沃博聯公司 (WBA) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call.

女士們，先生們，感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 2021 年第三季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Please note that today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to Gerald Gradwell.

（操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）我現在想將會議交給 Gerald Gradwell。

Thank you. You may begin, sir.

謝謝你。先生，您可以開始了。

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our earnings call for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. On the call with me today are Roz Brewer, the Chief Executive Officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, James Kehoe, Global Chief Financial Officer, and John Standley, President of Walgreens, is also here for any relevant questions.

女士們，先生們，早上好，歡迎參加 2021 財年第三季度財報電話會議。今天與我通話的有 Walgreens Boots Alliance 首席執行官 Roz Brewer、全球首席財務官 James Kehoe 和Walgreens 總裁 John Standley 也在這裡解答任何相關問題。

Before I hand you over to Roz to make some opening comments, I will, as usual, take you through the legal safe harbor and cautionary declarations. Certain statements and projections of future results made in this presentation constitute forward-looking statements that are based on our current market, competitive and regulatory expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after this presentation, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise. Please see our latest Form 10-K and 10-Q for a discussion of risk factors as they relate to forward-looking statements and note, in particular, that these forward-looking statements may be affected by risks relating to the spread and impact of the COVID pandemic. In today's presentation, we will use certain non-GAAP financial measures. We refer you to the appendix in the presentation materials available on our Investor Relations website for reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and related information. You'll find a link to the webcast on our Investor Relations website at investor.walgreensbootsalliance.com.

在我將您交給 Roz 發表一些開場白之前，我將像往常一樣帶您了解法律安全港和警示聲明。本演示文稿中的某些陳述和對未來結果的預測構成前瞻性陳述，這些陳述基於我們當前的市場、競爭和監管預期，並受到可能導致實際結果發生重大變化的風險和不確定性的影響。我們不承擔在此演示文稿後公開更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件、假設變化或其他原因。請參閱我們最新的 10-K 和 10-Q 表格，了解與前瞻性陳述相關的風險因素的討論，並特別注意這些前瞻性陳述可能受到與風險傳播和影響相關的風險的影響COVID大流行。在今天的演示中，我們將使用某些非公認會計原則的財務指標。我們向您推薦我們投資者關係網站上提供的演示材料中的附錄，以了解與最直接可比的 GAAP 財務指標和相關信息的對賬。您可以在我們的投資者關係網站investor.walgreensbootsalliance.com 上找到網絡廣播的鏈接。

After this call, the presentation and webcast will be archived on the website for 12 months. I will now hand you over to Roz.

電話會議結束後，演示文稿和網絡廣播將在網站上存檔 12 個月。我現在把你交給羅茲。

Thank you, Gerald, and good morning everyone. Welcome to our earnings call.

謝謝你，杰拉德，大家早上好。歡迎來到我們的財報電話會議。

Let me start by saying that we're pleased with our third quarter financial performance, which we announced earlier this morning. Our total adjusted earnings per share of $1.51 were above our expectations, driven by the strong execution of our vaccine administration, increased mobility as restrictions were lifted in various geographies, and recent increases in digitally driven sales in both the Walgreens and Boots businesses. Many categories performed well, including beauty and photo

首先讓我說，我們對今天早上早些時候宣布的第三季度財務業績感到滿意。我們調整後的每股收益總額為 1.51 美元，超出了我們的預期，這得益於我們疫苗管理的有力執行、隨著各個地區解除限製而增加的流動性，以及最近沃爾格林和 Boots 業務的數字驅動銷售額增長。許多類別表現良好，包括美妝和照片

and our investments in marketing technology are driving further revenues by more precisely targeting our customers.

我們對營銷技術的投資通過更精確地定位我們的客戶來推動更多的收入。

In recent months, the leadership team and I have been emphasizing across the company that we must deliver operational excellence. And our teams have answered this call in many ways, with our COVID-19 vaccinations being a particular highlight. This initiative is really quite remarkable and demonstrates our ability to move at pace and deliver at scale. We have now administered over 25 million vaccinations by quickly creating an extensive technology and logistics infrastructure and utilizing close partnerships with public officials, community and faith groups, and others. I continue to be deeply proud of our team members and their commitment to keep our communities healthy and safe, especially those communities that are the most medically underserved. Strategically, we remain committed to our previously stated priorities, to create neighborhood health destinations around a more modern pharmacy, to accelerate digital, to transform and restructure our retail offering, and to drive our transformational cost improvement. All of which you will hear more about today as James provides more insights on our results. It's also great to observe firsthand these priorities being carried out by our teams as I continue to spend time at our stores and vaccination sites. During these visits, I see

最近幾個月，我和領導團隊一直在全公司強調，我們必須實現卓越運營。我們的團隊以多種方式響應了這一呼籲，我們的 COVID-19 疫苗接種是一個特別的亮點。這一舉措確實非常了不起，展示了我們快速發展和大規模交付的能力。通過迅速建立廣泛的技術和物流基礎設施，並利用與公職人員、社區和信仰團體等的密切合作夥伴關係，我們現在已經管理了超過 2500 萬次疫苗接種。我繼續為我們的團隊成員以及他們對保持我們社區健康和安全的承諾深感自豪，特別是那些醫療服務最欠缺的社區。從戰略上講，我們仍然致力於我們之前提出的優先事項，圍繞更現代的藥房創建社區健康目的地，加速數字化，轉變和重組我們的零售產品，並推動我們的轉型成本改善。隨著詹姆斯對我們的結果提供更多見解，您將在今天聽到更多有關這些內容的信息。當我繼續在我們的商店和疫苗接種點花費時間時，親眼觀察我們的團隊正在執行的這些優先事項也很棒。在這些訪問中，我看到

over and over again the incredible strengths that our company has. We have deep brand trust and loyalty, an extensive understanding of our millions of customers, and an expansive store footprint in the heart of 9,000 communities across the U.S. And as I mentioned to you last quarter, I am also conducting a detailed review of our long-range business plans across the company, including where we should make further investments, allocate capital, and deliver the best possible financial returns. There are tremendous opportunities in healthcare right now, and we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on them. One example of our next phase of growth is our previously communicated, tech-enabled healthcare initiative. As we build this out further, our choices will be guided by what our customers want as we continue to deliver solutions that meet their evolving needs, while leveraging our unique assets and capabilities in order to win. But first and foremost, we have to ensure that we continue to operate our core pharmacy and retail businesses with excellence. Said simply, in order to build the pharmacy of the future and new healthcare solutions, we must build upon the core assets of the pharmacy of today. Next, we need to determine where we are best positioned to offer even more to our customers. What we're hearing from them is that they are often overwhelmed trying to manage different health conditions, providers, appointments, bills and medications, all of which are on different platforms and channels. And we know we can help them address these problems in a way that builds on our strengths and establishes even deeper relationships with them. But the overall healthcare space is sprawling and incredibly complicated, so we must be laser-focused on the products and services that have the most potential and value, that can be enabled with the most innovative technology and that will be delivered at a level and quality that our customers expect.

一次又一次，我們公司擁有令人難以置信的優勢。我們擁有深厚的品牌信任度和忠誠度，對數百萬客戶的廣泛了解，以及在美國 9,000 個社區中心的廣闊店鋪足跡。正如我上個季度向您提到的那樣，我還將對我們長期的- 整個公司的業務計劃，包括我們應該在哪裡進行進一步的投資、分配資本以及提供盡可能好的財務回報。目前醫療保健領域存在巨大的機遇，我們具有獨特的優勢來利用這些機遇。我們下一階段增長的一個例子是我們之前溝通過的、技術支持的醫療保健計劃。隨著我們進一步構建這一點，我們的選擇將以客戶的需求為指導，因為我們將繼續提供滿足他們不斷變化的需求的解決方案，同時利用我們獨特的資產和能力來取勝。但首先，我們必須確保我們繼續以卓越的方式經營我們的核心藥房和零售業務。簡單地說，為了建立未來的藥房和新的醫療保健解決方案，我們必須建立在當今藥房的核心資產之上。接下來，我們需要確定我們最適合為客戶提供更多服務的位置。我們從他們那裡聽到的是，他們經常不知所措，試圖管理不同的健康狀況、提供者、預約、賬單和藥物，所有這些都在不同的平台和渠道上。而且我們知道，我們可以幫助他們解決這些問題，以利用我們的優勢並與他們建立更深層次的關係。但整個醫療保健領域非常龐大且極其複雜，因此我們必須專注於具有最大潛力和價值的產品和服務，這些產品和服務可以通過最具創新性的技術實現，並且能夠以一定的水平和質量交付我們的客戶所期望的。

Lastly, we must be mindful that speed is a priority in this rapidly changing landscape. We will assess appropriately and accelerate into new categories, spending just enough time getting it right. And then we'll deploy quickly and at scale. I'm looking forward to sharing more with you soon about our further plans. But again, there's fantastic potential here, and we're very excited about the prospects for the future.

最後，我們必須注意，在這個瞬息萬變的環境中，速度是重中之重。我們將適當地評估並加速進入新的類別，花足夠的時間把它做好。然後我們將快速、大規模地部署。我期待很快與您分享更多關於我們進一步計劃的信息。但同樣，這裡有巨大的潛力，我們對未來的前景感到非常興奮。

And with that, I'll turn it over to James to take us into more depth on our results and operations. James.

有了這個，我會把它交給詹姆斯，讓我們更深入地了解我們的結果和運營。詹姆士。

Thank you Roz and good morning. In summary, we had an excellent quarter. Total adjusted EPS was $1.51, well ahead of expectations and up 81.4% versus prior year on a constant currency basis. On a continuing basis, adjusted EPS was $1.38, 93.6%

謝謝你，羅茲，早上好。總之，我們有一個出色的季度。調整後每股收益總額為 1.51 美元，遠超預期，按固定匯率計算，較上年增長 81.4%。在持續的基礎上，調整後每股收益為 1.38 美元，93.6%

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

above prior year, impacted by 2 key COVID-related factors. Firstly, we were lapping a weak year ago quarter which was depressed by the severe restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondly, we executed strongly in the current quarter and accelerated the pace of COVID vaccinations, thanks also to the significant investments we have made to provide vaccinations across approximately 8,500 locations.

高於上一年，受 2 個與 COVID 相關的關鍵因素影響。首先，我們在一年前的一個季度表現疲軟，該季度受到與 COVID-19 大流行相關的嚴格限制的抑制。其次，我們在本季度表現強勁，加快了 COVID 疫苗接種的步伐，這也歸功於我們為在大約 8,500 個地點提供疫苗接種所做的重大投資。

Cash generation was also strong, with year-to-date free cash flow of $3.3 billion, 35.8% higher than prior year. The strong third quarter performance allows us to increase our full year adjusted EPS guidance from mid- to high single-digit growth to around 10% growth.

現金產生也很強勁，年初至今的自由現金流為 33 億美元，比上年增長 35.8%。強勁的第三季度業績使我們能夠將全年調整後的每股收益預期從中高個位數增長提高到 10% 左右。

Let's now look in more detail at the results. Third quarter sales advanced 10.4% on a constant currency basis, reflecting strong double-digit growth in international and 5% growth in the U.S. The result included a 4.6 percentage point benefit from the formation of the German joint venture last November.

現在讓我們更詳細地看一下結果。按固定匯率計算，第三季度銷售額增長 10.4%，反映了國際市場兩位數的強勁增長和美國 5% 的增長。結果包括去年 11 月德國合資企業的成立帶來了 4.6 個百分點的收益。

Adjusted operating income increased 82.4% on a constant currency basis, driven by strong gross profit performance in the U.S. and a rebound in international sales and profitability due to less severe COVID-19 restrictions. Total adjusted EPS was $1.51 in the quarter, a constant currency increase of 81.4%.

調整後的營業收入按固定匯率計算增長了 82.4%，這得益於美國強勁的毛利潤表現以及由於不太嚴格的 COVID-19 限制導致國際銷售和盈利能力反彈。本季度調整後每股收益總額為 1.51 美元，按固定匯率計算增長 81.4%。

On a continuing basis, adjusted EPS was $1.38, a constant currency increase of 93.6%, driven entirely by strong growth in adjusted operating income in both operating segments. The higher tax rate in the quarter was mostly due to a catch-up adjustment in the prior year period as initial COVID-19 impacts favorably impacted that quarter's tax rate.

在持續的基礎上，調整後的每股收益為 1.38 美元，按固定匯率計算增長 93.6%，這完全是由於兩個運營部門的調整後營業收入的強勁增長。本季度較高的稅率主要是由於去年同期的追趕調整，因為最初的 COVID-19 影響對該季度的稅率產生了有利影響。

Finally, on a continuing basis, GAAP EPS increased by $3.32 to $1.27, reflecting prior year impairment charges of $2 billion and investment gains in the current quarter related to Option Care Health.

最後，GAAP 每股收益持續增長 3.32 美元至 1.27 美元，反映了上一年 20 億美元的減值費用和本季度與 Option Care Health 相關的投資收益。

Now let's move to the year-to-date highlights. Year-to-date sales rose 6.1% on a constant currency basis. Adjusted operating income increased 3.9% on a constant currency basis, with the U.S. segment up 2.3% and international almost doubling operating income as it rebounded from a very weak prior year due to COVID-19. On a continuing basis, adjusted EPS was $3.74, a constant currency increase of 9.9%, reflecting adjusted operating income growth, lower interest expense and a favorable impact from prior year share repurchases.

現在讓我們轉到年初至今的亮點。按固定匯率計算，年初至今的銷售額增長了 6.1%。按固定匯率計算，調整後的營業收入增長了 3.9%，其中美國業務增長了 2.3%，國際業務收入幾乎翻了一番，因為它從因 COVID-19 導致的非常疲軟的上一年反彈。在持續的基礎上，調整後的每股收益為 3.74 美元，固定匯率增長 9.9%，反映了調整後的營業收入增長、較低的利息支出以及上一年股票回購的有利影響。

Now let's move to the U.S. segment. Sales increased 5.1% in the quarter with 6.3% growth in pharmacy and 1.4% growth in retail. Both retail and pharmacy saw sequential improvement over the second quarter as we executed strongly against vaccinations and foot traffic improved.

現在讓我們轉到美國部分。本季度銷售額增長 5.1%，藥房增長 6.3%，零售增長 1.4%。由於我們強烈反對疫苗接種和人流量改善，零售和藥房在第二季度都出現了連續改善。

We saw notable improvement in consumer trends, especially in urban areas and across discretionary categories such as beauty and photo. Adjusted gross profit increased 14.5%, driven by strong sales growth and improved margins in both pharmacy and retail.

我們看到消費趨勢顯著改善，尤其是在城市地區以及美容和照片等非必需品類。經調整後的毛利增長 14.5%，主要得益於強勁的銷售增長以及藥房和零售業利潤率的提高。

Adjusted SG&A spend increased 6.5% in the quarter to 16.8% of sales, 0.2 percentage points higher than last year. The year-on-year increase was primarily driven by an approximately 500 basis point impact from COVID-19-related costs, mainly the cost of rolling out vaccinations. Adjusted operating income increased 50.3% as the strong gross profit growth more than compensated for the fast-growing investments behind both COVID-19 vaccinations and growth initiatives.

本季度調整後的 SG&A 支出增長 6.5%，達到銷售額的 16.8%，比去年高 0.2 個百分點。同比增長主要是受 COVID-19 相關成本（主要是推出疫苗的成本）影響約 500 個基點所致。調整後的營業收入增長了 50.3%，因為強勁的毛利潤增長足以彌補 COVID-19 疫苗接種和增長計劃背後快速增長的投資。

Now let's look in more detail at U.S. pharmacy. Comparable pharmacy sales were up 8.4%, while comp scripts increased 9.8%. We completed 17 million COVID-19 vaccinations in the quarter and this boosted comparable script growth by around 600 basis points. Solid underlying results were also bolstered by improved market trends as more patients return to doctors' offices and seasonal script headwinds softened.

現在讓我們更詳細地了解美國藥房。可比藥房銷售額增長 8.4%，而可比藥房銷售額增長 9.8%。我們在本季度完成了 1700 萬次 COVID-19 疫苗接種，這將可比腳本的增長提高了約 600 個基點。隨著更多患者返回醫生辦公室和季節性腳本逆風減弱，市場趨勢改善也支持了堅實的基本結果。

Adjusted gross profit grew nicely, reflecting strong sales growth and improved gross margin as a result of favorable mix from vaccinations.

調整後的毛利增長良好，反映出強勁的銷售增長和由於疫苗接種的有利組合而提高的毛利率。

Turning next to our U.S. retail business. Total retail sales increased 1.4% in the quarter, including a 50 basis points adverse impact from our store optimization programs. Comp retail sales increased 1.7%, and excluding tobacco and e-cigarettes, comps were up 2.6%. Performance improved sequentially as the negative impacts from cough, cold, flu subsided and mass personalization boosted results by around 100 basis points.

轉向我們的美國零售業務。本季度總零售額增長 1.4%，其中包括來自我們商店優化計劃的 50 個基點的不利影響。可比零售額增長 1.7%，不包括煙草和電子煙，可比零售額增長 2.6%。隨著咳嗽、感冒、流感的負面影響消退以及大規模個性化將結果提高了約 100 個基點，績效依次提高。

Store traffic improved, especially in urban areas, and discretionary categories came back nicely with beauty sales growing 14.9% and photo advancing 54%. Gross margin increased 100 basis points year-on-year, largely due to favorable mix as a result of stronger growth across discretionary categories.

商店客流量有所改善，尤其是在城市地區，非必需品類商品恢復良好，美妝銷售額增長 14.9%，照片增長 54%。毛利率同比增長 100 個基點，主要是由於非必需品類別增長強勁導致的有利組合。

Turning next to the International segment and I'll talk to constant currency numbers. Our International segment continued to be negatively impacted by COVID-19, with continued weak footfall on the U.K. High Street. That said, as we lap the start of the pandemic, we are encouraged by the rebound in sales and profitability due to focused execution across Boots U.K., Boots Ireland and opticians. Sales increased 58.7% in the quarter, including a 46.6 percentage point contribution from the formation of our wholesale joint venture in Germany.

轉到國際部分，我將討論固定貨幣數字。我們的國際部門繼續受到 COVID-19 的負面影響，英國高街的客流量持續疲軟。也就是說，隨著大流行的開始，我們對銷售和盈利能力的反彈感到鼓舞，這是由於 Boots UK、Boots Ireland 和眼鏡商的集中執行。本季度銷售額增長 58.7%，其中 46.6 個百分點來自我們在德國成立的批發合資企業。

Excluding this benefit, sales were up 12.1%, reflecting ongoing recovery across most international markets. Adjusted operating income was $94 million in the quarter, up $222 million versus prior year as sales rebounded from prior year lows and costs were tightly controlled.

剔除這一好處，銷售額增長了 12.1%，反映了大多數國際市場的持續復甦。本季度調整後的營業收入為 9400 萬美元，比上年增加 2.22 億美元，原因是銷售額從去年的低點反彈，成本受到嚴格控制。

Let's now look in more detail at Boots U.K. Comparable pharmacy sales increased 3.7%. Stronger demand for services and favorable phasing of NHS funding more than offset lower script volume.

現在讓我們更詳細地了解 Boots UK 的可比藥房銷售額增長了 3.7%。對服務的更強勁需求和 NHS 資助的有利階段抵消了較低的劇本量。

Comparable retail sales increased 38.7% as footfall continued to recover and we lapped the start of the prior year COVID-19 restrictions. However, footfall in the quarter was around 45% below pre-COVID levels, compared to the 70% to 75% declines that we saw at the peak of the pandemic in April/May last year.

隨著客流量繼續恢復，可比零售額增長了 38.7%，並且我們超過了上一年年初的 COVID-19 限制。然而，與去年 4 月/ 5 月大流行高峰期我們看到的 70% 至 75% 的下降相比，本季度的客流量比 COVID 之前的水平低了約 45%。

Nevertheless, we are encouraged by continued strength in basket size, which was up over 20% in the third quarter compared to pre-COVID levels. We are rapidly regaining the market share lost to grocers at the height of the pandemic and discretionary categories are performing strongly. And Boots.com delivered strong sales growth of 42% and accounted for 20% of total retail sales in the quarter. Overall, while it was a strong quarter for the International segment, the recovery is more gradual than we originally anticipated.

儘管如此，我們對籃子規模的持續強勁感到鼓舞，與 COVID 之前的水平相比，第三季度的籃子規模增長了 20% 以上。我們正在迅速奪回在大流行高峰期失去的市場份額，而非必需品類別表現強勁。 Boots.com 實現了 42% 的強勁銷售增長，佔該季度零售總額的 20%。總體而言，雖然這是國際部門的強勁季度，但復甦比我們最初預期的要緩慢。

Turning next to cash flow. Free cash flow was strong, with $3.3 billion delivered in the first 9 months of the year, up $873 million year-on-year, reflecting the strong profit results and successful working capital initiatives. Working capital initiatives are driving sizable cash flow benefits as we eliminate excess inventory and extend payment terms to more optimal levels. We have benefited from some one-time cash favorabilities, including timing benefits associated with destocking of COVID-19-related safety inventory, and benefits associated with passing of the CARES Act.

轉向現金流。自由現金流強勁，今年前 9 個月交付 33 億美元，同比增長 8.73 億美元，反映了強勁的利潤結果和成功的營運資本計劃。隨著我們消除多餘庫存並將付款期限延長至更優水平，營運資金計劃正在推動可觀的現金流收益。我們受益於一些一次性的現金優惠，包括與 COVID-19 相關安全庫存的去庫存相關的時間收益，以及與通過 CARES 法案相關的收益。

Looking forward, cash generation in the fourth quarter will be adversely impacted by the divestiture of the Alliance Healthcare business, as historically, the fourth quarter was the strongest cash flow quarter for the business.

展望未來，第四季度的現金生成將受到 Alliance Healthcare 業務剝離的不利影響，因為從歷史上看，第四季度是該業務現金流最強的季度。

Turning now to full year guidance. Our third quarter performance was clearly very strong. We were lapping the peak of the pandemic restrictions last year and less severe restrictions in the current year led to improved footfall in the U.S. and a rebound across most international markets. Additionally, this quarter was the peak quarter for vaccinations, and we successfully completed 17 million vaccines, a testament to our strong executional capabilities. We are expecting solid year-on-year EPS growth in the fourth quarter, although at a slower rate than the third quarter.

現在轉向全年指導。我們第三季度的表現顯然非常強勁。去年，我們正經歷大流行限制的高峰，而今年不那麼嚴格的限制導緻美國的客流量增加，並在大多數國際市場反彈。此外，本季度是疫苗接種的高峰季度，我們成功完成了 1700 萬支疫苗，證明了我們強大的執行能力。我們預計第四季度每股收益將實現穩健的同比增長，儘管增速低於第三季度。

The prior year comps are a little tougher, we will administer less vaccinations in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, and we are ramping up our growth investments as we accelerate our digital and healthcare plans.

上一年的競爭更加艱難，與第三季度相比，我們將在第四季度管理更少的疫苗接種，並且隨著我們加快數字和醫療保健計劃，我們正在加大增長投資。

Turning now to EPS guidance. We are raising our continuing basis adjusted EPS from mid- to high single digit, to around 10% growth. The full year guidance is based on 3 potential swing factors: firstly, our full year forecast now assumes 28 million vaccinations, with around 7 million vaccinations in the fourth quarter compared to 17 million in the third quarter. Secondly, COVID-19 has resulted in many changes to our business and we should expect some continued volatility as markets reopen and foot traffic returns to more normal patterns. And finally, we are increasing investments to reposition the company for continued success. On an annualized basis, our transformation and growth investments are an earnings drag of approximately 3% to 4%, with a fourth quarter impact of around 7% to 9%.

現在轉向 EPS 指導。我們將持續基礎調整後的每股收益從中高個位數提高到 10% 左右。全年指導基於 3 個潛在的波動因素：首先，我們的全年預測現在假設疫苗接種人數為 2800 萬，第四季度約為 700 萬，而第三季度為 1700 萬。其次，COVID-19 給我們的業務帶來了許多變化，隨著市場重新開放和客流量恢復到更正常的模式，我們應該預計會出現一些持續的波動。最後，我們正在增加投資以重新定位公司以取得持續成功。按年計算，我們的轉型和增長投資對收益的拖累約為 3% 至 4%，第四季度的影響約為 7% 至 9%。

In summary, we have raised our adjusted EPS guidance to around 10% growth to reflect strong operational performance and improved visibility around fourth quarter adjusted EPS growth drivers.

總而言之，我們已將調整後每股收益增長預期提高至 10% 左右，以反映強勁的運營業績和對第四季度調整後每股收益增長驅動因素的可見性提高。

Let me now cover our key strategic initiatives. We continued to make progress in transforming our pharmacy business and the ways in which we deliver healthcare, both through our physical stores and through our digital channels. One of our core objectives is to simplify the pharmacists' role and free up more of their time to spend on adherence and healthcare services. This will be the foundation for improved health outcomes through a more integrated care model. One of the key steps is to modernize and automate our pharmacies. Our recent investment, iARx, plays an important role as it brings together automated pharmacy solutions and enhanced workflow capabilities. Two micro-fulfillment centers are now operational in Phoenix and Dallas and are supporting around 550 Walgreens pharmacies. Over time, these 2 locations will support around 1,000 pharmacies. We have also decided the next 9 markets for micro-fulfillment centers and we expect the deployment to be completed

現在讓我介紹一下我們的主要戰略舉措。我們通過實體店和數字渠道在改變我們的藥房業務和提供醫療保健的方式方面繼續取得進展。我們的核心目標之一是簡化藥劑師的角色，騰出更多時間花在依從性和醫療保健服務上。這將成為通過更綜合的護理模式改善健康結果的基礎。關鍵步驟之一是使我們的藥房現代化和自動化。我們最近的投資 iARx 發揮了重要作用，因為它將自動化藥房解決方案和增強的工作流程功能結合在一起。兩個微型配送中心現已在鳳凰城和達拉斯運營，並為大約 550 家沃爾格林藥店提供支持。隨著時間的推移，這兩個地點將支持大約 1,000 家藥店。我們還確定了微型配送中心的下 9 個市場，我們預計部署將完成

by the end of calendar year 2022.

到 2022 年年底。

We are accelerating our rollout plans with VillageMD following continued positive patient response. We have already opened 46 sites, and we have identified a further 35 locations to be opened by the end of this calendar year. This will bring the number of co-located sites to approximately 80 by the end of this calendar year.

在持續積極的患者反應之後，我們正在加快與 VillageMD 的推出計劃。我們已經開設了 46 個地點，並且我們已確定在本日曆年年底之前再開設 35 個地點。到今年年底，這將使共址站點的數量達到大約 80 個。

In addition to these physical co-locations, we've formed an integrated virtual healthcare collaboration with VillageMD in an additional 9 Walgreens locations. This will give Village Medical patients access to the same expanded pharmacy services that are available at the co-locations.

除了這些物理託管之外，我們還與 VillageMD 在另外 9 個 Walgreens 地點建立了集成的虛擬醫療保健合作。這將使 Village Medical 患者能夠獲得與託管地點相同的擴展藥房服務。

Finally, building on our success in COVID testing, we are developing our testing and diagnostics business to provide a wider range of solutions for our customers going forward.

最後，在我們在 COVID 測試方面取得成功的基礎上，我們正在發展我們的測試和診斷業務，以便為我們的客戶提供更廣泛的解決方案。

Now turning to retail. We are evolving our U.S. retail model across consumer value, services and convenience. Our customer engagement platform is progressing nicely and building momentum. We are constantly refining our personalized offerings as we gain additional consumer insights. Membership of myWalgreens was up 42% (corrected by company after the call) over the prior quarter to 75 million members. And mass personalization boosted retail sales by around 100 basis points in the quarter. Secondly, the work we've undertaken throughout the pandemic to improve our omnichannel experience and offer convenience options is resonating with customers. We have now completed 6 million curbside, drive-thru and last-mile delivery orders. The alternative profit streams we've mentioned in the past are quickly taking shape. Our Walgreens Advertising Group is expanding its offerings and is now working with third-party brand providers across digital and video, helping them better connect with customers based on our uniquely scaled first-party data set.

現在轉向零售。我們正在跨越消費者價值、服務和便利性發展我們的美國零售模式。我們的客戶參與平台進展順利，勢頭強勁。隨著我們獲得更多消費者洞察，我們不斷完善我們的個性化產品。 myWalgreens 的會員人數比上一季度增加了 42%（由公司在電話會議後更正），達到 7500 萬會員。大規模個性化使本季度的零售額增長了約 100 個基點。其次，我們在整個大流行期間為改善我們的全渠道體驗和提供便利選項所做的工作正在引起客戶的共鳴。我們現在已經完成了 600 萬份路邊、得來速和最後一英里的送貨訂單。我們過去提到的另類利潤流正在迅速形成。我們的 Walgreens 廣告集團正在擴大其產品範圍，現在正與數字和視頻領域的第三方品牌供應商合作，幫助他們根據我們獨特規模的第一方數據集更好地與客戶建立聯繫。

Additionally, early in the fall, we plan to launch a series of exciting debit and credit card products. Finally, behind the scenes, we've completed the rollout of SAP S/4 HANA. This will unlock significant operational efficiencies and working capital improvements, and from a customer point of view, it will improve product availability and speed of delivery.

此外，我們計劃在初秋推出一系列令人興奮的借記卡和信用卡產品。最後，在幕後，我們完成了 SAP S/4 HANA 的推出。這將大大提高運營效率和營運資金，從客戶的角度來看，這將提高產品可用性和交付速度。

Turning next to our International initiatives. During the quarter, we made excellent progress in developing our digital healthcare offering. Boots Health Hub now offers an online marketplace for Boots and third-party providers, with almost 100 healthcare services now available. As part of the Health Hub, we recently launched Boots ONLINE DOCTOR, a new, innovative and market-leading service, which connects physicians and patients online. Patients can already seek advice from doctors on over 40 conditions with more to follow in the future.

接下來談談我們的國際倡議。本季度，我們在開發數字醫療保健產品方面取得了顯著進展。 Boots Health Hub 現在為 Boots 和第三方供應商提供在線市場，現已提供近 100 種醫療保健服務。作為 Health Hub 的一部分，我們最近推出了 Boots ONLINE DOCTOR，這是一項全新的、創新的和市場領先的服務，可在線連接醫生和患者。患者已經可以就 40 多種情況向醫生尋求建議，未來還會有更多情況。

On the retail side, we delivered strong market share gains in the quarter, particularly in discretionary categories. And as life gradually returns to normal, customers are increasing their spend on beauty products, with sales advancing 85% in the quarter. We now have over 500 beauty brands available in our stores and online, with 34 new brands introduced this year. And we recently launched a major marketing campaign designed to capitalize on the gradual lifting of U.K. restrictions. We continued to play a major role in COVID testing in the quarter and are well positioned to support vaccination booster programs.

在零售方面，我們在本季度實現了強勁的市場份額增長，尤其是在非必需品類別中。隨著生活逐漸恢復正常，顧客在美容產品上的支出也在增加，本季度銷售額增長了 85%。我們現在在我們的商店和網上擁有 500 多個美容品牌，今年推出了 34 個新品牌。我們最近發起了一項大型營銷活動，旨在利用英國逐步取消的限制。我們在本季度繼續在 COVID 測試中發揮重要作用，並有能力支持疫苗接種加強計劃。

Boots is one of the U.K.'s leading COVID test providers with over 3 million tests completed to date, mostly undertaken in partnership with the NHS. We also have a growing private test offering with several at home and in-store tests available in addition to testing partnerships with several major airlines.

Boots 是英國領先的 COVID 測試提供商之一，迄今為止已完成超過 300 萬次測試，其中大部分是與 NHS 合作進行的。除了與幾家主要航空公司的測試合作夥伴關係外，我們還提供不斷增長的私人測試產品，提供多種在家和店內測試。

And finally, a quick call out to China. We now have almost 8,300 stores, up 2,500 stores compared to the same period last year. I'll now hand it back to Roz for her closing comments.

最後，快速呼籲中國。我們現在擁有近 8,300 家門店，與去年同期相比增加了 2,500 家門店。我現在將它交還給 Roz 以聽取她的結束意見。

Thank you, James. So as you've heard, we have delivered a good financial quarter and have the prospect of a very solid financial performance for the year as a whole. Therefore, we are raising our guidance for the full year accordingly. As we continue to focus on ensuring the success of our business of today, while at the same time investing in our future, I look forward to sharing in the fall more of my learnings and our path forward. Currently, I'm examining and challenging all parts of our enterprise strategy. And there will be some key principles guiding our work ahead and leveraging our right to win, including; applying a disciplined approach to capital allocation and performance metrics, driving innovation to be built into our core and our culture, performing as a best-in-class operator at all times, allocating our focus in the right amount by balancing our immediate needs with our mid- and long-term growth plans over the next 2 to 3 years, maximizing the value of our existing assets, particularly our pharmacy, as a centerpiece of what we do moving forward, and leaning into key tailwinds such as the localization and consumerization of healthcare.

謝謝你，詹姆斯。正如你所聽到的，我們已經實現了一個良好的財務季度，並且整個年度的財務表現都非常穩健。因此，我們相應地提高了全年的指導。隨著我們繼續專注於確保我們今天的業務取得成功，同時投資於我們的未來，我期待在秋季分享更多我的經驗和我們的前進道路。目前，我正在審查和挑戰我們企業戰略的所有部分。並且將有一些關鍵原則指導我們的工作並利用我們的獲勝權，包括：對資本分配和績效指標採用嚴謹的方法，推動創新融入我們的核心和文化，始終作為一流的運營商表現，通過平衡我們的當前需求和我們的當前需求來合理分配我們的關注點未來 2 至 3 年的中長期增長計劃，最大化我們現有資產的價值，特別是我們的藥房，作為我們前進的核心，並傾向於諸如本地化和消費化等關鍵順風衛生保健。

Let me close by once again thanking our team members for the resilience, empathy and care that they have shown for both our customers and fellow team members as they administered more than 25 million vaccinations and many other accomplishments around the world. Our success over the last year shows the power of a unified focus, coupled with exceptional capabilities and highly trusted brands that represent the communities we serve. This focus and purpose will be the root of our success for years to come. Now I would like to open the line to questions. Operator.

最後，讓我再次感謝我們的團隊成員在全球範圍內進行了超過 2500 萬次疫苗接種和許多其他成就時，他們對我們的客戶和團隊成員表現出的韌性、同理心和關懷。我們在過去一年的成功展示了統一關注的力量，以及代表我們所服務社區的卓越能力和備受信賴的品牌。這種專注和目標將是我們未來幾年成功的根源。現在我想提出問題。操作員。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of A.J. Rice with Crédit Suisse.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 A.J.瑞士信貸大米。

Ros, if you don't mind, I might just -- I know the details on your results of your strategic review or -- are still months away. But I would ask about 2 parts to your comments: one, it sounds like there's a lot of U.S.-focused effort around that strategic review. I wondered if your review of strategy also includes the U.K. and the international operations and any comment -- early comment about your thoughts there. And then the second aspect is I think Walgreens has, over the last year, done a lot of interesting things, almost a collaborator of choice type of approach with a lot of providers and vendors. Do you see the opportunity to take a few of those relationships? Obviously, things like the VIllageMD relationship and really exploit that. Is that one of the areas of great -- not necessarily that specific one, but that type of thing, the greatest opportunity? Or is most of the opportunity you're seeing retooling internal aspects of Walgreens going forward?

Ros，如果你不介意，我可能只是——我知道你的戰略審查結果的細節，或者——還有幾個月的時間。但我想就你的評論詢問兩部分：第一，聽起來圍繞該戰略審查有很多以美國為重點的努力。我想知道您對戰略的評論是否還包括英國和國際業務以及任何評論——關於您在那裡的想法的早期評論。然後第二個方面是我認為沃爾格林在過去一年中做了很多有趣的事情，幾乎是與許多供應商和供應商合作的選擇類型的方法。您是否看到了建立其中一些關係的機會？顯然，諸如 VIllageMD 關係之類的東西確實利用了這一點。這是偉大的領域之一——不一定是那個特定的領域，而是那種事情，最大的機會？或者您看到的大部分機會是重組沃爾格林的內部方面？

A.J., thank you for that question. Let me start with your first question about the look that we are across the entire business. So the evaluations we're doing right now, they are global. They may feel U.S.-based because of the size of that business in the total WBA construct, but this is a global look at the business. The one thing I would say about our business in the U.K. and other geographies is we're seeing a slower recovery in some of those areas. So we are looking at a full enterprise look as we evaluate what's next in the company. The second part of your question is around the collaborations. I believe you said in partnerships that we had and what portion of that will be in balance with just looking at our base business. And I will tell you that it's a bit of both. One thing that I will tell you is that as I analyze the company and see where they are, this team has done some tremendous work in building partnerships. Those partnerships will be key to us going forward. there's an opportunity to innovate with our partners and really grow some of these collaborations

A.J.，謝謝你的問題。讓我從你關於我們在整個業務中的外觀的第一個問題開始。所以我們現在正在進行的評估是全球性的。由於該業務在整個 WBA 結構中的規模，他們可能會覺得總部位於美國，但這是對業務的全球視野。關於我們在英國和其他地區的業務，我想說的一件事是，我們看到其中一些地區的複蘇速度較慢。因此，當我們評估公司的下一步發展時，我們正在考慮全面的企業形象。你問題的第二部分是關於合作的。我相信您在合作夥伴關係中說過我們擁有的合作夥伴關係以及其中的哪一部分將與僅查看我們的基礎業務保持平衡。我會告訴你，兩者兼而有之。我要告訴你的一件事是，當我分析公司並查看它們的位置時，這個團隊在建立合作夥伴關係方面做了一些巨大的工作。這些夥伴關係將是我們前進的關鍵。有機會與我們的合作夥伴進行創新並真正發展其中的一些合作

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

see that. And then as I mentioned, it's also about making sure that our base business is very strong. So it is both of those, A.J., and thank you for that question.

看到那個。然後正如我提到的，這也是為了確保我們的基礎業務非常強大。 A.J. 兩者都是，謝謝你的問題。

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Valiquette with Barclays.

您的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Steven Valiquette。

It was good to hear some of the updates in your prepared remarks around the tech-enabled healthcare start-up operation that's embedded within Walgreens. I'm curious if this digital asset is something that Walgreens could still separate and potentially monetize sometime in the next 18 months or so or does this just stay embedded within Walgreens for the very foreseeable future and just drive the overall enterprise results?

很高興聽到您在準備好的評論中關於嵌入沃爾格林的技術支持的醫療保健初創企業的一些更新。我很好奇這種數字資產是否是 Walgreens 仍然可以在未來 18 個月左右的某個時間分離並可能貨幣化的東西，還是在可預見的未來，它只是嵌入 Walgreens 並推動整體企業業績？

Steven,

史蒂文，

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

question. And in terms of how we're looking at tech-enabled health care, when we look at the long-term enterprise vision of the company, that is one of the things that we are looking at is that how do we address what's so important for the customer and what we embed within the company and what we partner with and what could be stand-alone. So that will be part of the work that we do. So we will share more about that in the fall.

問題。就我們如何看待技術支持的醫療保健而言，當我們著眼於公司的長期企業願景時，我們正在關注的事情之一是我們如何解決如此重要的問題對於客戶，我們在公司中嵌入的內容，我們的合作夥伴以及可以獨立的內容。所以這將是我們工作的一部分。因此，我們將在秋季分享更多相關信息。

Your next question comes from the line of Lisa Gill with JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Lisa Gill。

Just on VIllageMD, I just had a couple of questions. One, I wanted to understand the prescription what's you're seeing in co-locations. And then, James, you made a comment about simplifying the role of the pharmacist, you or Ros, do you have any comments around changing reimbursement. So if you're freeing up the time of the pharmacists, are we actually seeing where you're getting paid for consultation versus just the fulfillment of the script? And do you have any relationship, for example, with VIllageMD or anyone else where you're getting paid for those kinds of consultation services?

就在 VIllageMD 上，我有幾個問題。一，我想了解您在同地辦公中看到的處方。然後，詹姆斯，你發表了關於簡化藥劑師角色的評論，你或羅斯，你對改變報銷有什麼意見嗎？因此，如果您要騰出藥劑師的時間，我們是否真的看到了您從哪裡獲得諮詢費用，而不是僅僅完成腳本？例如，您是否與 VIllageMD 或您因此類諮詢服務獲得報酬的任何其他人有任何關係？

Lisa, let me have both James and John respond to that question for you.

麗莎，讓我讓詹姆斯和約翰為你回答這個問題。

Yes. I guess I'll -- Lisa, I'll jump in. This is John. I'll jump in first. So yes, VillageMD is a great partnership for us in the pharmacy because we can do a collaborative care model for chronic patients with VillageMD and it kind of breaks down a bunch of the barriers that you might have in that kind of relationship. So I think there's a lot of learnings for us in the VMD experience. And there is definitely a script uplift in the store from the relationship that's going to develop over time as we have opportunities to continue to advance the model as we roll out additional VMDs across the chain here. So I think that piece of the question. As it relates to the various programs that we have today to drive adherence and provide other services with pharmacists, a lot of our focus has been around P4P programs and Medicare Part D and other opportunities like that to work with a lot of our partners, and that's where a lot of our effort has gone -- But I think it's really the future that we're talking about here. And so the investments that we're making in IAA to free up our pharmacists really create, I think, future avenues for growth of revenue as we kind of look down the line. That's how we're thinking about it. And we think there's a lot of opportunity there as we move forward.

是的。我想我會——麗莎，我會加入。我是約翰。我先跳進去。所以，是的，VillageMD 是我們在藥房的一個很好的合作夥伴，因為我們可以為 VillageMD 的慢性患者建立一個協作護理模式，它打破了你在這種關係中可能遇到的一系列障礙。所以我認為在 VMD 經驗中我們可以學到很多東西。隨著時間的推移，隨著時間的推移，我們有機會繼續推進模型，因為我們有機會繼續推進模型，因為我們在這裡推出了更多的 VMD。所以我認為這就是問題所在。由於它與我們今天為推動依從性和為藥劑師提供其他服務而開展的各種計劃有關，我們的很多重點都集中在 P4P 計劃和 Medicare D 部分以及與我們的許多合作夥伴合作的其他機會上，以及這就是我們付出了很多努力的地方——但我認為這確實是我們在這裡談論的未來。因此，我認為，我們在 IAA 中為解放我們的藥劑師而進行的投資確實創造了未來收入增長的途徑，因為我們有點看低了這條線。我們就是這麼想的。我們認為隨著我們的前進，那裡有很多機會。

If you could just add one thing, Lisa, because you're correct, the micro fulfillment centers will be rolled out over an approximate 24-month, 36-month period. The first 2 were up and running, and we've already released funding for the next 9, and they will be completed within the course of '22. I think it is -- the simple part of this is how do you free up time so that the pharmacists operate at the top of their profession. And the key question, and I guess that's why you're asking the question is how do you get paid for that? So the simplistic one is paid for performance. The stuff that's in development internally, I think we'll give more visibility on it in the fall. One is testing and diagnostics. We did mention that. It's clear now in the U.S. that pharmacists have played a huge role in the pandemic. And the question is, how do we expand our testing and diagnostics role so that we're providing value-added services. And then the key to all this is the payers hopefully are now recognizing the critical role that has been played during the pandemic. And the fact that less people end up in hospitals reduces overall medical bills in the U.S. system, which means our medical loss ratios are going down. So this has to become at some stage a win-win for everybody where we are freeing up resources, they're spending time improving health outcomes, and we work closely with the payers to share that improved health outcome environment. That's the simple version. But it's a 2- to 3-year journey here in getting these centers up.

如果你可以添加一件事，麗莎，因為你是對的，微型履行中心將在大約 24 個月、36 個月的時間內推出。前 2 個已經啟動並運行，我們已經為接下來的 9 個發放了資金，它們將在 22 年內完成。我認為是——最簡單的部分是你如何騰出時間讓藥劑師在他們的職業生涯中處於領先地位。關鍵問題，我想這就是為什麼你要問的問題是你如何獲得報酬？因此，簡單化是為性能付費的。內部正在開發的東西，我想我們會在秋天提供更多的可見性。一是測試和診斷。我們確實提到了這一點。現在在美國很明顯，藥劑師在大流行中發揮了巨大作用。問題是，我們如何擴展我們的測試和診斷角色，以便我們提供增值服務。然後，所有這一切的關鍵是付款人現在希望認識到在大流行期間發揮的關鍵作用。最終住院人數減少的事實減少了美國系統的整體醫療費用，這意味著我們的醫療損失率正在下降。因此，這必須在某個階段成為每個人的雙贏，我們正在釋放資源，他們花時間改善健康結果，我們與付款人密切合作，分享改善的健康結果環境。那是簡單的版本。但要建立這些中心需要 2 到 3 年的時間。

Just going back to my initial question around the lift in prescription when you have a co-location with VillageMD. Is there anything that you can give us that we can kind of think about as you roll out incremental relationships and incremental co-locations is there...

當您與 VillageMD 合用時，回到我最初關於處方電梯的問題。當您推出增量關係和增量協同定位時，您可以給我們什麼我們可以考慮的東西......

I think we're getting towards 46 of these things up and running. So it's a little early for us to guide you on that, Lisa. We definitely see a benefit there, but I think it will continue to develop over time and so give us a little room here.

我認為我們正在朝著其中的 46 項目標邁進。因此，麗莎，我們現在指導你還為時過早。我們肯定在那裡看到了好處，但我認為它會隨著時間的推移繼續發展，所以在這裡給我們一點空間。

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

你的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的喬治希爾。

I guess, Jim, 1 and 1.5 for you. Could you be a little bit more explicit about the contribution from the COVID vaccine to the U.S. business during the quarter? And then you guys kind of noted in the press release that the improved pharmacy margin was due entirely to product mission COVID vaccine. Could you talk about what pharmacy margin looks like ex the vaccine?

我猜，吉姆，1 和 1.5 適合你。您能否更明確地說明本季度 COVID 疫苗對美國業務的貢獻？然後你們在新聞稿中指出，藥房利潤率的提高完全歸功於產品使命 COVID 疫苗。你能談談疫苗前的藥房利潤嗎？

Yes. Just want to take those. As we move forward, it's getting increasingly tough to try what's due to COVID and what's not due to COVID. But obviously, with a result that's up 95% -- EPS up 95% in the quarter. I think you can assume the impact of COVID was in the region of 80% to 85%. So we saw solid growth on the core in conjunction with a nice recovery from COVID.

是的。只想拿那些。隨著我們向前發展，嘗試什麼是由 COVID 引起的，什麼不是由 COVID 引起的變得越來越困難。但顯然，結果增長了 95%——本季度每股收益增長了 95%。我認為您可以假設 COVID 的影響在 80% 到 85% 之間。因此，我們看到核心業務的穩健增長以及從 COVID 中的良好復甦。

When I used the word recovery, there's 2 aspects. One is we had a week last year, and we're recovering from that. And then we had 17 million vaccinations in the quarter. And the vaccination is the key driver of the margin in the quarter. You saw the spectacular gross margin growth in the U.S.

當我使用恢復這個詞時，有兩個方面。一個是我們去年有一周的時間，我們正在從中恢復。然後我們在本季度進行了 1700 萬次疫苗接種。疫苗接種是本季度利潤率的關鍵驅動因素。你看到了美國驚人的毛利率增長

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up 14%. And it's not a one-shot wonder here. This is actually very much sales-driven. We have a great front of store performance. And then secondly, the scripts were at high single digit. So we were on all the cylinders on that. I will point out that retail margins were up 100 basis points. And again, it's coming from mix. It's coming from more photo. It was up 50%, Beauty was up 15%.

上漲 14%。這不是一個單一的奇蹟。這實際上是非常受銷售驅動的。我們的店面表現非常出色。其次，腳本處於高個位數。所以我們在所有的氣缸上。我要指出的是，零售利潤率上升了 100 個基點。再一次，它來自混合。它來自更多照片。它上漲了 50%，美容產品上漲了 15%。

And then turning to the vaccination question. We actually had a pretty decent quarter on margins. And the base business was basically flattish versus prior year, and vaccinations drove all of the upside on margins. We expect something similar in Q4, but a lesser extent. We've been quite transparent on the amount of vaccinations

然後轉向疫苗接種問題。我們實際上有一個相當不錯的季度利潤率。與去年相比，基礎業務基本持平，而疫苗接種推動了利潤率的所有上漲。我們預計第四季度會出現類似情況，但程度較小。我們對疫苗接種的數量非常透明

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28 million, 7 million in the quarter. But before you get too excited on the margin build is, we estimate just on a full year basis that we invested in SG&A just for the rollout of vaccinations, $0.5 billion of incremental SG&A. So I think you have to look at the vaccination on a net basis because they -- and you are seeing that we point to 6.5% increase in overheads -- 6.5% in the quarter. We actually estimate that will be higher in the fourth quarter. So we have a fair amount of pressure on overheads. Mostly it's all spending against the vaccination efforts. I hope that covers your question.

2800萬，本季度700萬。但在您對利潤增長感到過於興奮之前，我們估計僅在全年基礎上，我們投資 SG&A 只是為了推出疫苗，5 億美元的增量 SG&A。因此，我認為您必須從淨額角度看待疫苗接種，因為他們 - 你看到我們指出管理費用增加 6.5% - 本季度為 6.5%。我們實際上估計第四季度會更高。因此，我們對間接費用有相當大的壓力。大多數情況下，這一切都花在了疫苗接種工作上。我希望這涵蓋了你的問題。

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

您的下一個問題來自 Brian Tanquilut 與 Jefferies 的對話。

Congrats on the quarter. James, just to follow up on your last few comments there. As I think about the guidance that you gave, I mean, it implies something for Q4 under a $1, comp is about $0.91 from last year when you still had some pretty big COVID headwinds there. So I know you called out vaccination, fewer vaccinations in Q4 on a sequential basis, but how should we be thinking about this? If I'm thinking about it on a year-over-year basis? And is this just conservatism? Or is there anything else that we should be considering as we look at your guidance?

祝賀本季度。詹姆斯，只是為了跟進你最後的幾條評論。當我想到你給出的指導時，我的意思是，這意味著第四季度的價格低於 1 美元，與去年相比，當你仍然有一些相當大的 COVID 逆風時，補償約為 0.91 美元。所以我知道你呼籲接種疫苗，在第四季度連續減少疫苗接種，但我們應該如何考慮這個問題？如果我在逐年考慮它？這只是保守主義嗎？或者在我們查看您的指導時，我們還應該考慮其他什麼？

Yes, it's a good question. We spent a fair amount of time on this. So the full year of 10%, I would back into that number is 10% or 11% in the Q4 leads to 11% to 13% kind of range on the Q4 EPS growth. So there's 7 million vaccinations in there. The one comment I would add to is we've called it out in the prepared remarks, we expect SG&A to be up significantly in the fourth quarter, 7 -- and we'll have an EPS impact of 7 to 9 percentage points. So in the 11% to 12% kind of range of growth in EPS. It's absorbing 7 to 9 on projects. And then there are a couple of onetime items we're facing. We -- there's a shift on impairment between 2 quarters plus bonus payouts. That's probably another 9 points of growth. So as we dissected this as we work through it, we were looking at a core growth of somewhere in the region of 27 to 30. We're doing heavy in both for future innovation, but also for vaccination and absorbing this 7% to 9%. So it's fairly comfortable that the core was performing. If you go back to the original part of -- the original guidance at the beginning of the year, and I do feel it's quite important. Bear in mind, we gave guidance at the beginning of the year of low single digit, and we're now at 10%. So I think we executed on all cylinders here. When we gave the guidance, we said the first half would decline 17% to 23%, and the actual decline was down 12%, so a good first half. In the second half, and I think people thought it was a crazy aggressive goal, at least internally. We said 30% to 40% growth. If you take our full year of 10%, that comes out at 47% growth in the second half. So we're actually quite happy with the projection. I think if we go back and compare to what we said in March, there's been a shift of about 3 million to 4 million vaccines from Q4 into Q3. So I would say, in general, Q3 came in stronger than we thought in March and Q4, it's essentially lighter just because we're shifting

是的，這是個好問題。我們在這方面花費了相當多的時間。所以全年 10%，我會回到這個數字是第四季度的 10% 或 11% 導致第四季度每股收益增長 11% 到 13% 的範圍。所以那裡有700萬次疫苗接種。我要補充的一條評論是，我們已經在準備好的評論中指出了這一點，我們預計 SG&A 將在第四季度顯著增長，7 - 我們將對每股收益產生 7 到 9 個百分點的影響。所以每股收益在 11% 到 12% 的增長范圍內。它正在吸收 7 到 9 個項目。然後是我們面臨的幾個一次性項目。我們 - 兩個季度加上獎金支出之間的減值發生了變化。這可能是另外 9 個增長點。因此，當我們在研究過程中對其進行剖析時，我們正在尋找 27 到 30 之間某個區域的核心增長。我們在未來的創新以及疫苗接種和吸收這 7% 到 9 %。所以核心的表現相當舒服。如果您回到年初的原始指南的原始部分，我確實覺得這非常重要。請記住，我們在年初給出了低個位數的指導，現在我們達到了 10%。所以我認為我們在這裡執行了所有氣缸。我們給指導的時候說上半年降17%到23%，實際降12%，上半年不錯。在下半場，我認為人們認為這是一個瘋狂的侵略性進球，至少在內部是這樣。我們說30%到40%的增長。如果以我們全年 10% 的增長率計算，那麼下半年的增長率為 47%。所以我們實際上對投影非常滿意。我認為，如果我們回過頭來對比我們在 3 月份所說的話，從第四季度到第三季度，大約有 300 萬到 400 萬支疫苗轉移。所以我想說，總的來說，第三季度的表現比我們在 3 月和第四季度的預期要強，本質上更輕，因為我們正在轉變

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into Q3. And this was very much in line with the more recent request from the Biden administration to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible. We put a lot more expense in the system. We've hired more people than we originally anticipated, and we ramped up opening hours in 4,000 stores. So this is why the Q3 is proportionately stronger than Q4, but we're quite happy with the Q4 profile in terms of quality of earnings.

進入第三季度。這與拜登政府最近提出的盡快讓人們接種疫苗的要求非常一致。我們在系統中投入了更多的費用。我們僱傭的員工比我們最初預期的要多，我們增加了 4,000 家商店的營業時間。所以這就是為什麼第三季度比第四季度要強的原因，但我們對第四季度的收益質量狀況感到非常滿意。

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

您的下一個問題來自 Elizabeth Anderson 與 Evercore 的對話。

You're giving a lot of really helpful commentary about the pacing of the COVID vaccines. I was just wondering if you could comment about your assumptions for the core script growth in the fourth quarter and sort of any early comments you can talk to from June in terms of how

你就 COVID 疫苗的起搏給出了很多非常有用的評論。我只是想知道您是否可以評論您對第四季度核心腳本增長的假設以及您可以從 6 月開始就如何進行討論的任何早期評論

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the reopening script growth going?

重新開放的腳本增長如何？

John or I can handle it, but maybe you can...

約翰或我可以處理它，但也許你可以...

Yes, I can at least talk about the trends a little bit. I think what we saw really kind of started in the third quarter and has continued into June is that some of the underlying headwinds that we were facing in the business have abated a little bit here. So we saw new-to-therapy improve, which has continued in June. We have some heavy early headwinds on seasonal and anti-infective prescriptions, but again, as we came through the quarter, those abates have now turned positive in June as well. So we've seen a decent amount of business and a decent amount of momentum in the underlying prescription business as we head into the fourth quarter. And so I think that's really positive. And some of that is also kind of happening in the front end as well.

是的，我至少可以談談趨勢。我認為我們看到的真正開始於第三季度並一直持續到 6 月的是，我們在業務中面臨的一些潛在不利因素在這裡有所減弱。因此，我們看到了新療法的改善，這種改善在 6 月仍在繼續。我們在季節性和抗感染處方方面遇到了一些嚴重的早期不利因素，但同樣，隨著我們度過本季度，這些減弱現在也在 6 月轉為正值。因此，當我們進入第四季度時，我們在基礎處方業務中看到了可觀的業務量和可觀的勢頭。所以我認為這是非常積極的。其中一些也發生在前端。

Yes. So bear in mind that what we said in Q3 is the -- of the 9.8%, 600 basis points are coming from vaccines but that's on 17 million vaccines. So if you fast forward to Q4, you're going to have less than 600 basis points coming from vaccines. So the rate won't be high single digit. It's probably going to mid- kind of single-digit growth in scripts because I'd say it's quite influenced now by vaccinations in the short term. But as John said, we had a very strong start to the quarter.

是的。所以請記住，我們在第三季度所說的是——在 9.8% 中，600 個基點來自疫苗，但這是針對 1700 萬支疫苗。因此，如果您快進到第四季度，您將有不到 600 個基點來自疫苗。所以利率不會高個位數。它可能會在腳本中達到中等個位數的增長，因為我想說它現在在短期內受到疫苗接種的很大影響。但正如約翰所說，我們本季度的開局非常強勁。

Your next question comes from the line of Ricky Goldwasser with Morgan Stanley.

您的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Ricky Goldwasser。

As we think about fiscal year 2022, and I know it's early and you're not guiding, but should we look at the new fiscal year '21, the $4.71, should we use that as a starting point to 2022? And if so, and understanding there's still COVID uncertainties, but at least all sort of the data points that you have to date sort of should we think about kind of like it's fair to assume similar EPS growth in 2022 if you're guiding to second half of the year? Or are there any key tailwinds and headwinds that we should factor in?

當我們考慮 2022 財年時，我知道現在還早，你沒有指導，但我們應該看看新的 21 財年，即 4.71 美元，我們是否應該將其作為 2022 年的起點？如果是這樣，並且理解仍然存在 COVID 的不確定性，但至少你必須迄今為止的所有類型的數據點，我們應該考慮一下，如果你要引導到第二，假設 2022 年類似的每股收益增長是公平的半年？還是我們應該考慮任何關鍵的順風和逆風？

Ricky, I'm really sorry, you're not coming through very clearly. Can I ask you maybe just to repeat that?

瑞奇，我真的很抱歉，你說的不是很清楚。我可以問你也許只是重複一遍嗎？

Can you hear me better now?

你現在能聽到我的聲音了嗎？

A little bit, maybe just -- maybe it's phone, I'm sorry, it's just a bad line.

有一點，也許只是——也許是電話，對不起，這只是一條糟糕的線路。

Yes. So when we think about the implied fiscal year '21 EPS of I think it's $4.71, should we use this as a starting point for 2022? And if that's the number, how should we think about, with all the data points that you have now, is it fair for us to think about similar growth in 2022 -- '21 to '22, similar growth as what you're seeing in the second half of this year? Just trying to understand sort of...

是的。因此，當我們考慮隱含的 21 財年每股收益時，我認為它是 4.71 美元，我們是否應該以此為 2022 年的起點？如果是這個數字，我們應該如何考慮，根據您現在擁有的所有數據點，我們是否可以考慮 2022 年的類似增長——從 21 年到 22 年，與您所看到的類似增長今年下半年？只是試圖理解某種...

I think, first of all, we don't give guidance. So anything I'm saying is just a stream of comments, I guess. So you're right,

我認為，首先，我們不給予指導。所以我說的任何東西都只是評論流，我猜。所以你是對的，

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that's sort of $4.71.] That's the starting base. I think the key thing money market participants will struggle with as they look into next year is what will be the continuation of vaccinations into next year because you've got 28 million vaccinations in your base here. And will there be booster vaccinations, when will pediatrics come on, there's as many questions as there are answers.

那是 4.71 美元。] 那是起始基地。我認為貨幣市場參與者在展望明年時將面臨的關鍵問題是疫苗接種將持續到明年，因為你的基地已經接種了 2800 萬次疫苗。是否會有加強疫苗接種，兒科何時會出現，有多少答案就有多少問題。

Obviously, everybody has a strong desire in the U.S. to get back to normal. The other thing is, I think, slight

顯然，每個人都強烈希望在美國恢復正常。另一件事是，我認為，輕微的

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that is we still have some adverse COVID impacts in the base here, and some of those will improve over time.

也就是說，我們在這裡的基地仍然有一些不利的 COVID 影響，其中一些會隨著時間的推移而改善。

What Ros did say earlier on, we are seeing somewhat of a more gradual recovery than we would have anticipated out of the U.K., so we're watching that quite closely. But I think that's the big question for next year. The other one is what's the pace of investments as we modernize and getting back to Ros' comments is we want this company to be more innovative and to drive long-term shareholder value and watch the pace of investments over time.

正如羅斯早些時候所說，我們看到英國的複蘇比我們預期的要緩慢，所以我們正在密切關注。但我認為這是明年的大問題。另一個是我們進行現代化改造時的投資步伐，回到羅斯的評論是，我們希望這家公司更具創新性，推動長期股東價值，並隨著時間的推移關注投資步伐。

But that's exactly what the team is working through over the coming months, and there will be a comprehensive -- lay out the comprehensive strategy later in the fall. So -- but I think it's the COVID number we have to wrestle with going forward, mostly the vaccination number.

但這正是團隊在未來幾個月內正在努力的工作，並且將在秋季晚些時候制定全面的戰略。所以 - 但我認為這是我們必須努力解決的 COVID 號碼，主要是疫苗接種號碼。

There's nothing else unusual in the base. I think if you look to the 2 halves of next year, you're going to have cough, cold, flu, which was a big headwind at the beginning, but Q3, Q4 of next year will be pretty tough because you're lapping 17 million vaccinations in Q3. So I think it's -- I wouldn't get lost in any weeds here. I would just think about what are the big items on vaccination and COVID.

基地內沒有其他異常。我認為如果你看明年的兩半，你會咳嗽、感冒、流感，這在開始時是一個很大的逆風，但明年的第三季度、第四季度會非常艱難，因為你正在打圈第三季度接種了 1700 萬次疫苗。所以我認為是——我不會迷失在這裡的任何雜草中。我只想想想關於疫苗接種和 COVID 的大項目是什麼。

Your next question comes from the line of Eric Coldwell.

您的下一個問題來自 Eric Coldwell。

Appreciate it. So you've got a really strong cash flow and balance sheet profile building with the Alliance proceeds, as well as the working capital improvements and the strength from COVID as well. I'm just curious if you give us a little more color on your thought process around capital deployment priorities over the next 12 months, including share repurchase, is that something that you might get back involved with as we look forward? And then if I might ask a follow-up, just there's been a lot of ranker recently about staffing levels across most industries in the country, wage inflation, et cetera. I was hoping if you could give us an update on your thoughts around wage inflation, staffing, ability to attract and retain staff, that would be great.

欣賞它。因此，您通過聯盟收益建立了非常強大的現金流和資產負債表，以及營運資金的改善和 COVID 的實力。我只是想知道，如果您在未來 12 個月圍繞資本部署優先事項（包括股票回購）的思考過程中給我們更多的色彩，您可能會在我們期待的時候重新參與其中嗎？然後，如果我可能會問後續問題，最近有很多關於該國大多數行業的人員配備水平、工資通脹等問題的排名。我希望您能向我們介紹您對工資膨脹、人員配備、吸引和留住員工的能力的最新看法，那就太好了。

Thank you, Eric. I'll take the first part of that question, and then I'll ask John to talk about wages. So first of all, with capital, you probably are aware that we spend roughly about $1.4 billion a year on capital expenditures, and we don't see that changing too much in the future. What I will say is that how and where we deploy that and being very disciplined about that. I will tell you that there is energy on my part and this leadership team's part to really accelerate a lot of the work that's already underway in this company. And I will tell you that there's innovation that we will put a lot of focus on, we'll continue to invest, so you'll see capital going in those areas. In the past, you've seen us we build out stores, but in addition, the work that we're doing in investing in digital. And so that will continue. Just to give you a little bit of insight of what we will do in terms of how we will deploy the capital, but we really say -- see us staying in line around that $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion range on capital expenditures. John, do you want to talk about wages?

謝謝你，埃里克。我會回答這個問題的第一部分，然後我會請約翰談談工資。因此，首先，對於資本，您可能知道我們每年在資本支出上花費大約 14 億美元，而且我們認為未來不會發生太大變化。我要說的是我們如何以及在何處部署它，並且對此非常自律。我會告訴你，我和這個領導團隊都有精力真正加速這家公司已經在進行的許多工作。我會告訴你，我們將非常關注創新，我們將繼續投資，所以你會看到這些領域的資金流向。過去，您已經看到我們建立了商店，但此外，我們在數字化投資方面所做的工作。所以這將繼續。只是為了讓您對我們將如何部署資本有所了解，但我們真的要說 - 看到我們在資本支出方面保持在 14 億至 15 億美元的範圍內。約翰，你想談談工資嗎？

Sure. I think -- and just more generally, I think about -- I think your question is about the employment market as well. And so yes, it's definitely heating up out there. But it's really -- I think what we've seen has probably been more kind of in regional instances, and we've been able to work through those with the various levers that we have available to us to operate the business. One example is we were able to meet all of our needs to really get through a very busy third quarter with our 17 million vaccinations and really didn't have a problem. So we continue to watch the situation and kind of deal with it on an area-by-area basis as issues arise.

當然。我認為——更一般地說，我認為——我認為你的問題也是關於就業市場的。所以是的，它肯定在那裡升溫。但它真的 - 我認為我們所看到的可能更多的是在區域實例中，我們已經能夠通過我們可用的各種槓桿來運營業務。一個例子是，我們通過 1700 萬次疫苗接種能夠滿足我們真正度過非常繁忙的第三季度的所有需求，並且真的沒有問題。因此，我們將繼續觀察情況，並在出現問題時逐個地區進行處理。

Ricky, can I add one more part to your question on capital. I also want to mention around the work that we've already invested in. The Rx renewal is part of our investments that we've had, the work around our store level investments and our partnerships there. Also two, I don't want to overlook the work that we're doing around mass personalization, as I mentioned, digital, more specifically in that area. And then the work that we've been speaking about in terms of the micro fulfillment hub and the spoke rollout that we have planned. So you'll see us continue that kind of work around where we buy capital in the future.

瑞奇，我可以在你關於資本的問題上再補充一點嗎？我還想提一下我們已經投資的工作。Rx 更新是我們已經進行的投資的一部分，圍繞我們的商店級別投資和我們在那裡的合作夥伴關係進行的工作。還有兩個，我不想忽視我們圍繞大規模個性化所做的工作，正如我提到的，數字化，更具體地說是在該領域。然後是我們一直在談論的關於微型履行中心和我們計劃的輪輻推出的工作。所以你會看到我們在未來購買資本的地方繼續這種工作。

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

您的下一個問題來自 Charles Rhyee 和 Cowen 的對話。

Maybe a question for James or Ros here. I think starting in July, the existing child tax credit is being converted to direct payments and I think it's going to hit something like 39 million households, which will represent a pretty sizable increase in disposal income for those households. Can you talk about how much of your customer base indexes to households that will receive payments? And have you guys thought through what potential impact positively that could be for your front end?

也許這裡是詹姆斯或羅斯的問題。我認為從 7 月開始，現有的兒童稅收抵免將轉變為直接支付，我認為它將影響到 3900 萬個家庭，這將代表這些家庭的可支配收入大幅增加。您能否談談將收到付款的家庭的客戶群指數有多少？你們有沒有想過這可能對你的前端產生什麼積極的影響？

Charles, actually, I'm going to have John respond to that. He's close to that one.

查爾斯，實際上，我會讓約翰對此作出回應。他離那個很近。

Yes, thanks for the question, yes. So this is a monthly credit, I guess, it starts here. And we have looked at it a bit. It doesn't look probably

是的，謝謝你的問題，是的。所以這是一個月度信用，我猜，它從這裡開始。我們已經看了一點。看起來可能不是

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material as maybe some of the stimulus money that came out earlier

重要的可能是早些時候出現的一些刺激資金

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pandemic in terms of impact on the business. So this one doesn't feel like it's going to be hugely material to us. But obviously, we'll get into it here a little bit and see how it plays.

疫情對業務的影響。所以這個感覺對我們來說並不重要。但顯然，我們將在這裡稍微深入了解它，看看它是如何發揮作用的。

Is that because from a prescription side, a lot of these houses will be half insurance coverage maybe through Medicaid. So a lot of the purchasing is just not as impacted? Or is it that the front-end items that you would expect this disposable income or the increase would not necessarily go to items in the front end?

那是因為從處方方面來看，這些房屋中的許多將通過醫療補助獲得一半的保險。所以很多購買都沒有受到影響？還是您期望這筆可支配收入或增加的前端項目不一定會流向前端項目？

No, I think it was more just the relative size of it as it kind of filtered into. If we kind of look at how we performed on other type of incentives, stimulus money that was just, I think, in terms of relative size, that's all.

不，我認為它更像是它的相對大小，因為它有點被過濾了。如果我們看看我們在其他類型的激勵措施上的表現，我認為，就相對規模而言，刺激資金就是這樣。

Your next question comes from the line of Glen Santangelo with Guggenheim.

您的下一個問題來自古根海姆的 Glen Santangelo。

I just wanted to follow up on some of your prepared comments you made with respect to the gross profit margins. If I heard you correctly, I think you seem to suggest that ex COVID vaccines, your gross profit margins might have been flat year-over-year. So one, I'm not sure if that's correct, if you could confirm that. And then secondly, last quarter on the call, you discussed maybe some favorable generic pricing trends that may be aided the margin and -- so I'm just kind of curious, could you maybe just unpack that gross profit margin ex COVID vaccines a little bit more to help us think about the current trends and how we should think about that going forward?

我只是想跟進您對毛利率所做的一些準備好的評論。如果我沒聽錯的話，我認為您似乎暗示前 COVID 疫苗，您的毛利率可能與去年同期持平。所以一個，我不確定這是否正確，如果你能確認的話。其次，在上個季度的電話會議上，您可能討論了一些有利的通用定價趨勢，這些趨勢可能有助於提高利潤率，所以我有點好奇，您能否稍微解開 COVID 疫苗前的毛利率多一點幫助我們思考當前的趨勢以及我們應該如何思考未來的趨勢？

Yes. It's -- it's broadly correct what you said. So if you take out the benefit of favorable mix from vaccinations, for this quarter, the margin was broadly flat. So we had a decent month in terms of generic -- a decent quarter in terms of generic procurement. But the model is a scale model. The more volume you sell and the more generic procurement you get, the better the margins in the quarter. So it's significantly helped by the fact that the script growth was 9.8%. So it's not a sustainable position in general.

是的。你說的大體上是正確的。因此，如果你從疫苗接種中扣除有利組合的好處，那麼本季度的利潤率大致持平。所以我們在仿製藥方面度過了一個不錯的月份——就彷製藥採購而言，這是一個不錯的季度。但模型是比例模型。您銷售的數量越多，獲得的通用採購越多，本季度的利潤率就越高。因此，腳本增長率為 9.8% 對這一事實有很大幫助。所以總的來說，這不是一個可持續的立場。

And as we've said in many occasions, we start the year with a significant amount of reimbursement pressure only -- which is all set through generic procurement and the rest has to come from volume. So the margin is highly variable with the volume delivered in the specific quarter.

正如我們在很多場合所說的那樣，我們在今年開始時只有很大的報銷壓力——這一切都是通過通用採購來確定的，其餘的必須來自數量。因此，利潤率隨特定季度的交付量而變化很大。

And then the watch out is, I wouldn't take 1 quarter and extrapolate in the pharmacy business. The timing of accruals and payments is quite volatile and can shift significantly. So my advice to you is always look at the year-to-date as the best proxy for the forward projections. Don't pick a quarter an anchor on that because you're likely to get it wrong because of the volume leverage, plus a point in time is not a good way to look at the pharmacy business. So we do expect fairly continued pressure from reimbursement over a fairly long-term horizon. That's not going to change. The business model is not changing because of 1 quarter. But that being said, we had a fabulous quarter, it's driven by the role we've played in the community. We did 17 million vaccinations and we invested significant dollars to get that return on gross profit. We're quite happy with the base margins, especially front of store as well as very positive for -- and that's a number of quarters now that we've seen favorable margins. So we had a very good quarter overall.

然後要注意的是，我不會花 1 個季度來推斷藥房業務。應計和付款的時間非常不穩定，並且可能會發生重大變化。因此，我對您的建議始終是將年初至今視為前瞻性預測的最佳代表。不要選擇四分之一的錨點，因為您可能會因為數量槓桿而弄錯，再加上時間點不是查看藥房業務的好方法。因此，我們確實預計在相當長的一段時間內，報銷會帶來相當持續的壓力。這不會改變。由於 1 個季度，商業模式沒有改變。但話雖如此，我們有一個美妙的季度，它是由我們在社區中扮演的角色所驅動的。我們進行了 1700 萬次疫苗接種，並投入了大量資金來獲得毛利潤回報。我們對基本利潤率感到非常滿意，尤其是店前利潤率，而且非常積極——現在我們已經看到了有利的利潤率，這已經是幾個季度了。所以我們有一個非常好的季度整體。

Your next question comes from the line of Eric Percher with Nephron Research.

您的下一個問題來自 Nephron Research 的 Eric Percher。

You've spoken about

你談過

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in the performance of suburban versus the 4 large urban markets. And I'm interested to hear if there's been a real difference, this may be a gross margin question as well, in overall margin performance that you're seeing? And also, what have the patterns been at this point? Does the Las Vegas market look different maybe than New York or Chicago in the cities? Any perspective there?

郊區與 4 個大城市市場的表現。我很想知道是否存在真正的差異，這也可能是一個毛利率問題，在您所看到的整體利潤率表現中？而且，此時的模式是什麼？拉斯維加斯市場看起來可能與城市中的紐約或芝加哥不同嗎？有什麼看法嗎？

Yes. It's -- we had a fabulous time with -- in urban markets because as you know, we have a distinct SKU both in the U.K., actually and in the U.S. So one interesting statistic is that in the previous quarter, and it shows actually the power of the U.S. economy as well. Once people went back on the street and started spending again, transactions prior to in the third quarter for urban stores were down 37%. And in Q3, transactions were up 10%. So footfall in the U.S. is very consumer driven, people are back, people are traveling again and cities are filling up again. So we saw a major skew. Every one of

是的。這是 - 我們在城市市場度過了一段美好的時光，因為如你所知，我們在英國、實際上和美國都有一個獨特的 SKU。所以一個有趣的統計數據是上一季度的數據，它實際上顯示了美國經濟的力量也是如此。一旦人們重新走上街頭重新開始消費，第三季度之前城市商店的交易量就下降了 37%。在第三季度，交易量增長了 10%。因此，美國的客流量非常受消費者驅動，人們回來了，人們再次旅行，城市再次填滿。所以我們看到了一個重大的偏差。每一個

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our formats. So if you look at rural transactions were up, suburban was up and less than urban was up, but the actual biggest transaction gain was in the urban area. And the same play true on sales were urban is still down year-on-year slightly, but we think we will see an ongoing recovery there.

我們的格式。因此，如果您查看農村交易量上漲，郊區上漲，而城市上漲則低於城市，但實際最大的交易收益在城市地區。同樣的情況是，城市的銷售額仍同比略有下降，但我們認為我們將看到那裡的持續復甦。

Yes, I think that's the big opportunity, I think. So we've -- it's been

是的，我認為這是一個很大的機會。所以我們 - 它一直是

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we've seen like 2 of our stores really sort of take off here. I think as things have opened, as James said, in suburban and rural. But I think our urban stores are -- present a real upside opportunities...

我們已經看到我們的 2 家商店在這裡真正起飛。正如詹姆斯所說，我認為在郊區和農村地區已經開放。但我認為我們的城市商店 - 提供了真正的上行機會......

Upside opportunities. Yes, particularly as you looked at March, April, May, it was

上行機會。是的，特別是當你看到三月、四月、五月時，它是

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transactions in March were down 21% in urban. By the time we got into April, they were up 42%. So there's a market difference between March, April, May, and we see that continuation into June as well. So we're very happy with the recovery that we're seeing, particularly in the U.S. However, I would counterbalance that with the U.K. where there's been a longer lockdown than we anticipated, and they're still not fully out of lockdown and where some lack of clarity as to when people will be encouraged to go back to work.

3 月份的城市交易量下降了 21%。到我們進入四月份時，它們上漲了 42%。因此，3 月、4 月、5 月之間存在市場差異，我們也看到這種差異會持續到 6 月。因此，我們對我們看到的複蘇感到非常滿意，尤其是在美國。但是，我會用英國來平衡這一點，因為英國的封鎖時間比我們預期的要長，而且他們還沒有完全解除封鎖，而且在哪裡關於何時鼓勵人們重返工作崗位尚不明確。

Okay. Thank you very much, indeed. That's all we have time for on the call today. As ever, the IR team are here for any of you that we didn't get a chance to get to. I know we did have some additional questions. And in the event that we don't get to speak to you before the holiday weekend, I hope you will have a fantastic holiday weekend then we are -- next week as well.

好的。非常感謝，真的。這就是我們今天的通話時間。與以往一樣，IR 團隊隨時為我們沒有機會接觸到的任何人提供幫助。我知道我們確實有一些額外的問題。如果我們不能在假期週末之前與您交談，我希望您將度過一個美妙的假期週末，然後我們——下周也是如此。

Thank you very much indeed. We will speak to you again next quarter on the next earnings call.

非常感謝你。我們將在下個季度的下一次財報電話會議上再次與您交談。

Thank you for participating in today's conference call. You may now disconnect your lines at this time.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。你現在可以在這個時候斷開你的線路。