。本季度，零售業務受到了弱於正常的呼吸季節以及在充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境的推動下消費者行為持續轉變的影響。結果，本季可比銷售額下降了 3.3%。

There are three main drivers: first, an 80% decline in COVID-19 test kits impacted growth by around 160 basis points; second, weaker cough, cold, flu sales had an approximately 100 basis points impact; and lastly, we were impacted by approximately 60 basis points from summer seasonal weakness, as customers continue to pull back on discretionary spending, reflecting the challenging macroeconomic environment.

主要有三個驅動因素：首先，COVID-19 檢測試劑盒數量下降 80%，影響成長約 160 個基點；其次，咳嗽、感冒、流感銷售疲軟產生了約 100 個基點的影響；最後，我們受到夏季季節性疲軟約 60 個基點的影響，因為客戶繼續減少可自由支配支出，反映出充滿挑戰的宏觀經濟環境。

Looking at category performance, we saw a decline in health and wellness, while personal care and beauty both grew low single digits. Retail gross margin was impacted by elevated shrink and lower sales in a higher-margin categories, such as cough, cold, flu seasonal and COVID-19 test kits. Despite the pressure in the second half, gross margin grew by nearly 100 basis points in fiscal '23, on top of a 100 basis point increase in the prior year.

從類別表現來看，我們看到健康和保健領域有所下降，而個人護理和美容領域均出現低個位數成長。零售毛利率受到咳嗽、感冒、季節性流感和 COVID-19 檢測試劑盒等高利潤類別的收縮加劇和銷售下降的影響。儘管下半年面臨壓力，23 財年的毛利率在上一年增長 100 個基點的基礎上增長了近 100 個基點。

Turning next to the International segment, and as always, I will talk in constant currency numbers. The International segment again performed very well in the quarter, delivering profit ahead of guidance. Sales increased 6.7%, with growth across all international markets. Boots U.K. was up 10.9% and Germany wholesale grew 3.5%.

接下來轉向國際部分，一如既往，我將用不變的貨幣數字來談。國際部門在本季再次表現出色，利潤超出預期。銷售額成長 6.7%，所有國際市場均實現成長。英國 Boots 成長 10.9%，德國批發成長 3.5%。

Gross profit increased nearly 10%, outpacing sales growth. Boots U.K. experienced continued strong retail growth and improved pharmacy margin compared to the prior year period. Despite higher inflation and increased store-related costs, SG&A as a percentage of sales improved, benefiting from disciplined cost management. These impacts resulted in adjusted operating income growth of 52%.

毛利成長近10%，超過銷售額成長。與去年同期相比，Boots UK 的零售業務持續強勁成長，藥局利潤率有所提高。儘管通貨膨脹率上升且商店相關成本增加，但銷售、管理及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比有所提高，這得益於嚴格的成本管理。這些影響導致調整後營業收入成長 52%。

Let's now look in more details at Boots U.K.. Comp retail sales increased 11.7%, on top of a 15.2% comp in the prior year quarter. Boots grew market share for the tenth consecutive quarter, approximately 1 percentage point versus the prior year quarter, with gains in beauty and health and wellness. Boots.com sales grew 29% year-on-year and represented over 13% of our U.K. retail sales.

現在讓我們詳細了解 Boots U.K. 的零售額年增 11.7%，而去年同期零售額年增 15.2%。 Boots 的市佔率連續第十個季度成長，比去年同期成長約 1 個百分點，其中美容、健康和保健領域的份額有所增長。 Boots.com 銷售額年增 29%，占我們英國零售額的 13% 以上。

Turning next to U.S. Healthcare. U.S. Healthcare segment results were in line with the guidance provided on June 27, with AOI and adjusted EBITDA both up sequentially and year-over-year. The business continues to rapidly scale with fourth quarter sales of $2 billion, reflecting the acquisition of CareCentrix, the acquisition of Summit Health by VillageMD, and growth in all businesses.

接下來轉向美國醫療保健。美國醫療保健部門的表現與 6 月 27 日提供的指引一致，AOI 和調整後 EBITDA 均較上季和年成長。該業務繼續快速擴張，第四季度銷售額達到 20 億美元，這反映了對 CareCentrix 的收購、VillageMD 對 Summit Health 的收購以及所有業務的成長。

Segment pro forma sales grew 19%, driven by VillageMD sales of $1.4 billion, up 17% on a pro forma basis. The growth was led by higher value-based lives, expansion of the clinic footprint and increased fee-for-service volumes as clinics mature. CareCentrix sales were up 24% on a pro forma basis, and Shields delivered pro forma sales growth of 29%. Segment gross profit improved 29% sequentially. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $30 million, an improvement of $103 million from the prior year quarter.

VillageMD 銷售額預計成長 17%，達 14 億美元，推動該部門預計銷售額成長 19%。這一增長是由更高的生活價值、診所足蹟的擴大以及隨著診所的成熟而增加的服務收費量帶動的。 CareCentrix 銷售額預計成長 24%，Shields 預計銷售額將成長 29%。分部毛利較上季成長 29%。調整後 EBITDA 虧損 3,000 萬美元，比去年同期增加 1.03 億美元。

Turning next to the cash flow. We generated $2.3 billion of operating cash flow in fiscal '23, reflecting lower COVID-19 contributions, opioid settlement payments and losses in our U.S. Healthcare segment. Fiscal '23 capital expenditures of $2.1 billion increased by approximately $400 million compared to the prior year. This was driven by growth initiatives, including VillageMD and the micro fulfillment center rollout. This resulted in free cash flow of $665 million. We also reduced debt by $2.6 billion in fiscal '23.

接下來轉向現金流。我們在 23 財年產生了 23 億美元的營運現金流，反映出我們美國醫療保健部門的 COVID-19 捐款、阿片類藥物結算付款和損失的減少。 23 財年資本支出為 21 億美元，與前一年相比增加了約 4 億美元。這是由 VillageMD 和微型履行中心推出等成長措施所推動的。這導致自由現金流達到 6.65 億美元。我們也在 23 財年減少了 26 億美元的債務。

As Ginger discussed, we are taking a number of actions to drive improvement in free cash flow in fiscal '24, including approximately $600 million in reduced capital expenditures and approximately $500 million benefit from working capital optimization initiatives.

正如 Ginger 所討論的，我們正在採取一系列行動來推動 24 財年自由現金流的改善，包括減少約 6 億美元的資本支出，以及從營運資本優化計劃中獲得約 5 億美元的收益。

I will now turn to our fiscal '24 guidance. We are guiding to fiscal '24 adjusted EPS of $3.20 to $3.50, down from $3.98 in fiscal '23. Before discussing underlying performance, I want to mention some key headwinds that we will face in fiscal '24. These include lower sale and leaseback contributions, a higher tax rate and lower COVID-19 contributions. We're also assuming continued macroeconomic pressure on the consumer and a weaker respiratory season compared to the prior year. Excluding the impact of these headwinds our forecast assumes underlying growth, which is primarily driven by two factors: First we expect accelerating profitability in our U.S. healthcare business in 2024 as the segment continues to scale, with adjusted EBITDA expected to be at or around breakeven.

我現在將談談我們的 24 財年指導。我們預計 24 財年調整後每股收益為 3.20 美元至 3.50 美元，低於 23 財年的 3.98 美元。在討論基本績效之前，我想先提一下我們在 24 財年將面臨的一些主要阻力。其中包括較低的售後回租捐款、較高的稅率和較低的 COVID-19 捐款。我們也假設消費者將面臨持續的宏觀經濟壓力，並且與去年相比，呼吸季節會減弱。排除這些不利因素的影響，我們的預測假設潛在成長，這主要由兩個因素驅動：首先，隨著該細分市場的不斷擴大，我們預計2024 年美國醫療保健業務的盈利能力將加速增長，調整後的EBITDA 預計將達到或接近損益兩平。

Second, we expect U.S. retail pharmacy underlying adjusted operating income to be driven by immediate actions to improve the cost base and modest underlying growth in both retail and pharmacy.

其次，我們預期美國零售藥局調整後的營業收入將受到立即採取行動改善成本基礎以及零售和藥局適度基本成長的推動。

Let me now illustrate the larger moving pieces as we bridge from fiscal '23 to fiscal '24. I mentioned three notable headwinds to adjusted EPS. Sale and leaseback is estimated to have a negative year-on-year impact of between 11% to 13%.

現在讓我來說明從 23 財年過渡到 24 財年期間發生的較大變化。我提到了調整每股盈餘的三個顯著阻力。售後回租預計將產生 11% 至 13% 的年比負面影響。

As we have said before, we do not expect any contribution from sale and leaseback beyond fiscal '24. Tax rates will be higher in 2024, increasing by approximately 10 percentage points compared to 2023 due to higher international rates and benefits recognized in 2023 that are not expected to repeat in 2024.

正如我們之前所說，我們預計 24 財年之後的售後回租不會產生任何貢獻。 2024 年的稅率將更高，與 2023 年相比增加約 10 個百分點，因為國際稅率較高，並且 2023 年確認的福利預計在 2024 年不會重複。

Finally, we're projecting lower COVID-19 contributions that result in a 6% to 7% year-on-year impact. Excluding these impacts, we expect underlying growth of 9% to 12%, driven by accelerating profitability in U.S. health care and immediate actions to improve our cost base across the company.

最後，我們預計新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 貢獻率將下降，年比影響將下降 6% 至 7%。排除這些影響，我們預計潛在成長將達到 9% 至 12%，這主要得益於美國醫療保健盈利能力的提高以及立即採取行動改善整個公司的成本基礎。

Let me now walk you through the 2024 guidance in greater detail. Overall, we expect total sales in fiscal '24 to be up 1% to 4% on a constant currency basis. Adjusted operating income is expected to be down 5% to 12% on a constant currency basis.

現在讓我更詳細地向您介紹 2024 年指南。總體而言，我們預計 24 財年的總銷售額將按固定匯率計算將成長 1% 至 4%。以固定匯率計算，調整後營業收入預計將下降 5% 至 12%。

Let me now walk you through the assumptions and guidance for each of our reporting segments, starting with U.S. retail pharmacy. U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment sales are projected to be flat to up 2%. AOI will be negatively impacted by approximately 8 percentage points from the lower COVID-19 contributions and roughly 11 percentage points of lower sale and leaseback gains. Excluding these impacts, the underlying business is projected to drive 5% to 10% AOI growth.

現在讓我向您介紹我們每個報告部門的假設和指導，從美國零售藥房開始。美國零售藥局部門的銷售額預計將持平至成長 2%。 AOI 將受到 COVID-19 貢獻下降約 8 個百分點以及售後回租收益下降約 11 個百分點的負面影響。排除這些影響，基礎業務預計將推動 AOI 成長 5% 至 10%。

I will now take you through the key business drivers. First, we anticipate script volume growth driven by overall market growth. On reimbursement, we have roughly 75% of the contract signed for calendar year '24. We do expect reimbursement pressure to be less of a headwind in fiscal '24 than in fiscal '23.

現在我將帶您了解關鍵的業務驅動因素。首先，我們預期腳本量的成長將受到整體市場成長的推動。在報銷方面，我們已經簽署了 24 日曆年合約的大約 75%。我們確實預期 24 財年的報銷壓力將小於 23 財年。

We're projecting approximately 5 million COVID vaccinations in 2024. Quarter-to-date, we're well on track and have already administered over 3 million COVID vaccinations. In retail, we expect margins to benefit from our category performance improvement program and a roughly 1 percentage point increase in own brand penetration.

我們預計 2024 年接種約 500 萬劑新冠疫苗。本季迄今，我們進展順利，已接種超過 300 萬劑新冠疫苗。在零售業，我們預期利潤率將受惠於我們的品類績效改善計畫以及自有品牌滲透率約 1 個百分點的成長。

At the same time, we're adopting a prudent approach. We see a continuation of the challenging trends that impacted the second half of fiscal 2023. We're projecting flat comparable sales due to a milder cough, cold, and flu season year-on-year, lower COVID OTC test kit volume and continued consumer pressure. We're also planning a higher level of shrink, which has been increasing in the last several months and continues to represent a serious systemic issue across the retail industry. Within SG&A, we expect to achieve over $1 billion of cost savings during fiscal 2024, as Ginger has already described.

同時，我們採取謹慎的態度。我們看到影響 2023 財年下半年的挑戰性趨勢將繼續存在。由於咳嗽、感冒和流感季節同比較溫和、新冠 OTC 檢測試劑盒數量減少以及消費者的持續消費，我們預計可比銷售額將持平壓力。我們還計劃進行更高程度的縮減，這種縮減在過去幾個月中一直在增加，並且繼續代表整個零售業的嚴重系統性問題。正如 Ginger 已經描述的那樣，在 SG&A 範圍內，我們預計在 2024 財年實現超過 10 億美元的成本節約。

Turning next to guidance for the International segment. Segment sales are projected flat to up 4% on a constant currency basis. We expect adjusted operating income of $745 million to $770 million, representing a constant currency decline of 18% to 21%. The year-on-year decline is entirely driven by property transactions during fiscal '23, which will not be repeated, and the pending sales of the business in Chile. Excluding those impacts, we expect AOI growth to be flat to up 2%, with continued execution within Boots U.K. retail business held back by the impact of inflationary pressures.

接下來轉向國際部分的指引。以固定匯率計算，該部門銷售額預計將持平至成長 4%。我們預計調整後營業收入為 7.45 億美元至 7.7 億美元，相當於匯率持續下跌 18% 至 21%。年比下降完全是由23財年的房地產交易（不會重複）以及智利業務的待售銷售所推動的。排除這些影響，我們預計 AOI 成長將持平，成長 2%，而 Boots 英國零售業務的持續執行受到通膨壓力的影響。

Now let's turn to U.S. Healthcare. We are focused on driving improved financial performance for U.S. Healthcare in 2024. We expect fiscal '24 sales of $8.3 billion to $8.8 billion, reflecting first full year of Summit Health and ongoing growth in all businesses.

現在讓我們轉向美國醫療保健。我們致力於推動 2024 年美國醫療保健產業的財務表現改善。我們預計 24 財年的銷售額將達到 83 億至 88 億美元，反映出 Summit Health 的第一個全年業績以及所有業務的持續成長。

On a pro forma basis, we see sales growth of 10% to 17% and expect fiscal '24 adjusted EBITDA to be breakeven at the midpoint of the guidance range. This represents an increase of $325 million to $425 million compared to fiscal '23, driven by growth in full-risk lives, fee-for-service volume, optimization of the clinic footprint and realignment of the cost base at VillageMD, robust growth at Shields and Walgreens Health business growth, driven by scaling of our clinical trial business and health care services and through cost management.

根據預計，我們預計銷售額將成長 10% 至 17%，並預計 24 財年調整後 EBITDA 將在指導範圍的中點達到損益兩平。與23 財年相比，這意味著增加了3.25 億美元至4.25 億美元，其推動因素包括全風險生命的增長、按服務收費的數量、診所佈局的優化以及VillageMD 成本基礎的重新調整，以及Shields的強勁成長沃爾格林健康業務的成長，是由我們的臨床試驗業務和醫療保健服務的規模擴大以及成本管理所推動的。

We assume an effective tax rate of approximately 19% to 20%, with the year-over-year increase driven by higher international statutory tax rates and benefits recognized in 2023 that are not expected to repeat in 2024. Interest expense is expected to decrease by approximately $80 million. In the first quarter, we will be lapping the prior year quarter's adjusted EPS of $1.16.

我們假設有效稅率約為 19% 至 20%，同比增長是由較高的國際法定稅率和 2023 年確認的福利推動的，預計 2024 年不會重複。利息支出預計將減少約8000萬美元。第一季度，我們將調整去年同期調整後每股收益 1.16 美元。

The following five factors are expected to have an outsized impact in the first quarter this year. First, we had a significant tax benefit in prior year period, which will not repeat in the first quarter of 2024. Second, we're expecting COVID-19 contributions to be lower in the first quarter, reflecting last year's omicron wave and seasonality. Third, we anticipate lower contributions from sale and leaseback activity. Fourth, we're lapping elevated levels of labor investments in our pharmacy staff. Finally, we also expect a more normalized flu season in fiscal '24, peaking in the second quarter versus the early start in the prior year.

以下五個因素預計將對今年第一季產生巨大影響。首先，我們在去年同期獲得了顯著的稅收優惠，這種情況在2024 年第一季不會重複。其次，我們預計第一季的COVID-19 貢獻將較低，反映了去年的omicron 浪潮和季節性。第三，我們預期售後回租活動的貢獻將會減少。第四，我們正在提高對藥局員工的勞動投資。最後，我們也預計 24 財年的流感季節將更加正常化，與前一年初期相比，第二季將達到高峰。

Moving beyond the first quarter, we will see sequential improvement, and I will discuss the top four drivers. First, we're executing a series of actions to lower our cost base. These will have limited impact on the first quarter, but will start to ramp in the second quarter. There is adjusted EPS benefit of $0.50 to $0.60 in the balance of the year compared to the first quarter.

在第一季之後，我們將看到連續的改善，我將討論四大驅動因素。首先，我們正在採取一系列行動來降低成本基礎。這些對第一季的影響有限，但將在第二季開始增加。與第一季相比，今年餘下的調整後每股收益為 0.50 美元至 0.60 美元。

Second, in our U.S. Healthcare segment, we expect profitability to improve from optimizing the clinic footprint, growing patient panels and realigning costs. Third, we expect growing contributions from retail initiatives, including sequentially improving retail comps and margin expansion programs. Finally, seasonality plays a role in our business, benefiting the second quarter, which is usually the height of the cough, cold, flu season in the U.S. and is when Boots U.K. sees significant profit driven by the holiday season.

其次，在我們的美國醫療保健部門，我們預計透過優化診所足跡、擴大患者群體和重新調整成本來提高獲利能力。第三，我們預期零售計畫的貢獻將持續增加，包括逐步改善零售比較和利潤擴張計畫。最後，季節性在我們的業務中發揮著重要作用，使第二季度受益，第二季度通常是美國咳嗽、感冒、流感季節的高峰期，也是 Boots UK 在假期季節推動下獲得可觀利潤的時期。

With that, let me now hand it over to John to discuss our U.S. health care business.

那麼，現在讓我把它交給約翰來討論我們的美國醫療保健業務。

Good morning, and thanks, Manmohan. Over the past 2 years, we've acquired or launched new businesses in primary care, multi-specialty, post-acute care, urgent care, specialty pharmacy services, population health and provider enablement. Each of these businesses builds upon our strong foundation in retail pharmacy to tap into high-growth health care services.

早安，謝謝，曼莫漢。在過去的兩年裡，我們收購或推出了初級保健、多專業、急性後護理、緊急護理、專業藥房服務、人口健康和提供者支援等領域的新業務。這些業務均建立在我們在零售藥房的堅實基礎上，以進入高成長的醫療保健服務領域。

Walgreens uniquely has an advantage in convenience, consumer traffic, independence and trust that will help us with our health plan and provider partners create solutions that deliver better outcomes at lower cost. We connect daily with many of the patients that our plan and provider partners struggle to reach. Our goal is to be the independent partner of choice, not just in pharmacy, but also in health care services, where we can lower costs and help patients.

沃爾格林在便利性、消費者流量、獨立性和信任方面擁有獨特的優勢，這將幫助我們制定健康計劃，並幫助提供者合作夥伴創建以更低的成本提供更好結果的解決方案。我們每天與我們的計劃和提供者合作夥伴難以接觸到的許多患者聯繫。我們的目標是成為首選的獨立合作夥伴，不僅在藥房，而且在醫療保健服務領域，我們可以降低成本並幫助患者。

Today, most of our customers come to Walgreens to meet their pharmacy needs. Increasingly and in the future, our pharmacy teams will be a critical part of how our plan and provider partners bend the cost curve. So whether you're a health plan or a health system, you're dealing with one Walgreens and a suite of capabilities and services.

如今，我們的大多數客戶來到沃爾格林是為了滿足他們的藥房需求。未來，我們的藥局團隊將越來越成為我們的計畫和供應商合作夥伴如何扭轉成本曲線的關鍵部分。因此，無論您是健康計劃還是健康系統，您都需要與一個沃爾格林以及一套功能和服務打交道。

Here are some of the ways that our U.S. health care assets work with Walgreens to better serve our customers and payer, provider and pharma clients. Shield is working with our Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy to convert Walgreens locations to Shield's partner sites, collaborating with our contract pharmacies and delivering better adherence for patients on complex specialty drugs and better value for hospitals.

以下是我們的美國醫療保健資產與沃爾格林合作的一些方式，以便更好地服務我們的客戶和付款人、提供者和製藥客戶。 Shield 正在與我們的沃爾格林專科藥房合作，將沃爾格林門市轉變為Shield 的合作夥伴門市，與我們的合約藥局合作，提高病患對複雜專科藥物的依從性，並為醫院帶來更大的價值。

Walgreens Health and CareCentrix are partnering with Pearl Health to support providers who'd like to transition from fee-for-service to value-based care by leveraging Pearl's tech solutions with Walgreens' health care services. We'll accept full medical risk as we support physicians' patients by providing post-acute and home health solutions from CareCentrix and population health services from Walgreens' Health. All of this is underpinned by Walgreens' engagement of our customers, ensuring them access to better care.

Walgreens Health 和 CareCentrix 正在與 Pearl Health 合作，透過利用 Pearl Health 的技術解決方案和 Walgreens 的醫療保健服務，為那些希望從按服務收費過渡到基於價值的護理的提供者提供支援。我們將接受全部醫療風險，因為我們透過提供 CareCentrix 的急性後和家庭健康解決方案以及 Walgreens' Health 的人口健康服務來支持醫生的患者。所有這一切都以沃爾格林對客戶的參與為基礎，確保他們獲得更好的照護。

Our clinical trials business, which launched just last year, leverages our pharmacy capabilities and data to recruit and execute on clinical trials for our pharma clients. We will engage patients in all markets, including underserved communities. To date, we've signed 15 contracts and continue to see increasing demand for our services.

我們去年剛推出的臨床試驗業務，利用我們的藥學能力和數據為我們的製藥客戶招募和執行臨床試驗。我們將吸引所有市場的患者，包括服務不足的社區。迄今為止，我們已簽署 15 份合同，並且對我們服務的需求持續增長。

CareCentrix provides an increasing number of post-acute services to health plans. Combining Walgreens convenient locations and CareCentrix health plan relationships and patient management, opens the door for a significant opportunity in durable medical equipment sales in our stores.

CareCentrix 為健康計劃提供越來越多的急性後期服務。將 Walgreens 便利的地理位置與 CareCentrix 健康計劃關係和患者管理相結合，為我們商店中耐用醫療設備銷售的重大機會打開了大門。

The U.S. Healthcare segment has ramped to an $8 billion sales run rate in just 2 years. Our health care services aim to deliver better value for our payer and provider partners. We meet patients where they are, in order to improve access to lower-cost solutions. While we have made progress on the build-out of our health care business, we are not satisfied with the near-term returns on our investments. We will continue to grow in 2024, but with a renewed focus on more profitable growth.

美國醫療保健產業的銷售額在短短 2 年內就已增至 80 億美元。我們的醫療保健服務旨在為我們的付款人和提供者合作夥伴提供更好的價值。我們在患者所在的地方與他們會面，以改善獲得低成本解決方案的機會。儘管我們在醫療保健業務的建設方面取得了進展，但我們對短期投資回報並不滿意。 2024 年，我們將繼續成長，但將重新關注利潤更高的成長。

We have seen some improved performance in the fourth quarter, with adjusted EBITDA sequentially increasing by $83 million. Our results reflect gross profit growth, with each quarter this year building on the prior with an enhanced focus on expense discipline. We are taking swift action to unlock the embedded profits at Village and already see the benefit of improved capital and expense management with the addition of our new CFO at Village, Rich Rubino. VillageMD, Summit Health and CityMD will be the most meaningful drivers of growth in fiscal 2024.

我們看到第四季的業績有所改善，調整後的 EBITDA 環比增加了 8,300 萬美元。我們的業績反映了毛利的成長，今年每季以上第一季為基礎，更加重視費用紀律。我們正在迅速採取行動，釋放 Village 的內含利潤，並且隨著 Village 新首席財務官 Rich Rubino 的加入，我們已經看到了改善資本和費用管理的好處。 VillageMD、Summit Health 和 CityMD 將成為 2024 財年最有意義的成長驅動力。

It has taken us longer than anticipated to realize the cost synergies across the combined assets. We also need to solve for a less efficient cost profile and excellence in execution. We believe that we can best enhance VillageMD growth and value by focusing on increased density in our highest opportunity markets and expanding integration of our digital assets.

我們花了比預期更長的時間才實現合併資產的成本綜效。我們還需要解決效率較低的成本問題和卓越的執行問題。我們相信，透過專注於增加機會最大的市場的密度和擴大數位資產的整合，我們可以最好地促進 VillageMD 的成長和價值。

As we grow, we are constantly evaluating our footprint. With that, we plan to exit approximately five markets and approximately 60 clinics in fiscal 2024. These exits may take a variety of forms, including outright sales and hybrid equity arrangements as examples.

隨著我們的成長，我們不斷評估我們的足跡。據此，我們計劃在 2024 財年退出約 5 個市場和約 60 家診所。這些退出可能採取多種形式，包括直接銷售和混合股權安排等。

As we exit these nonstrategic markets, our long-term focus will be on achieving density in those regions with the greatest potential to drive future profitability growth and where we can best serve patients with our consolidated set of assets.

當我們退出這些非策略市場時，我們的長期重點將是在那些最有潛力推動未來獲利成長的地區實現密度，以及我們能夠利用我們的整合資產來為患者服務最好的地區。

The VillageMD model works, as evidenced by the consistent performance of reducing total cost of care and improving outcomes in our more mature markets. VillageMD has a Net Promoter Score of 89, which is one point higher than what I shared a year ago. We are also launching new virtual and less capital-intensive models.

VillageMD 模式是有效的，在我們更成熟的市場中降低總護理成本和改善結果的一致表現就證明了這一點。 VillageMD 的淨推薦值是 89，比我一年前分享的高了一個分數。我們也推出了新的虛擬和資本密集度較低的模式。

In August, we launched a pilot program with CityMD and Duane Reade, where a Duane Reade Walgreens customer can click a QR code and set up a visit at CityMD or a virtual telehealth visit with a clinician. We plan to roll out this digital partnership across Manhattan in the fall.

8 月，我們與 CityMD 和 Duane Reade 啟動了一項試點計劃，Duane Reade Walgreens 的客戶可以點擊二維碼並預約 CityMD 就診或與臨床醫生進行虛擬遠距醫療就診。我們計劃於秋季在整個曼哈頓推出這種數位合作夥伴關係。

Our VillageMD business is a primary care-led risk-bearing platform serving all customers and payers, focusing on utilizing their technology platform to deliver the best health outcomes in a lower total cost of care. Growth in clinics translates into growth in full risk lives as evidenced by the growth in member months in all markets and mature markets. From fiscal year 2022 to 2023, VillageMD has grown full risk member months by 40% across all markets and 24% in our mature markets.

我們的 VillageMD 業務是一個以初級保健為主導的風險承擔平台，為所有客戶和付款人提供服務，專注於利用其技術平台以較低的總護理成本提供最佳的健康結果。診所的成長轉化為全險生命的成長，所有市場和成熟市場的會員月數成長就證明了這一點。從 2022 財年到 2023 財年，VillageMD 在所有市場的全風險會員月數成長了 40%，在成熟市場中成長了 24%。

Even with the rapid growth of VillageMD clinics, we're seeing positive proof points of the business' ability to perform in full risk arrangements. For our full-risk MA population in three mature markets, we've seen Village bend the cost curve across multiple payers. Going forward, as we focus on more profitable growth, we will build on positive clinical margin to deliver contribution margin on a consolidated basis.

儘管 VillageMD 診所發展迅速，但我們仍看到了積極的證據，證明該公司有能力執行全面風險安排。對於三個成熟市場的全風險 MA 人群，我們看到 Village 使多個付款人的成本曲線彎曲。展望未來，隨著我們專注於更高的利潤成長，我們將在積極的臨床利潤基礎上，在合併的基礎上提供邊際貢獻。

Next, I'd like to discuss our latest Walgreens Health partnership. We're partnering with Pearl Health, a provider enablement company, that can help Walgreens expand our risk offering to more community-based primary care providers.

接下來，我想討論我們最新的沃爾格林健康合作關係。我們正在與提供者支援公司 Pearl Health 合作，這可以幫助沃爾格林將我們的風險服務擴展到更多基於社區的初級保健提供者。

Walgreens and Pearl together will provide a management services offering, with Walgreens providing prescription fulfillment, medication adherence, immunizations, care gap closures and diagnostic testing. Integrating local Walgreens pharmacies translates into more access to members with chronic illness, and more opportunities to influence better patient outcomes.

沃爾格林和 Pearl 將共同提供管理服務，沃爾格林將提供處方履行、藥物依從性、免疫接種、縮小護理差距和診斷測試。整合當地的沃爾格林藥局意味著可以更多地接觸患有慢性疾病的會員，並有更多機會影響更好的患者治療結果。

This partnership enables physicians and health systems to work with us to manage the chronically ill in a much more targeted fashion. Pearl's access to doctors through the ACO reach program creates a care traffic control system that can deliver on our commitment to provide better health care at a lower price for plans and patients. This model is also capital efficient, scalable and configurable nationwide.

這種夥伴關係使醫生和衛生系統能夠與我們合作，以更有針對性的方式管理慢性病。 Pearl 透過 ACO 覆蓋範圍計劃接觸醫生，創建了一個護理交通控制系統，可以兌現我們的承諾，即以更低的價格為計劃和患者提供更好的醫療保健。該模型還具有資本效率高、可擴展且可在全國範圍內配置的特性。

With this partnership, we are initially assuming risk for 9,000 lives in 12 markets. Our existing Walgreens Health payer relationships have started with fee-for-service arrangements tied to care gap closures, clinical quality services and screening.

透過這種合作關係，我們最初將承擔 12 個市場 9,000 條生命的風險。我們現有的 Walgreens Health 付款人關係始於與縮小護理差距、臨床品質服務和篩檢相關的按服務收費安排。

Successful performance with these services provides a sound foundation for moving up the risk continuum. We expect to develop a range of risk arrangements that will leverage our assets across the care continuum, including VillageMD, Summit and CareCentrix, all building on our suite of clinical services available at Walgreens.

這些服務的成功表現為提升風險連續性奠定了堅實的基礎。我們期望制定一系列風險安排，以利用我們在整個護理連續體中的資產，包括 VillageMD、Summit 和 CareCentrix，所有這些都建立在沃爾格林提供的臨床服務套件的基礎上。

With that, I'd like to pass it back to Ginger for closing remarks.

說到這裡，我想將其轉交給 Ginger，讓其結束語。

Thank you, John. The last several weeks have reinforced my confidence in the company's potential and also crystallized what actions must be taken to achieve it. We are focused on the right things. I am already encouraged by early results from decisions that advance our customer focus, eliminate cost and conserve cash.

謝謝你，約翰。過去幾週增強了我對公司潛力的信心，也明確了實現這一目標必須採取的行動。我們專注於正確的事情。我已經對推動我們以客戶為中心、消除成本和節省現金的決策的早期結果感到鼓舞。

While we have a challenging year ahead of us, as Manmohan said earlier, our plan anticipates 9% to 12% growth in adjusted operating income from our underlying business. This comes in large part from our aggressive actions to manage costs we control.

正如曼莫漢早些時候所說，雖然我們面臨著充滿挑戰的一年，但我們的計劃預計我們的基礎業務調整後營業收入將增加 9% 至 12%。這在很大程度上來自我們為管理我們控制的成本而採取的積極行動。

Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of a vast team of people here at WBA. They are doing the work, and they've moved quickly to respond to the realities of the business. I'm thankful for their responsiveness and commitment and for the opportunity that lies ahead as we set up WBA for a successful future together.

當然，如果沒有 WBA 龐大團隊的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，這一切都是不可能實現的。他們正在進行工作，並且迅速採取行動以應對業務的實際情況。我感謝他們的回應和承諾，感謝我們為共同建立 WBA 的成功未來所提供的機會。

Now I would like to open the line for questions. Operator?

現在我想開通提問專線。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Your first question comes from the line of Lisa Gill from JPMorgan.

你的第一個問題來自摩根大通的麗莎·吉爾（Lisa Gill）。

I just really wanted to understand two things a little bit better. First, John, when you talk about the ramp and the challenges to profitability, one, when we think about that improved profitability, the exit of those markets in the 60 clinics, is that contributing to better AOI as we think about 2024? And then secondly, trying to better understand where you see the biggest opportunities from a challenge perspective, you talked about a lot of positive at Pearl, you talked about the turnaround at Village. Obviously, CareCentrix did really well this quarter.

我只是想更好地理解兩件事。首先，約翰，當您談到盈利能力的增長和挑戰時，第一，當我們考慮盈利能力的提高、60 家診所中這些市場的退出時，這是否有助於我們考慮2024 年時更好的AOI？其次，試著從挑戰的角度更好地理解您在哪裡看到最大的機會，您談到了 Pearl 的許多積極因素，您談到了 Village 的轉變。顯然，CareCentrix 本季表現非常好。

But can you maybe just talk about what are some of the other challenges you feel like you need to overcome to really truly make this a profitable business?

但您能否談談您認為需要克服哪些其他挑戰才能真正使其成為一項有利可圖的業務？

Sure. I think -- Lisa, thanks for the question. If you think about the cost reduction, that's only one piece of what we're doing at Village City and Summit. It's really a 3-pronged strategy. We are rightsizing the footprint and getting our expenses in the right place. There are revenue synergy opportunities, and we're seeing consistent growth in core revenues, which indicate that there's some opportunity on the margin side, which we are quickly getting after.

當然。我想——麗莎，謝謝你的提問。如果您考慮降低成本，那隻是我們在 Village City 和 Summit 所做的工作之一。這確實是一個三管齊下的策略。我們正在調整佔地面積，並將我們的開支用在正確的地方。存在收入協同機會，我們看到核心收入持續成長，這表明利潤方面存在一些機會，我們正在迅速抓住這個機會。

And then the rest of U.S. health care, actually, we're seeing substantial growth and building profitability in CareCentrix, Shields our analytics business, our U.S. health care business. So we're seeing substantial demand clinical trials is doing quite well. And so I think, as a portfolio, we have -- we are very confident in our ability to perform in '24. If you look at those revenue numbers, we've got the revenues. Now we're going to get at some more effectively -- some of the embedded profits.

然後美國其他醫療保健業務，實際上，我們看到 CareCentrix 的大幅成長和獲利能力的增強，保護了我們的分析業務和美國醫療保健業務。因此，我們看到大量需求的臨床試驗進展順利。所以我認為，作為一個投資組合，我們對 24 年的表現能力非常有信心。如果你看一下這些收入數字，我們就得到了收入。現在我們將更有效地獲得一些內在利潤。

And then just as it ties into kind of what everybody is talking about on the retail side, right, and I know you've given some guidance there. But as we think about expectation of scripts coming down, I would think that maybe there's an opportunity for more scripts to be pulled through into Walgreens.

然後，正如它與每個人在零售方面所談論的內容有關，對吧，我知道您已經在那裡提供了一些指導。但當我們考慮對劇本下降的期望時，我認為也許有機會將更多劇本引入沃爾格林。

I understand respiratory, et cetera. But maybe if somebody can comment, Rick, if Rick is on the call. How do you think about that pull-through and opportunity on the scripts, excluding what we're seeing on the respiratory side? I know that the talk was 75% of relationships are signed on reimbursement, but reimbursement is expected to be down. Like what are going to be some of the big drivers beyond the $1 billion of incremental cost saves that we can actually see drive the operating profit in your core pharmacy business?

我了解呼吸系統等等。但也許有人可以評論一下，瑞克，如果瑞克正在通話的話。除了我們在呼吸方面看到的內容之外，您如何看待腳本上的突破和機會？我知道談話內容是 75% 的關係是透過報銷簽訂的，但報銷金額預計會下降。除了我們實際上可以看到的 10 億美元增量成本節省推動您核心製藥業務的營業利潤之外，還有哪些重大驅動因素？

Yes. And Lisa, this is Rick. It's a great question. And I'll kind of give the building blocks to script growth that we're expecting this year. Obviously, we saw a weaker end of the fiscal year from market growth, specifically around cough, cold, flu, some of the respiratory and some of the Medicaid redetermination, which shows some lower utilization from consumers.

是的。麗莎，這是里克。這是一個很好的問題。我將為我們今年預期的成長提供建構基石。顯然，我們看到本財年末市場成長疲軟，特別是在咳嗽、感冒、流感、一些呼吸道疾病和一些醫療補助重新確定方面，這表明消費者的利用率有所下降。

So the primary driver of the market coming back in line with what the expectations are from IQVIA and others. And so that's really what we've seen as we started into the first quarter of the fiscal year and market is going to be a big underpinning to what we do. But we continue to advance our adherence programs that are really driving incremental script growth, partnering with health plans and others to really drive better adherence. And obviously, that does help on the script side.

因此，市場回歸的主要動力符合 IQVIA 和其他公司的預期。因此，這確實是我們在進入本財年第一季時所看到的情況，市場將成為我們所做工作的重要基礎。但我們繼續推進我們的依從性計劃，這些計劃真正推動了腳本的增量增長，與健康計劃和其他計劃合作，真正推動更好的依從性。顯然，這對腳本方面確實有幫助。

You're also going to see some access initiatives, especially going into calendar year '24, which should be some tailwinds for us. I think some changing dynamics in the marketplace or having individuals choose more open access and things that should give us access differently than what we've seen in the past. And the last one would be that we're really focused on potential profile buys and opportunities given some of the changes in the marketplace.

您還將看到一些訪問計劃，特別是進入 24 日曆年，這對我們來說應該是一些順風車。我認為市場中的一些變化動態或讓個人選擇更開放的訪問方式以及應該為我們提供與過去所看到的方式不同的訪問方式的東西。最後一點是，考慮到市場的一些變化，我們真正關注的是潛在的個人資料購買和機會。

So I think there's a bunch of drivers that really give us confidence that we have tailwinds behind us in the script (inaudible).

所以我認為有很多驅動因素確實給了我們信心，讓我們相信我們在劇本中擁有順風車（聽不清楚）。

Your next question comes from the line of Charles Rhyee from TD Cowen.

您的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Charles Rhyee。

I wanted to ask about Tim coming on board here. Obviously, it seems like it was a fairly quick turnaround process. Maybe you can give us a little bit more insight into the that kind of hiring process sort of when he was identified? And also here, obviously, starting in 1.5 week or so, the company has given guidance. Any kind of sense on his involvement in sort of the business planning for the coming year? Anything there?

我想問一下提姆來這裡的事。顯然，這似乎是一個相當快的周轉過程。也許你可以讓我們更深入地了解他被確定時的招募流程？顯然，從 1.5 週左右開始，該公司也給了指導。他參與來年的業務規劃有什麼意義嗎？那裡有什麼嗎？

And then also, obviously, you've given a lot of details in preserving and generating greater cash flow, obviously, through working capital reduction, et cetera. Any thoughts from the Board on sort of the dividend policy at this point?

然後，顯然，您已經提供了許多關於保留和產生更大現金流的細節，顯然是透過減少營運資本等來實現的。董事會目前對股利政策有何想法？

Thanks Charles. Let me start off with the process around Tim. We, as a Board, engaged a global executive search firm, and spent quite a bit of time with them talking about what we believe were the important characteristics, attributes and experiences of someone who would lead an organization of this impact and magnitude.

謝謝查爾斯。讓我從蒂姆周圍的過程開始。作為董事會，我們聘請了一家全球獵人頭公司，並花了相當多的時間與他們討論我們認為將領導具有如此影響力和規模的組織的人的重要特徵、屬性和經驗。

We did review dozens of candidates. There was quite an extensive search process that was undertaken. And we then narrowed it down to a top few, where personal interviews were conducted with those individuals. We did a very aggressive background and reference check with the primary candidates and then have had, what I would call, very extended conversations in a broad sense about philosophy, background, experiences, the future, the market dynamics, the capabilities required and about the ability to manage a very complex global organization.

我們確實審查了數十名候選人。進行了相當廣泛的搜尋過程。然後我們將範圍縮小到前幾名，並對這些人進行了個人訪談。我們對主要候選人進行了非常積極的背景和推薦人調查，然後進行了廣泛的廣泛對話，內容涉及理念、背景、經驗、未來、市場動態、所需能力以及關於管理非常複雜的全球組織的能力。

As Tim mentioned in his comments, every single Board member has been involved. I would say that we've done a very extensive evaluation through the process. And we did decide in the process that Tim was a very striking candidate for us on a number of fronts. Obviously, we were clear that we were looking for someone who had extensive background in health care, and Tim brings that pharmacy provider, payer networks, distribution. He really does understand a surround sound of the feedback that we get from the market about Walgreens and its many businesses.

正如蒂姆在評論中提到的，每一位董事會成員都參與其中。我想說，我們在整個過程中進行了非常廣泛的評估。在此過程中，我們確實確定蒂姆在許多方面都是我們非常引人注目的候選人。顯然，我們很清楚我們正在尋找在醫療保健方面擁有廣泛背景的人，而蒂姆帶來了藥房提供者、支付網絡和分銷。他確實理解我們從市場上得到的關於沃爾格林及其眾多業務的反饋的環繞聲。

He also has managed scale and complexity before, which I think is very important. This is a $140 billion business. It's global. It has many possibilities, but someone has to be able to manage the strategic and the operational aspects of that.

他之前也管理過規模和複雜性，我認為這非常重要。這是一項價值 1400 億美元的業務。這是全球性的。它有很多可能性，但必須有人能夠管理其中的策略和營運方面。

And I think you heard from him, even in his quick comments, he's very patient and customer-focused, which to me is a primary importance because that passion for the business, the understanding we have on human lives, the importance of our discipline, our safety and compliance, our quality, our personnel and the love he has of the store, those are big wins the company.

我想你從他那裡聽到過，即使在他的快速評論中，他也非常耐心並且以客戶為中心，這對我來說是最重要的，因為對業務的熱情，我們對人類生活的理解，我們紀律的重要性，我們的安全和合規性、我們的品質、我們的員工以及他對商店的熱愛，這些都是公司的巨大勝利。

So I personally am thrilled I've had -- I don't know how many hours with Tim. And it's a lot, and he and I are not done yet. We actually start together next week in a very extended work session. So I think the Board is excited as Tim conveyed his excitement, and we're all looking forward to him starting. Obviously, that won't happen again now until the 23rd.

所以我個人很高興我和提姆在一起度過了多少個小時。還有很多，我和他還沒完成。實際上，我們下週將一起開始一次非常長時間的工作會議。所以我認為，當蒂姆表達了他的興奮之情時，董事會感到很興奮，我們都期待著他的首發。顯然，這種情況在23日之前不會再發生。

So you -- second question you asked was his involvement in all of this. Obviously, we've only recently come to this agreement between us. And so Tim has not been involved at all in the business or the operations. He's not been a party to forming the 2024 plan although he and I have had extensive discussions about what the opportunities are, the business capabilities and our challenges, I think he mentioned maybe in his comments as well, that he comes in eyes wide open. So I think that's very important. But Tim is not a party to this plan. He is a party to what we believe is possible, and he understands the assumptions we're making and he can't wait to get here.

所以你——你問的第二個問題是他參與了這一切。顯然，我們最近才達成這項協議。因此蒂姆根本沒有參與該業務或營運。他沒有參與制定 2024 年計劃，儘管他和我就機會、業務能力和我們的挑戰進行了廣泛的討論，我想他也許在評論中也提到過，他的眼睛睜得大大的。所以我認為這非常重要。但蒂姆不是該計劃的參與者。他是我們相信可能性的一方，他理解我們所做的假設，他迫不及待地想來到這裡。

The third question I think you asked was the Board and its discussions about the dividend. So as you might imagine, this is a very important topic to the company. We have a very thorough process as a Board that we review every year. And at this point, the Board has made no changes to the dividend policy.

我認為您問的第三個問題是董事會及其關於股息的討論。正如您可能想像的那樣，這對公司來說是一個非常重要的主題。作為董事會，我們有一個非常徹底的流程，我們每年都會進行審查。目前，董事會尚未對股利政策做出任何改變。

Your next question comes from the line of George Hill from Deutsche Bank.

您的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的喬治希爾。

Yes. This is kind of a two-parted question that go together. I guess, can you talk about -- if we think about the segments, how we should look at apportioning the $1 billion in cost savings and kind of the other side of that is the cut in CapEx seems pretty severe. It's taking $0.5 billion or so out on a sub-$2 billion number.

是的。這是一個由兩個部分組成的問題。我想，你能談談——如果我們考慮這些細分市場，我們應該如何看待分配這 10 億美元的成本節約，而另一方面，資本支出的削減似乎相當嚴重。它從不到 20 億美元的數字中抽走了 5 億美元左右。

How should we think about from a segment perspective, kind of where the CapEx cuts are coming from? And kind of how they're being apportioned. And I don't know if you can kind of give any examples specifically of the bigger sources of cost-cutting savings or the bigger sources of CapEx savings?

我們該如何從細分市場的角度思考資本支出削減的來源？以及它們的分配方式。我不知道您是否可以具體舉例說明更大的成本削減節省來源或更大的資本支出節省來源？

Yes, sure. So let me start with the cost savings. We're expecting at least $1 billion of cost savings. And I think the way you need to think about this is majority of this is going to be coming from our U.S. retail pharmacy business.

是的，當然。那麼讓我從節省成本開始。我們預計至少可以節省 10 億美元的成本。我認為你需要考慮這個問題，其中大部分將來自我們的美國零售藥房業務。

And three or four components, let me just walk through them real quick. Ginger talked about, we're looking at all costs related to headquarter support office, and we're going line by line. So that's one. We are closing unprofitable locations, and that's going to be accretive in the year.

還有三、四個元件，讓我快速瀏覽一下它們。 Ginger 談到，我們正在研究與總部支援辦公室相關的所有成本，而我們正在逐行進行。這就是其中之一。我們正在關閉不盈利的地點，這將在今年增加。

We have optimized store hours in certain locations to match with where the local market already is. And I think the other big component of this is we've looked at all the project spend and all the projects that exist across the company. And I think the focus is there twofold. More importantly, it's how do we focus the organization on customer-focused initiatives so that we deliver more value. But then obviously, reducing the spend on the income statement. So that's on the cost side.

我們優化了某些地點的商店營業時間，以適應當地市場的情況。我認為其中的另一個重要組成部分是我們研究了所有專案支出以及整個公司現有的所有專案。我認為重點有兩個。更重要的是，我們如何將組織的重點放在以客戶為中心的計畫上，以便提供更多價值。但顯然，減少了損益表上的支出。所以這是在成本方面。

Look, on the CapEx side, I'd say if you look at the trend we've seen, you go back to maybe fiscal '22, I think we were at around $1.4 billion in the year. We increased to -- this is '21, sorry. So -- and then we went up $300 million. And again, last year was the peak of 2.1. And so what we're trying to achieve here is getting back to kind of the normal levels of CapEx here, Two parts that are going to contribute into this again is, one, as John talked about, we're very focused in our Healthcare segment on profitable growth. And so we will see a lower level of CapEx or growth CapEx coming out from U.S. Healthcare care segment.

看，在資本支出方面，我想說，如果你看看我們所看到的趨勢，你可能會回到 22 財年，我認為這一年我們的收入約為 14 億美元。我們增加到--這是'21，抱歉。所以——然後我們增加了 3 億美元。再說一次，去年是 2.1 的頂峰。因此，我們在這裡試圖實現的目標是回到資本支出的正常水平，將再次對此做出貢獻的兩個部分是，一，正如約翰所說，我們非常專注於我們的醫療保健利潤增長部分。因此，我們將看到美國醫療保健領域的資本支出或成長資本支出水準較低。

And then if you look at a couple of drivers of the CapEx on the U.S. retail pharmacy, micro fulfillment centers as well as our digital transformation some of those things are coming to fruition. And Ginger talked about taking a pause on micro fulfillment center so that we increase the productivity and achieve the desired results there first. So those are some of the factors, high level that are driving the CapEx reduction.

然後，如果你看看美國零售藥局、微型履行中心以及我們的數位轉型的資本支出的幾個驅動因素，其中一些事情正在取得成果。 Ginger 談到暫停微型履行中心，以便我們先提高生產力並實現預期結果。這些是推動資本支出減少的一些重要因素。

Your next question comes from the line of Kevin Caliendo from UBS.

您的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Kevin Caliendo。

The 60 clinics that are closing, sort of what was the driving factor there? Why were they not successful? Was it competition in the marketplace? Was it payer relationships? Like why weren't you able to drive volumes in those markets? What happened there? What can you learn from that?

60 家診所即將關閉，驅動因素是什麼？為什麼他們沒有成功？是市場競爭嗎？是付款人關係嗎？例如為什麼您無法提高這些市場的銷售量？那裡發生了什麼事？你能從中學到什麼？

Kevin, it's a fair question. I think the way to think about the 60 clinic reductions is that some of them will be closed. In some cases, we're going to transition those to affiliate relationships, but it comes down to how quickly can we unlock profitable growth. And in the Village City Summit, it's about concentration of power and relevance within certain markets.

凱文，這是一個公平的問題。我認為考慮減少 60 家診所的方式是其中一些診所將被關閉。在某些情況下，我們會將這些關係轉變為聯盟關係，但這取決於我們能夠以多快的速度實現獲利成長。在鄉村城市高峰會上，它是關於某些市場內的權力集中和相關性。

Every one of our clinics actually shows month-over-month growth, but we don't see the growth coming fast enough in certain markets. And so we're going to pivot there and be very focused on where we can drive the most profitable growth. We're growing through the rightsizing of our footprint and some of the changes in our relationships, but our strategy going forward will be really focusing on markets where we see that momentum and scale and at a level that we want to see to drive the profits and the margin expectations that we want. So it's really more of a discipline around focusing on markets where we can go deep and continue to grow on a compounded serious way profitably.

我們的每一個診所其實都顯示出逐月成長，但我們認為某些市場的成長速度不夠快。因此，我們將以此為中心，並非常專注於我們可以推動最有利可圖的成長的領域。我們正在透過調整我們的足跡和改變我們的關係來實現成長，但我們未來的策略將真正關注那些我們看到動力和規模以及我們希望看到推動利潤的水平的市場以及我們想要的利潤預期。因此，這實際上更像是一種專注於市場的紀律，在這些市場中，我們可以深入並繼續以複合的、嚴肅的方式實現獲利成長。

Okay. That's helpful. Can I just ask a quick follow-up on cash flow. Is the right way to think about it? I know you didn't provide fiscal '24 free cash flow, but should we take the $655 million add to $600 million and reduced CapEx, $500 million benefit in working cap and then adjust for net income? Is that like a rough range of where you think it would -- should come out for fiscal '24?

好的。這很有幫助。我可以詢問一下現金流的快速跟進嗎？思考的方式正確嗎？我知道你們沒有提供 24 財年的自由現金流，但我們是否應該將 6.55 億美元加到 6 億美元並減少資本支出、5 億美元的工作上限收益，然後根據淨利潤進行調整？這是否是您認為 24 財年應該出現的大致範圍？

Yes, sure. Look, as you understand, as you rightly pointed out, we do not generally provide guidance on the free cash flows. But we have outlined, we do expect significant growth. And what we did here is we've carved out two significant drivers year-on-year. But having said that -- and there was -- let me add a third one to that as well.

是的，當然。看，正如您所理解的，正如您正確指出的那樣，我們通常不會提供有關自由現金流的指導。但我們已經概述，我們確實預計會有顯著成長。我們在這裡所做的是，我們逐年確定了兩個重要的驅動因素。但話雖如此——而且確實如此——讓我也添加第三個。

Just on the U.S. health care, we are expecting in fiscal '24 at the midpoint of the range to be breakeven on the EBITDA. And when you look at that year-on-year, that is a significant improvement on the cash as well.

僅就美國醫療保健而言，我們預計 24 財年的 EBITDA 將在區間中點達到損益兩平。當你看一下同比情況時，你會發現現金方面也有了顯著的改善。

Having said that, we're also looking at other offsetting items. So we just want to make sure you have kind of the three -- we do expect significant improvement and you have those three key drivers there.

話雖如此，我們還在考慮其他抵銷項目。因此，我們只是想確保您擁有這三個方面——我們確實期望取得重大改進，並且您擁有這三個關鍵驅動因素。

Your next question comes from the line of Brian Tanquilut from Jefferies.

您的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Brian Tanquilut。

I guess, John, just a question on VillageMD, right? You're clearly showing some expectation for meaningful year-over-year improvement there or at least the whole Walgreens Health segment.

我想，約翰，只是關於 VillageMD 的一個問題，對吧？您清楚地表現出對那裡或至少整個沃爾格林健康部門的有意義的逐年改善的期望。

As I think about the fact that you're opening new clinics, how does the J-curve factor into this, right? Because I'm just trying to bridge to that significant improvement when you're opening new clinics, probably you will lose money?

當我想到您要開設新診所的事實時，J 曲線如何影響這一點，對嗎？因為我只是想在您開設新診所時顯著改善，您可能會賠錢嗎？

Sure. Well, first of all, I think we've essentially stopped the opening of new clinics. But remember, the J-curve really refers most clearly to Village. With Summit and City, we've got consistent growing revenues that balance that a bit and actually help kind of develop -- show a better profit profile.

當然。嗯，首先，我認為我們基本上已經停止開設新診所了。但請記住，J 曲線實際上最清楚地指的是 Village。透過 Summit 和 City，我們的收入持續成長，這在一定程度上平衡了這一點，並且實際上有助於發展——顯示出更好的利潤狀況。

And then we've got solid growth building quarter-over-quarter with Shields, CareCentrix, our analytics business, our clinical trials business and U.S. health care. So I think you've got to think about it as a portfolio. The J-curve specifically impacting the new clinics that we are in the early stage clinics for Village, but we've got a lot of other levers to pull or really advantages in the momentum and the margin profile, improving margin profile across the other businesses.

然後，我們的 Shields、CareCentrix、我們的分析業務、臨床試驗業務和美國醫療保健業務逐季穩定成長。所以我認為你必須將其視為一個投資組合。 J 曲線特別影響了我們處於 Village 早期診所的新診所，但我們還有很多其他槓桿可以拉動，或者在勢頭和利潤狀況方面具有真正的優勢，從而改善其他業務的利潤狀況。

Your next question comes from the line of Elizabeth Anderson from Evercore ISI.

您的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Elizabeth Anderson。

One thing that's been obviously a hot topic this year is utilization. Obviously, you guys have a mixed model that both has fee-for-service as well as value-based care lives. Can you talk through us how you sort of see those inflections in utilization impacting the VillageMD overall -- business overall? And then secondly, can you just comment more generally on sort of any additional deleveraging plans you have for this year?

今年顯然成為熱門話題的一件事是利用率。顯然，你們有一個混合模式，既有按服務收費又有基於價值的護理生活。您能否透過我們談談您如何看待這些利用率變化對 VillageMD 整體業務（整體業務）的影響？其次，您能否更籠統地評論一下您今年還有哪些額外的去槓桿化計劃？

I think on the utilization, utilization is our friend, obviously, at City and at Summit and has been more of a headwind in Village. The good news from a Village perspective is that even with that increasing in utilization post-COVID, that we are, particularly in our mature markets, showing an improved margin profile on our full risk lives.

我認為在利用率方面，顯然，在城市和高峰會上，利用率是我們的朋友，而在鄉村則更像是一個逆風。從 Village 的角度來看，好消息是，即使在新冠疫情之後利用率有所增加，我們（尤其是在我們的成熟市場）的全部風險壽險的利潤率狀況也有所改善。

And so it's -- the way we solve for what's a benefit of having a 2-part portfolio is continuing to convert more of those fee-for-service lives to full risk lives with a better margin profile and optimizing our cost base so that we can get the full value of that improvement in revenues.

因此，我們解決由兩部分組成的投資組合的好處的方法是繼續將更多的按服務收費壽命轉換為具有更好利潤狀況的完全風險壽命，並優化我們的成本基礎，以便我們可以獲得收入改善的全部價值。

Yes. I think on the question around deleveraging, a couple of thoughts there. Number one, we're absolutely committed to our investment-grade rating. And as we've said, one of the key areas of focus here in the last 6 to 8 weeks for me and Ginger has been cash management. I've gone through that as to how we're going to drive the improvement there. And last I would point out is we continue to have a portfolio of investments, which we look at simplification and optimizing. That provides us flexibility.

是的。我認為關於去槓桿化的問題，有一些想法。第一，我們絕對致力於我們的投資等級評級。正如我們所說，過去 6 到 8 週內我和 Ginger 關注的關鍵領域之一是現金管理。我已經討論過我們將如何推動那裡的改進。最後我要指出的是，我們繼續擁有投資組合，我們專注於簡化和優化。這為我們提供了靈活性。

Our final question comes from Eric Percher from Nephron Research.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Nephron Research 的 Eric Percher。

I'd like to turn to the topic of labor and ask to what extent you're seeing headwinds from labor cost? And I think there's probably a bit of a reminder on the onetime costs you see on fiscal year '23 versus fiscal year '24.

我想談談勞動力的話題，請問您在多大程度上看到了勞動成本帶來的不利影響？我認為，您在 23 財年與 24 財年看到的一次性成本可能會有所提醒。

Yes. Maybe let me start with the onetime costs. So look, we have significant savings here that we're going to achieve in fiscal '24, and obviously, there is going to be a cost associated with it. But when I look at the cash flow impact in the year within '24, we see a positive impact, net-net, from a cash flow perspective of cost savings initiatives net of the cost associated with it.

是的。也許讓我從一次性成本開始。所以看，我們將在 24 財年實現顯著的節省，顯然，這將產生與之相關的成本。但是，當我查看 24 年的現金流量影響時，我們從現金流量角度看到了成本節約措施（扣除與之相關的成本）帶來的正面影響。

On the labor cost, yes, look, we have seen investments in the last 1.5 years, if you think about Q1, Q1 would be the last quarter where we would see headwinds from a lever investment perspective because most of these investments were in place starting second quarter last year. Apart from that, I think normal business course investments and labor will continue.

在勞動成本方面，是的，看，我們在過去1.5 年裡看到了投資，如果你想想第一季度，第一季將是我們從槓桿投資角度看到逆風的最後一個季度，因為大部分投資都是從開始就到位的。去年第二季。除此之外，我認為正常的商業課程投資和勞動力將繼續。

And we have no further questions in the queue at this time. Ginger Graham, I'll turn the call back over to you for closing remarks.

目前我們隊列中沒有其他問題。金傑·格雷厄姆（Ginger Graham），我會將電話轉回給您進行結束語。

Thanks so much, and thanks, everyone, for joining the call and your questions. We really appreciate the feedback and the support. We are clear on our challenges and our priorities, and we are focused on the future. We're looking forward to your further questions. So please reach out to our Investor Relations team. Thanks very much.

非常感謝，也感謝大家加入電話會議並提出問題。我們非常感謝您的回饋和支持。我們清楚我們的挑戰和優先事項，並且我們專注於未來。我們期待您的進一步提問。因此，請聯絡我們的投資者關係團隊。非常感謝。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。